I recently started reading “How Not To Be Wrong - The Power of Mathematical Thinking” by Jordan Ellenberg. It is an accessible book for people who have been out of touch from rigorous math. Jordan provides examples of erroneous day to day headlines, and then points out issues in judgments made. Jordan does not try to provide rigorous proof, but is able to channel our intuition to make us comfortable with his conclusions....
Meditation is not a cure to our sadness, anxiety, and stress. However, it can provide us ways to manage them well. This is more like a promise than a definite outcome. So, what are the direct and immediate benefits from practicing regular meditation? Concentration meditation, which is when we focus on our breath, makes us experience peace and bliss. How does it do that? Scientifically speaking, this practice shuts down our “mind wandering” default mode network in the brain - which is always scanning past and future for interesting things to think about....
I find it incredible that an ordinary human ~2600 years ago was able to provide powerful insights into human nature and reality. In essence, Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, made two statements: Change is occurring all the time both in and around us Self is an illusion we make up for ourselves, and this leads us into a flawed perception of reality When taken together, these statements give us the root cause behind the general dissatisfaction (dukkha is Buddhist term) we struggle with as human beings....
GPT-4 is a new disruptive technology. For the first time, machines start to understand the nuance and tone of our asks. Through the chat bot, we can carry out interesting conversations. Machines can take and succeed at our standardized tests (SAT, AP, GRE, GMAT). Through the use of plugins, the bot can find precise and accurate information, much like humans can. This new technology promises to be disruptive to many existing and established processes....
Unexpected events Its been an interesting time. The events that have transpired weren’t something I could ever predict. I bought a house, with all payment made upfront, and am performing a general redo of the decor In my job, I manage 5 teams, out of which 4 have been completely laid off, and are on a 6 month retainer to help transition work to an offshore location My mom had a mild brain stroke, and was very sick for a while, and still has not recovered My daughter was laid off after only 7 months in her very first job, despite her manager, and her manager’s manager being advocates of her performance From any standard its been a trying time....
A corporation fulfills a social contract. The social contract is an consumption of value provided by employees of the corporation for social capital (i.e. money) given in exchange by customers. As value production becomes ever more sophisticated and energy dense, a third entity enters into this contract: investors. They provide employees access to social capital to capture certain part of the social capital given by the corporation customers. For a healthy outcome, the CEO (head employee) of the corporation has to carefully balance these social relationships....
Behind this short post lies a whole week of tumultuous experiences. I experience emotions by acting them out: being angry with someone, sad at losing someone, joyous in a beautiful place. I also repress emotions: rejections, judgments, and when not in control. This led me to avoid: confronting people, having difficult conversations and even social gatherings. Instead, I want to learn to be at peace with my emotions, as and when they arise....
Life portfolio value, \( lpv \) is a concept I am noodling with to help me achieve a more wholesome understanding of how savings, income, and enjoyment are related. \(lpv = (fnet(number) * skex(years,skill) * (cash+stocks+realestate))/ hp\) Any health problems \( (hp) \) I develop affects the real value of my life portfolio. For example, if I start to suffer from one of the life style diseases (diabetes, heart, blood pressure), then it restricts how I enjoy my money and time....
I want to share people of the modern era who inspire and motivate me. Albert Einstein As a theoretical physicist, he was able to unearth relationships (space, time, gravity, duality of matter and waves) using the power of his thoughts. Then built a mathematical model for those thoughts to stand on. Later on, the model was validated experimentally by others! The ability to discover and understand fundamental universal relationships is nothing short of witnessing a miracle in human cognition....
Actor and observer. Waking Up from Sam Harris is asking us to realize that there is no observer “I” separate from our bodies, and what we call as “I” is an invention that we created while growing up. An interesting parable from Sam can help explain what we learn about “I” when we meditate. A north European tour bus is at a rest stop, and an Asian woman tourist, unaware of the customs and language, comes back to the empty bus and changes her clothes....