Feels good is bad; feels bad is good

Last week my friend Trae Stephens gave an incredible talk on

TECHNOLOGY AND GOD

It was a privilege to be there, and to hear how ethics, morality, values emerge out of our belief in God and His teachings to us — common across religions.

Talk is available online now. And linked below.

Trae also provided an excellent 2x2 framework of investments that:

1) Feel GOOD & are GOOD

2) Feel BAD & are BAD

3) Feel GOOD but are BAD

4) Feel BAD but are GOOD

Last two are critically important to focus on, and think through more carefully with all the nuances etc. Our purpose is to do actual GOOD for the world, not just what feels GOOD. And some things that feel good might actually do harm in this world.

Everyone generally agrees on things that feel good, and are actually good. Like developing medicines for diseases. And terrible people do things that are bad, and feel bad. Like ambulance chaser businesses.

Trick is to identify things that are actually bad but feel good. Like Flavored vapes, presented as smoking cessation but end up addicting a generation of kids to smoking.

And most int’g is to do things that might feel bad, but actually do good for the world. Like building defensetech companies, generating nuclear energy, pushing frontiers of AI and applications.

NET: What drives us, and also holds our feet to fire, is a belief in common principles, and in the case of those who believe in god, his teachings. But regardless of belief, doing good for each other and for future generations is how we should organize our work. And restricting greed that may lead one down the path of exploiting, manipulating, or harming others is not a preferable way to exist.

https://youtu.be/V_WIODD-WSk?si=YC3MXV43dO8CzVWp