5 hours agoMember-onlyNourishing The Capacity To Cry In Front Of BeautyBeing susceptible to art protects us against the dangers of reason — Sometimes, art moves us in a way that drives us to tears. It might be the content of a story, our connection with the characters or the sheer execution of the work of art. It can be happiness or sadness or fraternity. The reason can also be within us: the…Life2 min readLife2 min read
1 day agoMember-onlyThe Heinous Practice Of Denying People Their DignityPolitics and personal relations belie a similar heinous logic — I recently read that one of the reasons the Russian government thought Ukraine would capitulate quickly was that they could not conceive a significant national resistance because they never genuinely considered it a nation. …Life2 min readLife2 min read
2 days agoMember-onlyLet’s Dream OnLest we run out of air — It is natural to be derided for dreaming out loud. Moreover, sometimes those who love us are the first to try and ground us and convince us of the futility of imagining life beyond our current limitations or circumstances. An ancestral argument is that we can be so busy with…Life3 min readLife3 min read
3 days agoMember-onlyThe Struggle Of Being Not So DifferentWe should never have to correct who we are — ‘You just like to think you’re different,’ someone told me once. ‘You try to be special, but once people know you, you’re not so different,’ someone else said. In their defence, I will admit to having been young, foolish and arrogant in equal measure back then. The reality was I…Life3 min readLife3 min read
4 days agoMember-onlyCarbon Neutral Is A Myth. What To Do Now?Because we must do something — Many of us were shocked by the revelation that many of the celebrated carbon-neutral schemes that some of the world’s biggest companies like to boast about were a con. Carbon-neutral schemes are fundamental to most businesses’ commitment to hitting their net-zero targets. The sudden discovery that they may not have…Life3 min readLife3 min read
5 days agoMember-onlyLegacies We Curse, Legacies We Don’t AppreciateFor some reason, we find it easier to complain than to praise — It is incredibly straightforward to blame the legacy we have inherited. It is also terribly unjust. Errors and problems will always be irritating, but errors and problems we haven’t caused are unbearable. Why should I be stuck with this chaos I never had any say in? Why do I have…Life3 min readLife3 min read
6 days agoMember-onlyTechnical Writing Has Learned From LiteratureCan some of today’s literature learn anything from technical writing? — I just talked to a coworker about some reading I have been doing in my spare time. For the past few days, I have been delving into the documentation of a technology I use daily. After calling each other nerds, I sheepishly admitted I was finding the reading mesmerising. How…Life2 min readLife2 min read
Jan 29Member-onlyFeels Like Apparent TemperatureOur perception of reality may be more influential than reality itself. But it shouldn’t. — Often referred to as “feels like”, apparent temperature describes how hot or cold humans perceive the weather, as opposed to the actual temperature. Depending on our location’s climate, most of the time, the difference between temperature and our perception of it tends to be minimal but significant: one or two…Life3 min readLife3 min read
Jan 28Member-onlyLearning To Accept We All Experience Reality DifferentlyIt’s not easy, but the alternative is most disturbing — A book takes place through four different timelines with overlapping characters. It’s action-packed, and you know very little about the protagonists or the context in which they operate. Indeed, the novel generates perplexity over anything else, all along the exuberant and vivid descriptions of sword-wielding and fire-weapon shooting. There are…Life2 min readLife2 min read
Jan 27Member-onlyRefocusing The Terms Of Our Collective And Individual VictoriesAvoiding a losing mentality — and the current obsession with winning — Growth is one of our social obsessions. It probably stemmed from another: winning. Winning isn’t noxious, quite the contrary, which is one of the main reasons it is so hard to keep it under control. …Life3 min readLife3 min read
