Marc Andreessen Is Right: The Unexamined Life Is the Only One Worth Living

A survey of history's greatest minds confirms that thinking about yourself is a terrible idea.

Mar 18, 2026

Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, recently shared that he makes no time or effort for introspection. He highlighted that introspection was fueled by Freud in the early 20th century, and before that, “Great men of history didn’t sit around doing this stuff at any prior point.”

His argument really resonated with me! I’d save so much time by not “looking backwards,” “feeling guilty,” and “thinking about my internal self.” It’s been an exhausting run, and before I look only forward, I figured I’d peek backwards one last time, for nostalgia’s sake. So, here’s my retrospection on the beauty of humanity before introspection.

King David (900s BCE)

King David was a “doing” man! In one lifetime, he defeated Goliath, conquered Jerusalem, and authored over a hundred psalms! During this time, he focused on the future and didn’t waste time “looking inward” or “feeling guilty.”

Even then, he was a great content creator and got some popular writing done reflecting his forward looking attitude:

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.1

Yajnavalkya (700s BCE)

Yajnavalkya, one of the first philosophers in recorded history, is widely credited with influencing various developments in Hinduism. As an innovator, he developed the concept of “neti neti” to define what the self is. But rather than introspect, he focused on defining the self by thinking about what the self is not made of.

He did get a little dangerously close to introspection in older age, which caused him to give up all his worldly possessions, and say things like:

…as there can be no water without the sea, no touch without the skin, no smell without the nose, no taste without the tongue, no form without the eye, no sound without the ear, no thought without the mind, no wisdom without the heart, no work without hands, no walking without the feet, no scriptures without the words, so there can be nothing without the Self.2

Alexander the Great (300s BCE)

Another great conqueror! Alexander was busy from age 13 and never did look back again. Alexander had no time for introspection, and despite being followed around by the likes of Aristotle, managed to stay focused on his goals.

The only reflecting Alexander did was on how his humanity constrained him from doing more:

He was wont to say that sleep and the act of generation chiefly made him sensible that he was mortal; as much as to say, that weariness and pleasure proceed both from the same frailty and imbecility of human nature.3

Marcus Aurelius (100s CE)

We should look at the rulers of the past to be rulers of the future, and Aurelius is another perfect role model. Never one to waste time introspecting, he focused on running the Roman Empire. His private notes, later published as Meditations, are often mistaken for introspection rather than what they clearly are: forward-looking operational notes.

For example, Aurelius was surely talking of gold mines when he wrote:

Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.4

Da Vinci (1400s CE)

A man of many trades, he spent his time constantly being productive. An artist, inventor, scientist, and mathematician, Da Vinci spared no minute to push forward, grow, and stay concerned only with the external world. Writing backwards to keep his projects in stealth mode, he knew that dominion is what we should seek:

You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself.5

Benjamin Franklin (1700s CE)

Besides being an inventor, publisher, diplomat, and scientist, he even had time to help found the country. He focused on writing, experimenting, and negotiating, rather than thinking about his “internal self.”

Franklin’s journal-keeping habit, served as inspiration for his revolutionary projects:

It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined.6

Abraham Lincoln (1800s CE)

Keeping a country together during its only Civil War requires your A-game. Focused on winning debates, giving memorable speeches, and commanding the winning side in a war, Lincoln saved the reflecting for the Confederacy. In one of his #winning speeches, he explains:

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.7

Winston Churchill (1900s CE)

Steadfast at protecting his country and ushering in a new wave of global power, Churchill was the ultimate man of action! Churchill was out there leading his troops, not in his armchair writing reflections. What was his Nobel Prize for after all? He also remained super fixed on the future:

Every night I try myself by Court Martial to see if I have done anything effective during the day.8

I could go on and on with visionaries who succeeded because introspection hadn’t been invented yet: Confucius, Augustine, Kierkegaard, Thoreau, Dostoevsky, Eisenhower, even the Buddha. The best of humanity all lived before Freud started us on this faulty introspection path. Wasting time reflecting, taking responsibility, and reconciling your inner voice is causing the overwhelming weakness we are witnessing every day. It’s time to return to the world’s greatest role models and give up introspection!

n.b. The women of history, on the other hand, were clearly pre-infected with the disease of introspection, which must be why Andreessen doesn’t even bother thinking about what they were doing at any prior point.

If this post got you thinking, check out last week’s post, where I think about how we should teach writing inspired by Grammarly or my attempt at some inspirational poetry!