The Science of Can and Can't

I'm currently reading the following book, one of the smartest books I've come across in years.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08GJWFK92/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Chiara explains and expands upon David Deutsch's Constructor Theory.

Now, almost everyone in any developed country has heard about Elon Musk.

But I guess much fewer people have heard about David Deutsch, let alone read any of his two books, The Fabric of Reality and -- my favorite -- The Beginning of Infinity.

In the latter book, you will discover such powerful secrets that I could almost retitle the book as The Beginning of INFINITE WEALTH.

Indeed, David explains that wealth is simply "the set of physical transformations that one is able to bring about."

Is it any wonder, given that very astute definition of wealth, that Elon Musk has been able to become extremely wealthy?

Elon once quipped that building rockets is simply a matter of "bending metal."

What he left out, is what David has spent years trying to explain to people: that KNOWLEDGE is the key to wealth.

You have to KNOW how to bend the metal in such a way as to create rockets!

However, for David Deutsch, knowledge is impersonal. Like the DNA in your cells.

Or the mRNA in -- yikes -- the COVID-19 virus.

Think about it: how can a virus that is one billionth the size of a human being, cause so much suffering in the world?

In economic terms, it has cost us over a TRILLION dollars: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2771764

The fact is, the COVID-19 virus only knows how to do one thing, but it does it EXTREMELY WELL: self-replication.

What if we, as entrepreneurs, also learned how to REPLICATE OURSELVES?

But I digress.

My main point is that the mRNA in the COVID-19 virus is actually what KNOWLEDGE -- in the Deutschian sense -- actually is.

Once you redefine knowledge in this manner, you can begin to search for it, find it and pay whatever price is charged.

Why? Because only KNOWLEDGE is the constructor of wealth.

Only knowledge allows you to TRANSFORM something of low value into something of high value.

For example, in my Email Marketing course, I've been telling students that it's all about three phases of transformation:

1. Transform visitors into subscribers (list building)
2. Transform subscribers into interested potential buyers
3. Transform interested potential buyers into CUSTOMERS

That's it, that's all!

These three transformations take place in the MIND of the prospects.

And the way to get into their minds is through... language.

This is why copywriting is the most profitable skill you can learn and master.

Anyways, back to Chiara Marletto's book.

She explains in simple language the incredible, fascinating, powerful Constructor Theory that David Deutsch came up with in 2012.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructor_theory

In a nutshell, CT says that "anything that is not forbidden by the laws of physics, is possible -- given enough knowledge."

This is why Elon Musk believes we can get to Mars, and why I believe I can become a billionaire in 2026.

I just have to find the knowledge to do so, that is, to convert information and atoms and bits into a net worth of one billion dollars.

Another gem I got from David Deutsch is that a great deal of bad probability can be eliminated with the right knowledge.

For example, let's say that you're competing for a job that pays $80,000.

You estimate that your odds of landing that job is 60%.

So there's a 40% chance that you WON'T get the job.

David would say that there is 30% (of the 40%) that is "bad" probability.

That is, if you had the right knowledge (including the right skills and the real job requirements), that 30% would collapse and you would actually have a 90% chance of getting the job!!!

Thus, in general terms, most people leave important outcomes to CHANCE when in fact, had they seriously searched for and found the right knowledge, the chance factor would be significantly reduced, thereby increasing their odds of success.

This is an important point I make in my Online Marketing Research course: Entrepreneurs and companies leave a lot to chance when they could simply have asked customers what they wanted -- and given it to them!

Let's summarize. To succeed in life, you must:

1. Clearly distinguish between what is possible and what is impossible
2. Next, aim for the biggest goal that you can imagine which is possible
3. Finally, search for and acquire the knowledge that would progressively eliminate the probability of failure from nearly 100% to nearly 0%

One movie that brilliantly illustrates the above is The Martian, starring Matt Damon.

In one scene, Mark Watney makes the following lucid statement: "So, in the face of overwhelming odds, I'm left with only one option: I'm going to have to science the shit out of this."

And so, Watney proceeds to solve one problem at a time.

And that's exactly what David Deutsch discusses in his brilliant book The Beginning of Infinity.

In many ways, David is the scientific equivalent of Elon Musk, who in turn is the engineering equivalent of David!

The insight here is that you can read Elon's biography, but it wouldn't teach you how Elon's mind actually works.

Only by reading The Beginning of Infinity can you truly understand Elon Musk's brilliant mind.

And then you'd have to read Francois Chollet's paper on measuring intelligence in order to fully understand how Elon serially masters skills from DIFFERENT domains.

The tragedy in life is that most people don't consider counterfactuals, that is, what COULD be or COULD have been.

They only stare at what is and believe that what is, is the best that they can achieve.

For example, a person making $50,000 a year, somehow believes that he cannot make more money.

Sure, he might -- after a few beers -- believe he could make perhaps $60,000 (and surely, his wife will try to convince him of that).

But neither he nor she actually believe that he COULD make $100,000 or $200,000 or $300,000 a year.

They consider that income an IMPOSSIBILITY.

And therefore, they do not lift a finger in searching for the KNOWLEDGE that would make that income possible, probable and finally CERTAIN.

Meanwhile, in China, there are TWO new billionaires every WEEK.

(to be continued)