What do I believe?

Belief admits of all degrees, from the slightest suspicion to the fullest assurance.
— Reid.

My trusty copy of the 1913 edition of Webster’s dictionary has this to offer on the meaning of belief:

belief

Assent to a proposition or affirmation, or the acceptance of a fact, opinion, or assertion as real or true, without immediate personal knowledge; reliance upon word or testimony; partial or full assurance without positive knowledge or absolute certainty; persuasion; conviction; confidence; as, belief of a witness; the belief of our senses.

These are some of the beliefs that have become a part of me, of my identity, articulated as I feel them now. I am fallible, and inconsistent, I am human. My beliefs are duly fallible, inconsistent, and human.

This project is in its infancy, needless to say that so far it only represents a tiny portion of my beliefs.

1. Understanding is everything
2. Understanding is misunderstanding
3. Understanding is a dialogue
4. Waste is misunderstanding

Other things I believe but haven’t published anything about:

• Tomorrow never comes. If you wait till tomorrow to start a project or begin a journey you haven’t even started and you may never.
• All problems can be halved¹
• Good design must have constraints. There is no such thing as good design in a world with insufficient constraints. Software suffers this particularly, but see also big projects that aren’t allowed to fail on their merits. Any project backed by too-deep pockets will ultimately arrive at a poor, inefficient design. Constraints are everything.