🧠 Signals & Noise - #2

💭 Something to Think About

A quote, reflection, or question for you to ponder this week.

“The people who have the ability to fail in public under their own names actually gain a lot of power.” — Naval Ravikant

Takeaways of this issue:

• Bad job happens. There are only a few things we can do about it. For more details, check the On How Long it Takes to Know if a Job is Right for You or Not by Charity Majors. - link
• If you want to get an unorthodox view on wealth, happiness, and philosophy, download The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness from its official site and start reading it. Don’t worry, it’s an easy-to-read and short book. - link

📖 Deep Dives & Quick Reads

Articles worth reading — insights, essays, and web gems.

• I enjoy this kind of interaction. That is exactly what I miss while I was away from social media. Everything started with Charity Major’s thread about remote work, and I think Andy Pearce's contributions are the cherry on top.

• On How Long it Takes to Know if a Job is Right for You or Not, Charity Majors - link
  Careful eyes might notice that I’m following Carity Majors. And yes, you might benefit of following them. They share very insightful things about software world. In this post, they talk about our inner voice’s opinions about the workplace and why it’s important to let them be a little louder. The following quotes resonate with me.

  “You only get one career. Who are you going to give your bacon to?”
  “Bad jobs happen. Interviews can only predict so much. A person who has never had a job they disliked is a profoundly lucky person. In the end, sometimes all you can take is the lessons you learned and won’t repeat.”

📚 Leaf by Leaf

Books I’ve recently finished or am currently reading, with a few reflections.

• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness - Eric Jorgenson
  I don’t recall how I came across this book, but it caught my attention when the author stated it as a public service. I downloaded it from https://www.navalmanack.com/
  
  This book is my first encounter with Naval. He’s certainly a pretty interesting character. If you like reading about how a self-made person thinks about money, happiness, and philosophy, this is your book.
  
  I liked his way of thinking—his openness to criticism and honesty about money. It is a nice addition to my library. In the last section, you see a bunch of resources that influence Naval and the author. Take your time to dig into those.

• The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change your Life and Achieve Real Happiness - Ichiro Kishimi , Fumitake Koga
  This is the first time I have encountered Adlerian psychology and philosophy, and I'm pleased about this coincidence. The book consists of dialogues between a 'youth' and a 'philosopher,' which tries to mimic the Socratic way of teaching. Occasionally, you witness that your inner voice is reflected in the youth's questions and rejections. It's the beauty of it. It immerses you in the discussions.
  
  This book definitely won't be my last on Adler. I'd probably read more on the topic to gain a broader view of his philosophy. I especially liked his argument that "all problems are interpersonal relationship problems." The book itself is provocative and forces you to think differently. It's not a book you read and put on your shelf. I think I'll return to it repeatedly until I have a firmer grasp of Adler's ideas.
  
  The funny thing is that despite being aware of its popularity due to its title and subtitle, I postponed reading this book since both are bold claims. In my experience, most of those claims are nonsense. However, this book gave me many strong ideas to think about. I felt ashamed of my prejudgment of its title.

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🖥️ The Watchlist

Films and TV series that stuck with me recently.

• Graveyard (Mezarlık, Netflix) - link
  I think it’s hard to be women in this world. However, unfortunately it’s even harder at some places. "Graveyard" is a dark basement, where a special unit works to solve unsolved murders of women. Commissioner Önem, will have to fight masculine prejudices that support male violence.
• 12 Angry Men
  It’s a true classic that never gets old! Classics have a way of staying relevant through the years. The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.P.S - I was lucky enough to watch it’s theater adaptation thanks to my wife. If you ever encounter it’s theatrical adaptation I’d say give it a try.

🎥 Frames of Thought

Compelling videos I stumbled upon — essays, interviews, talks, or short docs.

• How to hack your brain for better focus, Sasha Hamdani - link
  Focus is always an constant issue for me. I’m still suffering from foggy brain. One day, I found this gem in my messages app thanks to my wife. I hope you also enjoy as I did while you are watching.

• Algorithms are breaking how we think, Technology Connections - link
  I recently discovered Technology Connections. There are bunch of in depth videos about technology. I like it’s broad view on topics. You never know what next video might be about. I also noticed they had a Bluesky account.

🖋️ My Creative Corner

Stuff I’ve made recently: code, writing, visuals, videos, or experiments.

• Nobody wants to remember the Covid days for obvious reasons. However, there are some nice things I wanted to bring back from those days. I’m cooking the idea of going back to podcast recording. I want to talk about my interests, profession and much more. However, as professional procrastinator I’m still thinking about the language. Should I do it in English or in Turkish? Let me know what do you think?

  In the mean time, here the only English podcast episode I recorded with my one of the first teammates of mine. We met with Naiyarah Hussain while I was a member of IBM Turkey. In this episode, you can find the details of her professional journey as well as her advice to audience.

• You can follow me on LinkedIn, Blusky, YouTube, and my website.