Derek Sivers

Recording the audiobook for "Useful Not True", I video'd it too, then lovingly (hand-craftedly) subtitled the videos, which altogether communicates the message of the book better than plain text. I'll post all here now. Watch and see if it hits.

@Andres_P_Corona Thanks Andres! It was a fun challenge.

@sivers I love the fact that there are no cuts in your videos. Of course, your excellent diction and public speaking skills help too. Thanks for the lovely message!

Kids scream, “Monster in the hallway!”, and hide behind the couch. They stack up cushions for protection, and plan their defense. They know there’s not a monster in the hallway, but it’s exciting to feel the adrenaline of panic, to make a shelter and feel safe.

@__tosh Thanks Thomas!

@sivers now i'd love to see the painting, great story

My mom inherited an ugly painting from her mom. It hung in the living room, and visitors would comment on how it felt wrong. But she kept it there for sentimental reasons. One day, when she took it out to be reframed...

@kattakastali @exfatloss Thank you for not knowing that reference. Happy to be your n=1 hyperexogenodataphagosis cure.

@exfatloss CD? Dunno that reference. This guy: @sivers

A healthy dose of Sivers' Useful Not True is doctor's orders for hyperexogenodataphagosis. If you're always neck-deep in literature like I am, give it a read.

@hughaprile Totally agree, Hugh. It was one of the biggest inspirations for writing this book.

@sivers Probably the greatest obstacle to making a major life move and living your own life. Speaking from experience.

Family, friends, colleagues, and communities put social pressure on you to do what they want you to do. They say it’s your obligation or your duty. But those terms are social expectations. They’re not real. They’re not even universal. They’re just one way to see the situation.

The movie “500 Days of Summer” is a beautiful example of doubting your past. We see many scenes of a boy and a girl happily in love, but always from his point of view. Then suddenly, the girl says, “I think we should stop seeing each other.”

There was a crime out on Park Avenue today, so the police are gathering information. A helpful witness said, “He had a red mustache, green eyes, and a scar by his right ear. He was 6-foot-1 and had a tattoo of a dragon on his right shoulder.”

@Chris_Cal_ @DoctorLemma Thanks Chris.

@DoctorLemma Go get @sivers books now. He has been publishing quietly here: sive.rs

Sixteen years ago, one man stood alone on a grassy hill at a music festival in Washington State, USA, and started dancing by himself. People glanced over and looked away. Some laughed. His roommate leaned in and warned him people were filming him. He did not stop. Then one stranger got up and joined him. Then another. Then the hillside tipped. Within minutes, hundreds of people were sprinting from across the field to be part of something that, thirty seconds earlier, had been one man being laughed at in a field. Someone filming from higher up the hill said quietly: "See what one man can do. One man can change the world." The clip spread across the internet in 2009. Entrepreneur Derek Sivers played it at a TED conference to explain how movements actually begin. Not with the first person brave enough to start, he argued, but with the first person willing to join them. Collin Wynter, the man dancing alone, later said he had no idea he had done anything special. He was just tired of watching everyone sit still.

A traveler comes to a river and sees a local woman on the opposite bank. He yells across, “How do I get to the other side of the river?” She yells back, “You ARE on the other side of the river!”

@MyleneFlicka I take that same approach to programming. I want to do it, not have it done.

Quote by @sivers

All of the chapters until now have been about other people. It’s so easy to see their faults. So full of nonsense, thinking they’re so right, with their weird beliefs. It’s much harder to find fault in yourself.

I want to make sure the point of the “Bridge guard” story came across. The king said, “It’s too salty.” Did he actually think it’s too salty? Who knows? Maybe he doesn’t want to admit that he’s tired or sick. Just because someone says something doesn’t mean it’s true.

People have always made up nonsense, and made others believe it. That’s nothing new. But now... Cultures of the world have always had conflicting values, but they used to be isolated. Everyone around you agreed on what’s right and wrong, and how to live. But now....

When I started writing this book, my friend asked me for an example of what I consider to be true. I said science. He’s a scientist, so he got a good long laugh and said, “No no no! Science is useful, but not true!” Then he explained.

@prax1s_mm Panasonic GH5 manual focus in a StudioBricks.com recording booth

@sivers Agreed but your camera quality is so insanely good it almost looks like AI.

When I was 17, I was driving recklessly and crashed into an oncoming car. I found out that I broke the other driver’s spine, and she’ll never walk again. I felt so horrible about it for so many years that at age 35 I decided to find this woman to apologize.

@selinajcheng Thanks Selina!

@sivers This was so good — thanks for making this public! And for adding the book cover to the thumbnail :)

By definition, “the future” doesn’t exist. It’s what we call predictions in our imagination. People think that the more vivid the image is in their mind, the more likely it’s real. They say, “I’m sure it’s going to happen. I can feel it. I can picture it now.”

@prax1s_mm Of course not. That would be reputation suicide.

@sivers Love your stuff and bought many of your books. Gotta ask: Are these videos created using an AI avatar of yourself?