I let algorithms randomize my life for two years | Max Hawkins

TED Talks Daily

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2021

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if everything in your life was randomized: from the food you ate to the things you did and the places you traveled? Computer scientist Max Hawkins created algorithms to make decisions like these for him -- and got hooked on the experience for two years. He shares how relinquishing choice sent him across the world and opened him up to the beautiful complexity and richness of life. It makes you wonder: What lies just outside your comfort zone?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hugh. Today's talk is a delightful lesson in messiness and randomness.
0:11.6	Computer engineer Max Hawkins learned through experience that we can issue order and stop trying to
0:17.7	optimize every moment of our days. And that can lead to a free and full life.
0:23.1	It worked for him anyway.
0:24.5	This talk from TEDx Vienna is hilarious, and it contains deeper truths.
0:31.2	I used to love waking up at exactly 7 a.m.
0:35.8	When I lived in San Francisco, I would wake up right at 7 a.m.
0:39.5	And immediately go to my favorite coffee shop.
0:42.4	It was my favorite coffee shop because it was the best coffee shop.
0:46.8	I'd done the research.
0:47.9	It was five stars.
0:48.9	It was great.
0:49.6	And I would drink my coffee and get onto my bicycle and ride into work.
0:54.0	And I had, I optimized my schedule to be
0:57.0	perfect. I was constantly like shaving off one or two seconds, making it slightly faster so I could
1:03.0	get into work faster. I was working as a software engineer at Google. And in a lot of ways,
1:10.0	this was my dream job.
1:12.6	It felt like this was the thing that the rest of my life was leading up towards.
1:17.6	I'd always wanted to work in software, and I was finally doing it.
1:20.6	And I was living in San Francisco, which is a city that I love,
1:24.6	surrounded by people who were like me, and every part of my life was perfectly
1:30.2	tailored to my interests, the things that I wanted to do.
	...

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