How a Magical Book Helped a Peasant Girl Change History

Having an Impact

http://paulbohm.com/

Saturday, July 14, 12

In the book


A magical book

the first of its kind

was made

to educate a duke’s
daughter.

But through a series
of events

was lost

and found

by Nell
(a peasant girl)


This book

explains the world
in stories

and when Nell’s life
becomes too bad

it urges her to leave
on her own

And as Nell grows up...

...the book...

keeps teaching her...

about the human body, ...

... turing machines ...

and other wondrous
things.

And so she became
pretty badass.

And even changed
the course of history.

What made Nell
special?


Was it the book?


It turns out
Many rich girls got
the same book.

But they didn’t
change the world


But they didn’t
change the world
(not even a little bit)


So was Nell a genius
to begin with?


So was Nell a genius
to begin with?
Maybe. But statistically, she
likely wouldn’t have had an
impact without the book.


The difference between Nell and the
entitled rich girls

Opportunity Need for Approval Need for Impact

Nell
Rich Kids


Bad News


You’re entitled and
everyone tells you
you are smart

You have more
resources

and a better
network

than most people who’ve
had an impact in the past

Tell someone they are smart &
they perform worse.


Praise and Approval
are addictive
(like candy)


You already know


Grades don’t measure Impact


And Approval...

...even from those
that you respect

Approval doesn’t measure Impact


In fact


counterintuitively

being persistent

is often easier

when faced with
adversity

and solitude.

In fact, many
successful writers

chose not to talk about
their work in progress

Because

Praise for
unfinished
work
=
candy

Which makes them less likely to do a good job


Persistence doesn’t measure Impact
either


You still need
opportunity


Nell
Rich Kids

Nell had an impact, because
she could and needed to.



Nell
Rich Kids
Many ? ?

Many don’t have an impact
because they can’t



Nell
Rich Kids
Many ? ?
You ? ? ?

What about you?


Being here


Have the Network

And Resources

To Have An Impact


Nell
Rich Kids
Many ? ?
You ? ?

You have the opportunity



Nell
Rich Kids
Many ? ?
You ? ?

{
Your choice


Your biggest risk


is measuring candy

instead of impact

Turns you into...

A dancing
monkey


The problem with being
a dancing monkey is...

Even when the
audience claps, you’re
still a dancing monkey.


Nell
Rich Kids
Many ? ?
You ? ?


{
I realize that
knowing...

...that you have
opportunity

creates a lot of pressure

and expectations

=

Measuring yourself by other
people’s expectations is
measuring candy

Your only chance:


Measure Impact

What do I mean with that?


Let me try to explain
with a story


This is my Go board

I’ve taught a lot of people to play Go


And as I saw a lot of
people learn Go...

I started to notice
patterns

Some learned
faster...

than others.

And after a while...

A pattern emerged

Those who learned
faster...

Focused more on
playing...
many many games

And less on
thinking...
(what are you thinking about?
you just started learning! play more games!)

They didn’t care about being
original and were willing to
imitate better players
(imitation is a very effective way to learn!)


And they played many more
games, because losing was ok
for them


That’s a huge deal!


OTOH I’ve played
with people


who no doubt were
smart

That thought about their
FIRST MOVE in their FIRST
GAME for TWO MINUTES
That’s like a lot of the people I talk to,
who want to figure out what to do with
their life, without doing anything.
Iteration is key!


Their hands were wet
and shaking


That’s what happens
when expectations...

trick you into
measuring candy

True: Without
opportunity no success

And part of the reason you
have opportunity is because
people THINK you are smart


Sure, play their
game.


Have them call you names like
“prodigy” “genius” or “visionary”
if it helps you succeed.


Use socially constructed
reality as a tool


But don’t start
believing it yourself
even for a second


The moment you stop learning
or doing things because they
don’t LOOK smart...


You’re just a
dancing monkey

In fact, I can tell you
for sure:


Somewhere out
there...

And she wasn’t
invited here


And no one thinks
she’s smart


And she doesn’t care
if she LOOKS


like a rhinoceros to you


...or that you’re best pals
with Peter Thiel


She’ll work her ass off


And she WILL have
an impact

Will you?


How do you know?


How can you know?


Measure your impact

.

Look at progress

. .

Not as a Dot

. . .
. .

But

. . .
. .

As A Line

Never trust other
people’s opinions


Stop assuming that anyone
else knows what they are
doing!


That’s why measuring
the candy doesn’t work!


Learn about your
own biases and


study rationality in
forms like


Probability Theory

Game Theory

And why people
cooperate at all

Then realize that all
decisions that matter are
undecidable

And train your intuition for
solving such unsolvable
problems


Maybe With Go

Or Texas Hold’em

And then


Pick an ambitious
goal
(you can always change it later)


When your goal is to
colonize mars...

Or building the nervous system to
awaken the slumbering giant and turn
humanity into the first
superintelligence.


Learning to build
rocket engines

studying graph
theory

Or building a
company

seem merely like minor
distractions required to
accomplish a larger plan.


That plan is for you - not
for sharing with others.


If you told others, and they
didn’t think you are crazy, it’s
probably not ambitious enough!


What it is important for, is that you
move towards something, and don’t
just frantically jump between all
interesting fields.


Having and impact might even
require years of studying or working
on someone else's project to learn.


But that’s just what
I think


You can take an entirely
different approach too


I don’t know what
I’m doing myself.


We all look towards others to
reassure us that what we’re
doing is right.


But since everyone else does
the same, there are no real
answers.


I’m not trying to put you down or build
you up - I just want to share my belief
that I think impact matters more than
impressions.


Unlike most of you I probably
would have never made it into
the 20-under-20 or even here


When I was fourteen, my parents
talked me out of going to a technical
school because they didn’t think I had
what it takes


I didn’t win any awards, nor
scholarships. I dropped out of school
before it was cool. And I haven’t had a
huge impact yet.


I have had days where people thought
I’m brilliant, and days where people
thought I’m an idiot. And it’s all the
same. That’s just the candy.


What matters to me is: Just like Nell, I work my
ass off every day, I try to measure my progress,
I try not to worry what people think about me
too much, and one day I WILL have an impact.


In Summary


Measure yourself against
your own standards

Ignore Candy

And you’ll have an
impact!

How a Magical Book Helped a Peasant Girl Change History

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