Advice from the founder of Wikipedia
Advice from the founder of Wikipedia
One of my favorite podcasts right now is hosted by Lex Fridman, who is primarily an AI and robotics researcher at MIT. His prominence in the public eye has grown recently thanks to this successful podcast in which he prolifically interviews a wide variety of guests in long form conversations that can last up to 8 hours! That's one particular outlier though; most are between 2 and 4 🙂
His guests include technologists, computer scientists, philosophers, economists, sociologists, lawyers, historians, political pundits, authors, astronomers, physicists, biologists, chemists, even theologians, and a variety of other thoughtful and accomplished folks with interesting perspectives on the world. It almost always gives me something to think about and seasons my perspective on existence somehow. I know I wouldn't be the thinker or writer that I am without having had this podcast in my AirPods for the last couple years.
Recently I listened to, and thoroughly enjoyed, his interview with Jimmy Wales, the primary founder of Wikipedia. As I listened I was reminded of just how profoundly Wikipedia has changed our landscape of thought and knowledge, and just how often we take it for granted.
At the end of his interviews Lex always asks his guests what advice they would give to young people (most of the advice returned is good for anyone I would say) and I was particularly taken with Jimmy's answer, so I wanted to share it with you.
A couple points strike me:
1. He and I are in agreement about the ideal combination of motivations. Listen to the way he talks about money. I think there are 4 human motivations, the 4 Ms - Money, Meaning, Mental Peace, and Morality. I write about those in other places. It seems that Jimmy is on the same page with me about a life well-lived, which I loved to hear.
2. He has an interesting way of describing and navigating the sunk-cost fallacy. You have to know when to persist and when to pivot. Making that decision in the moment is not always so easy, but his description is definitely worth listening to, and might help your intuition better learn to tell the difference in your own life.
3. Purpose and enthusiasm is essential for success. In anything, you need to figure out what will give you the drive to find and sustain the persistence necessary to build and accomplish something great.
Lex notes that he always feels better after spending time on Wikipedia, which he can't say for some of the other mega-successful web properties that fill our digital landscape. I had never thought about it, but I absolutely agree. Every Wikipedia rabbit trail session leaves me feeling peaceful, illuminated, and full of wonder. Wikipedia is a gift, and one that helps us to collectively focus, affirm, celebrate, share, and enjoy our love of knowledge and wisdom. I found the whole interview worthwhile, and I hope you do too.