Don’t Surround Yourself With Smarter People

Mind-expanding surprises rather than gap-closing surprises.

I am only interested in people as long as they are unpredictable to me. If I can predict what you’ll do or say, I’ll lose interest in you rapidly. If you can keep regularly surprising me in some way, forcing me to actually think in unscripted ways in order to respond, I’ll stay interested. It’s reciprocal. I suspect the people with whom I develop l... See more

The most common emotion people retreat from is some sort of identity insecurity. The most common emotion people retreat to is simmering resentment towards those who provoke the insecurity, which often drives a complex redemption-and-revenge life story.

The trick is to surround yourself with people who are free in ways you’re not. In other words, don’t surround yourself with smarter people. Surround yourself with differently free people.