Mahmoud Rasmi @Decafquest Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Mahmoud Rasmi

8 months

📢 The book is now live! Grab your copy today. Philosophy for Business Leaders: Asking Questions, Navigating Uncertainty, and the Quest for Meaning. Available in paperback and Kindle editions.

23

34

124

Last Seen Profiles

@Matmazelll__

@NoctemAeternamX

@H0FArt

@chessofstars

@pengen_stw

@alcinaswoman

@jandakembangstw

@NSFWaifu

@theworldlabs

@MemoLabsOrg

@pengen_stw

@BR0NCOSCOUNTRY

@mrabaalkheil

@BigDickDaddyOp

@minshambhala

@pengen_stw

@einstein2004113

@ryang_griffin

@TuttlebergH

@satochiyo122930

@Karlovac2

@DavidCabaMD

@O5cSo

@luttyshimanutri

@penikma89063156

@UNIORE

@ThePerfeclyEvil

@HaashtagMedia

@pessimistic_io

@mandiimonarch

@Lee18500712

@stw_pdg

@Jigglyenojado

@NSFWaifu

@DoginalsOink

@stw_pdg

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Some Bigtime Tommie wisdom. @nntaleb

5

107

805

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Don't. It's cheaper for you to go abroad, and actually learn something or two along the way.

LAU

@lebamericanuni

4 years

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 @ 𝐋𝐀𝐔 Business Studies applicants have the chance to explore their future at the LAU Adnan Kassar School of Business.

1

2

16

18

81

701

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

I've come up with the best economics joke. But it only works in theory.

24

105

647

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

In March 2020 I quit my academic job. I had other plans that got postponed because of covid travel restrictions. In June I decided, by chance, to start teaching Philosophy online. 9 months later I've now had 250+ participants in my online courses. All thanks to Twitter.

33

36

634

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Descartes wasn't a morning person. He used to wake up at 11 am at the earliest. That was until Queen Cristina of Sweden hired him in 1649 for private philosophy lessons starting 5 am. Descartes died in 1650.

18

62

630

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

5 years

On people who are afraid of cameras by @nntaleb : Relevant today more than ever.

16

96

524

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

How to be a 'Middle Eastern Studies' expert in 3 steps: - Graduate from Columbia (or something) - Spend a semester in the levant, and start speaking fusha to show off - Learn 3 new words and use them frequently: Orientalism, decolonization, and global south You're welcome

14

54

534

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

I quit the rat race and opted for an early retirement. Here's how i did it: Unemployed, No savings, Never had a job to begin with, No house, Just 2 shirts, 2 pants, a mobile phone someone gifted me, and marx's commie manifesto. I live under a bridge.

19

28

371

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Oh look, @paugasol is readinh @nntaleb 's SITG

Pau Gasol

@paugasol

4 years

Currently reading: A book about the importance of accepting our own risks in all walks of life. #SkinInTheGame #AlwaysReading 📚 #SiempreLeyendo 📖 #HealthyQuarantine 👍 #CuarentenaSaludable 🔝

30

76

667

11

24

312

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

The year on @gumroad My business is useless online philosophy courses.

27

4

283

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

When you're under the illusion that you have a status to maintain, your uptightness makes your life less enjoyable and more difficult.

12

45

272

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

I quit my academic job in Spring, and decided to teach philosophy online. Participants from all walks of life. Been quite the ride. - At university I learned how to explain academic philosophy - Now I'm re-learning how to explain philosophy for people with real life experience

5

13

252

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

5 years

I have come to the conclusion that intellectual masturbators don't like @nntaleb because: 1) he only talks about what he knows 2) he doesn't use jargon and abstract concepts 3) makes himself understandable to specialists and non-specialists alike

14

17

242

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

How to be 'scientific' in 3 steps: - collect any data you want (e.g. number of times messi sneezes before he scores a goal) - plot it on a graph - draw a line in the middle You're welcome

18

24

224

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

I wrote about my freelance online philosophy teaching venture, check it out! special thanks to @nntaleb @dvassallo @GuruAnaerobic and @dan_azzi , and to all those who registered and expressed their interest in taking a course with me!

14

33

222

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

If you apply (or are studying) for an entrepreneurship degree at a university, you are missing the point.

15

5

216

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

A man of many talents, fus7a douche @HuseinNourdin decided to recite a lovely poem of his bel 3ammiye. Look at his face, he's as happy as i am when Messi scores 4 goals a game. I'm already sold, and will be buying his collection of poems books once it's out.

14

20

212

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

5 years

@ishirubi @NachoOliveras @nntaleb I just assumed those were the 1980s, so here's my meme:

5

18

203

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

I've just finished writing an LAU joke. Just kidding, paid someone to write it for me. (It's been a while 🙄)

6

7

195

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

6 years

“As for scholars, I respect their labour and have drawn great benefits from it, but the fact is that at the banquet of philosophy they are neither the cooks nor the gourmets but the waiters that run between the two.” - Bryan Magee #skininthegame #philosophy #academia

1

56

185

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

An LAU student did a pcr test... just kidding, they paid someone else to do it for them.

11

5

183

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

I used to be angry on Twitter. Then I realized that filtering out noise was much needed. Twitter is not the place to go over differences that need to be discussed in depth. It is a place to test thought nuggets, get feedback, and connect with people. The rest is just noise.

7

15

182

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

How to read a book in 3 steps: - Buy a book of your choice from your local bookshop or order it on Amazon - Shelve the book in your library - Continue watching Netflix series You're welcome

12

11

175

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

1/ Discovery of the day. A maronite liturgical manscript in syriac from 1242 at the historical library of the University of Salamanca. It was copied by a monk called joseph in Bkarkasha, a village in Bsharri, Mount Lebanon. Was sent to Rome before it ended up in Salamanca.

11

29

175

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

5 years

IQ mob vs @nntaleb

Brent Beshore

@BrentBeshore

5 years

Awards vs. Profits

48

619

3K

3

19

169

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

Just received this email from @gumroad . It's still beyond me how all this happened. But I'm thankful to everyone who supported, promoted, and/or signed up. Academia wasn't my thing. Philosophy might not be sustainable as is, which is why I've been attempting to diversify too.

21

1

170

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

I have 23 students in class, 69 students over three courses. They pay 3,117,000 lbp per 3 credit courses which makes a total 215, 073, 000 lbp per 3 courses a semester. I make only 16,000,000 lbp per semester, with no added benefits.

19

17

158

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

I quit academia because of all the recommendation letter requests... and I'm still getting recommendation letter requests from ex-students.. 😩

10

3

160

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

Atheist untill it's penalty shootouts time.

7

16

167

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

7 months

@tferriss And realizing that there's an intermediate step, according to the Stoics, between an event and our reaction. Namely, judgement.

5

17

165

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Sex is great. But have you tried reading a philosophy book? It sucks. Stick to sex.

7

10

160

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

When i was a child i wanted to be a standup comedian, but then i studied philosopy, so i became the joke.

11

8

159

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Aristotle was the most prominent student at Plato's Academy. When Plato died, he wanted to become the director of the school, but Plato's nephew was chosen instead. Inspired by that, universities have been practicing nepotism ever since.

7

24

154

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

I saw many inquiring about Canadian immigration. So i put together a quick article explaining one possible option, the one I followed (express entry, federal skilled worker program) to get the permanent residency visa. You can use it as a starting guide.

9

25

153

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

At university, I studied philosophy. For years, I was unemployed, broke, and lived under a bridge. Eventually, I deiced to change the course of my life to make more money. So I decided to become a standup comedian. Now, in addition to the above, I owe the bank 100k USD.

13

3

154

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 months

@paulg Gpt is learning it from academics. Philosophy people like myself abuse it too. This is from something I wrote back in 2015. Need to unlearn a lot of things. 🥲

15

7

152

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

I eat one meal a day. Take cold showers. Exercise. Long walks. Soak in the sun. Here's how i did it ✏️: - Unemployed - Inflation - No savings - No skills - Bridge dweller. It gets cold so i have to run and take walks to keep warm. - I shower in the river nearby.

15

7

152

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

A Plato-inspired rule of thumb: if someone has an unrelenting obsession with coming to power, they should not be allowed into a public office.

4

23

146

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Lebanese people need to stop romanticizing their decision to stay here, and to spare us their virtue fucking signaling. It's easy to claim more pseudo-activist points when you're paid in fresh usd, and living in places that offer full-board services. Spare us the fucking BS.

13

9

140

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Reading as many books a year as you possibly could doesn't necessarily mean that you either learned or understood what you read. Fetishizing reading and conceiving of it as an end in itself defeats the purpose of the entire activity.

5

10

141

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

1 year

#NewProfilePic

19

4

142

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

5 years

Where I try to understand what @clairlemon is overlooking: cc: @nntaleb @normonics @trishankkarthik @JoshHochschild

28

32

132

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

How many NGOers does it take to change a lightbulb? 1 local person hired for 10$ by 99 international administrators getting paid + $10k/month, supervising, writing proposals and stuff...

4

16

128

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

Sunday bbq

11

1

132

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Another online philosophy course announcement for January! Mondays & Wednesdays 8 pm Beirut time. 4-weeks introduction to philosophy including: Plato Aristotle Stoicism Epicureanism Hume Descartes Russell NNTaleb 8 pm Beirut time price 115 USD 👉

18

12

129

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

When people throw random percentages, like for example 2% corona mortality rates, they never assume it could be them next. The problem with statistics, like abstract philosophical arguments, is that they make the problem seem distant, affecting others and never oneself.

8

18

126

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Lebanese proverb

2

13

121

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Beirut ca. 1955-1959, taken by my great-uncle.

2

6

125

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

6 years

Students explaining #Antifragile in their final exam. Cc: @nntaleb

5

13

122

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

I once read a book. But nothing happened afterwards. My life remained the same.

18

10

126

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

11 months

Aldous Huxley on the future form of dictatorship. (1958 interview) "I think what is going to happen in the future is that dictators will find, as the old saying goes, that they can do everything with bayonets except sit on them. If you want to preserve your power indefinitely

6

42

124

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

I spent 7 years of my life 'chasing' a goal. It took several setbacks to understand that I am better off creating a diversified portfolio of things that motivate me. Networking desperately on Linkedin is futile. You're better off showcasing your work. An opp will emerge.

5

9

117

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Trying not to offend anyone in 2020.

5

15

111

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

I've been teaching philosophy online synchronously as a 'freelancer' for around 10 months now. Some observations: a) there's a niche market (yes i'm as surprised) b) i've had participants from 30 countries c) virtually or not, people want to engage constructively with others

2

3

119

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

A wise philosopher once stated the obvious, and he got many likes and retweets.

6

8

118

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

just inspired.

9

5

115

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

@nntaleb Maybe next time instead of sneakily tweeting, you can tell him that to his face? Just saying. Ah, i guess, like me, you too are a coward, Mr. Taleb.

6

2

113

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

I've been in spain for over a month now; neither covid nor vaccines nor any covid-related issue were a subject of discussion with those i've been meeting. Not even once.

13

2

122

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

I've written an academic joke. But it's been in review for 11 months now.

8

5

117

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Interviewer: there's a two-year gap on your cv; how do you explain that? Me: must be a typo. it should be 20, not 2.

5

2

114

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Leftist hippies need to learn economics and math.

9

10

104

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

- More localism, less nationalism - More bottom-up, less top-down - More pragmatic ethics that deal with concrete problems, less morally righteous theory, and virtue signaling - More whatever works insofar as you're not hurting anyone, less abstractive hippieness

7

10

113

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

At uni I spent more than half of my time grading exams and papers, and responding to emails from students who cared more about their grades than anything else. Now I spend my time preparing for/designing new online courses, and learning from people who are genuinely interested.

7

1

114

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Kicking-off the Knowledge and Reality course tonight with a new shirt and another existential crisis.

8

4

112

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

8 months

@rickygervais Pass by Salamanca. This is the Spanish translation.

4

1

113

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣| | you're taking twitter | | too seriously | __________________________ | \ (•◡•) / \ / —— | | |_ |_

6

3

111

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

How to properly read Kant in 1 step. You don't, you use it as mate coaster. Cheers.

14

3

112

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Today's joke is Marxist. But it's a bit tricky because apparently, no one has ever performed it properly.

12

14

111

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

Just crossed 50k on @gumroad . 🥳🥳 Thank you to all those who signed up for any of my online philosophy courses, much appreciated!

12

3

112

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

2 years

Books. University of Salamanca historical library stacks.

5

2

111

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Happening now, the ethics of skin in the game with @nntaleb

11

1

103

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

📢 Intro to philosophy online course 4-weeks, once/week Tuesdays, 8 pm Beirut Starting Aug. 10 Price: USD 150 40 spots Topics: - Stoicism - Belief - Freedom - Being co-taught with @philippecaponis

10

14

108

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

9 months

Just crossed $60k all-time (since August 2020) on @gumroad . 🥳 Product: online synchronous philosophy courses. Thank you to all those who signed up for any of the courses or spread the word! Cheers.

25

3

110

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Many of those claiming to care about mental health are also bosses, managers, business owners, colleagues, who treat their employees like slaves.

5

8

105

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣| | a PhD is just a degree | | __________________________ | \ (•◡•) / \ / —— | | |_ |_

7

5

104

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

1 year

Books I'm planning to read in a week this year: - Critique of Pure Reason, Kant - Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel - Logical Investigations, Husserl - Principia Mathematica, Russell & Whitehead - Confessions, St. Augustine - Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun - Being & Time, Heidegger

21

3

105

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

At home annoying cats have to read Hegel as punishment.

12

4

97

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Leftist until your job and salary are on the line... Talk is cheap.

5

7

95

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

The Dutch philosopher Spinoza was offered a teaching post at the University of Heidelberg in 1673. He turned it down because he did not want his intellectual freedom and wide-ranging interests to be limited. He instead made a living by grinding lenses. Keep grinding.

9

19

102

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

When Spinoza's father died, his sister tried to block his inheritance because she thought he wouldn't be entitled to it due to his ex-communication. Spinoza took his sister to court, won the case, and then gave her all the money. He only sought justice, he explained.

6

12

102

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Two things I learned reading Plato: - Socrates was annoying as fuck - People are willing to spend 2000 years talking about something you might or might not have said/written

7

2

102

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

5 years

A student in my introduction to philosophy class stapled those memes into the final exam answer sheet. Deserves an A?

13

11

100

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

If you do the readings for my courses, you will be kicked out.

5

2

101

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

7 months

@paulg Even intellectual achievements wouldn't guarantee that the person would do a great job running an institution or managing teams. It requires a great deal of other skills, dispositions, and character traits, to be a good leader.

8

1

98

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

Me at the only job interview I got: Interviewer: So, what value will you bring to the company? Me: Could you please define value? Are there universal values? Did you mean whether I can be virtuous? Or what skills I can add? Can we know what virtues are? I did not hear back

7

2

98

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

When you're reading philosophy only for 'research' and 'publication' purposes, you're doing opportunistic tourism as @nntaleb would say. When you're reading philosophy for your interest and without any preset agenda, you make unexpected discoveries. That's flaneuring.

3

11

96

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

How to be a @nntaleb in 3 steps: - deadlift with a view of the mediterranean - eat squid ink, and drink lebanese arak and wine - buy a house in amioun You're welcome

11

7

94

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

@nntaleb @theantifragile1

3

8

93

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Philosophy of religion, starting November 23, 8 pm Beirut time (5 pm GMT time) Capacity: 12 seats - Aquinas - Ibn Rushd - Pierre Hadot - Nietzsche - Peter Bernstein - Nassim Nicholas Taleb 👉

3

10

91

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

How to be a lebanese immigrant in 3 steps: - make sure to specify that you're leaving lebanon 'against your will' - take a photo of your passport and ticket before boarding - in the country of destination complain about how difficult it is to live abroad You're welcome

9

8

94

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

When one of the best days of your life depends on someone else winning the elections, then you might want to start getting a life.

Stephen King

@StephenKing

4 years

One of the best days of my life.

7K

31K

425K

5

1

94

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

How to be bad for the economy in 3 steps: - Quit your job - Build a portfolio of small bets - Inspire other people to do the same You're welcome cc @dvassallo

3

9

97

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Academia in a nutshell: students pretend to do the assignments, projects and exams, and the professors pretend to believe that the students did them.

7

4

92

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

🙄🙄

11

1

94

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Tonzir tonzir tonzir bla bla bla blo blo blo. Verbiage. Word diarrhea.

مواطنون ومواطنات في دولة

@mmfidawla

4 years

١- أن تبدي بعض الدول اهتماماً بما يحصل عندنا بالنظر إلى مصالحها شيء، وأن يستغلّ سياسيون أجانب مآسينا لمصالح انتخابية ولتحسين صورتهم في بلادهم شيء آخر. لا محل للسذاجة في علاقات الدول

17

75

288

8

5

92

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

3 years

"I am offended, therefore I am; as a result, you are cancelled." - the spirit of our time

3

8

92

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

Lebanon in a nutshell, we celebrate having to lose everything, and sacrifice a lot, because we think it's worth the 'investment'. Then we rush to the defense of an institution that sucks the life and money out of everyone else. #stockholmsyndrome

Rami Farran

@FarranRami

4 years

During my undergrad @AUB_Lebanon , my father sold his only car to continue my education. I had to work on 3 jobs to afford living close. Was it worth it? Worth every penny! AUB has given me, as every other Alumna/us, more than we can ever pay back. It’s time to do #AUBStrong

5

9

143

4

11

92

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

4 years

How surreal, and quite telling. Lebanese are more hopeful by the visit of another country's president.

4

13

91

Mahmoud Rasmi

@Decafquest

1 year

Dutch philosopher Spinoza was offered a teaching post at the University of Heidelberg in 1673. He turned it down because he did not want his intellectual freedom and wide-ranging interests to be limited. He instead made a living by grinding lenses. Keep grinding.

13

9

94