#342 The Lessons of History (Will & Ariel Durant)
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Since man is a moment in time, a transient guest of the earth, a sport of his species, a sign of his race, a composition of body, character in mind, a member of a family and a community, a believer or daughter of a faith, a unit in an economy, perhaps a citizen in a state or a soldier in an army, we may ask, under the corresponding heads, astronomy, geology, geography, biology, biography, ethnology, psychology, morality, religion, economics, politics and war, what history has to say about the nature, conduct and prospects of men? IT is a precarious enterprise and only a four.

We try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages of hazardous conclusions, yet we proceed. That was an expert in one of my favorite. I progressed in the first chapter of the book that about today, which is the lessons of history by will and erie ant uni Normally get together and speak about a biography of person, the way to think about the book.

In the only my hand, this is one hundred page biography on the human species. And I can think of more qualified authors to write something like this in willing area, because they spent forty years from one thousand five, two thousand nine hundred and seventy five writing this eleven volume set called the story of civilization. If you read a bunch of other grapes of treneman s will in aral dance, historic civilization will pop up over over again in the programs.

Es, because these entrepreneurs ing IT people like Larry ellison on and elon mus. Come to mind. And part of what makes this books so, especially they wrote the lesson of history after they finish the story of civilians.

So you could think of this is like a hundred page set, opposer summary of their forty years, that four decade long journey, and trying to catalogue the human existence. And so, well, let's jump ate in. The first lesson of history is to be modest.

Let us to find history as the events or records of the past. Human history is a brief in space, and its first lesson is modesty. At any moment, a commit may come too close to the earth and set our little globe turning topsy turvy in a hectic course.

Or choke is men and flees with films, or heat, or a fragment of the smiling sun may slip off him gently and for upon us in a wild embrace, ending all grief and pain. And then this line hit you write in the chest. They have a bunch of lines like this.

Throughout the book, generations of men established a growing mastery over the earth, but they are destined to become fossils in its soil. And so i've read and reread this book three, four times, not including the times I listen to IT on auto b as well. And so I be monchy notes from the last time I read IT.

But what came to mind this time when I read this sentence, I thought about what charly monger said, that what you and I are doing here is when we, reading by frees with great people, were becoming friends with the eminent dead. And because most of the people that I read about are dead, when I get to the end of the book, i'm not just getting to the end of the book. I'm getting to the end of somebody's life.

So I am concealing, you are as a bike of listening. You are constantly reminded of the finnite tss of life that generations of man establish growing mastery over the earth, but they are destined to become fossil in its soil. So what I think about this is its ruthless and forces, ruthless paradise.

Ation about how i'm spending my time and what I choose to focus on. And IT comes down to three apps for me, founders, family and friends, as all i'm focused on, everything else has around to zero. That is one of the main benefits of this relentless pursuit of studying history.

You understand that you are destined to become fossil in its soil. The last time I read the book, when I got to this part, this is what I wrote and warns me of why non bushel said he was still john mentor, said Steve jobs only had one speed go. And he said that about a nineteen year old city job, still, jobs did not know how limited his time on earth would be, right? And so don't get much time.

Don't waste IT go. Ruthless prioritization of how we spend our time is, I think, is super important. Now there's going to be a bunch of just there are obviously incredible writers, and they have the ability to distil an entire story into one sentence and a few pages later.

I love this. The influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology growth. So they are speaking about the entire sweep of of human history as as time goes for IT.

right? The influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology. Ss, the books and hold my hand was written in one thousand hundred and sixty eight.

And yet that line is even more true today. The influence of geographical factors diminishes the technology growth. Go back to when you are set in a polin.

He spent an unbeliever amount of time talking about physical barriers, physical barriers of moving in army somewhere from one place another. This, what you do when you come into a river? This, what happens? How you hand mountains? No, Polly died in eighteen twenty one.

The airplane was not invented here. So the influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology grows. So I was thinking about the the life of world dance specifically because he started, he wrote, like the first half, the series opposition alone.

And then his wife, joints for the second half. And so I looked up when he was alive and also OK. He was born in 8 eighty five， and he dies in one thousand and eighty one. And a huge theme of this book is the influence of technology and the tools that we invent on the human species.

And so I went to ChatGPT, and I asked as I, okay, can you give me a list of significant technological advancements? They were created between the periods of eighteen eighty five, in one thousand nine hundred eighty one. Listen to what was invented in the life of world around.

So you have the invention of the first automobile, the invention of the first camera that makes photography accessible to the masses, the invention of radio, of the powered airplane, of panzi lan, of the atomic bomb, of the transistor of the solar cell, the integrated circuit, the arpa, which, of course, the pregressed, the internet, the micro processor, the mobile phone, the personal computer, and finally the walkman, which was invented in one nine hundred and seventy nine, and then will dies two years later. There is an incredible a amount of technological progress in one lifetime, and that continues to accelerate that. Even the technology used to produce that list to help me with the research of this episode, if you're not already using these, a assistants like chat, B, T.

IT is remarkable. I use IT multiple, multiple today. In fact, I built my own, which indexes all my notes, all my highlights, all my transcripts, every single word i've ever ordered on the entire podcast.

Last eight years, i've been testing for a few weeks. IT should be available to all founder. No sugriva, I would say, the next week or two, let me give an example.

I was just a phone i'm going to be speaking at event with. I can tell you who the company is. But to one of the largest asset managers in the world gave over two trillion dollars of asset under management.

And while we are on the phone, they wanted me to talk about leadership lessons from history of create entrepreneurs. I just asked founder notes, again, this feature that I used wild on the phone was, is not available to yet, but should be in a few weeks. And within twenty seconds, IT gives me a list and a summary of ideas on leadership from ted Turner, charlie monger, burnett helsby.

Burnett hesburgh is the guy that sold his family business to warn buffett. And Alice continues James dyson, David ogi, the founder of trader joes alibaba. I haven't done a podcast on jack mine like seven years, warn buffet, jim Collins.

I've never done a pockets and jam coins, but I mentioned something he to said about leadership in an episode they did five years ago, jeff aos, Henry ford and Steve jobs. And so all that comes to mind from one simple sentence, because the influence of geographer factors to minister is technology grows. What the impact was fast, but that the influence of what else besides g graphic factors, right? What other factors are going to diminish as technology growth? Moving on the next chapters about biology and its effect on history.

This is really a lot about on competition selection. This is a lot of ideas, a pop to mind, really. The main thing what about the to is our job is to make our companies and ourselves Better equipped to meet the test of survival.

And so they're going to draw some lessons from history about that. For you and I, the laws of biology are the fundamental lessons of history. We are subject to the processes and trials of evolution, to the struggle for existence and the survival of the fittest to survive.

So the first biological lesson of history is that life is competition. Competition is not only the life of trade, is is the trade of life. They're just fantastic. This is what make such a great communicator.

It's not only that they are able to explain something, take or something complex and make IT simple, but they put ideas, whatever they want you to understand, from their brain to years that goes right. And competition is not only the life of trade is trade of life. IT is peaceful when food abounds and violent when the mouse out run the food.

Animals eat one another without com civilized, the men consume one another by due process of law. CoOperation is real and increases with social development, but mostly because IT is a tool and form of competition. We CoOperate in our group.

Our family community company and right company were in the our family community, company, club, church, party, race, nation in order to strengthen our group in its competition with other groups. It's impossible for entrepreneur to read that sense or not talking about entrepreneurship and not think of company building. That is the group that we Operate in, the most group that you and I think about the most.

We are acquisitive, greedy and pog. Nc, starting about the human species, right? Member goes, go back to the very beginning. Only think I elaborated on why I love that. That paragraph a from from the first chapter from the introduction, IT is a precarious enterprise and only a four.

We try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages, exactly what you're doing, trying to compress what, in a hundred centuries of observation, what are we and what can history tells about our nature, right? We are quiet tive, greedy and poggio, because our blood remembers millennium there, which four beyers had to chase and fight and kill in order to survive and had to eat to their gastro capacity for fear they soon should not capture another feast war. Which is to talk about a lot.

War is a nation's way of eating. What a sentence. Hopefully any of this, if you don't already have the book, can convince you to bike up with the book.

And if you have auto, and pretty sure I have a special auber, I don't remember buying the audio book, but I have access. There is a version of the lessons of history where you actually hear commentary from William dern. And i'm pretty sure to include in every single automobile description.

War is a nation's way of eating. IT promotes CoOperation because this is the ultimate form of competition. The second biological lesson of history is that life is selection.

So the first biological lesson is IT, uh, of history, that life is competition. The second letter of histories that life is selection in the competition for food, our mates, our power, our customers again. And we have thrown some company thinks are okay or power.

Some organisms succeed and some fail in the struggle for existence. Some company is succeed. Some fail in the struggle existence.

Some individuals are Better equip than others to meet the test of survival, that is, when I start double underlining, that is, when to start adding all these examination points in the struggle for existence, some companies are Better equipped than others to meet the test of survival. Our jobs to make sure that our companies and ourselves are Better quipped to meet the test of survival. Few pages later, it's all about differences produces unequal value.

Come on. This is like screaming to you and I, how to build a valuable company of the book. Quality is not only natural and inborn IT grows with the complexity of civilization.

Again, wars written thousand and sixteen under the our civilization is a lot more complex today than IT was then in inequality is not only natural inborn IT grows with the complexity. Citizen economic development specializes functions. IT differentiates abilities and makes men unequally valuable to their group.

The note I left myself, i'd read this a couple years ago. I should read IT every year, should remember to read every year because you read in in noted in the weekend. Differentiation produces an equal value. Learn and optimize for that so that the heavily there's a founder named of all of account he's a founder Angel list I covered the book that my friend air Jordan wrote with of all all that can absent one nine one if you have, let's to a highly recommend you listed to episode after this one and then read the book. Of course, the books is available for free online, but my friend error told me they, even though you can read the book for free and land, they sold over a million copies of that book.

And IT IT only been out for a few years, but noval has a great way to describe exactly what willia they are and sing here, economic development, specialized functions, difference ability, and makes men unequally valuable to their group member. The more complex activities ation gets, the more you'll see inequality. So economic inequality, right? So the way nobody had influence on my thinking about this is he says something like we're living in the age of infinite leverage, right? And in the age of eminent leverage, IT is more important to be at the extreme of your craft, to the extreme of your work.

why? Because the person, that is, he says the person is the best in the world, and what they do gets to do IT for everyone. In the age of infinite leverage, we should see this idea that economic development specialized functions differentiate ability and makes me unequally valuable to their group.

We should see that only continue to expand to become more important. That why do you, years ago, I wrote to my own soul, learn and optimize for this. That also tips what I told you earlier about this, this reminder for history, from history, that our time is finding.

That is why it's founders, family, friends, the opportunity costs too high to waste. Not only my time is limited, i'm heavily incentivize to become the best in the world that what I do, because economic development, specialized functions, different abilities, and makes men unequally valuable to the group back to for freedom and equality, sworn in every lasting enemies. And when one prevails, the other dies.

If you leave men free, and their natural inequalities will multiple almost geometrically. Leave men free and their natural in inequality will multiply almost geometrically. Only the man who is below average and economic ability desires equality.

Those are conscious of superior ability, desire freedom, and in the end, superior ability has its way. And in the end, superior ability has its way. Talent is the best asset.

Class utopias of equality are biologically doomed. That sentence particularly hits me right? And heart utopias of equality, or biogen ally doing, I am the sun of a human immigrant.

I grew up meeting people that put their children on race and send them ninety miles across shark infested waters to flee communism. Since I was a child, I met people that did this. And then I remember getting older and actually running into people that think communism is a good idea. I'm sweating, thinking about this, and I used to even getting to that. I think the the key here is very simple OK.

How many people have put their children on race and hope that they make IT across ninety miles of shark infested waters to flee free market capitalism? Do you see a line that go down the key west, or the, or my my beach, and put their american kids on raft and hope? Did they make IT to cuba? And the crazy thing is, if you just study history, you understand that, of course, that's not going to work utopians of equality or biologically doomed.

And so look at the difference in growth between cuban america. In this sex sentence, a society which all potential abilities are allowed to develop and function will have a survival advantage. So let's move on to character and history and tell you my palm s or so I know, right? Let's, let's move on to character in history.

Human nature does not change. This part is just so, so good. We talk all the over, over game. History does repeat. Human nature does, history shows little alteration in the conduct of mankind.

The greeks of plato s time behave very much of the french of modern centuries, and the romans behave like the english means and instrumental ties change motives and ends remain the same. To act a rest, to acquire a give, to fight or treat, to seek association of privacy, to meet or to reject, to offer over that parental care. Nor does human nature alter as between classes, but this is another double on the line sense.

Nor is human nature alter between classes. Buying large, the poor have the same impulses as the rich, with only less opportunity or skill to implement them. Nothing is clear in history in the adoption by successful rebels of the methods they were customer to condemn in the forces they deposed.

That's obvious in history. That's also obvious in fiction. If you you ever, uh the book animal farm, they just gave you one sentence, summer iner the adoption red by successful rebels, rebels of the methods he were consumed to condemn in the forces they proposed.

New situation, however, do arise regarding novel on stereotyped responses, hence development, and this development requires a capacity for experiment and innovation. Here, the initiative individual. So this is applied to unite, because this is what we we study, right? We used to call the initiative individual.

The great man, the hero, the genius, regains his place as a of force in history. He grows out of his time talking about the fact that that reappearance of these kind of personalities are entirely predictable, and usually what environment is required for them to appear. He grows out of his time and land and is the product and symbol of events, as well as their agent and voice.

Without some situation requiring a new response, his new ideas would be untimely. And in practical, I would pause right there. I would really think of church on this case, right? If there wasn't. His whole life have done multiple part series on church or government when he was a Young kid, government, he was an old man, and everything in between. And the whole thing was he believed his, that he, he was just waiting for the right time.

And yet, if IT wasn't for the invasion of britain by hitler in the northeast, we are likely not speaking about churchill today, even know he'd be the same person when he is a hero of action, right? When you need some situation requiring a new response, or churches needed that response, the invasion and really the war, war two in its, in its entirely. So you need some situation requiring ing a new response.

His new ideas would be untimely and in practical. When he is a hero of action, the demands of his position and the exhaustion of crisis develop and inflate him to such magnitude and powers as wood in Normal times have remained potential on tact. And just listen to this writing.

Events take place through him as well as around him. His ideas and decisions enter vitally into the course of history. So that's layers.

I was talking about churches, and I forgot that they wouldn't a mentioned here at times his eloquence, like churches, maybe worth a thousand regiments. His foresight and strategy and tactics like napoleons, may win battles and campaigns and establish states. And then this is just what a sentence, what a sentence.

The imitating majority follows the innovating minority. And this follows the original individual in adapting new responses to the demands of environmental survival. And then they go into detail why time test set ideas are usually more valuable, the new ideas, but that is not always the case.

Out of every hundred new ideas, ninety nine or more will probably be inferior to the traditional responses, which should they propose to replace. No one man, however brilliant, are well informed, can come in one lifetime to such fullness of understanding as a safely judge and dismiss. The customs are institutions of his society, for these are the wisdom of generations, after centuries of experiment in the laboratory of history.

And then this, just a few lines in the chapter on morals in history and the weird thoughts that come to mind. And when I read so like this, I guess what? Let me just trate to the point, whatever myself, if you can identify an enduring human need, you can build a business around that.

And i'm not casting judgment on what any businesses that other people build, but you see that there's businesses around us that will understand about of what some legal sum, not right? And so as a sin has flourished in every age, men and women have gambled in every age. They think that lines is particular interesting right now because you just see the the the change of regulations and laws and these really gigg antic businesses built around gambling.

And I have friends that asked me like, why do you get on sports? And I just quote at door like I don't invest anywhere. I don't have an edge.

The only have an edge is in my actual business and is actually surprised me recently, like how prevalent. And just just like big these businesses get. And shouldn't surprise me though, because I had to read this book.

I'd previously underline this line, men and women have gambled in every age. I just forgot IT. And then this next sentence think everybody will agree with is my favorite sentence in this entire section.

In every age, men have been dishonest and governments have been corrupt. In every age of human history was a two. Governments have been corrupt. Men have been designed in. Governments have been corrupt.

But I think the top level lesson of the medal lesson around that is identifying and enduring human need in building a business around that. And then one enduring in repeating need has an entire of the human species, has entire chapter based on IT IT is religion in history, he says. Even the skeptical historian develops a humble respect for religion, since he sees IT functioning and seemingly in dispensable in every land and in every age to the unhappy, the suffering that behaved.

The old IT has brought supernatural comfort to valued by millions of souls as more as more precious than any natural aid. And I just spent three days as past week, with one hundred and fifty, a very inspiring in ambitious and successful entrepreneurs have listen to this podcast. And this is something that actually came up.

I wish I, we, you didn't record anything on purpose. I want these events to be very special and like you have to be there. And a lot when you're not recording, people tend to speak you more honestly and and more freely.

And something that came up where I was like, man, I would I wish I recorded myself saying this was I actually think there's a lot that companies can learn by studying religions. Because religions, if, if you think about what what William ary to understand, like they've last longer than companies do, this last longer than countries do. And the reasons came to minds, because somebody one time described the founder podcast as church for entrepreneurs.

And I think there's a lot of lessons here for you as you're leading your company. Because my friend patched from best like the best I always say, like repetition is persuasive. He put IT, maybe even Better. He says, a repetition does not spoil the prayer.

And I think one of the main lessons that entrepreneurs and company builders can learn from religions is, if you think about all the major religions in the world, right? You based A O I grew up Christian as an example. We don't read the bible once.

good. No, we revisit IT. We go back to IT, then we gather, right? We repeat lessons from over and over and over again. Repetition is restrictive reputation.

The prayer we at specific innovations, you know, every wednesday, every sunday or whatever, whatever time in your religion, religions have different days of the week or time periods, but you see them consistently. They gather together, sometimes this every day, and they gathered together with people that believe in the same thing that they they do. And they repeat the lessons that they agree upon.

And they want to guide their actions and guide like their path in life. That is very some more like if you go back and read any the shareholder like I the example used a couple days ago, which your faces there is ideas and phrases and and mindsets that are in his very first shareholder and ninety seven that are in his last one twenty years later. And you see this over and over in the biography of entrepreneurship.

Repeat the same lessons decade after decade after decade, the same way that the religions do. And then they go back to the importance that history optimizes for survival. History remains, at bottom, a natural selection of the fittis individuals, the fittest companies and groups in a struggle where in goodness receives no favors, miss fortune abound.

And the final test is the ability to survive nature. History do not agree with our conceptions of good and bad. They to find good as that which survives and bad as that which goes under.

No, it's insane. Really like remarkable, I guess, is about a worthy and and saying how much of this book is about the importance of survival, right? Nature and history do not agree with conceptions of good and bad.

They to find good as that which survives and bad as which goes under. How many times do you and I talk about and repeat the quotes and the ideas of of his best founders on the importance of survival? One of my favorite lines on this actually came from a Steve jobs.

He says, Victory in our industry is spelled survival. In our industry is spelled survival. A few years ago, I read a seven hundred page biography on Charles to go.

And everybody around a churchill F. D. R. Did just could not understand why the guy just refused to quit.

And you could almost summarize his entire philosophy around, you know, fighting a hiller and making sure that that friends remains free to his fantastical. He says, all that matters is to survive. The rest is just words.

In a more business context, think about if you read warn buffer shareholder. I think this is absolute two twenty seven warn buffer t essay, which is warn shareholders, but organized and said by years or organized by by topic, which is excEllent. And he talks about that we that they play offence while other other scramble for survival.

Let me read from his shareholding TTS. I think this was this after two thousand and eight. I don't have the exact year, but i'm going to read this to you.

And really the again, the reason bring this up is because a strong financial foundation is what allows you to survive, right, to not ever take risks of, know, i'm going to risk the remote chance of my business goes out of that my company goes under, my business die to, you know, make a little bit of extra money, warn, and charity would smack in the face of you did that. So warn said, by being so cautious in respect to leverage, we penalised our returns by a minor amount. Having loads of liquidity, loads of cash rate, having loads of cash.

Lets sleep well. Moreover, during the episodes of financial CS that occasionally rope in our economy, we will be equipped both financially to play offence, while other the scream for survival, what a line we play offence, while other the scramble for that's what allowed us to invest fifteen point six billion in twenty five days of panic following the lame bankrupcy in two thousand 8， to invested fifteen point six billion and twenty five days of panic. And so what is this? I'll have to do with religion.

This is really a one sense of summary, which guan willena dant or gifted at one lesson of history is that religion has many lives and a habit of resurrection. In other words, religion survives throughout history. Right now we're going to technical ics, and where the legs are even more obvious for you and I.

History reports that men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, and the men who can manage money manage all. So think about that the way this is the note of myself that I think is A A good summer of that. The strong rule, the week, the wise rule, the strong and incentives rule all.

And IT goes into the fact that history is inflationary. So the bankers watching the trends and agriculture history trade, inviting and directing the flow of capital, putting our money doubling to work, controlling loans and interest in enterprise, running great risk to make great, great gains rise to the top of the economic period. And is if you read this and is now you I get it's obvious like I like this is many, many years ago, as like financial services is something like eight percent of GDP by size, but like forty percent by profit.

I forgot what the the exact star was, but that's how I remember. And we think all this is like unique to our time. And then he goes back. He's like one this isn't unique to your time. He's describing the medici, the fugues i've done.

I've got a bunch of protest on, I did a is on Jacob fugger 啊， if you just searching your pocket or it's a richman, he is like a richman history. Uh, the rush child did two episodes, two or three episodes them. Uh, the Morgans.

And so over over again, these are the people arise, the top of the economic pyramid, not the only one to, obviously, company builders. Perhaps IT is one secret of the power that, having studied the fluctuates of Prices, they know that history is flawed and that money is the last thing a wise man would hord. The experience of the past leaves little doubt that every economic system was, sooner or later, rely upon some form of a profit motive to stir individuals and groups to productivity.

And then they will introduce something they introduce earlier. The fact that humans are are inherent in equal. The more complex, the more technologically advanced the society gets, the more you're going to see this, the differences in these in the human ability expand.

Since practical ability defers from person to person, the majority of such abilities is gathered in the minority of men. The concentration of wealth is a natural result of this concentration of ability. And regularly, readers in history, the rate of concentration varies with the economic freedom permitted.

Deputy sm may for a time retard the concentration democrat democracy, allowing the most liberty accelerates IT. And so even though this APP appears over over again, IT does need a livia with really concentration of wealth, does not seem to be tango. We conclude that the concentration of wealth is natural and inevitable, and is periodically alleviated by violent or peaceable partial redistribution.

In this view, all economic history is the slow heart beat of the social organism. I like that they use the heartbeat metaphor there. And so it's interesting is right after for the chapter of economics, they talk about government.

And if we just went to, hey, you know, usually the most prosperous when you have freedom, people are connecting in their own interests. Their incentives are more lined. And if you have the central control system, but yet, if you study, uh, human history, a, every single government gonna default, an oligarchy.

Y is what I meant to say. So, uh, this is fascine. If we had to judge forms of government from the prevalence and duration in history, we should have to give the palm to monarchy.

Democracies, by contrast, have been hectic interlude. So what are you saying? Monarchy is the largest, lasting in most common form of government history. Democracies, by contrast, have been hectic inner lutes.

Now this is there is A A statement, a recurring theme um in history of the iron law of oligarchy and they go into detail about that here. And he has to do with this inherent difference and ability of human beings. Most governments have been oligarchies ruled by a minority, chosen either by birth or by a religious organization or by wealth.

IT is unnatural for a majority to rule. For a majority can seldom be organized in united and into specific action. And a minority can, if the majority of ability is contained in a minority of men, minority government.

Is as the inevitable as the concentration of wealth, see how they tied everything they went like the past year together. If, uh, the majority of the ability is containing a minority of men, minority government is as inevitable as a construction of wealth. The majority can do no more than periodical throughout one minority and up another.

And so the summary there is the iron law of oligarch. And so a few pages later, IT goes back to this idea that, you know, I keep talking about. This is why you so much of your time learning and practice things, you can be Better actor raft. Every advance in the complexity of the economy puts an added premium upon superior ability. Every advance in the complexity of the economy put in added premium upon superior ability.

And so a lot earlier in the book, we went over the fact that in the biology and history chapter, that war is a nation's way of eating, the promotes CoOperation because is the ultimate form of competition, and that the first biological lesson of history is that life is competition. And so this next sentence of the provocative will not be surprising. War is one of the consequence of history and has not diminished with civilization or democracy.

In the last three thousand four hundred and twenty one years of recorded history, only two hundred and sixty eight have seen no war. War or company is the father of all things, the post source of ideas, inventions, institutions and states. In that idea, that war, I done a couple pocket on this, that war is a poor source of ideas.

When there is literally life and death, you will see human generally at at the apex. Think about gene. Gene is a partner j. Robert open hymir and, uh, journalists ly growth.

But does that an excEllent book, uh, that speaks about this heroic effort for the united states industry complex to turn on a dime in world war two and go for manufacturing things, for consumers of manufacturing things to help the allies in the war? It's called freedoms e's forge. I read IT.

I did a podcast on a long time. I think I did lead the podcast. I can't find IT, but i'm going to reread that book um because I think it's fast.

It's really it's it's on engineering, really leadership and how large groups of people can get things done incredibly fast, I think, is the main lesson. Ah the same causes the war of the same as the causes, the competition among individuals acquisitiveness, progne and pride, the desire for food, land, materials, fuels and mastery. War is the final arbiters.

A nation must be ready, just like a company must be ready at any moment to defend itself. And when it's a central interests involved, IT must be allowed to use any means IT considers necessary to its survival. Sop, you know, this goes on for many pages, and really you can, again, another one sense summary, whether the lesson that did derive through study, one hundred centuries of human history, the ten commandments, must be silent when self preservation is at stake.

Man is a competitive animal, and his states must be like himself. And then if you have the book, I think you're especially going to be interested in the growth and decay chapter. They're talking about civilizations.

I think with you and I obviously the the lessons for companies, uh, jumps off the page. This is really why there's always more opportunity. You is always room for a new company, a new stata.

Because on all, on one point, we are all agreed. Civilizations begin, flourish, decline and disappear. Companies begin, flourish, decline and disappear. So what determines if this chAllenge will be met if we put the problem for the back and ask what determines whether a chAllenge will will not be met?

The answer is that this depends upon the presence of creative individuals or uni call founders, right? A creative individuals with clarity of mine and energy of will, capable of effective responses to new situations that, and they try my civilization, the time of all kind of things, IT holds precisely true with founders of companies, too. Will this new chAllenge be met? Well, the answer is that this depends upon the presence of a creative individual with clarity of mine and energy of will, capable of effective responses to new situations.

And so we see that the only the death of individuals, but the death of entire civilizations in their like, what is just depressing, and really this is on the idea, is being a mortal, whether in individuals are in state's death is natural. And if IT comes in due time, IT is forgivable and useful, and the mature mine will take no offence from its coming. But do civilizations die again? Not quite.

Greek civilization is not really dead, only its frame is gone and its habitat has changed. IT survives in the memory, and in such abundance that no one life, however four and long, could sorb IT. This is a great, again, do a great job of summarizing. In one n homer has more readers now than in its own day. In land, the greek poets and philosophers are in every library and college.

At this moment, plato is being studied by one hundred thousand discovers of the dear delight of philosophy, overspreading life with understanding, thought, meaning that one hundred thousand people discovering player for the very first time right now, this selective survival of creative minds is the most real and beneficiary of immortality. Going back to this, if you can find in during need, you can build a business around that. All technological advances will have to be written off as merely new means of achieving old ends.

We are driven by the same desires, the same acclivities. We just find different ways to satisfy them. Now we get into the mind of humans.

You and I do that. I do this. I'm sure you do, to our capacity for freeing is M. S. And no matter how many difficulties we amount, how many ideals we realize, we shall always find an excuse ring magnificently tly miserable.

The study of history allows you to stand outside yourself and realized how these feelings that, what i'm going through, what I desire, the things I love, the things that bring joy, the things that bring sadness, they are not unique to me. I think it's so important to get control of our minds, because we have this one shot I love with the hawk set of the founder, VISA. When he, he said, life is a magnificent, serious audacity to be experiences.

We do not want our minds to make this one magnificent audacity miserable. We must control our capacity for fretting, since we know the nature and human nature is unless and then as expected, they find the perfect way to end a book on lessons of history. Some precious achievements have survived all the visitor des of rising and falling states, that making a fire in light of the wheel and other basic tools, language writing, art and song, agriculture, the family, social organization, morality and charity, and the use of teaching to transmit the law of the family and the human race is exactly what's happening.

Now we're reading words of something. No one with us who has been dead, you know, for most fifty years. These are the elements of civilization, and they have been internatio sly maintained through the periods passage from one civilization to the next.

They are the connective tissue of human history. If education is the transmission of civilization, we are unquestionably progressing. Civilization is not inherit IT has to be learned and earned by each generation anew. If the transmissions should be interrupted for one century, civilization would die and we should be savages again.

If progress is real, IT is not because we are born any Better or wiser than infants were in the past, but because we are born to a Richard heritage, born on a higher level of that pedestal, which the accumulation of knowledge raises as the ground and support of our being. The heritage rises and man rises in proportion as he receives IT to those of us who study history, not merely as a warning and a reminder of man's fines and crimes, but also as an encouraging remembers of general souls. The past seasons to be a depressing chAmber of horse IT becomes a celestial city, a spacious country of the mind, where in the thousand cents statement, inventors, scientists, poets, artists, musicians, lovers and philosophers will still live and speak, teach and carve and singing.

The historian will not mourn, because you can see no meaning and human existence except that which men puts into IT let to be a pride that we ourselves may put meaning into our lives, and sometimes a significance that transcends death. If a man is fortunate, he will, before he dies, gather up as much as kind of his civilized heritage and transmitted to his children and to his final breath, he will be grateful for this inexhaustible legacy, knowing that this is our nourishing mother and our lasting life. That isn't will an area direct can write, they can teach and they can inspire for the full story.

Highly, highly, highly recommend getting the book. If you buy the book using a link to a to your public player, you'll be supporting the podcast at the same time. That is three hundred and forty two books down one thousand ago and I talked again soon okay. So just one quick update for you ah before you go.

So this feature that I mentioned in this episode where I was on the phone with one of the worlds large asset managers and within twenty seconds I had an overview going back you know eight years of how some of this should create entrepreneurs thought about a leadership i've talked about that i'm constantly updating. Well, first, all for founders notes. See you know, every week on adding more notes and highlights.

So what's been taking place lately is a lot of people have asked for an ability to have, like a one time payment option for founder notes, where that means now only if you sign up now, you get access to every single highlight and note that i've ever done for the podcast. But you'll get access to every single highlight and note I ever will do for the podcast, which I think is a crazy value. But also you get all the new features that I add for free.

And essentially, what i'm building, what i'm externalizing to the world, is this is my own internal tool to keep track of every single thing that i'm learning on this crazy journey, to try to really document, really condenser clarify. The collective knowledges of history is Grace entrepreneurs. So have said over the past few weeks you've been listened to these past that i've been doing using this is its second AI assistant.

It's trained on all, every single transcript, every single word i've ever udea on the podcast, all of my notes, all of my highlights. I have over twenty thousand notes and highlights. The snow book that i've been adding to this APP called read wise since two thousand and eighteen, right? And so read wise is who have partnered with to start building founders notes.

And we've been working on IT maybe for half a year or something like that so far. But the more I use the air assistant, IT becomes the feature that I use the most. And i'm sitting here thing was like, I don't know what the hell to call this thing.

It's not countering GPT. That's not good. It's I was like, is that a chat? Why don't chat with IT? I asked a question, but it's not a conversation. And so there's some of the questions that i've been asking are other users have been asking, send, sending to me.

I've been asking me people, people OK when you asked whatever i'm going to call this thing, we're calling IT chat right now but that's not going to be the named I like when never you ask, chat something that you find this interesting, you like the answer. Send IT back to me because when i'm going to do crowd source the best questions and answers and eventually you wanna to have to search. I mean, you can't. You're always able search, but eventually you m, you're going to have like a library of, you know, the top hundred, top two hundred questions and answers like this really targeted curricular entrepreneurs.

So i've been asking to stuff like, I need some unique ideas on how to find new customers, what device you have for me, what is the best way to fire a bad employee? How did Andrew carney know what to focus on? How did admin and find new employees to hire? Did you find any usual sources to find talent? Can you give me a summer of warn about its best ideas, where the most important leadership lessons from history s greatest entrepreneurs? That just goes on and on and on.

And so when you ask this A I assisted these questions that goes, and searches, when does, is relatively fast, although I want to make IT even faster, so goes in searches, every single transcript, every single know, every single highlight. And you have to keep in mind, you know, I would say, I don't know, I I don't know percentage, but seventy percent of my notes and highlights are never even make IT into the podcast. And so IT searches all this, and then IT grabs and essentially makes a summary of all these different ideas.

And so oh, it's not a chat. It's like a synthetic sizer because the definition of synthesize is to make something by combining different things. And so a few existing subscribers of email me asking, hay, can I test this? I was going a super search for a while.

This new feature that I can come up with the name, right? Like it's maybe it's founder chat, may be it's funders gpp, maybe it's supersession, maybe it's synthesizer. And I was emAiling back and forth with one of them whose tesn't s out for me.

He was like, oh, IT doesn't do these names. Don't do IT justice to what you're actually creating. And he suggested that you call IT sage.

And he was facing because then he noticed the why he thought he defined the words, say, so there's two main definitions, one's and and one's an adjective. The first one is a profoundly wise person. This, i'm reading this.

I'll tell you what thought immediately to my and is not a surprise you if you listen about at his pocket. I think of truly monger, I think of him is my like personal age. I think he's the wisest person i've ever come across.

And so he says, a profoundness wise person. This refers someone with a deep understanding of life, accumulated knowledge and sound judgment. That is, every single person that you and I ve covered on the pocket.

So the reason I think these tools going to be the one to use at the time, I think it's super powerful. I've been telling you for a while, hey, don't sign up. For founders notes, IT is made for people already existing like successful company is successful careers. That is still true. I think stage brings IT to if to a different level.

The sense that very see how are already for ring you to age, I said I, we're going to sleep on and I still could change the name, but I think this is IT for good because if you listen, look at the definition, but i'll get back to them once second. But what I really think is this is like, oh, no, it's going to be for if you are going to invest in many people invest in, in hundreds of hours and you listening to founder forecast this tool just makes perfect sense because IT is the accumulated acknowledge of everything that you've ever heard of a podcast in. In some cases, there is no way you're going to be remember all the stuff because I said, I think really in this episode, you know, I was asking questions on leadership lessons and was pulling from pancake seven years ago.

There's no way that I I could remember IT like this is a perfect memory, I don't. So let me go back to this, say, just a now is a perfume for founding SE person. This refers to someone's a deep inner sending of life and humidity knowledge, sound judgment they're often looked to for guidance and advice.

That is exactly the way i'm using. I'm not chatting with them. You know, i'm asking this question so I can you combine these ideas? I need to know something.

I need to make an important decision in my business. Will this tool improve my decision making yesterday? Aut, of course, come on.

It's accumulated knowledge of histories, Grace, entrepreneurs, density clarified, and you can have an on demand, of course, is going to make your decision making open the life of your career Better. And so that's the the non version. The adjective is a wise, diverting or prudent to describe someone who shows good judgment and makes well consider decisions.

You can be so good at your job and so remarkable your work. Somebody wrote a book about your life if you didn't make, show good judgment and make well considered decisions. That applies every single person you and I trying to learn from.

And so whatever the name of this feature is, we're going I think we're just going to ship at this week. We've been testing internally, uh, for many weeks, I don't know, maybe two months of that. Then we have a bunch it's out in the wild for existing subscribe for people testing IT.

What i'm looking for is like is IT can you break IT? And when I mean by break IT is is a crashing is getting stuck and so far has proved reliable. So now I am real hesitant.

So here's thing i'm really excited to get this out because I think this is really cool, right? And it's only going to get Better because i'm going to add more transcript to IT, more notes, more highlights. The underlying AI models will keep getting Better and Better.

This things would be crazy a couple years now, and I got a bit of ideas, an unfair advantages and senate with just a bunch of A I founded to Spark that we give me private product demos and saying that you should grab this features and you should add to here, and i'll show you how to do IT. So again, this is just an unfair advantage. I think you have a listening podcast and then hopefully subscribing to founders notes.

So I have to struggle my excitement for this new feature with I don't want to released to everybody and then, you know, it's a IT breaks because of so many more people using IT. So I think were pretty sure of stocking to the engineers at read wise, the founders of read wise, that the ones help them to build this product. They're saying we should ship with this week, i've been using the version right, that the actual live version that ten founders notes, too, and I can't break IT.

So we're going to do a couple more days of testing if there's nothing going wrong, it's going to be alive if you run into any issues when you use IT. okay. There's you see the customer support email, your log in the founders notes, please email.

I will be monitoring. I have people helping me, but I will be looking at the emails as well. All I ask you just be cool.

Everybody's been cool. We just spent. I spent one hundred and earth one hundred fifty days. I spent the last three days at the first founders only conference with one hundred and fifty super driven, successful, ambitious, inspiring founders. IT was increate.

We didn't record to anything on purpose, any event I ever do in the future that can be recorded like half to be there, but was struck by, as you know, these mutio billionaire there. There's super successful people. People sold their company to for hundreds of millions of dollars.

There's capital allocators possible for tens of billions of dollars, capital everybody, which is a group of business nerds, business nerds that want to get Better at their craft and and get to the end of our lives, not dancing on a reservoir of untag potential. And the amazing thing other than the inspiration and learning and the relationships we built is I didn't run in any assets. Everybody was cool.

And so I think I can believe this feature, if you run into any, any issues just detAiling, I will fix IT. I don't even know if you will run into IT, but keeping this is a tool for me first, right? I'm building something that I need.

The cool thing is just by external alizon IT to you, then IT becomes a value but not something just you know some hidden talent or hidden secret that I have. And so there's no way i'm going to let us stay broken and i'm going to constantly fix and on top of the all time. So that is my current thinking about IT.

I want to obviously going to talk directly to like I break the fourth wall. There is no fourth wall here, right? I'm always going to tell you thinking i'm i'm having about this the the evolution of thinking and what I have plan next because this is going to be know a full fledge platform with the north star of the ability to condense and clarify the collective knowledge of history of guys of nurse because I wanted on demands.

So we can use IT when we're decisions throughout our entire career. So in addition to the a assistance, whatever I named IT, right, a bunch of different ways. You can use IT when you sign up.

You are going to emails to welcome email. IT goes through, I wrote to welcome email. IT goes through exactly how I use IT.

No, you can still search on my highlights. That's the feature before the invention. sager. Whatever, a assistance, whatever. All this thing that was the future of using the most. So any topic that I was talking about, I would just type in in the search bar. Sometimes it's a persons, sometimes it's a, it's a topic, sometimes it's the an idea.

Sometimes I want to read about how do they think about patients? How do they think about monopoly, do they think about motes, how to think about incentives? And IT would perform a keyword search for all my notes and highlights.

And now we have this new feature, or transgress, which has made the search like ten times Better. Because then you could search every single time I mentioned on the podcast. So you still have the ability to search my highlights.

I've begin a bunch emails and dms that people are using the highlight feed like I suggested, which is the highlight feed is just a where IT presents all my notes and highlights in a random order to. It's almost like a smart twitter feet. But instead of reading, you know, the ramp lings of some crazy person online, you read a note or a highlight from one of the hundreds of three hundred books, whatever I have in in founders notes.

And so multiple people said, hey, that idea about replacing search es es like reading the news for ten or fifteen medals in the morning. I just read the highlight feeds that actually a lot Better thinking. That is a much of randomly ideas from histories great entrepreneurs research your morning with and then the last minute i'll talk about.

But even though there's two more list in the welcome email, you can just read IT after after you sign up. But is the book's feature you go in and you can pick a book like, I did this for the lessons of history, the book that unite just covered. I read that book for the first time, I don't know, years ago.

And so I had thirty one previous highlights from that book. You can go in and read all my notes and highlights on a book in five, ten minutes for most of them. And you have a good idea of the key ideas for every single book.

So if you want to talk that you can use for your entire career, I highly, highly, highly recommend you go to founders no sm that founders notes stock com, founders with an s just a pocket, founders no stock com. And you can get access to what I truly believe as the words most valuable nobo for founders. IT is by far the best way to support the podcast. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you very much for support, and I will talk you again soon.