From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
A particular individual trait that has piqued my interest through research is intellectual humility. Embracing the possibility of being wrong enhances
It can be understood as the undermining of the human will. It starts with distraction in the moment where our ability to focus is fragmented – but then it runs deeper into how it distracts us into living according to certain habits, values and norms.
Economics is like artificial intelligence, it's not really there… there's no physical invisible hand…. It's about people interacting with people against a social order, a set of ethics, principles and practices.
In my view, I believe that in 2023, the pinnacle goal of intelligence should be the pursuit of continued existence. I struggle to comprehend why any sentient being would choose any path other than striving for prolonged existence.
My argument is that happiness shouldn't be pursued deliberately. Happiness is more of a by-product, a downstream effect of making sound decisions, and adopting the right mindset. I cite a quote from Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, in his book, 'Man's Search for Meaning'. He posits that success shouldn't be sought deliberately but rather, it's something that materialises when one is engaged in meaningful endeavours. This logic applies perfectly to happiness as well.
a powerful call to action to think deeply about what lights you up—and a guide for how to build a life of meaning and purpose.
When you embark on that spiritual journey, it's literally a series of deaths that lead to a new, more spiritual life. That part of me had to die for the spiritual part to be born.
The definition of 'purpose' can be questioning, 'What am I doing that's greater than myself? What am I a part of that's bigger than just me?' We now know the most sustainable form of meaningful happiness comes to purpose.
Be ashamed to die unless you have won some victory for humanity. Nobody should make the world worse off for their having lived in it. Everyone has the obligation to add their brick to the edifice of civilisation, and whether that brick is big or small, it means you have contributed to building- not destroying.
Technology isn't a 'thing,' it's a social structure that people act upon the universe through. The social structure has incentives, roles and governance which determine the meaning and effect of the technology, not the engineering itself.
I think intelligence is best understood as an entity that has the ability to improve a metric through repeated exposure over time. By that definition, machine learning algorithms are learning systems — they get better with more data and more exposures. A dog is a learning system. A cat is a learning system — you teach it a trick, reward it a few times, and it just does it from there on. And humans, of course, are the ultimate example of a learning system.
There's also a danger in acting of identifying yourself as an actor. We have to try to identify ourselves as human beings first, and our jobs second. I'm Sam, I act sometimes… not I am Sam, I am an actor. What I do is separate to me.