Why do we hate networking events?

In this episode, we discuss why we hate networking events but love group holidays, and we try and figure out how to better connect with our fellow human beings.

In this episode, we discuss why we hate networking events but love group holidays, and we try and figure out how to better connect with our fellow human beings. 

---

Spoilers:

The main concept in this episode is social optionality — the idea that we treat social interactions differently according to the level of freedom we have in taking part in them. Networking events are high-optionality — if you're talking to someone, you can easily excuse yourself and never see them again. Group holidays are low-optionality — you're stuck with the same few people until the trip is over. 

We explore our feelings about different levels of social optionality, we try and understand why we have this feelings, and we try and figure out how to overcome our issues and connect with people better.

---

Let's go on holiday

We think it would be great to set up a low-optionality social environment, so we're going to organise a group holiday. If you're interested in going on holiday in the UK with a bunch of random people for a few days (and we'd recommend it!), then drop us a line: [email protected] and mention "holiday" in the subject line. We'll send you more details as they develop.

---

Links

1. Delegations for Dialogue — an organisation that runs interesting group trips for students and recent graduates. Taimur went to North Korea with them in 2018.
2. Neil Gaiman on The Tim Ferriss Show — offers some insights around how to write, specifically on how to get a first draft done quickly.

---

What is this?

Not Overthinking is a podcast about happiness, creativity, and the human condition. We talk about things to help us think, do, and be better. Things like social interaction, lifestyle design, mental models... Things that are hard to examine, but important to explore. And hopefully, things that make for a fun and interesting chat every week.

---

Who are we?

Ali is a junior doctor and YouTuber working in Cambridge, UK. He makes videos about medicine, technology, productivity and lifestyle design. His links: YouTube, Blog, Newsletter, Instagram

Taimur is a data scientist and writer, working at Retool, an SF-based startup. He writes on his blog and as a columnist for Medium. His links: Blog, Twitter, Medium, Instagram
Hosted by Ali and Taimur Abdaal.