Stuart Buck
Advisor
What's your background?
Slightly eclectic: radio engineering (I got the top amateur radio license at age 13), music (classical guitar), law, public policy, philanthropy, and working on improving science.
What's it like to do your work at Analogue?
I work on metascience and on advising various funds. There's nothing quite like working with smart people who don't take themselves (or each other) very seriously. The author Brad Stulberg is fond of saying, “the greatest competitive advantage is having fun,” and I agree.
What did you almost become instead?
A dozen different things, but the most likely alternative is this: I was a professional-level classical guitarist at one point, and I probably would have stuck with that if it hadn't meant a lifetime of desperate poverty and intellectual frustration.
“I can't wait for the day when…”
Before my great-aunt died, we had a birthday party for her at the nursing home. After singing “Happy Birthday,” we added the line “and many more.” My great-aunt said, “I don't want many more!” She was miserable, lonely, and falling apart. Her husband and family had all died long before her.
I can't wait for the day when humans don't so often spend the last 5–10 years of their lives stuck in terribly lonely nursing homes while their brains degenerate such that they often don't recognize their own family members.
Tell me about the most recent instance of magic you experienced.
A magical thing in life is when people go out of their way to give someone else a compliment — a friend, family member, or colleague. I have always loved the short film Validation. It is simultaneously goofy, hilarious, and touching — all about the power and influence a guy has just by complimenting everyone he sees.
What are the three places on earth where you feel most like yourself?
- An old bookstore with wall-to-wall bookshelves.
- Hiking in the mountains.
- Taking a run along the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge.