*Apologies for being a couple of days late; that is, late in uploading
Welcome to this week’s 5 Bites Friday: my weekly article where
I share the contents of my learning from the past week in my life.
1 – what I am reading
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – as per my 2022 reading
resolution of reading big books this year, Tolstoy’s ‘Anna Karenina’, arguably
the best novel ever written, was a most desirable book to start this year with.
Currently, at Part IV of Volume I, I’ve loved every sitting-down for reading
this insightful, moving, detailed, and very well-written, proper novel.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius – yet one needs to carry small
books in-between to fill in the gaps left by reading big, exhaustive books.
Aurelius’s rules for good living, dying, and overall, a good life, this book is
one of the most cherished and objectively helpful book that could be recommended.
2 – this week’s articles
A guide to thesis writing and living @newyorker – talking about
the half-a-decade old book of Italian author Umberto Eco’s ‘How to write a thesis’,
this article explores the life lessons found within this guide-book. Like how
your thesis will remain with you your whole life, or how thesis writing helps
you believe in your voice’s integrity, so on.
The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes @nytimes – found guilty
on four out of eleven charges of fraud, Elizabeth Holmes of ‘theranos’ start-up
company, was a hot topic in the past week. This article explores the promises
and the tragedy, or rather contempt-worthy failing results, of Holmes and her
revolutionary blood-testing tech.
In defense of C.S. Lewis @theatlantic – I wanted to know more
about Lewis, since I’m reading this theologian book ‘The problem of pain’ these
days, and this article, contradictorily, exposed the unpopular sides of the
author rather than championing his good sides. A look at the often times bigoted
works of C.S. Lewis.
3 – favorite songs and books from 2021, and resolutions for
2022
A lits of cautionarily vague resolutions for 2022:
Resolutions 2022: slow
down, dude
4 - some YouTube videos recommended
Nature or nurture? @then&now – a deep dive into the very
roots of how we are formed as distinct human beings, from the science of genes
to epigenetic theory of environmental influence. A must watch.
5 – this week’s quote
Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake. Our
fires are damped, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small part
of our physical and mental resources. Stating the thing broadly, the human
individual lives far within his limits.
William James