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On Remaining Open to Our Ever-Changing Roles as “Teacher” and “Student”
During my recent re-reading of the Tao Te Ching, one of the core texts of Taoism, a passage about teachers and students that I previously missed now caught my attention. The ancient Chinese religion and philosophy of Taoism aims to understand “The Way,” or the rhythms of the universe. I’m…
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The Humble Potato: An Invisible Agent of History
For many of us, the potato blends in with the background in grocery stores and on restaurant menus. Recently, however, I have begun to see it in a new light. As philosopher Bertrand Russell describes how his “useless knowledge” about the apricot’s history enriched his appreciation of the fruit, my…
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“The Righteous Mind” Book Notes
In 2018, I read “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion”, by Dr. Jonathan Haidt, an academic psychologist. This book greatly influenced my thinking, so I’d like to share my book notes and responses. Initially, I stumbled across this book in my attempt to understand…
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Paper Towels vs. Electric Hand Dryers: A Meditation on the Continuity of Mind
Published on July 19, 2017, credit to Matt for editing Midway through high school as a 16-year-old, I began reflecting critically on my experiences in the world. To make sense of these experiences, I asked myself important questions. Looking back on the past 16 years, I wondered: are paper towels…
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Notes on “Give and Take”
After recently read “Give and Take” by Adam Grant, an organizational behavior professor at the Wharton School, I found his ideas to be very compelling and applicable in my life. While I’ve outlined his points that I found most compelling, I encourage you to read his book if you find this…
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On Cargo Cult Thinking
Published Aug 2016, Credit to Matt for editing I was never one of the cool kids when I was little. However, when I entered middle school, I decided to attempt to climb a few rungs up the social ladder. My middle school days fell in the early 1990s, when otherwise…
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Notes on “The Effective Executive”
In his book, “The Effective Executive“, Peter Drucker discusses his views on what “effectiveness” is for knowledge workers, and how they can maximize their effectiveness. I read this book in 2015 and found it enlightening. Since then, I’ve been meaning to summarize my notes in order to re-read it. I’ll…
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“What the hell is this independent consulting?” — Reflections on the past year
October 5, 2014 On April 30th, 2013, I resigned from my employer of the past 3.5 years. After handing in my laptop and shaking hands with my boss, I left the office for the final time. Everything went according to plan. Now that complete freedom was at hand, I…