Berkeley, UNIX, and LSD
There are two major products to come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don’t believe this to be a coincidence.
— Jeremy S. Anderson
The descent into dysfunction is a long, slow process. At no point is there a conscious choice to be dysfunctional.
— Unknown, possibly original
All power corrupts, but we need the electricity.
— Unknown
The truth knocks on the door and you say, “Go away, I’m looking for truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling.
— Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I actually sent this quote to an internal recruiter once. I had been through several interviews with the company and it seemed that I was progressing towards a job offer. I was excited about the company and it looked to me to be a very good fit.
And then came that one final interview with one of the partners. Within the first fifteen seconds of our conversation I knew that an offer would not be forthcoming. It was clear that she had already made up her mind before the call even began. When the recruiter called a few days later to say that the firm had decided to not move forward I was deeply puzzled.
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
Cyril Conolly died three decades before Twitter was conceived. And yet, I can’t help but think that he would have echoed the same sentiments today.
We don’t have one big advantage so we have to weave a rope of many small advantages.
— Jeff Bezos
So Social Security will be broke in seven years. First Bernie Madoff, now this. It’s like Ponzi schemes don’t even work anymore.
– Bill Muse, Top 5 Rumination
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This is funny, but not true.
LSD was first synthesized by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann. Leary was just the first one to abuse it 🙂
You’re correct about Albert Hofmann to be the first to synth LSD, but 1. Leary WASN’T the first to ‘abuse’ it (Hofmann was…Bike day), 2. Post-bike-day, tons of psychiatrists and other people consumed acid prior to Leary.
Lastly, it is well known that presently there is a lab somewhere in Berkeley as a majority of VERY good acid blotters and crystal pours out of there and has been for a while. Derp.
“There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don’t believe this to be a coincidence.” – Jeremy S. Anderson
Jay
It took me a while, but I just realized that your comment was to inform me of the author of the quote. I apologize for taking so long to realize this. I have updated the post to show Jeremy Anderson as the quote’s author.