The Power of Tech + The Uniqueness of Humanity

Welcome to?The?Art?of?The?Impossible, a weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces?of?content which I hope will both inspire?and?embolden you. And happy new year - may 2024 be a year of greatness for you and yours.

PODCAST

Riva Tez on Genius, Mania and The Impact of Cancel Culture on Our Collective Intelligence

She grew up caring for her mother. Now she is investing in the future

This week’s guest is Riva Tez -?a philosopher, curious thinker, intellect, investor and one of my favourite people ?on the internet.?Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

She studied Philosophy at UCL before digging deeper into technology and engineering and starting the Berlin Singularity.

She went on to co-found Permutation Ventures — an early stage VC fund which focused on AI startups and, she has also worked with Jim Keller at Intel as Senior Director for Strategic Technology Initiatives. ?Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

Whilst at university, Riva started a toy shop in Notting Hill where she encouraged her young clientele to become mini entrepreneurs and philosophers.

In this episode,?Riva and I discuss how she got into crypto early, the link as she sees it, between mania and genius, cancel culture and what keeps her up at night.?

I really enjoyed talking to Riva and I think you will get a lot from this episode. ?Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

QUOTE

It's important to know yourself. If you have something that's really important and impactful and you want somebody who is not afraid of taking risk, doing the unconventional, then that's what makes me tick.

Aicha Evans, CEO Zoox, taken from this interview.

INTERVIEW

I enjoyed this conversation between AngelList CEO Avlok Kohli and founder of AngelList Naval Ravikant, where they discuss all things startups, founders, venture, trends within private markets, investment strategies, emerging opportunities, and more.

BOOK

The Importance of Being Educable by Leslie Valiant

This sounds like a great book!

We are at a crossroads in history. If we hope to share our planet successfully with one another and the AI systems we are creating, we must reflect on who we are, how we got here, and where we are heading. The Importance of Being Educable puts forward a provocative new exploration of the extraordinary facility of humans to absorb and apply knowledge. The remarkable “educability” of the human brain can be understood as an information processing ability. It sets our species apart, enables the civilization we have, and gives us the power and potential to set our planet on a steady course. Yet it comes hand in hand with an insidious weakness. While we can readily absorb entire systems of thought about worlds of experience beyond our own, we struggle to judge correctly what information we should trust.

In this book, Leslie Valiant argues that understanding the nature of our own educability is crucial to safeguarding our future. After breaking down how we process information to learn and apply knowledge, and drawing comparisons with other animals and AI systems, he explains why education should be humankind’s central preoccupation.

Will the unique capability that has been so foundational to our achievements and civilization continue to drive our progress, or will we fall victim to our vulnerabilities? If we want to play to our species’ great strength and protect our collective future, we must better understand and prioritize the vital importance of being educable. This book provides a road?map.

And I am hoping to have Leslie on the podcast in the coming months so keep an ear out for that.

Pre-order the book here.

FILM

We all know how much the internet and crypto has afforded many but for some, it is even more life-changing than you can imagine.

Brought to you by Superteam, SUPERTEENS is a docu-feature following four teenagers in India - Gajesh, Kunal, Aabis, and Ujjwal over two years - who find success and purpose in the world of cryptocurrency during the global lockdown. While leaving traditional education behind, they take a self-taught plunge into coding, hacking, and the ever-evolving digital frontier.

Thank you for reading?the?newsletter?and?for listening to?the?podcast , and?if you enjoy them, please do share with your network - my goal, as always, is to have these stories reach as many as possible so that they can be inspired too.

And if you have two minutes, please do leave a review for the podcast - it would mean the world to me and helps others to find it too.

Danielle