Make Disadvantage Your Superpower | Lex Fridman | AMA #6
00:00:00.000 | Zakaria asks, "Dr. Lex, I'm a high school student in Libya.
00:00:05.000 | I am very interested in new technology
00:00:08.440 | and artificial intelligence,
00:00:10.280 | and I've taken the online course CS50x from Harvard.
00:00:14.240 | What do you advise people like me to learn?
00:00:16.560 | I'm at a disadvantage
00:00:17.680 | because of my country's educational system.
00:00:20.240 | I one day want to become a great engineer like you,
00:00:23.000 | Elon Musk, and many more that may not be as famous.
00:00:27.000 | I'm very grateful for the mere chance
00:00:28.900 | of you replying to this.
00:00:30.480 | What a world we're in,
00:00:32.280 | that a kid from nowhere can be asking questions
00:00:35.120 | of an MIT researcher."
00:00:37.520 | Zakaria, thank you very much for the question.
00:00:40.360 | You're too kind.
00:00:42.040 | I probably have a lot to say about this topic,
00:00:44.680 | but let me try to be brief and to the point.
00:00:47.400 | I think it's wonderful that you reached out
00:00:49.340 | and that you have a clarity to your passion.
00:00:51.760 | Don't lose track of that in your college years
00:00:54.080 | and the years to come.
00:00:55.320 | Don't forget that you have an interest
00:00:57.000 | in artificial intelligence.
00:00:58.360 | Don't forget that that fire was there
00:01:00.340 | when you were in high school and keep that fire burning.
00:01:03.380 | I think the question you've asked is about the disadvantage.
00:01:08.060 | I think we live in a world where there's a lot of injustice,
00:01:11.440 | where we don't all start from the same place.
00:01:15.900 | And that disadvantage doesn't always look
00:01:18.340 | the same for everyone.
00:01:20.700 | And how to make a more just world is,
00:01:26.660 | in many ways, what we're struggling as a society
00:01:29.540 | to understand now, but that's a much bigger topic
00:01:32.660 | than either you or I.
00:01:33.960 | I think what you should be focused on
00:01:37.380 | is what you can do for your life.
00:01:40.020 | Your circumstance is your circumstance.
00:01:42.780 | I've always believed that my disadvantages
00:01:46.660 | are my superpowers.
00:01:48.580 | And I think your disadvantage is your superpower.
00:01:52.340 | Use it as fuel.
00:01:54.660 | If you look at stories of great men,
00:01:57.940 | of great women in history,
00:01:59.900 | that story always has a lot of disadvantages
00:02:06.420 | that were overcome.
00:02:07.520 | There is something in the process of overcoming hardship
00:02:13.300 | that creates greatness.
00:02:15.020 | Most people quit through that process.
00:02:19.120 | If you can survive it, then your story will be a great one.
00:02:24.260 | So the education system in Libya may not be optimal
00:02:28.660 | for your passion of artificial intelligence.
00:02:32.020 | Perhaps you want to become a professor
00:02:33.660 | or a top researcher in the world.
00:02:36.140 | It's difficult to go from Libya
00:02:38.300 | to one of the best universities in America, for example.
00:02:42.820 | But it's not impossible.
00:02:44.620 | And once again, the story of great people
00:02:47.160 | starts very much like your own story.
00:02:49.620 | So practically speaking, what does that mean?
00:02:53.220 | I would take your education online.
00:02:55.740 | And not only to study, but to build stuff.
00:02:59.340 | I think the best way you can overcome
00:03:02.060 | the physical constraints of your upbringing
00:03:05.200 | is by using the internet to build stuff
00:03:09.020 | and show it to the world.
00:03:10.500 | Build it, complete it, and show it to the world.
00:03:14.500 | So that means learning how to program.
00:03:17.420 | That means building something
00:03:18.740 | that you're really excited about and something that's new.
00:03:22.220 | And the best, if it's something that's new
00:03:25.900 | and a bunch of people use and it brings them joy
00:03:29.140 | or it brings them value,
00:03:30.780 | just even the smallest possible thing.
00:03:33.700 | So that might start at first by reimplementing things
00:03:36.840 | that other people have done.
00:03:38.500 | But then finding something that you're curious about,
00:03:40.620 | something that kind of gives you a little spark of joy,
00:03:45.060 | imagining that you might be able to figure out that puzzle.
00:03:49.820 | Don't lose track of that joy.
00:03:51.340 | Like the moment you detect that this might be something
00:03:54.420 | that you might be excited about
00:03:55.960 | or you already are excited about, hold onto that.
00:03:59.300 | Hold onto that fire and go with it.
00:04:01.900 | Because there's going to be dark periods of time
00:04:04.320 | when you lose hope,
00:04:05.420 | when you're not so interested in that thing.
00:04:08.140 | Keep going.
00:04:09.380 | And remember that that fire was there.
00:04:11.140 | And the thing is, at least for me,
00:04:13.360 | I think when there's a passion,
00:04:16.100 | it can wane, it can go up and down, but it always returns.
00:04:19.780 | So once you have a passion, take those early few steps,
00:04:24.180 | which are always the hardest, and then just keep going.
00:04:27.340 | Just keep going one step at a time,
00:04:29.340 | keep grinding it out and believe it's gonna work out.
00:04:32.280 | So one of the most important thing is to finish,
00:04:35.700 | to finish building something cool.
00:04:38.180 | Not too ambitious, something small, something cool,
00:04:42.200 | something hopefully new.
00:04:44.500 | And then show it off to people, show it off to me,
00:04:47.060 | and I'll share it with the world.
00:04:48.780 | It might not be me, it might be others.
00:04:50.900 | And just putting yourself out there in the world,
00:04:53.780 | and you never know what might happen.
00:04:56.320 | I think in many ways I feel highly undeserving
00:04:59.080 | of the things I've gotten.
00:05:01.740 | I have worked extremely hard,
00:05:03.840 | but I feel that there's a lot of people that also work hard
00:05:08.620 | and are better than me at a lot of the things that I do.
00:05:12.140 | So I've been just really fortunate.
00:05:14.500 | But I've also seen the magic of just being kind to people,
00:05:19.500 | working hard, and putting things you love out there.
00:05:24.260 | And the beauty of the internet, as it is,
00:05:29.260 | is that when you put stuff you love out there,
00:05:33.500 | something good will happen, something magical will happen.
00:05:37.220 | It might not be the kind of success you imagine,
00:05:40.120 | but it will be a kind of success
00:05:42.980 | that'll be really fulfilling if you hear it,
00:05:45.500 | if you allow your sort of, if you open your heart to it.
00:05:48.140 | So like, don't be constrained at thinking that
00:05:53.140 | education, MIT, or Stanford is a definition of success.
00:05:57.860 | Success might be your own business.
00:06:00.420 | Success might be working for a small startup
00:06:04.740 | that brings you joy.
00:06:06.180 | Success might be using your software engineering skills
00:06:10.420 | in your 20s to help out a farmer in agriculture,
00:06:15.420 | or a lawyer in a legal profession,
00:06:18.660 | or a doctor in medical.
00:06:21.260 | Like, the journey might take you all kinds of places,
00:06:25.620 | but as long as you allow yourself to be carried
00:06:29.560 | by your passion, you'll discover something magical.
00:06:33.080 | Again, without jealousy, with honesty,
00:06:36.780 | with hard work, with kindness,
00:06:38.260 | just putting yourself out there,
00:06:39.740 | I think magical things happen.
00:06:41.660 | But let me tell you, once again,
00:06:43.780 | as you mentioned disadvantage,
00:06:45.820 | I think disadvantage on an individual level,
00:06:50.220 | I believe you have to see it as a gift for yourself.
00:06:53.460 | You have to see it as a superpower.
00:06:55.800 | Because when your story is written,
00:06:58.140 | and I'm confident it will be written,
00:07:00.620 | it'll be a great story, and chapter two and three
00:07:04.380 | will include a bunch of disadvantages,
00:07:07.640 | a bunch of hardships you have to overcome.
00:07:09.460 | In fact, chapter four, five, and six will be hardship too.
00:07:14.220 | It's only the later chapters you get
00:07:15.820 | to have a little bit more fun,
00:07:17.320 | but really, I think overcoming hardship
00:07:21.340 | is kind of the fun part in life.
00:07:25.060 | So call me crazy, but I would recommend
00:07:29.060 | not to listen to anybody who tells you to be safe,
00:07:31.940 | to find a stable job.
00:07:34.580 | Listen to your heart, listen to your passion.
00:07:37.940 | Take bold, big risks when you're young.
00:07:41.460 | That is the time to do it.
00:07:42.880 | Work hard, build stuff, put it on GitHub,
00:07:48.260 | share it with the world, give joy and/or value to others.
00:07:53.260 | And I think however this crazy world works
00:07:59.500 | with love and karma, it will repay you in the end.
00:08:03.960 | So good luck, I believe in you.
00:08:05.920 | Can't wait to listen to the book about your life
00:08:08.740 | on audiobook when I run in my 80s.
00:08:11.700 | So Zachariah, I'm cheering for you,
00:08:14.340 | and so is the rest of the world.
00:08:15.740 | So good luck.
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