Meet “Scorpion,” The Real-Life Santa Claus with an IQ of 197
“I believe that peace means that one person has the biggest stick. I build those sticks.” – Walter O’Brien
This episode might make your head explode… in the best way possible.
Walter O’Brien (AKA “Scorpion”) (@walterobrienscs) is the founder of Scorpion Computer Services and ConciergeUp.com, a for-hire global think tank that provides intelligence-on-demand as a concierge service. The tag line for the latter is, “for any funded need.”
Need to defend against chemical warfare?
Move an entire manufacturing operation over a weekend?
Save a loved one from a deceitful spouse?
Thread the needle on a thorny legal issue?
Become a pop star in a foreign country?
When Walter and his team of 2,000+ distributed geniuses say “any funded need,” they mean it literally.
Born in Ireland, Walter was diagnosed as a child prodigy with an IQ of 197. He became an Irish national coding champion and competed in the Olympics in informatics.
Fast forward to today, he and Scorpion get paid to fix every imaginable problem for billionaires, startups, governments, Fortune 500 companies, and people like you and me. On the large side, it ranges from mitigating risk on $1.9 trillion of investments to inventing artificial intelligence engines to protect United States war fighters in Afghanistan.
Walter is also the executive producer of the hit CBS TV show Scorpion, inspired by his life, which has reached more than 26 million television viewers.
I was introduced to Walter well before the show, and we go deep in this conversation, with lots of amazing and also hilarious examples of problem solving.
If you only have a few minutes, listen to this mind-blowing segment on head transplants. (Yes, head transplants.)
Enjoy!
Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear another podcast from a world-class computer scientist? — Listen to my conversation with Luis von Ahn, the founder and CEO of DuoLingo. In this episode, we discuss learning languages, building companies, and changing the world (stream below or right-click here to download):
This podcast is brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.
Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you—for free–exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Well worth a few minutes to explore: wealthfront.com/tim.
This podcast is also brought to you by Boll & Branch. There is a lot of nonsense in the bedding business. For instance, did you know thread-count is not a good measurement of quality? It’s a total myth. The “Made in Italy” label? It isn’t something you should necessarily pay extra for because it generally means it’s just finished in Italy and woven in places like China.
The general industry mark-up for bedding is 700 to 800 percent at most retailers. Boll & Branch creates incredibly high-quality bedding. They are the same sheets you’ll find at my home in San Francisco.
The best part? You can try anything you order at home for 30 days. If you don’t love it, send it back and get a full refund. Go to Boll & Branch and use promo code “TIM” for 20% off your entire order. Whether sheets, towels, blankets, duvet covers, or anything else. Shipping is always free.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What is a problem you would like to have ConciergeUp solve for you? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
Learn more about ConciergeUp
Learn more about the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
Learn more about HTC VIVE
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and Jonathan Davis
Glimpses of Heaven, Visions of Hell by Barrie Sherman and Phillip Judkins
Learn more about Teslasuit or tactile feedback suits
Learn more about ScenGen
Watch the TV show based on Scorpion
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Green
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Into the Heart of the Mind by Frank Rose
Show Notes
How Walter O’Brien began his relationship with NASA [8:15]
How Scorpion came to be [13:20]
The Emotional Quotient vs. Intellectual Quotient phenomenon [15:05]
The origin story of the name Scorpion and current status of the company [16:40]
The largest project Scorpion Computer Sciences has worked on [20:05]
How Scorpion implements “any funded need” solutions [20:42]
The “Gold Digger” story [23:07]
The current state of head transplants and why it may be of interest [30:00]
Why Walter O’Brien has never tried alcohol [38:28]
How Walter O’Brien cultivated a higher EQ [43:25]
Thoughts on developing the skill of rational thinking [45:30]
Meditative practices [53:10]
On virtual reality [57:15]
What is ScenGen? [1:04:20]
Are high IQ intellectuals more susceptible to emotional highs and lows? [1:12:47]
Cognitive patterns in people with high IQ [1:14:54]
How the TV show Scorpion came to be [1:16:45]
When you think of the word successful who is the first person who comes to mind and why? [1:30:22]
How Walter O’Brien gets out of a funk [1:32:09]
Most gifted books [1:33:20]
What purchase of $100 or less has most positively affected your life? [1:34:40]
Advice to Walter O’Brien’s 30-year-old-self [1:37:45]
On the challenge of sleeping [1:39:35]
Particular morning routines [1:41:35]
Thoughts on New Year’s resolutions, goal setting and completing the to-do list [1:42:30]
Historical figures that Walter O’Brien identifies with the most [1:43:50]
If you could put one billboard anywhere, with anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [1:45:00]
Final words and asks of the audience [1:48:10]
People Mentioned
Scooter Braun
Bill Gates
Winston Churchill
