About

This website is anonymous so I can think and speak freely.

Why the title Moving the Limit?

The title Moving the Limit refers to the limits / borders of human belief. For example:

• any line separating "true" from "false"
• any line separating the "possible" from the "impossible"
• conventional versus unconventional thinking
• historical precedent versus novel behavior
• defined areas of study versus uncharted aspects of existence

The default attitude seems to treat defined limits as absolute constants. And the default reaction, in the face of potential change, is to double down on fortifying the borders. People don't like to change their minds.

But collective belief is a mental construct. It's an invisible vapor. Beliefs fail to constrain or modify physical reality:

• Even if the entire imperial court of ancient China believes that drinking mercury will lead to immortality, drinking mercury leads to madness and death
• Even if every pre-1800s American doctor believes that handwashing is unhealthy, taking unwashed hands straight from dissecting a corpse to delivering a baby will lead to infection
• Even if 1950s sport experts conclude that humans are physically incapable of the 4-minute mile, people can run 4-minute miles
• Even if Isaac Newton (one of the greatest minds in recorded history) believes that alchemy can produce gold, it's impossible to produce gold with alchemy

We need to change our beliefs to fit reality — it doesn't work the other way around.

It's easy to feel superior to past humans, but our hardware is exactly the same. We commit the same foolishness: never questioning our beliefs, and enforcing hard boundaries on what's possible or impossible.

It's concerning if a child maintains a lifelong, inflexible belief in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. In the same way, it's concerning if you meet an adult who never updates their beliefs.

Be on the lookout for evidence which would lead you to change your mind. This is a counterweight to your natural tendency to only notice whatever confirms you.

Get into the habit of reshaping the borders of what you consider to be true or false, possible or impossible. Move the limits. If you don't, reality will be more than happy to snap your brittle thinking.

Contact

Follow me on Twitter or email me at valuebetventures [at] gmail [dot] com. Genuinely happy to chat, and may take my time to respond.