Three impactful bestsellers all came in concomitantly from my library request list in the last two weeks and are worth a mention as tasteful food for thought in this Chinese New Year of the Rat.
Talking to Strangers: What we should know about the people we don’t know [how our interactions with strangers often go wrong] – Malcolm Gladwell
This is another Gladwellian foray into the maze running behind curious human behavior. This book is apropos now when the world feels irretrievably polarized as it tries to examine ways we misinterpret or fail to communicate with one another, especially strangers. It begins with death of Sarah Bland after an undeserved traffic stop spirals out of control, extends to those of numerous unarmed African Americans in police encounters and traverses all the way to blind spots at the root of historical tragedies. How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Then onto wide-ranging front-page incidents involving the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the child-abuse scandal involving coach Jerry Sandusky.
Gladwell argues that the flawed tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know invites misunderstanding and conflict with profound unintended consequences. One of the misperceptions is that we autonomically default to is taking strangers at their word so-called ‘default to truth’ which was at the heart of a CIA double agent, sexual abuse of gymnasts and the unwarranted trust of Hitler. He explains other types of miscommunications, especially when strangers’ actions that do not conform to accepted norms (“transparency”) and when a failure to recognize a connection between behavior and external factors (“coupling” or context) allows us to radically misinterpret the intended action.
This is another Gladwellian foray into the maze running behind curious human behavior. This book is apropos now when the world feels irretrievably polarized as it tries to examine ways we misinterpret or fail to communicate with one another, especially strangers. It begins with death of Sarah Bland after an undeserved traffic stop spirals out of control, extends to those of numerous unarmed African Americans in police encounters and traverses all the way to blind spots at the root of historical tragedies. How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Then onto wide-ranging front-page incidents involving the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the child-abuse scandal involving coach Jerry Sandusky.
Gladwell argues that the flawed tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know invites misunderstanding and conflict with profound unintended consequences. One of the misperceptions is that we autonomically default to is taking strangers at their word so-called ‘default to truth’ which was at the heart of a CIA double agent, sexual abuse of gymnasts and the unwarranted trust of Hitler. He explains other types of miscommunications, especially when strangers’ actions that do not conform to accepted norms (“transparency”) and when a failure to recognize a connection between behavior and external factors (“coupling” or context) allows us to radically misinterpret the intended action.
At times the book felt a little too facile, too sensational, but it did explain why the overextension of police policy of geographical profiling and using incidental (tail light) infractions to stop ‘suspicious’ citizens (with the hope of finding contraband) led to unfortunate interactions that resulted in too many unwarranted deaths. Sobering.
Life span: Why we age – and why we don’t have to. David Sinclair PhD
When I first saw this title, I thought it must the hyperbole of the fountain of youth. But, after reading it, I learned a lot about mechanisms and treatment of aging (especially sirtuin system), some of which … could be life changing now! Dr. Sinclair is an eminent Harvard geneticist who studies aging and is a strong proponent of studying aging as a disease, that is the core malfunction that underlies specific diseases – cardiovascular, metabolic (diabetes), cancer and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s). He maintains that if we fully understand the aging process, we will be able to circumvent or substantially delay many of the known diseases and experience a markedly enhanced quality of life. It seemed fanciful at first glance, but he is quite convincing.
This was fascinating and thought provoking and for me a life changer to find what is known and what one can do potentially do now for oneself. And I’m going to hedge my bet as well.
When I first saw this title, I thought it must the hyperbole of the fountain of youth. But, after reading it, I learned a lot about mechanisms and treatment of aging (especially sirtuin system), some of which … could be life changing now! Dr. Sinclair is an eminent Harvard geneticist who studies aging and is a strong proponent of studying aging as a disease, that is the core malfunction that underlies specific diseases – cardiovascular, metabolic (diabetes), cancer and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s). He maintains that if we fully understand the aging process, we will be able to circumvent or substantially delay many of the known diseases and experience a markedly enhanced quality of life. It seemed fanciful at first glance, but he is quite convincing.
Indeed, many of the key mechanisms have already been elucidated by his and other laboratories – in worms and rodents – and can extend lifespan by 5-20%. The main one is the ancient sirtuin protein that toggles back and forth between fertility vs. repairing damage. Resveratrol (red grapes/wine yea!) and nicotinamide mononucleotide stimulate sirtuin and delays aging – the latter even restores fertility in aged mice (grandma become new ma?). Rapamycin inhibits mTOR (even given at the end of life) in simple cells and metformin activates AMPK (mimicking fasting) with reduced dementia, CV disease, cancer and frailty in 41,000 humans! A second is epigenetic reprogramming – the Yamanaka (Nobelist) factors – which in simple systems can reverse cellular aging as if hitting a reset button. BUT, as of yet there is no definitive evidence that these will work in us and long-term side effects are yet unknown. But as we speak, human trials have just started but may be years to conclusion.
Dr. Sinclair to his credit, discusses the demographic, nutritional, climatic, social and moral implications of these momentous possibilities. He and others project that our grandchildren will on average live to 100 years and that people will have 3 careers, a main one, plus two others lasting until the age of 90. Accordingly, I’m aspiring to be a 90 sprightly Walmart greeter! I also much appreciated the extent to which he gave credit to others in the field and especially his laboratory post-docs.
Lastly, despite the unknown, he has hedged his bet and reveals what he is doing to improve his own odds of aging gracefully. He emphasizes lifestyle modification – intermittent fasting, low protein, plant >animal protein, exercise and sleep which we have discussed. All grandma’s advice. But he also takes metformin, resveratrol (100s glasses of red wine worth/day) and nicotinamide mononucleotide, an active metabolite of vitamin B6.
Range: Why generalists triumph in a specialized world. David Epstein (sportswriter)
What's the most effective path to success? Epstein begins with Tiger’s terrible twos when he already knew he was going to become a golfer and after racking up hour after hour of deliberate practice he outpaced everyone without such a head start. It turns out, even among elite athletes, early specialization and focus is the exception not the rule.
Having exposure to multiple sports, multiple types of creative arts, multiple academic disciplines, multiple jobs appears to help in several ways. It allows the child to trial and find a match, it provides a breadth of background which informs unique problems, and it allows the problem solver to draw analogies from a wide range of experiences. For example, too often it is I have a hammer and there is a nail therefore I … yet the stent-hammering cardiologist continues on despite the equivalent outcome of conservative treatment. In fact, grit may be overvalued in many who simply change instruments, fields, or jobs due in truth to trying to find a better match rather than from lack of persistence. So, while experts argue that anyone who wants to excel in a sport, an instrument, or a field should start early, focus intensely, and practice deliberately, data suggests otherwise.
At first, I thought Epstein, an award-winning sportswriter, was selecting data, perhaps even outliers. But as he reviewed life stories and group analyses of top achievers, he discovered that early specialization is the exception and broad exposure is more the rule. In domain after domain, from elite (Roger Federer) athletes to artists (Van Gogh), musicians and composers, inventors (of Nintendo, glitter, Apple), forecasters, scientists and Nobel Laureates (Cajal), this pattern seems to hold true. In a complex and rapidly evolving world, generalists, who typically find their path later than earlier, rather than specialists solve/discover/invent the big and difficult ones. By balancing different interests, they appear to be more mentally agile and more able to make connections (analogies) across fields that narrow specialists cannot see. The most impactful inventors and Nobelists often cross domains rather than plunge into a single area alone.
This book is one of the most insightful books about learning that ever I’ve read and is relevant to our kids, especially grand kids, teachers, professors … mid-career change. For our grand kids, having to figure out the hidden rule rather than simply memorizing the short cut, failing a test, quitting a sport or instrument and taking up another appears to be in the long-run the best way to learn. I realized belatedly how my dilettante-ism (interest in humanities – religion, psychology, medical anthropology) enabled me to delve into grey areas of functional mind-body GI disorders, develop diversity curriculum and understand Asian American medical students. I came to view Ben’s 7-year walk-about differently as an experimental, matching and maturing phase in which his sociology studies, experience with underserved, goal of social justice, and humanities coalesced into his unique career path.
