#623: How to Make Better Decisions by Thinking Like a Rocket Scientist

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2020

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When someone is struggling with a seemingly easy problem, someone else might say, "Come on, it's not rocket science!" The inference being that rocket science represents the pinnacle of complexity. But my guest today argues that the study of rocket science contains some simple, overarching principles that cannot only be universally understood, but universally applied to all kinds of problems and decisions. His name is Ozan Varol, he served on the operations team for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers project, and he's the author of the book Think Like a Rocket Scientist. We begin our conversation discussing why Ozan went from studying astrophysics to going to law school, and how his scientific background has influenced his legal career. We then dig into ways that the same thought processes that enable spacecraft to travel millions of miles can also be applied to moving forward in work and life. Ozan explains how scientists deal with uncertainty and why you have to constantly question the way things are done to get better results. We end our discussion by talking about how to use thought experiments to solve problems, how to test ideas, and how to actually learn from your failures. Get the show notes at aom.is/rocketscientist.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.3	When someone is struggling with a seemingly easy problem, someone else might say, come
0:15.0	on!
0:16.0	It's not rocket science.
0:17.0	The average being that rocket science represents the pinnacle of complexity.
0:20.1	But my guest day argues that the study of rocket science contains some simple overarching
0:23.8	principles that can only be universally understood, but universally applied to all kinds of problems
0:28.8	and decisions.
0:29.8	As Ozon overall, he served on the operations team for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers
0:34.6	Project, and he's the author of the book Think Like a Rocket Scientist.
0:38.0	We begin our conversation discussing why Ozon went from studying astrophysics to going
0:41.6	to law school and how his scientific background is influenced his legal career.
0:45.1	We then dig into ways that the same thought process that enables spacecraft to travel millions
0:49.5	of miles can also be applied to moving forward in work and life.
0:52.6	Ozon explains how scientists deal with uncertainty and why you have to constantly question the way
0:56.3	things are done to get better results.
0:58.2	We begin our discussion by talking about how to use thought experiments to solve problems,
1:02.2	how to test ideas, and how to actually learn from your failures.
1:05.6	After the show is over, check out our show notes at aum.is slash rocket scientist.
1:09.7	Alright, Ozon for all.
1:20.0	Welcome to the show.
1:21.8	Thank you so much for having me on Bret.
	...

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