How not to be a noob - George Hotz

Summary

The speaker in this video script advocates for breaking free from a 'noob' mentality by developing skills and independence, rather than seeking validation from external systems. They criticize the reliance on traditional structures like education, employment, and government, suggesting that true empowerment comes from creating and supporting decentralized systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The script encourages viewers to question societal norms and to pursue self-improvement and autonomy, ultimately aiming to 'hack' the system by outperforming it with superior alternatives.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Avoid Noob Thinking: The first step to not being a noob is to change your mindset and not seek validation from others or the system.
• 💡 Question Everything: Don't accept things at face value; question the legitimacy of systems, such as ownership of property or the state's role in education and parenting.
• 🛠 Develop Skills: Emphasize the importance of self-improvement and skill acquisition over seeking external validation like college degrees.
• 🔓 Break Free from the System: Recognize that traditional paths like college and corporate jobs may not be the only or best way to achieve success and freedom.
• 💼 Reject the Notion of Ownership: Challenge the idea of ownership, considering whether you truly own the things you buy or if they are merely rented to you by corporations or the state.
• 🚀 Embrace Decentralization: Advocate for decentralized systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which offer alternatives to state-controlled money and power structures.
• 🛑 Stop Seeking External Validation: Encourage independence and self-reliance, rather than looking to others or the state for approval or direction.
• 🏆 Create Your Own Path: Suggest that starting your own company or project is a way to escape the constraints of traditional systems and corporations.
• 🌐 Understand the Power of Networks: Recognize the potential of private networks, such as a private Ethereum network, for creating new opportunities and systems.
• 🔑 Recognize the Illusion of Legitimacy: Dispel the myth that societal or state approval is necessary for success, and instead focus on personal achievement and self-worth.
• 🛑 Challenge the Status Quo: Encourage viewers to challenge existing systems and structures, and to consider the possibility of creating something better.

Q & A

What is the first step to not being a noob according to the speaker?

The first step to not being a noob is to not think like a noob. This means avoiding noob thinking patterns such as seeking validation from others and asking basic or naive questions.

What does the speaker suggest is a sign of noob thinking?

A sign of noob thinking is when someone looks for validation from others, such as needing a college degree to feel like the world will open up to them.

What is the speaker's opinion on the concept of ownership in modern society?

The speaker questions the concept of ownership in modern society, suggesting that people may not truly own things like cars, apartments, or even their children due to the influence of corporations and the state.

What does the speaker imply about the nature of the system they are discussing?

The speaker implies that the system is not a conspiracy but a naturally evolved thing where everyone is oppressing everyone else, and power is often what your opponent thinks you have.

What does the speaker suggest is the ultimate 'jailbreak'?

The ultimate 'jailbreak' is realizing that money, as controlled by the state, is just one form of currency and that decentralized currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum can challenge the state's monopoly on money.

What is the speaker's view on the importance of skills in becoming not a noob?

The speaker emphasizes that developing skills is crucial to becoming not a noob. They suggest quitting a 'shitty job' to learn new skills that can provide a better service or system.

What does the speaker mean by 'the system is everybody oppressing everybody else'?

The speaker means that the system is not just a few people at the top exerting power over the majority, but rather a complex web where everyone participates in upholding the status quo, often against their own interests.

What is the speaker's stance on conspiracy theories?

The speaker is critical of conspiracy theories, stating that they often oversimplify complex systems and that the real issue is not a secret cabal but a decentralized dystopia where the system is maintained by collective belief.

What does the speaker propose as an alternative to the current system?

The speaker proposes building better systems that are based on technicality and merit rather than social capital or legitimacy, using Bitcoin as an example of such a system.

How does the speaker define 'noobs' in the context of the script?

In the context of the script, 'noobs' are defined as people who buy into the existing system and seek validation from it, rather than challenging it or creating something better.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Overcoming Noob Mentality

The speaker emphasizes the importance of thinking beyond the 'noob' mindset to achieve success. They argue that a noob is someone who looks for validation from others rather than developing their own skills. The speaker criticizes the reliance on traditional systems like education and property ownership, suggesting that true ownership and freedom come from breaking away from these norms. They encourage the audience to question the legitimacy of societal structures and to develop their own skills, rather than seeking external validation.

05:00

💡 Challenging the Status Quo

This paragraph discusses the speaker's disdain for societal and corporate structures, advocating for self-empowerment and entrepreneurship. The speaker idolizes figures who challenge the status quo, like the creator of Bitcoin, and argues that the state's control over money is ending with the advent of cryptocurrencies. They suggest that the real revolution comes from creating better systems, not from violent protests. The speaker also criticizes the reliance on societal validation, such as degrees and certifications, and encourages the audience to reject the idea of being trapped by societal expectations.

10:02

🛠 The Hacker Mindset

The speaker delves into the hacker mindset, suggesting that it involves skepticism towards societal systems and a drive to build better alternatives. They argue against conspiracy theories, stating that societal systems are not the result of a grand scheme but have evolved naturally. The speaker emphasizes that power is often perceived rather than actual, and that the system is maintained by the collective belief in its legitimacy. They encourage the audience to think critically and to develop skills to challenge and improve existing systems.

15:03

🌐 Building a Better System

In this paragraph, the speaker focuses on the potential of creating systems that are not based on social capital or legitimacy but on technical merit. They highlight Bitcoin as an example of a system that treats all coins equally, unlike the government's treatment of money. The speaker criticizes the artificial barriers created by authorities and suggests that the key to not being a noob is to quit one's job and start building better systems. They conclude by reiterating the importance of developing skills and challenging the status quo.

Keywords

💡Noob

In the context of the video, 'Noob' refers to someone who is inexperienced or lacks knowledge in a particular area. The speaker emphasizes that thinking like a 'noob' is a mindset that hinders personal growth and independence. The term is used to describe people who seek validation from others rather than developing their own skills, such as asking for guidance instead of figuring things out independently.

💡FTP Server

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, which is a standard network protocol used for transferring files from one host to another over a network. In the script, the mention of an 'FTP server' being vulnerable suggests a potential target for hacking, indicating the speaker's interest in cybersecurity and the exploration of system weaknesses.

💡Ethereum

Ethereum is an open-source, blockchain-based, distributed computing platform that features smart contract functionality. The script references Ethereum in the context of a private network, implying the speaker's engagement with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, and the potential for exploring or exploiting decentralized systems.

💡Validation

The term 'validation' in the video refers to the approval or confirmation from external sources, such as society or institutions. The speaker criticizes the reliance on such validation, like college degrees or certifications, as a sign of 'noob' thinking, arguing that true independence comes from self-reliance and personal skill development.

💡Hacking

Hacking, in the script, is mentioned in the context of exploring system vulnerabilities and exploiting them. It symbolizes the speaker's advocacy for critical thinking and the proactive approach to understanding and overcoming system limitations, rather than passively accepting them.

💡Decentralized Money

Decentralized money refers to currencies that operate on a decentralized system, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are not controlled by a central authority. The speaker promotes the idea of decentralized money as a means to challenge the monopoly of state-issued currencies and to encourage financial independence.

💡Anarchy

Anarchy, in the video, is discussed in the context of a system where there is no centralized authority. The speaker contrasts the destructive approach of some anarchists with the constructive approach of creating better systems, suggesting that true change comes from innovation rather than destruction.

💡Legitimacy

Legitimacy, as discussed in the video, is the perception of being recognized or accepted as valid by society or authorities. The speaker argues that seeking legitimacy from the system is a 'noob' mentality, and that true empowerment comes from self-assurance and the creation of one's own value.

💡System

The 'system' in the script refers to the established social, political, and economic structures that govern society. The speaker criticizes the system for being self-perpetuating and oppressive, advocating for individuals to break free from its constraints by developing their skills and thinking critically.

💡Self-Ownership

Self-ownership is the concept of individuals having full rights and control over their own lives and property. The speaker uses the term to challenge the idea that people truly own what they buy or even their own lives, suggesting that the system creates an illusion of ownership while maintaining control.

💡Rant

A 'rant' is a passionate or angry speech or outburst expressing strong feelings or opinions. The speaker uses the term to describe their monologue, which serves as a call to action for viewers to reject 'noob' thinking and to take control of their lives by developing skills and challenging the status quo.

Highlights

The first step to not being a noob is to change your mindset and not think like one.

A noob mentality includes asking questions that show a lack of understanding or initiative.

The speaker criticizes the idea of seeking validation from others instead of developing personal skills.

Ownership of products like a PlayStation or a car is questioned, suggesting a rental mindset rather than true ownership.

The concept of 'noob thinking' is tied to seeking external validation like college degrees or certifications.

The speaker encourages developing skills and quitting unfulfilling jobs to pursue personal growth.

The idea of private Ethereum networks is introduced as a potential area of exploration.

Certifications and HR processes are criticized as hindrances to true skill development and entrepreneurship.

Bitcoin is presented as a disruptor to the state's monopoly on money, promoting decentralized currency.

The speaker advocates for creating better services as a means to challenge the status quo, rather than violence.

The importance of realizing the state's non-monopoly on money and the potential of cryptocurrencies is emphasized.

The speaker argues against the need for societal or state validation, promoting self-reliance and skill development.

The concept of 'owning the libs' is discussed, suggesting that political affiliations are less important than individual thought.

The speaker challenges the legitimacy of the system, suggesting it is upheld by collective belief rather than inherent power.

The idea of a decentralized dystopia is introduced, where power is not centralized but distributed among individuals.

The speaker refutes conspiracy theories, suggesting that the system's strength comes from its organic evolution and widespread acceptance.

The importance of building systems that rely on technical merit rather than social capital or legitimacy is discussed.

Bitcoin is highlighted as an example of a system that treats all units equally, unlike state-issued currencies.

The final highlight emphasizes the need to quit one's job as a step towards not being a noob and gaining independence.

Transcripts

how to not be a noob

first step to not being a noob is to not

think like a noob

if you think like a noob you're a noob

all right well this ftp server

vulnerable

i doubt it

um let's take notes

all right and there might be an ethereum

network

listening

what do i mean by thinking like a noob i

mean asking questions

like you know

like

here slate

star codex building

square

is it this one no it's not this one

it talks about jane jacobs

ah yes yes please read

this right

and then you realize

the guy who built that is new

and that kind of thinking is the problem

right

it's everybody who wants to put you in a

grit everybody who wants to

give you guys do you really own anything

anymore

you know i was just thinking that i was

just thinking that do you really

when you buy a playstation from

playstation sony do you own that

playstation

when you when you buy when you buy a car

from honda do you own that car

or are they just renting it to you are

they renting everything to you

are they renting your apartment to you

you know who really owns your your kid

do you own your kid or does the state

own your kid

that's what i'm saying that's the kind

of noob thinking the noobs

go along with that mentality like man if

only i had a college degree the world

would open up to me right like that's

new

thinking looking for validation from

other people instead of skill

i can't tell you what to do if you're

asking me to tell you what to do you

missed the whole [ __ ] point

that's right

oh yeah hacking man hacking

all right for some reason i doubt ssh is

going to be very pwnable but

let's just key off who can look for

weirdos

here

that's right read that

essence you know you're a subscriber you

can speak in all caps

that's all fine no it's never too late

to develop skills man

quit your shitty ass job and go learn

some skills

sure dry ass's age root should we try

root

oh that didn't work either all right

um we probably have to do some [ __ ]

with this aetherium

you know who would have thought that it

would be ethereum

you can't add the key to host it doesn't

work like that okay

so

there's probably

we have an address and we have a

contract

so probably what we're going to have to

do is connect and this isn't on the

public ethereum network this is probably

on some private ethereum network

um

networks

that's right guys fox certifications and

[ __ ] hr

this is when are we since when are we

why do we hobble in front of these these

these people

who think they run corporations right

like oh you gotta gotta get through hr

man

start your own company you know

and the real the ultimate the ultimate

jailbreak man

is to realize that money was just made

by a couple guys

you know look look at this guy man this

guy's my hero we'll talk

look at this guy man

i've actually met that guy but no no no

no no think about this right

bitcoin was the beginning of the end

for the state like

once you realize that the state doesn't

have a monopoly on money

the state is just one kind of money

like you know you don't you know just

who cares man

get your bitcoins get your ethereums

right these are decentralized money

yeah they're charging our rights man

they're trashing the flow of data there

that's right yeah he's the bitcoin maker

but the way that he won

right the way that he he won was

the thing that he built you know some

people think oh man anarchy fight the

system i'm going to burn down i'm going

to burn down

i'm going to burn down a government

building i'm going to be a timothy

mcveigh i'm going to blow up a

government building

see that doesn't do anything because the

government has a monopoly on blowing up

buildings

right and you're never gonna you're not

gonna beat them you're not gonna make a

bigger army than the us

army right this is never gonna happen

but but the real way

is if you could just make something

better than them right

if you could figure out how to make how

to make a service that's that's that's

better than theirs

right and better in like a structural

way

um money you know money made by the

state they're just one group of people

that makes money

why does anybody take these jokers

seriously right

and if everybody started thinking like

that we'd have the revolution tomorrow

but as long as you keep thinking like

that as long as you keep thinking man

you know i want something from the state

like i want some dollars or i want a

degree or i want a certification or i

want a validation

that's how they keep you trapped and as

long as you keep thinking like that

you're always going to be a noob

you're always going to be a new as long

as that's your mentality as long as your

mentality is like george

how do i hack you're always going to be

a noob

the world information oh yeah but i

gotta pay my bills

what bills what bills have you guys

heard about slab

city man see this apartment

if this cost me a real amount of money

if this cost me more money than i was

making through interest

i wouldn't have an apartment like this

i lived in a van man you see that's

that's really like then you just start

making money and you start making money

not because it's anything you have to do

right

i'm not saying don't buy their [ __ ] man

but check out this robotic vacuum

cleaner

right look at this look at this thing

look at this thing

robot vacuum cleaner i'm not saying

don't buy their [ __ ]

i'm saying if you're working if you're

doing something in order to buy their

[ __ ]

you're a noob right you just happen to

come up on money and you're like damn i

want that [ __ ]

that's all fine charging that's right

see what i mean so if you say oh i got

to pay my bills i can't quit my job

tomorrow

live in event i don't think you're

owning the limbs man owning the lips

owning the lips is another it's just

another it's just

dude can you see how much money all

people think oh the republicans they're

the underdog

no they're not no they're not you're not

holding the libs

there was in 2014 okay fine in 2014

there were libs everywhere

it was a real thing today you're only

the lips the lips are a joke

all right that's the closest you'll ever

get to real politics because politics

is another one of these things man they

get you into their system oh who i'm

gonna vote for i'm gonna go out i'm

going to vote for the democrats or i'm

going to vote for the republicans right

and they're voting for [ __ ] your vote is

a consent to your slavery

ford bloke what do you say what do you

say

no really though when you vote you're

just consenting to their ownership

of you

no no no class war they're trying to

pick the classes against each other

there's no class

right the only difference is there's

noobs and there's not noobs

and the noobs are the people who think

that they're you know i'm this class oh

yeah i got do they buy into this

structure man

the system only works because too many

people buy into it stop buying into the

[ __ ] system

and that's how you become not a noob the

skills follow

give up andrew yeah get your free money

man

all right let's go where were we

good rant today we have good ramps today

um okay what port

scan all the parts

um

hearing clients use

[Music]

an pregnancy back cap

no it doesn't seem like it's open

um oh man there's a there's a star trek

voyager episode that goes into it where

like you know jakote meets a bunch of

anarchists and they talk about the beast

and like

ah most young people are drones

slotting through the system and most

people are

most people period because they think

the system has some kind of legitimacy

and they desperately and this is what

they want more than anything else

legitimacy and the truth is there's

nothing to that

there's no there's no like like it

doesn't matter it doesn't matter what

other people think about you it doesn't

matter what society thinks about you

right but yeah

ah director homeless okay okay

the system wasn't drafted up with some

sort of conspiracy

i'm not saying the system's a conspiracy

right i'm not saying anything about

there being a conspiracy here it is a

naturally evolved thing right and this

is where a lot of conspiracy theories

get things wrong

they think that there's somebody right

they think that some you're going to get

to the top and you're finally going to

meet the lizard people and the lizard

people are what's been making you

miserable as soon as the lizard people

are unmasked everything's gonna

everything's gonna go uh everything's

gonna get better but

that's not it man it's a it's really a

uh it's a decentralized uh

dystopia right so you know it's it's

it's the system isn't a few people

oppressing the majority the system is

everybody oppressing everybody else

the system is everybody thinking that

everybody else buys into it right

you know power isn't what uh you know

you have it's a lot of times it's what

your opponent thinks you have

whoa whoa by the way by the way i'll

link you to my uh my

my mail vitality supplements right here

in my uh

shopify um you know if they didn't pull

my payment processor and i'm

talking to alex jones voice

all right all right let's go let's go

let's go

look man all i'm saying is facebook's

not a

cia conspiracy or whatever whatever

whatever alex jones says

the moon landing was was real um

uh osama bin laden did 9 11. uh

i don't know what else what else

um

this is the mind this is this is how you

think like a hacker though you know

you want to think like a hacker you want

skills and get skills

you're never going to learn them

[Music]

whoa whoa whoa everybody acts in a

self-interested manner absolutely

i'm not i'm not saying that we should

all i'm not saying any workers of the

world unite [ __ ] man i hate connie's as

much as any good american

but what i'm saying is

what if we could build better systems

what if we could build systems

that didn't involve social capital

that didn't involve who you were that

didn't involve

legitimacy but just involved

technicality

right and that's and that's what bitcoin

is um

bitcoin as a protocol and as a system

doesn't treat

different coins differently when you

know the united states government treats

different dollars differently right oh

those are money laundered dollars right

but what does that even mean

although those those those dollars

weren't officially brought to this

country and paid tax on right like this

is just

this is just somebody putting up

artificial barriers of control

i'm not talking about libertarianism

either this

isn't i'm not talking about politics

guys i'm talking about

what makes you a noob all right all

right all right all right we'll get back

to hacking all right but

for everybody who asks the question from

here on out

how do i not be a noob just listen to

that rant

and step one is quit your job and if you

haven't done that

you're not ready to not be a noob yet