Archives for November 2018

Siddhartha’s Dilemma, Marcus Aurelius On Honest Men, And Bezos on Amazon

November 17, 2018 | Leave a Comment

Here’s some stuff I am reading and thinking about this weekend…

Book I’m Reading – Siddhartha
Siddhartha is a beautiful novel by Hermann Hesse, first published in 1922 in Germany, that deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautama Buddha.

The book follows this young man named Siddhartha on his journey to find the true meaning of life and peace. One passage that is particularly enlightening for me is when a ferryman, Vasudeva, the spiritual guide of Siddhartha, consoles him after the latter’s son (also Siddhartha) from a courtesan woman (Kamala) doesn’t seem to be interested in reciprocating well to his father’s love and advice, and seems like running away to a path of his own that looks dangerous to his father –

Zoom Out, Baby, Zoom Out

November 15, 2018 | 6 Comments

It was Valentine’s Day in 1990. The Voyager 1 space probe, which had completed its primary mission, was leaving the Solar System.

At the request of astronomer Carl Sagan, the American space agency NASA commanded Voyager to turn its camera around and take one last photograph of Earth, across a great expanse of space. The photograph that got clicked was from a distance of about 6 billion kilometers (same as 240,000 round trips from Mumbai to New York).

In the photograph, against the vastness of space and among bands of sunlight scattered by the camera’s optics, Earth appears like a ‘pale blue dot’ (that’s what the photograph was named) that is smaller than a pixel.

Anyways, four years later, in 1994, during a public lecture at Cornell University, Sagan presented the photograph to the audience and shared his reflections on the deeper meaning behind it –

Fighting the Last War

November 12, 2018 | 1 Comment

Camp Millionaire – Money Workshop for Kids (8 to 14 Years) in Bangalore (25th Nov, Sunday) and Mumbai (2nd Dec, Sunday). Click here to register now. Few seats remain!

Note: This post was originally published in the November 2017 issue of our premium newsletter – Value Investing Almanack (VIA). To read more such posts and other deep thoughts on value investing, business analysis and behavioral finance, click here to subscribe to VIA.

In Safal Niveshak’s Value Investing workshops, when we discuss the mental biases, we show the following video to our participants.

I would suggest that you pause here and watch this video before reading further.

It’s a test of your awareness so don’t cheat 🙂 [Read more…] about Fighting the Last War

From Darkness Unto Light

November 7, 2018 | 3 Comments

I was recently reading a story on the classical Greek philosopher, Socrates, who was tried and executed in 399 BC. He was tried on two charges – corrupting the youth, and impiety (perceived lack of proper respect for something considered sacred).

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787)

Socrates had done no such thing. What he had done was educate the youth, teaching them to challenge arguments from authority and question what they believed to be true.

In the process, he frustrated and embarrassed many powerful people with his constant line of questioning, known today as the Socratic method.

In Praise of Mediocrity, Being Happy, And Learning How to Learn

November 2, 2018 | Leave a Comment

Here’s some stuff I am reading, watching, and thinking about this weekend…

Book I’m Reading – The Art of Learning
One of the best books on the art of learning I’ve read is, well, The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. I picked it up again this week, and it was as refreshing as the original read.

Josh is a champion in two distinct sports – chess and martial arts. He is an eight-time US national chess champion, thirteen-time Tai Chi Chuan push hands national champion, and two-time Tai Chi Chuan push hands world champion. In his book, Josh recounts his experiences and shares his insights and approaches on how you can learn and excel in your own life’s passion, using examples from his personal life. Through stories of martial arts wars and tense chess face-offs, Josh reveals the inner workings of his everyday methods, cultivating the most powerful techniques in any field, and mastering the psychology of peak performance.