I used to dislike how people needed “social permission” in order to listen to obvious good advice. If a wise scholar or “guru” says it, you’ll do it; if a rando off the street says the exact same thing, you’ll ignore it.
Not anymore. I understand the value of social permission. People need it, because the good advice is only obvious if you already know it! If you don’t, then you don’t know it’s good advice – and the admiration of your peers, while not a perfect validation system by any means, is better than no signal at all.
The Opportunity Machine 