Again, technology is designed to get us to respond.

And the way to do that is to heighten emotions and hijack attention.

And it does so with ferocious efficiency.

And it's unrelenting.

There's no escaping it.

And so there's right now a loneliness epidemic in the United States.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Shane Parrish and this is the Knowledge Project, a podcast exploring the ideas, methods,

and mental models that help you learn from the best of what other people have already figured

out.

To learn more about the show and our past guests, go to fs.blog slash podcast.

My guest today is Adam Robinson.

Here's a story that will tell you a lot about Adam.

When he was a kid he showed up at school one day and by chance played a game of chess

with another fellow in his class.

Adam lost the game and only a few moves.

The next day he wanted to rematch and the same thing happened again.

Adam made a goal of beating the kid before the end of the year and not only did he accomplish

that he went on to become a rated chess master and was mentored by Bobby Fisher as a teenager.

And now he's got a life title.

Adam also cracked the SAT using data to write tests as one of the co-founders of the Princeton

Review.

...