5 Bites Friday #48


Welcome to this week's 5BF: Jordon Peterson and his wisdom on life, bunch of movie recommendations, articles about physics, ethics, literature, and more...

 

1 - Feb wrap-up and March book-haul

I only managed to read 3 books in February, where the genre I was supposed to read was 'nonfiction science'. 3 may sound fewer, but it gave me pretty much to learn and think about. Here is a look back at what I read in February.

In March, I shall be reading Iranian literature. It has already started off with a great novel from Parisa Reza, 'The Gardens of Consolation'. In this book haul blog, I have talked about the books I will be reading during this month. From what I know, I will be both nostalgic and merry this month.

 

2 - this week's articles

Storyhealing @aeon - this article highlights the interesting and deep relationship between medicine and literature, and how each one complements the other in remedying the humankind of many illnesses of body and soul.

What is everything made of @aeon - this is an article for the physics geeks out there, where the author gathers all the works of physics from classical and modern to figure out the building blocks of our universe. Very interesting!

The right thing to do @aeon - much of our morality focus goes into differentiating evil and good, but what if we are stuck into choosing between two 'good' choices? The author of this article beautifully and articulately sums up the three viewpoints when it comes to choosing the right thing, and evaluates how should we go about living our lives ethically.

 

3 - movie recommendations

Coming to America (1 and 2): if you want to have a good time and are looking for some fun and light-hearted movies, well Coming to America and its newly released sequel will be a right choice for you, as it was for me. The King of Zamunda wants to marry his son, but the Prince wants to find his own bride, so he goes to America. In the sequel, a similar thing happens to the prior Prince, now King, himself. Worth watching.

One night in Miami: a fictional story where the big stars of black rights movement, Muslim activist Malcom X, the world champ boxer Muhammad Ali, the brilliant singer Sam Cooke, and the successful NBA player Jim Brown, are all friends and spend a night together discussing the oppression being done against the blacks in America and what their role as stars and leaders are to make a fairer society for them.

The Father: I was looking forward for this movie for a few months now, and it did not disappoint me. It is a movie about an old man in his early stages of dementia, and how his relationship with his daughter, his only family, suffers because of it. This movie depicts the disease of dementia powerfully and, in the process, shows man's relationship with his/her memory. A slight fickle in your brain, and there goes your life, upside down. Riveting!

Raya and the Last Dragon: a spectacular animation and story from Disney. A movie about the power of trusting one and other and having faith in your fellow human kind. I could not stop my tears.

 

4 - podcast: Jordon Peterson @timferrisshow

I came to know about Peterson from the internet, and it was not a pleasant introduction at all. Ever since, I have wanted to like this man, contrary to the somewhat unreputable image of his on the internet. In this interview with Ferris, I came to know more about Peterson while my previous thoughts about him got firmer. However, if you do not know about the author of '12 Rules for Life', this is a great place to start. Peterson certainly has knowledgeable wisdom to offer on life in this podcast.

 

5: this week's quote

'Better than larger values,
However true their show,
This timid life of evidence
Keeps pleading 'I don't know'

- Emily Dickinson