The Happiness Study, Ukraine, And More
5 cool ideas I recently learned
Hello reader,
I hope you had a good night’s sleep because you’re about to get your mind blown with intriguing stuff across geopolitics, technology, and more.
Here are 5 cool ideas I learned in November:
Ukraine and the West: Political scientist John Mearsheimer says that the Ukraine war is clearly the West’s fault. They’ve constantly spooked Russia by expanding NATO and inching closer. Each time this happened, it led to a conflict- the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 and the Crimean Invasion of 2014. But the West didn’t learn its lesson. Instead of realizing how their actions have messed things up as badly as an intern handling a company’s Twitter handle, they’ve branded Putin as a man with imperialist ambitions to justify their actions. In reality, Putin has claimed that any person with a 3-digit IQ would never think of recreating the Soviet Union.
85-year happiness study: The longest-running study on happiness shows that relationships are one of the biggest predictors of lifespan after health! Married men live 12 years longer and married women get an extra 8. Lonely people are permanently in fight or flight mode- and the absence of a partner or companion never lets them come out of these stressed phases, severely impacting their well-being. In case you want to live a long life, what you need to do is clear: get an MBA and start taking some interest in those goddamn meetings your parents have been trying to line up.
Wisdom of the crowds: A statistical analysis reveals that when a contestant in the show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire used the ‘audience’ poll option, they got the right answer 86% of the time, but only 46% of the time when they decided to phone-a-friend. Besides the fact that this is a rather weird thing to do a study on, it drives home the idea of 'the wisdom of the crowds’- that averaging the answers/opinions of a large number of people tends to get one much closer to the correct answer to a problem.
Islam and nationalism: Shekhar Mishra suggests that the idea that all Islamic nations will cooperate to give a coherent response on important global issues (like the Israel-Palestine War) is a pipe dream. He points out that those harboring the Ummah fantasy fail to acknowledge how nationalism trumps such ideas. The proof lies in the fact that organizations like OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) haven’t managed to achieve anything of consequence, and nor do Islamic nations have a common view on the ongoing war. The most cooperation has been achieved by Gulf nations that, ironically, are quite friendly with the West.
Tech and the common man: Techno-optimists like saying that new tech is always good for everyone and that the benefits always trickle down, but a systematic study suggests that it isn’t always the case. In fact, there is always a battle to ensure that the benefits of breakthrough inventions don’t just help the rich, and broader gains emerge through significant efforts- such as the work done by trade unions. It’s a compelling thesis that encapsulates a study of these struggles over the last millennium, and I’ll certainly be reading this book soon.
That’s it for the day folks. If you enjoy multidisciplinary learning, don’t forget to check out:
I don't think the point 2 on happiness is that simple. Marriage is a social construct and quite redundant in today's time. Having a companion/friend or core friend group, living in are also equally viable options that we should encourage more. I think in a culture which still raises an eye brow on divorce, single parenting etc., the hyper glorification of a construct like marriage should be avoided. Also more empowering conversations on taking enough time to find the right person (or not) is relevant because unfortunately in our society there is too much pressure on women to 'settle' even before they learn anything else.