From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Truth is an aspiration which none of us can ever know that we have attained. Nobody has a pipeline to the truth; nobody is imbued with divine revelation. We seek truth through institutions like science, journalism, governance, justice systems and record keeping.
Humanity, having never faced any serious competition or whole-species-threats, feels relatively safe from existential events and cannot conceive any threats it may be creating.
I am a father of two small children. When you have children, you have to ask yourself what the world will look like in the next 80-100 years, because people get that old these days if everything goes well. Last but not least, as a father I see it as my responsibility to think about my actions and my motives.
What was impossible 20 years ago, is possible today. What is impossible today, will be possible x-years from now. We are always in change.
I see games as psychology experiments that we conduct on ourselves. This realization struck me while playing Sudoku. When you first encounter Sudoku, you're acutely aware of the rules you're applying to solve the puzzle. It's a conscious effort, like turning a crank and watching the puzzle get solved. However, as you progress, those initial heuristics, those rules of thumb, become internalized. You stop being aware of them; they become second nature, and you start focusing on more subtle, higher-level heuristics.
The key for young individuals is to balance seeking wisdom from those who have preceded them—being open and receptive, yet not confusing confidence with arrogance—while offering their insights and ideas for collaboration.
There's a great quote that is 'political correctness is tyranny with manners'.
You need clarity of vision and purpose. You need to know the reason you're there at that surgical table with a knife in your hand. You have to be clear that you are using these sophisticated tools (tools which can cause a lot of harm) to fundamentally and primarily help that entity, that child in front of you. That mindset provides the energy and focus needed to carry out the task.
There is no such thing as true-altruism (even philanthropists get something out of giving!). What is this individuals' payoff from working with you?
If you view the world from a moral perspective, you have no option but to address climate change in a timely fashion. The good news is that the moral imperative is backed-up by economics, technological advance and capital shifts.
I'm a school drop-out that is now teaching professors and doctors around the world; all because of a naïve woman's wish for her child to live.
The most corrupting idea about power is that it gives you a set of techniques to enable you to get more of what you want, no questions asked. If we think about power in that way, our soul will get eroded.