Pilot-Less Plane

Imagine lounging in an ultra-comfortable, first-class airplane seat. It’s soft; it’s purple. As you attentively listen to the (very cute) flight attendant explaining how to fasten your belt buckle, she ends her presentation with the following statement: “Oh, just to let you know, the pilot is not on this aircraft. He is controlling this aircraft from the airport with a remote control. Have a nice flight.”

“What? The pilot isn’t here?” you say to yourself. You want to get off the plane, but it’s taking off.

Shit.

That pilot, my friend, is an illustration of a person without skin-in-the-game: The pilot controls the plane without bearing the risk of harm—if the plane crashes, the pilot doesn’t bear the consequence.

I cringe every time someone throws unsolicited advice at me. All those people have no skin-in-the-game—if I’m harmed by their advice, they’re not harmed. What if I followed their advice, failed, and wasted a decade of my life? Would they also lose a decade of their life? Would they return my decade back? Of course no. What I’m likely to receive is an apology like: “Haha, sorry, my bad, haha, anyway, let’s grab a beer.”

I’m not against credible, useful advice. I’m against stakeless, potentially harmful ones.

December 19, 2021