From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
We are in an era of hyper-novelty. The rate of change of the novelty we face is so fast that it has outstripped our evolutionary capacity to keep up.
We can use the pain of our past as a catapult propelling us forward. As the saying goes, 'the best revenge is a life well-lived.' So, the most gratifying way to spite all those who tried to harm me during my childhood is to say, 'Look at me now; I'm speaking to Vikas Shah, 50 years later.'
I didn't have a childhood- I didn't play- every day was about survival. I was always moving to a different-place on a weekly/monthly basis.
The vast majority of people- if they can benefit from something or make some money, will look the other way. It's personal greed, without thought about the consequences.
The world of celebrity offers an escape from the real world, and offers different things to different people. To many, the celebrity world is aspirational, they imagine themselves living that lifestyle and dream of how it would be to go to that premiere, have that fancy house, or that expensive vacation. For others, the world of celebrity is like watching a car-wreck.
Difference is not something we need to solve. Difference is something we need to love. Difference is something we need to respect — because it is in the clash of difference that the great ideas emerge.
Racism, like sexism and any other form of discrimination, is an utterly futile exercise… nobody benefits. Societies are better for diversity in all forms, and time and time again we've seen that the more homogenous people become, the less they are able to flourish.
Doing something which has a social purpose gives you the motivation to overcome the hurdles and obstacles that you will meet along the way. It gives you that inner strength when you're doing something and you know it's making a massive difference.
The story is told sincerely, but the cumulative effect is misleading – a subconsciously organised trick.
I can see from people I've lost in my life that the thing you leave behind is love, so I hope I've created a bit of that too… I know I've been lucky to receive a lot.
It's important that every person you work with, all your colleagues, all your co-workers, leave a company with more skills and economic mobility than when they arrived. Further, it's important the time they spent with you wasn't miserable, that it was great, good, enjoyable.
A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation.