Hey Everyone,
I have been trying to think more critically about any and all arguments I come across, on a range of topics. (I'll leave out the specifics for now).
And it turns out: my thinking is ineffective. I have a tendency to accept things at face value, especially from authority figures I admire. And perhaps worse, I shy away from doing my own critical thinking.
Against this backdrop, one of the things I am now leaning more heavily on is using writing as a thinking tool.
We tend to think of writing as a tool to present our thoughts and ideas. But, it's much more effective to also use it as a tool to build them. Because writing tends to force clarity and it externalizes our muddled thoughts into a form that's more conducive to examination.
Writing is a tool for thinking!
"I think it's far more important to write well than most people realize. Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them."
~ From this brief essay by Paul Graham on Writing, Briefly.
// Readings
How To Take Smart Notes: 10 Principles to Revolutionize Your Note-Taking and Writing
Tiago Forte | 32 mins
I loved the principles covered in this post, extracted from the book "How To Take Smart Notes". Some of them provided new perspectives and will definitely influence my workflow going forward. The biggest new ideas for me were:
- Organize notes by the context you would want to find them in (or use them in) rather than by where you found them or which topic they might belong to.
- Standardization enables creativity
- Nobody ever starts from scratch. Everything is a remix. (See below :)Summary: If we build up a workflow to create smart and interconnected notes, and consider writing as our most valued output, over time, they will make it easier for us to produce extraordinary work.
Writing is Thinking: Learning to Write with Confidence
Steph Smith | 18 mins
In this post, Steph gives a tour of her writing process. I love how it gives a concrete instantiation of some of the principles above.
“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard."
- David McCullough
Lying to survive: Dalits in urban life
Gauri Nepali | 7 mins
One of the things I have been trying to educate myself about is the oppressive Caste System of our society. Specifically, its history and current form. I haven't made much headway apart from learning that Ambedkar is necessary reading on the topic. At least as a start. That Gandhi was somewhat of a casteist early on (though this seems to be a very contentious issue). That the term "Dalit" was created to give a tag to the movement for the marginalized communities. It was needed in order to not have the movement be tagged with pejoratives forced upon them.
This particular article highlights how Dalits have to lie in order to blend into the urban life. And how that lie stays with them, haunting them throughout their lives. Also, how in some "progressive" circles, people are proud of their children learning to "not discriminate the lower castes", failing to realize that by using the term "upper" and "lower" castes, they are still reinforcing the oppressive hierarchy.
// Videos
Everything is a Remix
Kirby Ferguson | 37 mins
Led Zeppelin, Star Wars, the Macintosh, the Gutenberg printing press...
"Everything is a remix because creativity itself carries the basic acts involved in remixing: copy, transform, and combine. "This was a fascinating watch. Had some food-for-thoughts. For instance, learning involves copying. When learning the fundamentals, we must start out by copying. Also some history lesson: how the laws around Copyright and Patents were created for the greater good but have now lost touch with that original purpose.
Anyway, I guess it's befitting that I pulled this from some other person's (Visakan's) bookmarks.
// Tech
Fast Software, the Best Software
Craig Mod | 11 mins
In this interesting essay, Craig goes over the virtues of fast software and how fast often means good software.
"Ultimately, to be fast is to be light. And to be light is to lessen the burden on someone or some task. This is the ultimate goal: For our pocket supercomputers to lessen burdens, not increase them. For our mega-powered laptops to enable a kind of fluency — not battle, or struggle — of creation."
// Beautiful and Might-be-Useful
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
To find that word for that particular sorrow of your heart.
Onism is a frequent visitor of my heart.
// Stories and Poems
A Temporary Matter
Jhumpa Lahiri | 20 mins | Short Story
Such a beautiful story! Perfect build up. And the ending...
What I Didn't Know Before
Ada Limón | 1 min | Poem
Was the existence of this lovely poem.
// Music
So cool! Maybe listen to the original too ;)
Beautiful. :)
// Wholesome
That’s it!
Do reply with your thoughts on any of these. Will be delighted to receive them :)
With Love,
Bijay
(P.S: If you know anyone who might enjoy these letters, do share it with them! Ciao).
That "Michael Leunig for these hard times." was beautifully wholesome. Thanks for sharing. :)