From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
On the court, there was no prejudice, just your contribution to the team. Off the court, teamwork seemed like a parody of what we did. So, the lesson I eventually learned was to distinguish between which teams are sincere in promoting true teamwork, and which are jingoistic self-serving pretenders.
Silence is not an option. Businesses have an obligation to make sure their products and services meet the needs of humanity in a way that is not damaging, but healthy.
Influencers wield enormous influence, and sometimes, this can manifest negatively. The spread of anti-vaccination rhetoric, the reluctance to use sunscreen, and the rise of conspiracy theories like QAnon can be profoundly damaging.
If you go to any rave, or any football event, you will find people chanting in a rhythm- human beings do that. We have this sense to participate and organise- Music lets you rediscover your humanity, and your connection to humanity. When you listen to Mozart with other people, you feel that somehow- we're all in this together.
I am a nomad—intellectually, physically, spiritually. A commuter, in the words of James Baldwin. This state of continuous exile is one that I find difficult to explain to other people but it's who I am.
If you have a bottle of water in your house, it belongs to you. Nobody can touch it without your permission, nobody can get into your house without your permission. This doesn't apply to the internet world. Facebook can access your room and your house without your consent. They can tear down your house, they can delete and block your digital life.
Change proceeds at the speed of trust. Building this trust, particularly in the context of AI and synthetic biology, starts with open information exchange, discussion, and dialogue. It's about creating a shared understanding of our capabilities, responsible deployment of technology, and acknowledging the associated risks.
I'm particularly interested in the human propensity to copy behaviours that lack any kind of knowable causal structure. This is how we learn arbitrary conventions—and I think it originates in a distinctively human way of building group identities.
Our aspirations frequently get clouded by external expectations—be it from friends, family, or society at large. This interference can make it tough to discern our authentic passions. Hence, it's crucial to connect deeply with our core purpose, values, and the reasons behind our desires.
Photography has become the universal language. It doesn't matter what country you're from, what language you speak, we all understand images. That's what makes it so powerful and so dangerous.
Even if we could live to 1000 years, life would still be too short for many of us. I'm 51, that went in a blink of an eye. I don't think finding purpose in our lives will be an issue.... Longer life gives us a more purposeful life.
Consider the adoption rates of various technologies: for telephone and electricity, it took approximately 15 years to jump from a 50% to 75% market share. With the advent of the internet and computers, that span dropped to 10 years. Television achieved this in only 5 years. But smartphones? They shattered all records with a mere 3-year period.