Notes from Naval - Part 3
From Naval’s Periscope Session on April 29, 2018:
INTRO
“I don’t want anything from anyone, so boredom is the only thing that drives me to do anything”
- Naval recommends Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb
- Rick and Morty is the only TV show he watches
“Reality is really interesting for the most part” “TV’s just a slow method of consuming nonfiction. Reading is a lot faster.”
Why are so many people leaving SF?
- A combination of the taxes, it’s not the cleanest city, and there’s a huge homeless problem
- It’s a chosen home for the tech industry, and it’s not going to disappear anytime soon
- With companies where everyone is working remotely, it’s hard to do creative work where everyone needs to synchronize
India
- They have a lot of corruption, bureaucracy, and high taxes making it hard to build things there
- It should be doing a lot better than it is with the large amount of STEM graduates
- “The only way you can sell something, is if you yourself believe in it”
- This is what Elon Musk does all day long
- “If you truly believe in what you’re selling, no one can compete with you on that scale”
EDUCATION
- The education system is very industrialized
- It was developed. and still is this way to some degree, to breed obedient factory workers
- Educating people is very hard – especially when you need to do it cheaply, and all at the same time
- Teachers are teaching a curriculum that’s been negotiated over decades and decided upon by politicians, courts, parents, and unions – this doesn’t make it efficient
- Maybe it’s time we provide students with free tablets, that educate students about what THEY actually want to learn
- We have the technology now, where the software can figure out you’re intellectual levels in different subjects (math, science, etc.)
- Naval doesn’t manage his own crypto, he goes through funds
“Self conflict is a complete waste of time”
- All judging, and arguing with yourself is pointless
- Guilt is society’s voice speaking in your head
- How do you put your brain in debug mode?
- You won’t stop having thoughts, and you can’t control your thoughts, but you can stop them from running away like a freight train
ANGER
- “We didn’t evolve to be angry all the time”
- Anger hurts YOU first and foremost
- “Anger is a hot coal that you hold in your hand while you wait to throw it at somebody else”
- Notice every time your angry, how much it hurts you
- When you don’t want an emotion, it doesn’t arrive with the same intensity
- To deal with procrastination, ask yourself – “Am I going to have to do this at one point or another?”
- If the answer is yes, do it anyway
- Another tip is to work on the second most important thing you’re doing
- Ask why you’re procrastinating, really get to the bottom of it
OSHO
- A philosophical mystic that Naval has enjoyed reading
- He’s a great thinker on enlightenment, peace, truth, and self examination
- Check out the book The Sun Rises in the Evening
How did Naval meet Kapil Gupta
- Kapil tweeted at him
- Vegan food technology companies
- It’s only a matter of time before we can either 3D print meat or create food that tastes enough like meat that causes society to slowly shift away from eating meat
- When this happens, people in the future will probably judge us for killing so many animals for food
The Bay Area
- A positive – Has the highest concentration of brilliant people, and also the natural beauty
- A negative – the amount of the monoculture/ group think , the lack of independent thinkers
- What makes someone smart?
- Genetics is the biggest component
- Intellectual curiosity is an important trait to cultivate
- “If you’re just curious as to how things work, and are more concerned with figuring it out correctly than being right, then you put yourself in a very powerful position”
Kanye for president?
- He has a very good shot at winning
- Social media has really changed who can run for president
- “We’re going to see celebrity presidents a lot more”
- Presidents within decades will be wearing cameras, and we’ll be able to tune into the president’s channel to see what he’s up to
- Naval has noticed the “blue check marks” on Twitter are the least interesting people
“Your mind isn’t unfocused. It’s just focused on something that another part of your mind wan’ts it to be focused on. This creates self-conflict.” “Your mind is doing exactly what you want it to do at all times”
What would Naval tell his 23 year old self?
- Do everything you’re going to do, but with less emotion and less angst
Longevity
- We’re the first generation with smart phones/the internet, but we’re probably the last generation before they figure out, or “crack”, longevity
- “If there’s one thing that does kill you early, it’s stress. So chill out.”
Incarciration
- “It’s basically one monkey putting another monkey in a cage.”
- Maybe we can create another solution – perhaps we have an exile society where we can put prisoners
Tips for public speaking
- Record and watch yourself to catch your flaws
- Know your subject cold, and don’t feel the need to rehearse
- If you know your subject, just talk
Tips for marriage
- Marriage is not dead – it’s the institution you enter into to have children. If you’re not going to have children, you should really think twice about marriage.
- Get married based on compatibilty of values
Random
- Naval is not doing any public speaking this year
- He only wants to speak on platforms he can control
Self confidence vs. IQ vs. Emotional Intelligence
- IQ can be traded for Emotional Intelligence – if you’re really smart you can figure out your emotions
“An intelligent person, over time, will end up confident”
How does Naval deal with failure?
These days, he tries not to have too many goals
“If you don’t have goals, you can’t fail to meet them”
You don’t have to deal with anyone you don’t want to – just walk away
“The trick to doing anything, is first cultivating a desire for it”
Mathmatics is the language of nature
It’s human beings reverse engineering things encoded into nature
Humans have no overarching responsibility or purpose for living
We all can create and follow our own meaning
“I’m not trying to do anything important. I’m just doing what I feel like. If I like it, I’ll be good at it.”
Yoga and reading – “If you want to find me, I’m usually on my yoga mat with a book”
Naval doesn’t watch movies
At some point you realize your life is limited, do you want to waste it watching a movie?
“Your emotions may get taken for a ride, but once your emotions get taken for a ride a bunch of times… you know the feeling already”
Can only one cryptocurrency survive in the end?
There will be many survivors, but the economic value will be concentrated at the top
The most valuable cryptocurrency will be more valuable than all the others
The second most valuable cryptocurrency will be more valuable than third through the last put together
Intelligence and hard work will get you very far
Stop thinking in terms of “careers”
Develop skills, and do what you want to do at that time to get paid
The idea of a having a lifelong career is going away
If you want money – “Give the world something it wants that it does not yet know how to get”
You have to like what you’re doing though – if you don’t like it, someone who does will out compete you
Everyone should know how to sell
You can probably tell who’s going to be a good sales person when they’re 10 years old
Reading Jiddu Krishnamurti has made Naval realize how little he knows about himself
Naval has recommended Total Freedom in the past
Naval recommends The Power of Now
Check out the book Siddhartha
Naval is really enjoying The Sun Rises in the Evening by Osho
How to have a good relationship
Be totally selfish
If you can’t keep doing it 50 years from now – don’t do it today to impress someone
Blockchain Technology is the most inetresting thing right now
Happiness is something we can learn
You shouldn’t count on life after death
You’ll probably be happier in this life if you don’t expect it
It’s worth the investment to have a good “proposal story” with your girlfriend
In a sense, life is indistinguishable from a dream – everything eventually disappears
This reality will one day be gone
Are we living in a simulation?
It doesn’t matter and it wouldn’t change your life
Naval really loves his Airpods
Some people think they might somehow cause brain tumors, but Naval thinks it’s unlikely
There’s no scientific evidence
How do you find your life partner?
Be worthy of a worthy mate – work on yourself
The data shows the life of the average person throughout the world is getting better
A lot of unhappiness comes from comparing current events to past events
Intermittent fasting has worked very well for Naval
He doesn’t think he does it often enough, but when he does, he’ll only eat dinner
The benefits really start after 16 hours of fasting
Best way to learn how to learn?
Read a lot and read things you like
Miscelli
- Naval does the happy body routine for his workouts
- Check out Stories of Your life and Others
- Naval sleeps about 5 hours a night