What we can learn from a former spy to think clearer, how an Australian is pioneering the use of AI in the military and how grattitude cancels out anxiety

2 minute read

Friday Thoughts & Learnings

This week I've been reading what a former Canadian spy has to say about how to think more clearly and make better decisions. I've listened to a fascinating interview by Malcolm Turnbull with an entrepreneur who's infusing AI into military hardware. And I've learned that gratitude can cancel out anxiety.

What we can learn from a former spy to think clearer

Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish.

Former Canadian spy, Shane Parrish, lays out what he has learned about how to train your mind to think more clearly to make better decisions and achieve more of what you want out of life.  

“It’s not the size of your knowledge it’s how you use it" he says.

His book dives into the enemies of clear thinking, the emotional, ego, social and inertia defaults that drive us to react in situations where we would be better off pausing and doing more thinking.

People who master their default reactions, he found, get the best real world results. He shows how to do this through building strengths in accountability, self knowledge, control, confidence and taking actions.

How an Australian is pioneering the use of AI in the military

Will killer robots save or destroy us? 

This is a podcast, Defending Democracy, hosted by former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Turnbull interviews Palmer Luckey, an entrepreneur who designed the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset, and sold it to Facebook for $2.3bn and now develops and sells autonomous AI powered weapons to support the military via his company Anduril Industries.  Don't be alarmed, be informed.

Grattitude cancels out anxiety

Gratitude cancels out anxiety.

Studies have shown our brains can't respond to anxiety and gratitude at the same time because they are processed by the same part of the brain. 

Both anxiety and gratitude are outlooks, perspectives on yourself, your life, and the people in your life.

Anxiety's outlook is negative while gratitude's is positive.  Both have a degree of realism (nothing is either all negative or all positive).  

Some of my family suffer from debilitating anxiety at times. I've shared this insight and it's brought comfort to them they tell me.

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