// akbarshares

after reading crime and punishment by dostoevsky, i started to notice sparkles of the main character, raskolnikov, resembling myself. while i partially disagree with his theory of classifying people into two groups — ordinary and extraordinary — where the latter are allowed to exceed the limits of freedom that ordinary people must obey, such as committing crimes for the greater good or even massacring nations, i still find some logic in his argument. i do believe that certain extraordinary “superman” figures exist, exempt from societal laws, while ordinary people — like most of us — are fated to follow the rules quite frankly, referring to the term “ordinary people,” that dostoevsky pioneered, flashed a train of thoughts that shuffled through my memory. that is why i love reading as it allows one to compare, contemplate, and connect the things you know and eventually letting you create a new sort of thing, would it be a theory, innovation, art, or revolution but i’m still trying to find that line in raskolnikov’s theory — the axis that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. personally, i’d place myself just past the point of origin, going towards the extraordinary side

very good newsletter which i read for a year now. they send weekly emails about culture, literature, architecture, music, and so on that really helps one to get to know many interesting things that ordinary people consider as luxury. https://www.culture-critic.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email if you follow any newsletters, please share them in the comments. but only the ones that you genuinely read

truly great men must, i think, experience great sorrow on the earth ~ dostoevsky ⛏

which year was the worst year in the history of humanity for you?

if everything around seems dark, look again, you may be the light ~ rumi

...performance on a test doesn’t have to do with their intelligence or their ability to do well; it has to do with the behaviors they did to prepare (k.f.gabriel). it reflects how they pursue and prepare for other things in life. if you are performing poorly on exams, you shouldn’t worry about the score or grade because you can always work on it and review the topics. however, you should seriously reconsider your priorities, as that poor performance might reflect your general approach to other aspects of your life. for example, imagine a student who consistently underestimates the importance of exams, thinking he can just figure it out without proper preparation. i believe that exact attitude can carry over into other parts of his life: he might approach a job interview with the same mindset, assuming he can ace it without putting in enough effort. over time, that pattern may become a trait of his personality. thus, don’t delude yourself with excuses like not having enough time or materials to prepare for your exam. instead, rethink your approach and find its reflections on your life. address the core of the problem, not just the surface level as dostoyevsky said, the biggest thing a man can do is to lie to himself

Central Eurasia @ Silicon Valley tech conference

the war didn’t start on october 7. it has been ongoing for more than a hundred years, from the fall of the ottoman empire in ww1, shifting dominance from britain to the usa, hitler’s ww2, and the cold and civil wars. still learning: reading ‘the hundred years’ war on palestine’, watching videos from both arab and western media, digging through wiki, and challenging gpt

we came to an era where we think the ultimate objective of the life is to be happy, like the highest level we can reach in our life is happiness, the pursuit of happiness as the world calls. i believe the most depressed people are the ones who are trying to be happy the following quote from nassim taleb’s book, “the bed of procrusted”, also supports that idea: one of the most depressing conferences i attended was one on happiness, where all the attendees were remarkably unhappy that is why instead of chasing an elusive state of happiness, we have to focus on pursuing meaningful goals that can bring a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment

if, when you hear about MVP, you think about most valuable player, you are wildly distracted.

wisdom has been chasing me, but i have always been faster

wisdom has been chasing me, but i have always been faster

a human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations…

a human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. specialization is for insects. ~ robert a. heinlein that quote truly reflects the lenses through which i view the world. a human being, ignoring all the devision of labor-based economy that all we rely on, is much more magnificent and yet we, i think, underestimate what a human is truly capable of. all of the evolution, renaissance, and innovations happen when a special chemistry - when bursts of inspiration spark in the mind, like in the opening scenes of oppenheimer - campounds in the minds.

to live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering ~neitzsche

aka lekin to’g’ri gapirgan, mani ham shu savol ko’p qiynaydi

advice for a young college students from sam altman, ceo of openai

Zo’r chuqur suhbat bo’libdi. Tavsuyu https://youtu.be/jAiPmAmoRn8?si=VbvzeNtTklzmJJsi