seth godin
CHOOSING COLOR: People desperately want to believe stories. Even if that story is just a few drops of ink on a plastic sheet.
notes from 4 hour body
Ginger & Sauerkraut for muscle experimentalists keep theoreticians honest- Michio Kaku Separation of expertise means both
The Mundanity of Excellence, by Daniel Chambliss
(Visa: Full text available here. I edited this one a little for readability. Left out the footnotes.) “Olympic sports an
Notes from “The Story of Your Enslavement”
Fear of death and future loss. Threats only work on humans. Farming of humans = most profitable and destructive. Reaching its
Bum-a-cigarette app idea
Here’s an idea I had as a person with a problem that’s not being solved efficiently. I who started out as a veheme
Fun with INTJs: Constructive Criticism
Q: I have a small pet peeve that is perhaps indicative of my INTJ personality type. Whenever I engage in constructive criticis
Book Review: Best of Quora 2010-2012
I received this book in the mail as a part of my “Top Writer 2012” package (along with a sweet t-shirt). I only ju
Independent Thinking Will Be The New Literacy
I sometimes run into people who call themselves realists and say “Look, Visa, some people are just stupid- MOST people a
we should at least know who we’re killing
I’m not a big fan of the death penalty. That said, if we DO practice the death penalty, I’m against it being so hu
RE: The future of education
Prediction: education will be disrupted from without before it is reformed from within. Bureaucracy and legacy will keep exist
Summary of Thinking, Fast and Slow
PART 1: TWO SYSTEMS 1: The Characters of the story (System 1 & 2) 2: Attention and Effort 3: The Lazy Controller 4: The As
systems must adapt.
“I am certainly not an advocate for for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfe
On Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers
Outliers was the first Malcolm Gladwell book that I read and enjoyed from cover to cover. I believe the central idea of the bo
Revolutionize Education, make learning fun
I’ve been watching more TED Talks recently- and I’ve stumbled upon a few gems. I’ve decided I’m going
Thoughts on reading Mastery, by Robert Greene
I deeply enjoyed Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power. It’s not like he’s saying anything new, but something
Ray Bradbury – The Martian Chronicles
I bought The Martian Chronicles at a library book sale. I’ve been to 3 sales so far. I believe I bought it in either th
Why is there nothing in A Level Economics about commercial banks?
Here’s something I’ve been quite frustrated about. As I’ve revisited “A” Level Economics, I stil
Contemplating the Universe
One of the most amazing things that the human mind is able to do is to contemplate the Universe. Now, few of us are really ab
Freakonomics
Freakonomics- Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner I first read Freakonomics when I was still in secondary school, and I t
Spiritual Atheism: What is life?
What is life? Most of us think of it in terms of biology- plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. By such strict definitions, con
My Mass Effect Experience
I want to talk about Mass Effect. I first started when I played Mass Effect 2 on my friend’s Playstation 2. As with Drag
Get off social media for a month and you realize how little it matters.
I went to bed at 1030pm or so, and I woke up at about 1230 am, presumably because I needed to pee. (It wasn’t a strong u
7 Important Things I’ve Learnt
During my 2 years of National Service, I began what I called the 90 Week Project. I had heard many horror stories from men wis
The Declutter Squad
Here’s an idea that’s been kicking around my head for a while- a declutter squad! Pitch: All of us have too much j
Wuthering Heights and the folly of vengeance
I choose to start with Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, partially because it was a text that I choose to do when retaki
Schools should learn from video games.
Games evolve faster than school does. A lot of guys I knew growing up, myself included, preferred playing video games to going
Book Recommendation: Soul Made Flesh
Today’s Recommendation: Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain–and How it Changed the World It’s a fasc
goodreads
Saw a few reminders of things that I enjoyed reading. http://calnewport.com/blog/2012/05/17/some-more-thoughts-on-grad-school/
Swarm Intelligence and God: How we are already are a part of something greater than ourselves.
Have you ever observed an ant colony, and noticed that there appears to be a greater intelligence guiding the ants’ coll
Charlie Brown’s ‘Cyclopedia
I used to read a lot as a kid, though it never occurred to me that I was. If I ever seem more intelligent than anybody else, i
Mission: To Interview Singapore’s Prime Minster, Lee Hsien Loong
I want to have prata with Lee Hsien Loong. Or kopi. Or an interview. The question isn’t “do you think it’s p
do what you hate
(switchy-switchy here is that you only have strong feelings about thigns that matter to you) I used to play in a band called A
Variation and Selection: A Darwinian Approach To Relationship Success
(A lot of people misunderstand natural selection. Mutations in nature are random and undirected. Human variation, on the other
9gag and tumblr
Let’s talk about internet memes. I like internet memes. I like using them, and I like seeing them spread, mutate and evo
How To Win At Relationships
Some ‘radical’ theorists describe life as a game. This can seem simplistic or even dangerous, but I think it’
Nobody Actually Wants You To Be Yourself
Some of my friends describe me as a megalomaniac. I can’t refute that, because it’s a valid assessment that I ough
Habits Through Connections
I have been paying lip service to this for the longest time but it’s finally about time- better late then never- that I
Running is a break from the neurological rat race
TLDR: Don’t think so much, just run. The reward is a break from the neurological rat race. So today was a normal day. I
SS01: Defining ‘Education’
The meaning of schools and education has changed over time. We tend to think of education in a limited sense- go to an academi
seeking creative states
I have a problem- or a challenge, if you will. A situation where the status quo is undesirable, and it is as follows- I can
The Death And Life Of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs
I borrowed this one from a friend who’s interested in architecture. I didn’t completely appreciate it as I was fli
The Black Swan, by Nassim Taleb
This is one of those life-changers. It doesn’t work as a casual read, because it’s most likely going to challenge
Didn’t make it to leadership school? Build your own!
I had a class reunion the other day and I got to talk to one of my classmates who completed his national service as a commissi
How to live, and other final 2011 thoughts
I didn’t want to do anything for new year’s. I didn’t want to spend money unnecessarily, because lately I
Charlie Brown’s ‘Cyclopedia
I used to read a lot as a kid, though it never occurred to me that it was anything unusual. If I ever seem more intelligent th
Are you too smart for your own good?
My dad used to say something like that to me- that the problem with me was that I thought I was too smart to have to deal with
Why you should never “confess your love” to anyone
My humble advice to anybody who starts to fall for your friends-Â Never, EVER “confess your love” to them.It’
My latest muse: marketplace.sg
Here’s an idea I have that’s been stewing in my head for a couple of years that I think is finally begin to emerge
Project Statement
Here’s an idea that I have that I’d like to pursue: T-shirts as conversation starters. I’m tentatively calli
Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins: Gluttony
(image courtesy of blackeri) Gluttony is the untempered drive to consume. Gluttony is to consumption as lust is to conques
tit-for-tat
A friend told me the other day that one of the secrets to a successful relationship is as follows: When having an argument to
The Book Project
Books have always been a huge part of my life. I haven’t always been reading, though- I read a lot as a child, and then
20 Weeks Left: What I’m going to do when it’s over!
There was a disruption in my 90 Week Project, and I haven’t been updating the blog aspect of it since about week 53. BMT
Idiot Tax: How much do you pay?
Idiot Tax! That’s what they call the lottery- the tax you pay for being an idiot, because the odds are so heavily agains
Hacking Delayed Gratification: The Tomorrow-Self
I was never one to deny myself pleasure. I’d eat McDonald’s whenever I could. I was a binger. I’d finish ent
Hacking Serendipitous Conversations (and Facebook), Like An (Elitist) Boss
Originally title ‘Meditations On Staying Awake.’ (Amusingly, I’m translating this from ink to pixels at 3:28
ranks and accomplishments in the military, video games, and everywhere else
Militaries are interesting. If I didn’t find so many other things interesting as well, I’d seriously consider a military c
The To-Write List
– How Bruno Mars won me over- I used to think of him as an annoying ladies man wannabe, but I now think of him as a fun-
Transcending the limitations that we impose on ourselves: Our Identities.
Who are you? What are you like? What do you like? What do you do? Simple questions to ask, but complex ones to answer. There a
Systems, Ideas, Projects
I’ve been bothered for a long time by my inability to express myself effectively, both in general and in this blog. Ther
How important is consistency and sustainability?
I was unfollowing people on Tumblr yesterday- specifically, people who haven’t posted in 8 months or more, and people wh
is the human race fucked beyond measure?
I always feel that desiring power shouldn’t have to be mutually exclusive with making the world a better place. Everyone
The Simple Yet Overlooked Truth About Self-Interest
A few days ago I was tasked with writing something along the lines of “What’s the defining moment of BMT for you?&
Applying fitness wisdom to writing: Why Good is better than Perfect
I’ve experimented quite a bit over the years with my fitness habits. Well, it might not be fair to say “over a few
Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins: Wrath
(image courtesy of blackeri) What is Wrath? Dante described vengeance as “love of justice perverted to revenge and spite
dealing with siren songs
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with
Left 4 Dead: Enlightened Self-Interest In A Zombie Apocalypse
Left 4 Dead (or L4D) is a first-person shooter with a simple premise- four people are stranded somewhere overrun with hordes o
enlightened hedonism
Life should be pleasurable. It really should. It’s an incredibly brief period of time, so we really ought to make the mo
How I started tracking my life, Part 2
Continuing where we left off from How I started tracking my life, Part 1: You can see that I started with a monthly perspectiv
Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins: Sloth
(image courtesy of blackeri) Sloth is…Â laziness, inactivity, idleness, restlessness, ennui, boredom, indifference. Ever
How I started tracking my life, Part 1
I made several random attempts to start tracking my life over the years. I used to have a blog on the now-defunct Diary-X.com
The 90 Week Project
The 90 Week Project is my personal experiment to challenge myself to grow and learn as much as possible within a fixed timefra
Knowing But Not Knowing.
I had an art teacher in secondary school who never taught me anything about art, but he did leave me with a cryptic saying he
7 Lessons Smokers Can Teach Us About Getting Shit Done
Smokers do something that’s quite remarkable that nobody really talks about: they smoke a lot of cigarettes. A heavy smo
The Depth Of Complexity
Most things that are interesting are simultaneously complex. Cities are complex. Living organisms are complex. Complexity cove
the art of disagreement
People disagree. Most genuine disagreement stems, I believe, from different people valuing different things, or valuing the sa
Evolution of Co-operation, by Robert Axelrod
The Evolution of Cooperation Summary of: The Evolution of Cooperation “The objective of this enterprise is to develop a
Outliers
Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers is essentially a description of the ecology behind success. Gladwell points out, rightly, th
Self-Directed Learning (aka intensive reading)
I’ve been procrastinating about this for far, far too long. Now that I’ve hit the midway point of the 90 Week Proj
Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins: Vanity
(image courtesy of blackeri) Vanity is a naive obsession with a non-existent Self. Vanity is the excessive belief in one’
Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins: Lust
(image courtesy of blackeri) Lust is an untempered drive to conquest. Nobody lusts after what they already have. Not just abo
Hacking and Leveraging the 7 Deadly Sins To Your Benefit
I don’t like the idea of Sin as something inherently, absolutely wrong- something so intrinsically vile that even thinki
How I Ran A 21km Half-Marathon Without Training
I remember the day we decided to do it. It was in December last year. My brother had just gotten married and the family was si
The 48 Laws Of Power
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers Law 1 Never Outshine the Master Always make those above you feel comfo
On Self-Help books.
I have a lot of self-help books. It used to be a bit of an obsession. I’m pretty sure I have at least 10-20 of them lyin
7 things that help me clear my head
After being plagued by lethargy and a general sense of powerlessness for a couple of weeks, I fell asleep on the bus today on
Paradigm shift: Inwards to outwards
The edge-of-seat, I’m on fire and I got to do something right now feelings is one of the best feelings in the world. Wel
Demolish boredom.
I used to be very bored as a teenager. I was bored almost all the time. I was not bored very much as a child. I found everythi
Managing complex change: 5 things that stop you from accomplishing greatness
If you want to get anything serious done that involves complex change, whether it’s starting a blog, quitting smoking, m
Smoke-Free, Day One
I’ve decided to try to quit smoking. Again. I have been smoking for about 4 years now. I normally smoke about 2 packs a
The Waste Elimination Challenge
I found some notes from a business consultancy firm on improving organizational effectiveness, and I found it cute and conveni
Ezra Klein, on common mistakes made by economists
“Tyler Cowen has posted lists of mistakes he thinks common to left-wing economists and right-wing economists. Both are
Thoughts on the 8.9 Earthquake in Honshu, Japan
I’ve been thinking really long and hard about what to say about the earthquake in Japan. I want to say something that co
Detours: How to move forward when your plans fuck up
I went through most of my life without having any plans. I used to think this was because I was too cool to have plans. But th
Potential Blog Posts
Cigarette-smoking model of action Personal responsibility & falling sick What I learnt from Save vs Smile Heat model of ch
Routine Analysis: Week 30: The Next Stage.
Successful people have productive routines. It’s painfully obvious that if you want to be successful, you’re going
conversation about the future
I meant to write a long blog post but got distracted by a fun conversation on MSN, so I thought I’d share! Enjoy. Aye
The importance of re-reading books
I think it’s very important to re-read books. I think it’s very difficult if not impossible for anybody to distill
Language, Communication and Designing for Maximum Human Immersion
Updated in September 2014. The Challenge of Communication We often have to communicate with ourselves to better understand wha
Your frustration is valid, but your response isn’t helping you.
Visakan Veerasamy’s answer to: If you could write a 10 note to your younger self, what would you say? Your frustration i