Author: Avinash Sai
-
The Rise of Charlatans (ft. Jay Shetty & Mel Robbins)
More than ever, it is easy to be a charlatan. Big thanks to globalization and capitalistic-oriented economies. Although history has seen many charlatans, it is nothing compared to the numbers we are seeing now. And the problem is that most people want to be one. Charlatans are performers, much better actors than actual actors. They…
-
God as a Coping Mechanism
I am not going to debate about the existence of God here. This article isn’t about that but rather about what the idea of God does to humans. In the pursuit of absolute truth, we often negate what and how something does to us. Perhaps we should start looking at things in a different light.…
-
How India and Caste are inseparable
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Caste would still exist even if the Mughals or the British Empire hadn’t set their feet in India. The British merely exploited what was already there to their advantage. That’s classic British: divide and rule. History is convoluted; the narrative keeps changing depending on whoever is in power.…
-
How South & East Asia Exploit Their Own Kind in Canada.
I came here as an international student, and to support myself financially, I handed out a lot of resumes. There wasn’t a restaurant or bookstore I didn’t visit. It was hard to get a part-time job. Luckily, I got a call from a famous fast-food franchise. The general manager called me because we both are…
-
Are Indians obedient employees?
Indians take so much pride in seeing Indian CEOs of American companies. It is one of those chest-thumping moments; WhatsApp status updated; Twitter wars ensued. What they fail to see is that the CEO position is another job. I agree it is not easy to get by. But truth remains: Indians love to be employees…
-
Are Indian women denied individuality?
A few years ago, I used to have a friend called Kusuma (not the real name). She was telling me that her father and brother were forcing her to get married. She was 24 years old and had hardly seen any life at all. She completed her post-grad a couple of months earlier. She wanted…
-
The Science of Weird Shit by Chris French
The weird shit, such as ghosts’ encounters, paranormal activities, UFO sightings, and so on, has been a major discussion in human history. Although there is no evidence for their existence, why are humans so obsessed with them? Why do some people go to any lengths to prove their existence? But the more important question is,…
-
Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
To be antifragile is not to eliminate fragility altogether. It is to reduce fragile elements and increase our robustness. Our modern life tries to remove randomness and even out our experiences. The lack of stressors or small random jolts is making us more fragile and sensitive to extreme events. Our obsession with singularity, the feel…
-
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Society expects everyone to be the same. The same moral standards, the same moral and emotional reactions, the same desires, and so on. Out of the blue, if someone does something different, almost like a mob, people gang up and bash the person. You can expect the same reaction if someone is different, too. The…
-
The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
A Black Swan is an event or situation that is impossible to predict. Once it occurs, the consequences are devastating. A black swan can be positive, too. But they usually arrive with negative effects. No matter how many sophisticated models and systems we invent, randomness has the ultimate say. More than ever, the impact of…
-
The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman
Reviewed Date: May 31st, 2023 Is an MBA worth doing? Is it relevant to the current times? The business world is constantly evolving, metrics change day after day, and information gets updated. Although it is beneficial to know the basics before we get into the business, pursuing a two-degree just for that is certainly not…
-
Attention Span by Dr. Gloria Mark
Reviewed Date: February 22nd, 2023 Interestingly, a book about attention didn’t hold my attention at all. I thought the problem was with me, as I read a half dozen books on attention and focus, but the more I read this book, the more I understood that it lacks cohesiveness and is written with a casual…
-
God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Reviewed Date: December 6th, 2023 After reading many history and evolution books, I understood that our ancestors invited God. Our ancestors were puzzled by the randomness of nature; they concluded that they had been observed by supernatural entities. Thus, they brought the rituals and code among the tribe to worship the supernatural entity, save them…
-
Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
Reviewed Date: December 11th, 2023 We are living in an information-dense world. We consume so much information every day that we lose track of what we read, what we heard, and what we saw. Rather than blaming ourselves for keeping forgetting, we can build a system where we can store our thoughts, insights we read,…
-
Why Men Want Sex and Women Need Love by Allan Pease and Barbara Pease
Reviewed Date: May 4th, 2023 I will address the elephant in the room: although the book has pointed out fundamental differences between men and women, I find some concepts are problematic and perpetuate stereotypes. I won’t say the book is complete trash; some topics are informative, but we shouldn’t leave the problematic stuff. Though the…
-
Dopamine Detox by Thibaut Meurisse
Reviewed Date: October 4th, 2023 We all are addicted to our phones, gambling, food, and other things. If you are not addicted to anything, either you are lying or you are a superhuman. Well, for the latter, there isn’t anything we can say. But if you are honest about your addictions, you need to detox…
-
You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy (2)
Reviewed Date: November 23rd, 2023 The biggest barrier to listening, putting aside the internal monologue, is not being interested in knowing a person. Most people want to tell their story, but they cannot find the listeners. It might sound cliche, but the world would have been a much better place if we could listen to…