I read two brilliant books in the last few months – Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Pérez and The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff. Both books are concerned about data, but differently. One about its lack, and the other about its abundance. But my thoughts were further afield, inspired by the first book’s finding that including women in decisions makes better business sense.
The end of the year provides a good excuse to reflect on the way forward. In my search for knowing the reasons behind a change of heart on the place to retire in after work, I stumbled upon my own narrative shift. That led me to thinking about signalling at large, and the impact it has on the lives we lead.
Travel, to me, and specially in the recent past, has been a way not just to journey to new places, but inward too. The last year has been a watershed on both counts, more so the latter. There are definitely miles to go, but I believe that I have made some advances on traveling light.
It’s half time, and as I look back and look ahead, I realise that what I am looking for doesn’t really change – meaning. It’s still a choice though, on how to approach it – “whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal”.
Our reactions to the crimes committed by others is influenced by our (non) understanding of the brain. While we might have some levels of leniency built in for those who are certifiably ill, we are nowhere close to resolving the conflict in the case of those who are (probably) suffering from equally complex mental instability, but only at a point in time.