Insights from The Network State Conf 2024 - Naval Session

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I am watching "The Network State Conference 2024" and picking up interesting points from the livestream Thank you @balajis for making this available for free First one is with @naval youtube.com/watch?v=OWEGg-ZTtSE&t=4163s

The tech billionaire are “worth” billions but they can’t cash out. Govt officers (mayors etc) spend billions every year in cash. ⇒ Govt officials are richer than tech billionaires

Monacrchy is still around in the Europe which is lot more extractive than capitalistic entrepreneurs Wealth is not hoarding money (old defn) Wealth is byproduct of knowledge Wealth is the ability to effect transformation (Oil to energy) ⇒ wealth = capital + know-how

Cavemen had access to all the resources we have now. They didn’t know what to do with them ⇒ wealth is a byproduct of knowledge-how

specific knowledge > common knowledge Knowledge at the edge of what humanity wants = specific What ChatGPT knows = common

We used to spend a lot of time on physical drudgery. Automation & tools (ex: dishwasher) solved them. Now we spend on intellectual drudgery (filling forms, filing reports) GPTs (= natural language computing) are good at drudgery work

creativity = problem solving Not just painting and writing books Solve unsolved problems

AI = amplified intelligence Smarter you are better your prompts & hence better results ⇒ amplifies your intelligence

AI is good at solving bounded problems • translation • transcription • driving assistance • coding assistance • generation (art, text, video) • categorisation & summarisation • extrapolation

AI doesn’t have its own agency; its own thoughts. ⇒ it doesn’t contradict you making AI safe is logical contradiction If we follow a line of thiught, it will lead to ideas that are controversial.

Our problem Isnt illiteracy but innumeracy Master basic numeracy if you want to be wealthy

The only real improvement is self-improvement all rights are individual rights We need groups to get things done Means of learning are abundant Desire to learn are scarce

Be obsessed abt something and follow it deeply If you go deep into anything you’ll find same philosophical threads

Mob # Market Market = independent actors punished or rewarded for their predictions & actions ⇒ cooperating crowd thinking independently Mob = crowd thinking the same; inherently powerful & violent; not truth seeking mechanism

Over a long scope certain movements become big that contain both x & opposite of x Christianity led to fall of Roman Empire but also led to rise of Holy Roman Empire ; it was at once religion of slaves and kings

Countries shud have referral based immigration system much like companies If whom you referred is bad it reflects on you If whom you referred creates value you get a piece of it

Trust is broken in today’s heterogeneous society To govern such a group we impose same set of rules for all But we can build a reputation based trust - who invited who, who did bad, who did good and all of that reflects back to the original invitee

Reputation system + Local governance leads to better governance It is the lack of political will to create a fair system

In the next war the US will be surprised There is no homegrown Drone industry in the US China has developed drone swarms which are as lethal as nuclear Drones are guided bullets. If it can see it can kill.

It is the level of freedom that creates innovation, creativity, and learning When state is too large and disconnected from the ground it is more about control than creativity Too many government officials have not created anything of value. They are only interested in control

Historically the frontier was always on the city states - Greek city states (Athens), Italian, the US…when state rights were greater than federal frontier was the West (US) In this era, where are the frontiers?

English is the language of the Internet. If you are ambitious and want to be at the frontier you got to lean English (AI translation could help; Translations are good for English & Chinese not for others; they are most surveiled languages)

Every revolution is driven by small number of people at the cutting edge of thought brainstorming with each other Figure out how to get small number of innovative people who can cooperate to create next round of institutions.

Be curious ⇒ be ok with contradicting your previous self Don’t try to be consistent with the image people have of you

What cant be bought by money: • fit body • a calm mind • house full of love They must be earned Respect is an emergent property of the above

Having 10 people you admire listen to you is far more important than masses listening to you

conviction (thing that’s with you all the time) is a byproduct of thinking it through by yourself Other’s philosophy can inspire you But you have to find your conviction yourself Conviction changes your psyche / internal state

Deeply religious people or parents who love their kids have something to think abt other than themselves They escape depression