David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants

In the hope of distilling books down to their core tenets/lessons, I'm going to go through mostly non-fiction books after I read them.

David and Goliath is, according to its author, "a book about what happens when ordinary people confront giants..." He opens the book by talking about the biblical story, of how David the Israelite shepherd boy defeated a gigantic Philistine battle with a sling and a rock. Instead of recognizing it as the archetypal underdog success story, he reframes it as an extremely lopsided battle between a projectile warrior and infantry. Gladwell says that Goliath actually had almost no chance of success despite his immense physical size advantage and that society has a problem of not being able to see power when it manifests in nonconventional ways and not seeing people for who they really are (Gladwell believes Goliath was suffering from acromegaly - overproduction of human growth hormone).

Part 1: Advantages of Disadvantages and Advantages of Disadvantages

• When you're in a battle or fight and you have fewer resources or talent, unconventional or guerrilla tactics will give you a more than likely chance to win.
• As outsider, do not care what the establishment thinks - be willing to take criticism
• Vivek Ranadivé's full court basketball press
• T. E. Lawrence's assault on Aqaba from the desert instead of sea

• Inverted U-curve (easy to forget in practice though somewhat obvious in theory). Every positive thing  at a high level will have costs that outweigh benefits.
• Be unwilling to accept a trend that seems logical without data
• Small classroom sizes. The US spent a ton of money at turn of millennium to hire new teachers at public schools as prestigious boarding schools boast about small class sizes
• Parenting is very difficult with too little money and too much money! Arguments shift from you can't do something because of $ to you won't do something because of non-$ reason. 

• It's better to be a Big Fish in a Small Pond than a Small Fish in a Big Pond. Are the best institutions always the best for us?
• You can gain visibility and freedom from doing so.
• Your environment, not just your accomplishments by themselves, can really matter
• Impressionist painters deciding to host their own show instead of submitting to the Salon in 1874
• Ivy League v. non-elite schools - relative deprivation. The better impression you have of the people locally  around you, the starker the contrast will feel if you don't think you measure up to them.
• Students at top Ph.D. programs who are just above average or worse in their program do really terribly professionally... whereas the very students at the worst programs do better than the former group except for the very best there!
• Affirmative action! Can be very damaging due to this phenomenon. 

Part 2: The Theory of Desirable Disability

• Underdogs can excel because difficulties they face make them stronger 
• Instead of capitalization learning (working on strengths), they do a lot of compensation learning (working on weaknesses)
• Innovators have to be disagreeable, to take social risks and disrupt. High ability to deal with failure helps
• A lot of successful entrepreneurs have dyslexia, anecdotes with super successful movie producer and litigator
• IKEA's Ingvar Kamprad defying the Cold War
• Gary Cohn pretending to be an options trader  to get an interview and following up

• When a bomb (real or metaphorical) falls, there are people killed, near misses and remote misses. One event can really damage one group while benefitting another.
• Society needs people who have emerged from trauma for the actions they are willing to take
• People killed are done and near misses have their fear reinforced
• Remote misses make one feel invulnerable, excited and courageous or they force one to make virtue out of necessity 
• Expected reaction of Londoners during the Blitz
• Dyslexia, those who can overcome something terrible.
• A remarkable number of creatives and notables have lost a parent.
• Emil Freireich's lack of empathy and refusal to give up allowed him to aggressively experiment on children to cure childhood leukemia over many objections. 

The conquering of fear produces exhilaration... The contrast between previous apprehension and the present relief and feeling of security promotes a self-confidence that is the very father and mother of courage. 

• What is right is sometimes defined by those in power to close the door on others. 
• Martin Luther King and the photo in Birmingham.

Part 3: The Limits of Power

• When you have rebels or disobedience, it's more often an engagement or legitimacy problem on the part of authority than a behavioral problem
• Those with seemingly unlimited power have to consider the opinions of those they have power over. Law and order can only go so far.
• Legitimacy rests on the people feeling like they have a voice, the law being predictable and authority being fair.
• Joanne Jaffe's Juvenile Robbery Intervention Program with Brownsville. Thanksgiving turkeys for all juvenile families.
• British Army and the IRA

• Inverted U applies to crime and punishment too - California Three Strikes, so be wary of poor, overeager applications of power. 
• Many criminals not deterred by stricter punishment
• Consider collateral damage of taking fathers from families

Apparently, this book is widely criticized! Critics pan it for Gladwell taking something we already believe in and presenting it as counter-intuitive but logical given the evidence he provides and for believing that science, especially psychology and sociology, can offer a quick fix to many of the world's problems. I get the criticism. Parts of the book were a real slog to get through and some of the points he tries to make aren't actually counterintuitive. Still, it will encourage me to take more risks and try to be more creative whenever I'm in a situation where I'm put at a disadvantage and understand how tragedies and difficulties can help people when I evaluate them.

Graduating from College and Moving

Here's my two containers of ink that I have to spill on the subject. I went back to Shanghai, the city that I grew up in, for what feels like the last time. It was more than a week after graduating and it already felt different being back though I've been back a few times since I moved to Taipei.

The most mundane and meaningless things can take on intense nostalgic value when we see them refracted through time. A 2nd grade vocabulary workbook that was once homework that had to be slogged through now brings a wry smile to my face as the memory of the effort I put in springs in my mind. My viola reminds me of my being awful at playing the viola and having my teacher bring me to tears is pretty funny now and was only part of a process that built up my resilience. There are also other things that we see differently.

Letters, gifts, mementos that meant the world to you at the time that you stashed in a homemade treasure chest that was worth more than its weight in gold. I was rummaging through stuff deciding what to toss away as my family leaves the city I grew up in and found a folder that I used as one of these treasure chests. Though I wanted to open it and read through the items, I decided not to. I want some more time to pass by because I received things from friends whom I no longer keep in touch with and rifling through them will bring up memories and feelings I am not yet ready to face. I wonder if we all go through this phase where we want to reach out to these folks to reconnect. I have the usual worries: are they so wrapped up in their life that they don't have time for someone from the past? are the memories we share as precious to them as they are to me? I hope to reach out to them in a few years - one of them encouraged me to start me first blog in high school.

It's one of the peculiarities in life that while we may have those moments in our youth where we wished to grow up and take on real responsibilities and live out our dreams (to be an astronaut, or a diplomat!), we inevitably wish to return to those halcyon, carefree days when we're older. College and life teaches you that the problems of the world are so very complex and nuanced and people bring their conflicting perspectives that make working together and relationships quite difficult. With the negative comes the positives of love, entertainment, family, the times when you work together to actually create a practical solution and more. But we all have those times where we just want to crawl in our blanket and travel back in time to a simpler time. Ironically, I'm about to get a watch from my parents. It feels like it's now that I'm on a clock, that each moment matters in the real world.

It's after college that almost everyone is forced into a situation where they have to make friends without any institutional support and make a living for themselves without any guidance. The early 20s! Most of the friends and classmates that you see in the years to come will be seen in snapshots - reunions, chance encounters, weddings, birthdays. Can't really knock on someone's dorm door late at night just wanting to chat and dream about the future anymore. The truth may be that we're all terrified, even the ones that are cocksure and on the partner-track at a prestigious consulting firm, but that isn't quite as reassuring. Guess we just have to bravely take one step at a time into the future we were so certain we would fulfill when were young slowly has its impenetrable fog retracts. 

Skyrim: The Dragonborn Comes - Live Action

Here's this really cool fan-made trailer for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I'm kind of obsessed with the game right now, with its gigantic open world, rich storytelling and STUNNING music. One of my favorite quests involved me being tasked by a servant to resucue his master, who's been trapped in a part of a palace. When I get there using a hip bone, I'm transported into the dead Mad Emperor's mind (!) and am left only with fine clothing to wear. To rescue the master, I have to treat the emperor's paranoia, night terrors and anger issues using this weapon I'm provided. It's got a very Alice in Wonderland twisted flavor to it as there's even a tea party!

 If you haven't played it, you should go check it out. Though if you're a gaming novice, you shouldn't because it can be overwhelming.

Chorus translation:

Dragonborn, Dragonborn 

By his honor is sworn 

To keep evil forever at bay 

And the fierce foe rout 

When they hear triumph's shout 

Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray