No doubt 2022 was one of my most challenging years. I was consumed by work in ways I never thought was possible. I think I even lost myself for a while. One good thing (of many) that came out this experience was that it crystalized several career lessons that had long been on my mind. [...]
So in recent years I've become a bit of a history fanatic. Weekday meals? 30 minutes of Youtube documentaries for lunch. 1 hour for dinner. Reading list? At least half are history books. Odd few minutes here and there? I'll be exhausting the question library on another history quiz app. We'll come back to this [...]
On this day 50 years ago, one of the momentous events in the 20th century took place. But unlike others frequently told in schools - fall of Berlin wall, Deng Xiaoping opening China, NASA moon landing, the pill, Hiroshima, the Great Depression, Bolshevik revolution, Ferdinand assassination, Wright brothers flight etc - what happened on 15th [...]
I've always been fascinated by the history of money. Not only as it's a key driver of human behaviour and geopolitics. But as major force that shapes the trajectory of human endeavor. Put simply, it's an integral part to understanding how the world works. "If you want to understand how the world works, follow the [...]
So I went through this unusual mental health 'complication' in recent weeks. And I wouldn't be surprised if there's many out there sharing a similar experience. I wrote this post mostly as a guide for my own use. Maybe it worked as I think I'm back on track now. If you're going through something similar, [...]
It was mid 2014. We were sipping cold beers on a rooftop bar on a humid Saigon evening. Let's call my friend Ryan. We were talking geopolitics. Or rather, he was raving on while I was just asking questions. Ryan: "Yeah, basically Russia called the West's bluff. They annexed Crimea to get access to another [...]
If you liked Nassim Taleb's books - Antifragile, Black Swan etc - then you'll love Mandelbrot's Misbehaviour of Markets. Benoit Mandelbrot is one of the greatest mathematicians of our time. Most renowned for his work on fractals (including the famous Mandelbrot set), he applies a complexity science lens to financial markets. As with most transdisciplinary [...]
Muffin or chihuahua? Poodle or fried chicken? Puppy or bagel? Shar-pei or towel? Sheepdog or mop? Shar-pei or croissant? Dog or teddy bear? You may have come across these images if you work in a technical field. These mix ups are a fun way of testing classification accuracy. But what exactly does it mean when [...]
Here's a neat trick that has served me well over the years. When confronted with a seemingly lose-lose situation, instead of opting for the second worst option, I ask: "Is this a false dichotomy?" Get into this habit of paving an 'option 3', and you'll be surprised at how often this is possible. "I don't [...]
TL;DR One cannot understand global oil geopolitics without grasping the Middle East. But understanding this region is rather difficult. "It's hot, sandy, and everyone hates each other." Despite the difficulty, one can still attempt to untangle the intricacies of the region by reviewing raw historical events and then drawing your own conclusions. Some observations from [...]
