Capitalogix

My Recent Podcasts with Dan Sullivan & Brett Kaufman

I recently did two interviews I want to share with you. The first was done with Dan Sullivan and Steven Krein for Strategic Coach's Free Zone Frontier podcast... and the second was with Brett Kaufman on his Gravity podcast. 

Please listen to them.  They were quite different, but both were well done and interesting. 

Free Zone Frontier with Dan Sullivan and Steve Krein

Free Zone Frontier is a Strategic Coach group (and podcast) about creating "Free Zones." It refers to the green space where entrepreneurs can collaborate and create without competition.

It's a transformative idea for entrepreneurial growth. 

In my episode, we focused on topics like building your own future, how decision-making frameworks and technology can extend your edge, and what it takes to get to the next level.   I realize there is a lot of Strategic Coach jargon in this episode, but it is still easy to understand, and there was great energy and an elevated conversation about worthy topics.

As an aside, Steve Krein happens to be my cousin, and we joined Strategic Coach entirely separately before realizing we had joined the same group. 

The podcast is 47 Minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Or click here to listen on: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts 

Gravity Podcast with Brett Kaufman

Normally, I talk about business, mental models, and the future of AI and technology, but Brett Kaufman brought something different out of me. 

Brett's Gravity Project is about living with intention, community, consciousness, and connection. He focuses on getting people to share their life experiences ... with the intent that others can see themselves in your story. 

In my talk with Brett, we do talk about the entrepreneurial journey ... but we also probe some deep insights by discussing the death of my younger brother, how my life changed almost immediately upon meeting my wife, and why love is the most powerful and base energy in the universe. 

This was not a typical conversation for me (a different ratio of head-to-heart), but it was a good one (and I've had a lot of people reach out because of this podcast). 

The episode is 65 minutes. I hope you enjoy it. 

 

Click here to listen on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Listen Notes

Let me know what you think.

A Wordcloud For Each of the Major Religions

The six largest religions in the world are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. 

We often think about the differences between religions.  However, the many similarities are obvious if you look (and may be indications of a more integral "truth". 

Below is a wordcloud for each of those religions based on their major religious text. 

teddyterminal via Reddit

If you find the name "Keith" it's because it was the translator's name, and the word "car" in the Hinduism wordcloud is an old-fashioned word for "chariot".

It's also worth acknowledging that this wordcloud is from the English translations so some words that may mean slightly different things in other languages can be all translated to one word in English. For example, it's very common in Biblical Hebrew to see different words translated into the same English word. A good example is Khata, Avon, and Pesha--three different ways of committing a wrong, that may all be translated the same.

Ikigai in the Post-Quarantine World

Getting old is tough ... and it gets tougher the older you get.   As a result, finding your 'reasons for being' and joy in life become increasingly important as well. 

2020 was a year of massive upheaval for many. Stress, change, pandemics, quarantine, new jobs, new goals ... or at the other end of the spectrum, lack of change, lack of a job, or lack of purpose.

Regardless of the reason, many people struggle to get up in the morning. This is a shame because life is so much better than the alternative (and life becomes even better when you learn to enjoy living and let go of what isn't serving you). 

There's a Japanese concept called Ikigai that may help.

Ikigai centers around finding purpose as you grow older.  Paradoxically, it makes sense to start the process as early as possible. 

Here is an infographic that lays out some "Reasons for Being."

  

via InformationIsBeautiful

Finding your "reason to be" and living with purpose are keys to making the most of your time.

The beauty of 2021 being a fresh start is that you can also change your approach and your vision.

The graphic highlights something interesting (yet almost counter-intuitive) ... When two areas intersect, it creates something positive (e.g., a passion or a mission).   However, where three areas intersect, it creates a pain point (for example it could be what you're good at, you love doing it, the world needs it ... but it doesn't make you any money – so now you're struggling).

Worth examining and thinking about for a bit.

On a related note, here is a TEDx talk about the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that help people live past 100.

 

TED-ED via YouTube

And here is a link to Dan Sullivan's free e-book on his plan to live to 156. 

Live long and prosper!

Let My People Go ... Outside

Last night was the first night of Passover, a family-centric holiday that recounts the biblical story of the Exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into the Promised Land. For me, it's a reminder to appreciate what we have – and how we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. 

One of the memorable phrases from Exodus is when Moses says "Let my people go!"  For generations, people assumed he was talking to the Pharoh about his people's freedom. For modern Jews, after a week of eating clogging matzoh, matzoh balls, and even fried matzoh ... for many Jews "Let my people go" takes on a different meaning.

A friend asked me what part of the matzoh do the balls come from?  I don't know ... but I hope the matzoh ball fairy brought you some good ones. 

Apparently (according to my youngest son), Sea Shanties are en vogue with today's youth. So, here's a pirate Passover song. 

 

via Six13

For Jews, a notable part of the ritual dinner is naming each of the 10 plagues that rained over Egypt and saying "never again".

Perhaps, this year, COVID-19 gets added to the list? 

Just like the Jews making it through slavery, the plagues, and 40 years wandering through the wilderness and desert before entering the Promised Land ... We are approaching the post-COVID promised land after a year of being stuck inside. 

With the coming of spring, the re-opening of the world, and the reminders from the stories of Exodus and Easter - it's a great time to do a mental and physical "spring cleaning". Mine your experiences for the things you want to keep doing (or continue not doing) as things go back to "normal".  

Hope you had a great weekend. 

Onwards!

 

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - January 24th, 2021

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Meet the Man On a Controversial Mission To Preserve and Digitize Your Brain. (DigitalTrends)
• What is Consciousness? Scientists Compete To Find Out. (Bloomberg)
• Balinese Temple Monkeys are Sophisticated Thieves and Negotiators. (Economist)
• How Predictive Algorithms are Transforming Data Into Decisions. (JeffBullas)
• What is AI? The Human's Handbook to Computers that Think. (MorningBrew)

 

Trading Links:

• The Stock Market is At or Near the Most-expensive Levels Ever By Most Measures. When Will It Matter? (CNBC)
• Stock-Market Bulls Brace for Major Gut Check as Earnings, Fed and GDP Loom. (MarketWatch)
• David Einhorn Warns of Danger From Valuation-Indifferent Investors. (Forbes)
• How VCs and Founders See 2021 Differently. (TechCrunch)
• Virtual Reality Will Be a Trillion-Dollar Marketplace Within Five Years – Here's a Good Example Why. (MW)

 

Why We Don't See Aliens

This week, a former senior Israeli military official proclaimed that we've been contacted by Aliens from a Galactic Federation - and that not only is our government aware of this, but they are working together. 

How naive to think that election news would be the craziest stuff you'd hear this holiday season ...

Back to aliens (for the record, that was a sentence I haven't typed before).  There are many stories (or theories) about how we have encountered aliens before and just kept them secret. In contrast, I have found it more realistic and thought-provoking to consider theories about why we haven't seen aliens until now.

For example, the Fermi Paradox considers the apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence for extraterrestrial civilizations and the various high-probability estimates for their existence. 

To simplify the issue, there are billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy (which is only one of many galaxies), which are similar to our Sun.  Consequently, there must be some probability of some of them having Earth-like planets. It isn't hard to conceive that some of those planets should be older than ours, and thus some fraction should be more technologically advanced than us. Even if you assume they're only looking at evolutions of our current technologies - interstellar travel isn't absurd. 

Thus, based on the law of really large numbers (both in terms of the number of planets and length of time we are talking about) ... it makes the silence all the more deafening and curious. 

If you are interested in the topic "Where are all the aliens?"  Stephen Webb (who is a particle physicist) tackles that in his book and in this TED Talk.   

 

via TED

In the TED talk, Stephen Webb covers a couple of key factors necessary for communicative space-faring life. 

1. Habitability and stability of their planet
2. Building blocks of life 
3. Technological advancement
4. Socialness/Communication technologies

But he also acknowledges the numerous confounding variables including things like imperialism, war, bioterrorism, fear, moons' effect on climate, etc. 

Essentially, his thesis is that there are numerous roadblocks to intelligent life - and it's entirely possible we are the only planet that has gotten past those roadblocks. 

What do you think?

Here are some other links I liked on this topic.  There is some interesting stuff you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand or enjoy. 

• 75 Reasons We Don't See Aliens 
• Wait But Why: The Fermi Paradox
• A New Theory on Why We Haven't Found Aliens Yet
• A List of Solutions to The Fermi Paradox
• Dissolving the Fermi Paradox, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University

To Infinity and Beyond!

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - December 13th, 2020

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Google Reveals the Most Searched Terms of 2020 - You'll Probably Guess a Few. (TechRadar)
• Ted Talk: The Strength In Weak Leaders. (TED)
• Microsoft Files Patent For a Chatbot that 'Could' Become the 'Twin' of a Deceased Person. (Entrepreneur)
• Seattle Tech Leaders Including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are Investing In Cricket Teams. (GeekWire)
• The Public Just Haven't Grasped What Happens When Hospitals Get Too Full — Covid-19 In America. (Economist)

 

Trading Links:

• Congress Just Voted To Spend $10 Billion On A.I, and Quantum Computing. (Protocol)
• Intel Not Inside: How Mobile Chips Overtook the Semiconductor Giant. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Best-Managed Companies of 2020 — And How They Got that Way. (Wall Street Journal)
• Tesla Tells Employees Model S and X Production Will Shut Down For 18 Days. (CNBC)
• Global Ranking: 20 Countries Where House Prices Rose Most In 2020. (UK)

Are We Alone In The Universe?

Information Is Beautiful has an interactive data visualization to help you decide if we're alone in the universe. 

As usual, for them, it is well done, fun, and informative. 

For the slightly geeky amongst us, the model lets you adjust the estimate by playing with two equations: the Drake equation and the Seager equation.

The Drake equation estimates how many detectable extraterrestrial civilizations exist in our galaxy and then in the Universe based on factors like habitable planets, change of life, and then intelligent life, and then the amount of time a civilization sends signals into space. 

The Seager equation is a modern take on the equation focusing on bio-signatures of life that we can currently detect - for example, the number of observable stars/planets, what % have life, and then % chance of detectable bio-signature gas. 

 

via Information Is Beautiful

For both equations, Information Is Beautiful lets you look at various default options but also playing with your own numbers to do the math. 

For example, the skeptic default answer for Drake's equation shows 0.0000062 communicating civilizations in our galaxy and which is still 924,000 in the universe. The equivalent for Seager's equation shows 0.0009000 planets with detectable life in our "galactic neighborhood" and 135,000,000 planets in our universe. 

Even with the "lowest possible" selection chosen, Drake's equation still shows 42 communicating civilizations (Douglas Adams, anyone?) in the universe.

 

via Information Is Beautiful

One of the most interesting numbers (and potentially influential numbers for me) is the length of time a civilization sends signals into space. Conservative numbers are 420 years, but optimistic numbers are 10,000+. 

If any aliens are reading this ... don't worry, I won't tell.  But, we will find out if you voted in the last election.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - November 29th, 2020

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• The Hidden Habits of Genius. (LeadershipNow)
• The Best Inventions of 2020. (Time)
• Are We the Same Person Throughout Our Lives? In Essence, Yes. (NeuroScienceNews)
• For the Best Deals On Almost Anything, Check these 3 Sites First. (FastCompany)
• A Bot Made Frank Sinatra Cover Britney Spears. YouTube Removed It Over Copyright Claims. (Futurism)

 

Trading Links:

• Foot Traffic Drops By Half At US Stores On 'Grey' Friday. (FT)
• Why Institutions Suddenly Give a Damn About Bitcoin. (CoinTelegraph)
• The McKinsey State of AI In 2020 Report Finds AI Drives Revenue. (Forbes)
• 2020 Was a 'Once-in-a Lifetime Event In the Adoption of Modern Technology'. (BusinessInsider)
• Priced For More Than Perfection, Markets Have Dismissed Economic Reality. (Forbes)

What Do We Care About?

In a time of unrest, partisan politics, and situational anxiety ... it is important to remember how much we share (as opposed to what separates us).

VisualCapitalist put together a great graphic on the top 56 values that drive human behavior. For the top 15, it also shows you where they rank based on country. 

1. Family
2. Relationships
3. Financial Security
4. Belonging
5. Community
6. Personal Growth
7. Loyalty
8. Religion/Spirituality
9. Employment Security
10. Personal Responsibility
11. Basic Needs
12. Harmony
13. Health/Well-Being
14. Experiences
15. Respect

Each individual's ranking of the 56 (15 shown above)  may be different, nevertheless, this chart helps highlight what is really important to us all. 

Click the image to see the full infographic. 

via VisualCapitalist

The ranking of the values changes across cultures and nations, but family emerged as the most important value consistently, and other "connectedness" values consistently ranked high. 

Humans are emotional creatures (with the ability to think) rather than thinking beings (with the ability to feel).  Ultimately, we are social creatures in a social society. From a Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs standpoint, security often comes first, but connection comes right after that. 

It's easy to focus on our differences, but it's more important to find the common ground. That's where discussion and progress happen. 

Onwards!