Content Factory Newsletter - Parasite, Hera Pheri, Yuval Noah Harari, Elon Musk, Gay Conversion Therapy, Kashmir Apples, Career Cheat Codes, Ram Guha, Cell Therapies - November #2 (10 Minutes Read)
Great recommendations/summaries of books, articles, films, podcasts and some learnings.
The usual suspects of Rudresh Dahiya, Gautam Jayasurya and Arathy JM team up to bring out yet another edition of the Content Factory Newsletter. Introducing one of the newest members of the content factory family, Sidharth. A graduate of engineering, writer, traveller and the owner of a thinking and empathetic mind, he earns his living by making Indian railways better! Check out his thoughts on the books he has read.
Books
Humankind by Rutger Bregman
Content Factory Take: For the longest time, I used to have a worldview that aligned with the fact that humans are, by nature, vicious. Competitive, crass, cruel. No different from the other beasts of nature, with only a thin veneer of civilisation keeping the worst of our nature at bay. Humankind, written by Rutger Bregman, has made me question that line of thought. The idea that the natural human disposition is that of violence and that civilisation is the lynchpin which keeps us from tearing apart the fabric of society was propounded by 16th Century English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes, one might add, is considered to be one of the founders of modern philosophical thought. It has been used as a potent political tool since then to use ‘civilising methods’ to keep the population within the confines of what is defined as a Society. To some degree, one has to agree with the Hobbesian view considering that the world is living today in hitherto unforeseen luxury, compared to a few centuries ago. Comparisons with the Stone age or beyond would not even be fair at this point. We have to thank civilisation and the technology and ideologies like capitalism that came with it for our state of existence today. But is this a fair analysis? Some 200 years since Hobbes came Jean-Jaques Rousseau espoused another diametrically opposite notion concerning human nature. Rousseau lived during the times of the French Revolution when the whole idea regarding Society was undergoing a major upheaval. He believed that man, by nature is kind, cooperative and nurturing and that ‘civilisation’ is the catalyst that has resulted in hierarchy and conflict. Look at the various social devices we have created to segregate ourselves today and how these divisions manifest and we can’t help but agree with Rousseau to some extent. Mr Rutger in his book has tried to make a case for the latter theory while agreeing that the former theory is what is in vogue today and explaining why this is so. The book goes a long way to debunk some of the solid theories that have shaped the aforementioned worldview viz. The Milgram experiments, Hannah Arendt’s Banality of Evil concept, Zimbardo’s infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, and the Bystander Effect to name a few. The scientific tools which the author has used to debunk these claims can also be used to question some of his claims in the book. It is for the reader to decide which side they would rather support.Uzumaki by Junji Ito
Content Factory Take: A dear friend suggested that I begin with Uzumaki by Junji Ito when I asked them where to start with Horror Manga. I was not disappointed but I have to confess that Uzumaki isn’t exactly horror. Shocking, Disgusting, and Ingenious would be some adjectives I would use. Uzumaki or ‘The Spiral’ is a dark fantasy, psychological horror series which follows the story of how a town is eaten alive by the Spiral. The artwork is spectacular. This is especially so when one considers the execution of some of the more disturbing concepts of the manga. Some of the surreal aspects of the story did seem a bit far-fetched, in that they did not mesh well with where the storyline was going. But then again, a fresh dose of Realism is not what anyone reads Manga for. Some of the episodes did seem forced while adding very little to the overarching plot. It felt like someone was narrating some episodes of one of their feverish nightmares. Some episodes like the first few ones, the one with the lighthouse and the one with the mosquitoes were really good. The ending, however, seemed to be rushed. The big reveal was something of a genius plot but it could have used some more exposition. It felt almost as if Mr Ito was being forced to wind up the series and move on. But still, it was quite an impressive plot that he conjured up using some of the weirdest ideas. The series left me with an uneasy feeling about spirals for a while.
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
Content Factory Take: The author takes the reader on a journey to understand how we (Homo Sapiens-wise human) happen to be here in the context of time. Humanity as we know of it now can look very different from where we first started. One of the main highlights for me was the ability to believe in abstract concepts and the evolution of language. This is a primary factor that made us different from our cousins’ Neanderthals (found in Neander Valley in current Germany) and Denisovans (found in Denisova Cave in current Russia). This meant that for the first time Sapiens could form larger groups, way beyond their physical habitat just by creating stories & entities that the masses would believe in to propagate an idea.
Articles
Why are Elon Musk’s first steps as the head of Twitter aren’t inducing hope?
Content Factory Take: One of the challenges of Twitter has been to create a monetarily sustaining platform for self-expression while eliminating its toxic elements of it. Elon Musk believes that is failing on all counts. He believes that it is not being efficient in amplifying voices and providing power to people (including the toxic voices). To top it all, he believes that a significant share of the current Twitter workforce is not up to the mark both culturally and capability-wise to do it. The article touches upon the various decision taken by Musk and explains why he could make things worse than it is.My Harrowing Journey Through Gay Conversion Therapy in Russia
Content Factory Take: The author recollects the discovery of his sexuality through painful experiences of being sexually molested, experiencing his family’s stigma, living a double life as a woman, finding love and subjecting himself to the treatments of gay conversion therapy to uncover inner working of the torture to the wide world. Although experiences are painful and may invoke strong emotions, it’s not a sad story by any means. It’s an empowering story providing hope to queer communities across the globe that things will change for the better at least at a personal level if one doesn’t lose hope.Kashmir's apple trade is rotting
Content Factory Take: Yet another case of how foreign imports, lack of road infrastructure and storage facilities are hurting Indian farmers. It’s about time that investments are made and incentives are placed for food processing industries to grow at scale. Currently, these enterprises are limited by small-scale production centres, poor quality control and a lack of marketing efforts.Career Cheat Codes
Content Factory Take: This a very short and useful article that is good to know earlier than later. It talks about the need to have the courage at work, be proactive, needs to have a side hustle, be a good storyteller and so on. Great stuff!Why Indian Youth’s love for government jobs aren’t great for the economy?
Content Factory Take: As somebody who chased civil service dreams for a while, I’m an insider as one can get. Without realising somebody who is pursuing a government beyond a certain timeline is taking the biggest gamble of their life, losing one of the precious things that matter - Time. The article opened my eyes to a curious pattern that exists in India’s unemployment data. It is as high as 41% in the age bracket between 18-25 and almost non-existent once it crosses 30. The article explains why these figures are linked to our love for government jobs due to the relatively higher pay and job security it offers.Demolition
Content Factory Take: Ram Guha recalls his personal journey through the horrors of the Babri Masjid demolition and the rise of right-wing extremism.
Preventive Healthcare Through Population Health Registry
Content Factory Take: Read about this noteworthy collaboration that Google is having with the Tamil Nadu state health department in building a population health registry. This could be revolutionary in creating a preventive healthcare system.
Podcasts
Rory Sutherland: The Psychology of Advertising
Content Factory Take Talks about bogus rationality where decisions are taken to achieve maximum efficiency or effectiveness but rather one that carries the least risk. He introduces us to the idea that humans are post-rationalising animals, not rational ones.
What does High Voltage Direct Current transmission mean to the energy demands and climate change efforts of the world?
Content Factory Take: Energy scarcity is one of the biggest challenges of the world and one of the main reasons why development rates across countries are skewed. Lack of affordable energy can come in the way of both human and infrastructural development. It will also end up creating and consuming energy from sources that are not climate-friendly as well. The video talks about a new way of transporting energy based on demand and supply without losing quantity or quality. It highlights the potential of HVDC-based grids and calls out the challenges that are coming in the way of a seamless cost-effective transmission of green energy from an energy-surplus geography to an energy-scarce one.Cell Therapies for Everyone
Content Factory Take: Cell therapies are the go-to method of solving so many genetic-level diseases. However, at this moment in time, it is only affordable to a small number of ultra-rich people. The video takes you through an organisation that has developed a breakthrough technology that automates 90% of the manual tasks done earlier by scientists by using the power of robotics, AI and cloud computing. You provide the patient’s blood work, the machine processes it and out comes desired medicine that needs to go into the patient system. It is as simple as that. One can’t help but feel the future of health technology is here!
Films
Parasite X Hera Pheri ~ Two Roads Diverging from the same fork.
Content Factory Take: The author compares seemingly unrelated films from two different genres of films to find similarities in their underlying social and political messaging. Great analysis!
Learnings
Rejuvenating your old phone!
Content Factory Take: Might be old news for many, but I found the XDA portal to be very useful for people who are owning old laggy smartphones and want to extract the maximum out of them. I’ve been using a real me 7 pro, which at best is an average camera phone with above-average performance, display and sound. I didn’t want to buy a new one just for the camera as it didn’t seem like a good bargain. But lucky me, I found a modified google camera for my phone model which now takes quality pictures. I know most of the users aren’t willing to take this route, as this is not as easy as installing it from a play store, however nerdy ones, please do take note.Learnings from the book, I’m currently reading called Your Brain at Work:
*Prefrontal cortex