Fish purchases for cash. [conveniently, the instructions go on to explain that] ‘Fish’ means all fish and other forms of aquatic life. ‘Cash’ means U.S. and foreign coin and currency and a cashier’s check, bank draft, traveler’s check, or money order. Cash does not include a check drawn on your personal or business account.

So make sure to keep track of the cash payments your business is making when buying any form of aquatic life! Something tells me that this odd exception can be traced back to a big case of fraud.

One of my favorite passages comes in the midst of Hugh’s reflection how some have passion to change the world. He traces the roots of that kind of passion to what he calls the “Pissed Off Gene”:

Human beings have this thing I call the “Pissed Off Gene.” It’s that bit of our psyche hat makes us utterly dissatisfied with our lot, no matter how kindly fortune smiles upon us.

It’s there for a reason. Back in our early caveman days being pissed off made us more likely to get off our butt, get out of the cave and into the tundra hunting woolly mammoth, so we’d have something to eat for supper. It’s a survival mechanism. Damn useful then, damn useful now.

. . .

Part of understanding creative urge is understanding that it’s primal. Wanting to change the world is not a noble calling; it’s a primal urge.

We think we’re “providing a superior integrated logistic system” or “helping America to really taste freshness.” In fact, we’re just pissed off and want to get the hell out of the cave and kill the woolly mammoth.

(Emphsis mine.) Go read it. Really. It’s fun too.

Never ascribe to malice that which can more easily be explained by incompetence.

It’s an effective conspiracy theory killer too. Naturally, this is cbell’s Corollary to Occam’s Razor.

In my own mind, I use it as a test: in the absence of differentiating evidence, the explanation with the fewest unknown dependencies—in other words, the simplest one—is likely correct.