This is a quarterly email newsletter with ideas, cool links, book
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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. Neighborliness in the lonely city
Since moving to Brooklyn, I've thought much more about
neighborliness than when I lived near Wall Street. People idle here,
a melange of music can be heard from apartments, car alarms go
off at all hours, and there's an organic ebb and flow of people who
you never say hello to but see regularly enough that you start thinking
of them as your neighbors.
Neighborliness, though, is an odd sensation in a large city where the
combination of close proximity and anonymity sometimes lends to a
sense of loneliness. New York City is like a giant campus where the
only matriculation requirement is agreeing to experience separateness
together.
Coming from a small town, where perhaps we experience
togetherness separately, I am constantly aware of this, yet it also
serves as a security blanket when race, gender, sexuality, income and
all other variants of distinction begin to blur together. In the end, you refer
to each other simply as survivalists, or more appropriately, human.
Here are some more thoughts on city living:
A modern perspective on working back and forth between
a small town and NYC.
A local perspective empathetic to the dilemma of
neighborliness and loneliness in a large city.
A thorough New York Magazine article debunking the
myth of urban loneliness.
2. Is the singularity really near?
The more technology becomes part of our daily lives, the more I
think about Ray Kurzweil's idea of the singularity, a precipice-type
event when technological intelligence is expected to surpass human
intelligence.
AI, cylons and cyborgs immediately come to mind, but
it's not far-flung science fiction when you see someone talking to
thin air on their bluetooth or you pull up satellite-enabled,
location-tracking GPS directions on your smartphone while driving.
What seemed unlikely a decade ago, we already take for granted.
At the same time, advancement feels like it's outpacing us. No
matter what age, it seems like everyone is trying to find a balance
between online and offline worlds. Adaptation to new technologies
has become a necessary skill, though it's still uncertain how
technology will impact communication in the long run. First, we
may have to contend with the growth of technological inequality
on a more global level.
Singularity-inducing technologies worth keeping an eye on:
NeuroSky uses EEG monitoring to type hands-free and send
emails and tweets.
The Predator camera "fingerprints" your visual image to track
movement and location.
World Lens translates language real-time using the camera on
your smartphone.
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BOOKS
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Since reading it, I've touted this book to almost everyone I know.
Didion talks about everything under the sun in a dry, nonchalant
style that hits you unexpectedly, perhaps at dinner or when you're
out taking a walk. It requires the right mood - for me, it was
needing a dramatic change to my reading list. This is just the cure
I read this book over 3 years ago and came back to it because it
because of a renewed interest in storytelling. Powerpoint has
wisely lost ground with many since Reynolds came out with a better
way to be persuasive. Going beyond the classroom or boardroom,
this book targets the art of conversation altogether. An insightful and
worthwhile read. (I'd also recommend The Back of the Napkin by
Dan Roam as a wonderful companion read)
Light, fun, and dare-I-say-it, a beach read with substance. I
didn't know who Patti Smith was when I read it, and that made it
all the better. Smith lilts along autobiographically through the
60's and 70's showing the plight and reward of becoming an artist.
This book is a rare opportunity to live vicariously through a
bygone era that still holds great influence today. (A more detailed
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CONNECT
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PERSONAL UPDATE
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I've been experiencing Brooklyn on my bike, which I recently
revived from its 8-year slumber in a storage box. No car and long
avenue blocks is a perfect excuse to use the bike more
functionally; to pick up groceries or dry cleaning or ride to the
park for a picnic.
My favorite biking adventures though have been on Governor's Island,
a welcome escape from the daily hubbub of the city.
I'd love to hear how your summer is going. Drop me an email when
you get a chance!
Cheers,
Akshay