I just came across this scene on X: https://x.com/david_perell/status/1926406524881994038?s=46
Obviously we all love ourselves some Good Will Hunting. But why is it relevant now?
(also, I had some email issues the last 2 weeks - check out those and all previous newsletters here. - hence this is a bonus newsletter)
Well a scene like this is relevant always. But now moreso, yes, AI.
I was at a quizzo once and correctly answered that Will Hunting is the smartest movie character of all time according to some old poll. A recipient of this email guessed Hannibal Lecter and was WRONG!!! I was right. For the record.
But back to Will and AI. There’s a scene where, effectively for our purposes, the second smartest mathematician in the world is on his knees lamenting that Will just burned a theorem he solved (or insert proper math term here). Will sees it as trivial while the other guy sees it as an advance he could not even conceivably approach solving in his entire life.
So on one hand we have intelligence solving impossibly difficult human problems. On the other hand, the source of that same intelligence can be diminished while sitting on a park bench by a less smart but more wise character with life experience.
For me, if you’ve talked to me or have followed this newsletter, you know my belief in the impact of AI on the world. On humans. We need to find our place in the world where solving all problems and doing traditional work is trivial for AI and robotics. And costs effectively nothing.
If Will (Matt Damon) is AI, we can acquiesce to where it is better but amplify where we are better. AI won’t smell the inside of the Sistine Chapel or truly fall in love with someone in the same manner we do. So does that give us a leg up on AI?
You better hope it does.
So what are we doing with that? Embracing it? Or lamenting that it could take our job (or group of tasks) that, when we really introspect, are not our purposes for living (see: Frankl)
You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you. Things can't shape our decisions by themselves.
— -- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
It would be wrong for anything to stand between you and attaining goodness. Do not seek rewards that are not aligned with goodness.
— -- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
You are invincible if nothing outside the will can disconcert you.
— Epictetus, Discourses & Selected Writings
Rads Take
In the first quote from Marcus, "things" are externals. Events, people, words that we have no control of. So those cannot affect our will without our ascent to act. That ascent is proactive and self-owned. It is intentional but not always conscious.
We act unconsciously or subconsciously all the time. We breathe. We digest. We snore. But we can choose to increase the percentage of conscious activity. That would be when we choose to respond instead of just react.
Our choices impact our identities. And James Clear said in Atomic Habits that our choice to define our identity consciously can have THE most profound impact on our lives. "I am not a person who does that. I am a person who does this."
So I focused on "things" - but now "by themselves". Meaning we must ascent to allow those things to shape our decisions. We are complicit in our own pain as Epictetus said. Because we weren't prepared. We aren't trained. We weren't aware.
So what does that mean? It means get prepared. Train yourself. Tap into curiosity about things that matter to raise your awareness.
I already wrote the response to the 3rd quote so I will keep this second one short. But if you missed the eulogy I wrote about my dad from the last newsletter (link ->link), you missed my note about the main message I take from his life and legacy - to be intentionally good. Whether you were born in 1949, 1984, or more than 2,000 years ago, goodness is a damn good target to aim for.
The third quote, perhaps I am in a movie mood but it makes me think of Neo just cooly and methodically stopping Agent Smith's punches at the end of The Matrix. In that scene, Neo knew how strong he was. The confidence was higher than it has ever been. Because he knew nothing around him could stop him. He had no fear. He finally recognized the power that everyone was telling him that he had. And then he went and used that power to disintegrate Agent Smith from the inside out. Yea, Stoicism ain't gonna help us with that last bit.
But removing fear. Recognizing power. Demarcating the line between internal and external. Awareness of control.
Other people's opinions, reactions, rage. Those are punches being thrown at Neo. Are you Neo or are you that punk-ass Morpheus that get destroyed and captured?
I just called Morpheus a punk-ass. I sincerely apologize.
So then can we be harmed by things inside the will? Yes. But that is a choice. An option I would not knowingly select. Really ever. You can be overcome by emotion for a period. The Stoics mourned deaths of those they cared for and wrote on the topic numerous times. However they do not let it impact their identity and enable them to detract from the goodness of the world.
No matter what has happened or is happening around us, we always have the ability to be a force for good moving forward.