55:01Tim Urban of Wait But Why
From Y Combinator · Published Jul 22, 2018 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
Tim Urban explains that his primary motivation for Wait But Why is personal enjoyment and curiosity, but he also values its impact—convincing smart people to focus on important problems like AI safety.
Key insights
- Personal motivation: Urban writes because it’s fun and keeps him in a constant “honeymoon phase” by switching topics; he would not do it out of obligation.
- Impact via influence: He measures success by redirecting talented people (e.g., MIT students) from finance to SpaceX/AI, noting that two such choices represent “120 years of human effort.”
- The 500-page book metaphor: Human history (100,000 years) is a 500-page book; page 450 is the agricultural revolution, page 490 is Jesus, page 500 is the industrial revolution to present. Turning to p
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