Issue #43: On Graduating & some other things
Week 43: 28th April 2025 - 04 May 2025
I graduated yesterday. As I was reflecting on my journey over the last two years, I realised something: graduation is just an exercise in reflection. It’s just that it’s a bit more formal.
Graduation denotes that you have been conferred a degree because you were able to complete a certain set of requirements. Usually, those requirements involve taking various classes to learn about things. So graduation is recognising that you learned those things.
But those learnings happened along the way. They did not complete on the day of your graduation. The learning had already happened along the way and, in all honesty, is and forever will be ongoing. So whatever the graduation recognises, was already learnt well before the official conferring of the degree.
Then graduation is just recognising the effort you put in, the obstacles you overcame, and your triumphs for the duration of your degree. And maybe throughout life in general, we should graduate once every 5 or 10 years. Not to get any degree, but to reflect upon the challenges, failures, successes, and learnings of the past.
Anyway,
Here are a few interesting articles I read this week…
[Article: Explainer - What is GDP?]
A good read on GDP. Basically:
It is a measure of production.
It takes into consideration government spending as a proxy for increased production, and hence can sometimes be a misleading measure.
[Article: On observing people]
Notes from a painter about people in conversations. Here are a couple of my favorites:
When someone is close enough for me to hear them in conversation, I can hear how receptive they are to other people’s worlds. This is often encoded in the pace of their back and forth; the brief pause after someone says something, or the absence of any breathing room. The pause is usually sinking into a feeling, allowing themselves to process and respond in real time.
Some people don't like themselves. They hide this from themselves by thinking they don’t like other people. They often bristle like a porcupine any time someone gets too close. That, or the opposite: they need to be insulated by other people's skin at all times. These are contrasting expressions of the same fundamental fracture. A person cannot stand themselves, and as a result, they either can only stand being unperceived, or they need other people to constantly perceive them to feel okay.
[Article: On the overuse of analysis]
A good read on how focusing too much on data and analysis can be counterproductive. Here are a few good lines from the article:
Those two professional opportunities you're considering may seem similar on the surface—same title, same compensation, same cultural values—but the long-term fit will be defined by how those values hold up when the business comes under pressure.
That potential partner checks all of your boxes on the surface, but the durability of the relationship will be defined by how you both show up during the challenging times.
[Images]
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[Random]
I really really relate with this word…
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I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. Let me know if you have any feedback.
Next week पुन्हा भेटू!
Congratulations:)!!
Congratulations !