“The way out to me, and the takeaway from this book, the way out is love.” — Lex Friedman

“Love for other human beings, love for life itself. That’s the little flame from which hope springs.” — Lex Friedman

“Technology is a tool for totalitarian control, that I think it is also a tool for freedom. The internet is an incredible tool for freedom. And so of course, we have to fight for that freedom. But I believe in general, the greater, let’s just take the internet broadly as an example, and there’s a lot of sub-elements of that, and like more sort of platonic sense of what the internet is, which is digital interconnectivity. We have to fight for the freedom, but in general, the greater reach and access that the internet has, the more powerful the resistance to totalitarianism. Technology is a double-edged sword. It provides the tools for oppression, and the tools for the ongoing fight for freedom. And as long as the will to fight arises in the human heart, technology, I think, helps humanity win.” — Lex Friedman

“And of course there’s been a lot of discussion about free speech and the freedom of thought, and there’s a lot to be said there that’s much more nuanced than the book Nineteen Eighty-Four provides. I think Nineteen Eighty-Four just shows the end, horrible conclusion of complete totalitarian control over speech, over thought, over feeling, over everything. But in general, my view of it is kind of inspiration to, in order to prevent ourselves from slipping into an authoritarian until totalitarian state, you know, Orwellian type of dystopias, to avoid them, we have to value critical and independent thought. I think thought first before speech, just thought. I think you have to learn to think deeply from first principles, independent of whatever tribe you find yourselves in, independent of government, independent of groups, independent of the people around you, the people you love, that love you. You have to learn at least sometimes to think independently. Now this is the Nietzsche, “If you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.” If you think too independently, you can break your mind. I mean, we are social creatures, we need that connection. But I think it’s like with the Tom Waits, “I like my Tom with a little drop of poison”. I think of truly, deeply independent thought as a little drop of poison that’s necessary for your own mind. Most of your life you live, you kind of assume most things around you are true, and that’s very useful. We stand on the shoulders of giants, but you on a regular occasion have to question, question your assumption, question your biases, question everything. Question the things you’ve taken for granted, question what everybody’s telling you, but not too much. It’s a tricky balance. But the act of rebellion against the totalitarian state, against the slippery slope into that state is that independent thought. And of course speech is a manifestation of that thought. So if to avoid echo chambers in both thought and speech, like I said, you have to question your assumptions, challenge your biases. I think that’s the way out.” — Lex Friedman

“My concrete takeaways are from the book, what my thoughts are if I could try to convert them into words. So the first one for me, especially later in life as I’ve been reading this book, is that when everything else, or most things that make you human are taken away by those around you, by the totalitarian state, the last thing that’s left that is the most difficult to take away is love. Love for other human beings, love for life itself. That’s the little flame from which hope springs. That’s the key revolutionary act is the act of love. So when the ability to speak is taken away, when the ability to think rational thoughts is taken away, the last thing that’s left, and the thing that ultimately gives hope is love. That’s a big takeaway for me, and the note that Julia gives to Winston, the note reading “I love you”, is the kind of revolutionary act that leads to a society beyond the one they exist in.” — Lex Friedman