Book Summaries Summary of "Sophie's World" Introduction "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder is a unique novel that combines fictional narrative with an introduction to Western philosophy. Through the story of 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen, readers embark on a comprehensive journey through philosophical thought from the pre-Socratics to the 20th century. The novel'
Book Summaries Summary of "Four Thousand Weeks" Introduction: The Startling Truth of Our Finite Time Oliver Burkeman's "Four Thousand Weeks" presents a radically different approach to time management. The title refers to the approximately 4,000 weeks that make up an 80-year human lifespan—a startlingly small number that immediately puts our existence
Book Summaries Summary of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" Core Premise Mark Manson's "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" presents a counterintuitive approach to living a good life. Rather than pursuing positivity at all costs, Manson argues that we should embrace our limitations, uncertainties, and failures. The book challenges the modern self-help
Book Summaries Summary of "The Mosquito" Timothy C. Winegard's "The Mosquito" presents a compelling historical narrative positioning the mosquito as humanity's deadliest predator, responsible for killing an estimated 52 billion people throughout history—nearly half of all humans who have ever lived. The book meticulously traces how this tiny insect
Book Summaries Summary of "Guns, Germs, and Steel" Central Thesis and Framework Jared Diamond's groundbreaking work addresses "Yali's Question" about why Europeans developed more "cargo" (material wealth and technology) than New Guineans and other societies. Diamond rejects racial and cultural explanations, instead demonstrating how environmental and geographical factors created different
homepage TIL: React Server Components It's cool to see how things have evolved in React server-side capabilities. This sums it up: "This new application architecture combines the simple “request/response” mental model of server-centric Multi-Page Apps with the seamless interactivity of client-centric Single-Page Apps, giving you the best of both worlds. React
Book Summaries Summary of "The Logic of Political Survival" Core Puzzle and Framework "The Logic of Political Survival" addresses a fundamental paradox in politics: leaders who promote peace and prosperity often lose power quickly, while those who create corruption and misery frequently endure in office. For example, Winston Churchill was voted out immediately after WWII despite his
Book Summaries Summary of "48 Laws of Power" I told a friend: "Don't read this book; at most, read the summary and then try to forget what you just read. " Here is the summary. I. Managing Relationships with Superiors Law 1: Never Outshine the Master Make those above you feel comfortably superior. Don'
Book Summaries Summary of "The Dictator’s Handbook" 🧠 Central Premise: Politics is not about the people. It’s about staying in power. Good governance is a happy accident when it aligns with the political self-interest of leaders. Whether in dictatorships, democracies, corporations, or nonprofits, the same survival logic applies: reward your essential backers, punish threats, and control resources.
Book Summaries Summary of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" Dale Carnegie's classic self-help book offers practical advice on human relations that has remained relevant since its original publication in 1936. The book is structured around four main sections, each focusing on key aspects of interpersonal effectiveness. PART ONE: Fundamental Techniques in Handling People Principle 1: Don'
Book Summaries Summary of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" Robert Cialdini's influential work explores six fundamental principles that guide human behavior and can be used to influence people's decisions. Based on extensive research and real-world examples, Cialdini explains how these principles operate automatically in our lives, creating "click, whirr" responses that we often
homepage Path to mastery 1️⃣ Valid Environment Learning requires a clear link between decisions and outcomes. If results are mostly random, there’s little to learn. Counter example: most stock picker. 2️⃣ Repetition with Feedback Skills don’t develop from rare events. Repetition without feedback is useless. Counter example: political commentator. 3️⃣ Timely Feedback
Random Inner peace requires external validation We like to think of inner peace as something self-contained, a state of mind independent of the world. But how can we even define "inner" without an "outer"? Your sense of self is constantly shaped by the external--your relationships, your environment, the way the world responds
Random Cello etudes difficulty table Made this table with ChatGPT, accuracy unclear. Etude Book Etudes (Grouped by Difficulty) Total Difficulty (5–25) Bowing (1–5) Shifting (1–5) Thumb Position (1–5) Double Stops (1–5) Special Techniques (1–5) Lee Op. 31 1–10 5–7 1–2 1–2 1 1 1 11–
Random David Popper Prolific composer, wrote High School of Cello Playing," Opus 73, which I recently started practicing, a fascinating set of etudes. "Apparently the phrase "High School" resulted from a terminology difference due to the original language of the book, and that the original term "Hochschule"
homepage Hume’s law TIL Hume's Is-Ought Problem Hume argued we can't logically move from describing what is (facts) to prescribing what ought to be (morals). Example1: * Is: "Humans can eat meat." * Ought: "Therefore, humans should eat meat." Example2: * Is: "Air travel is convenient."
Random Indo-European vs Semitic culture Jesus was a Jew, and the Jews belong to Semitic culture. The Greeks and the Romans belong to Indo-European culture. European civilization has its roots in both cultures. Related language, related ideas —> culture. Indo-European: world view=good vs evil fight, speculative view of universe, multi gods, visual (cosmic vision,
homepage The real luxuries in life (Not sure who wrote this, but I agree.) The real luxuries in life: time health a quiet mind slow mornings ability to travel rest without guilt a good night's sleep calm and "boring" days meaningful conversations home-cooked meals people you love people who love you back
Book Summaries Summary of "The Almanack of Naval Ravikant" I read this some time ago and re-read it once, writing a summary to recap things that left an impression. The book is organized into largely two parts: Wealth and Happiness. Both are great. Naval's philosophy on happiness combines stoicism and Buddhism, which resonates with me. LIFE FORMULAS
Random Tweets from @AmuseChimp Nov 26, 2018 off, for a long while Nov 26, 2018 the mind takes the heart gives Feb 10, 2018 reading the whole book is not important, understanding what you are reading is Dec 26, 2017 at some point in history only rich people ate sugar, now only poor people
homepage Dopamine There has been a lot of confusing information about dopamine. I finally found a literature review-style article, and here is what I learned.
homepage Life is short, a reading list Reading list (to be updated) * Books * The Almanack of Naval Ravikant * Meditations - Marcus Aurelius * Four Thousand Weeks * How to Live: 27 conflicting answers - Derek Sivers * On the Shortness of Life - Seneca * Essays * Life is short - Paul Graham * The tail end - Tim Urban * Days are long
Random Hiragana and Katakana for Chinese speakers Chinese source/root Table あ行 (A) い行 (I) う行 (U) え行 (E) お行 (O) a あ, 安 ア, 阿 i い, 以 イ, 伊 u う, 宇 ウ, 宇 e え, 衣 エ, 江 o お, 於 オ, 於 ka か, 加 カ, 加 ki き, 幾 キ, 機 ku
