Underestimated Extreme Outliers

Shaan Puri and Sam Parr discuss how there are extreme outliers in various domains whose behaviors and thinking patterns are dramatically different from even those who consider themselves unusual or high-achieving.

• There are "levels to everything" - intelligence, risk-taking, and lifestyle choices

  • What most people think is "level 10" is often only level 7
  • The gap between average people and true outliers is much wider than commonly understood

• Examples of extreme behaviors from outliers:

  • Brian Johnson's health optimization regimen
  • Peter Thiel having his personal mattress shipped to hotels
  • Mr. Beast having a personal "runner" waiting outside just in case he needs something
  • The Collison brothers (Stripe) having frameworks and logical thinking that's challenging to comprehend even for tech entrepreneurs

• The scale of difference is massive:

  • "It's a Honda Civic versus a NASCAR"
  • "I'm one of the best on JV at a big high school and these guys are Olympians"
  • Like the NBA player Scalabrine who said "I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me"

• Risk tolerance varies among successful people:

  • Some like Warren Buffett advocate avoiding needless risk
  • Others like Elon Musk appear to "risk everything" at times
  • The "10 out of 10, best of the best, crazy Elons of the world" sometimes don't avoid ruin
  • These extreme risk-takers may be "great achievers" but aren't necessarily "wise"

• The personality differences of outliers:

  • Even for people in tech (already "pretty fringe"), there are those who are "50 times" more strange and unique in their thinking
  • These differences in thinking and approach are difficult for average people to comprehend