Naval’s answers in the recent Twitter AMA session will blow your mind
Naval Ravikant is one of the deepest thinkers of our current times, who cuts through complexity, feeds us with thought-provoking nuggets through his tweets. You can follow him on Twitter here.
Naval recently conducted a “Ask me anything” session on Twitter. There were a lot of questions asked, for which as usual, Naval answered with wit and wisdom.
I’ve compiled the best questions & answers. I hope you find it insightful as much as I did.
Note: N Ans means “Naval’s answer”
Q1 : Your view on the future of status-driven societies like India?
N Ans: All society is everywhere status-driven. The question is if India can sustain a creator/innovator class that isn’t corrupt.
Q2: The best book you have read?
N Ans: The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch
Q3: Three best investments for the next decade?
N Ans: Crypto and tech startups.
Q4: Which academic discipline for example Psychology, Physics, and History should everyone learn?
N Ans: Physics. The social sciences are heavily propagandized, non-falsifiable, and don’t replicate.
Q5: What’s your favorite Philosopher?
N Ans: Popper, Deutsch, Schopenhauer, Osho, Jiddu Krishnamurti, DeMello, Seneca, Kapil Gupta, Taleb
Q6: What will be the most attractive (in demand/necessary) skill 5 years down the line? Why?
N Ans: Hard sciences, math, computers, and engineering are never going out of style.
Q7: If you could teach everyone just one concept/idea, what would it be?
N Ans: If you think like the owner, act as the owner, it’s only a matter of time until you become the owner.
Q 8: What are the most common/harmful cognitive traps that people fall prey to?
N Ans: Wanting to be liked.
Q 9: How do you become less emotional
N Ans: Soak in the consequences of being emotional.
Q10: Is there any formula for retirement?
N Ans: Find work that doesn’t feel like a sacrifice and then you won’t be thinking about retirement.
Q11: You think it is possible to be at peace without being happy?
N Ans: When most people say they want happiness, they actually want peace.
Q12: How do I steal your money?
N Ans: Steal my ideas, they’re worth more.
Q13: The best way to get started making a stream of passive income?
N Ans: Build something the Internet wants.
Q14: What is the greatest invention of our lifetime?
N Ans: The smartphone, and that’s why Apple is the most valuable company in the world.
Q15: How can I learn to reason in first principles?
N Ans: Make sure that you really, really understand something from the ground up before reasoning about it.
Q16: What would you do if you were 18 in 2020? Do school, join a startup, start a startup, build things on the side, a combination of them?
N Ans: Build something, whatever it takes.
Q17: What according to you is the biggest challenge for our generation?
N Ans: The perils of modernity.
Q18: What is intelligence?
N Ans: Intelligence is the ability to adapt. The measure of it is to get what you want out of life.
Q19: Are you multilingual? If yes, please which other languages.
N Ans: Python, C, a bit of JavaScript.
Q20: One piece of advice on how to make better decisions in life?
N Ans: Complete, utter, and total honesty.
Q21: What’s a common trap to avoid in pursuit of self-awareness?
N Ans: Feeling like you’ve accomplished something.
Q22: Favorite podcast?
N Ans: Theory of Knowledge podcast by @ToKTeacher .
Q23: Which sector would see the most disruption from technology over the next 5 years?
N Ans: Finance.
Q24: Is love overrated?
N Ans: Romantic, yes. Unconditional, no.
Q25: Favorite fantasy and/or sci-fi novel?
N Ans: Lord of Light, Snow Crash, Borges, and Ted Chiang short stories.
Q26: Is it logical to help people?
N Ans: No man is an island.
Q26: Your favorite quote?
N Ans: “Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world”- Archimedes
Q26: Is increasing wealth inequality long-term a 99%+ likelihood? Do any non-obvious consequences of this come to mind?
N Ans: Yes, because leverage is increasing.
