Stephen Hawking, Dinosaurs & Microsoft: A Brief History of Nathan Mhyrvold's Career

http://bigthink.com/

Modern Renaissance man Nathan Mhyrvold gives insight into his unique adaptability.

Directed / Produced by
Elizabeth Rodd and Jonathan Fowler

Transcript:

Nathan Myrhvold: You know, I've had the interesting career of training for many things and then having a career mostly in things I never trained for. After graduate school, I became a post doc with Steven Hawking, where we were working on quantum theories of gravity. Basically we were trying to understand the fundamental structure of space and time and where the universe came from. I took a leave of absence from that to work on a software project. It was supposed to be for three months and it turned out to be for the rest of my life.

After a couple of months working on the software project, we decided to start a company; I became the CEO of that company. We ran the company for two years. Then Microsoft bought us, and I became the first Technology Officer at Microsoft, where I was for 14 years. I worked directly for Bill Gates and was able to participate in the PC revolution. It was a magic time because software, through personal computing, empowered literally billions of people to take charge of the information in their lives, to be creative, whether it was with a word processor or a spreadsheet or an art package, leading up ultimately to the internet, which is the ultimate information distribution system for the planet.

Now, along the way, I've been interested in a dozen other things. I've always been interested in science. After training in many fields of science, I didn't actually professionally pursue them, but I have been interested in dinosaurs, for example, for the last 15 years. I've done a lot of dinosaur research, published a number of papers on dinosaurs, and have been the main sponsor and co-led an expedition with Jack Horner, where we found more T-Rex's than anyone else in the world's every found T-Rex's -- and lots of other dinosaurs besides that.




When I retired from Microsoft, that was a difficult thing to do because I was very successful at Microsoft. I was Chief Technology Officer of the company. It was still an amazing time for the company and for technology. Now, of course, once I had been at Microsoft for a while, I had the resources where I could start over and it wasn't like I was afraid of starving, but it is always an issue when you are good at something to say, "Do I keep getting better at that thing or do I switch to something else?" For me, it's been pretty easy to switch to other things because I get interested in them. And once I get interested in them, there's no turning back.

So it's always difficult to leave something you know for something you don't, particularly if you're good at it. If you're not good at it and you get fired or you screw up, it's easy to leave. The world forces that on you, but if it's your decision, it's tough, but it's also your life. And, if you don't take charge of it, no one will take charge of it for you. The only institution in life where you get time off for good behavior is prison. You know, in most jobs or most careers, the better you are at it; the more you're sucked into it. You get the big promotion, you get more responsibility, you get more success, and that tends to narrow your options, not increase them.

But, what's the point of success if you don't have your own options and you don't make your own decisions? So for that reason, I decided I had to really make a decision and ultimately I decided I would leave Microsoft, and as great as that experience was for me at Microsoft, I'm thrilled that I left and I've made something of a life for myself since then.

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[Ligermorph]

It's amazing to see someone so full of himself and say nothing of interest.

"Follow your dreams, work hard and succeed. I did and now look at me: I'm AWESOME!"

Then again, I'm commenting on a youtube video while crying over my university diploma wondering if I'll ever get a decent job. Mr Windbag 1, Me 0.

[Zoidypoo89]

oh and about the video I just wanna say "haters gonna hate". His accomplishments actually puts more weight into the message he gives in the video, and that's why he states them. You don't have to get butthurt just because someone is more successful than you are,

[somedoodudontno]

So it's completely different when a teacher in a school is teaching about the success of someone and the important things behind their successes, but when they get to say it themselves and the title of the video gives it away in the first place, it's just haughty?

[kingbaldy100]

Props to you mate, you know how to get viewers. i'm going too check out your videos because of that. :)

[TheaDragonSpirit]

P5: In other words my theory on the dinosaurs existing is they got to big eat to much and when hardly anything was left they could eat they died out and everything sort of started again, because they was unable to get along with everything else on the planet. :P

[TheaDragonSpirit]

P4: I guess I am saying that evolution is not simple one getting stronger than anything else, it is the ability to work better with everything else in the environment.

[TheaDragonSpirit]

P3: Which is fine unless they evolve to far because this would be the death of them because they would consume more than was possible to consume then die out because they was not enough for them to consume meaning there diet would be unsustainable, they have to work with the environment if they want to survive and stop trying to beat it.

[TheaDragonSpirit]

P2: So to me it makes more sense that evolution would succeed when they evolved to work with the new environment not against it... else they would have to clear out and some how change the whole environment in order to accommodate them.

[TheaDragonSpirit]

P1: To me evolution is learning to get on better with your environment, not be fitter than the environment. It is adapting to be part of the new environment rather than staying in the old environment. You could possible be fitter than the environment if you shaped that environment and in effect controlled it some how but most of the time it's better to work with not against the new environment.

[greenmonkeypoo321]

I don't really find this applicable to myself (I am very lucky & fairly successful) or the average person. This dude is so exceptionally successful in his career(s) that I find a comparison to other people is just totally useless. Maybe he forgets just how much chance/luck is involved in success and forgets the obstacles people face. Spoiled brat, I might say.

[Foxrider4564]

what did you major in?

[paroxysm1984]

But what I meant to say (but didn't hit shift+enter to do so) was that I feel you, sincerely. When I was a kid I was told I could be anything, but borne into poverty. I worked my way up and through college, and now I'm seriously talented but the American workplace doesn't typically reward talent and competence.