But, apart from spreading word about the book, I doubt if it’s contents would bring about any remarkable change purely by the ideas contained within. Most of which are too broad to be actionable. People who are driven to change the status-quo do it because the cause they identify with runs under his or her emotional power shaped by life’s events – not simply by reading about great ideas from books. Unless the cause provides meaning and fulfillment, it would not be taken up.

So, the number of people who would be moved by the ideas contained in the e-book would be small – and chances are they would already be on the path towards creating change.

But, if such content causes some struggling soul to find a kindred spirit among the authors, that would be reason enough for its existence.

So, have fun reading it and please share.

It’s those companies that build products or offer services that resonate with certain select groups of people, that would really marshal the power of cheap and targeted channels of communication the Internet offers. Advertisements on T.V. and on billboards just do not have the same power over people anymore. If you are one of those who do not make or sell something that’s so basic a want that tends to be bought soon after people are shown some marketing material of that thing – in which case, mass marketing still makes the most sense – it’s best to first understand how the Internet has altered the consumption habits of humans as a species and tailor your organization to align to them.

This is because, if something does not sell, it’s as good as it not being made. Umm, profound stuff!

It’s a lot better to pay attention now to the life one needs to construct, and to work towards that vision. At the end of it all, it could mean the difference between one priding over a vast body of influential work and presiding over the debris of his or her dreams.

Seth is a huge fan of the Internet. He welcomes it, embraces the disruptive changes that it brings about, studies it and figures out ways to use it to spread ideas and connect people.

The Internet is one medium that has the attention of the world like no other. And, what an incredibly malleable medium. You don’t need anybody’s permission to put things out there; you do not need a lot of money to do it, or a lot of time or a bunch of complicated tools. All you need are smart, creative ways to get your ideas across using media that the Internet is great a carrier of – text, audio, video, photographs, pictures and presentations. Using these, you are free to architect a strategy to get yourself heard by the niche that’s your target. All that it demands is some time spent thinking through the stuff you want to say, and a few hours of effort developing and publishing pertinent content. Now, how big an opportunity is that? How wonderfully democratic is that? And, how powerful is that?

When I look at the skyline of any great city, I am in awe at the power of the Internet: this is a medium through which almost every single person in those buildings could be potentially reached, at your and their leisure. No sweat from either side.

If you put across your message in a compelling enough manner, you begin to gather attention towards your material, which could then develop into permission to deliver more or better content. People can become your clique through which meaningful and creative interactions could happen.

It is an incredible, life-changing idea. If you have something to say, and if you can say it well and if that benefits people out there, you can form tribes (Seth’s term) that deliver mutual benefit using the content delivery and financial infrastructure that already exists for use by us all for free.

An excerpt:

What jobs are secure from the onslaught of automation? Ben Goertzel says, “those that involve transferring knowledge from one area to another, or thinking broadly, creatively and integratively, because these [tasks] require powerful general intelligence, not just narrowly specialized intelligence.“

All the technology that’s being talked about right now are great enablers – they let you do something in a far more economical and time-sensitive way. But, they do not manufacture experiences for you. They don’t they engage in a conversation with you, nor do they empathize with you. They just enable you to do deterministic things better and faster. They stay within a boundary that involves itself in the mechanics of things. But, the translation of it into a certain quality of experience is still done by humans, depending upon the way they use it. Making music, movies or having stimulating telephonic conversations are all facilitated by technology, but technology does not translate things into an experience that people can cherish. This step still involves heavy human input.

As Dan Pink says, the skills that would still be sourced from humans would have the following three characteristics:

• Are you doing something that someone overseas can’t do cheaper?
• Are you doing something that a computer can’t do faster?
• Does what you do satisfy some of the spiritual, emotional, or esthetic needs of our society?

Doesn’t that give you something to think about? How are you preparing to thrive when such an era does descend?

Consider this excerpt, which has always rung true for me. And, I have lived by it – having spent a lot of my money on people. And, I derive lasting happiness from those memories.

Experiences are inherently more social [than buying things] – when we vacation or eat out or go to the movies it’s usually with other people, and we’re liable also to relive the experience when we see those people again. And past experiences can work as a sort of social adhesive even with people who didn’t participate with us, providing stories and conversational fodder in a way that a new watch or speedboat rarely can.

That’s the best, the most practical and the most empowering of statements on the meaning of life that I have ever read!