Conquistadors of the uniquely useless

When everything is urgent, nothing is urgent.

Thereby when everyone is an expert, no one is an expert.

Political debate (without legislative execution) nearly always leads to a zero-sum outcome, at best.

We can make the same case on discussions of religion, or any discussion fundamental to one’s identity.

I think what religion and politics have in common is that they become part of people's identity, and people can never have a fruitful argument about something that's part of their identity. By definition they're partisan.

Which topics engage people's identity depends on the people, not the topic. For example, a discussion about a battle that included citizens of one or more of the countries involved would probably degenerate into a political argument. But a discussion today about a battle that took place in the Bronze Age probably wouldn't. No one would know what side to be on. So it's not politics that's the source of the trouble, but identity. When people say a discussion has degenerated into a religious war, what they really mean is that it has started to be driven mostly by people's identities.

-Paul Graham, Keep Your Identity Small

Identity is fundamental to the self and I believe understanding it increases empathy. However, it is often linked to a status game.

How do we work together to solve hard problems if they increasingly engage or focus on identity?

Too often in the past, I was guilty of conquistadoring my way into these kinds of conversations.

In many ways life is short. In other ways life is long.

Be kind, ask curious questions, and solve problems for as many people as you can.