Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Let us call such minority an intransigent group, and the majority a flexible one. And their relationship rests on an asymmetry in choices.

people’s funds or has a family to feed.

The main theological flaw in Pascal’s wager is that belief cannot be a free option. It entails a symmetry between what you pay and what you receive.

Love without sacrifice is theft (Procrustes). This applies to any form of love, particularly the love of God.

Anything you do to optimize your work, cut some corners, or squeeze more “efficiency” out of it (and out of your life) will eventually make you dislike it. Artisans have their soul in the game.

Things designed by people without skin in the game tend to grow in complication (before their final collapse).

The more robust Silver Rule says Do not treat others the way you would not like them to treat you. More robust? How? Why is the Silver Rule more robust? First, it tells you to mind your own business and not decide what is “good” for others. We know with much more clarity what is bad than what is good.

What they do, on the other hand, is tangible and measurable and that’s what we should focus on.