#133 - Notes on Duality, Business and Travel

Education Coffee is a 2xWeekly Newsletter on People, Ideas and Culture.

In each edition of this newsletter, I share five inspiring web resources that I have curated after hours of research to ensure that you have the best education coffee in your inbox. In upcoming editions, I will focus on sharing insights, notes and realizations that I gather from people, ideas, books, films and podcasts.

1. Learning from People

On Episode 58 of #LearningStories we chat with Utsav Mamoria on Consumers, Travel and Content Creation.

Utsav is a behaviour researcher by training and a slow traveller by passion. He has built a successful career in the space of consumer insights/market research. But he dons many other hats as an Entrepreneur, Podcaster, Youtuber and long form Writer. He is also learning how to sketch, practice origami and mentor 100+ people towards starting their own content journeys. He has learned all this in the last 15 years while holding a full time job. His principle of learning is too err is divine. Utsav believes that the real joy of life is to immerse yourself and go deep into things you enjoy, no matter what your age is or how alien the subject is to you.

2. Learning from Ideas and Questions

In this video from Big Think, Sam Harris describes the properties of consciousness and how mindfulness practices of all stripes can be used to transcend one's ego. I feel like non dual mindfulness is a powerful way to look at reality because it helps you build a sense of connection to all beings around you. The best two words that summarize the idea for me are a feeling of universal love and compassion that you feel for all beings around you.

3. Learning from Books, Websites and Blog

Paul Graham is an English-American computer scientist, writer, essayist, entrepreneur and investor. His work includes the programming language Arc, the startup Viaweb, co-founding the startup accelerator and seed capital firm Y Combinator, a number of essays and books, and the media webpage Hacker News. This video is a good summary of his thoughts on the subject of starting up a company.

He has archived all his essays on his personal website. I periodically revisit this archive to help me understand the world of startups and business better. He is one of the sharpest thinkers on starting up a business in the digital age because of his wide experience as an entrepreneur and investor. If you're not sure which to read essay to read, try How to Do Great Work, When to Do What You Love, or How to Lose Time and Money.

4. Learning from Films, Videos and Shows

The Wild Robot is a 2024 American animated science fiction film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Peter Brown, it was written for the screen and directed by Chris Sanders

This is the touching story of a robot that saves a forest by demonstrating the best of human values. It has some amazing animation effects from the Dreamworks team. The writing is top notch and the lovable characters and their story arcs make this highly watchable. The plot and storyline is also quite engaging and realistic considering the current AI vs Humans discussions we have every other day at work and home. Makes you think about how we all function based on our programming. For robots this is code related to a specific task. For humans it is our values related to work and love. It has one of the best trailers I have seen in a while and some excellent music. The title is subtle juxtaposition of nature and technology that are often at odds against each other. The best of both these worlds can give us a 'Wild Robot' that does everything it can to make life better for all living things on the planet. Will add this to my top ten favourite animation film list now. Highly recommend this one!

5. Learning from Podcasts and Music

I learned a lot in this #podcast episode between Nikhil Kamath and Kumar Mangalam Birla. They spoke about the importance of consistency, using wealth to create large scale impact, the role of loved ones and and building a family business in India.

Thank you for reading this edition of #EducationCoffee. I look forward to writing weekly editions of this newsletter this year. I hope to continue to share resources that will add value to your life. You can also review the archive of Education Coffee for free at this link (100+ newsletters here). You can email thoughts, feedback or recommendations to abhishekashokshetty@gmail.com. I love connecting with other writers and learners on the Internet.

Abhishek