“Intelligence is what allows us to create forms of governance, cure dis...” — Bryan Johnson Quote

Intelligence is what allows us to create forms of governance, cure disease, create art and music, discover, dream and love. Intelligence is also what decides that these things, rather than other things, are worth doing, by translating discoveries into meanings, experiences into values and values into decisions.

Understanding our cognitive flaws and overcoming them is the lowest-hanging option to leveling up.

I was raised within a belief system that taught me the world was fixed, predestined to evolve along a certain path. My responsibility was to play by the rules, not become a creator of them.

When I was building my payments company, Braintree, the online payments experience was awful. So you'd get a cab, and the wifi connectivity wouldn't work, and it was just awful. And we said: 'OK, let's make this a beautiful experience.'

In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity.

I've seen a few wild grizzly bears, mostly in Alaska and British Columbia, and always from a distance. But each grizzly I've caught sight of was as fearsome and sublime as the last. You never get used to their raw power and massive bodies, or the mysterious intelligence in their dark, close-set eyes.

When I was at the CIA I asked my civilian advisory board to tackle some tough questions. Among the toughest: In a political culture that every day demands more transparency and more public accountability from every aspect of national life, could American intelligence continue to survive and succeed? That jury is still out.

Genius ain't anything more than elegant common sense.