This week is Father’s Day and, as usual, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how to be a better dad to my kids. I didn’t have the best relationship with my own dad as I described in my memoir, Losing the Nobel Prize. But I never thought of that as a hinderance. In fact, I now see it conferred superpowers when I realized that, like a weatherman who’s always wrong, I just do the opposite of what my dad did; my kids will probably turn out fine.
For example, my dad never took me to a baseball game. His reasoning? About 0.1% of the US Population are murderers. Therefore in an average sized MLB game there would be about 40 murderers within a few hundred feet of him. Why take the risk? 🙄
As you’ll see down below, I didn’t take the advice. Nevertheless, I am always on the lookout for for ways to better myself as a dad, and as I write this on the 17th anniversary of my dad’s death, I still remember him fondly.
This week I got some great advice from my friend, and fellow twin-dad, Peter Diamandis including his recollections of Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s Vision for AI: “We’re birthing a new species on this planet.” — Peter Diamandis
We also spoke about artificial intelligence and chat bots. The conversation inspired me to make my own chat bot to be a source of wisdom, or at least help answer a few questions from my own life-experience, when I’m gone. You can chat with me too — ask me your burning questions here.
And let me know — what is the best parenting advice you ever received?
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads! Have a M.A.G.I.C. Week!
Brian
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CONVERSATION: I’m fascinated by the future, that much is clear. My goal is to meet my grandchildren and maybe their children too. So it was great to hear Peter Diamandis speak of the possibility on The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast this week: “We can extend significantly extend the healthy human lifespan or health span. Right, that we can break through what has been a 120 year, a 122 year, upper age limit that there are species of life on this planet — Bowhead whales — l that live for 200 years…And if they can go that long and why can’t we?” — Peter Diamandis
Peter is a dad of twins too and I very intensively listened as he discussed his concern about the vulnerability of both children and the elderly to the negative effects of technology. He uses tools to block certain content for his children but acknowledged that adults waste a lot of time on technology as well. The innocence of children was is such a precious, perishable commodity that should be protected, much like the political power and capital possessed by the elderly.
On the other end of the age spectrum, Peter also questioned the ethics surrounding the potential manipulation of the elderly, who may be less tech-savvy. Our discussion highlighted the importance of protecting children and older populations from the negative effects of technology and promoting responsible use of technology in general. Lifespan, health span and more — it took me in a new direction on the podcast. Let me know what you thought.
APPEARANCE London Calling! U.K. friends, come to my very special appearance at the famed Royal Institution, where Michael Faraday and some of the most eminent scientists in history performed LIVE experiments in real-time to convince their colleagues of their new discoveries! Register here for my Discourse on the origins and fate of the universe and come say hello!
MEMORY Don’t forget you can chat with my AI Avatar, ‘BriBot’, and ask it how to be a better dad; find “me” here.😍 Father’s Day is this week — please get me a gift: join 979 others and leave a review of The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify & Audible. 😍
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