One thing that works for me there is music in a language I don't speak. Sure I'll recognise words and will sing along, but I have no idea what I'm saying anyway so its actually not that distracting.
This is because his initial promises are so completely unbelievable that even getting in the same ballpark is an amazing accomplishment.
Barring a couple of obvious outliers (looking at you, FSD) he's typically within an order of magnitude of his completely insane predictions. Line that performance up against anyone else and the difference is stark.
SpaceX landing rockets? It’s really cool, but no one reasonable said you cannot land rockets. People questioned if it’s worth it. And this question still remains - they massively overestimated size of the market (they were planning to have launches weekly or more often). Instead they have rare commercial launches and they use it for internal project, that has also lots of questions about profitability. But it successfully kicks can down the road.
Electric car wasn’t questioned if it’s possible (expect for some freaks). And first mass market EV wasn’t even from them. Leaf (with its many flaws) until not long ago was best selling EV combined.
It was questioned if you can make in a way that profit, range and scale can meet. And Tesla still struggles at all of them.
Boring tunnels? Look at the tunnel in Las Vegas and tell me with a straight face that this is a future of transportation.
> It’s really cool, but no one reasonable said you cannot land rockets. People questioned if it’s worth it.
Not true.
> And this question still remains - they massively overestimated size of the market (they were planning to have launches weekly or more often).
No it doesn't. Even launching less often it would have been worth it.
And of course they did it the first time only a few years ago, the impact of dropping prices in launch are only really now starting to impact the industry.
They are launching every 1-2 weeks. If SpaceX didn't do Starlink there would be 4-5 other companies wanting create such constellations. Many other large constellations are in planning.
> But it successfully kicks can down the road.
It made something possible that wasn't possible before and that was the whole point.
> Boring tunnels? Look at the tunnel in Las Vegas and tell me with a straight face that this is a future of transportation.
Its amazing how people look at the first prototype of something and make judgment. The first roadster was a not really a great car. The Falcon 1 wasn't really that great a rocket.
If you said about the Falcon 1 'this is the future of rocketry'? No, Starship is where the whole development has lead to.
Boring company public infrastructure company that is 5 years old and born out of a basically a hobby project. And they already done quite a bit in that time and are winning competitive bids for other projects. Most companies that want to build transportation infrastructure spend decades in project planning.
Based on first principle you try to figure out the right solution. Then start building prototype and product and improve them significantly with each generation. What matters is speed of innovation and having the right conceptual idea.
No-one said it was physically impossible. Nobody thought it was a valid business plan, though. And these days I don't know of any credible concerns about SpaceX's profitability even if Starlink doesn't pan out.
> Electric car wasn’t questioned if it’s possible
No-one questioned if it was possible to make an EV of some description. What was questioned was whether it was practical to make an EV more desirable than an ICE. Tesla wouldn't be struggling with scaling issues if they weren't wildly successful. All of a sudden EVs winning drag races is handwaved as "but of course they won, they're EVs" where 2-3 years ago it would have been inconceivable.
> Boring tunnels?
TBH I'd forgotten about the whole tunneling thing. When I said 'insane predictions' I was talking about the impossible predictions re. FSD.
Who do you want to compare with? I don't know that many famous people that make completely unbelievable predictions that don't pan out, do you have any examples?
How about his promise to solve the Flint water crisis for any home above FDA levels? Promise to manufacture ventilators? Promise to return to the Thailand cave and demonstrate his submarine will work? Solar roof tiles delivered by slowly growing them to near the size of traditional panels, and not in anyway cheaper than a normal roof. Promise to build a rollercoaster with a loop made with cars on rails and frozen yogurt stands if employees don't unionize? Vegas Loop delivery vs what was sold initially? Promise to deliver proof of his claims against Unsworth?
There are always trade offs in life... so you want to be wealthy and have status at the expense of other things? That CAN be the right answer for some people and they will find meaning in that. It is totally fine to pursue that if your heart tells you that is meaningful. Just make sure your hard work actually moves you towards that goal (working for a paycheck versus working to increase the value of equity in something, for example)
But, it is totally fine if you personally prefer to have a quiet family life and spend as much time as you can with your children. If that is what your heart tells you is meaningful - set your life up that way.
It’s a personal decision always. Neither is right or wrong. People are different. It’s ok to find something meaningful that others don’t value the same way.
> In the speech, Wallace digs into higher education and what the true value of it might be. He suggests that its end-game purpose is not to teach students facts and figures or fill their heads with knowledge – but instead, it brings the most value to students by teaching them how to consciously choose how to think from a perspective that is not your own, think about meaning, and act appropriately in everyday life.
I agree with this... but I got a technical degree and a liberal arts degree when I was an undergrad.
If you are investing in college you need to have a skill that makes you employable once you complete it.
But, there is more to life than making money and learning to have control over yourself and your thoughts, and learning that other people see things differently than you do, pays dividends in both your personal and professional life.
Chris Voss is great. I find if you are having a conversation and you are asking the questions, getting long answers, and then asking related questions, you are doing things right.
The other person loves talking about themselves or their opinions. You are learning by paying attention enough ask more questions.
If you are negotiating silence can be your friend when the other party is feeling good talking about themselves
People say this kind of thing a lot. Find the balance between making sure you have what you need and making sure you are not trying to have more than you will ever need.
I find it’s people who have more than enough that say that generally.
I think the takeaway is don’t look for your value in the way others see you. You will never be good enough.
“If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.”
