yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Rational Optimism Is the Way Out


2m read
·Nov 3, 2024

Processing might take a few minutes. Refresh later.

In general, professions in which you get your feedback from other members of that profession tend to get corrupted. When you see a journalist writing articles to impress other journalists, or a restauranteur running a restaurant that's designed to impress other foodies and other restaurateurs, those end up not being practical and high quality. They may receive accolades and prizes within certain elite circles, but they're not reflecting reality.

Where someone is getting feedback from either Mother Nature, like a scientist or an experimentalist, or from free markets, where other people are voting with their money and their time, those are going to be much better predictors. The people who are operating in the real world and are getting paid for it tend to be optimists. The people who are operating in ivory towers are incented to be pessimists.

To be an entrepreneur, you need to be optimistic about the fact that you're creating something that other people are going to find value in. People who have a pessimistic philosophy tend to have a pessimistic psychology as well. If you're constantly thinking about all the ways in which the world is going to rack and ruin, then this has a day-to-day impact upon your outlook on the rest of society and on your family, on your friends, on everything. Because you think that this world is condemned, you're going to feel that weight upon your shoulders, and it's going to come through in the way in which you present yourself to the rest of the world.

We see a lot of this on social media right now. Entrepreneurs are typically too busy to spend a whole lot of time on social media. But you do get scientists, academic journalists who are depressed with life because they have a pessimistic view of reality, and that's got to have an impact upon their subjective experience of the world, unlike people who are creating, trying to bring something new into existence.

Unfortunately, the pessimism is self-fulfilling. Here, we take the stance that all evils are due to lack of knowledge. Rational optimism is the way out. The data supports it, history supports it, and we can always come up with good explanations through creativity to improve our lives and everybody else's lives. So stay optimistic.

More Articles

View All
The Gateway to Secret Underwater Worlds | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic
We’re in the middle of winter, so the water is very cold, and the sky was gray and the sea was gray as well, with no limit. You know, when you see the sky and the sea, the sea was very flat, and there is no limit between the sea and the sky. That’s Lauren…
Seth Klarman: The Secret to Outperforming the Market
You need not to be greedy. If you’re greedy and you leverage, you blow up. Almost every financial blow-up is because of leverage. And then you need to balance arrogance and humility, and I’ll explain what I mean. When you buy anything, it’s an arrogant a…
Armie Hammer Ascends From an Underground Cave | Running Wild With Bear Grylls
[music playing] ARMIE HAMMER: Whew! Yeah. Good to go. BEAR GRYLLS: OK. Our gear weighs nearly 75 pounds, and it’s too heavy to carry up this ladder. So we’re going to cache it on the sea floor like Navy SEALs do when they hide their gear until it can be…
Will This Go Faster Than Light?
The speed of light is meant to be the ultimate speed limit in the universe. According to Einstein’s special theory of relativity, nothing should move through space faster than light. But that doesn’t stop people from trying. Every day I get a lot of mess…
Examples identifying Type I and Type II errors | AP Statistics | Khan Academy
We are told a large nationwide poll recently showed an unemployment rate of nine percent in the United States. The mayor of a local town wonders if this national result holds true for her town. So, she plans on taking a sample of her residents to see if t…
This Is The World's First Geared CVT and It Will Blow Your Mind - Ratio Zero Transmission
Today I have the privilege to hold in my hands something very special. This is the world’s first operational, gear-based, continuously variable transmission or CVT. And before I explain how this piece of absolute mechanical poetry actually works, allow me…