Looking back on the first 99 episodes: Strong Convictions, Loosely Held

**Peter Attia** (0:11)
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Welcome to a special episode of The Drive. To celebrate our 100th anniversary, we have decided to try something a little different. The title of this episode is Strong Convictions, Loosely Held. And what that basically comes down to is Bob asking me questions about things that I've kind of changed my mind on over the past year and a half. So we definitely go into a lot of areas where I had a strong point of view or a reasonable point of view on something. And then after either preparing for a podcast or going through a discussion, I sort of came away with a different point of view. And it's usually changed my behavior for the better.
So we thought this would be kind of an interesting and maybe even clever way to go about doing a retrospective on the first 99 episodes. And of course we also do take a moment to sort of talk about some of the things, highlights, things that I've maybe enjoyed the most or that Bob's enjoyed the most. If you like the style of this episode, by the way, please let us know because I'd be open to doing it again. I actually found it quite fun to reminisce. So again, if you find this interesting, please let us know. I'd be happy to repeat this every 50 episodes or so. And I guess without any further delay, I hope you enjoy episode 100 of The Drive. So for episode 100, as I alluded to in the introduction, we're going to do something a little bit different. And I can't take any credit for this idea. So if you like it, Bob gets all the credit.
If you dislike it, well, hopefully you won't dislike it.
But many of you know Bob Kaplan, the guy behind the guy behind the guy. And one of the things that Bob has had the luxury of doing, if you can think of it as a luxury, is sort of helping me get ready for many of the past 99 episodes of podcasts.
And there's a lot that goes into making this sausage known as the podcast. Once in a while, I just get up there and wing it, but I think more often than not, a lot of thought has to go into who do we want to interview? What do we want to talk about? What do I need to know in order to have this discussion in sort of a thoughtful way?
And throughout that process, my opinion on things can change.
And sometimes not necessarily through the podcast per se, but just through the evolution of learning and what it means to sort of scour information and test a hypothesis and see data that conflict with your preexisting way of thinking about things. I mean, all of these things have led to an enormous evolution over a period of time in the way I think about things and do a lot of things. And I think, I know that on some levels, that might sound like a real cop-out to think that one can change their mind on how things work. But I think that when I've written this before, I think in politics, that may be a cop-out, but I don't think in science or in medicine that should be viewed as a cop-out. I think one should always be malleable and willing to sort of lean into new information. And in fact, the title of this podcast, Strong Convictions, Loosely Held, is a phrase that exists in various different forms. So sometimes it's Strong Opinions, Loosely Held, Strong Opinions, Weekly Held, Strong Convictions, Weekly Held. I've seen many different versions of it, but in particular, this version of it, Strong Convictions, Loosely Held, is something that I remember one of my patients telling me a couple of years ago in reference to one of his mentors in the investment space. So this patient of mine is himself an investor and he came out of a very successful hedge fund and he spoke very affectionately about how he was mentored there. And he said that that was sort of one of the things that allowed them to be so successful was they had very strong convictions and they would make bold investments based on those things, but they were very loosely held convictions and they were always looking for ways to change their information. So in that spirit, I am joined today by Bob Kaplan, and I think Bob has, along with maybe two or three other people around me clinically, has good an insight into some of the various things I've changed my mind on. And so Bob, how do you want to do this? Do you want to just ask me about things I've changed my mind on or point them out to me or call me on them?