From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
I'm grateful to be alive during this time. I can't think of a better time than this very moment. Freedom without struggle is an illusion. I love problems. How we deal with problems defines who we are and what values we stand for.
As the rise of populism causes increased scepticism of business we are very conscious of our role as a firm in society. We focus on the impact that our portfolio businesses have on all of their stakeholders, from investors and employees to the local communities in which they operate.
All you have to do is walk through an airport, for example, and notice that it is very difficult to navigate through it. You will encounter humans (almost statue like) who are glued – looking at their mobile phones, unaware of what is happening around them, because they are addicted to their technology. That is by design that people are addicted to technology.
I'd argue it's easier now than ever, given the world's increasing openness to varied perspectives. Society's acceptance of homosexuality was a significant milestone, and now we're witnessing similar progress concerning gender issues. I perceive these shifts as testament to the world's growing receptivity to new ideas.
Understanding superhumans is to understand human potential. We have this immense potential which isn't always fulfilled individually, or as a species. I wanted to grab that by the scruff of the neck and write something positive about the best we can be.
Fusion – or 'identity fusion' to be more precise – is basically a form of group alignment in which essential features of your personal identity are felt to be shared with the group. What this means is that there are basically two ways of becoming fused. One is to undergo an experience that becomes a core feature of who you are – such as a painful or frightening ordeal.
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. I describe ritual actions as causally opaque. We engage in this kind of behaviour even more enthusiastically when we're anxious about being excluded or left out.
Pakistan has sought to reassure international donors that funds to help victims of its devastating flooding will not fall into extremists' hands. The Taliban would not be allowed to take advantage of the crisis to increase its support.
We are the master race. We are the creatures who impose our will on virtually everything that lives and breathes. It's deeply shocking when you start to think about the scale of it.
The silence we've adopted, along with the habits, behaviours, and patterns we've established, don't have to dictate how we proceed today or tomorrow, even if they characterized our yesterdays. It's challenging, to be clear. Changing behaviours is difficult. But on the other side of that challenge lies the opportunity for us to meet our needs, to build the teams we truly intend to build.
The group found that, on average, people living in Manhattan travel 2.5 miles most days, compared to five miles in Los Angeles. But we also found that when you look at the longest trips people make, people that live in New York go significantly further, 69 miles on a weekday compared to 29 in Los Angeles.
Salman Abedi, Khalid Masood, Khuram Butt, all of these people and the people in ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab… We tend to think sometimes that they are extremism. But the reality is they didn't breed extremism. Islamist extremism bred them.