The Book Basement Bulletin #13
The Book Basement Bulletin #13
The lessons we can learn from farmers, the ultimate riches to rags story and how the earth will come to an end - On this week's issue
Opening Thoughts
Good morning / Afternoon / Night or whenever you’re reading this. I finally managed to finish a book this week, I read Deep Work by Cal Newport. This was the most absorbing non-fiction book I’ve read in a while. If you do enjoy reading nonfiction books, how do you consume them? Are you an audiobook person, Kindle, or just a regular old fashion paper/hardback kinda gal? I’m curious to hear! Reply to this email with your performed book format.
Three Things Worth Sharing
As mentioned, after 2 weeks of reading, I finished Deep Work by Cal Newport. This isn’t to say that the book is difficult to read, because it’s not really, it was just my own scheduling that (unfortunately) interfered with my reading. Although Deep Work is orientated towards working-class people, you can still derive a substantial amount of value from reading it as a student, content creator, business owner, artist, etc. Cal Newport gives you solid, evidence-based arguments for the importance of deep work in our current economy, as well as criticizes the importance of our beloved “networking tools” as he likes to call them. One of my favorite insights from this book was the idea of the “any-benefit” approach that many of us take when choosing the online tools that we use. Our mouths water at the idea of something that makes something a little easier, and jump head first into a tool or device without properly weighing its consequences. Newport gives the example of a small, successful farmer who bought a hay-bale maker and then promptly sold it. The machine provides the farmer with free hay to feed his animals. What this individual found, however, was that in the time it took for the hay-bale maker to, well, make hay, he could feed and raise chickens. He also noticed that the tool had some not-so-desirable effects on his soil. Thus, by weighing the pros and cons instead of using the easier, cave-man-like mentality of “new machine good” he yielded better, more productive results. Let’s be like this farmer and approach new tools with an inkling of speculation.
I’ve been on the hunt for new podcasts to listen to, and I recently discovered the Philosophize This! show. So far I’ve gone through three, fascinating and digestible episodes, my favorite of which has been on the Buddha. You learn how this important religious figure came from a background of wealth and commodity, which he decided to leave after a brusque awakening. After questioning those on the path to enlightenment and learning along the way, he takes an extremist approach, which surprisingly, works. You don’t have to be a believer in Buddhism to enjoy listening to this episode. It has inherent, educational, and entertaining value. Choose to learn something new by listening to the story of this notable historical figure.
If the previous listenable nugget of content wasn’t enough, then you should listen to The Tim Ferriss Show with William MacAskill. MacAskill is a philosopher and author, but those two titles seem trivial when you look down his long list of achievements. His ideas on effective altruism and how we can apply it to our lives, careers, and journeys of life really resonated with me. In his episode, he mentioned numerous topics around possible doomsday scenarios for earth, the “longtermism” movement, and many more interesting philosophical arguments for life and career. He also has an equally captivating episode on Ali Abdaal’s Deep Dive podcast where he covers more, and notes his history and experience as a philosopher.
Quote of the Week
“Every man alive was priviledged, there was only one kind of men, the priviledged class. All alike would be condemmed to die one day; his turn too, would come like the others.”
Albert Camus, The Stranger
Many of us (myself included) either choose to ignore or are unaware that we all ultimately have the same outcome. However morbid the thought, it can be used as a propellant for encouragement. By virtue of waking up today, you are privileged. We’re all running on finite time; unknown amounts of finite time. There are no guarantees that what’s true today will be true tomorrow. As you go about your week, try to keep this at the forefront of your mind. Say you knew that in a week’s time, your sand clock of life would let go of its last grain. How would this change your day-to-day? Perhaps living this way is unrealistic, after all, we have responsibilities, duties, and people that depend on us. The entire point of the aforementioned question is to acknowledge that our fate is not a variable we can control, so we must try to make the best of everything that comes before it. Thus, it is not a question of responsibility, but of inner content with the thin, fragile casing in which your sand is stored.
Podcast Highlights
My favorite episode: Malcolm Gladwell On Copying From Other Writers
My favorite Instagram post: How Ryan Holiday Remembers What He Reads
Closing Thoughts
Did you find something here interesting? If so then consider sharing it with someone you think might also feel the same way. I hope you have a lovely rest of your week! As of my writing this on Sunday, I have not recorded any podcast episodes. So let’s see how this week turns out :)
With Regards,
-Santi