National Service Series: Rob Lawless
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My guest today is Rob Lawless (@robs10kfriends). Rob is a Penn State graduate and founder of Rob's 10k Friends, a project where he's seeking to spend one hour with 10,000 different people. He's more than four years in and nearly 1/3 of the way to his goal.
Rob and I talked about stereotypes, fulfillment vs. financial maximization, how conversations highlight our similarities, how it's hard to hate up close, and much more. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.
The purpose of this podcast series is to talk through problems facing the United States and explore the ways in which national service may solve those problems. The more feedback, the better. If you have any questions, comments, or follow-ups to this conversation, please reach out!
Show notes:
2:15 - How I met Rob and a description of his project.
6:25 - Rob's thoughts on stereotypes.
13:30 - The evolution of Rob's 10k Friends.
16:00 - It takes 90 hours with someone to consider them a friend.
17:50 - The best experiences, themes, and proudest moments from Rob's project.
24:09 - Rob's transition from financial maximization to values maximization.
27:30 - Rob and I have a similar definition of success.
28:15 - How Rob's parents feel about his project.
31:00 - Things fall into place when you're consistent.
33:00 - Rob's insights into our shared humanity.
34:15 - "No one knows what they're doing with their lives. They're just doing the best they can with the resources that they have."
35:05 - "Whatever we're dealing with, everyone is going through their own version of that."
35:32 - The good things about our differences.
36:15 - "Sometimes it's crazy to me that people get along as much as we do currently because despite growing up in these different circumstances, we're all able to find a social norm. And i think that's really interesting and encouraging when you look at it that way."
38:28 - The Heineken commercial. It's hard to hate up close.
40:50 - The Cigna Loneliness Index and the loneliness epidemic. Social media can cause loneliness, but Rob is using it to create relationships and solve the problem of loneliness.
43:40 - The benefits of intergenerational interaction.
45:20 - "Talking to someone who is 18 or 19 is like reading a 100 page book, and talking to someone who is in their 90s is like reading a 700 page book...I take a picture with everyone I meet and write a bit about their life story afterwords. I found that it was much more difficult to pick and choose what I would write about someone in their 90s...they're like an endless supply of knowledge and wisdom."
48:00 - "It happens every once in a while. People will talk with me and I'll see that they're not with me but they're more so watching their memories in the distance. Then they'll say something like, 'This is crazy. I haven't thought about this in a really long time.' I like that sometimes I'm giving people the opportunity to reflect on their past in a way they haven't done before."
