The Hidden Cost Of Extreme Intelligence - Jordan Peterson
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful interview, Elon Musk's mental agility is discussed, highlighting his high level of creativity and the potential downsides of such genius. The conversation delves into verbal fluency as a measure of creativity, contrasting it with vocabulary. It also touches on the hyper-conscientious nature of individuals like Musk and the rarity of combining extreme creativity with conscientiousness. The discussion provides a glimpse into the intense internal landscape of highly creative individuals and the price they pay for their genius.
Takeaways
- 🤔 Elon Musk's statement about people not wanting to be in his position suggests a deeper understanding of the challenges and pressures he faces.
- 🧠 The concept of 'hypermania' is introduced to describe the intense mental activity that highly creative individuals like Musk might experience.
- 📚 A verbal fluency test is suggested as a measure of creativity, where one must list as many four-letter words starting with 'T' or 'S' in three minutes.
- 🔍 The correlation between the number of words produced in the test and lifetime creative achievement is highlighted, particularly in artistic and verbal domains.
- 💭 The difference between vocabulary (understanding words) and fluency (producing words) is emphasized, with fluency being a key indicator of creative potential.
- 🚀 Musk is portrayed as not only a creative genius but also an extremely conscientious engineer, which is a rare combination.
- 💼 The conscientiousness of individuals like Musk is suggested to help focus and harness their creative energy into productive endeavors.
- 📈 The contrast between highly creative but less conscientious individuals like Eric Weinstein and those with both traits, like Musk, is discussed.
- 🏋️♂️ The speaker shares personal experiences of intense thought processes and how physical activity and other methods were used to manage them.
- 🎁 The script includes a promotional message for Manscaped's Lawnmower 5.0 Ultra, highlighting its features and offering a discount code for viewers.
Q & A
What did Elon Musk say about people wanting to be in his position?
-Elon Musk mentioned that while many people might think they would want to be him, they don't understand the reality of his situation. He implies that the mental and emotional toll might not be something most people would want to endure.
What is the term 'hypermania' and how is it related to creativity?
-Hypermania is a term that describes a state of intense mental activity, often associated with creativity. It suggests a rapid and continuous flow of ideas, which can be a double-edged sword, potentially leading to both high levels of creative output and mental exhaustion.
What is the verbal fluency test mentioned in the script?
-The verbal fluency test is a simple test that involves writing down as many four-letter words as possible in three minutes that begin with a specific letter, such as 'T' or 'S'. It is used to measure creativity and is associated with the ability to produce a large number of words quickly.
How does the number of words produced in the verbal fluency test correlate with lifetime creative achievement?
-The sheer number of words produced in the test is believed to have a powerful correlation with an individual's lifetime creative achievement, especially in artistic and verbal domains. A higher number of words indicates a potentially higher level of creativity.
What is the difference between vocabulary and fluency in the context of the verbal fluency test?
-Vocabulary refers to the number of words one understands, while fluency refers to the number of words one can produce in a given time. Fluency is more about the ability to generate ideas quickly, which is a key aspect of creativity.
How does the speaker describe the mental state of someone who writes down 150 words in the four-letter test?
-The speaker describes such individuals as having their minds working at a hypomanic rate, thinking very quickly and producing ideas at a rapid pace, which is indicative of high creativity.
What is the downside of being in a manic state?
-Being in a manic state can lead to having a thousand different plans, each with a high level of enthusiasm, but without the ability to focus or follow through. This can result in chaos and a lack of productivity, despite the initial burst of energy.
How does the speaker describe Elon Musk's internal landscape?
-The speaker suggests that Elon Musk is a genius with a hyper creative mind, possibly on the edge of hypermania. His creativity is also balanced by a high level of conscientiousness, which helps him focus his creative energy.
What is the relationship between creativity and conscientiousness according to the script?
-The script suggests that there is no correlation between creativity and conscientiousness. Being highly creative does not necessarily mean being highly conscientious, and vice versa. Elon Musk is an exception, being both highly creative and conscientious.
How does the speaker describe the speaker's own experience with creativity and writing?
-The speaker describes a period of intense focus and obsession with writing his first book, 'Maps of Meaning'. He was writing for about 3 hours a day and thinking about the material for about 12 hours, experiencing a nonstop flow of thoughts at a rapid pace.
What is the purpose of the Manscaped Lawnmower 5.0 Ultra mentioned in the script?
-The Manscaped Lawnmower 5.0 Ultra is a grooming tool designed for men, featuring a ceramic blade, a 90-minute battery, waterproof technology, and an LED light for precise trimming. It is promoted as a modern solution for personal grooming.
Outlines
🧠 Elon Musk's Hyper Creativity and the Price of Genius
This paragraph delves into the mental landscape of Elon Musk, as discussed by the speaker. It highlights the notion that being in Musk's position may not be as desirable as it seems due to the intense pressure and creative demands. The speaker introduces a verbal fluency test to gauge creativity and suggests a correlation between the number of words produced in such a test and one's creative achievements. The conversation touches on the hypermanic state of mind that highly creative individuals might experience, which can be both a blessing and a curse. It also contrasts this with the conscientiousness that Musk seems to possess, making him a rare combination of creative and meticulous.
🎨 The Rarity of Conscientious Creativity and the Role of Tools
The second paragraph continues the discussion on the intersection of creativity and conscientiousness, using the example of Eric Weinstein, who is described as highly creative but not particularly conscientious. It explores the idea that individuals like Musk, who are both hyper creative and conscientious, are exceedingly rare. The speaker also mentions a product advertisement for Manscaped's Lawnmower 5.0 Ultra, a grooming tool designed for men, and provides a humorous take on the importance of modern grooming practices. The advertisement is integrated into the conversation as a segue to the broader topic of balancing creativity with practicality and conscientiousness.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Elon Musk
💡Verbal Fluency
💡Creativity
💡Hypermania
💡Manic
💡Conscientiousness
💡Engineers
💡Executive Function
💡Eric Weinstein
💡Manscaped
Highlights
Elon Musk's recent interview reveals the downsides of high-level genius, suggesting that his mind operates at a hypermanic rate.
A verbal fluency test is introduced as an indicator of creativity, challenging individuals to produce as many four-letter words beginning with 'T' as possible within three minutes.
The correlation between the number of words produced in verbal fluency tests and lifetime creative achievements is discussed, especially in artistic and verbal domains.
The difference between vocabulary, which is the number of words one understands, and fluency, which is the number of words one can produce, is explained.
The transcript describes the vast variation in people's cognitive abilities, with some producing 150 words in a three-minute test compared to others who may only produce 12.
The transcript discusses the potential for hypermanic thinking to escalate into mania, which is characterized by numerous fleeting and uncontrolled plans.
Elon Musk is portrayed as a genius who may be contending with the internal landscape of intense creativity and conscientiousness.
The transcript highlights the price of being admired and the baggage that comes with it, as exemplified by Musk's public persona and achievements.
Musk's conscientiousness is discussed as a possible counterbalance to his creativity, allowing him to focus his energy and ideas.
The transcript contrasts Musk's hyper conscientiousness with other creative individuals who may lack this trait.
The challenges of being highly creative and the potential for obsessive thinking, as experienced by the speaker while writing 'Maps of Meaning', are shared.
The speaker's use of physical exercise and alcohol as methods to shut down obsessive thinking is mentioned.
The transcript touches on the rarity of individuals who are both highly creative and conscientious, suggesting Musk is an exceptional case.
The importance of understanding the trade-offs and 'price' of being a person like Elon Musk is emphasized.
The transcript includes a commercial for Manscaped's Lawnmower 5.0 Ultra, a grooming tool for men.
A discount code 'wisdom' is offered for Manscaped products, along with a 20% discount and free shipping.
The transcript concludes with an invitation to listen to a longer podcast episode for further discussion on the topics covered.
Transcripts
there was a recent interview with Elon
Musk where he said something my mind is
a storm I don't think most people would
want to be me right they may think they
would want to be me but they don't they
don't know they don't understand what do
you think of that elon's someone that
people probably look up to and admire
aspire to be one of the downsides to
high level genius is you might describe
it as
hypermania so
here's a simple test that people can do
so this is a test of something called
verbal fluency and verbal fluency is
associated with creativity and so a ver
here's a simple verb verbal fluency test
write down as many four-letter words as
you can in three minutes that begin with
t okay that's that's pretty constrained
four letters in t or or write down as
many words as you can in three minutes
to begin with S that's less constrained
all right so there's quite a powerful
correlation between the sheer number of
words that you produce and your lifetime
creative achievement right especially in
the artistic and verbal
domains that's different than vocabulary
vocabulary is how many words you
understand fluency is how many words you
can produce in a given Dey of those
words yeah well people vary to a degree
that you can hardly imagine so some
people if you get them to do the
four-letter test in 3 minutes they'll
write down like 12 words and some will
write down
150 and the ones who are writing down
150 their minds are going at a hypomanic
rate they're just thinking five times as
fast binging yeah without any remission
whatsoever and you know when that gets
completely out of control you have manic
you have someone who's Manic and there's
nothing fun about manic that's where the
word maniac comes from and someone who's
manic has a thousand different plans
Each of which are one sentence long that
they're hyper enthusiastic about they'll
spend every scent of their money
pursuing them and things just go
immediately to hell and so that's the
that's the outer limit of pathology on
the creative front and someone like musk
who's clearly a genius that's what he's
contending with in his internal
landscape now I'm not saying that he's
manic because I see no signs of that but
someone that creative is on that edge or
you see someone like Ben Shapiro I mean
it's very interesting to talk to Ben
because and Russell Brand is the same
way Shapiro speaks I think more rapidly
than anyone I ever met but if you're
with him you see very clearly that he's
probably thinking five times that fast
and that's a lot and when I was writing
maps of meaning which was my first book
I had a very difficult time shutting off
my mind I was obsessed with that book
and so I was writing about 3 hours a day
and then I was thinking about the
material like for 12 hours
as and the thoughts came
as way faster than thinking they
probably came about as fast as I can
read I can read about 1200 words a
minute if the material isn't
overwhelmingly dense and so it was just
nonstop thought for like 16 hours a day
that's part of the reason I started
lifting weights because if I was lifting
heavy thinking 12200 words a minute
while I've got 100 pounds on myly it was
enough it was enough to shut it down
yeah and it was also one of the reasons
that I drank because that was another
thing that would shut it off yeah well I
I think the price that people pay to be
the person that you admire is just such
an interesting frame to look at someone
like Elon Musk my mind is a storm I
don't think most people would want to be
me the price that you would have to pay
in order to be me is not one that you
would but you one of the richest men on
the planet and you get to you know dance
on stage and and release cars that are
bulletproof and put rockets and space
and stuff well yeah but what about all
of the baggage what's the pr what's well
he's also he also appears to me to be
hyper conscientious and I know people
who've worked with him like musk isn't
just a creative genius he's also an
extremely conscientious engineer which
and really conscientious Engineers they
have very interesting Minds I like
talking to Engineers because my
brother-in-law is a great engineer and
when when he understands something Jim
when he understands something he
understands how to build it out of atoms
right like he understands it at every
single level and musk appears to me to
be someone who's this rare combination
of hyper creative but also hyper
conscientious I know that he works all
the time yeah does that sort of uh
hypertrophied executive function help to
Wrangle some of the diffuse Creative
Energy oh we're going to put it into
this one thing at least for a while and
then we'll move on to another thing yes
yes definitely definitely you you Eric
wind Stein's a good example of someone I
hope Eric isn't annoyed by this but Eric
is unbelievably creative but he's not
particularly conscientious and so his
and and I think he found an occupation
where that works extremely well because
he's he I don't know if he's still doing
this but he worked with Peter teal for
quite a long time as his idea man right
and Eric's an extremely interesting
person musk is hyper creative and as far
as I can tell hyper conscientious and
the conscientiousness does Focus know it
it and and that lots of people who are
creative aren't conscientious well it's
rare like if you're one in the there's
no correlation between creativity and
conscientiousness okay so if you're one
in a thousand if you're the most
creative person in a thousand and you're
the most conscientious person in a
thousand you're one person in a million
and musk is probably more like one
person in 100 million right something
like that maybe more but or maybe a
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