This is a quarterly email newsletter with ideas, cool links, book
recommendations and a personal update.
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Read time: 2 1/2 minutes
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IDEAS
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1. Are you saying what you mean or is everyone listening to what they want to hear?
What's in our heads doesn't always translate verbally. Being bilingual,
I often wish I could use Hindi words to communicate what I'm trying
to say. Hindi has the ability to invoke various emotions with a single word.
I imagine Native American languages work similarly, exhibiting an emotive
quality that requires several English sentences to explain. English is far more
analytical, which is obviously its strongest quality. It reduces the strong cultural
and historical effects subject to shift meaning and clearly connotes a message.
Interestingly though, single words in English can have a different meaning
based on context. We may not think about word choice, but it has an impact
on how well we communicate with others. George Bernard Shaw said, "The
single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
At work and with friends, I notice how much time and energy is spent on
correcting misunderstandings. Viewing language as variable and subjective
has made me much more attentive to whether I'm truly understanding what's
being said and whether I'm truly communicating what I want to say.
2. What will the internet look like in 10 years?
Every generation feels removed from the previous one and the
internet has widened the gap even more in the last 10 years. The
rate of growth, especially in social media, seems to have surpassed
the rate of adoption, with a few obvious exceptions; Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
With no barrier to entry and an ubiquitous, open-source platform,
one would think the internet would allow very few people or companies
to rise to the top. The internet though is an enormous, real-time
sociological experiment that makes us either participants or observers.
Clay Shirky explains it brilliantly:
"In systems where many people are free to choose between many
options, a small subset of the whole will get a disproportionate
amount of traffic (or attention, or income), even if no members of
the system actively work towards such an outcome. This has nothing
to do with moral weakness, selling out, or any other psychological
explanation. The very act of choosing, spread widely enough and
freely enough, creates a power law distribution."
3. Is the economy shaping the job market or is it the other way around?
It's hard not to think about the job market right now. Unemployment
at 9% not only affects recent graduates, but also increases job lock
among current employees, shifts where we live, increases housing
prices, and diminishes productivity through long-term underemployment.
The soft side of unemployment is different though. While morale is
still low, people are finding creative ways to find work and companies
are responding with an increase in project-oriented work.
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BOOKS
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1. Daemon by Daniel Suarez
Fast-paced from the beginning, Daemon represents a whole new
thriller genre mixing technology and crime while staying out of the
sci-fi realm. Great summer/airplane/couch read.
2. F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way by John C. Parkin
Existential philosophy boiled down to two words that convey a
flippant yet energized attitude. The ability to fearlessly achieve
your goals is a strong theme in this book. A little bit of a
throwback to the 70's new-age, hippie motif (Parkin runs a retreat
called The Hill That Breathes), it's still a hilarious must-read.
3. White Noise by Dan Delillo
Strange and captivating, White Noise was written in 1985 and yet
eerily speaks of societal problems we face today, especially
media-induced fear. The writing is quirky, funny, and has a
lackadaisical style that makes tough vocabulary somehow easy to
understand. I felt like a better writer having read it.
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CONNECT
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PERSONAL UPDATE
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Hi from NYC! My last year has been a thorough exploration of
restaurants and neighborhoods in NYC. I've expanded my horizons
beyond Manhattan into Brooklyn and I'm always amazed how the city
organically changes from street to street. If you're around, give
me a buzz and we can get together for coffee or dinner.
Cheers,
Akshay