BookMarks #103: Life Is Short And So Is This Book

Title: Life Is Short And So Is This Book: Brief Thoughts On Making The Most Of Your Life

Author: Peter Atkins

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help

Published: 2011

BookMarks

“If I’d had more time I would have written a shorter letter”- said Winston Churchill once. And that is the brief of this book, keeping things short and simple and not meandering towards unnecessary examples/anecdotes and taking inspiration from them. It is a very short volume, easy to read and gives general guidelines on what is to be done with life and not how one should go about doing it. It is not something which people do not know, but it is always good to keep revisiting.

Here are the nuggets which I liked best from the book.

“If I wanted to do my best work, I needed to do fewer things, and really focus on what mattered.” Very well put, the author also does his bit to shatter the myth of multi-tasking. “A number of people I know claim to be great multi-taskers. The brain, however, doesn’t work that way; instead it focuses on one activity at a time. If you switch back and forth between multiple tasks, your brain works more slowly than it would if you focused on each activity for a period of time.” And yet, everyone I know claims to have varying degrees of proficiency in multi-tasking!

These are terrible times. The last couple of years have been an especially harrowing one, with no one sure if the worst is over or not! Then comes this bit of advise – “you can focus on something going well, or something beautiful, or something interesting -- even amidst terrible times.” There are things one can do something about and others where one can’t. So focus attention and energies where something can be done. Quite a simple advise and yet very difficult to follow.

The easiest way to success or avoiding failures/mishaps is not doing dumb things. Proceeding when there are obvious issues is a dumb thing to do. Even if it’s inconvenient or painful it is better doing nothing when the only available choice has glaring issues.

On character - Do what you think is right. Don't follow other people blindly. Be honest and keep your word. Admit your mistakes.

On dealing with success and failures which everyone encounters We learn more from our failures than from our successes.

On how to work towards success - You may delay but time will not. There is no overnight success but a series of continuous efforts. Progress depends on action, taking small steps which work. Over time, small steps add up, and you end up in a different place.

On being happy - To be happy, you need to pay attention to who you are, what you want, and how you feel. And most importantly Life has to be lived forwards and not backwards.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Another Churchill quote to round up this post.

Overall, a good read with actionable, implementable advise.

Previously on BookMarks: The Tattooist of Auschwitz 

The Perfect Jinx

Started reading (once again), Yuval Noah Harari’s Homo Deus. And on the second page came across this passage.

One line stood out “…. in the last few decades we have managed to rein in famine, plague and war”.

This book was written in 2015. The existing diseases were being managed; the new ones (SARS, Ebola etc.) were being controlled before they acquired pandemic proportions. The world’s political boundaries had been more or less stable for years except for few localized hotspots. Meanwhile, technological innovations were ensuring that global hunger was reducing despite an increasing population. In fact, obesity was becoming a bigger issue than hunger. And the efficient global supply chains ensured that men and material could be moved fast to the place of need in the event of any natural disaster.

Fast Forward to 2022. We have the “plague” - It’s been two and a half years since Covid 19 pandemic struck and upended the world as we knew it. We have “war” - the Russian invasion of Ukraine gave the western world its biggest war since 1945 with the added threat of nuclear weapons. And we are also staring at a global famine – the pandemic and the war disrupted the global supply chains, which combined with climate change has created the beginning of a global food shortage.

All of a sudden, the future is not looking so rosy for the homo sapiens!

As any sports fan can relate, this line is the perfect epitome of the “commentator’s curse” or simply “the jinx”.

Yet, jokes aside, the human beings have become more and more resilient and have better control over such matters. Fast-tracked global development of vaccines certainly helped in curbing the covid19 pandemic (although a lot of damage has already been done, but things could have been much worse). The Russia-Ukraine stand-off has not spiraled beyond the region (yet!). And steps are being taken to manage the food crisis. So overall, while not a rosy picture, history is replete with examples of things having gone much, much worse. 

So, in essence, Harari is right, we as a species, certainly have matters in our own control. How we handle it is also a decision totally in our hands and we have only ourselves to blame if do not evolve for the better!

BookMarks #102: The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Title: The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Author: Heather Morris

Genre: Fiction based on true story, Biography, Holocaust

Published: 2018

BookMarks

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is a fictional take on the life of Lale Sokolov and his incarceration in Auschwitz. The story is simultaneously one of brutality and the never-dying hope. It is a story of a determination to survive the horrors all around even though there are not many signs of things going in your favour. It is also tale of people fighting for themselves as well as one another in a quest to survive.

While the novel is set inside a concentration camp, it somehow does not bring up the real horrors of them. They are mentioned in passing, sometimes directly witnessed by the protagonists and yet somehow the true impact just does not hit the reader. Probably on account of the easy writing style which glosses over the more terrible brutalities. Or it could be because the protagonist is one filled with a firm belief of hope, which dims the rest of tragedies unfolding around him.

Some of the situations described are simply too fantastic. For instance, throughout the story, never really understood why Lale was given certain privileges for tattooing numbers on to all new arrivals to the camp. This wasn’t exactly a job of high skill and replacements were readily available. But one never knows, the truth is always stranger than fiction.

Overall, a decent read. I certainly did not like the almost celebratory sounding notes of the author at the end when the Slovak edition of the book is launched. 

Previously on BookMarks: Don’t Go There 

BookMarks #101: Don’t Go There

Title: Don’t Go There: From Chernobyl to North Korea—one man’s quest to lose himself and find everyone else in the world’s strangest places

Author: Adam Fletcher

Genre: Non-fiction, Travel

Published: 2018

BookMarks

Don’t Go There – a travelogue which is collection of not so popular tourist destinations which the author has visited – a collection of places from across the globe, some of which have not so clear standing as well. Amongst all the places North Korea and its on-the-spot-guidance from “Dem two bruddas” stood out!

I like how the author has defined a functioning society with the following equation

People + Resources / Time = Functional Society

Those of us born as majority people will never know how much of a fight it is to live as a minority, not protected by the cushioning of statistics. The wrong group gets too certain about themselves, their beliefs, and their rights. They pull society’s levers and inflict the repercussions upon everyone else. History is what happens when ego meets happenstance.

Quite a succinct description of how everything has come to its current state and its ever evolving.

A line which stood out for me - Boredom is a Luxury Good. Don’t feel so safe and secure and bored that they actively go out looking for danger, just to feel more alive. A perfect description for everyone In this social media world bitten by the #wanderlust bug!

And a few more for the Bookmarks

• Being where you don’t belong frees you from any expectations about how things there are supposed to work, and, in turn, how you will react to them. A childlike naivety takes over.
• I guess we all do—recast ourselves in the stories of our lives, giving ourselves starring roles in our successes and minimising the role we play in our failures, working back from our actions to justifications,
• the only way you know that something has value is if you find yourself willing to make sacrifices for.

Quite an interesting and hilarious book. Seemingly funny yet also making a deep impression at the same time.

Previously on BookMarks: Peaky Blinders – The Real Story

P.S. The narrative also reminded me of another world adventure – A Bear, A Dog and A Kangaroo!

Thomas Cup 2022 Champions - INDIA

Scarcely believable but true. What a performance this has been from the men's badminton team over the past week as they went past one opponent after the other. The path wasn't easy filled with higher ranked opponents throughout but every time they were cornered the team fought back and hung in there. Fighting off match points, coming from a game down and in case of Prannoy not even letting a bad fall come in the way. And with each passing day, having to ward off the myriad jinxers on the social media timeline as well (As a sports fan, I am a firm believer in the power of the jinx).

What a performance it was - especially from Srikanth, Satwik-Chirag, Prannoy & Lakshya. Just showcasing the depth in Indian Badminton - not just individual brilliance but the collective strength. Living true to adage of whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

Now to rewind a few years. I first heard of the Thomas Cup back in the early 90s. It was more of a GK question back then – which sport is Thomas Cup associated with? At the time it was dominated by the usual big names – Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Korea, Denmark etc. For India, even qualifying for the main tournament was an achievement in itself! And now we are the Champions! What a journey this has been. The 2022 crown has just been a culmination of the Badminton’s steady rise since Gopichand’s All England win in 2001.

Now that we have tasted success, what next for Indian Badminton? Uber & Sudirman Cups should certainly be the next targets. And while we have had a steady flow of World Championships & Olympics medals in the past decade, certainly looking forward to winning more titles now. And the best part is all these are well within the grasp of this young Indian contingent!

What a lovely and inspiring sight it was to see the Indian Team with the Trophy and hearing the national anthem being played.

India – Thomas Cup 2022 Champions – that sounds right! 

P.S. Pretty sure Voot & Sports18 subscriptions would have seen a significant bump in the past couple of days! I certainly did my bit!

Road To Paris: Episode 1

It has been a while since the conclusion of the Tokyo 2020 Games. The best day to start my “Road To Paris” journey was the day after the Closing Ceremony. However, as usual, there was some dilly-dallying. So chose the second best day to start off this journey. Today!

It will be a shorter journey this time (hopefully). Fingers crossed that the covid disruptions are minimal. Although this year’s Asian Games, which would have also served as first qualifiers for a few events has already been postponed.

The events list has been officially released. This episode focusses on the changes made to the events roster in comparison to Tokyo.

There will be a total of 329 events across 32 sports down from 339 events in 33 sports at Tokyo. Following are the changes:

Sports Dropped: Baseball & Softball and Karate

Sports Added: Breaking (also known as Break Dancing)

Changes in existing sports

• Athletics: Men’s 50 km race walk has been dropped and replaced by Race Walk Mixed Team event.
• Boxing: Men’s events have been reduced from 8 to 7, while there has been an increase in the women’s side from 5 to 6. Consequently there has also been a re-jigging of the weight categories on both sides to accommodate the changes.
• Canoeing: For both men & women, the Extreme Canoe Slalom event has been added. And one individual sprint race has been dropped for both.
• Sailing: One Men’s Dinghy event has been dropped and replaced by a Mixed Dinghy event
• Shooting: Mixed Trap has been replaced by Mixed Skeet.
• Weightlifting: Number of events has been reduced to 10 from 14 with 2 events dropped in both men & women’s sections. The weight categories have also been rejigged consequently.

There have also been tweaks in the qualification processes in some sports, while others have had changes in the number of participants. Overall, continuing the move towards improving the gender parity.

Will start focusing on Team India’s qualification journey from the next episode (hopefully soon). 

Links: Paris 2024 Events Programme 

BookMarks #100: Peaky Blinders: The Real Story

Title: Peaky Blinders - The Story of Birmingham’s most notorious gangs

Author: Carl Chinn

Published: 2019

Genre: Non-fiction, History

BookMarks

Peaky Blinders – gangsters/ruffians/hooligans from Birmingham who blinded their opponents using razor blades stitched inside the peaks of their flat caps. Or this is what the mythology has been built upon, especially with the hit TV show of the same name.

This book states its goal as giving the real story of these gangs. Over its 200 odd pages, it keeps reiterating that the show is a fictional depiction and the real “peaky blinders” were not so sophisticated. Yes, they were notorious, there were many incidents of violence committed by them especially against policemen, they controlled a fair chunk of the illegal betting market. And some could have used the signature cap as a weapon, but it is most likely to be a myth! The author, himself a descendant of an illegal bookmaker has tried to give the history of the rise and the later fall of these anti-social elements. Class divisions and poverty were the major reasons for the rise of these gangs. Better policing and involvement of the communities through youth sports and clubs channelizing their energies certainly contributed to the decline.

However, the book is a too long for the subject it covers. Given the repetitious content and lots of unnecessary details, it could easily have been a third of its size without losing any essence. This book seems more like an attempt to cash in on the success of the TV series!

Previously on BookMarks: 51 Accidental Inventions That Changed the World

P.S. This is the 100th blogpost in the #BookMarks series! Certainly been a long ride!

BookMarks #99: 51 Accidental Inventions that Changed the World

Title: 51 Accidental Inventions that Changed the World

Author: Kimte Guite

Published: 2019

Genre: Non-fiction, General Knowledge, Science, Anthology

BookMarks

As the title suggests, the book describes 51 important discoveries which have shaped the modern world. And as the conclusion says that these are just 51, there are many more. Anesthetics, Dynamite, X-Ray, Vaccines, Ice Lolly, Monopoly, even the Wheel are some of the discoveries which came by accident. The discoveries may have been accidental, but they happened because someone actually noticed and then spent time and resources investigating how it happened and perfecting it.

A change I would have liked would have been to present the discoveries in chronological order – showing their impact on human life. Also that would have shown how humans have been continuously trying to improve their lifestyle.

Overall, a good book filled with trivia and whets the appetite of the curious mind. 

Previously on BookMarks: The Holiday

BookMarks #98: The Holiday

Title: The Holiday

Author: TM Logan

Published: 2019

Genre: Fiction, Drama

BookMarks

This is the second book by TM Logan which I read after “Lies”. The expectations were high after that thrill-a-minute rollecr-coaster, but “The Holiday” wasn’t upto the same level.

“Seven Days, Three Families, One Killer” – the cover page announces, the last phase being critical. Unfortunately, most of the book just meanders along with every character just not talking to each other. The book would have been much shorter if the characters had just communicated better! And then there is the fiery ending, which does little to redeem the entire story.

While most of the book is a first-person account, there are a few POV chapters also thrown in the middle to carry the story forward (a la A Song of Fire and Ice). But it just muddles up the story a bit more instead of helping it.

An interesting question about the villa – Is there no staff or even a caretaker present at the site? Quite astonishing given the size of the building and its surrounding land!

Overall, not too engaging a tale.

Previously on BookMarks: A Thousand Brains  

Also by TM Logan on BookMarks: Lies 

BookMarks #97: A Thousand Brains

Title: A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence

Author: Jeff Hawkins

Published: 2021

Genre: Non-fiction, Biology, AI

BookMarks

As the foreword says – this is a book about how the brain works. Although it is not just about the working of the human brain. The book ends with questions on intelligence and how the collective human knowledge can be preserved for the future.

There are some fundamental questions

What are we?

How did we get here?

What is our destiny?

What makes us intelligent?

How did our species become intelligent?

What is the destiny of intelligence and knowledge?

The book is a step in answering these questions. The answers are not perfect. As the author, Dr. Hawkins says, we are still exploring these answers.

Dr. Hawkins presents his theory of how the brain works. There is an ongoing battle between the two parts of the brain – the reptilian (old) and the mammalian (new) which have grown on top of the older ones. Older parts control primitive behaviour while newer ones create more sophisticated ones.

The world we perceive is a simulation of the real world. All thoughts and perceptions are relative to the brain's model of the world, not the physical world outside the skull. The very act of thinking is a form of movement. The brain's neocortex creates a predictive model of the world based on information acquired throughout. Any deviation from this prediction is immediately noticed. The model is based on predictions, perceptions and actions. The neocortex learns a rich and detailed model of the world which it uses to constantly predict what it's next sensory input will be.

All our thoughts and actions are results of activity of neurons. Knowledge is distributed in the brain and not stored at any particular neuron. Brain has 150,000 cortical columns and each column is a learning machine.

The book then turns to the question of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The author asks the basic question “Where is the I in AI?" Today's AI can only do the thing which it is trained to do, unlike humans who can perform multiple tasks. e.g. a chess playing computer is great at playing chess, but doesn’t know if chess is a game? The search is for creating Artificial General Intelligence - how to make a machine learn everyday tasks like a human. Intelligence can't be programmed into a software. It can be given a model which needs to be learned and takes time.

Will AI become a threat to its creators, i.e. humans. Life is based on a simple idea. Genes make as many copies of themselves as possible. And brains act as a facilitator for this. Hence, anything which can self-replicate is dangerous e.g. a virus. A meme is something that replicates and evolves much like a gene but through culture. Our biggest distinguishing features, language helps spread beliefs both true and false. It also helps in expansion of knowledge beyond what is directly observed.

Then we come to the section on Merging Brains and Machines. (seems to be the concept of the Amazon series Upload!) Uploading a brain into computer even if possible would create two beings which will have then distinct lives. Creating a direct connection with a computer seems a better and more feasible option. But why would humans do that. The answers being preservation of our collective knowledge, of intelligent life, signal to other intelligent lives in the universe.

These are the intriguing notes at which the book ends. The book is an amalgam of ideas – attempting to understand how the brain works, is there any artificial intelligence and if one can be created and finally to ideas for preserving human knowledge. 

Overall, an interesting read into a subject in which humans have made lots of progress and yet we are still a long way from really knowing it. Certainly a subject which makes you think and use your brain a bit more!

Previously on BookMarks: Lies