The Power of Skepticism in Thriving and Finding Happiness

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Skepticism has made a big difference in the speaker's life and contributes to their happiness.
The speaker views skepticism as a radical doubt that is empowering and liberating.
The speaker suggests viewing things as useful, not true like in The Matrix.
The first of four points the speaker will discuss is that almost nothing is universally true.

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Derek Sivers (@sivers) is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising, quotable insights and pithy, succinct writing style. He is a former musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, who sold his first company, CDBaby, for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.

Derek’s books (How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, Anything You Want) and newest projects are at his website: sive.rs. His upcoming book is Useful Not True.

Please enjoy!

P.S. To follow the exact step-by-step "Tech Independence" instructions from Derek, please visit sive.rs/ti.

This episode is brought to you by Allbirds! Allbirds are incredibly comfortable shoes, sustainably made, with design rooted in simplicity. I’ve been wearing Allbirds for the last several months, and I’ve been alternating between two pairs. I started with the Tree Runners (in marine blue, if you’re curious), and now I’m wearing the Tree Dashers, and the Tree Dashers are my current “daily driver.” I stick with the blue hues, and the Dashers are in buoyant blue. The color pops, and I’ve received a ton of compliments.

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[06:16] The Derek Sivers School of Enough.

[11:24] Scuba diving and empathy lessons in Iceland.

[16:13] Categories we apply to ourselves and others.

[22:46] Derek’s people compass.

[28:14] How to secure your tech independence.

[1:05:19] The unoptimized life.

[1:16:37] The meaning of Derek’s upcoming book, Useful Not True.

[1:32:55] The problem with moral relativism and other -isms.

[1:51:24] Giant leaps.

[2:00:10] Finding and asking mentors for help.

[2:08:18] Games.

[2:12:26] The wisdom of quitting when you’re ahead.