Living forever
Contrarian thinking
TLDR; Anything is possible, including living forever.
What is something you believe to be true that almost everyone else would disagree with you on?
The interview question above is one posed by Peter Thiel that I’ve also enjoyed asking over the years.
I’m the guy in the courtroom movie who plays the jury foreman and tries to flip the rest of the jurors into acquitting the defendant.
Actually, that happened in real life, but “the guy in the courtroom movie” made for a better character description.
I’ll admit there’s a competitiveness to playing the opposing side that I like—even when you don’t necessarily believe it—but in business the contrarian is an important role too.
Whether triangulating a better answer, improving creativity, or challenging underlying assumptions, I’ve found materially better outcomes are born from intellectual debate.
I could go on, but let’s skip ahead.
The question above; how do you answer it?
I’ve heard lots of passable answers over the years, but I’m not really looking for a “right” answer anyway. I’m looking for a glimpse into how people think, and maybe even challenge my own beliefs.
If asked, here are two things I believe:
Anything is possible. I’ve found others will agree at first, but when pressed, they’ll fold. Their childlike wonder disintegrates. To really believe anything is possible, you have to be willing to challenge everything.
We will know people in our lifetimes who will live forever. Longevity and healthspan are deep topics so I’ll leave that for another day, but if it piques your interest, check out Lifespan, David Sinclair, Ray Kurzweil, Peter Attia, or the commercial example of Loyal. Fascinating.
See you Monday.