Claims

Distant professional opportunities and unexpected obligations that take people outside their comfort zones often result in positive learning experiences and serendipitous connections, more often than they represent time wasted, making scheduled serendipity through varied obligations valuable despite appearing inefficient.

Tao identified himself as a 'fox' who knows a bit about many things rather than a 'hedgehog' who knows one thing deeply, and attributes this to childhood obsessive-compulsiveness where he feels compelled to understand tricks and methods used by others, even across unrelated domains.