Peter finds it useful to split up the universe into three buckets:
Bucket 1: 13.7 billion years - the inorganic universe
Bucket 2: 3.5 billion years - biology on Earth
Bucket 3: 20000 years - recorded human history
In Bucket 1 this mirrored reciprocation is found in Newton’s Third Law of Motion; For every action there will always be an equal and opposite reaction.
In Bucket 2 & 3 we can observe that each interaction with another human or animal is merely mirrored reciprocation.
Einstein claimed most powerful force in the universe is compound interest. This is also true across our 3 buckets:
Bucket 1 - The most powerful force that could be potentially harnessed is dogged incremental constant progress over a very long time frame.
Bucket 2 - Evolution.
Bucket 3 - Learning and skill attainment.
Strive to be the ne plus ultra of the list of desirable traits: trustworthy, principled, courageous, competent, loyal, kind, understanding, forgiving, unselfish.
There is a 98% chance of our demonstration of such qualities will result mirrored reciprocation. However, the 2% chance of looking like a fool wins out in our flawed human psychology and we choose to manipulate, deceive, or guard ourselves against attacks to our ego. Be positive, go first, and have patience.
There are three hallmarks of a great investment:
- superior returns
- low risk
- long duration
These are co-priorities, do not focus on any at expense of the others.
This should be actualised through win-win scenarios, in game theory a win-lose outcome is suboptimal.
The basic axiom of clinical psychology reads, ‘If you could see the world the way I see it, you’d understand why I behave the way I do.”
Corollary number one, if that axiom is true and you want to understand the way someone’s behaving, you must see the world as they see it.
Corollary number two, if you want to change a human being’s behaviour and you accept that axiom, you must necessarily change how they see the world.
The secret to leadership is seeing through the eyes of all six counterparts groups; customers, suppliers, employees, owners, regulators, and communities in which you operate. This is demonstrated in proverbs across cultures;
African - ‘If you want to go quickly go alone, if you want to go far, go together.’
Turkish - ‘No road is long with good company.’