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The Most Important Skill To Learn Right Now

Dan Koe29:19Added Aug 31, 2026

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  1. The future belongs to those with high agency

  2. 00:00The future
  3. 00:00belongs to those who understand that AI needs direction.
  4. 00:03Tools need masters. Data needs insight.
  5. 00:06Content needs context.
  6. 00:08Success needs vision.
  7. 00:09The mind is a story engine.
  8. 00:11And those who learn to control it will thrive.
  9. 00:13Most skills will be irrelevant in 10 to 20 years.
  10. 00:16That is,
  11. 00:16unless you completely change how you think about success.
  12. 00:20Because if you're a high agency individual,
  13. 00:22that doesn't matter. Why?
  14. 00:24Because you aren't dependent on a specific skill
  15. 00:27for your success.
  16. 00:28Because you aren't a specialist.
  17. 00:30You didn't focus your mind, preventing you from learning.
  18. 00:33Outside of that, focus on the status of a high paying job
  19. 00:36or degree.
  20. 00:36You have a vision and you understand that in today's world,
  21. 00:40you can learn any skill or acquire
  22. 00:42any knowledge that is needed to achieve it.
  23. 00:44Now, unfortunately,
  24. 00:45if your parents did not cultivate
  25. 00:46the skill of agency in themselves,
  26. 00:48they probably didn't pass it off to you.
  27. 00:50And unless you have deliberately and painfully gone
  28. 00:53through the process of relearning,
  29. 00:55you have some work to do
  30. 00:56before you feel in control of your future.
  31. 00:59Now, with that said, the most important skill to learn
  32. 01:01that will be relevant now in ten years
  33. 01:03and until you die is agency.
  34. 01:06Because if you can set your own life direction,
  35. 01:08do what is required to achieve it
  36. 01:10and avoid the infinite number of temptations and distractions
  37. 01:13in today's world, you will never be at risk of replacement.
  38. 01:16And if you do get replaced, it doesn't matter
  39. 01:18because you can quickly adapt.
  40. 01:20So in this video, I want to share five ideas on what agency
  41. 01:23is, why it matters more than ever, and how to practice it
  42. 01:27so you can get what you want in life.

  43. I - Agency is the ability to iterate without permission

  44. 01:29So the first idea is that agency is the ability to iterate
  45. 01:33without permission.
  46. 01:34And this is a slight redefinition
  47. 01:36of what most people
  48. 01:37are talking about online right now in terms of agency,
  49. 01:40because they're saying that it is the ability
  50. 01:42to act without permission.
  51. 01:43But we'll see why that is wrong. And maybe it isn't wrong.
  52. 01:46Maybe that's the definition of agency.
  53. 01:48But I want to redefine it in a way
  54. 01:50that is actually useful to you.
  55. 01:52So we'll start with a quote from Krishnamurti.
  56. 01:54It is only those who are in constant revolt that discover
  57. 01:57what is true,
  58. 01:58not the man who conforms, who follows some tradition.
  59. 02:01So in order to understand what a high agency individual is,
  60. 02:05it's very helpful to understand what it is not.
  61. 02:08Agency is not mechanical conformity.
  62. 02:11Conformity is
  63. 02:12when your mind is still connected
  64. 02:13by an umbilical cord to society.
  65. 02:15Conformity is a stage of development
  66. 02:17where your mind operates
  67. 02:18entirely through cultural programing,
  68. 02:20judging truth based on popularity and acceptance by others
  69. 02:24rather than your own direct experience
  70. 02:25or independent investigation.
  71. 02:27Now, if you really think about what I just said,
  72. 02:29if you don't understand what I just
  73. 02:31said, please go back and listen to it.
  74. 02:33You understand that
  75. 02:34that is one of the greatest threats to living a good life.
  76. 02:37Now, when you're born, your mind is like a new computer.
  77. 02:40There's a base operating system,
  78. 02:42but the hard drive is completely blank
  79. 02:44for the first 20 years of your life.
  80. 02:47You do not think independently and that's okay.
  81. 02:50Nobody does.
  82. 02:51No matter how independent you think you are.
  83. 02:53Because that's just another form of conformity.
  84. 02:55The little kid that thinks he's rebelling against
  85. 02:57his parents is just conforming to
  86. 02:59what his friends want him to do.
  87. 03:00Now, in the Spiral Dynamics, in nine
  88. 03:02stages of ego development models, they show that around 50% of
  89. 03:05the population is at the conformist stage of development,
  90. 03:08meaning half the population lacks the cognitive development
  91. 03:11for genuine agency.
  92. 03:12Now, conformity
  93. 03:14stems from survival
  94. 03:15because humans don't
  95. 03:16only survive on the physical level like animals
  96. 03:18where they're reproducing genes,
  97. 03:20but they survive on the psychological level
  98. 03:22where they're reproducing beliefs, ideas, and information.
  99. 03:26If you work a job,
  100. 03:27you have a low degree of agency in that domain of life,
  101. 03:30because if that job were to go away,
  102. 03:31your survival is at stake.
  103. 03:33So you must conform in order to keep the job.
  104. 03:35I mean, that's
  105. 03:36what you have to do to get the job
  106. 03:37in the first place, is
  107. 03:38you have to conform to what you think the boss will like
  108. 03:41so that you can hire you.
  109. 03:42And then while you're on the job,
  110. 03:44you have to maybe wear a specific dress code.
  111. 03:47You have to go through a specific set of processes
  112. 03:49to do your work that are approved by the boss or your manager.
  113. 03:52Maybe you have to conform to a 9 to 5 style workday.
  114. 03:55As another example, if you have hard set beliefs that bind you
  115. 03:59to a specific political party or religious organization,
  116. 04:03you do not have a high degree of agency
  117. 04:05because your ideas of good and bad
  118. 04:06originate from your culture,
  119. 04:08not your own personal investigation or discovery.
  120. 04:10Everyone in the tech and business space, in the AI space
  121. 04:13right now loves to talk about being high agency,
  122. 04:17but that's just another form of conformity
  123. 04:19to what is popular in the tech and business space.
  124. 04:21And if you're not talking about it, then you're not with it.
  125. 04:24With that said, this video has some degree of conformity.
  126. 04:27We're all conformist in some ways, and since it's a survival
  127. 04:31strategy or survival tool, it can be used like a tool.
  128. 04:34I'm surviving in the sense
  129. 04:36that I'm trying to stay relevant in the YouTube space.
  130. 04:38So what does
  131. 04:39true agency look like,
  132. 04:41and how can we start to develop it in ourselves
  133. 04:43so that our emotions, finances, and opportunities
  134. 04:46in life aren't dictated by someone else?

  135. High agency people iterate without permission

  136. 04:48The first thing it looks like
  137. 04:50is that high agency people iterate without permission.
  138. 04:53To have
  139. 04:53agency is to be the subject of a sentence
  140. 04:56rather than its direct object.
  141. 04:58It is the tendency to act rather than wait to be acted upon.
  142. 05:01That is a quote from Devin
  143. 05:03Erickson's article The Third Ingredient of Success.
  144. 05:06No agency
  145. 05:07literally means the condition of being in action or operation
  146. 05:11when it's used to describe a person,
  147. 05:13it means the tendency to initiate action
  148. 05:15towards a goal without outside
  149. 05:16prompting, instruction or permission.
  150. 05:18But when we look at
  151. 05:19what actually makes people successful,
  152. 05:22it isn't just acting toward a goal.
  153. 05:23Anyone can start a business,
  154. 05:25but that doesn't mean it will reach any form of success.
  155. 05:27Most of them
  156. 05:28don't, in fact,
  157. 05:29because they're missing the one critical piece of the puzzle.
  158. 05:32If something doesn't work,
  159. 05:34you reflect on the situation,
  160. 05:35make an adjustment, and try again
  161. 05:37over and over until you reach your end.
  162. 05:39Destination agency
  163. 05:41then, in my opinion, is not only action,
  164. 05:43but an undying commitment
  165. 05:45to iteration, learning and doing in unison.
  166. 05:48Making mistakes and correcting mistakes
  167. 05:50without being seduced back into a comforting conformity
  168. 05:53because it's not working, quote unquote.
  169. 05:55And yes, I'm talking to you
  170. 05:56people who start and quit after two weeks.

  171. High agency people treat life as one giant experiment

  172. 05:59Now, the second
  173. 06:00tell of a high agency person
  174. 06:01is that they treat life as one giant experiment.
  175. 06:04Lo agency people can be characterized by the employee mindset.
  176. 06:08They are assigned a task, often with some form of status
  177. 06:11or credential,
  178. 06:12that triggers the part of their brain
  179. 06:13that craves acceptance by the tribe,
  180. 06:15and their decision making is immediately compromised.
  181. 06:18They can no longer think outside of the confines
  182. 06:20placed upon them.
  183. 06:21Now, high agency people are scientists of their own lives.
  184. 06:25They have an idea.
  185. 06:26They set their own goal.
  186. 06:27They create a hypothesis
  187. 06:28or an educated guess on how to achieve it.
  188. 06:31Then they test, tinker, research,
  189. 06:33and make an attempt toward the goal and then they fail a lot.
  190. 06:36But since this is an experiment that's a part of the process,
  191. 06:39they expect to fail,
  192. 06:41because how else are they going to narrow down
  193. 06:43what doesn't work until they find what does?
  194. 06:45Now, this is a significant issue
  195. 06:47with how people perceive success today.
  196. 06:49They are promised something by someone else, like a job
  197. 06:52that pays a lot of money, or a business
  198. 06:54that can be built really quickly
  199. 06:56so you can get rich quick,
  200. 06:57and those people do exactly what they're supposed to do,
  201. 07:00but when they inevitably fail,
  202. 07:02they deem it impossible and blame everyone but themselves.
  203. 07:05They don't notice that they made a mistake
  204. 07:07and that they can correct that mistake and try again.

  205. High agency people believe in the difficult

  206. 07:10Now, the third thing is that high
  207. 07:11agency people believe in the difficult.
  208. 07:14You're watching this and you want to become high agency
  209. 07:17because you believe
  210. 07:18that it will make a positive difference in your life.
  211. 07:20You're trying to reach a goal.
  212. 07:22You're trying to achieve a goal.
  213. 07:24And goals come in three forms.
  214. 07:26There's easy goals.
  215. 07:27So things that we do everyday,
  216. 07:29or things we can achieve with the skills or resources
  217. 07:31we already have. There's difficult goals.
  218. 07:33So things we can't do right now,
  219. 07:35but that we can eventually do
  220. 07:37if we acquire the right skills and resources.
  221. 07:39And then there's impossible goals.
  222. 07:40So something that is either
  223. 07:42outside of the realm of possibility and reality or something
  224. 07:45we can't do until we complete the series of difficult goals
  225. 07:48that allow us to see impossible goals as possible.
  226. 07:51So low agency
  227. 07:52people have a belief system
  228. 07:54that was more than likely conditioned into their mind
  229. 07:56when they were a kid,
  230. 07:57or later on in life with any kind of ideology.
  231. 08:00They accept it into their life
  232. 08:02like a political party, a religion,
  233. 08:04a friend group they joined.
  234. 08:05And that belief system skews how they perceive
  235. 08:08difficult goals.
  236. 08:09They see difficult goals as impossible goals
  237. 08:12and don't even try them.
  238. 08:14And they don't even understand
  239. 08:15that impossible goals are only impossible
  240. 08:18right now, until you get to a point
  241. 08:20where they become possible.
  242. 08:21Now, if you take Suleiman's dog experiment,
  243. 08:23which is an experiment done on dogs,
  244. 08:25you can see how society does just this to most people.
  245. 08:29So in this experiment, dogs were exposed to unavoidable
  246. 08:32electric shocks,
  247. 08:33making them feel as if they had no control
  248. 08:35over their environment.
  249. 08:36Later, when they were placed in a situation
  250. 08:38where they could simply jump
  251. 08:39over a small wall to escape the shocks,
  252. 08:41the dogs did not attempt to do so.
  253. 08:43They just whined and bore the shocks.
  254. 08:45Even when escaping was easily available to them.
  255. 08:47So the goal of reaching the life you want may be difficult,
  256. 08:52but you were trained to believe that
  257. 08:53there is no way to achieve it,
  258. 08:55so you don't even think about it or consider that idea.
  259. 08:57In other words,
  260. 08:58you're just trained to bear the shocks of the default path.
  261. 09:02You just think that the pain of the life
  262. 09:05that everyone is going through is normal and not optional.
  263. 09:08The good thing is, is that there is a way to practice agency.
  264. 09:12You can cultivate it as a skill or a trait,
  265. 09:15but these practical steps don't matter unless you have a deep
  266. 09:19understanding of how this applies in today's world.
  267. 09:22So those were the characteristics of what
  268. 09:24a high agency person is.

  269. II - AI is not a threat to the high agency

  270. 09:26And now we need to move on to the second idea,
  271. 09:28which is that AI is not a threat to the high agency people.
  272. 09:32To illustrate this, here's a tweet that I wrote a while back,
  273. 09:35and it got a lot of engagement for some reason,
  274. 09:38but it's just how I've been using AI.
  275. 09:40Choose a task.
  276. 09:41Find a YouTube expert that teaches it.
  277. 09:43Have I summarize their video at example context?
  278. 09:46Have I turned that into a meta prompt test, refine, and reuse
  279. 09:49that prompt?
  280. 09:50This has led to the best results in almost everything I have.
  281. 09:52I do actually broke down that entire process two videos ago.
  282. 09:56I don't remember what the video is called,
  283. 09:58but the thumbnail says
  284. 09:59learn AI in 34 minutes or 29 minutes says something like that.
  285. 10:04Okay, so back to the point.
  286. 10:05You now have access to any knowledge
  287. 10:08you would ever need to achieve
  288. 10:09whatever you want,
  289. 10:10and yet people still do nothing with that information.
  290. 10:13That's a crucial point.
  291. 10:14Success is now easier than ever.
  292. 10:16Yet the people who weren't going to achieve
  293. 10:18it still aren't going to achieve it.
  294. 10:20Meaning this was never about access or equal opportunity.
  295. 10:24It's always been about agency.
  296. 10:26High agency
  297. 10:27people, on the other hand,
  298. 10:28will outpace everyone else by ten acts because they act
  299. 10:31without permission and the barriers
  300. 10:33to action are now close to nonexistent.
  301. 10:35If you can't achieve a big goal
  302. 10:37due to limited money or resources, you can set a smaller
  303. 10:40stepping stone goal
  304. 10:41that will help you acquire that money or resource.
  305. 10:44Everyone is worried about the same thing, and frankly,
  306. 10:46they're only afraid because they can't think clearly.
  307. 10:49So let's look at the prime example,
  308. 10:51which is that
  309. 10:51AI is going to create so much content
  310. 10:53that human creators don't stand a chance.
  311. 10:55I'm actually writing about this right now.
  312. 10:58You can read it on my newsletter link in the description.
  313. 11:00First thing here is that AI is a tool.
  314. 11:03Tools need someone to use them for a specific purpose.
  315. 11:07So sure, anyone can ask AI to generate a viral post
  316. 11:11or a 1000 viral post from a podcast,
  317. 11:14and the
  318. 11:14AI can rank them or run
  319. 11:16a simulation on whether or not
  320. 11:17they're actually going to go viral.
  321. 11:19But what good is that? What actual good is that?
  322. 11:21Have you thought about it,
  323. 11:22or have you just heard that and been like,
  324. 11:24oh yeah, that sounds kind of true.
  325. 11:25Okay, I'm done thinking about it.
  326. 11:27You can get a bunch of likes
  327. 11:28and a bunch of followers that way,
  328. 11:30but what about monetization? What about loyalty?
  329. 11:33Or what about any of the other things that make a brand work
  330. 11:36long term?
  331. 11:37Yes, you can ask AI to help with that
  332. 11:40or help you understand it,
  333. 11:41but now you're doing something completely different.
  334. 11:43You're not asking a AI to do it for you.
  335. 11:45You're learning now.
  336. 11:47You're orchestrating the realization of a larger vision,
  337. 11:51and it's not that different from doing it yourself.
  338. 11:53You're just getting the information from a different source
  339. 11:55now in a faster way.
  340. 11:57You are still the decision maker.
  341. 11:59And sure, I can generate a beautiful image on command,
  342. 12:02but there is a huge difference
  343. 12:04between someone who has a vision
  344. 12:06and uses AI to help them execute that vision,
  345. 12:09and someone who just wants to create a quick image.
  346. 12:11Many artists nowadays use AI for first drafts.
  347. 12:14Many artists still take it into Photoshop and make tweaks
  348. 12:17that would allow it to look
  349. 12:19more like what they want it to look like,
  350. 12:21because you can't get super detailed
  351. 12:23with the image generators right now.
  352. 12:24So as a whole,
  353. 12:26I believe that
  354. 12:26AI has exposed what really matters in the creative process.
  355. 12:31When you ask AI to make all the decisions for you.
  356. 12:34In other words, you ask it to guess what works.
  357. 12:36Based on hundreds of thousands of opinions on the internet,
  358. 12:39there is no throughline.
  359. 12:40There is no theme. There is no personality.
  360. 12:43There is no vision.
  361. 12:43There is no context.
  362. 12:45That's what creators are context creators.
  363. 12:48They're not content creators.
  364. 12:49The content is meaningless without context.
  365. 12:52In AI, generations are the same.
  366. 12:54So aside from brain rot and memes,
  367. 12:57and there's actually some great ones out there
  368. 12:58actually like scrolling
  369. 13:00and seeing some of the brain rot,
  370. 13:01which are only good at keeping you on the platform
  371. 13:03until you see an advertisement.
  372. 13:04So the social media platforms can make money,
  373. 13:07which then have it through line
  374. 13:08and brand vision crafted for specific purpose
  375. 13:11by a specific person. Using are not.
  376. 13:13AI is practically useless
  377. 13:15unless the person using AI is already good
  378. 13:18at creating content.
  379. 13:19Did that click for you?
  380. 13:2199% of AI generated content goes straight
  381. 13:24to the bottom of the barrel, because if that content worked,
  382. 13:27then there's value there
  383. 13:28and it doesn't matter if it was AI generated or not
  384. 13:31because it was more than likely orchestrated
  385. 13:33by a human who is passing off their personal context to it.
  386. 13:37When building a business,
  387. 13:38you must have a brand mission that AI helps you execute
  388. 13:41and you must iterate constantly.
  389. 13:42When writing a book,
  390. 13:43you must maintain control
  391. 13:45of all minor details, and beyond that,
  392. 13:47you must still be able to get people to read it.
  393. 13:49Audience marketing and sales,
  394. 13:51which the book is not going to do itself.
  395. 13:53When creating art, you must still have an idea
  396. 13:55that you are attempting to bring into reality.
  397. 13:57In other words, nothing is changed.
  398. 13:59People just hate what's new.
  399. 14:00And that new is shining a light
  400. 14:02on what mattered in the first place.
  401. 14:04If you can't create art with AI,
  402. 14:06then you were never an artist to begin with.
  403. 14:08You were simply good at using a tool like Photoshop and tools.
  404. 14:12Get replaced.
  405. 14:13Vision and agency do not.

  406. III - Why generalists win in the AI age

  407. 14:15So speaking of that, that brings us to idea number three
  408. 14:18is why generalists win in the AI age.
  409. 14:21Schools were created to enslave the brightest minds
  410. 14:24by promising the prestige of specialization,
  411. 14:26so they remain narrow minded
  412. 14:27and didn't overthrow the true rulers.
  413. 14:29That is a quote from my book that you can read
  414. 14:32free on my Substack.
  415. 14:33Purpose and profit.
  416. 14:34That is taken
  417. 14:34quite a bit out of context, but that quote is largely true.
  418. 14:38Now, whenever
  419. 14:38I write or create
  420. 14:39a video on becoming a generalist or polymath
  421. 14:42or someone with multiple interests,
  422. 14:43people just seem to pop up
  423. 14:45and they want to tell me how wrong I am.
  424. 14:47And of course, they never give me a coherent argument
  425. 14:50as to why a specialist is better.
  426. 14:51Actually, sometimes they do,
  427. 14:53but they don't actually
  428. 14:54listen to what I'm saying in the first place.
  429. 14:56They don't steelman my argument.
  430. 14:58They usually inadvertently prove me right,
  431. 15:00and some of them even proceed to quote the classic
  432. 15:03from Shakespeare,
  433. 15:04which is a jack of all trades, master of none.
  434. 15:07Yet they're unaware that that is a misquote,
  435. 15:09and it ends with, but oftentimes better than a master of one.
  436. 15:13Now, some may think Shakespeare was a specialist playwright,
  437. 15:16but that was simply a vessel.
  438. 15:17He had to have a deep understanding
  439. 15:19of human nature, character
  440. 15:20development, language,
  441. 15:21classical literature,
  442. 15:22stagecraft, religion, philosophy, military tactics, music,
  443. 15:25navigation, the natural world,
  444. 15:27social structures, the body and medicine.
  445. 15:29The list goes on.
  446. 15:30He was a synthesizer who used his diverse interests
  447. 15:33as his edge.
  448. 15:34Now take the fortune 500 CEO Charles Darwin, Steve Jobs
  449. 15:38or any other visionary or strategist
  450. 15:40who achieves outsized success, has a specific vision
  451. 15:43that they then learn and take the necessary steps to achieve.
  452. 15:46Do not confuse a specific vessel
  453. 15:48or niche as being a specialist.
  454. 15:50Specialists are attached to the skill.
  455. 15:53Skills always get replaced and evolve as technology advances.
  456. 15:57We don't see this
  457. 15:58now, but Photoshop disrupted the art industry.
  458. 16:01You see Photoshop now
  459. 16:02and you see it as an integral part of our process.
  460. 16:05But I can guarantee if we were back in those times
  461. 16:07where Photoshop came around
  462. 16:09or not even just Photoshop,
  463. 16:11but computer
  464. 16:11generated graphics came around the manual, hand drawn artists
  465. 16:15were probably just screaming at the top of their lungs
  466. 16:17that this is going to ruin everything.
  467. 16:19It's exactly what's happening right now with AI.
  468. 16:21And while I'm very pro AI,
  469. 16:23there's going to be more videos on me
  470. 16:25talking about the other side.
  471. 16:26I think there's things that are very, very wrong with AI,
  472. 16:29like the content creation space right now
  473. 16:31and people just asking, hey, create me a script for this.
  474. 16:34And then they just read it to the camera
  475. 16:36and you can obviously tell that they're using
  476. 16:38AI have a lot to say about that. Now.
  477. 16:39Generalists, on the other hand,
  478. 16:41they aren't
  479. 16:42they don't care
  480. 16:43whether or not the skill is going to be replaced
  481. 16:45or if it's going to evolve
  482. 16:46because they're focused on the goal,
  483. 16:48they're focused on the vision.
  484. 16:49They're focused on doing what's necessary, including
  485. 16:52changing the goal so that they can thrive in anything they do.
  486. 16:56They don't identify with a skill
  487. 16:58or think they're passionate about a skill,
  488. 16:59like being passionate about Photoshop.
  489. 17:01They're passionate
  490. 17:02about their direction in life and creating that.
  491. 17:05So let me break this down further.
  492. 17:06Humans are tool builders.
  493. 17:08We thrive in any niche because we can adapt to it.
  494. 17:11If you were to put a lion in Alaska
  495. 17:13and a polar bear in the savanna, they would die.
  496. 17:16If you were to put a human in.
  497. 17:17Either they would build shelter, clothing
  498. 17:19and hunt for something to eat
  499. 17:21because they can create a plan and execute on it.
  500. 17:23The reality is to educate large numbers of immigrant children.
  501. 17:27In the 1800s,
  502. 17:28during industrialization, America
  503. 17:30adopted the Prussian education model,
  504. 17:32which was not education at all,
  505. 17:33but a weapon of mass conformity.
  506. 17:35It was designed to create
  507. 17:36obedient soldiers,
  508. 17:37compliant citizens, civil servants, and well-behaved workers
  509. 17:40through mandatory
  510. 17:41attendance training for teachers, testing for students,
  511. 17:44and the concept of grade levels.
  512. 17:45Does that sound familiar?
  513. 17:47Society wants you simple, predictable, and easy to categorize.
  514. 17:50Why?
  515. 17:51Because that's what best serves their interests.
  516. 17:53That's what best serves the profits of organizations.
  517. 17:56If you understand systems,
  518. 17:58you understand that the system takes the shape of that
  519. 18:00which most benefits the end goal,
  520. 18:02which in society's case, is keeping you sick and dumb.
  521. 18:05Whether it's intentional or not,
  522. 18:07it doesn't have to be a conspiracy theory for the system
  523. 18:10to naturally take shape
  524. 18:11of the subconscious desires
  525. 18:13of the humans at the top of the pyramid.
  526. 18:14So what do you do?
  527. 18:16What do you do about all this?
  528. 18:17Well, if slaves were expected to do one thing
  529. 18:19throughout the entirety of their lives
  530. 18:21so that their minds were closed to learning more,
  531. 18:23which are specialists,
  532. 18:24then you as a free individual
  533. 18:26are meant to do many things throughout your life.
  534. 18:28You're meant to be a generalist.
  535. 18:30In other words,
  536. 18:30you revolt against the path you were set on at birth.
  537. 18:33You pursue an interest based education.
  538. 18:36You use your capabilities wisely.

  539. IV - The 5 human capabilities

  540. 18:39And that's idea number four,
  541. 18:40which is the five human capabilities.
  542. 18:42Now, agency is great,
  543. 18:44but we're still bound by the laws of physics.
  544. 18:46And this creates
  545. 18:47another giant worry that ebbs and flows with AI hype cycles.
  546. 18:50Will AGI
  547. 18:51artificial general intelligence
  548. 18:53make human intelligence irrelevant?
  549. 18:55Let's gain clarity on this by asking a few questions.
  550. 18:58We're going to go through this quick.
  551. 18:59Are human capabilities limited or are they infinite?
  552. 19:02As high agency generalists?
  553. 19:03Do we not have the capability to learn anything
  554. 19:06and do anything that our genes do not limit us from learning
  555. 19:09or doing?
  556. 19:09We thrive in many niches
  557. 19:11because we adapt with knowledge and tools.
  558. 19:13So the fundamental question about human capabilities is,
  559. 19:16are there any limits on what we can think
  560. 19:19and how we can think?
  561. 19:20So the main limit is the processing
  562. 19:22speed and memory of our brain.
  563. 19:24Can that not be augmented?
  564. 19:26And when AGI becomes a thing,
  565. 19:27will that not be ever more possible?
  566. 19:29Will we not be AGI?
  567. 19:31Are we not already AGI?
  568. 19:33Will we not be amongst the super intelligent?
  569. 19:35It's fun
  570. 19:35to speculate about these things
  571. 19:37and we have some time before it actually becomes reality.
  572. 19:39So I want to focus on the near future.
  573. 19:42So there are five fundamental human capabilities.
  574. 19:45Can I or AGI ever make those irrelevant?
  575. 19:48The first capability is computation, which is mental.
  576. 19:52So is there any limit to what we can compute?
  577. 19:54No, because once you have the universal computer
  578. 19:57that we can hold in our hands, it's
  579. 19:58just a matter of time in memory to compute anything.
  580. 20:01We have that.
  581. 20:02And if AGI or aliens had that,
  582. 20:04they would have the same repertoire of computation as us
  583. 20:07and no advantage over us.
  584. 20:09You may say that AGI will be able to compute much faster,
  585. 20:12but that does not speed up
  586. 20:13the pace of the physical transformation
  587. 20:16that allows things to be built.
  588. 20:17You can have an idea for building a particle collider,
  589. 20:20but you still need the resources to build it,
  590. 20:22and you still need to build it from that.
  591. 20:24The second capability is transformation, which is physical
  592. 20:28transformation is creation.
  593. 20:30We turn raw materials into rockets given the right knowledge,
  594. 20:33human hands
  595. 20:34and bodies seem to be especially good at creating anything.
  596. 20:37Given a specific sequence of operations.
  597. 20:39We've built spaceships and telescopes,
  598. 20:41meaning that we can build the thing
  599. 20:43that builds the thing
  600. 20:44we are generalists
  601. 20:45that build tools to thrive in any environment.
  602. 20:47We are not animals down to one niche.
  603. 20:49So the question is,
  604. 20:51is there a limit
  605. 20:52to what these basic operations can do when strung together
  606. 20:55in the right way?
  607. 20:56Now again, the answer is no.
  608. 20:57If humans could tell to operate a gorilla,
  609. 21:00there is a sequence of steps they can take to build a rocket.
  610. 21:03Given time and no, I'm not saying a single gorilla.
  611. 21:06Imagine if Elon Musk were operating the gorilla.
  612. 21:09What would he do?
  613. 21:10Now? The thing here is time.
  614. 21:11Transformations take time and singularity
  615. 21:14isn't going to change that.
  616. 21:16Just as the enlightenment or the Big Bang did.
  617. 21:18The Big Bang didn't create rocket ships.
  618. 21:20The enlightenment didn't create rocket ships.
  619. 21:22It created
  620. 21:23maybe some prerequisites for them,
  621. 21:25but it still took time to get to that point.
  622. 21:27Time is a compression algorithm
  623. 21:29that prevents everything from happening at once.
  624. 21:32In other words,
  625. 21:32AGI may be able to compute faster than our brains,
  626. 21:35but that doesn't mean
  627. 21:36it will be able to create the thing faster than humans.
  628. 21:39You can have an idea for building a rocket,
  629. 21:41but you still need to acquire
  630. 21:42the resources to build the rocket.
  631. 21:44Now, after computation and transformation
  632. 21:46as the two capabilities,
  633. 21:48there is variation, selection and attention.
  634. 21:50And these have to do
  635. 21:51with navigating idea space or how we create knowledge.
  636. 21:55We can compute and transform,
  637. 21:57but do we have limits on the knowledge
  638. 21:59that allows us to do so?
  639. 22:01Now knowledge serves two functions.
  640. 22:03The first is to make specific things happen,
  641. 22:05preferably good things rather than bad,
  642. 22:07and the second is to capture patterns.
  643. 22:09In reality,
  644. 22:10this allows us to store information in an efficient way
  645. 22:13so that we aren't always starting
  646. 22:14from scratch in our pursuits.
  647. 22:16We understand big picture concepts
  648. 22:18like the sun rising
  649. 22:19and falling each day, and seasons changing every so often.
  650. 22:22Now, without this understanding,
  651. 22:23much of our lives
  652. 22:24would fall apart, capturing patterns
  653. 22:26allows us to plan by proximity.
  654. 22:28We understand that we could freeze
  655. 22:30to death in a cold environment,
  656. 22:31so we use deposits of knowledge
  657. 22:33like a jacket and hotel to keep us warm while we travel.
  658. 22:36Now think of idea space or the unknown as a universal map
  659. 22:40with light and dark spots.
  660. 22:42The light spots are
  661. 22:43the areas you've explored,
  662. 22:44and the dark spots are where your potential lies.
  663. 22:47This map is a surface area for ideas that can be discovered
  664. 22:50and tested against reality to verify their validity.
  665. 22:54When those results do not move you closer towards your goal
  666. 22:57or move you further from that,
  667. 22:58a problem is revealed
  668. 23:00and you must error correct toward the goal.
  669. 23:02So with variation,
  670. 23:03the third capability
  671. 23:04is there a limit to the number of new ideas
  672. 23:07we can come up with to survive
  673. 23:09and achieve what we set our minds to?
  674. 23:10With computation, we can navigate the entire space of ideas.
  675. 23:14With agency,
  676. 23:15we can take any step
  677. 23:16within that space and eventually stumble across a good idea.
  678. 23:19After many bad ones.
  679. 23:20And with creation, we can move in unique ways,
  680. 23:23like flying over a forest
  681. 23:24rather than walking through it
  682. 23:26so we can understand anything, create anything, and discover
  683. 23:29an infinite set of new ideas
  684. 23:30to solve an infinite string of problems.
  685. 23:32Again,
  686. 23:33AGI can do the same,
  687. 23:34and we are both bound by the laws of nature,
  688. 23:37but any possibility within that is within reach.
  689. 23:40Now the fourth capability is selection.
  690. 23:42We can come up with any idea, but can we find the good ones?
  691. 23:45Now?
  692. 23:46The potential problem here
  693. 23:47is that it is difficult to make simulated progress
  694. 23:50without learning from mistakes.
  695. 23:51It wouldn't be fun to start over from scratch.
  696. 23:54If we want to build an electric car after a gas car,
  697. 23:57we wouldn't
  698. 23:57be very developed as a species,
  699. 23:59as universal cybernetic systems.
  700. 24:01That's what humans are.
  701. 24:02We can become more efficient at navigating idea space
  702. 24:05to avoid wandering lost.
  703. 24:07We error correct.
  704. 24:08We make mistakes and fix them.
  705. 24:10There's no fundamental difference here either.
  706. 24:12Now, the fifth capability is attention.
  707. 24:14One other aspect that humans take for granted
  708. 24:17is our ability to change our focus
  709. 24:19by changing our perspective.
  710. 24:20When a problem occurs, where does your attention go?
  711. 24:23If you want to build a rocket,
  712. 24:24does it help to ask the old gods to do it for you?
  713. 24:27Or can you change lenses to view the situation in a way
  714. 24:30that allows you to perceive opportunities?
  715. 24:33While this is a massive problem for humans
  716. 24:35because we get stuck in paradigm lock
  717. 24:37and we attach to ideologies,
  718. 24:38we do have the capability to change where our attention goes.
  719. 24:42When problems come up,
  720. 24:43we can put on a spiritual lens to find peace
  721. 24:45in a scientific lens, to find progress.
  722. 24:48Identifying with a purely ascending and spiritual philosophy
  723. 24:51is no different from being an incomplete system
  724. 24:54that will fail to solve a certain set of problems.
  725. 24:56Spirituality is a great lens or tool, but a bad master
  726. 25:00and not the end all be all.
  727. 25:01So AGI
  728. 25:02does not seem like it
  729. 25:03can surpass us in any way unless it bends what is possible.
  730. 25:06Then we would have a very different problem

  731. V - How to actually practice agency

  732. 25:08on our hands at that point.
  733. 25:09Now, the fifth idea about agency
  734. 25:11is just how to actually practice agency.
  735. 25:14In ordinary practical life,
  736. 25:15we usually take the means for the sake of the ends,
  737. 25:18but in games we can take up an end for the sake of the means.
  738. 25:21Playing games
  739. 25:22can be a motivational inversion of ordinary life.
  740. 25:25That is a quote from the book Games agency is art.
  741. 25:29You develop agency
  742. 25:31by practicing other people's agencies
  743. 25:33until you can create your own.
  744. 25:35In other words,
  745. 25:35you play by the rules until you can create your own meaning.
  746. 25:38The most important high agency
  747. 25:40trait is knowing when to break free of conformity.
  748. 25:44Agency as a whole is not a skill or a trait, but an art form,
  749. 25:48and the best way to observe
  750. 25:49that art form is in games, because painting lets us record
  751. 25:53sights, music
  752. 25:54lets us record sounds, stories, let us record narratives
  753. 25:58and games.
  754. 25:59Let us record agencies.
  755. 26:00When you play a game,
  756. 26:02you almost always start with the goal in mind.
  757. 26:04Win the game.
  758. 26:05From there
  759. 26:05you have various quests,
  760. 26:07but those quests must be executed in order of your experience.
  761. 26:10You start at level one, then advance to level two and beyond.
  762. 26:13And once you reach a much higher level,
  763. 26:15you are able to look back
  764. 26:16with all of your knowledge
  765. 26:17and skill to devise how you are going to reach the next goal.
  766. 26:20The higher level you are, the more fun life becomes
  767. 26:23because you get to choose the challenging yet
  768. 26:25meaningful goal you take on next.
  769. 26:27It is not assigned to you as if you were in a tutorial phase.
  770. 26:31That's exactly why your life may feel out of control.
  771. 26:33You got to level ten childhood, school, or job,
  772. 26:36but now you feel stuck.
  773. 26:38The game isn't fun anymore
  774. 26:39because the game makers don't benefit
  775. 26:41from you going to a higher level,
  776. 26:43so they incentivize you to stay there.
  777. 26:45You get trapped
  778. 26:46in a loop of boredom and anxiety
  779. 26:47because all of your tasks are repetitive and mindless,
  780. 26:50and any further challenge overwhelms you
  781. 26:52because you do not know how to learn.
  782. 26:54The most important bossfight of your life
  783. 26:56is to pursue your own path.
  784. 26:58So how do you actually start practicing this?
  785. 27:01First,
  786. 27:01you simply need something to pursue and it can be anything
  787. 27:04because nobody actually knows what they want.
  788. 27:06Instead, they deeply understand what they don't want
  789. 27:10and allow that to create an aim for their future.
  790. 27:13And from there, they have a direction to move in.
  791. 27:15Once you have that direction,
  792. 27:16you set a goal to make it more practical and achievable.
  793. 27:20And then you do the following.
  794. 27:21You research processes that others have found success with.
  795. 27:24You can find these on YouTube
  796. 27:25social media courses from reputable creators or mentors.
  797. 27:29Then you experiment with various techniques to implement
  798. 27:32the processes you learn and attempt to get results.
  799. 27:34By the way, most of these won't work for you and that's okay.
  800. 27:37Then you identify patterns, principles, and levers.
  801. 27:40So note the most important aspects from everything you try.
  802. 27:43These tend to be the things that get results.
  803. 27:45Then you create your own process.
  804. 27:47So tailor what you learn to your unique
  805. 27:49lifestyle and situation.
  806. 27:51And then you pass it down to others
  807. 27:52because the teacher learns more than the student
  808. 27:54and you don't truly understand it.
  809. 27:56If you can't explain it in a way
  810. 27:58that is beneficial to someone else.
  811. 28:00This is personally why I love social media.
  812. 28:02First, it's where the attention is and you're probably not
  813. 28:05going to build your life's work by advertising on the radio
  814. 28:08or getting on the TV anymore,
  815. 28:10or by sending handwritten letters to prospects.
  816. 28:13You're going to write content, obviously.
  817. 28:16So aside from being an accessible, low cost and low
  818. 28:19risk vessel
  819. 28:19to do what you want,
  820. 28:21learning in agency are baked in social media.
  821. 28:24The internet is the great modern game.
  822. 28:27You can study other people's agencies and their content guides
  823. 28:30and courses.
  824. 28:31You can experiment in public and get direct feedback.
  825. 28:34You can quickly identify what works and what doesn't.
  826. 28:36You're forced to learn a futureproof
  827. 28:38skill stack
  828. 28:39like writing, persuasion, marketing, sales, storytelling, etc.
  829. 28:42and you must truly learn
  830. 28:43what you want to talk about on the internet.
  831. 28:45I'll let you decide what you want to do
  832. 28:47with the rest of that information.
  833. 28:48If you liked this video, I'd highly recommend
  834. 28:50subscribing to my Substack.
  835. 28:52I send out a newsletter every week or so,
  836. 28:54and I also send out a paid newsletter twice a month, so
  837. 28:57if you want to support this channel,
  838. 28:59support the things that I'm building.
  839. 29:00Consider joining the paid tier in there.
  840. 29:02I have some prompts that I use in my own process
  841. 29:05I prompts, I have writing
  842. 29:06tips, social media tips,
  843. 29:08and there's a full one person
  844. 29:09Business Launchpad course in there.
  845. 29:11So go check it out, sign up
  846. 29:12if you'd like, like and subscribe before you leave.
  847. 29:14They're just buttons on your phone.
  848. 29:16Thank you for pressing them.
  849. 29:17I'll see you in the next video. Bye.
The Most Important Skill To Learn Right Now — Transcriptly