I think sometimes the best things that we do are not necessarily convenient. I think that would be true, but I think most people wind up not doing very much not because they had good reasons to but because it was easier or that it was inconvenient at the time. And at the end of your life it seems like it would have been easy to have done it, because you’re no longer faced with all the costs. I think minimizing regret is still a good idea.ĬOWEN: Why is the ex post perspective better than the ex ante? If so many people at the end feel they haven’t done enough, at the time, they probably had pretty good reasons not to do it, right? If it’s such a common phenomenon. I’ve met people who told me that they regretted not doing things. I think I’ve not met anybody who’s ever told me that. I’m trying to think of somebody who really regretted having done too much in their lives. I think minimizing your regrets is a good thing, and most regrets that people have are from things that they - not from things that they did, but from things that they didn’t do. So I would say that was a bad piece of advice.ĬOWEN: Here’s a piece of advice tell me if it’s good or bad: “Minimize deathbed regret.”ĬOWEN: Why is it good? Would it lead you to do too many things just so you don’t regret having missed out, but in fact a lot of it just amounts to nothing? Maybe it was good for them, but I wasn’t certain about that.

So I was advising somebody to do something that I would not have done. And I felt, in retrospect, that that was maybe dishonest, in the sense that I would not have done that myself.

Something that I changed my mind about, maybe? I think I advised someone when I was at Wired to accept to do some things that they were not inclined to do. I only put pieces of advice that I felt I could really stand by, and there were times when I doubted my own certainty about it.ĬOWEN: What do you feel has been the worst piece of advice you ever gave? KELLY: Because I don’t have enough experience in - standing up to it. That’s a piece of advice I did not include in the book.ĬOWEN: If advice is of positive expected value, why be afraid to give marital advice? I gave one piece about every now and then rotate in letting your partner be always right.Ī piece of advice that I would be hesitant to talk about is - here’s one: I think you should have as many kids as you possibly can. KELLY: I’m afraid to give very much marriage counseling, things to - to run your marriage. Which is the piece of advice you were afraid to give and did not give? I’m really looking forward to this.ĬOWEN: Let’s start with some questions about your new book. KEVIN KELLY: It’s real pleasure to be here. Most recently, Kevin has a new book out, which I recommend: Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier. He has also been a writer, photographer, conservationist, and student of Asian and digital culture.” Yet it still feels that barely scratches the surface. a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review.

is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, . . . I pulled a little bit from Wikipedia: It says, “Kevin Kelly . . . In the best of all possible ways, Kevin is extremely difficult to describe or introduce. TYLER COWEN: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to be notified when a new episode releases. Then they move on to the best places to see traditional cultures in Asia, the one thing in Kevin’s travel kit he can’t be without, his favorite part of India, why he’s so excited about brain-computer interfaces, how AI will change religion, what the Amish can teach us about tech adoption, the most underrated documentary, his initial entry point into tech, why he’s impressed by the way Jeff Bezos handles power, the last thing he’s changed his mind about, how growing up in Westfield, New Jersey affected him, his next project called the Hundred Year Desirable Future, and more. Naturally then, Kevin and Tyler start this conversation on advice: what kinds of advice Kevin was afraid to give, his worst advice, how to get better at following advice, and whether people who ask for advice really want it in the first place. But his latest work, Excellent Advice for Living takes a different approach, drawing on his own experience and wisdom to offer practical tips and advice for navigating life’s challenges. As the founding executive editor of Wired magazine and the author of several acclaimed books on technology and culture, Kevin Kelly has long been known for his visionary ideas and insights.

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