A president, a thief and a horse
Tuesday night had dinner with Stanford University President John Hennessy at the Buttery with some other grad students. I asked him about his view of blogs and twitter, and his preferred new media is actually podcasts, specifically iTunes U and listening in on lectures around Stanford campus.
Another student asked him which field he’d personally study if he was starting a PhD right now. Hennessy said it was a difficult question, but ultimately replied “bio-medical engineering.”
- Compared to the human genome, our understanding of mind is far behind.
- The most complex brain ever mapped is only 39 neurons—and that of a tiny blind worm that doesn’t do anything interesting.
- The gap between psychiatry and neuroscience is massive, and Hennessy felt Stanford’s cross-disciplinary research had the opportunity to materially advance the field over the next 50 years.
Next morning, I had accounting class (aka “Global Financial Reporting”). The speaker was a convicted felon explaining how criminals take advantage of the mistakes investors and auditors make.
Mind blowing experience witnessing a sociopathic ex-accountant who made a career out of ripping people off. Key takeaways:
- Read financial statements backwards, start with footnotes first, where bad stuff hides.
- For examples, check out Footnoted.com
- Never “trust then verify”—always verify first. Criminals do everything they can to put you at ease and distract you so they can take advantage. If caught, they’ll offer heartfelt apology, knowing it’s what gets them off, not because they’re actually going to change.
That afternoon, I went for my weekly horsemanship lessons at Stanford’s Red Barn. Molly came to feed the horses carrots—and generally spoil them.
Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy outside, and Molly was standing right in front my horse, “Jack”, when it decided to let out a massive, thick booger sneeze.
…hilarious 
