The BIG IDEAS Book Club

“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads” – Jeff Hammerbacher (an early Facebook engineer). Is there something to this? Is too much human talent being wasted in pointless, socially worthless, or just plain harmful jobs? And even for those who have avoided the temptation of the fat salary, fancy title and corner office—and the stress and exhaustion that usually comes with it—will it be enough to say at the end of your life that you were happy? Do you also want to say that you made a positive difference to the world? Let’s do a meetup to discuss.

Book: Moral Ambition – Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference (2025) by Rutger Bregman.

The author of our book this month, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, is the bestselling author of Utopia for Realists (2016) and Humankind (2021). You may also remember him from his viral 2019 panel speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos where he pointedly told the wealthy elite that they needed to stop talking about philanthropy and start paying their fair share of taxes. He hasn’t been invited back. ("Was it something I said?" he later tweeted). Likewise, be prepared to feel chastised while reading this book. You’ve been warned!

In the book, Bregman challenges conventional notions of career success, urging individuals—particularly those in privileged positions—to redirect their talents toward addressing pressing social issues. He introduces "moral ambition" as a guiding principle, with the idea of capturing the idealism of an activist with the ambition of an entrepreneur. Uncovering the qualities that made the great change-makers of history so effective, he shows how we too can lend our talents to the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to inequality to the next pandemic. With moral ambition, we can be both idealistic and successful, and change the world along the way.

As usual, to enrich the meetup conversation and provide shared reference points, you’re strongly encouraged to read the book. (It's out now, including Abbeys and Dymocks. It's also available on Amazon, but persist with its search engine if you land on an old page claiming it's currently unavailable.) There are also some related resources linked below that you may wish to look at (and totally optional if you have read the book. But I would recommend the fun and informative Jon Stewart interview for everyone).

So, join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6.30pm Monday, 7th July on the 2nd floor of the Keg & Brew Hotel, Surrey Hills. The Keg & Brew is close to Central Station and the Light Rail.

We hope to see you there!

p.s. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to people if there is a waitlist.

p.p.s. Please adjust your email notifications (particularly for the Big Ideas Book Club settings in the main email notification settings page). This is useful for giving any final details or late changes to the event.

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These are just optional links to consider, particularly if you can't get the book. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section.

Audio-Visual

• Three interviews with Bregman on the book (Jon Stewart, LinkedIn News, ABC Radio National):

The universe had a beginning, and it will have an end. Modern cosmology, the study of the nature and evolution of the cosmos itself, has allowed physicists to explain the history of the universe from the first tiny fraction of a second until today.

But what’s next? We now have the tools to extend our knowledge into the distant future and speculate about the ultimate fate of all reality.

Join us for a lively talk about the five likely ways the universe can die – such as a heat death, vacuum decay and other scenarios – with acclaimed theoretical astrophysicist Katie Mack.

Science has shown us the universe began with a Big Bang but what about its endgame? Will everything burn out and freeze over, or collapse in on itself, or rip into shreds? How far away are we from this happening?

You’ve probably heard it said: “People don’t really change.” But what if that’s wrong? What if you could train yourself to be, say, less anxious, more extroverted, more organized—and not with therapy, but through evidence-based strategies and habits that gradually shift your default patterns? Is our personality set in stone, or are we underestimating our power to transform? Let’s do a meetup to discuss.

Book: Me, But Better – The Science and Promise of Personality Change (2025) by Olga Khazan

Book (alternate): Be Who You Want – Unlocking the Science of Personality Change (2021) by Christian Jarrett

This month, we’re offering two book options tailored to different reading tastes—choose the one that suits you best.

If you enjoy engaging, personal narratives that blend memoir with research—think Eat, Pray, Love or Reasons Not to Worry—then Me, But Better by Olga Khazan may be the more appealing read. Khazan, a journalist, approaches the science of personality change by experimenting on herself, trying out methods for becoming more extroverted, agreeable, and emotionally stable. Along the way, she interviews psychologists and researchers, and reflects on her own experiences, offering a candid, sometimes humorous look at what it feels like to deliberately try to change who you are. The book is as much about the journey of self-discovery as it is about the science behind it.

For readers who prefer a more structured, research-driven exploration of personality science, Be Who You Want by psychologist Christian Jarrett provides a thorough and accessible overview. The book was the winner of the 2022 Book Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. As with Khazan, Jarrett goes through the Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—and explains how they shape our lives and how they can, under the right conditions, be changed. Drawing on decades of psychological studies, the book debunks common myths about fixed personality and offers practical guidance for people looking to grow or shift their traits. It’s ideal for those who want an evidence-based roadmap to personality change without the distraction of a personal memoir.

As usual, you’re strongly encouraged to read the book. Unfortunately, the Jarrett book may be harder to get if you are not an eBook or audiobook person (so order it early; you could also check out the libraries). There are also some podcasts, presentations and other related resources linked below that you may wish to look at. Both books draw on the Big Five personality traits model, which has stronger empirical support than popular alternatives like Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram. I therefore encourage you to take a Big Five personality assessment, linked below, to explore where you fall on each dimension before we begin the meet up.

So, join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6.30pm Monday, 4th August on the 2nd floor (i.e. up two flights of stairs) at the Keg & Brew Hotel, Surrey Hills. The Keg & Brew is close to Central Station and the Light Rail.

We hope to see you there!

p.s. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to people if there is a waitlist.

p.p.s. Please adjust your email notifications (particularly for the Big Ideas Book Club settings in the main email notification settings page). This is useful for giving any final details or late changes to the event.

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These are just optional links to consider, particularly if you can't get either of the books. But even if you have read one of the books, they may be useful as supplements. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section.

Audio-Visual

• Interviews with Olga Khazan: