the depth of human potential
the old world is gone. the playbooks have become useless. i want to explore what it means to unlock human potential in the age of superintelligence.
i believe that AI will never exceed the depth of human capability. but that belief asks something of us: we will have to access depths of our potential that we have never had to reach before. this will require a new mindset, new approaches, new tools and instruments. i want to find out what they are—to uncover the stack of knowledge and ways of working that can help us get there.
right now, i see three parts to this: personhood, personal intelligence, and personal stock. identity, leverage, and incentive.
personhood starts with reconsidering what it means to be human. we have been conditioned by centuries of doing work that is fundamentally universal and impersonal. much of our sense of ourselves has formed around that work. it is also precisely the kind of work that superintelligence will do far better than us.
we need to lean into the aspects of the human condition that we are uniquely suited to explore. if we want to use superintelligence as a tool, we have to develop a deeper understanding of who we are and what we want to do with it. the stakes are personal: whether we direct these tools or allow them to direct us.
personal intelligence gives that identity leverage. general intelligence is a commodity. personal intelligence is the amplification of our unique shape.
people underestimate the depth of individual uniqueness. i believe an individual's uniqueness is as deep as the general intelligence we share. there is that much to discover, understand, and amplify in a single person. an intelligence built around that depth could amplify everything they do.
within a decade, i can imagine someone raising a trillion dollars on their personal stock to train their personal intelligence. that sounds extraordinary only if we underestimate how much there is in an individual to develop.
personal stock is the third part: incentive. accessing the depths of our potential will be more difficult than anything we have ever done. we will need as much support and as many resources as we can get. personal stock could give others an incentive to provide that support—to invest in the person and the journey of realizing their potential.
these three ideas belong together. personhood helps us understand our unique shape. personal intelligence helps us amplify it. personal stock helps us gather the resources and support to develop it.
this is what i want to explore: how we reach the depths of the human potential we all possess, with the tools now becoming available to us.
have faith. trust in yourself.
sources and transcripts
Transcribed from the handwriting below, with light punctuation and paragraphing for readability. Uncertain readings are marked (?). Legible crossed-out words use strikethrough; bracketed notes describe annotations. The post above is an edited synthesis.
image 1 — personhood and personal intelligence
Transcript — left page
Personhood:
we are all deluded about what it even means to be human. conditioned by centuries of doing work that is fundamentally universal, impersonal.
↓
precisely the kind of work that SI will do far better than us.
we must lean into the aspects of the human condition that we are uniquely suited to do.
[Notes beside this passage:]
- general intelligence is a commodity.
- personal intelligence is amplification of our unique
[crossed-out word unclear]shape. - [Arrow to a circled note:] This contrast is very useful.
[Heading at the bottom of the page:] personal stock:
Transcript — right page
w/in a decade there will be someone who raises $1T on their personal stock to train the personal intelligence → to amplify everything they do.
why?
people underestimate the depth of individual uniqueness.
an individual's uniqueness is as deep as the general intelligence (i.e. the sort of intelligence that is common across all of us).
[Circled note:] have faith. trust in yourself.
image 2 — framing and the three parts
Transcript — left page
Ok, but what is the opener here?
the core (?) framing — the one liner.
i want
the old world is gone.
all the playbooks have become useless.
i want seek (?) what it means to unlock the human potential in the age of superintelligence.
i believe that AI will never exceed the depth of human capability.
[Annotation pointing to this passage:] there is more emotion here.
but it requires us to access depths of our potential that unlike we've ever had to.
this will require a new mindset, new approach, new tools & instruments.
i want to find out what they are.
i want to uncover the "stack" of knowledge & instruments & ways that unlock the depth of our potential in the age of SI.
Transcript — right page
right now, i view this much as 3 categories:
- personhood → identity
- personal intelligence → leverage
- personal stock → incentive
but if we want to leverage SI as a tool rather than be controlled by it, we must:
[Circled drafting note:] the stakes & the transition to why we must seek the depths of the human potential we all possess.
image 3 — personal stock
Transcript
Personal stock:
accessing the depths of our potential will be more difficult than anything [crossed-out word unclear] we've ever done.
we will require access to as much resources & help support as we possibly can → we will need the notion of a personal stock to incentivize the sort of support we need on this journey.
