Do you think that your previous success will help you stay afloat indefinitely?
Robert Greene nicely described dependency in his book ‘The 50th law’:
“Think of it this way: dependency is a habit that is so easy to acquire. We live in a culture that offers you all kinds of crutches. Experts to turn to, drugs to cure any psychological unease, mild pleasures to help pass or kill time, jobs to keep you just above the water. It is hard to resist. But once you give in, it is like a prison you enter that you cannot ever leave.”
He also wrote we are more alone than we imagine and that it should not be a source of fear but freedom for us. But what he continued with resonates a lot with entrepreneurs relying on past successes. “You continually look outward for help, and this severely limits your options and maneuverability.” …
Trying2Understand
Before playing with detox preparations and nutrients, you should check the critical prerequisites.
A (spring) detox week
I recently read an article about easy ways to detox your body. It’s a good source of information. But a few principal points need additional thought.
Coffee and other ‘favorable’ substances
The author recommends avoiding coffee during detox. But she claims it’s not necessary to get rid of it completely. Her advice is to switch to ‘decaf’ coffee.
I love coffee, but I have to disagree with the author. Studies found proof on coffee and tea benefits on longevity. But, those studies found no harmful effects of not drinking coffee.
You should limit your food intake to supporting nutrients only. Detailed substances and the effects of ‘decaf’ coffee on digestion are unknown. …
Trying2Understand
There are some facts about high body temperature and its damaging effects you might want to consider.
The majority of people still fear high body temperature and firmly believe it to be harmful if left unattended. They fear that the body is sick, malfunctioning, and they must help it lower the temperature.
I am not trying to imply one should disregard the fever. But some time and critical thought need to be spent on the topic before deciding further. I have a biased opinion and writing by my research and experience. But I tried to present mostly referenced medical statements and judgment, adding some of my own experience.
I am sure that there are many experts on Medium that can confirm or disprove my writing. I will be happy to see any comments to correct my opinion in the right direction. After all, it does not matter who is right. As long as we solely want to understand, we are moving forward. …
Trying to Understand
Seeing your child encounter a febrile convulsion is a horrific blood-freezing experience. How to prevent it from reoccurring?
My son has experienced a febrile convulsion at four years of age — a high fever seizure. It is (supposedly) an episode of brain contracting, caused by a high fever (above 39°C/102,2°F). I have witnessed doctors being very skeptical and timid about febrile convulsions.
According to our doctors — we ought to do everything possible to prevent potentially repeating febrile convulsions. They were sure that these appear as a result of high fever. As they did not want the temperature to rise above 38,5°C (101,3°F), they immediately administered the antipyretic.
I was a little skeptical about the therapy, having considered the sudden spikes in temperature to be a more viable reason to result in convulsion. Every time the antipyretic eased off, the body started to lift the temperature, causing a temperature spike, putting my son in danger to experience another seizure. …
Trying2Understand
There are countless studies on the advantages and disadvantages of consuming milk. Is it good or bad?
I recently read an article about milk. It stated some studies and quoted some facts about linking bone fractures with people consuming large quantities of milk. Studies were also claiming calcium intake to be related to the risk of several types of cancer.
The author noted that buying milk in a grocery store also supports inhumane corporations because of mistreating the animals in factories.
I strongly oppose mistreating animals. But the only argument the author stated against processed ‘milk’, was about supporting inhumane corporations? No health risks involved with milk processing?
Milk versus ‘milk’
Could there be any difference between the milk in the picture below and the one above? …
Trying to Understand
There is no good without the bad. In the absence of the bad, the good even can not be defined. The bad is as much important as the good.
I listened to my coworkers argue about which database architecture is ultimately better. They got divided into two groups — the microservices group and the monolith group. Most of the younger coworkers joined the first, and most of the older coworkers joined the second group.
Older coworkers claimed microservices architecture to suck. They argued the monolith databases to be ultimately better, more reliable, and to support the most critical point about multiple origins of information — a single ‘source of truth’.
And the younger ones defended the microservices to be much faster and more efficient. They claimed the microservices to be ‘the future’ of database architecture. …
Searching4Wisdom
Do the work and instead of just ‘knowing’ try to ‘understand’
I recently ran into another quote from Einstein that I found very interesting and thought-provoking. He managed to explain the Dunning-Kruger phenomenon in simple terms:
“Any fool can know. But the point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein
What did he mean by that? Is there a difference between knowing and understanding? We should think this through, step by step.
Knowing
First, when you learn something, your brain tries to remember it. If you memorize it by heart and manage to retain the memory, you know (something about) it. …
Searching4Wisdom
Does a bad company or environment lead to a bad influence? Do negative situations inherently produce negative consequences?
I used to get quite irritated when told that I am the average of five people I hang out with the most.
My future or destiny does depend on the people I spend the most time with. It (partially) depends on the influence they put on me. But it depends mostly on me — on how I interpret or benefit from their interactions with me.
As I started reading a viral article by Maarten van Doorn published in 2018, something bothered me all along. I had to collect my thoughts and write them down. …
Trying2Understand
About a popular business approach that returns self-destructive trends
I was listening to an interview with a former chairman of a national bank. In the interview, he was explaining how ‘fintech’ businesses operate. He mentioned the term “brutal self-reflection”. Not familiar with the phrase, I began to ponder on that phrase.
During a job interview for a CISO role, the CEO of a company asked me an interesting question. “How many of the available resources would you dedicate to persecuting and capturing perpetrators if a hack occurred?” I paused for a few seconds.
Less than 50% of resources for chasing hackers
Obviously surprised by my response, he asked for an explanation.
It was not their core business or range of expertise. Therefore I believed it would be unwise to allocate a majority of valuable resources to persecuting and catching the perpetrators. …
Trying2Understand
Weight-loss diets are one of the most popular New Year decisions. But they suck!
Most people tend to make numerous New Year’s resolutions. Gym memberships increase as January approaches. But they tend to decline just a few weeks later. People are eager to make healthy life decisions on such milestones. To lose weight, eat healthier, get in better shape, start moving, stop smoking, etc.
I took part in similar decisions. I tried to change some of my attributes or habits. All of these promises lasted for a short period in general. And they ceased to endure until the end of February, at best.
These resolutions never worked with me. I must have lacked the right timing, motivation, or a solid reason. Like my health and well being was not enough. And most of these even resulted in the much-unwanted boomerang effect. …
