Latest news with #Difference
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This author wants to stop smart graduates getting sucked into finance and consulting jobs — the 'Bermuda Triangle of talent'
Rutger Bregman says top graduates going into finance and consulting are wasting their talents. He advocates for morally ambitious career paths to inspire meaningful societal change. Bregman says people can break out of the fog by starting their own "cult" of like-minded, ambitious idealists. "It's an extraordinary waste of talent." That's what Rutger Bregman has to say about smart graduates from top universities going into careers in consulting and finance. "In a rational society, you would expect that if you go to a jobs fair at these elite institutions where the best and brightest go, you would have one stand about preventing the next pandemic, a stand about curing malaria once and for all, and a stand about abolishing extreme poverty," he told Business Insider. "But instead, what we have is Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and Kirkland & Ellis. What the fuck is going on here?" Bregman, a historian from the Netherlands, is the author of "Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference." In the new book, he argues that too many people go into "socially useless" professions and thus feel their chosen careers are pointless. Many even realize this before making their decision, but don't know what else to do, he said. "Most of them are very well-meaning and deeply care about the state of the world. They want to do better, but then somehow they get sucked into this Bermuda triangle of talent." Bregman's previous books, "Humankind" in 2020 and "Utopia for Realists" published three years earlier, were both New York Times best-sellers. His works have sold more than 2 million copies. Throughout Bregman's career, he has spoken and written about how the most damaging jobs to society — big tobacco, for example — tend to be the best paid. Not all consultants and bankers necessarily fall into this category, he said, but having so many of them is a problem. "It's not all totally destructive or anything like that," he said. "But compared to what these people could do, if they would take on some of the biggest challenges, the opportunity costs are massive." Some people are "just a little bit shallow and boring" and "care deeply about owning many cars or owning a big house or having the corner office," Bregman said. "You probably can't help those people." But for many, money isn't the most important goal of choosing the consulting and finance route. A huge motivation is "preserving your optionality," Bregman said, because "many of these people are just terrified of the future." "Many of these kids are spiritually a little bit lost," Bregman said. "They don't really know what to do with their lives. McKinsey is very good at tapping into that." He said big companies offer them a continuation of what they were already doing, which is the "logical next step." "They were going from the best primary school to the best high school, and then always doing the honors classes at university, getting the best grades," Bregman said. "It's a way of postponing the real decisions, postponing actually becoming an adult, and that's very attractive if you are an insecure overachiever who has no idea what the hell to do with your life." Working in finance can also be intellectually challenging, which attracts people who like solving puzzles. Bregman said there needs to be more options in morally ambitious fields. "Many of these kids, they just want to play in the Champions League," he said, in reference to the European top-flight soccer competition. "What I think we've got to do is to create the Champions League and the Olympics for do-gooders." Some options for morally ambitious people include entering large-scale research and innovation fields and focusing on solving some of humanity's biggest problems, like hunger and the climate crisis. Bregman said it's not about following your passion, but figuring out "where your impact can be greatest." "The right path depends on the challenge you're tackling. Some problems need cutting-edge research and innovation, others demand activism, lobbying, or bold entrepreneurship," he said. "Whether you're working to end hunger, fight climate collapse, reduce factory farming, or stop tax avoidance by the superrich — what matters is that you go where you're needed most." Bregman hopes to inspire people who feel stuck to break out of going through the motions with the School for Moral Ambition, which he cofounded. "We want to help as many people as possible devote their careers in their lives to some of the most pressing issues that we face as a species," Bregman said. "When you study these moral pioneers of the past, it's not that they were good people and then started doing good things," he added. "It's the other way around, really. They started doing good things often because they were asked, and then they became good people, which is a very important difference." Bregman likens it to Gandalf knocking on Frodo's door in "The Lord of the Rings." Frodo wasn't passionate about going on a long journey and risking his life, Bregman said. But Gandalf's perspective changed him as a person. "Frodo was really passionate about gardening and having a really relaxed life full of second breakfasts," he said. "But when the old wise wizard explained everything, he was like, yeah, that's probably quite important." Bregman jokingly advises those who feel like they want to do something more to start their own "cult." "If you want to be a really ambitious idealist, it's quite hard nowadays because you're often swimming in a sea of cynicism," Bregman said. "What you need then is to surround yourself by other ambitious idealists, because then you'll be like, Hey, I'm not alone." Ambition, he said, is energy, and what really matters is "how it's used, and how it's channeled." "Find yourself some wise old wizard, a Gandalf who has a really good idea about what you should do with your life," Bregman said. "Then listen and do it." Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This author wants to stop smart graduates getting sucked into finance and consulting jobs — the 'Bermuda Triangle of talent'
Rutger Bregman says top graduates going into finance and consulting are wasting their talents. He advocates for morally ambitious career paths to inspire meaningful societal change. Bregman says people can break out of the fog by starting their own "cult" of like-minded, ambitious idealists. "It's an extraordinary waste of talent." That's what Rutger Bregman has to say about smart graduates from top universities going into careers in consulting and finance. "In a rational society, you would expect that if you go to a jobs fair at these elite institutions where the best and brightest go, you would have one stand about preventing the next pandemic, a stand about curing malaria once and for all, and a stand about abolishing extreme poverty," he told Business Insider. "But instead, what we have is Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and Kirkland & Ellis. What the fuck is going on here?" Bregman, a historian from the Netherlands, is the author of "Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference." In the new book, he argues that too many people go into "socially useless" professions and thus feel their chosen careers are pointless. Many even realize this before making their decision, but don't know what else to do, he said. "Most of them are very well-meaning and deeply care about the state of the world. They want to do better, but then somehow they get sucked into this Bermuda triangle of talent." Bregman's previous books, "Humankind" in 2020 and "Utopia for Realists" published three years earlier, were both New York Times best-sellers. His works have sold more than 2 million copies. Throughout Bregman's career, he has spoken and written about how the most damaging jobs to society — big tobacco, for example — tend to be the best paid. Not all consultants and bankers necessarily fall into this category, he said, but having so many of them is a problem. "It's not all totally destructive or anything like that," he said. "But compared to what these people could do, if they would take on some of the biggest challenges, the opportunity costs are massive." Some people are "just a little bit shallow and boring" and "care deeply about owning many cars or owning a big house or having the corner office," Bregman said. "You probably can't help those people." But for many, money isn't the most important goal of choosing the consulting and finance route. A huge motivation is "preserving your optionality," Bregman said, because "many of these people are just terrified of the future." "Many of these kids are spiritually a little bit lost," Bregman said. "They don't really know what to do with their lives. McKinsey is very good at tapping into that." He said big companies offer them a continuation of what they were already doing, which is the "logical next step." "They were going from the best primary school to the best high school, and then always doing the honors classes at university, getting the best grades," Bregman said. "It's a way of postponing the real decisions, postponing actually becoming an adult, and that's very attractive if you are an insecure overachiever who has no idea what the hell to do with your life." Working in finance can also be intellectually challenging, which attracts people who like solving puzzles. Bregman said there needs to be more options in morally ambitious fields. "Many of these kids, they just want to play in the Champions League," he said, in reference to the European top-flight soccer competition. "What I think we've got to do is to create the Champions League and the Olympics for do-gooders." Some options for morally ambitious people include entering large-scale research and innovation fields and focusing on solving some of humanity's biggest problems, like hunger and the climate crisis. Bregman said it's not about following your passion, but figuring out "where your impact can be greatest." "The right path depends on the challenge you're tackling. Some problems need cutting-edge research and innovation, others demand activism, lobbying, or bold entrepreneurship," he said. "Whether you're working to end hunger, fight climate collapse, reduce factory farming, or stop tax avoidance by the superrich — what matters is that you go where you're needed most." Bregman hopes to inspire people who feel stuck to break out of going through the motions with the School for Moral Ambition, which he cofounded. "We want to help as many people as possible devote their careers in their lives to some of the most pressing issues that we face as a species," Bregman said. "When you study these moral pioneers of the past, it's not that they were good people and then started doing good things," he added. "It's the other way around, really. They started doing good things often because they were asked, and then they became good people, which is a very important difference." Bregman likens it to Gandalf knocking on Frodo's door in "The Lord of the Rings." Frodo wasn't passionate about going on a long journey and risking his life, Bregman said. But Gandalf's perspective changed him as a person. "Frodo was really passionate about gardening and having a really relaxed life full of second breakfasts," he said. "But when the old wise wizard explained everything, he was like, yeah, that's probably quite important." Bregman jokingly advises those who feel like they want to do something more to start their own "cult." "If you want to be a really ambitious idealist, it's quite hard nowadays because you're often swimming in a sea of cynicism," Bregman said. "What you need then is to surround yourself by other ambitious idealists, because then you'll be like, Hey, I'm not alone." Ambition, he said, is energy, and what really matters is "how it's used, and how it's channeled." "Find yourself some wise old wizard, a Gandalf who has a really good idea about what you should do with your life," Bregman said. "Then listen and do it." Read the original article on Business Insider
CNN
17-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Greta Thunberg Fast Facts
Here's a look at the life of environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Birth date: January 3, 2003 Birth place: Stockholm, Sweden Birth name: Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg Father: Svante Thunberg, actor Mother: Malena Ernman, opera singer Her name is pronounced grAY-tah tOOn-bairk. Has spoken openly about living with Asperger's, referring to the diagnosis as a 'superpower' that helps her activism. Has said she was inspired by the school walkouts in the United States that followed the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2019, the youngest individual to be recognized. Has a species of beetle named after her: 'Nelloptodes gretae.' Thunberg's published books include: 'No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference,' 'The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions' and 'Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis.' August 2018 - Thunberg starts skipping school to stage sit-ins outside Sweden's parliament, holding a sign stating 'Skolstrejk för klimatet' (School Strike for Climate). Soon, others join and the group decides to continue their strike, forming the Fridays for Future (FFF) movement. December 2018 - Thunberg gives a speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Poland, telling negotiators, 'You are not mature enough to tell it like is. Even that burden you leave to us children. But I don't care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet.' January 24, 2019 - Thunberg gives an impromptu speech to delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. April 17, 2019 - Meets with Pope Francis after his weekly audience at the Vatican. August 28, 2019 - Arrives in New York to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in September after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for 15 days on a zero-emissions sailboat to reduce the environmental impact of her journey. September 16, 2019 - Thunberg meets with former US President Barack Obama in Washington, DC. September 18, 2019 - Thunberg appears in front of the US Congress before a hearing on climate change. Instead of prepared remarks, she refers to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's special report on global warming, which reported a temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. September 20, 2019 - Thunberg speaks at a climate strike in New York, part of a global climate strike organized by Thunberg and other school students. According to Thunberg, 4,638 events are scheduled to take place in 139 countries from September 20-27. September 23, 2019 - Thunberg speaks at the UN Climate Action Summit. 'We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth,' Thunberg tells the UN General Assembly. 'How dare you?' Later that day, Thunberg and 15 other children file a complaint with the UN alleging that five of the world's major economies have violated their human rights by not taking adequate action to stop the unfolding climate crisis. December 3, 2019 - Thunberg arrives in Lisbon, Portugal, for the 25th UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, after nearly three weeks travelling across the Atlantic Ocean on a boat using solar panels and hydro-generators for electricity. December 6, 2019 - Thunberg criticizes world leaders gathered for the COP25 conference in Madrid for not doing enough to stop the ecological crisis. January 29, 2020 - In an Instagram post, announces she is applying for a trademark for her name and the Fridays for Future climate crisis movement she created. By filing for a trademark, something she says she had no prior interest in doing, she intends to protect her movement and its activities. February 25, 2020 - Thunberg meets Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai at the University of Oxford. November 13, 2020 - The documentary 'I Am Greta' premieres on Hulu. September 28, 2021 - Thunberg speaks at the Youth4Climate forum in Milan, Italy, imitating world leaders by repeating their commonly used expressions on the climate crisis, shooting them down as empty words and unfulfilled promises. November 5, 2021 - Leading a youth protest outside the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Thunberg criticizes world leaders and calls the summit a 'failure.' January 17, 2023 - Thunberg is detained by German police at a protest over the expansion of a coal mine in the west German village of Lützerath. She is released later that evening. A police spokesperson tells CNN this is the second time Thunberg had been detained at the site. March 1, 2023 - According to a spokesperson for the Oslo police district, 10 people including Thunberg were removed by police from the entrance of Norway's ministry of finance. Demonstrators blocked access to Norwegian government buildings to protest two windfarms built on Sámi reindeer grazing grounds. July 24, 2023 - A Swedish court fines Thunberg after finding her guilty of disobeying law enforcement, a Malmö City Court spokesperson tells CNN. Thunberg was charged with 'the crime of disobedience to law and order' earlier in July after participating in a protest on June 19 which blocked oil tankers in part of Malmö harbor. Thunberg is fined a total of 2,500 Swedish krona (about $240). October 17, 2023 - Thunberg is arrested at a protest outside the Energy Intelligence Forum, an annual summit that gathers chief executives from oil and gas companies and later charged with a public order offense. She is acquitted on February 2, 2024.
CNN
17-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Greta Thunberg Fast Facts
Here's a look at the life of environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Birth date: January 3, 2003 Birth place: Stockholm, Sweden Birth name: Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg Father: Svante Thunberg, actor Mother: Malena Ernman, opera singer Her name is pronounced grAY-tah tOOn-bairk. Has spoken openly about living with Asperger's, referring to the diagnosis as a 'superpower' that helps her activism. Has said she was inspired by the school walkouts in the United States that followed the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2019, the youngest individual to be recognized. Has a species of beetle named after her: 'Nelloptodes gretae.' Thunberg's published books include: 'No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference,' 'The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions' and 'Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis.' August 2018 - Thunberg starts skipping school to stage sit-ins outside Sweden's parliament, holding a sign stating 'Skolstrejk för klimatet' (School Strike for Climate). Soon, others join and the group decides to continue their strike, forming the Fridays for Future (FFF) movement. December 2018 - Thunberg gives a speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Poland, telling negotiators, 'You are not mature enough to tell it like is. Even that burden you leave to us children. But I don't care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet.' January 24, 2019 - Thunberg gives an impromptu speech to delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. April 17, 2019 - Meets with Pope Francis after his weekly audience at the Vatican. August 28, 2019 - Arrives in New York to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in September after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for 15 days on a zero-emissions sailboat to reduce the environmental impact of her journey. September 16, 2019 - Thunberg meets with former US President Barack Obama in Washington, DC. September 18, 2019 - Thunberg appears in front of the US Congress before a hearing on climate change. Instead of prepared remarks, she refers to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's special report on global warming, which reported a temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. September 20, 2019 - Thunberg speaks at a climate strike in New York, part of a global climate strike organized by Thunberg and other school students. According to Thunberg, 4,638 events are scheduled to take place in 139 countries from September 20-27. September 23, 2019 - Thunberg speaks at the UN Climate Action Summit. 'We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth,' Thunberg tells the UN General Assembly. 'How dare you?' Later that day, Thunberg and 15 other children file a complaint with the UN alleging that five of the world's major economies have violated their human rights by not taking adequate action to stop the unfolding climate crisis. December 3, 2019 - Thunberg arrives in Lisbon, Portugal, for the 25th UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, after nearly three weeks travelling across the Atlantic Ocean on a boat using solar panels and hydro-generators for electricity. December 6, 2019 - Thunberg criticizes world leaders gathered for the COP25 conference in Madrid for not doing enough to stop the ecological crisis. January 29, 2020 - In an Instagram post, announces she is applying for a trademark for her name and the Fridays for Future climate crisis movement she created. By filing for a trademark, something she says she had no prior interest in doing, she intends to protect her movement and its activities. February 25, 2020 - Thunberg meets Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai at the University of Oxford. November 13, 2020 - The documentary 'I Am Greta' premieres on Hulu. September 28, 2021 - Thunberg speaks at the Youth4Climate forum in Milan, Italy, imitating world leaders by repeating their commonly used expressions on the climate crisis, shooting them down as empty words and unfulfilled promises. November 5, 2021 - Leading a youth protest outside the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Thunberg criticizes world leaders and calls the summit a 'failure.' January 17, 2023 - Thunberg is detained by German police at a protest over the expansion of a coal mine in the west German village of Lützerath. She is released later that evening. A police spokesperson tells CNN this is the second time Thunberg had been detained at the site. March 1, 2023 - According to a spokesperson for the Oslo police district, 10 people including Thunberg were removed by police from the entrance of Norway's ministry of finance. Demonstrators blocked access to Norwegian government buildings to protest two windfarms built on Sámi reindeer grazing grounds. July 24, 2023 - A Swedish court fines Thunberg after finding her guilty of disobeying law enforcement, a Malmö City Court spokesperson tells CNN. Thunberg was charged with 'the crime of disobedience to law and order' earlier in July after participating in a protest on June 19 which blocked oil tankers in part of Malmö harbor. Thunberg is fined a total of 2,500 Swedish krona (about $240). October 17, 2023 - Thunberg is arrested at a protest outside the Energy Intelligence Forum, an annual summit that gathers chief executives from oil and gas companies and later charged with a public order offense. She is acquitted on February 2, 2024.
