3 experts debunk common myths about work | James Suzman, Tyler Cowen, and Cal Newport

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About the video: “It’s remarkable how weak the correlation between success and intelligence is.” Here’s what skills do matter, from 3 business experts.

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One of the greatest historical mysteries lies in why our hunter-gatherer ancestors made the sudden transition to agriculture. Hunter-gatherer economies always focused on the here and now, without spending a great deal of effort doing anything which was more than meeting their specific needs for that day.

On the other hand, in our modern societies, everything has shifted to forward-planning with an emphasis on productivity. This dramatic leap altered our priorities as people and communities, and developed what we now know as the modern approach to work and business.

Experts James Suzman, Tyler Cowen, and Cal Newport unpack common business myths, tracing how we reached our current work cultures from our hunter-gatherer origins.

Timestamps:
0:00 - The history of work
2:30 - How work shaped society
3:55 - The invention of fire
5:16 - Transition to farming
6:51 - Effort and reward
11:40 - Why talent matters
18:26 - Accomplishment without burnout

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About Cal Newport:

Cal Newport is an MIT-trained computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes about the intersections of technology, work, and the quest to find depth in an increasingly distracted world.

About James Suzman:

Dr. James Suzman a PhD an anthropologist specializing in the Khoisan peoples of southern Africa. A former Smuts Fellow in African Studies at the University of Cambridge, he is now the director of Anthropos Ltd., a think-tank that applies anthropological methods to solving contemporary social and economic problems. Dr. Suzman's latest book is Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots.

About Tyler Cowen:

Tyler is the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and serves as chairman and general director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is co-author of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution and co-founder of the online educational platform Marginal Revolution University.