Provoke the Woke?
Across the world, brands are waking up to the need to be part of larger cultural narratives. But being ‘woke’ brings its own challenges.
Other Minds
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is a subject that continues to fascinate me, and that’s largely why I picked up this book. The author does start off well, pitching cephalopods as an independent experiment by nature in the evolution of large brains, and there are some very interesting bits – subjective experience, sentience and consciousness. But the detours on octopus and cuttlefish are likely to put you off unless you’re an ardent fan of the creatures.
Success measures
Kaamyaab, a movie that I immensely liked for many reasons, once again brought up thoughts on how one defines success. Even when one has moved past societal notions and is only locking horns with self-image, the path is reasonably unclear. I thought I had moved ahead by a step, but came upon a bunch of challenges there too!
Principles: Life and Work
Quite a few of the blogs and newsletters I read have made repeated references to this book for a while now. It turned out to be a mixed bag for me. The ‘Life’ section, I enjoyed, though there could be some confirmation bias at play. The ‘Work’ section, though a rendition of the same principles as the earlier section, were reasonably off-putting when applied to a group of people. But it’s still worth a read for insights, framing, and perspectives.
Signals, Trade-offs, Outcomes, Perceptions
In life, and in work, there is a balance that can theoretically be achieved between popularity and prestige. But as time passes, one is more often than not, bound to follow one of these tracks. To the extent that it almost becomes output vs outcome. In a world of signals and perceptions, is one path better than the other, contexts aside?