Optionality Hinders Action

I write nearly every day. And I have done it for years. Because in my mind, writing is not optional. It is something I do on good days and bad, on busy days and idle days. Most importantly, I do it whether I feel like it or not. If something is optional, our mind will...

Hardship Fuels Change

Had it been left to me, I suspect I would probably still be sitting on my 1st-year electrical engineering courses without completing them. Ok, I am exaggerating a bit. But without the external pressure of exams and getting a degree, few of us would voluntarily go...

Use things without giving them power over you

I went to IIT for the brand and the academics, but what I loved the most about the place was its simplicity. On campus, there was no show-off, no flashiness. Students attached zero (in fact, negative) value to how you dressed or how you looked. Whether your dad was an...

Rational skepticism

No matter how intelligent you are, one thing can screw up your rationality — ideology. Because ideology presupposes the right answers. And these right answers will pervade every aspect of your life, be it your political, economic, or social beliefs. Ideology is...

Life does not offer risk-free upside

When the UPSC Civil Services results came out last year, somebody apparently commented that if Sundar Pichai had cleared the exam, he would today be the collector of Greater Noida. So is Civil Services the right choice? Or is it Google, Microsoft, et al.? To think...