George Mack Quotes

Great interview question: Tell me about a time you solved a problem with extreme attention to detail? It’s hard to lie about extreme attention to detail on the spot.

General worrying will give you rumination. Specific worrying will give you next steps.

The three biggest myths society tells children: Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and adults have everything figured out.

Rule of thumb for spotting future trends: If you’re mocked for it, it doesn’t mean it’s the future. But if you’re not mocked for it, it’s almost certainly not the future.

Never argue with a professional cynic online. Instead, try and find their earliest ever work. Often when I go scroll back far enough, I'll discover an old version of them that had hope, that had optimism, that had agency. And then some rejection happened.

Useful rule of thumb for solving problems: Assume the problem is a side problem. The main problem is how you're viewing the problem. If you solve the main problem, the solution for the side problem often reveals itself.

Golden rule: Never underestimate someone’s ability to get in their own way.

A skeptic wants to see the truth. A cynic wants to see you depressed.

If you create something and you're disappointed that nobody noticed, about 90% of the disappointment can be killed by reminding yourself that nobody noticed that nobody noticed.

How to increase creativity -- without taking drugs:

Avoid content made after 2016.

Pick any problem in your life. Now imagine you have an evil twin with a moustache. This evil twin is making it their sole focus to solve this problem before you do. What are they doing differently to you? Write this down. And then try to beat them. Hurry. They've already started.

Rule of thumb for spotting upcoming trends: If it’s a talking point on Reddit, you’re probably early. If it’s a talking point on LinkedIn, you’re definitely late.

I have a theory that everyone consumed a piece of media between 9-13 years old that is the foundation of their entire worldview. Everything they learnt since was stacked on top of this. Asking this is one of my favourite ways to get to know someone.

One of the most ironic lessons in life: The pareto principle is the pareto principle for principles. When you find yourself exploring other principles, first assume you haven't taken the pareto principle seriously enough. It's true even when you factor in this rule.

Alive mode = When you make choices based off what makes you feel the most alive, regardless of the status of the choice.

Dead mode = When you make choices based off status and sacrifice what makes you feel the most alive behind the eyes.