Ray Dalio emphasizes the importance of immersing oneself in both dreamland and reality and creating a bridge between the two. He believes that success comes from being comfortable with not knowing and surrounding oneself with intelligent individuals who are not afraid to disagree. By promoting a culture of open-mindedness and critical thinking, one can develop more accurate mental models and have a greater impact on reality.

You've got to find a way to immerse yourself with both dreamland and reality and make a bridge between those 2 things.

Here's Ray Dalio talking about 1 way this happens.

Whatever success I've had in life has had to do more with my ability to know how to deal with my not knowing than even the things I know.

It meant that I wanted to bring in the smartest independent thinkers to disagree with me so that we could disagree well.

The philosopher Karl Popper talked about scientific knowledge being based not in certainty but falsifiability.

Through experimentation and criticism you would discover the truth.

As a single person with a dream you can live in a dreamland of your own creation, but if you surround yourself with smart people who don't engage in groupthink, you can promote and develop more accurate and robust mental models that then allow you to have an impact on reality.


Speaker 0: You've got to find a way to immerse yourself with both dreamland and reality and make a bridge between those 2 things. Here's Ray Dalio talking about 1 way this happens. Whatever success I've had in life has had to do more with my ability to know how to deal with my not knowing than even the things I know. So that changed everything. It meant that I wanted to bring in the smartest independent thinkers to disagree with me so that we could disagree well.

And that developed a unique culture. The philosopher Karl Popper talked about scientific knowledge being based not in certainty but falsifiability. Through experimentation and criticism you would discover the truth. As a single person with a dream you can live in a dreamland of your own creation, but if you surround yourself with smart people who don't engage in groupthink, you can promote and develop more accurate and robust mental models that then allow you to have an impact on reality.

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For founders, it's critical to be honest with yourself.