This idea that a small number of things account for the majority of the results became known as the Pareto Principle or, more commonly, the 80/20 Rule.

Why does this happen? Why do a few people, teams, and organizations enjoy the bulk of the rewards in life?

What begins as a small advantage gets bigger over time.

Scientists refer to this effect as “accumulative advantage.”

Situations in which small differences in performance lead to outsized rewards are known as Winner-Take-All Effects. They typically occur in situations that involve relative comparison, where your performance relative to those around you is the determining factor in your success. …
The advantage of being a little bit better is not a little bit more reward, but the entire reward. The winner gets one and the rest get zero.

Winner-Take-All Effects in individual competitions can lead to Winner-Take-Most Effects in the larger game of life.

What begins as a slight edge over the competition compounds with each additional contest.

The 1 Percent Rule states that over time the majority of the rewards in a given field will accumulate to the people, teams, and organizations that maintain a 1 percent advantage over the alternatives. … The 1 Percent Rule is not merely a reference to the fact that small differences accumulate into significant advantages, but also to the idea that those who are one percent better rule their respective fields and industries. Thus, the process of accumulative advantage is the hidden engine that drives the 80/20 Rule.

Source: The 1 Percent Rule: Why a Few People Get Most of the Rewards | James Clear

First and foremost, I would love it if this meeting could help to remind us that we all need each other, none of us is an island, an autonomous and independent “I,” separated from the other, and we can only build the future by standing together, including everyone.

How wonderful would it be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation would come along with more equality and social inclusion. … How wonderful would it be if solidarity, this beautiful and, at times, inconvenient word, were not simply reduced to social work, and became, instead, the default attitude in political, economic and scientific choices, as well as in the relationships among individuals, peoples and countries.

allow me to say it loud and clear: the more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly.

The future of humankind isn’t exclusively in the hands of politicians, of great leaders, of big companies. Yes, they do hold an enormous responsibility. But the future is, most of all, in the hands of those people who recognize the other as a “you” and themselves as part of an “us.” We all need each other.

Source: His Holiness Pope Francis: Why the only future worth building includes everyone

We’ve spent the last eight years trying to answer a simple question: what are the world’s biggest and most urgent problems?

Results: List of the most urgent global issues

over the second half of the 20th century, progress on treatments for diarrhea did as much to save lives as achieving world peace over the same period would have done … The number of deaths each year due to diarrhea have fallen by 3 million over the last four decades due to advances like oral rehydration therapy. Meanwhile, all wars and political famines killed about 2 million people per year over the second half of the 20th century.

If it’s possible to have 10 or 100 times more impact with just a little research, maybe there are even better areas to discover?

probably the most powerful way we can help future generations is ensuring they exist at all. If civilization survives, we’ll have a chance to later solve problems like poverty and disease

Source: No-one knew the world’s worst problem, so we spent 8 years trying to find it – 80,000 Hours