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Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

...on serious topics that don't fit anywhere else at present.
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John G
Posts: 74
Joined: February 3rd, 2016, 2:44 am

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#1 Post by John G » February 9th, 2016, 12:31 pm

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

So, how many baskets do I need?
How important are the eggs?
How many baskets you can afford?
Some eggs are priceless.
What cost then is too high?

I woke up early this morning and this popped into my head.

An individual can answer this question for them self.

How do we answer this question as a group. Some problems required the attention of a large section of humanity. How do we form a group consension that can create change?

Sufficient. The first question we might need to ask is what is a sufficient number to effect a change.
Next we might ask, can that group be reached? If the group can't all be reached then the problem becomes intractable. Do you make the effort anyway or find some other use for you or the groups time?

Is there a problem we might solve that would make this easier?

Ultimately we can only affect small changes near to our selfs. What stops us?

For me it's

What if I'm wrong. What do I pick? It's too much work. I don't have the time. I don't understand the problem.
Confusion rains and I become scared and with no personal guidance I become stuck.
Ultimately you have to make a choice. Just don't make the choice of doing nothing. I fear that this is a common choice that we make as a group.

I off to make a cup of tea.
A good learner is forever walking the narrow path between blindness and hallucination. ― Pedro Domingos, The Master Algorithm

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Dave B
Posts: 17809
Joined: May 17th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#2 Post by Dave B » February 9th, 2016, 4:14 pm

I keep to the simple side of this, my savings are distributed over two banks for eg.

Otherwise I do my best not to endow things with any great value. Friends are slightly different of course, but I do not invest all my fellow feelings in one - the loss of any one friend is sad but, for me, never catastrophic.

Objects are mere objects, eggs with a cost but little value in general. The gift given by a late friend is but a token of that person's affection for me, losing it is not the loss of that remembered affection, merely of an object.
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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John G
Posts: 74
Joined: February 3rd, 2016, 2:44 am

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#3 Post by John G » February 9th, 2016, 10:47 pm

How about an egg that is the earth. Some material things have value. This dictates if we live or not. Air, water, food. If we don't protect these, what cost?

I think I can say with 100% certainty that earth will be hit by a meteor. I think I can push this all the way to a dinosaur extention event. It's only a probability. Like winning the lotto. Given that, it has happened in the past. It will happen in the future. Someone eventually wins the lotto.

We should be working on the fun projects like space exploration. Not killing each other. Cost should not be a barrier. A dying billionaire, who knows that his money might extend his life, might spend every penny and be happy with the result. Would he do this for his children or his children's childrens?

Legacy is all we leave behind. In the forms of Genes and ideas made concrete. The greatest thing that a human can do is create. We do it just by living. It gives us great joy to create. I think this is universal. As longs as the brain is working.

Humans need new vistas to explore and explore the ones at our feet.
A good learner is forever walking the narrow path between blindness and hallucination. ― Pedro Domingos, The Master Algorithm

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Dave B
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Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#4 Post by Dave B » February 10th, 2016, 6:19 am

Ah, now we have the problem of scale and uncertainty!

Yes, as a species we may be becoming increasingly dependant on either fewer things or increasingly more fragile or vulnerable complex systems. Maybe we should be reverting to a more pastoral life-style. Have to reduce the population though...

As an individual; just tell me where the next extra terrestrial object is going to strike and I will make sure half my eggs are elsewhere.
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

lewist
Posts: 4402
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 8:53 pm

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#5 Post by lewist » February 10th, 2016, 8:00 am

Well done on the cup of tea, John. My main drugs of choice are coffee and alcohol, both in limited measure

I have people I consult. I have been known to ask questions on TH and people give kind and thoughtful answers. My children have grown up to be wise, thoughtful and sensible adults and they are good to bounce ideas off. I have the wonderful Fia, whom I got to know on TH and who has become a good friend, and is a very sensible and moral woman.

Financially I have money in several different places, not that there's much of that.

As for my eggs? All three of them are in the same fridge... on the same shelf. :smile:
Carpe diem. Savour every moment.

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John G
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Joined: February 3rd, 2016, 2:44 am

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#6 Post by John G » February 10th, 2016, 3:28 pm

lewist wrote:Well done on the cup of tea, John. My main drugs of choice are coffee and alcohol, both in limited measure

I have people I consult. I have been known to ask questions on TH and people give kind and thoughtful answers. My children have grown up to be wise, thoughtful and sensible adults and they are good to bounce ideas off. I have the wonderful Fia, whom I got to know on TH and who has become a good friend, and is a very sensible and moral woman.

Financially I have money in several different places, not that there's much of that.

As for my eggs? All three of them are in the same fridge... on the same shelf. :smile:
I am about to eat two of them :)
The problem of overpopulation we address as an individual or family and hope the law of large numbers works to our benefit.
A good learner is forever walking the narrow path between blindness and hallucination. ― Pedro Domingos, The Master Algorithm

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Dave B
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Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#7 Post by Dave B » February 10th, 2016, 4:11 pm

Ok, john, I'll call on:
The problem of overpopulation we address as an individual or family and hope the law of large numbers works to our benefit.
"Hope"? I'll take planning and forehought 10^10 - 1 out of 10^10 times on that! There are, of course, the "suck it and see" moments...

"...the law of large numbers"

Wassat then?
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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John G
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Joined: February 3rd, 2016, 2:44 am

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#8 Post by John G » February 10th, 2016, 4:21 pm

Dave B wrote:Ok, john, I'll call on:
The problem of overpopulation we address as an individual or family and hope the law of large numbers works to our benefit.
"Hope"? I'll take planning and forehought 10^10 - 1 out of 10^10 times on that! There are, of course, the "suck it and see" moments...

"...the law of large numbers"

Wassat then?
Planning and forethought is what an individual can do. If enough people do it then it can affect a change. Large numbers of people. :) Hope for a given idea can have an undercurrent of positive or negative. It all depends on our bias for the given subject.

The eggs were yummy. Now my basket is empty.
A good learner is forever walking the narrow path between blindness and hallucination. ― Pedro Domingos, The Master Algorithm

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Dave B
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Joined: May 17th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#9 Post by Dave B » February 10th, 2016, 4:34 pm

Hmm, considering that "hope" is a close bedellow to "luck" - and the latter favours the prepared mind greatly - I'll go with the planning option!

Granted, an element of hope can offer some a degree of motivation...

I would personally add "hope", along with "luck", to my rewrite of Kipling's famed poem, by way of being unreliable allies! :D
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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John G
Posts: 74
Joined: February 3rd, 2016, 2:44 am

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#10 Post by John G » February 10th, 2016, 5:33 pm

Luck is a fickle mistress. :) I agree. Just need to stack the deck as much as you can.
A good learner is forever walking the narrow path between blindness and hallucination. ― Pedro Domingos, The Master Algorithm

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Dave B
Posts: 17809
Joined: May 17th, 2010, 9:15 pm

Re: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

#11 Post by Dave B » February 10th, 2016, 5:47 pm

John G wrote:Luck is a fickle mistress. :) I agree. Just need to stack the deck as much as you can.
Does not "stack the deck" = "prepare" = "plan ahead" = "apply forethought" .: "not rely on uncontrollable factors any more than unavoidably".

"Hope" is an uncontrollable abstract.

Having said all this I enjoy a little, if limited, chaos and randomness in life. A life too structured can get boring :laughter:
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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