How to Unlock The Power of Original Thinking | Tim Urban, Creator of Wait But Why

Tim Urban's blog, Wait But Why, has garnered millions of unique page views, thousands of patrons, and famous fans like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, TED Curator Chris Anderson, and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams. Combining long-form prose with wry stick-figure illustrations, Wait But Why covers everything from procrastination and artificial intelligence to happiness and why we haven’t yet encountered aliens. In 2015, Elon Musk asked Tim if he would be willing to write about his companies and their surrounding industries, leading to a four-part series of posts in which the two discussed the importance of sustainable transport, solar energy, and the future of space exploration. Vox called the series “the meatiest, most fascinating, most satisfying posts in ages.”
Tim examined exactly what makes Elon Musk so successful in such a wide variety of industries, discovering that the main reason behind Musk's success is that he is an original thinker. Throughout this in-depth discussion, Tim shed light on how we can all fully tap into the power of originality, revealing how the ability to think creatively leads to success in every field.
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[@DarioVillirilli]

Being able to "be there" from my room in Italy, access the insights of such a brilliant mind and literally rewire my reasoning is a gift I am very grateful for. Thanks IVY for sharing this.

[@davidgalindo1279]

Seeing Tim talk is such a mesmerizing experience, he just changed my concept of Elon Musk and provided me with a lot of knowledge .

[@tonyv5980]

Tim Urban is an inspired speaker. I love his stuff.

[@MsUbersoldat]

Just the other day in the office I was trying to be more "chef" than "cook" with the result of being told from above I was working "too scientifically" and should get to results "faster" by cutting corners... I think we need to talk a lot more about our education system which as you said serves one big function and that is killing creativity.

[@RedWinePlease]

A woman had a good question about Musk's and Job's success. Urban discounted it rather than refute her contention that their existing money was a key to their success. I'm reminded of Nassim Taleb's insight that we don't count entrepreneurial failures. We don't count those that had the same behaviors as millionaires but didn't become millionaires. No one counts those that overcome their fear and act yet fail anyway. W/o counting the failures and what traits they shared with the successful, we can't properly identify what the requirements for success are. So, what proportion of these "chef's" success is due to luck and not their behavior? Luck in that they were lucky to have the resources (money and existing science and tech), a culture that permits unconventional thinking, and an infrastructure (law, standards, educated workers) that supports their goals. Aren't there 'chefs' or 'Musks' in North Korea and African villages that have the same thoughts and behaviors as Musk, Jobs, and the Beatles but were unable to fulfill their dreams due to the lack of resources or oppressive governments? Bottom line, like evolution, it's environment plus behavior plus failures that leads to progress. Fertile ground is needed to grow anything. I don't disagree with him on principle, only in the much greater weight he gives to the "chef's" thinking and behavior over luck.

[@jamesdp9]

A good point. There is certainly a huge element of luck, right from the moment someone is born. Someone born in a country like the US or the UK has already won the geo-social lottery where opportunities and ambitions are easier to fulfil and someone born into a wealthy area of these countries has banked an even bigger prize. Nonetheless, it's clear that success is still possible in less wealthy regions if minds are sufficiently nurtured and interpersonal co-operation is encouraged. I admire Tim's work though, other than being really entertaining it is very informative and on your point of the 'chefs in African villages', as we become more globalised and more connected, maybe a child in Africa will watch this video and set off one of the 'chain reactions' the lady spoke about at the end!

[@SamsonMathew]

This is also known as Survivorship Bias :)

[@Bubsfull]

Well, Musk was born in South Africa and he knew he wouldn't accomplish anything there so thought in first-principles manner and realised America is the best country to try to do the stuff that he wanted to do. With that beeing said, i still think Survivor Bias is a thing, but what i think that the failers lacked were the things Tim referred to as hardware.

[@TamarZiri]

I wish this vid was public. such a great talk.

[@uak007]

I remember attending this talk and happy to find myself in the frame at 1:18:14 : )

[@mossm717]

Last question is really interesting. Also the US is very individualistic, while many cultures are collectivist, and focus more on the collective whole than individual aspirations.

[@Ani-ts7qg]

Sooo good, he sumup everything I use to think in my free time(all domains)..great 🤗

[@davidwilkie9551]

Perceptions paradox is this closed pulse-evolution system of Actuality without limits, unless they occur probabilisticly and naturally, it's freedom of choice, aka Free Will under constraints to make balanced, all-inclusive decisions. Of course we give full support to those who act upon what is the optimal common and personal good. True freedom, to be obligated by responsibility.

[@R4Y2k]

I've just completed reading the "Religion for the Nonreligious" post and man... I'm feeling like Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. "For the first time in my existence I AM TRUELY NOT ALONE!" :P

[@cooperlane7147]

Love that post. A true framework for not just getting through life, but gazing in amazement at everything that happens. It's a guide to life maximization.

[@emrico]

Great talk. Love Tim's (and of course Elon's) work

[@Everything00523]

My answer to the first question: Sure the technology might have existed before elon or jobs became the first to make it publicly available. It is not about creating a technology it is about MAKING IT COMMERCIALLY VIABLE or PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. Elon did not create reusable rockets neither did jobs create iPhone, they just gathered a team and coordinated everything to make it possible to reach it out to everyone. Then others just saw that it is possible and became Johnny come lately.

[@AbirHasanDipu]

Thanks Tim.

[@sunnydhillon1987]

1:02:00 "I'm an engineer and that's how we all think".. clearly missed the point of being a "chef" and creating and thinking for yourself

[@sanekstrict]

yeah it sounded like she got offended. probably didn't like being categorized as a cook

[@erkkamykkanen]

It's not the "absence of photons" that's scary about the dark... It's that the "absence of photons" makes me not know if there's a goddamn boogeyman in my room.

[@ineshomemdemelo9254]

LOVE THIS!!!!

[@Manewehl]

Am I the only one seeing this guy in the back fighting with his body not falling asleep. :-D

[@AndromedaImagination77]

The gist of the talk starts around 36:00 though so far the title is misleading...

[@shitandgiggles]

love it! read the whole blog but its refreshing to see him talk about it again :)

[@moni9004]

He talks as fast as my brain works. I am just more restrict in showing it. Sometimes i wish i can just blur out all my ideas too:D

[@whois7557]

drain valve

[@m.freestyler8107]

The depressing thing is that this video barely has 30 K views. This shows where people's attention is

[@356ALX]

A year later and the viewership count is 53K+, but you still may think that's discouraging considering that Iggy Azalea and cat videos have 53M+ views. But let's make lemonade. The 'encouraging' thing is that this video barely has 53K views. This shows that recent research revealing an attention span of only 3 seconds for the average human is in all probability...valid. (btw...a goldfish has an attention span of 5 seconds). That means, both you and I, as well as the remaining 53,304 who were wise and attentive enough to watch this video, are 'above average'. :)

[@juliennoguier4601]

Where's the ppt dude ?

[@fateenahmed659]

Here is the article he articulated so wonderfully. waitbutwhy.com/2015/11/the-cook-and-the-chef-musks-secret-sauce.html

[@davidwilkie9551]

Agreement in principle

[@emanjabadi307]

This 'lecture' is AMAZING , he explained things very simply , I hope he uses his intelligence in studying religions and soon he will substitute the bible with the unaltered Quran.💡💐 GOOD LUCK

[@desimaru88]

Take me to Maaaaaars

[@TinysTeddies]

1:01:08 (personal bookmark)

[@stephenhunter121]

Great presentation! The "Elon is a balanced human" didn't age well.

[@pelotasdad]

repeat after me.... “elon musk did not start paypal...... elon musk did not start paypal....... elon musk did not start paypal.” also, when someone has a b.sc. in physics, like musk, it is ok to call him a physicist. regis mckenna started the idea of marketing on the internet well before musk bought paypal. he has done some great things, in spite of a trainwreck childhood, but people need to stop giving him credit for things he didn’t do. thank dog my wife and i have never told my boys to obey me or any authority just because they said “i said so.”

[@Everything00523]

1. If u can make a barren planet like Mars inhabitable, why not stop making this inhabitable earth barren. Why not terraform Or something of sort on earth? 2. If u r doing spacex coz earth might blow up one day, what if the Mars blows up one day?

[@eduardoalvarez4405]

I think he is handsome

[@AWanderingEye]

His last comments totally exclude Native Americans and Black Americans who both were not bold explorers finding their manifest destiny in the US. By totally ignoring these two groups he comes off too simplistic, dancing for a buck, it totally weakens his argument in my view. It also seems that there are many with ingenuity working on similar inventions, solutions to various problems but for each wave of innovation the ones that eventually stick did have the capital and or marketing ability to leverage from idea to production. What will be interesting is whether organizations setting themselves up as "chef" incubators truly deliver or if they become gatekeepers to innovation in the future.

[@BillPalmer]

Without a magnetic field, doing anything with humans on Mars, has big BIG problems.

[@davidgalindo1279]

All that people looking at their phones, thank you that means less competence.

[@Ungatz]

42:51 the guy is really not interested

[@PiyushBhakat]

This guy is very funny.

[@hustlerbiden6815]

Says like too much. Like you know what I like mean?

[@kylemiller2414]

He’s speaking off the cuff mostly and like is a pause word most use while thinking and speaking for an extended time.

[@rubenduller]

I usually find that very annoying too. Didn’t bother me at all this time.

[@asian1studios]

22:23 ✊💦🚀

[@akshaykamathb2788]

24:07 there is a lot of things that he is better than you at he is smarter than you he is much more hardworking & ambitions and Insane than you But if that were the only thing there would be lot more Elon musks. I really believe the things that he is doing is not actually out of our reach I & really believe that & there is a ton to learn from this guy ... I think it has to do with the way he things ... the way he reasons 1:07:52 I think I should get a girlfriend & how much time does a girlfriend need? 10h a week, ok I need to block 10h a week ...

[@kylemiller2414]

Founding fathers. Greek and Roman foundations of democracy/government like 2000 years prior. Obviously he’s know that but it’s a a bit of a poor example of original thought. I guess he meant for the time period.

[@FelixErikson]

''That is not an original thought because someone thought of it 2000 years ago!'' is a pretty weird way of seeing it. If someone independently invent something without any input from the original inventor, then that still requires originality!

[@rosstaylortaylor8206]

After 18 minutes of listening to this, I feel like he is trying to pursue people what he think is right for the future (or Elon whatever); but his way of talking was in a way like he is trying to brain wash people in a very polite way so the people starts to give more attention to the future which makes me think why on earth am I listening to this? Do I really want worry about the future when I can put all my efforts to achieve something in the present? hmm...

[@AndromedaImagination77]

20 minutes in, I see no relation to the title. I think he was too eager to talk about Elon and the fact that he met the guy... He should change the title and write something like "I met Elon Musk and this is what I've learned". I'm skimming... still not related to the title!

[@WhizzarD44]

Some parts of this conjure a strong urge to comment suggesting Tim Urban should suck Elon Musk's flamethrower.

[@infographic-Tom]

I enjoyed most of the talk, and found elements of it good and interesting. But for him to say that people who take the Bible literally are fools was spoken out of his own arrogance. "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes." Matthew 11:25

[@infographic-Tom]

... I think I get his reason for bringing it up - that in coming up with new ideas it requires ignoring what some authorities have said about what you are working on. But to dismiss the Bible as an old, outdated book (when it is in fact the inspired Word of the Creator of everything seen and unseen) is irresponsible and mistaken.

[@infographic-Tom]

Most of our founding fathers (United States) were God fearing and held the Bible as the inherent Word of God.

[@loginssuckx3]

They actually weren't. You're being lied to about that. Look up their actual religious views. Thomas Jefferson is the most extreme and well-documented example (he edited what he considered the "obviously made-up" stuff out of his copy of the Bible), but Adams, Hamilton, Madison, etc. -- all held very heterodox religious views. Madison tried to ban chaplains from Congress because they were unconstitutional and he would know since he wrote that provision of the Constitution...

[@wouterg]

Epiphany: You're (probably) being indoctrinated by your church and people around you. If you think rationally, you haven't seen God so you don't know if he exists until you have evidence. That's the scientific method

[@emanjabadi307]

I think that Tim meant that we should think and use our minds in EVERYTHING , and even religion , and if it makes sense then we should believe it . The bible have many different copies, and most of them are man made , but that doesn't mean that the bible WASN'T the words of God , they WERE. But now it changed because of people, and the TRUE religion is ISLAM and its book the QURAN which hasn't changed since it was revealed to prophet MOHAMMED PBUH ( who says that Jesus was a prophet before him and worshiped GOD just as anyone else , but he also didn't tell people that he was the son of God). You can read and search and find the right answer.WISH ALL BEST OF LUCK😊💐