Lessons from Feb 2024

tl;dr of the lessons from this month

A. From the Books I’m Reading

This is Marketing by Seth Godlin

1. On Marketing
   • “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill bit. They want a quarter-inch hole”
   • Decision matrix: Desire for gain or avoidance of loss.
   • Perception drives reality.
2. On user behaviour:
   • People are different. Noone is irrational.
   • Some people are looking for a feeling rather than the logical truth and that’s okay.
   • “Everything that we purchase – every investment, every trinket, every experience – is a bargain. That’s why we bought it. Because it was worth more than what we paid for it.”
3. “Everything gets easier when you walk away from the hubris of everyone. Your work is not for everyone. It’s only for those who signed up for the journey.”
4. “The relentless pursuit of mass will make you boring, because mass means average, it means the centre of the curve, it requires you to offend no one and satisfy everyone.”
5. “When in doubt, assume that people will act according to their current irrational urges, ignoring information that runs counter to their beliefs, trading long-term for short-term benefits and most of all, being influenced by the culture they identify with.”

B. From the Internet

1. Sonder
   The moment when you realise that everyone around you has an internal life as rich and as conflicted as you.
   This feeling leads to greater empathy and kindness about other people.

2. Knowing Thyself
   The discussion of marriage has commenced in my friend-circle. In all the discussions, 1 direction that I keep leaning on is the act of knowing oneself and reconciling with one’s ying and yang.
   We are a generation whitewashed by the latest thing, filling our lives with wants that will outlive our human lives. Our spiritual experiences are the material possessions and artificial scarcity has us running around the world. There is so much noise out there that it drowns the authentic, self-voice deep within.
   You will always be confused, lost and forever in the pursuit of that feeling until you understand yourself well.
   You can’t also let others do that thinking for you, and adopt their conclusions.
   One shortcut that I’ve recently found for this reconciliation of self is writing detailed essays about yourself. I did this activity this month and it made a lot of things clear for myself. The questions that confused me, ideas that eluded me, I could make sense of all of them. Some pointers for the essay: birth, pind (community, village, hometown), history, values, likes, dislikes, wants, needs, aspirations, ambitions, and goals in life.
   Few additional tools to help you with this:
   • Political Identity
     Our lives are run by politics. Of the states’, religion, people, philosophies and much more. The way you think remains constant across these fields.
     Here’s mine if you’re curious.
   • Personality Test
     I gave the 16Personalites test again. It’s one of the best introspective tools to understand yourself better.
     I’m a Commander Personality Type if you’re curious.

3. Circadian rhythm

4. ONDC

5. On Marriage and having kids after 30

6. Prometheus
   According to Greek Mythology, Prometheus was a Titan(older Gods, banished to the underworld) who stole fire from the Olympian Gods and gave it to humanity hence ushering the age of technology and human progression to building civilizations.
   For his crime, he was bound to a rock, with an eagle eating away his liver daily. This was thought of as a form of eternal torment as his liver grew back every single day.

7. Esoteric Knowledge
   Knowledge intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialised interest. Today’s businesses are built on esoteric & copious insights that you only get once you get deeper into one field.

There are a few other topics that I got into thinking all thanks to the illustrious set of friends that I have and I wish to do dedicated articles on all of them. They are:

• Rise of Individualism (v/s Collectivism) is a Broken Capitalist Society Phenomenon
• AI and its impact on Medicine
• Why Now.

Auf wiedersehen!

• 2024 3
• 2023 5