There is a famous Iraqi idiom which states that if you think your opponents can eat you for dinner, then you'd better eat them for lunch. If your opponent is too big and powerful to eat you right-now, you'd better eat them for lunch before they eat you. Commitment problems from our opponents lead us to act, and that's another reason why rational man can go to war.
— Christopher BlattmanI'm a firm believer in the inherent goodness of the world. The notion that refugees aim to usurp others' opportunities is a misconception. Excellence and dedication secure positions, not nationality. If a refugee excels, it's a call for self-improvement, not resentment. My goal is to demonstrate through our actions that coexistence is not only possible but enriching.
The last century has witnessed a radical transformation in the entire human environment, largely as a result of the impact of the mathematical and physical sciences upon technology.
I define disruption as being where the incumbent players and incumbents somehow deny what their customers are saying or want differently. A disruptor comes in, sees a problem more clearly, and in some cases has more freedom to attack the problem.
Historically, conflicts typically ended with the major players negotiating peace agreements, often including amnesties. The more brutal and involved in crimes a party was, the more significant their role at the negotiation table. This approach changed after the Second World War with the Nuremberg trials.
There are two basic underlying reasons. Firstly dysfunctional politics and secondly economic mistakes.
Emotions are the brain's way of making us pay attention immediately to what is most important so that we can react as quickly as possible. In evolution, that meant 'survival' – the rustle in the bushes may be our next meal or may make us its next meal – something that we have to chase, or run away from – and in either case, we don't want to have to stop and think.
I genuinely believe that if music comes from your heart and soul, that people will hear that and will be able to connect with the truth of it. For a musician, that's really important- you have to be true to yourself and to the feelings you have when you make music.
We clearly have more risk around the sovereign debt of mature and developed economies. Certainly that's an issue in the US- both at the federal and state level. We're seeing that right now in very dramatic fashion in the EU also. You also see the knock-on effects of aggressive monetary policy and weak fiscal policy driving activity in precious metals, commodities and also even in equities!
One of my Zen mentors authored a book entitled 'Ending the Pursuit of Happiness'. He criticises the concept of chasing happiness as a curative fantasy – the mistaken belief that happiness is an attainable, sustainable, and permanent state. No one is in a state of perpetual happiness.
People have lost their belief in the establishment, they believe that the outsider who would bring anger and chaos is much better than the status quo; even if that is against their own interests.
If you have a great show, you have a great business. If you don't have a good show, you have no business. What it means is that show has to come first. Don't start the day by saying 'how many tickets am I going to sell today?'
Space triggers that innate curiosity in us about what's out there, where we came from, and the possibilities those answers could bring. Humans are explorers – our imaginations can run wild- it's in our DNA. Our fascination with space links to our ability to dream, to wonder, to be curious and to have big ideas.