Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis

Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis begins with humility: it says, perhaps it is like this. Then it invites you to check.

Whether the hypothesis is finally true matters less than what it teaches you to notice. Good hypotheses are like good questions — they rearrange the furniture of the mind even when they are wrong.

It is worth keeping in your pocket not because it is always right, but because it is always available. A tool you carry beats a perfect tool you left at home.

In every examination hall there are two kinds of silence: the silence of those who prepared, and the silence of those who are preparing excuses. The room can hear the difference.

Learning is the one wealth that survives every partition of fortune. Write it on the wall of the mind, not the wall of the house. The house already has enough instructions.