21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari
Summary
From the same author as Sapiens and Homo Deus (which are still on my list), his newest book talks about how our world is exponentially changing before our eyes. Makes you really think about the future that is upon us
Rating: 4/5
Notes
Humankind won’t abandon the liberal story because it has no alternative
Automation could create mass unemployment
AI might make cars and doctors redundant because of the interconnectivity of an entire system
One of the fastest growing sectors is the human care market
Algorithms may produce entire songs based on human emotions
Alpha Zero went from knowing nothing to world chess champion in 4 hours!
Key innovation in medicine is the biometric sensor as you can now track everything inside the human body
Countries may now develop super algorithms for surveillance that can monitor absolutely everything you do
Intelligence and consciousness are different and unlikely that AI will have consciousness
Those who own the data own the future, and therefore it needs to be regulated
Biggest threat in the next century is who owns the data
THe key to the next phase of life is better understanding of consciousness and being more in touch with your mind
Nationlist isolationism is more dangerous in the context of climate change and nuclear war
Culturalist vs. racist (becoming the norm to discriminate people based on culture)
If we free our imagination from terrorism, it will fail (avoid mass media hysteria)
Fake news has existed for thousands of years (if you tell a lie enough times, eventually people will believe it as the truth)
False stories are more advantageous than truth in uniting large groups of people
Pay for your information as it’s more likely to be truthful
Ex machina is more about female liberation than a female robot destroying humanity
We are already trapped inside a box that is our brain and real life
Important to educate ourselves about how to find out what is true and what is not and use that knowledge to build our perception of the world
You’re going to constantly need to reinvent yourself
Our desires are manifestations of biochemical processes (influenced by cultural factors beyond our control), we might be less preoccupied with them
If politicians talk about sacrifice, purity, redemption and eternity, sound the alarm
When undergoing meditation, focus your mind and bodily sensations and how they feel to you
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Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
