Jeff Bezos

He said, that's the answer. And I said, no, no, no, come on. And he said, let me show you. And he took out some paper, and he wrote down three pages of equations. Everything canceled out, and the answer was cosine. And I said, Josanta, did you do that in your head? And he said, oh no, that would be impossible.

A few years ago, I solved a similar problem, and I could map this problem onto that problem, and then it was immediately obvious that the answer was cosine. I had a few, you know, you have an experience like that, you realize maybe being a theoretical physicist isn't what the universe wants you to be. And so I switched to computer science and, you know, that worked out really well for me.

A few years ago, I solved a similar problem, and I could map this problem onto that problem, and then it was immediately obvious that the answer was cosine. I had a few, you know, you have an experience like that, you realize maybe being a theoretical physicist isn't what the universe wants you to be. And so I switched to computer science and, you know, that worked out really well for me.

A few years ago, I solved a similar problem, and I could map this problem onto that problem, and then it was immediately obvious that the answer was cosine. I had a few, you know, you have an experience like that, you realize maybe being a theoretical physicist isn't what the universe wants you to be. And so I switched to computer science and, you know, that worked out really well for me.

I still enjoy it today.

I still enjoy it today.

I still enjoy it today.

I think the mathematical skill required today is so high. You have to be a world-class mathematician to be a successful theoretical physicist today. And it's not... You probably need other skills too. Intuition, lateral thinking, and so on. But without just... top-notch math skills, you're unlikely to be successful.

I think the mathematical skill required today is so high. You have to be a world-class mathematician to be a successful theoretical physicist today. And it's not... You probably need other skills too. Intuition, lateral thinking, and so on. But without just... top-notch math skills, you're unlikely to be successful.

I think the mathematical skill required today is so high. You have to be a world-class mathematician to be a successful theoretical physicist today. And it's not... You probably need other skills too. Intuition, lateral thinking, and so on. But without just... top-notch math skills, you're unlikely to be successful.

That's very kind. I'm an inventor. If you want to boil down what I am, I'm really an inventor. And I look at things and I can come up with,

That's very kind. I'm an inventor. If you want to boil down what I am, I'm really an inventor. And I look at things and I can come up with,

That's very kind. I'm an inventor. If you want to boil down what I am, I'm really an inventor. And I look at things and I can come up with,

atypical solutions and you know and then i can create a hundred such atypical solutions for something 99 of them may not survive you know scrutiny but one of those 100 is like hmm maybe there is maybe that might work and then you can keep going from there so that kind of lateral thinking um that kind of inventiveness in a high dimensionality space where the search space is very large.

atypical solutions and you know and then i can create a hundred such atypical solutions for something 99 of them may not survive you know scrutiny but one of those 100 is like hmm maybe there is maybe that might work and then you can keep going from there so that kind of lateral thinking um that kind of inventiveness in a high dimensionality space where the search space is very large.

atypical solutions and you know and then i can create a hundred such atypical solutions for something 99 of them may not survive you know scrutiny but one of those 100 is like hmm maybe there is maybe that might work and then you can keep going from there so that kind of lateral thinking um that kind of inventiveness in a high dimensionality space where the search space is very large.

That's where my inventive skills come. That's the thing I'm, if I self-identify as an inventor more than anything else.

That's where my inventive skills come. That's the thing I'm, if I self-identify as an inventor more than anything else.

That's where my inventive skills come. That's the thing I'm, if I self-identify as an inventor more than anything else.

It's such a good question, and... I honestly don't know how it works. If I did, I would try to explain it. I know it involves lots of wandering. So when I sit down to work on a problem, I know I don't know where I'm going. So to go in a straight line, to be efficient, efficiency and invention are sort of at odds. Because invention, real invention... Not incremental improvement.