I often talk about the concept of the "philosopher king" on this podcast. It is something I admire and probably aspire towards. The idea that the "best" people are those that don't acknowledge they are the best, that the wisest are very open about how much they don't know, or that those in power are the ones that don't think they deserve to be in power. The humility and self awareness required to achieve that status is almost mythical in nature. The reality is none of us will probably ever get to that state, but I always value getting to talk to people who aim to live up to that ideal.

My guest today, Gerry, is one of those people. It doesn't take long when you talk to somebody like that to recognize it. It started with his stated value of "reasonableness", which he followed up with an acknowledgement that none of us are nearly as reasonable as we think we are but he is doing his best to try. There was that humility and self awareness; and it came through many times throughout the conversation. Gerry's journey to be more reasonable started about 25 years ago and it was really interesting to hear him talk about the experience. Ironically, he said that he has never been called unreasonable more than since he started making a concerted effort to be more reasonable.

I think that speaks to the nature of the society we live in today. It has become "unreasonable" to try to be objective, fact driven, and humble. Society values people who have hot takes or make bold, conclusive claims. So much so, that Gerry actually described his decision to try to be more reasonable as the "best worst decision of his life." He's seen a ton of benefits from it but he's also found that friends, family, and other acquaintances can get really bothered by it. Obviously he nor I are trying to be overly dramatic about it, there are clearly much harder things to deal with in life, but I do understand the tough road it can be. I really enjoyed exploring all of this with Gerry and trying to understand a bit better what it means to be "reasonable."