Listen, Google, ’ I will say, ‘both John and Paul are courting me. I like both of them, but in a different way, and it’s so hard to make up my mind. Given everything you know, what do you advise me to do?’ And Google will answer: ‘Well, I know you from the day you were born. I have read all your emails, recorded all your phone calls, and know your favourite films, your DNA and the entire history of your heart. I have exact data about each date you went on, and if you want, I can show you second-by-second graphs of your heart rate, blood pressure and sugar levels whenever you went on a date with John or Paul. If necessary, I can even provide you with accurate mathematical ranking of every sexual encounter you had with either of them. And naturally enough, I know them as well as I know you. Based on all this information, on my superb algorithms, and on decades’ worth of statistics about millions of relationships — I advise you to go with John, with an 87 per cent probability of being more satisfied with him in the long run. Indeed, I know you so well that I also know you don’t like this answer. Paul is much more handsome than John, and because you give external appearances too much weight, you secretly wanted me to say “Paul”. Looks matter, of course; but not as much as you think. Your biochemical algorithms — which evolved tens of thousands of years ago in the African savannah — give looks a weight of 35 per cent in their overall rating of potential mates. My algorithms — which are based on the most up-to-date studies and statistics — say that looks have only a 14 per cent impact on the long-term success of romantic relationships. So, even though I took Paul’s looks into account, I still tell you that you would be better off with John.Yuval Noah Harari
About This Quote
The human mind is complex. It can be used to predict the future, it can tell you what you want to hear, and it can lead to numerous philosophical musings. We all have our biases, our preferences, and our prejudices. They are part of the human condition.
They are just part of being human. People are people, because they are limited by their biology, their society, and their culture. If you say something that offends someone's values or beliefs, they will take offense. Sometimes the offense is not intentional–maybe the person didn't intend to offend you–but sometimes it is intentional–maybe the person did intend to offend you because he or she was trying to make a point about something else, but then lost sight that that was what they were doing. This quote emphasizes that people are individuals that have their own opinions and values that are not always in line with one another.
There are people out there who are offended by things other people say because they do not understand why you could find your own value system so offensive.
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