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Resources from this episode: https://tim.blog/2023/04/26/kevin-kelly-excellent-advice-for-living/

Kevin Kelly (twitter.com/@kevin2kelly) helped launch and edit Wired magazine. He has written for The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among many other publications.

He is the author of the new book Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier. https://www.amazon.com/Excellent-Advice-Living-Wisdom-Earlier/dp/0593654528?tag=offsitoftimfe-20

Other books by Kevin Kelly include Out of Control, the 1994 classic book on decentralized emergent systems; The Silver Cord, a graphic novel about robots and angels; What Technology Wants, a robust theory of technology; Vanishing Asia, his 50-year project to photograph the disappearing cultures of Asia, and The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, a New York Times bestseller.

Kevin is currently co-chair of The Long Now Foundation, which is building a clock in a mountain that will tick for 10,000 years. He also has a daily blog, a weekly podcast about cool tools, and a weekly newsletter, Recomendo, a free, one-page list of six very brief recommendations of cool stuff. He is also a Senior Maverick at Wired and lives in Pacifica, California.

Please enjoy!

[00:00] Start
[01:59] Is Kevin Kelly the most interesting man in the world?
[04:44] Kevin’s long bet against the human population.
[11:29] Out Of Control.
[15:58] Why did it take 11 years to complete The Silver Cord?
[21:12] 1,000 True Fans.
[26:48] Kevin’s failed campaign to discover all the species of life on Earth.
[28:54] Stewart Brand.
[33:57] Resurrecting extinct species.
[36:22] Why Kevin believes optimists shape the future.
[39:55] Active optimism vs. passive optimism.
[43:55] What constitutes progress?
[45:50] Is regression inevitable if we don’t embrace “degrowth?”
[50:37] Kevin’s $20 time machine.
[53:34] Will AI take our jobs?
[1:05:57] The future of AI is dumbsmarten.
[1:10:04] What’s currently underhyped?
[1:12:48] Posting an AI picture a day keeps Kevin at play.
[1:15:06] How Kevin uses AI chatbots to help write first drafts.
[1:21:32] Potential scenarios for where AI will be going soon.
[1:24:54] What prompted Kevin to write Excellent Advice for Living?
[1:29:36] Examples of Kevin’s simple, tweetable advice.
[1:33:12] Don’t aim to be the best. Be the only.
[1:36:53] Good uses of time spent with one’s children.
[1:40:17] Tips for traveling with children.
[1:44:00] Being a tourist in your own town and troubleshooting advice.
[1:46:53] What Kevin hopes readers will take away from Excellent Advice for Living.
[1:48:16] Sabbaticals.
[1:54:24] How Kevin uses YouTube.
[1:58:11] Why is Kevin huge in China?
[2:01:58] Fully becoming yourself and other parting thoughts.

Erratum: In the interview, Nova Scotia was named as the setting for Anne of Green Gables, whereas the setting is Prince Edward Island.

Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.

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