Invest Like The Best
Episode 283 Greatness Without Goals
Invest Like The Best

Episode 283: Greatness Without Goals

Invest Like The Best

Episode 283

Greatness Without Goals

Ken Stanley is a Professor in Computer Science. We cover the reasons greatness cannot be planned, the importance of the individual in a web of disruption, and how to best allocate resources to foster innovation.

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[00:02:36] - [First question] - The best way to change the world is to stop trying to change it

[00:06:26] - The kinds of goals his work addresses and the ones it doesn’t

[00:08:46] - Almost no prerequisite to any major invention was invented with that major invention in mind

[00:14:04] - Picbreeder

[00:17:21] - How looking for specific results often makes arriving at them a longer process

[00:24:00] - The importance of the individual in a web of invention and disruption

[00:28:30] - How generations progressed in Picbreeder when consensus mechanisms were inserted into the process 

[00:31:24] - Examples of stepping stones that were invented that became something even greater

[00:36:02] - What his research means for how we should conduct ourselves writ large

[00:44:17] - Thoughts on necessity being the mother of all invention

[00:50:08] - The ways that society is arranged is psychologically toxic

[00:55:14] - The role that constraints play in creative output and outcomes in general; Brett Victor - Inventing on Principle

[01:01:10] - What the constraints are that he sets for himself in AI development

[01:04:44] - To know what’s new you need to know what’s not new

[01:06:47] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

[01:08:28] - How he would allocate resources to create more innovation in the world

Greatness Without Goals

Introduction

Patrick
My guest today is Ken Stanley. Ken is a professor in computer science and a pioneer in the field of neuroevolution. He is also the co-author of a book called Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned, which details a provocative idea that setting big audacious goals can reduce the odds of achieving something great. We discuss that revelation in detail on how to apply it in our day-to-day lives. Please enjoy this great discussion with Ken Stanley.

The Best Way to Change the World

Patrick
So Ken, we were just together at Capital Camp this past week in Columbia, Missouri, and you gave, I think, what's proven already to be the most popular of the presentations during the week mostly because it really got people thinking, and we're going to try to replicate that phenomenon here today. I came across your work because of the book that you wrote with your co-author Joel called Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned. Then I'll probably refer to a few things that I read in the book throughout our conversation as sparks for our talk. There's one very early on that I think I'll start with that'll allow you to introduce the broad idea of your work, which is that sometimes the best way to change the world is to stop trying to change it, a provocative starting idea. Maybe you can use that as a jump off point to explain your research, your work, and its core thesis.

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