The Common Sense Manifesto

Disclaimer: I am a computer engineer, and while I consider myself to be very qualified to do my particular job, I am in no way qualified to give professional opinions about the following topics, to only name a distinct few: journalism, law, education, economics, finance, business administration, humanities, history, philosophy, psychology, and religion. Note that I am also a fan of the Oxford comma. The views expressed in this - for lack of a better term - article are to be taken seriously, but not that seriously. Do not use this as validation of your own opinions in your social circles, as this kind of behavior is precisely what I am attempting to discourage. Do not rush to your friends and tell them that all their views on life are wrong and that they will burn in hell because some guy decided to write a few words, and for the love of everything good, please do not cite any of the below opinions as facts. If, for some reason, a guy you know nothing about seems trustworthy to you, then remember the golden principle of fact-checking, and, if I may add, of IT auditing: trust, but always verify.

Occam's razor

 "What the hell are you talking about, Roland?"

I can hear you typing there, but let me explain. Occam's razor is a philosophical rule of thumb for problem solving, essentially stating that "entities should not be multiplied without necessity". What does that even mean? Well, it means that when faced with 2 hypotheses that can explain the same observation, the simpler one, or in other terms, the one requiring you to make less assumptions, is the one that's correct. For more formal definitions and explanations, please remember that Wikipedia is your friend.

 What do you even do with this concept? Well, that's a very good question. First of all, understand it. Second of all, use it, and understand that philosophy is not just written words in a book. Just as philosophy has driven scientific discovery throughout human history, so should it inspire your decision making and every day life. The strive for philosophical consistency is a journey of self-discovery, and a mighty shield against bigotry and stupidity, so please use it.

Essentially, I'm mentioning this purely to give you a tool to protect you against the power of a mind virus, an unfalsifiable but toxic idea that you might internalize, because your mind's immune system has not been introduced to the Occam's razor vaccine, and therefore does not know how to defend itself. More on that later.

Cognitive dissonance

 This is a tricky one. Am I going to receive a lot of angry letters? Yes. Am I risking it? Also yes. Am I going to talk about it anyway? You bet. (It's just a saying, and I do not condone indulging in gambling)

Here goes nothing. Cognitive dissonance is essentially a discrepancy between your internal belief system and your actual behavior. Odd, isn't it? Extremely odd, I would say. But what is the human brain if not an odd, nonsensical, outrageous mess of entangled mechanisms.

So, yes, nice information, but why should you care, right? Well, this is a devastating loophole in our human brains, and it leaves us ripe for exploitation. Don't act all high and mighty, you've fallen for it before too. Can you remember a time when you stuck to your guns and kept arguing, even in the face of overwhelming and accurate evidence that has consensus behind it? Perhaps it was a political discourse? Let's face it, it probably was. THAT is cognitive dissonance.

This is why climate change, wearing a mask, vaccination, and human rights are political debates that you can take sides on. This is why people are willing to die for a "leader" that has done nothing for them.

Just ask yourself: Do I know this person? Do we have a relationship? Are we friends? What warrants those intense feelings of camaraderie and solidarity with them? Probably nothing. Well, except for cognitive dissonance.

Perspective is important: acquire it

 What is this elusive term, wisdom? Is it some kind of gift bestowed upon you at birth?

Well, in my opinion, absolutely not. "Wisdom comes from disillusionment", I have no idea who has said this quote, but I really like it. We need pain, we need disappointment and failure, and if you have never failed in your life, that makes you less rather than more intelligent. I simply cannot trust your judgement until you have failed, sorry.

The easiest mistake to make is somehow not knowing that this is a skill that can be learned like any other. How? One word, diversity. Diversify your surroundings, make an active effort to keep your social circle, scenery, consumed media, and other aspects of your life diverse. I discuss this from a more professional perspective in this article.

In short, without perspective, you are stuck in your own ways, and you are stuck in your comfort zone without even the courage to declare it to the world, and eventually, not even to yourself.

Unfalsifiable claims are incredibly easy, and incredibly powerful

 Next time you are met with a bold, outrageous theory about how things DEFINITELY are and told "come on, open your eyes!", just ask yourself these 2 things: 1) Is this person's trained passion getting in their way, and 2) Can I design an experiment to disprove the concept. If the answer to the second question is no, then they are making an unfalsifiable claim in a matter-of-fact fashion, and this is especially dangerous. This person might be a victim of their own perspective, or lack there of, as well as their lack of awareness about Occam's razor.

How do you deal with that? I terribly regret telling you, there is not much you can do. All you can try is to apply your utmost empathy, and understand that I used the word victim extremely deliberately. Understand that you can't just dismiss them as lacking intelligence, information, or the capacity to think, because they do not. You can only see them as victims of manipulation, and exploitation of normal, human functions of the brain. In their shoes, there's a very good chance that you may have been just the same, if not worse.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

I believe this is a quote by Carl Sagan, but don't quote me on that (see what I did there?). 

The concept is simple, and yet we miss it all too often. If I told you I had a device that could somehow magically end poverty and hunger, you'd be skeptical, right? So why should you believe those who tell you that their extreme and skewed views of the world, and their political ideas, can do just that? Moreover, why should you believe that the other side's ideas are the end of the world as you know it?

An idea without supporting data, experiments, or simply any way to assure its testability that lives up to the magnitude of its potential impact should be met with skepticism of the same magnitude.

"Truth resists simplicity"

 This phrase, possibly coined by one of my favorite writers, a Mr. John Green (he says it a lot, but I'm just not sure, so I won't make bold claims), always leaves me excited when it comes up. It might just be my favorite little simple phrase, probably second to "it's complicated".

And it is. It's often complicated. Reality cannot be boxed into little black and white containers of clarity. Reality has no obligation to conform to our neat and structured human concepts, or any organization that our path-of-least-resistance-loving brains could possibly value because they have evolved to.

History is your compass, not your lens

 While perspective is important, and while learning about history is an integral part of building that perspective, you should be careful before you start modeling your decisions after some Roman general's or Greek philosopher's words.

Seeing the present through the lens of the past can be dangerous and shortsighted, and frankly a plain insult to all of mankind. We've come a long way, acknowledge it.

Rather you should use this past as a compass, and understand the philosophical consistency that was behind those successful decisions, and the lack of it that was behind those that were not. Methodologies can be timeless, but what worked for Socrates will probably not work for you. Is it still useful for you to learn about it? No doubt. Should you live your life according to it, and make it your belief system? Probably not.

Extremism is inherently stupid

 So, we've talked about unfalsifiable claims, and even mentioned how they are dangerous, but we haven't really said why. Well, this is why. Extremism is, without fail, founded on unfalsifiable claims. "This group is a monolith defined by this trait", or "that group is trying to ruin our lives by doing that action", you've heard these before, right?

But the thing about unfalsifiable theories is that they literally, by definition, cannot be proven right or wrong. In the same spirit, I could claim any outrageous thing I want, and you won't be able to prove me wrong, so therefore I must be right, right? Wrong. An interesting concept then ensues: if extremism is built on unfalsifiable claims, then it can NEVER be valid or correct, simply because its core ideas can never be tested and shown to be so. That's why extremism is inherently stupid. The other side of the word unfalsifiable, the fact that the idea in question cannot be proven wrong either, that's the reason why extremism is dangerous. Unfalsifiable claims are the vehicle through which cognitive dissonance is exploited.

Recognizing that nuance is a fantastic way of telling valid social projects from extremist quackery. "What is the foundation this is built on?" is a high quality question that you can ask yourself before supporting a group or an idea. If the foundation is unfalsifiable, you might want to think again before you indulge in extremism.

Reality is a nuanced continuum

 We like to think of history, and not just history in the general sense of mankind or even the universe, but history as in our own history as an individual, we like to think of it as this series of major events in which our agency swung things one way or another. "What would have happened if I had taken that job? I bet everything is horrible now because I made a bad relationship decision. Would I be where I so yearn to be had I made this one, small, different deciision?" 

 Are these feelings valid? Yes, all your feelings are valid and worthy of consideration. Are those ideas reasonably sound? Probably not. Your agency is important, but often overstated, even over the course of your own life.

The reality is, you are playing an infinite game where you are your own main character, and there are literal billions of other players of whom you cannot possibly know anything with an absolute degree of certainty, as well as a chaotic and changing environment which you cannot possibly control.

This chaos means one thing: Reality is continuous, and your agency is limited to your own phaneron. You can therefore only change one thing at a time, and put that thing through one degree of change at a time. Play the infinite game.

Leadership is earned

Make no mistake, nobody is born a leader.

Leaders are forged by circumstances, and their own desire to assume this role. To quote Simon Sinek, "leadership is like parenthood, not everyone is good at it, not everyone should do it, and certainly, not everyone WANTS to do it". This is a confirmed quote because I have personally heard him say it in a talk.

Do you want to be a leader? Understand that leaders are defined by one thing: sacrifice. If you want to lead, you are expected to sacrifice yourself for the well-being of others. "But what about all those selfish leaders that do what's best for them?", you might ask. Well, those are not leaders. They're what they want you to believe is a leader. They are just privileged individuals who have inherited authority, or coerced people into relinquishing that authority to them, mostly through tactics, methods, and psychological loopholes we are discussing in this very article. Know the difference. 

Expertise is fluid

The half-life of knowledge is an eye-opening concept. For a formal definition, consult your old friend. I mention this purely as a supporting concept to the last item in our manifesto, and also for the educational value.

Another interesting concept here is the Dunning-Kruger effect. Those who really know, know that they don't know, and that what they know is specific to this particular snapshot in time and circumstances.

You are seldom an expert, and often not. Your information can be outdated, supported by refuted data, or simply subjective views of your field that are masquerading as expertise. Be self-aware.

Rage is a manipulation tool

One last type of ammunition for the manipulation arsenal, is rage. Rage bypasses your logical filters, and inflames your cognitive dissonance into action and behavior. I'm not a psychologist, but only through rage and provocation can unfalsifiable claims be streamlined and made appealing.

What is the opposite of love? It is indifference. Rage is just a manifestation of passion when exploited or hurt. and it is a tool that can work like no other.

Next time you feel your rage driving your behavior, just remember, you are probably a victim of your own passion, exploited or hurt.

Tone down your sense of entitlement

This one is my favorite, and I'm sorry to say that it's going to hurt.

Let me put this extremely bluntly, which is completely in character for me: You are not entitled to anything. The universe, the laws of physics, and this tiny spec we call Earth do not owe you anything, not because of whose name you bear, and not because of what your belief system is. Certainly not because of your mere existence are you entitled to any good breaks. Your status, your reputation, the money you inherited, or even the money you earned through hard work, are not your God-given right by birth. Let history remind you that you are shaped by it as much as, if not more so than, it is shaped by you.

Are you a successful businessperson? Your success is also the result of your competent, hard-working employees, who probably simply refused to accept failure in the early days when your business was a chaotic, non-procedural startup relying heavily on creativity and ad-hoc solutions. Being successful was not your God-given right, and neither was it written in the stars on the day you were born. It is therefore your duty to take care of your employees, and stand by them as they stood by you.

Are you a popular politician with considerable power and influence? Wow, you're reading this. Thanks for taking a break from your mass manipulation tactics, and please stop using all the brain mechanisms I have just mentioned. Also don't worry, they stopped reading a while ago, this is a very long article for someone who's as unimportant as I am. Talk about sense of entitlement, right?

What do we even do with any of this information?

Well, the fact that we graduate from universities not knowing how to defend ourselves against unwarranted rage, cognitive dissonance, and sense of entitlement, and the fact that most of us go through an entire adult life with no idea how to Occam's razor toxic propositions away, is a failing of our education systems to be completely honest.

I'm not one to dismiss formal education, but I am rather calling for meaningful reform, and a restoration of the art of inspiration. Just because you are an expert on a certain subject, doesn't mean you are qualified to teach it. Teaching requires a specific skill set, one that pertains to, you know, teaching. This has been a long enough article, so I won't delve into this specific idea, but in essence, formal education should step away from traditional sales tactics, and start investing in what really matters. That's of course, in my humble opinion.

Recognizing that any part of your belief system is just that, yours, and that the word "belief" holds a powerful concept within itself: your belief system is a leap of faith, no matter which way it swings. This is the ultimate human perspective, and the clearest sign of practicing empathy.

Why have you read this far? I am not qualified to tell you any of this.

Jokes aside, thank you for reading. I hope this unusual and off-topic post has been beneficial, and most of all, enjoyable for you. By attending today's histo-philo-psychology lesson, you have wasted an unholy amount of time on useless opinions and arguments that probably won't change your life, but also probably a couple of minutes learning a couple of useful things you did not previously know (in my humble opinion). I appreciate every single second of your time that you wasted with me, and I promise you to stick to the script and go back to cybersecurity content of all sorts. If that's what you're connected to me for, rest assured, and please check out my posts, articles and documents. You can also follow my hashtag #askroland to make sure you can see my face in your feed!

In the meantime, please feel free to see me after class for any questions, rebuttals, or smart discussions. Just saying hi is one more (and forever will be) perfectly fine. Class dismissed.

Good luck, and keep on keeping on.