Sleep and Burnout | AMA #2 - Ask Me Anything with Lex Fridman

New Ask Me Anything (AMA) video every week. Ask questions for future AMAs as a reply to the pinned comment or on Patreon (which take priority): / lexfridman Nothing is off limits: personal, math, science, tech, philosophy, art, music.
Lex AMA playlist: • Ask Me Anything (AMA) ...

[@lexfridman]

Ask questions for future AMAs as a reply to this comment or on Patreon (which take priority): patreon.com/lexfridman Nothing is off limits: personal, math, science, AI, tech, philosophy, art, music. Also, please click like on other people's questions that you would like to see answered. Thank you for the kind words on the previous AMA question. My motivation for doing these is to further connect with an amazing community of people I've met so far. I'm an introvert, but I draw a lot of energy and happiness from brief moments of genuine connection with people, even strangers. So, again, thank you.

[@mvdrider]

Lex Fridman 🙌🏻😊

[@nvfpv]

Why should we explore the universe if it's doomed to repeat again like in the big bang?

[@ethanliles488]

Lex Fridman How do you stay awake for these all nighters? Do you use any substance? In general, on a typical day, do you use anything to enhance focus / energy apart from caffeine?

[@emilnast7384]

@Lex Fridman What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? I've seen you ask this question to a lot of people, but I've never heard your answer to it. Also, do you think P=NP?

[@lexfridman]

@@ethanliles488 I can answer this in more detail in a video, but let me quickly comment that I personally don't use drugs to optimize any part of my life. Even caffeine is something I don't need at all. I'm just as happy drinking decaf tea/coffee. To me, the task itself must become the drug.

[@CharlesVanNoland]

"I'm like a kiwi" 10/10 best moment of introspection I've ever witnessed.

[@Matteo-uq7gc]

" ... sweeeet and glorrrious on the inside " I died here awesome moment for sure

[@tlockerk]

Definitely a tee-shirt out of that one!

[@wbaloo1]

Burnout has nothing to do with expending energy in itself. To be so lucky to be in a position where one can exercise one's talents giveth at birth in leverage with opportunities presented to us throughout our lives, at pace of one's own will, is truly a blessing. To do be able to do so without the obstruction of corruption or ill deceitful power is somewhat of a miracle. Burn out comes from politics, fundings pulled, impossible requirements, vague requirements, vague hierarchy and vague role descriptions, friends turning on you, dishonor, disgrace and vendettas. As a software engineer, I'm so fucking tired of this work hard, play hard attitude in tech. To everyone going through a tough time at work, running on a nearly empty gas tank psychologically, don't keep your head down and keep at it. It's not your company and its not worth it. Reach out and talk about it, to anyone, and you will likely find it's not you, but an error on system level.

[@kerbium2474]

Had to echo this. I am currently burnt out. I work in software and it is absolutely brutal at this point. I am taking a step back from the industry and choosing to work on things I love. Being burnt out is not the same for everyone. I personally can't wait to dig into the list of things that excite me, I just can no longer do it for employers at this time. Lex, I hope you never go through it, but if you do, know that it doesn't define you, you define it.

[@brauliomacias6960]

@@kerbium2474 I hear ya. Though, I do not dedicate my life to programming but science, sometimes indeed the process can be quite exhausting. I think you might find interesting a London Real episode with ALAIN DE BOTTON as guest

[@antheaoosthuizen6476]

Burnout is indeed an emergent property of system dynamics. However, it's not just the externalised system's dynamics that we need to notice.

[@harineemosur6530]

As someone experiencing some of the things you mention, I am grateful for your response. Lex frankly disappointed me with his response, burnout does happen and you don’t have to be necessarily clinically depressed to experience it.

[@withered9063]

if anyones reading this, dont worry, burnouts are normal and even biologically rooted. when your dopamine levels eat shit, i guess even the most disciplined person will have some problems with staying disciplined.

[@ayoubamil8175]

You’re so inspiring, Lex. Thank you for being the person you are.

[@kaustubhshankar27]

Love everything you do and be unborable. Thank you, Lex.

[@victordavilaamelinckx2904]

This video just make me very grateful for everything. Thank you!

[@shalomlynch]

You are amazing lex ! My boyfriend show me your channel and now we both love you !!! You are just incredible and l just can't believe the beauty person you are : so sensitive , scientific, conscious, musician . You can feel the life l can heard it when you talk . You are just perfect !!

[@lenny6923]

Having an efficient yet smooth control over our attitude and perception in life is powerful stuff. Refreshing to see bits of amor fati in the video!

[@pankajchaudhari2588]

I just absolutely LOVED this video. The part about the Kiwi, just made me laugh so much.

[@DHook]

Lex you are an inspiration. Your curiosity feeds my curiosities. I have very recently scrolled into your content and I am fully on board for the journey. Let’s go.

[@Gukslaven]

Loving the ama so far, great insights!

[@TheSelfUnemployed]

Thank you for this Lex! Wise and hilarious

[@TheGatoskilo]

Thanks Lex, your videos are inspiring

[@lesson433]

I see they are trying to add some human emotions to connect with us in their latest firmware update...

[@Meodoc]

As a guy that has probably literally the opposite mindset as you, i admire yours. For me it's like, every day is a struggle to get out of bed, and i really have no drive for anything at all, so i waste most of my time in denial on useless things like social media. To say that burnout is not a thing correlated with depression seems a bit odd to me, because i can definitely get the concept of burnout. For me it is like the triggering of a depressive state in a person that is prone to depression with the person being overworked.

[@nodesofnature603]

Jim Keller said in the other podcast: "If you dive too deep in every subject you never get anything done, but if you don't when you need to, you get it wrong". How do you find a balance?

[@ericomfg]

When you stop making progress is a good indicator. Takes years to get an intuition for this ahead of time, but you get better at figuring out when/what to research.

[@MrVbarroso]

I guess the balance is to check what is the minimum necessary to reach your goal. If you don't know, you would have to go through the process of trying to do something, get stuck or fail, learn about what is lacking and try again.

[@bitfinesse]

I’ve chosen to attack this problem by managing risk on the importance of the endeavor. There are two things I do about which I will never stop learning. I’ll go deeper and deeper into the fundamentals and finest minutiae concerning these topics until I die. Everything else, I dive into with varying degrees of curiosity and force but these dives will end. I’ve found life to have much more impact and meaning by becoming a masterful expert in one or two or maybe three things that you hold dear to your existence. I don’t look at everything else as wasters of my time, but I let them go after understanding the fundamentals of the thing to get back to my areas about which every detail cannot ever possibly be learned or known in a lifetime. I chase the rabbit on these two topics because without them, life would have significantly less meaning and joy. Finding a few topics that make you feel so strongly is the gift. For those who have been given this gift, there is no sadness in them.

[@gabrol7442]

@@bitfinesse What are those two topics?

[@bitfinesse]

Gabriel Fabre Health and wealth 👍

[@ucha10]

I think this video in large part gave me what I was looking for while watching lex

[@20thcenturyboy85]

Great video Lex! Thanks for your videos

[@viktormedina4631]

These are such profound words. Thank you!

[@winstonreinhardt9]

Never thought about it that way, thanks for sharing your perspective.

[@akash.deblanq]

man, this vid is beautiful so much passion

[@prodbyraen]

Love your messages, man. You’re the kind of mad scientist I’ve always aspired to be, and I’ll sleep on the floor/at my desk in the lab to that, haha! You and all of the guests on your channel channel rock, and are sources of inspiration for the masses. The persistence and drive to pull all nighters and regular late nights to work and make a positive impact on the world in a broader sense are the the cornerstones for success as a (and also mad) scientist (and most other positions with big responsibilities and ambitions)

[@embo8896]

Very inspiring when you said "you love every minute of the journey",i forget some times that we'v a one way ticket for this amazing ride we're taking around the Sun,and i'v just spent the last week wallowing in shity self pity due to physical pain from Rheumatoid Arthritis,but its just part of my journey and "oh what a beautiful journey",Thank you young man!

[@mattizzle81]

'Can't wait to see it work'. I think a lot of programmers can relate to that. I just did that last night. Up until 4 am. I used to be able to do that all the time as a teenager. Now close to 40 is really takes a toll on me! However doing any programming, it is inevitable that you will get engrossed in it, especially if you are having issues. I didn't fix what I wanted to fix last night. I still love it, because if, no when I do solve it, it will feel that much more rewarding.

[@ivanbarbosa81]

that's what i needed to hear.thanks.

[@nova2577]

Focus, perseverance, passion, and determination. So true.

[@Lordzy.]

Its crazy how you watch so many videos and read so many articles/books about health and self improvement yet I came around this simple video and something clicked in my brain especially about burnout and sleep thank you Lex.

[@jschoolaccount6790]

Beautiful speech.

[@baselalyafi4022]

I like the idea of loving whatever you are doing. Love is never boring.

[@fathah9298]

man, you kinda said what i feel like most of the time its beautiful

[@dolphin069]

Salute the mystery. How fantastic all this is.

[@nuvay]

Love these man. It helps.

[@grapejuicechannel1]

Just discovered your channel. Love it

[@dylanbethune-waddell1254]

"I'm like a Kiwi 🥝" - Emacs declared proudly.

[@shenandoahsmith3]

Dylan Bethune-Waddell first I thought Lex was referring to the Kiwi bird, which I think are cute on the outside. 😊😆 👉🏼🥝 😋 Then it processed!

[@dylanbethune-waddell1254]

@@shenandoahsmith3 I was expecting the bird or New Zealanders to be the point of reference, and I can't recall now if Lex ever defined the Kiwi in question - wonder which Kiwi the GANs would come up with :)

[@JustRonDon]

Lex! I love you, man. Such a great soul.

[@skisquad1023]

Agree 100%. Love that first cup after a full recharge ☕️

[@adelinaquijano1083]

I love my community 😍and thank you so much I appreciate

[@Bl4ckiii]

Very insightful

[@jame2182]

Interesting and informative. Human beings are spectacular creatures

[@sombojoe]

You can’t truly experience joy without adequate suffering.

[@paulstandley4545]

I was in full agreement about burning out until I ended up in the hospital

[@eeliasselias549]

I love these videos

[@zacht8083]

This is inspiring, thank you

[@cestlavieeee]

this man going off the rails I love it

[@abdelaziz6806]

We hope you continue in this staff

[@tranphonx2001]

Mr Lex Fridman, you are my hero.

[@googleboy7]

Hi Lex, I have become an instant fan. Great to hear intellegent conversations. BTW I loved your interview with David Fravor. Shalom gw

[@nemoletov8214]

When you get Dan Denett and Dug Hosfadter on the podcast?

[@finneganmcbride6224]

They would go good with Chalmers

[@jonaspiva41]

Some real wisdom here. What a mindset lol you beast.

[@dawitzenebe2284]

Happy on the Inside ❤

[@seeyanexttuesday23]

Oh, Lex. When you said you were like a kiwi...Soulmates. Understand you 100% here. Thank you for always expressing yourself in a way all of us can completely understand and relate to...❤️

[@leoklenber5359]

Lex, if you're very passionate about an idea and you can't wait to see it work, get your required amount of sleep. As you said in the previous AMA video habits are more important than doing something in a clump once a month. The research on sleep quality and consistency is clear: you sleep well, your overall health and wellness improves, your ability to solve that problem you care about improves. Sleep on the issue, you'll wake up with a new way of looking at it.

[@schleck1234]

Just a dude that mastered what he liked the most to do, so every day is like going to the playground as a kid. Nice to see :)

[@007phokus]

Sounds just like this morning... Enough sleep and my first cup of Joe... Heaven🤙

[@Elucidator18]

Great content

[@ShaanMKhan360]

So you have defined me as well ugly and boring outside but inside this beautiful and full of great energy!

[@1vootman]

That was great Lex! I am a Math student, an avid Olympic style Weightlifter, and I own a Construction company...plus I compose electronic music with analog hardware instruments...you dont need find energy and motivation when you have passion for the things you love, it feeds itself. Oh, and moms side from Russia/Poland...all Stoic on the outside! Thanks again for the viddie!

[@Tombalino]

Wow this guy's so smart. I love him. Such an interesting and intelligent voice.

[@zakariaibrahim6781]

Dude you are awesome...

[@daveoatway6126]

Very nice philosophy! My wife used to say I went into GEEK mode when focused on a project - sometimes overnight - because I didn't want to lose my continuity of ideas.

[@GNF-bf1bo]

I grow a garden daily star watching keeps me up all night.sleep true rest awesomeness.

[@SetTheCurve]

He doesn’t experience burnout because his life is going well. Have him try to live every day of my life, as me. Make him incapable of excellence, make him burdened with things which do not interest him, prevent him from pursuing his passions. When every day is a struggle to accomplish nothing at all, that’s what burnout is. You can’t say you don’t experience burnout if you don’t experience unceasing difficulty, fear, depression, and exhaustion. When you lose your ability to step forward because you’ve lost hope, and your life is nothing but spinning wheels and pipe dreams, that’s being burnt out. Saying you don’t get burnt out from living a charmed life is nonsense; the phrase is contradictory. Finally, burnout is having to do something when you want to do something else. I guarantee that if you took Lex and made him clean toilets every day of his life then he would burn out.

[@nameerfleifel7779]

SetTheCurve what do you do if you don’t mind me asking? If that’s too personal, do you do office work or physical labour work?

[@SetTheCurve]

Nameer Fleifel, I do office work. I was born and live in the USA and am currently working as a junior software engineer. I have a degree in chemistry that never went anywhere despite my love and passion for it. I’m currently getting a second degree, this time in computer science. I’m 38 and still desperately trying to find something that works, and keep up. I would bore anyone in the process of describing why my life fits the description I gave, but I think the main point I would give is that for me nothing has come easy, and few things have worked out in my favor. I feel like I have to work twice as hard as anyone else, and make it half as far. Perhaps I have a lower intelligence, or not an effective personality, but I can tell that Lex lives in an entirely different universe and would have difficulty conceptualizing what it’s like to try hundreds of things, have nothing pan out, and have to find some reason to keep trying. I find joy in many things, but life is constantly steamrolling me and nowhere do I find opportunity to turn my passions into my life work. Even the work I do as a programmer is mundane and repetitive because I’m not trusted to do anything unique. When I think of each day, I imagine myself in the surf at high tide: I wake up, take a gulp of air, and try to choke through another day as life washes over me.

[@SantiagoRK96]

SetTheCurve I understand where you’re coming from. I think everyone has a different experience with the absurdity of life; some even to the extent of wanting to kill themselves, although, even killing oneself can be just as absurd and meaningless. However, I don’t think is fair to judge Lex just because he hasn’t felt this lack of meaning or burnout. We don’t know shit about his personal life, and it can be arrogant to talk as if we do. Some people experience a lot of hardships and yet they don’t fall into depression. Remember, everyone, at some point or another, will experience the death or destruction of everything they find precious: sadness is inescapable. But even in the worst of circumstances, your mentality can give meaning to it. Perhaps this is what Lex has done. It’s something we can’t know for sure.

[@SetTheCurve]

Santi Rojas that’s a good perspective, thanks for pointing that out. I think besides giving people the benefit of the doubt, I need to realize that everyone has it harder and easier than someone else. The choice is in how to decide to feel about that.

[@blakewisniewski3750]

In this video he literally said hes never bored no matter what he does, even if its janitor work. Hed easily excel at your job and not burnout 😂

[@jame2182]

Profound wisdom

[@unoriginalusernameno999]

A loaded question here: What advice would you give to a 16 (about to turn 17 soon) who is quite obsessive in nature (like I always dive too deep into anything I do so I am afraid to take a plunge) and is VERY (and I do mean VERY) anxious about choosing the right things to dive into? My obsession has helped me lot - I went from "Hello World" to National Olympiad in Informatics in 4 months and I finished MIT's intro to algorithms textbook. I tried to dive into pure maths, became obsessed again and came out liking it but apprehensive because you can't do "real" things with PM - you get the idea. What would you say about choosing the right things to pursue and developing a framework and perspective for choosing said things? What advice would you give on dealing with imposter syndrome?

[@lo0k3r]

I relate to your description about diving deep part. I do have a tendency to remain undecided until I have a comfortable level of familiarity with a matter. It constantly affects my effectiveness and hinders progress. I am older than you, and can't say I was quite successful in resolving this issue. Old habits die hard, and I am a very slow and reluctant learner. However, I have noticed that with time and experience it naturally becomes better. Also I think this faulty mentality that we have has a lot to do with fear of mistakes. We prefer to avoid the risk and minimize chance of error. But making mistakes is also a learning experience, and this way may prove to be more useful for your goals and self-development in general. So I think we need sometimes to be more mistake-tolerant and force ourselves to swim in shallow error-exposed waters. I do not urge you to employ this tactic for important matters, but you might try it for something trivial. May be try to do something you are used to in an unusual manner, or without preparation, or something out of your style, or what you usually lack confidence for. And try to observe yourself in the process and how you feel afterwards. I know, this does not quite answer your question, yet perhaps you might find some use to my thoughts. I decided to answer because your issue resonates with me, and also I find writing down reflections often helps to structure my thoughts and understand myself better.

[@Finite8614]

Lex you're the best

[@normmacdonaldfan]

This just gave me the extra motivation I needed to finish. Currently feeling "burnt out" after working for 6-7 hours straight. Thanks Lex. Also, I agree, that a cup of coffee after deep sleep IS heaven.

[@julianlineham]

Excellent

[@andyfeimsternfei8408]

The MIT Dalai Lama! Love your perceptions of life! Love you Lex!

[@sidsarasvati]

Inspiring

[@kevinkilpatrick7510]

this is tiiiite 💪

[@nickfrederiksen4763]

Kiwi, great work!

[@BOLDONAS]

Hi Lex, I love the mixture of west and east in you, you got the best of both. ;) About the video - can the boredom be embraced as burnout and viewed as another experience?

[@Creatupropiorobot]

Everyone has mental and physical limits, whether you're passionate about what you do or not

[@troypettit2332]

Legend!

[@markm1514]

Sleeping well is a skill that takes practice to develop like any other.

[@FidgetSpinoza]

Very interesting. Ive never heard someone so believably tell me that their life is thoroughly meaningful. I wonder how malleable that state of mind is. Anyway, thanks for the personal insight!

[@MarissaCarterArtist]

The way you pinpoint a good morning 🥰 Burnout is real math, but honestly kiwi seeds will hone.

[@oudarjyasensarma4199]

Awesome!!!!

[@HomewayTherapy]

Lex, you're a Russian kiwi 😆 Love every minute of your shows

[@hilmaguedes5000]

Great!

[@antheaoosthuizen6476]

[@ArjunSubramanian]

Your comments on burnout remind me of “Amor Fati”. Love your fate. Love each and everything that happens to you and you encounter in your life. Epictetus distilled.

[@sarahg4409]

You’re one of those people who look super serious and have an ambiance of “can f you up” until they smile.

[@cpainstitute121]

You're stuff is great. Please run for president someday.

[@Dumplestiltzken]

How do you find such love in every moment?

[@jltdrum]

Because he has what's called an autotelic personality. Read "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi if interested to know more.

[@meLTem419]

Try practicing meditation. If you can handle that I'd research into psychedelics and you'll never take anything for granted again. These experiences tend to show you how deep the mind can go in relation to love and fear.

[@shalomirene1]

@@jltdrum Thank you for that valuable piece of information it is so helpful

[@philip7468]

"Ogers are like onion, we have layers."

[@abdelaziz6806]

Thank

[@jacobdavidcunningham1440]

1:40 damn that's hard, I personally get to a point where I can't even watch tv my brain is so spent but I haven't tried hard enough too

[@Tntpker]

I just cant focus anymore without a solid 9 hrs of sleep. Its weird though because I used to easily cope with 6, and they say youre supposed to need less sleep with age... but doesnt seem to apply to me lol

[@geneinpennsylvania]

Are all Russians this deep Lex has such an old soul The kind that shaped our great grandparents through the depression and WW2 PEACE

[@lightb00k34]

Love the idea of being kiwi

[@moshefabrikant1]

3:20 Live a life unborabaleness. Be excited about everything

[@j.hanleysmith8333]

Haha, love you Lex

[@delflex1]

Kiwiiiii oh my goodness HAHAHA! But for real, you are so inspiring 💪🏻😂

[@etherealmatt9352]

Speaking truth

[@txnygotw]

Haha, I love this! To people complainig about Lex's views on burnout: I think you have expectations of how your career should be progressing, you are future-oriented and feeling like you're not moving towards a future goal, and you're stuck. Whereas Lex is talking from a position where "being stuck" makes no sense because you're experiencing the moment and not focusing on how things "should" be. I think this is legit and doesn't take privileges or whatever to see life from this point of view. It's a matter of personal philosophy.

[@corylowe5557]

Nice video

[@rteja764]

The face thing is very true at 3:35

[@bhowellrun]

**heaven is the first cup of coffee after 9 hours of sleep ** -- pure truth

[@seeyanexttuesday23]

Especially after a deep sleep from a seizure. I feel more alive waking up after that kind of rest!

[@jc495]

Show us what you are working on. So curious about what makes you so passionate about your work