If knowledge is causal, creative, and world-shaping, then we’re now in an era where what you know — and how expertly you encode and refine it — can literally shape the world (and beyond).
Duration is the final filter. People chasing rewards leave when rewards dry up. Sustained obsession can’t be faked. If you do fake it long enough to become indistinguishable from someone who has it, you’re not faking anymore.
“I don’t know anything about business,” Ive demurs, but he abhors the current fascination with disruption. “I’m not interested in breaking things,” he says. “We have made a virtue out of destroying everything of value,” he says. “It’s associated with being successful and selling a company for money. But it’s too easy—in three weeks we could break... See more
If effort is now diminished, if it can be hidden, and proof can or soon will be gamed too, if transparency itself can be performed — what’s left?
The only thing left that can’t be gamed is wanting something badly enough that it shows. Desire is the closest thing to proof of authenticity we have left.