About Arjav Poudel

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The Good Life Game

 

 

 

Arjav Poudel
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Covid, Luck, Boris Johnson

In April of this year, I read one of the many articles orbiting the stratosphere of Western Media. It was all about  Boris Johnson and his terrible run of ‘bad luck’ since becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The piece began by promptly declaring how Johnson had been on the fast track to becoming one of the most successful leaders in Commonwealth history. After securing an unassailable majority victory in the parliamentary election – thus winning the stance on Brexit – he oversaw the restoration of power-sharing in Northern Ireland after a hiatus spanning three years. His popularity with the people was on an unprecedented upward trend. His personal life became no less envious after getting engaged to his girlfriend at the time, Carrie Symonds. The pair have since been blessed with a son – Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson.

Fast forward a couple of months, and it’s all going to pot.

First, there were the floods which submerged large portions of Britain. People who had previously supported Johnson in his endeavours now engaged in condemning his ‘shambolic’ attempt to resolve the mess. Then followed the embarrassing resignations of both his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, and Sir Philip Rutnam, the senior civil servant who left after butting heads with Priti Patel.

And so arrived COVID-19.

After just 100 days, Coronavirus had already managed to threaten the livelihoods of thousands of British citizens at home and abroad and left the UK facing the highest death toll in Europe. Johnson himself was out of action for a month as his country continued to be battered by ‘the worst crisis since WWII’. Even after his return to Downing Street, the Government has continued to enforce weak legislature and a string of empty promises – many of which have had to be revoked due to fluctuating graphs and inconsistent models reflecting the number of active cases. Percentages have been consulted – not people.

One would expect that the intention of restoring faith and favour toward the figures we elected to lead our nation should be of the utmost priority. But instead of addressing the myriad of issues vis-a-vis lack of planning and emergency protocol, Westminster had but one thing to say when confronted with the Prime Minister’s relative incompetency.

“Nobody deserves such bad luck .”

-Michael Heseltine, British politician

Of course, I feel that current affairs have had a massive influence on Boris and his decision making. Having suffered at the hand of the pandemic himself, perhaps he has gained a little insight into the world’s plight. My heart goes out to him, and anyone else who has had to endure this disease. My family and I tested positive for COVID during the early stages of lockdown – a thoroughly unpleasant experience that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

But, I mean, really? We’re blaming ‘luck?’

Has this – or the lack thereof – really been a major theme behind the Prime Minister’s dwindling prosperity. The article mentioned above presents conflicting opinions concerning the validity of the concept. Therefore, in order to formulate a personal opinion, you should be prepared to critically assess both sides of this ‘luck’ argument.

The way I see it, we didn’t get hit with a one-in-billions risk. The reality comprised of many smaller risks building upon each other. A virus was transferred from animal to human. This is not a new concept. Those humans then interacted with other people, igniting the firecrackers of mass contagion.

Widespread bad news tends to be largely suppressed for as long as possible. Most governments opted to believe it would be contained – a classic case of denial. Incidentally, they didn’t respond fast enough. Lack of communication paired with crippling indifference. Sound familiar?

Utter pandemonium ensued.

It’s no secret that the sheer gravity of the situation caught our leaders wildly off-guard. The only response deemed ‘proper’ enough under the circumstances was to issue a total lockdown. Desperate times do indeed call for desperate measures. So businesses are shuttered, the economy grinds to a sickening halt, and anyone over the age of 65 has been told to fear for their lives. If we’d acted sooner – if we’d just taken some well-intentioned advice from the scientists and public health experts – the consequences, although still notable, would be much less severe. But when a problem starts off – literally – on the other side of the world, it evidently takes some time to register that it may one day contaminate home soil. Unfortunately, a little extra thinking time has since cost the planet far too many lives.

The nature of this pandemic was – and continues to be – barely understood. But at least now, instead of just skulking through the avenues of ‘what-if? we’re actually doing something to get out of this rut.

But is it the right thing? As a nation, are we really learning from the error of our ways, or simply shaking our fists at fate for dealing us the shoddiest of hands?

Alas, things are no better across the pond. President Trump has consistently used Twitter to trumpet his views on what he refers to as the ‘China Virus’. He’s since cut U.S funding toward the WHO (World Health Organisation) and bizarrely recommended the public inject and/or ingest disinfectant as a means of killing SARS-COV-2. Yet another example of delusional wreaking havoc from its societal highchair. Poison, at the heart of the free world.

The UK Prime Minister contracting this disease should not come as a surprise either, after assessing the amount of contact he had with others prior to infection. As for his trip to intensive care, this stems from a combination of factors ranging from the viral load he received to the pre-existing prowess of his immune system. Even the fact he continued to over-exert himself after becoming infected contributes heavily toward how acute his symptoms were.

As mentioned before, this international crisis is still a grey area, therefore we must understand more about COVID-19 before deciding whether this was an anomalous blip or an inevitable outcome, provoked by the accumulation of poor choices over time. Such affairs are best assessed in retrospect. It’s called history.

There are many contesting opinions when it comes to luck. I personally perceive the entire notion as a psychological ‘comfort blanket’, sought after by those who dare not accept that higher powers won’t intervene for the sake of raffle tickets.

That is not to say that I don’t enjoy entertaining the fallacy every now and again. It feels undeniably good to ‘be lucky’. All the same, we are quick to proclaim unforeseen, calamitous events a result of ‘bad luck’ whenever it suits us. As such, ‘luck’ becomes a term used exclusively at our convenience, as opposed to something tangible enough to justify a belief in its own right.

The world is woven from billions of lives, every strand crossing every other. What we call premonition is just movement of the web. If you could attenuate to every strand of quivering data, the future would be entirely calculable. As inevitable as mathematics.

-Sherlock, BBC Edition

Probability eliminates predestination when every roll of the dice is accounted for.

Those who seem to be blessed by divine provenance are not ‘lucky by default’. They are simply better at perceiving an omnipresent web of opportunity. For they are a part of it.

 

Further Reading:

‘Nobody deserves such bad luck as Boris’ – The Day (article)

Arjav Poudel
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The Snowball Effect: from Productivity to World peace?

The following idea is inspired by a post called The Concept of a Flywheel, by Ali Abdaal. Check out his amazing site here.

 

Imagine rolling a snowball up a very steep hill. It gets very tiring very quickly. Sometimes the snowball can even slip a little, costing precious steps. The process can feel like its taking forever. Until eventually — irrevocably — you reach the summit.

You and your sphere on top of the world.

You still for a moment for that epic view, glancing down at a path you’ve rather painstakingly paved.

Of course, many will emerge from their homes and will be in complete awe of the ball of big and cold. The impossibly tenacious fruits of your labour will be a true spectacle to behold. Through success, you are inspiring others to go on their own adventures. Make their own snowballs.

But first of all, why the hell would they — or even you — be compelled to act in such a way? Like, are you really that bored? What’s the point?

Here’s the point.

The hill represents a challenge. Any challenge. Something that seems almost insurmountable at first. Nevertheless, it could be a whole lot easier without having to bear a heavy load too. But that snowball is essential. It makes up you. Your skills, experiences and lessons learned, all bundled up and fitted tight in a frozen package. You’d expect it to be heavy. Anything otherwise would serve as an insult to your character.

Sure, you could climb without it. But how would you expect to leave your mark on the mountain? Footprints disappear over time. You need something grander –  a balled-up version of yourself to roll along the unforgiving ground. To go in without one would be to go in half-hearted. And you want to beat this thing with all your heart, don’t you?

In the end, it’s actually easier to throw everything you’ve got at your obstacles — up to and including a gigantic snowball. But if were all so easy, then it wouldn’t be called ‘challenge’. In the beginning, it’s hard to find the will to don jackets and scarves, let alone initiate the climb. Many give up before they even reach halfway up the hill. It’s laughably easy to become deterred as the ‘snowball’ slips a little on the journey upward. But the lesson that everyone learns- should they choose to keep going — is that there will come a time where reward becomes assured.

It is only a question of when.

Unfortunately, the timing is less easy to make out. Often, the summit can be lost in the clouds or veiled by adverse weather. As such, we can’t always have a grid reference for every destination, never mind an ETA. In essence, you’ll know when you’ve conquered the mountain when mastery of a habit or skill has been attained. When both confidence and competence reach the stars.

POV from the top:

The snowball has grown fat with everything you’ve learned and done on your trek.

Now how about putting that to good use?

You have a choice. Sit and admire the view forever, or make a difference with what you’ve gained. You’ve already done most of the grunt work getting the thing up the hill. All that’s needed is a tiny shove to turn your new skills from dormant to active. It’s a long way down.

Of course, the snowball might not make it all the way. It may hit a rock and be reduced to powder. You might hurl everything you’ve got, and realise that it’s still not enough. But to give up when you’re tantalisingly close should be unthinkable. The return outweighs the risk. If the snowball can be so much as even nudged in the right direction, your struggle could harbour immense results. But sitting on your frostbitten fingers won’t help. And — if you did choose to take it easy — all that effort would count for nothing. It would melt away without a trace. Also, if you think about it, the expedition never ends at the top. It ends where it began. Full circle. So time to act.

One last push.

Initially, the result is more than a little underwhelming. The sheer mass of the thing means it takes some time for the snowball to shift into high gear. This lag between when the snowball first starts moving and when it reaches terminal velocity equates to the time taken to overcome friction and the inertia of such a gargantuan object. Such a lag exists for us too. When trying to get good at something new, people feel like their proficiency should be proportional to the number of hours they put in. But this is not the case. 

In Atomic Habits, James Clear stresses how effort compounds over time. Just keep watching the snowball — keep sticking to the things that you want to improve upon — and you’ll see why he’s so, so right. Much like all of the upward journey for the snowball, the earliest part of the way down is equally agonising to witness. But not for long. Because — when enough momentum is generated — the shift in speed happens very fast (almost imperceptibly so). When enough hours are put into getting better at something, the shift in skill happens very fast.

Almost imperceptibly so.

After surpassing a certain threshold, the snowball starts to accumulate speed and mass. It grows bigger. It gets faster. All at a seemingly exponential rate. Before long, the snowball is hurtling full-pelt down the hill as the velocity, magnitude, and momentum all increase like crazy. It becomes an unstoppable force.

Unfortunately — as is the case with gravity — the snowball will undoubtedly come to a natural stop at the bottom. The fun and games on the hill are no more. You’ve acquired a new skill, and it’s just flattened the curve in impeccable style.

But there will be another to climb. Infinitely more to be learned -just don’t expect it’ll be any easier than the first time around. Nevertheless, you’ll pull through. You and your snowball shall conquer the hill. And another. And another. And another. In time, overcoming this vertical challenge becomes part of your lifestyle — part of your identity. The hugeness of the snowball will erode your mountains into hills. That hill will become a mound. That mound will turn into a pothole. That pothole will become just another bump in the road.

The challenges you once deemed unassailable, now a bump in the road.

One day, the snowball will have no obstacles. Nothing left to block out the sunshine. Pursuing novel heights in such a manner will perpetually redefine the parameters of what you believe to be possible.

Wait, it gets better.

People saw your first snowball, remember? They couldn’t look away. And soon everyone takes it upon themselves to follow suit, undertaking equally arduous, equally personal missions. And others follow. More and more copy them. Until finally, everyone has snowballs of their own, growing bigger and better by the second. Making progress and breaking boundaries as one.

But here’s the biggest thing.

There exists an impossible mountain. A peak made up of many smaller, yet extremely rugged ridges. Conquering this would be the achievement of a lifetime. but here’s the thing: it really is impossible for a person and their snowball to tackle. Many good, honest people have tried. All have failed. But what if it became a group effort?

What if everyone banded together after conquering their personal mountains? If all the snowballs combined to form one ultra snowball. It would be an absolute behemoth, capable of crushing any obstacle in its wake. Propelled by the push of billions of like-minded individuals that congregate to commemorate their shared dreams and values. Eradicating disease, feeding the hungry, housing the poor, climate change, ending discrimination. Those are but a few of the terrifying ridges lining the impossible mountain.

We fight. We struggle. Everyone sweats and synchronises their shoves.

The ultra snowball inches forward. Incremental steps. No matter how long it takes, these people have promised to stand by each other till the end. Everyone from plumbers to presidents pushing as a unit. The ball is rolling.

Reaching for the stars takes an age. But we get there. One by one we look into each other’s eyes. Every single step we have ever taken toward overcoming their demons has been leading to this moment.

And off she pops.

Breaking down the barriers. The people of the world watch in awe as the progeny of their plight restores salvation by conquering the mountain to end all mountains. Now all can know the road that has been carved in its wake.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together.”

-African proverb

At first, we take on our own mountains. While peaks get bigger, the boulders of white play catch-up. As the problems grow in shape and size, so too must the numbers to challenge the number of people to push. It’s something that takes a lifetime to get going. But — once it does — builds on itself and becomes:

Unstoppable.

Invincible.

Inevitable.

Transcending new heights — from productivity to peace. The snowball effect.

 

A force for change.

 

 

 

 

Arjav Poudel
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Distraction is Good?

When you hit pause on a video, the screen doesn’t go black. It freezes that last frame you viewed and leaves that image on display. You might ask why that’s relevant, to which I’ll say this:

Contrary to popular belief, when we vacate our desks to stretch our legs, we don’t ‘switch off’. At least, not entirely. While we may feel absent-minded, our subconscious is still going over what we just worked on. Playing and replaying the last ‘fruitful’ thing we did.  This means that even the nature of the disruption does not particularly matter, as the freeze-frame image of the task at hand is still very much active within our heads. Our brains are forever churning out fresh ideas and solutions which will quickly flood in after getting back to work – just press ‘Play’.

There’s a reason we are inclined to be deep and pensive behind the shower curtain. A reason why genius often spurs from the boring day-to-day. Intellectuals have often had their best ideas from an introspective stroll through the moors, or some quality musing over hard-boiled eggs.

This reason is called diffuse thinking.

 

Diffuse Mode

Diffuse thinking takes a look at the entire system as a whole, helping us form an overview of the subject. It occurs when you allow your mind to wander freely and start making connections at random. Unlike focused thinking, diffuse thinking is all about harnessing the power of the ‘effective interruptions’ you take. This mode of thought does not occur in any specific area of the brain, rather it stimulates neuronal activity across the entire cortex.

And therein lies the beauty: diffuse thinking enables us to draw ourselves away from the level of abstraction from which our minds tend to operate, and link new discoveries with preexisting models of the world around us. Usually, such thinking occurs when doing activities that aren’t directly related to work. While your conscious mind is relaxed, your brain operates seamlessly in the background to generate novel solutions to a problem or expose a link between ideas that had previously been eluding you.

 

Focus Mode

On the other hand, focused thinking also boasts clear benefits. With focused thinking, your brain processes very specific information deeply. This is useful when dealing with the assimilation of complex information or when we seek mastery of a difficult skill.

For example, a chess rookie cannot aspire to beat an expert within a single afternoon of semi-focused study. Mastering a game like chess requires hours upon hours of deliberate practice. Very, very focused thinking. With diffuse thinking, the brain analyses much more information at once, but in less depth.

 

The Einstellung Effect

But here’s the catch when it comes to constant focus: Prolonged periods of ‘concentration’ can swiftly become a bad thing when it comes to problem-solving. The longer we keep our brains in focused mode, the more we experience tunnel vision— the lateral networking of ideas becomes an impossible ideal.

This phenomenon – the Einstellung effect – reduces our ability to define the edges/boundaries of the problems we face. That’s why it’s actually an ingenious thing to draw ourselves away from the task at hand and let the diffuse mode run its course for a while. Taking breaks actually allows us to relieve the cognitive load by temporarily putting work on the back burner. This particular burner may yield the smallest flame, but for as long as it’s on, the challenge is still simmering away at the back of the hob. 

This way, the odds of experiencing ‘burnout’ – an extreme case of mental/emotional fatigue, are limited due to the fact we are electing to skip around the fringes of our work on occasion as opposed to perpetually immersing ourselves in it.

A laser with a wider beam versus one with a more concentrated beam can both cut through most materials. It all comes down to what sort of incision you want to make. Different lasers would work better for different situations.

We can use the analogy of lasers to rationalise why both focused and diffuse mode are both such powerful tools. A combination of both types of pulse will yield the best results just as utilising both modes of thinking can help you understand a subject better. For this to be most effective though, you should decide in advance whether you want to focus on the trees themselves, or the forest as a whole. It’s the difference between exam specifics and the exam specification.

 

Best of Both Worlds

First, we should use the focused mode of thinking to drill into the core fundamentals of a topic. Then we use the diffuse thinking to flit around our newfound knowledge, soak it up and channel it toward forming connections to the knowledge we already have in our possession.

Afterwards, we can dive back into focused mode and really zone in on the largest, most useful connections we made. This forms the backbone in terms of grasping the subject. Once the process has been repeated a few times, our brains become the best sponges.

So next time you’re about to scold yourself for wanting to watch the season finale of Money Heist, just remember this post. Recall the effect that taking a step back and doing other things has on your long-term productivity. Your brain is an espresso machine – ready and waiting for your return to work with a steaming mug of freshly ground innovation.

When it comes to thought, employ the best of both worlds. Embrace the endless toilet theorems, hot-tub hypotheses and concepts running on caffeine. Embrace distraction itself. You will succeed because of such breaks, not in spite of them.

 

Something to think about:

Does the odd distraction really prove so destructive toward work ethic? However ‘prolific’ you already consider yourself, the answer may still surprise you.

 

 

Arjav Poudel
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Don’t Cancel Culture

Picture this:

You’ve been assigned the task of preparing dinner for some family function. The secret behind its preparation has been closely guarded for generations. After many years spent indulging in this delicacy, the time has finally come for you to learn the ways. But before you are handed the recipe, there is one clear instruction: execute each step to the letter.

At first, you clutch the ancient document with reverence as the ineffable nature sinks in. But the gape quickly turns to a frown as you unfurl the scroll. The parchment drapes around your heels.

That’s a lot of steps.

Every imperative just added to the overkill. Also, most of the steps seemed to be about just one of the ingredients. A certain rare vegetable – which smelled and tasted awful on its own. The goal was to make people eat this thing, so you conclude that most of the instructions must be about enhancing the taste of this particular vegetable.

But even so, was it really necessary to wash the roots 6 times over?

 

Defying Wisdom

Suddenly, an idea strikes.

You decide to scan the method from start to finish, finding extra evidence to suggest the extra print really was just a roundabout way of removing the unpleasant taste. In your eyes, this validates your hypothesis – hence there should exist a more pragmatic approach to this dish.

You experiment with alternative procedures – hashing out most of the many labour-intensive/time-consuming steps. Instead of boiling the roots for 40 minutes, why not go for 20? As for the washing, 3 times could be plenty. Thanks to your initiative, dinner is served in four hours rather than four days. And you find that with a shorter, more straightforward process, it still tastes divine.

Everyone tucks in, bar Grandma. She is a guardian of the fabled recipe and doesn’t seem to trust the relative lack of time and effort that went into carrying it out. Therefore she – despite incessant nagging from her progeny – retires to bed a little earlier. 

 

Paying the Price

The following morning, everyone is too sick to leave their rooms. And there can be no doubt why.

As it turned out, the sour ingredient didn’t just taste foul – but was also quite toxic. As such, it required heavy-duty preparation to render it fit for consumption. Marinade with a pinch of seasoning was successful in tricking the taste buds, but the digestive tracts proved less easy to fool.

The repetitive washing had been paramount. Everything had been paramount. You’d skimmed over the instructions in your haste for efficiency, thus every crucial aspect managed to evade your attention. As you lie in a pond of cold sweat, you sense someone enter the bedroom.

“Told you so,” whispers Grandma.

 

Understanding Culture

So here’s a question: Just how smart are we?

Humans have done well, yes? Surely the fact we’re the only ‘known’ intelligent life-form correlates to some substantial degree of evolutionary prowess?

But according to cultural psychologist Joseph Henrich, humans are not as bright as we think. He posits that, if you remove us from the culture and environment we’ve learned to mature and operate within, we’d fail to even grasp the basics.

To support his argument, he references European explorers who die in the middle of deserts, jungles, or arctic wastes despite the fact many generations of hunter-gatherers managed to survive and thrive in equally inhospitable conditions. If our prosperity as a species truly came from an innate ability to problem solve, analyse, and rationally develop novel solutions to novel challenges, the explorers should have left with barely a scratch. Their horrid fate suggests that intelligence alone may not be the key to humanity’s progress.

Tradition, on the other hand, is arguably the stepping stone toward understanding what makes us so great.

 

Arrogance Kills Customs

We tend to sneer at how ‘inefficient’ everything used to be. Such negligence may not have as profound an impact on us as chronic food-poisoning, yet our adamant dismissal of culture is no cause for celebration. Culture survives the test of time. It is a vessel for the most ancient, fundamental ideas that shape reality for the better.

Such axioms would have once been common knowledge, discussed freely and enforced religiously throughout the ages. An existing network of customs would generate many new roads to explore. 

However, the resin from which spawns innovation also yields something darker; ignorance. Ignorance for values that we now only associate with half-forgotten proverbs; enemy to the cold, hard logic humankind ostensibly now favours. It is fast becoming the norm to disregard traditional activities with the belief that their archaic nature could carry little relevance in the high-octane drama of the contemporary world.

 

The ‘Now’ Bias

Today, the internet has shifted virtually all knowledge beneath our fingertips. Information flows at the speed of light. Social media is now playing a principal role in the day-to-day lives of well over half the world’s population. Your newsfeed nurtures a desire for the present – the ‘now’ bias  – but at the cost of curbing respect for the past.

On the other hand, re-inventing the status quo can be a necessary step toward the advancement of civilisation. People have understandably mixed feelings regarding conformity. It is often cited that true brilliance only shows after discarding the owner’s manual. 

But whilst relying too heavily on custom can indeed prove detrimental for some aspects of overall progress, our relentless persistence for ‘optimisation’ can make us lose sight of what got us here in the first place. In confusing sagacity for trivia, we are failing to capitalise on the lessons our forebears learned long ago. We are condemning ourselves to learn it the ‘hard way’, making the same mistakes they once did. Easily avoidable mistakes, had we just taken time to blast through the haze of ignorance descending over our minds.

Had we just listened.

“History never repeats itself. Man always does.”

-Voltaire

 

Breakthrough vs Big Picture

We should look to take wisdom fully on board. To integrate seasoned culture and experience with round-the-clock breakthroughs. Because in a future of such uncertainty – such raw potential – we need something solid to lean on. And what better support pillar than customs that have stood their ground against the evolutionary tide?

In a world now governed by the hour and minute hands, invaluable knowledge is timeless. Tradition should always have a place, if not in our hearts, then at least in our heads.  It’s data that has been distilled into tried and tested practices –  and for our benefit. There lies a fine line between reading ahead and outright throwing history to the dogs. The future depends upon whether or not we toe that boundary.

Finally, here’s an idea that summarises the gist of this post. It tells us not to remove or change something if we can’t understand why it should be there in the first place:

 

Chesterton’s Fence

The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to [a fence] and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.

-G.K. Chesterton, The Thing

 

Further Information:

Tradition is Smarter than You Are (article)

Jordan Peterson – The Arrogance of The Intellect (video)

Arjav Poudel
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Stoicism (how to choose the Right Banana)

Here’s a lesser-known fact on your’s truly: I don’t like bananas.

I mean, I’ll have one (sometimes), though the amount of pleasure I gain from it is underwhelming at best. Suffice it to say, excessive potassium consumption isn’t really on the bucket list.

However, in the case of fair trade bananas, the sheer pleasure from buying and eating one becomes incrementally higher due to my knowledge that those who toil to stock our supermarket shelves will likely benefit from my actions.

It is important to note that how they fare in the long run is out of my hands. Nevertheless, the small act of purchasing a fair trade commodity means I’m able to participate in an initiative that improves the overall livelihood of these people. A productive effort, helping turn their lemons into lemonade. Even if an individual contribution toward fair trade only improves conditions for a plantation worker by a negligible amount, the compounding effect of aggregate consumption ultimately sends a far greater sum to wherever is needed.

To understand the reasoning behind this further, we must consider the battle between Hedonism versus Stoicism.

 

The Battle for Happiness

Hedonism is the moral proposal that pleasure (self-indulgence) is the proper aim of human life, thus pain should be avoided at any cost. Alas, eating a banana – however ‘good’ it may be to do so – does not offer me an ounce of pleasure – my tastebuds feel a whole lot of pain instead. Hedonism cannot really be at play here.

Stoicism on the other hand – in its most empirical form – seems to reason that happiness can be nurtured by drawing a line separating everything that lies within your power, from everything that doesn’t.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

–Serenity Prayer, 1934, by American Theologist Reinhold Niebhur

The origins of this prayer go back to Stoic Philosopher Epictetus. James Stockdale, a fighter-jet pilot during the Vietnam War, spent seven and a half years in Hoa Lo prison after being shot down by Viet Cong soldiers. He was often tortured and put into isolation. Stockdale not only survived the ordeal but was also able to coordinate resistance from inside the prison itself. He did all this by simply realising and acting upon the fact that, although he had no control over how the guards treated him, his response remained a personal choice.

This is an example – albeit a rather extreme one – of adopting an attitude of “equanimity” to whatever life launches your way. Stockdale’s efforts not only allowed him to stay alive but also kept his darkest thoughts at bay.

 

Acknowledging your limits

On the subject of hedonism vs stoicism, I feel I make more of an effort to practice the latter. As of yet, I do not have the means to travel across the globe and distribute substantial pay to the masses. However, I can walk into Tesco and buy a Fairtrade banana. In this sense, I can feel ‘happy’ about that as I’m doing something inside my sphere of direct influence. Consequently, free falling into a void of despair after Trump’s refusal to admit defeat in the Election – as seen from a TV screen in my living room – is not allowed.

But if only I could go and fix it all…

No.

Nice thought, but no. An entirely unattainable aspiration, global pandemics notwithstanding. Such damning sentiments are a foolproof way to descend into self-loathing – the complete opposite of what we hope to achieve. A potential remedy would be to avoid scouring through social media every 10 seconds for something to cry about.

“What upsets people are not things themselves but their judgements about these things.”

-Epictetus

It stands to reason, therefore, that we must only focus on what we can control – explicitly control – in the present moment. Watch as that sphere of influence expands over time. This approach serves us fundamentally better than, say, spending our free time obsessing over the precarious destiny of Artificial Intelligence.

Granted, like me, you may wish to fashion a career out of this debacle someday. For now, though, let it be someone else’s problem. In drawing that line in the sand, you will be happy.

 

Now go eat that banana.

 

 

Further Reading:

To be happier, focus on what’s in your control. (article)

A Handbook for New Stoics: How to Thrive in a World Out of Your Control (book)

Happy: Why more or less everything is Absolutely Fine – Derren Brown (book)

Arjav Poudel
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Cut, Copy, Cement, Create: The Creativity Blueprint

Be original. One of a kind. Not just the best, but the only.”

 

The Myth

In his book, The Third Door, Alex Banayan informs us that – in a world of ‘VIP Access Only’ – there’s always another way in. Regardless of the problem, there’s always another angle to approach it from. We have to be prepared to either find this entrance or make it. 

There’s a lot that can be said for this. The world’s most creative – history’s best and brightest – have all earned their place in the proverbial hall of fame by taking an idea/concept and running with it till evolutionary makes revolutionary.

If I asked you to summarise the term ‘creativity’, what connotations would spring to mind? My initial thoughts: A blank canvas. Something barren to spew our expressive ideas upon and watch as it coalesces into a self-serving latticework of creation. The expectation is that you are all to just somehow possess the cleanest of slates from which to build an impressive repository of ‘original ideas’. Exclusively from the confines of personal insight and imagination.

It’s just not true.

 

The Dream House

Consider this: You want to build a house. Money has been taken out of the equation, leaving you free to initiate work on paradise. It’s a project that will take a lifetime to picture, plan, and produce.

Fortunately, the building site happens to come with some pre-existing foundations to build upon. These foundations have been chiselled at for the entire existence of the human race. The stonework has been conceptualised by the most accomplished of visionaries and established by the most effective of builders. A solid head start, right?

Almost, but you want this house to be your own. As such, every granule should be taken from your own sandbank of concepts. So, would it really be ‘honourable’ to poach a ready-made foundation? Would it not instead be righteous to start from square one and try your best to construct a base that matches, if not exceeds, the calibre of the one already available.

Here’s the problem: You only have a lifetime to build this house. Just 1. The foundations you see before you have been refined and iterated upon throughout the evolution of humanity. The purest accumulation of thoughts and ideas poured into a cement mixer and laid to set. Moreover, laying foundations is just the preliminary step. If you spend 30 years perfecting it, you’ve still got a whole house to build. And, let’s face it, could a 30-year lather of concrete and cement really compare to the rock-hard foundations that have been already been subjected to millennia of enhancement?

Probably not.

 

Liquid to Concrete

So, what has this all got to do with creativity?

The ‘house’ that will take you a lifetime to build is an analogy to describe the product of time spent learning and growing as a person. The hopes and dreams and musings of individuals go into the walls. The passion and will to enact these pursuits make up the floors. The rooms are then filled to the brim with novel ideas and sparks of promise, each with varying probabilities of success. In fact, the house is so laden with ‘worldview’ that it would require an infallible support system to preserve its structural integrity.

This ‘base’ of wisdom – like the building – can also be strengthened over time. However, wisdom is accrued from the far-reaching insights of many, not few. And certainly not one. We need a framework of extensive ideas from the widest possible variety of sources. Liquid thoughts equal concrete base.

Building this house alone and entirely from the bottom up is not only a highly impractical undertaking but an incredibly foolish one at that. To do so would be to disregard the collective experiences of our ancestors. Their insight has compounded over time and will continue to do so, ad infinitum.

 

Redefining Conventional Wisdom

Here’s what I’m really trying to say. Creativity isn’t about starting from 0 words on a sheet of A4. It’s about highlighting the most thought-provoking content, pasting it into your files, then editing as if the world depended on it. Because it does. The end product would shadow the initial structure – the gist of the parent idea, followed by 3 paragraphs of size 12 Times New Roman typesetting. But the content should be unrecognizable. Some might even say unique.

Take the foundation that’s already set in stone. Shift blueprints and half-conceived thought experiments onto your desk of originality. In doing so, you are setting yourself up for a future of eureka moments and avoiding the existential crisis that is a house falling apart. Cut, Copy, Cement, Create.

 

That’s real vision, from the bottom up.

 

 

Further Reading:

The Third Door – Alex Banayan (book)

A Technique for Producing Ideas – Farnam Street (article)

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