(2017-04-07) Rao Talent Genius And The Fog Of Intention

Venkatesh Rao on Talent, Genius, and the Fog of Intention

The fog of intention has to do with being right or wrong about things in the internal world of reasons, justifications, motivations, desires and intentions.

Uncertainty and ambiguity around questions like Why am I doing this? and What am I doing? These actually cause analysis-paralysis more often than the fog of action.

It is harder to see why you should dive into action when you aren't sure why you are doing something, or even what exactly you're doing. When the meaning of your actions is foggy

You discover your own Agency -- your ability to influence the world and predict the pattern of that influence -- through trial-and-error. This is a pre-condition for harboring meaningful intentions.

Effective-genius is about clearing the fog of intention: hitting targets that make people see things as worth doing. Putting the 'objective' in 'objective function.'

People who do this are often long-period obsessives, like Javert in Les Misérables. Their intentions are foggy but intensely held, and persist across multiple external incentive environments.

Meaning-making? That's in the economy of pricelessness. People will want relationships and life-long covenants with you, not mere transactions and contracts. They'll want to join your Tribe, if you're inclined to lead one, and be a part of any bigger story you care to author. Not just opt-in to your customer list.