#97 Who is 5amoljen?

Today’s newsletter features an interview with an inspirational young man who goes by the pseudonym 5amoljen on Instagram.

5amoljen speaks multiple languages, studies computer science at university, trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and has had internships at Google DeepMind and at a major bank.

And he’s not even 25 years old. 

He started posting on Instagram to help keep himself accountable to a rigorous routine of work, study, and fitness by posting pictures of his computer screen at 5 a.m. every morning. (see below)

He also documents his academic and professional successes (anonymously) and creates videos discussing his philosophy of life and work.

This has helped him grow to nearly 100,000 Instagram followers from just 40,000 earlier this year.

We live in age of hyper-specialization, with many of the world’s most talented young people essentially planning their lives so that they can get high-paying jobs in banking, consulting, or at big technology firms.

5amoljen is interesting because he embraces the label of ‘polymath’, which refers to a self-educated person who is deeply knowledgeable about a wide range of topics.

Some famous historical polymaths are Benjamin Franklin and Leonardo da Vinci.

German philosopher Johann von Wowern defined polymathy as:

I interviewed 5amoljen because he is a fascinating and impressive individual who has spent a lot of time thinking about how to maximize human potential while still being interested in learning for its own sake. Check out his Instagram profile here.

Enjoy the interview. (P.S. This newsletter is illustrated with pictures from 5amoljen’s Instagram feed)

Imagine you're teaching a younger version of yourself. How would you explain your approach to self-education? 

Don’t take any shortcuts, always ask questions, struggle and go out of your way to find answers. As you get older, you’ll realise the things that stuck with you the most were the topics that you initially struggled with but stuck with.

So, if it that means having to watch the same YouTube tutorial 100x to understand a simple concept, then so be it. If you can teach a topic to someone, then I believe you’ve understood it. The more questions you ask about a certain topic, the more you’ll dive deeper into, as a result you’ll understand more.

Do you think traditional higher education is necessary as a starting point for learning how to learn? Or has the internet democratized knowledge to the extent that self-motivated people would be better off learning on their own?

This question depends on how disciplined you are. We always hear about people learning coding from the internet and getting jobs without a degree, but for you to do this, you need to be disciplined enough to go out of your way to structure your learning model, find resources and actively test yourself to see if you’re really learning.

This is not something you need to worry about in traditional higher education. However, if you are disciplined, learning things strictly through the internet is definitely possible.  

Did you spend a lot of time online as a teenager? What online spaces/activities captivated your interest as a young person?

I absolutely did to the point that I say the internet raised me. I grew up on the Xbox 360 generation, so a lot of my childhood was spent playing Halo 3, Halo Reach and COD Black Ops 2. I used to make Halo and COD montages, one of my YouTube channels surpassed 20,000 subscribers!

How do you structure your time and your studies? Are there any principles or tools you use to help determine how you should be spending your time?

I always plan my day the night before with a to-do list, understanding what my priorities are for the day and what needs to get done first. I do this with Notion. Usually, things that get prioritised are Work and School related tasks, anything else comes after. I do workout every morning too.

What do you wish you had more time to work on, or what are some projects/pursuits/skills that you'd like to pursue in the future? 

I wish I had more time to learn more languages but they’re not much of a priority now. I still take time to learn languages consistently, but the duration of my sessions isn’t as long as I would like. One of my goals in life is to be able to speak 10 languages fluently!

How did you become interested in programming and ultimately Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)? 

My story is not as cool as others, but I got into AI & ML through the Cyberpunk franchise. I always believed that AI will either lead us to utopia or dystopia and the individuals at the forefront of the industry have some of the most important jobs in the world right now, I knew I wanted to be at the forefront of the industry, leading  us closer to Utopia by making the right decisions.

What inspires you? Do you think inspiration is overrated? 

I love personal stories, stories where people must rebuild their lives after hitting rock bottom, where they choose to turn their lives around. I was heavily inspired by Chris Gardener, the man who wrote the book ‘Pursuit of Happyness’ which got turned into the movie starring Will Smith. I look up to those who don’t blame others but themselves and take full accountability. I don’t think inspiration is overrated, if you take the lessons from other stories and use them for your own life in a positive manner.

What made you decide to start posting about your journey on Instagram? 

I wanted to create a good routine for myself, I wanted to be more organised, and I knew the best way to do that for myself was to have an accountability partner. After some thought I realised the best accountability partner would be an Instagram page, where I would post the time at 5am to show my friends that I was up early and ready to rock.

Let’s be honest, the only reason someone would be waking up at 5am is to have a good and productive day. After 2 years I started to post more diverse content such as reels, and my page began to gain more popularity.

How have people responded to your content? Did this surprise you? Has your Instagram persona brought about any serendipitous meetings in real life (IRL)? 

I’ve been recognised twice IRL! One person started training at my MMA gym just because of me, I’ve also been recognised at Google countless times! Pretty cool! Very surprising but I love these unique experiences, my content is making a positive impact.

What are your life goals? 

To continue to build a community of like-minded individuals, people who are bold, driven and intelligent, then build a project together. It would be a shame to let this community go to waste.

How do you think about the balance between intellectual and physical development? 

I think both are necessary, one without the other is a shame.

What do you enjoy the most about combat sports? About Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) specifically? 

Its like a physical game of chess, I never liked team sports, but I always enjoyed the 1 vs 1 aspect of combat sports, the only person you can blame is yourself and that’s it.

Do you feel like combat sports offer people more than just working out? Community, competition, friendships, etc. 

Absolutely, some of my closest friends were made from combat sports. Combat sports shifted my mental model in a positive way more than anything else in my opinion.

What do you think the future of AI looks like? 

I believe utilising AI is going to be just as common as phones are in today’s age. Our kids will not be able to fathom the idea that we grew up in a time of no AI.

Has AI become overrated? 

Definitely not, in fact I believe it’s underrated. Most people who aren’t involved within the tech world still don’t understand the full capabilities of AI.

What are your favorite books? Or movies, poems, etc.

Some books that I love of no particular genre: Can’t Hurt Me, Project Hail Mary, Life 3.0, AI 2041,  The Obstacle is The Way, Ego is the Enemy…

Some movies that I love of no particular genre: Pursuit of Happyness, Lone Survivor, Interstellar, Maze Runner trilogy, Big Hero 6, The Dark Knight trilogy, Ready Player One, Blade Runner 1 & 2, Original Transformers Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead, Top Gun Maverick, All of the Mission Impossible and James Bond movies too! I should make a letterboxd, there’s so many movies that I know are missing from this list!

ART OF THE DAY

Virtuvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. 1490.