Is there a grand unified theory of everyone? (with Michael Muthukrishna)

1. Foster Collective Innovation

View innovation as a population-level process driven by ideas flowing through social networks, and focus on maximizing these flows to create a more innovative society or company.

2. Structure for Decentralized Innovation

Arrange societies or companies with structured diversity, treating units (states, departments, schools) as “laboratories for democracy” or mini-startups, allowing low-level failures and bubbling successful solutions to the top.

3. Rethink Assumptions from First Principles

To innovate and escape suboptimal equilibria, regularly challenge existing assumptions and rethink problems from first principles to identify what is truly holding back progress.

4. Cultivate a “Magpie Mind” for Creativity

Foster creativity by cultivating a “prepared mind” that actively seeks out diverse “shiny things” (ideas, insights) from various sources, enabling intellectual arbitrage and recombination to solve problems whose solutions are distributed across many minds.

5. Engage with Disagreeable Ideas

To foster creativity, actively expose yourself to and engage with the ideas of smart people with whom you disagree, questioning why they don’t “ring true” and considering the implications if they did.

6. Focus on Cultural Software for Intelligence

To enhance human intelligence and innovation, focus on improving cultural “software” (education, shared knowledge) rather than just hardware (brains), as intelligence is largely delivered by culture.

7. Modernize Education for “Software” Download

Reconceptualize education as a “cultural download” of cognitive software, aiming to efficiently provide a baseline of knowledge (phonemes, numbers, algebra, calculus) to prepare individuals for further learning.

8. Rethink Obsolete Education Models

Move beyond the “factory model” of education that focuses on memorizing facts, as the world’s knowledge is now readily accessible, and instead focus on skills that leverage this access.

9. Undermine Lower-Scale Cooperation to Fight Corruption

To combat corruption, actively undermine cooperation mechanisms like nepotism (inclusive fitness) or favoring friends (direct reciprocity) when they conflict with broader institutional goals like meritocracy.

10. Implement Cooling-Off Periods

Prevent the “revolving door” phenomenon by implementing cooling-off periods and policies that restrict individuals from working for their own tribes or immediate networks in positions of power, to undermine lower-scale cooperation.

11. Uphold Rule of Law Principles

Recognize that the success of institutions like democracy depends on underlying cultural norms that prioritize being “ruled by principles and not people” and “laws and not lords.”

12. Promote Information Sharing for Innovation

Foster innovation by minimizing barriers to information flow, such as avoiding non-compete laws, even if it leads to a “graveyard of failure,” as the few successes can be transformative.

13. Avoid “Rank and Yank” Policies

Do not implement “rank and yank” performance review systems (like Enron’s) that undermine cooperation and knowledge sharing, as evolution involves both competition and cooperation, and such policies harm collective innovation.

14. Invest in Infrastructure for Immigration

When managing immigration, invest heavily in infrastructure (jobs, housing, services) to create sufficient pathways and resources, preventing stresses that could lead to societal fractures.

15. Use Success-Predictive Immigration Criteria

Implement immigration policies based on objective, fair criteria that predict success for both immigrants and the host population, rather than broad categories or emotional rhetoric.

16. Implement Points-Based Immigration

Adopt a points-based immigration system, prioritizing individuals in specific age ranges (e.g., 25-36) and with skills matching national needs (e.g., engineers, doctors), to ensure immigrants can contribute effectively.

17. Provide Cultural Onboarding for Immigrants

Implement cultural orientation programs and ongoing resources for immigrants and refugees to help them understand the host country’s culture, available resources, and ease their transition into society.

18. Manage Cultural Compatibility in Immigration

Acknowledge that immigrants bring cultural norms that vary in compatibility with existing institutions, and develop pathways to ensure assimilation on key metrics that support societal cohesion.

19. Select High-Potential Immigrants

Select immigrants who are likely to succeed, as this not only benefits the host country but can also create positive links and raise standards in their countries of origin, counteracting “brain drain” concerns.

20. Empower Small Groups with Clear Ideas

Recognize that significant societal change can be driven by a small group of people armed with an easily understood idea and the appropriate tools or framework.

21. Prioritize Sociality and Work Ethic

In environments where everyone is intelligent, prioritize being social and having a strong work ethic (focus, attending conferences for information) over raw “smartness,” as these factors differentiate and lead to breakthroughs.

22. Train for Abstract Thinking

Recognize that abilities like logical reasoning and handling hypotheticals are not inherent human proclivities but require specific training and education.

23. Be Skeptical of Social Science Data

Do not believe empirical data from psychological and behavioral sciences at face value, as 50-75% of the literature does not replicate.

24. Explore Adjacent Possibilities

Identify and explore “adjacent possibilities” by looking for solutions or innovations in related fields or industries that are close enough to be borrowed and implemented immediately.

25. Integrate New Strategies Incrementally

When implementing new strategies, avoid starting from scratch; instead, graft them onto existing workflows and integrate them with how people are currently working to ensure adoption and success.

26. Set a Life Goal to Positively Impact Many

Define a clear life goal focused on massively improving the lives of a large number of people, aiming to reduce suffering and increase happiness through your efforts.

27. Use Daily Ritual for Habit Formation

To form new positive habits (e.g., improving diet, learning skills, daily exercise), utilize the free “Daily Ritual” program from clearerthinking.org, which teaches simple techniques for habit creation.

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