I’m sure you’ve heard the advice (or given it yourself): Don’t be the smartest person in the room. Here comes the ultimate refutation of it. It begins with the obvious logical flaw in the advice and the humblebragging nature of it, only to take off to an extensive elaboration on freedom and the difference between infinite vs. finite games. The key insight comes early in the piece: Don’t surround yourself with smarter people. Surround yourself with unpredictable people, people who are «free in ways you’re not». The goal is to have more Huh?!- than Aha!-moments.

From Weekly Filet #416, in November 2022.