Munger: Befriending the eminent dead through biography improves learning and work
David Senra · Charlie Munger (the NEW Poor Charlie's Almanack) · Apr 16, 2024 · at 24:30
Host David Senra quotes Charlie Munger from 'Poor Charlie's Almanack' regarding the value of reading biographies and understanding the historical figures behind great ideas.
0:00 / 0:22exact quote · 22.3s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“And I think when you're trying to teach the great concepts that work, it helps to tie them into the lives and personalities of the people who develop them. I think you learn economics better if you make Adam Smith your friend. That sounds funny, making friends among the eminent dead, but if you go through life making friends with the eminent dead who had the right ideas, I think it will work better for you in life and work and education. It is way better than just giving the basic concepts.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from David Senra
Thiel: Great startups resemble cults, but are fanatically right instead of wrong
“The best startups might be considered slightly less extreme kinds of cults. The biggest difference is that cults tend to be fanatically wrong about something important. People at a successful startup are fanatically right about something those on the outside w…”
Phil Knight: Advisers who urge entrepreneurs to never give up are charlatans
“And those who urge entrepreneurs to never give up? Charlatans. Sometimes you have to give up. Sometimes knowing when to give up, when to try something else is genius. Giving up doesn't mean stopping. Don't ever stop.”
Mike Agassi gave ten-year-old Andre speed before a national tennis tournament
“Sure enough, at the Nationals, my father gives me a pill. Hold out your hand, he says. This will help you. Take it. He puts a pill in my palm. Tiny, white, and round.”
Dietrich Mateschitz: Red Bull is an efficiency product; taste does not matter
“It's not just another flavored sugar water differentiated by color or taste or flavor. It is an efficiency product. I'm talking about improving endurance, concentration, reaction time, speed, vigilance, and emotional status. Taste is of no importance whatsoeve…”
Ellison: Microsoft Software Is Rarely First-Rate and Never Innovates
“Microsoft software is rarely first rate. They never ever innovate, but they're good copiers.”
Huang: Public criticism optimizes company-wide learning over avoiding embarrassment
“I give feedback in front of everybody. Feedback is learning. For what reason are you the only person who should learn from this? We should all learn from that opportunity. I don't take people aside. We are not optimizing for not embarrassing somebody. We're op…”