Advice for young people: Learn things deeply | John Carmack and Lex Fridman

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: • John Carmack: Doom, Qu...
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GUEST BIO:
John Carmack is a legendary programmer, co-founder of id Software, and lead programmer of many revolutionary video games including Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, and the Commander Keen series. He is also the founder of Armadillo Aerospace, and for many years the CTO of Oculus VR.
PODCAST INFO:
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[@cameronbaird5658]

"You can't know everything, but you should convince yourself that you can know anything." Inspirational. Legend

[@chrisp2639]

"weaponize curiosity" - John Carmack

[@brandonroque2226]

Doom 3 main theme main chorus plays

[@bangkokadventures298]

That combination of charisma and intelligence is really something else. So much fun to listen to this guy

[@samyak4250]

I remember seeing my physics teacher's study room it was full of so many books. It seemed like a library, it was hella inspiring to just look at them and know what's it like to be balls deep into something

[@meltygear5955]

Revisiting this snippet after months into my career always makes me confirm how truthful the whole thing is. "Weaponize curiosity".

[@ninjalacoon]

I love carmack. I remember listening to the masters of doom as an audio book back in college and just being fascinated by this legend. Guy has preoccupations with things like pizza, games, and an overpowering fascination with complex systems. What a combination.

[@shantanushekharsjunerft9783]

I have experienced this on a personal level. Learning to deconstruct ELF format executable on Linux. It was during one of these exercises that I found how the "main" function of any program gets invoked. Tracing system calls through strace and library calls through ltrace to understand the internal implementation of user space processes.

[@EdeYOlorDSZs]

awesome. Great nugget from 5+ hour conversation

[@bigiron1990]

Two of my Heros. Thank you!

[@DrJanpha]

Reading is a good foundation.

[@MonaMarMag]

I know and believe that every and each of us has it own path that should follow . The most important thing is to live in harmony with yourself . Then you are also honest with others .

[@blo0m1985]

and when circumstances around you allow you to be yourself.

[@blo0m1985]

sometimes even to push ahead as tank is not enough, no money, no time, no health.

[@krox477]

Your path in this world is largely determined by where you're spawned

[@abhishekkumarbiswas3365]

Such an innocence for learning and digging deep into things is just a work ethic of a Monk master .His wisdom is for long term success in tech

[@Ianforcements5669]

Reminds me of Richard Feynman walking about seeing the beauty in all the parts. The surface level beauty doesn't go away, and you also get all the extra beauty of all the parts, how they go together and how they work etc.

[@thoyo]

Definitely one of my favorite interviews

[@mareklukl2271]

Yaa totally changed my life and purpose of my life as a young dump kiddo💯 please make more of these🙏🙏🤗 Love you guys 🔥🔥

[@artsytechie2053]

so refreshing.

[@tarek7451]

One of the best advice ever

[@ivanbarbosa81]

Great advice, great perspective on life.I just became aware of this at 40 yrs looking back

[@batyrkhan7380]

Man, I really needed this today

[@mihai_chindris]

great advice 👍

[@harulem]

Sound advice with a sound caveat. What was best for him is not for everyone. Consuming knowledge at such a pace and such a deep level require a very special mindset and intellect.

[@makofako122]

Inspiration legend! Legend! Inspirational! (But without jokes Carmack is very inspirational).

[@blo0m1985]

true explorer of everchanging universes. and then the creator of them.

[@leastimnotarepublican]

If you know something, you don't have to remember it

[@shravangulvadi]

Very well put!

[@Moreoverover]

Not true, I have deeply understood many things, only to forget the understanding.

[@leastimnotarepublican]

@@Moreoverover "the last man to know everything died in the 18th century". I'd rather be an absent minded professor than be absent of a mind. Not many statements are absolute. Generally speaking, and with special consideration to the methods of my own countries educational system, it's a truish statement.

[@Moreoverover]

@@leastimnotarepublican I think a more absolute statement would be "If you know something, you will only have to remember how you knew it".

[@DarkGT]

One my teachers was saying "Don't remember code, understand the algorithm."

[@ronensuperexplainer]

I agree with pretty much everything he says

[@wi8shad0w]

i fell in love with john carmack ..

[@rileyfletch]

You can drive a nail through a layer cake problem space, and learn a cross section there. What a unique quote.

[@deussivenatura5805]

Could you please explain what that means?

[@OpenGL4ever]

@@deussivenatura5805 The volume of a piece of wood is much larger than the hole hammered in with a nail. And it is the volume of the hole that you can study intensely.

[@lemonstrangler]

do everything deeply

[@woolfel]

what carmack is describing is growth oriented thinking that Sal Kahn talks about. Sadly most university CS programs are the opposite of growth oriented thinking. Instead, it's a filter to identify students that are candidates for grad school.

[@dieuveillemabounda3991]

I always wanted to learn things deeply, it just happens when I am using a tool I want to know how it really works underneath not at the surface level. I want to be able to write my own compiler, virtual machine and so on. These kind of things is want I want to do. I need direction. Anyone out there who can give few tips to get down on this path. It would be much appreciated.

[@theorogalski3799]

Read books about it

[@dieuveillemabounda3991]

@@theorogalski3799 What kind of books ? Looks like there is a plethora of information out there

[@9trx]

@@dieuveillemabounda3991 every single one of them

[@Break_down1]

This guy is great

[@OpenGL4ever]

I just wonder if he found the time to play all the video games he bought. And which of them did he play intensively or even play through?

[@jonhylow1239]

I like you guys.

[@etcetera3282]

This guy is too smart...he's murdering lots of my brain cells just listening to him.

[@samyak4250]

Same happened with me when lex had Lee Cronin on his show

[@blo0m1985]

Bill Gates did the same. Just took impossibly complex issues.

[@blo0m1985]

but you really feel inferior if compare yourself to him, not like you can't get it all. But just ability and possibility to process so much things in a such a short time.

[@simongido565]

With every weak brain cell that dies a new one, stronger one, shall be born! ( Not really just kidding )

[@Layto]

have shawn fanning on

[@himu1901]

Weaponising curiosity

[@oasisrocks]

2:03

[@mpcmohali6302]

Just remember how you learn it

[@vascoguerreiro341]

interesting

[@uyangabatnasan6851]

❤

[@guest3858]

"just learn more bro"

[@jamesevans2507]

just be confident worked for me

[@sirlean-beautysubliminals-5515]

I embraced the grind already ;) I grind my teeth

[@IgneousGorilla]

💀

[@BOO-ii3ni]

I think you shouldnt learn things deeply if you are on college as that can take you more time and burn you out quicklier when all you need is the grade.

[@youareverywiseandintelligent]

so everything is Diet Coke then

[@godblessCL]

If you care about something, books makes the difference.

[@TheKickboxingCommunity]

They do. But good conversations with the right people can be life altering too in a very positive way

[@TheKickboxingCommunity]

And also the right youtube videos, this youtube channel alphamalestratagies basically convinced me to stop clubbing and getting on my purpose. Thanks to that random dude I did not drink for three full years lol

[@electric_sand]

@@TheKickboxingCommunity Proud of you mate

[@princenedjoh]

The voice caught me off guard

[@juanecoperu]

Elonk musk is an example of not learning so much in deep, but learn different things in different areas and make connections.

[@EckhelDreiundZweizig]

Wrong

[@TheKickboxingCommunity]

Just do whatever works I guess. Some people want to master one thing, others want to be the jack of all trades. Do whatever works for you to improve your own situation

[@psibarpsi]

Can't be too sure of that. He was admitted to Stanford for a PhD. He quit, yeah, but it takes a lot of depth and breadth just to get there, you know?

[@dawidwtorek]

The one is wealthiest whose pleasures are cheapest.

[@aizrh88]

If we get rewarded fairly for learning deeply, we all would

[@kingsurya3215]

Stop learning then

[@jonhylow1239]

We are.

[@trystdodge6177]

Stop thinking strictly materially and you will always be rewarded. You're welcome

[@ketmunojenfrin583]

a lot of people want to party and not read... "reading is nerdy"

[@jukvalim]

Well, we do get rewarded... it's just that those rewards don't come that fast. Investing in your mind is kind of like investing in your body via exercise, or investing your money instead of spending it - it takes effort and is not always the most rewarding thing short term, very rewarding over longer time periods.

[@philippwaag2173]

wtf..this is epic.

[@blazemordly9746]

Here's one for the American kids, prepare to answer to one of 2 things in the near future: your Chinese boss or your Chinese Overlord. I'm betting on the latter for this brilliant American generation.

[@jackjack4412]

F YOU. We'll fight to the death to prevent that outcome.

[@vyctoria1]

Now try to do the other Carmack...would be quiet, fascinating & funny.

[@ricfair7549]

Weaponized Au-, I mean Curiosity

[@mistermxyzptlk7841]

Don't be stupid and lazy basically.

[@justins5756]

Two hard things not to do

[@lil10dot]

get an actual marxist scholar on like Zizek then lmao

[@StephenMinkin]

Sum it up. Carmack, from everything I've heard about him, started poor.

[@MadLadsAnonymous]

Romero said Carmack grew up in a middle or upper-middle class household.

[@mortalgodz9186]

The dweebs that’s messing up the world

[@nehorlavazapalka]

John Carmack, advice for young people: just be born with 140+ IQ!!!! So easy! Even you can move from Bratislava to Canada at 15, learn to speak english faaar faster than most native speakers! You can solve a Rubick's cube while riding a bike - under a minute!!!! Even you can become a top researcher by age 30! While in reality, only about 1 ín 5 people worldwide are able to use basic trigonometry - even if educated properly!!!!

[@TheBruceKeller]

It's like you're high but also still angry.

[@autoteleology]

@Flaneur underrated comment

[@repairtech9717]

You completely missed the point. If you are able minded and have time, the internet (he calls this books but i'll translate) and a hunger to learn about a subject, you can learn anything that has already been discovered and written down. Your problem is that you aren't interested enough or don't have enough time to learn it but thats not to say the information is not there and available to all.

[@burrybondz225]

@Flaneur he probably would but there are so many prerequisites and it would take him far longer than the average person. If he likes it tho it shouldn' t matter how long it takes. People with average intelligence can learn almost anything.

[@abdullahnadeem1823]

I hate this sort of mentality. I used to have a similar mindset. Sure, some people are born smarter than others, but why should that put you down? Just because it takes you longer to learn that very thing? Why be ashamed? I spent 3 years programming wondering if I could ever just make anything, constantly comparing myself to others, wondering if I could ever get better. Only this year I actually feel like I'm getting better. Take note that my problem solving skills and abstract thinking are pretty bad. It just takes serious time, dedication and not to give up.

[@thedoctoss2369]

Great engineer, but due to a lack of creativity, this guy will never create anything amazing in the AI or algorithmic space.

[@bhavyakukkar]

creativity and AI in the same sentence? no way!!!!

[@cplusplussizeddick1430]

2:00 typology

[@cplusplussizeddick1430]

6:30