# Aruna Kumarasiri


## Posts

- [A Story for All Ages: Why Project Hail Mary Wins the Hearts of Grandpas, Grandkids, and Everyone in Between](https://arunak.net/project-hail-mary/): I remember laughing hysterically while reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I hadn’t enjoyed a novel this much in ... Read more
- [Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman](https://arunak.net/tunnel-29-by-helena-merriman/): Snapshot Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman tells the true story of a remarkable escape from one of the most infamous ... Read more
- [How Black and White Photography Brings Your Street Photos to Life](https://arunak.net/black-and-white-photography/): The first time I stepped onto the street with a camera, I had no idea what I was really looking ... Read more
- [Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger](https://arunak.net/catcher-in-the-rye-by-j-d-salinger/): Snapshot Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger follows Holden Caulfield, a depressed teenager struggling with grief, the confusion of ... Read more
- [How to Find a Good Book to Read](https://arunak.net/how-to-find-a-good-book-to-read/): When I was five years old, my dad gave me my first book recommendation. He walked me to our local ... Read more
- [The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka](https://arunak.net/the-metamorphosis-by-franz-kafka/): The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, who wakes up to find that ... Read more
- [How to Write an Email to a Potential Supervisor (With Examples)](https://arunak.net/email-to-a-potential-supervisor/): Writing to a potential supervisor can exponentially increase your chances of securing a position as a graduate student. However, you ... Read more
- [Rocket Men by Robert Kurson](https://arunak.net/rocket-men-by-robert-kurson/): Rocket Men by Robert Kurson is the story of how three Americans changed the course of the Cold War forever. ... Read more
- [Price Floor Explained: A Complete Guide](https://arunak.net/price-floor-explained/): We often don’t realize how much we rely on electricity until the lights go out during an important Zoom call. ... Read more
- [The Tiger by John Vaillant](https://arunak.net/the-tiger-by-john-vaillant/): The Tiger by John Vaillant is a remarkable true story about a beekeeper who made the terrible mistake of meddling ... Read more
- [How I Finally Found the Best Note-Taking App for Personal Knowledge Management](https://arunak.net/personal-knowledge-management/): I have a problem. Every once in a while, I would find myself poking around the internet, searching for a ... Read more
- [The Photographers Eye by Michael Freeman](https://arunak.net/the-photographers-eye-michael-freeman/): What separates simply “showing something” from capturing a truly compelling photograph is composition. The Photographer’s Eye by Michael Freeman provides ... Read more
- [Risk Appetite vs Risk Tolerance: Understanding the Critical Differences for Better Risk Management](https://arunak.net/risk-appetite-vs-risk-tolerance/): Risk management is one of those areas where so many unusual terms float around and sometimes it can be hard ... Read more
- [How to Choose an Academic Supervisor](https://arunak.net/choose-an-academic-supervisor/): “A PhD is hard. But a good supervisor makes it much easier,” says Emma Kathryn White, a PhD student in ... Read more
- [Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson](https://arunak.net/shadow-divers-robert-kurson/): It’s not every day you get the chance to rewrite history. But when that moment comes, it demands everything. Shadow ... Read more
- [The War of Art by Steven Pressfield](https://arunak.net/the-war-of-art-steven-pressfield/): This is the best book I’ve read that perfectly expands the term ‘just do it’ The book is divided into ... Read more
- [5 Everyday Risk Aversion Examples and How They Shape our Decisions](https://arunak.net/risk-aversion-examples/): People are naturally risk averse. And that is not particularly a bad thing. It oftentimes help us to make better ... Read more
- [Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes](https://arunak.net/flowers-for-algernon-by-daniel-keyes/): Snapshot After an experiment that had been tested only on a mouse named Algernon, Charlie Gordon, a man born with ... Read more
- [The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley](https://arunak.net/the-rational-optimist-by-matt-ridley/): Audacious, mesmerizing, and controversial. The thesis of The Rational Optimist book doesn’t revolve around a single subject but a collective ... Read more
- [How to Choose the Best Font for a Scientific Presentation?](https://arunak.net/best-font-for-a-scientific-presentation/): Are you the type of person who spends more time designing your presentation theme than creating the slides for the ... Read more
- [Nudge by Thaler & Sunstein](https://arunak.net/nudge-thaler-and-sunstein/): Thaler and Sunstein have tapped into a timeless idea that has been often overlooked: consumer choices are often irrational. According ... Read more
- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://arunak.net/project-hail-mary-andy-weir/): There’s this childish grin that’s been stuck on my face for the last couple of days, and I can totally ... Read more
- [The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy](https://arunak.net/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-great-powers-paul-kennedy/): My interest in this book was sparked by two questions that have been bothering me for over a decade: As ... Read more
- [Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould](https://arunak.net/wonderful-life-by-stephen-jay-gould/): One-line takeaway An ancient fossil site in the Canadian Rockies leaves behind a humbling message: life did not have to ... Read more
- [Sensemaking by Christian Madsbjerg](https://arunak.net/sensemaking-by-christian-madsbjerg/): One-line takeaway Not all insights can be captured with numbers. What is Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm about? Sensemaking is a counterweight to Moneyball. It argues that understanding people requires forms of insight that cannot be reduced to numbers. Sensemaking is practical wisdom Madsbjerg’s five principles of sensemaking are: Collecting facts is only part of understanding people To understand a culture, look for its ghosts A daily walk does more than exercise the body
- [From Kindle to Obsidian - How I Turn Book Highlights Into Ideas](https://arunak.net/kindle-to-obsidian/): What is a “well-read” person? It’s usually the one who’s knowledgeable, articulate, thoughtful, and capable of making sound decisions. We all agree on this. But there’s a huge misconception about what makes a person well-read. We tend to think that “well-read” means having read a lot of books. But this is not necessarily the case. Imagine two people who read books on personal finance. One reads only about ten carefully curated books each year, makes time to understand them well, and finally applies them in real life. Another reads 200 books. That’s roughly four books per week. But they make no ... Read more
- [The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle](https://arunak.net/the-culture-code-by-daniel-coyle/): One-line takeaway Cooperation allows a group with less expertise to outperform a more experienced one. What is The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups about? This is a great reference for anyone who wants to learn how to perform well in a group setting. Its lessons apply to both team members and leaders. The top three lessons from the book are: (1) cooperation beats individual expertise; (2) greed is a major factor that holds a group back from succeeding; and (3) the most successful groups focus on solving hard problems first, sometimes even at the expense of collective happiness. ... Read more
- [How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens](https://arunak.net/how-to-take-smart-notes-by-sonke-ahrens/): One line takeaway The actual writing begins after the first draft. Most important points The notetaking toolbox Three Types of Notes Common mistakes Six Steps to Successful Writing 1. Separate and Interlocking Tasks 2. Read for Understanding 3. Take Smart Notes 1. Make One Note at a Time Consistency is key. If you write one page every day, you can finish a doctoral thesis in a year—something that does not happen very often in academia. 2. Think Outside the Box When deciding what to make notes on, consider how the material might be valuable to you. This is especially important when ... Read more
- [Are Online Courses Worth It?](https://arunak.net/are-online-courses-worth-it/): Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of MOOCs has continued to grow. With so many courses covering the same subjects, though, choosing the right one can become a bit of a hassle. What should you look for in an online course? How do employers view online certificates? And how do you know whether a course is worth your time and money? That’s what this blog post is about. Reason for the Widespread Popularity of Online Certification Courses Accessibility Because these courses are offered online, they are accessible to a much wider audience compared to traditional classroom courses. To ... Read more
- [Reboot Your Portfolio by Dan Bortolotti](https://arunak.net/reboot-your-portfolio-by-dan-bortolotti/): One-line takeaway The hardest part of investing is learning to “do nothing.” The more actively people trade, the less they tend to earn. What is Reboot Your Portfolio: 9 Steps to Successful Investing with ETFs about? This is a straightforward, evidence-backed investing guide, especially for ETF investors. It’s custom-tailored to the Canadian market, though the basic principles discussed apply to anyone across the globe. The chapters are organized with one clear piece of guidance in each. All the advice is backed up with statistics and examples of how the market has behaved over the past century. Some of the topics covered ... Read more
- [5 Best Books on Writing: Lessons from Masters of the Craft](https://arunak.net/best-books-on-writing/): Writing is not easy. It’s actually pretty complicated. Learning from the experiences of the “pros” in the field makes the writing process a little bit easier. They can show us how to balance the rules of language with what actually works in the real world. Following in their footsteps until you’re comfortable writing in your own voice, and then writing something only you could have written, is a much more grounded path to mastering the craft. Here are some lessons from the masters of writing. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield Read the full review I first heard about this ... Read more
- [How to Set Up a Minimal Obsidian Vault: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://arunak.net/how-to-set-up-a-minimal-obsidian-vault/): Obsidian is a personal knowledge management tool for anyone looking to organize and connect complex information and ideas. One of Obsidian’s key strengths is that even complex problems can often be handled with a remarkably simple setup. Keeping this in mind, this guide is organized around four primary tasks: This guide uses only Obsidian’s core plugins. No community plugins are required. By the end of this setup, the vault has the following structure: This folder structure is intentionally minimal. Once you become comfortable with this simple setup, a more sophisticated one can emerge as your workflow demands it. Before you beginApplication: ... Read more
- [How to Reverse-Engineer an Obsidian Workflow from an Expected Outcome](https://arunak.net/how-to-reverse-engineer-an-obsidian-workflow/): When it comes to using a personal knowledge management system, it’s so tempting for any of us to jump right in and pick the best-looking workflow that we see on the internet. But the more I use Obsidian, the clearer it is to me how flawed this strategy really is. The reason is that a workflow—if it’s done right—is designed to solve a specific problem. So, if you just adopt a workflow without hoping to solve any problems, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. You’ll not solve any problems. And over time, this workflow will become its own problem. You started ... Read more
- [How to Build an Obsidian Workflow Around What You Actually Do](https://arunak.net/how-to-build-an-obsidian-workflow/): One of my favourite YouTube videos of all time is “How to Get Ahead of 99% of People (Starting Today)” by Mark Manson. It’s pretty simple, he says. You just need to: Then, he goes on to point out something that made sense to me immediately: most YouTubers and internet gurus focus on the third part because it’s easier to observe and easier to replicate. Having used Obsidian daily for about six years now, this is exactly how I think about the whole “Obsidian sphere” right now. There’s so much noise around the all-in-one-vault-to-make-you-a-productivity-wizard type of workflow. But that’s just the ... Read more
- [The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle](https://arunak.net/the-little-book-of-common-sense-investing-by-john-bogle/): One-line takeaway In investing, gunning for average is your best shot at finishing above average. What is The Little Book of Common Sense Investing about? This book is a great starting point for anyone who’s just dipping their toes into investing, index fund investing in particular. It’s written by the founder of Vanguard, one of the world’s largest investment management companies. The core insight of the book is that the most sensible way to invest is to buy a low-cost index fund and hold it for decades on end. Why I picked up this book The need to learn more about ... Read more
- [Bounce by Matthew Syed](https://arunak.net/bounce-by-matthew-syed/): One-line takeaway Deliberate practice is one of the most efficient tools for getting good at any craft. What is Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success about? In Bounce, Matthew Syed argues that talent, as it’s been marketed in today’s world, is overrated and that it’s just the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath it, he says, is years-long practice. Deliberate practice, to be precise. The book had me hooked from the beginning where he laid out his own story of becoming a world-class table tennis player. He argues that he was lucky to have (1) a ... Read more
- [Mastery by Robert Greene](https://arunak.net/mastery-by-robert-greene/): One-line takeaway Nobody can reach mastery; it exists only in the pursuit. What is Mastery about? Though the content of Mastery has been widely discussed in all corners of the internet, I find that the way it’s been discussed doesn’t really do justice to the book. The book lays out a six-step process to mastering a craft: find your calling, complete an apprenticeship, learn from a mentor, develop social intelligence, become creative, and eventually gain an intuitive command of your field. But deep within this “hero’s journey” type narrative, is a message that almost contradicts the conventional idea that “the journey ... Read more
- [Dorothea Lange: Photographs Of A Lifetime by Robert Coles](https://arunak.net/dorothea-lange-photographs-of-a-lifetime-by-robert-coles/): One-line takeaway The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. What is Dorothea Lange: Photographs of a Lifetime: An Aperture Monograph about? This is a survey of Dorothea Lange’s body of work. It’s a powerful example of the meaningful impact a photojournalist can have on the course of human history. It’s quite breathtaking how real, immersive, and tactile her work is. It’s perfectly clear that she wasn’t out in the field just to record events. “A documentary photograph,” she says, “is not a factual photograph per se; it carries with it another thing, a quality ... Read more
- [The Problem with Ready-Made Obsidian Vaults](https://arunak.net/the-problem-with-ready-made-obsidian-vaults/): When I first began dipping my toes into the personal knowledge management space, I thought the best place to start was by learning from other people’s systems. I remember going through hours of YouTube videos, blog posts, online courses, the whole works. And there they were: complete workspaces, ready-made Obsidian vaults and systems, all at my disposal. All the more exciting! So I got to work. I copied and downloaded, and even paid for, some of the available workspaces I could get my hands on. Then I started using them, only to realize that I was getting nowhere. I was trying ... Read more
- [Why am I so risk-averse? (7 Ways to Take Calculated Risks)](https://arunak.net/why-am-i-so-risk-averse/): Life is nothing but a series of decisions made from birth until death. And with each and every decision comes some degree of risk. It can vary, yes, but there’s always a risk. So, based on the situation in front of us, we naturally adjust how much risk we are willing to tolerate. For example, imagine two people—let’s call them Maya and Daniel—being offered a choice. They’ve just received a $5,000 bonus from their job. Totally unexpected, and they are thrilled! Now, imagine they are given the opportunity to invest this $5,000 in a stock-market index fund, knowing that its value ... Read more
- [The Street Photographer's Manual](https://arunak.net/the-street-photographers-manual-by-david-gibson/): One of the cleanest and most complete guides I’ve ever come across in the street photography genre. Lessons learned: Favorite quotes:
- [The Competence Trap: Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should](https://arunak.net/the-competence-trap/): In the mid-1930s, Peter Drucker was working as an investment banker in London. He was good at his job. He had the skill set a banker needed. The future looked promising. Everything was going according to plan. But later that year, he quit. He explains: People, I realized, were what I valued, and I saw no point in being the richest man in the cemetery. I had no money and no other job prospects. Despite the continuing Depression, I quit—and it was the right thing to do. —Managing Oneself (HBR, 2005) What makes his decision even more striking is that this ... Read more
- [What Does Risk-Averse Mean? A Practical Definition for Everyday Life](https://arunak.net/what-does-risk-averse-mean/): Risk-averse is one of those terms we like to throw around as though it is some kind of personality trait. But being risk-averse is a little more precise than simply being “too scared to take a chance.” In some situations, it can even be a serious advantage. So, understanding what it really means, and how it shows up in practice, gives us a real advantage when thinking about any decision that involves uncertainty, from trying something new in everyday life to making a major change in our career, finances, or relationships. That is what this article is about. What does risk-averse ... Read more
- [Scarcity by Mullainathan and Shafir](https://arunak.net/scarcity-by-mullainathan-and-shafir/): One-line takeaway People tend to organize their lives around what they do not have. What is Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much about? Mullainathan’s argument in Scarcity is pretty simple, but quite easy to overlook in day-to-day life. People tend to organize their lives around what they do not have. For example, if someone is poor or grew up poor, many of their decisions will naturally be controlled by money. The subtle danger here—especially with something like money—is that this seems to be entirely reasonable. We might think, “Of course there is nothing wrong with prioritizing saving money when ... Read more
- [The Power Broker by Robert Caro](https://arunak.net/the-power-broker-by-robert-caro/): One-line takeaway Power without humility is just greed in disguise. What is The Power Broker about? This is one of those books that needs no introduction. If you searched for it, you already know what it’s about. That said, if I had to introduce it to somebody, I’d introduce it as not a biography. “I was never interested in writing biography just to show the life of a great man,” Robert Caro says. “I wanted, with Moses to show how power works.” And that’s what this book is about: a historical narrative about politics, economics, law, urban planning, and a carefully ... Read more
- [How to Properly Read a Non-Fiction Book](https://arunak.net/how-to-read-a-non-fiction-book/): I’m one of those people who used to believe that it was almost a “sin” not to read a book from cover to cover. It took several years, and roughly 300 nonfiction books, to get out of this unproductive habit. I realized that no matter how good a nonfiction book is, most of the time, there will be some bits of information that are not going to be useful to me. As Francis Bacon, the English philosopher and essayist, wrote: “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” This is all ... Read more
- [How to Choose the Right Nonfiction Books to Read?](https://arunak.net/how-to-choose-the-right-nonfiction-books/): I grew up reading nothing but novels until my late teens. So, the definition of quality was mostly linked to the writing, not the story. I never really thought it was a big deal if the writing was a bit lousy. But a bad nonfiction book is a different beast. Because if it’s badly written, no matter how sound the thesis is, it can bend your sense of reality. A bad nonfiction book, in other words, is a small act of spreading misinformation. So being able to find good nonfiction books, and being able to read them the right way, are ... Read more
- [Personality by Daniel Nettle](https://arunak.net/personality-by-daniel-nettle/): One-line takeaway Our personality traits do not define us. It’s what we do with them that defines us. What is Personality about? Daniel Nettle argues that personality is not a type but a position on several continua. This runs against the stereotypical view of traits like introverted or extroverted, anxious or calm, disciplined or lazy, generous or selfish, and many others. Nettle looks at personality like it’s height or weight: everyone has some amount of each trait. Everyone has all of the five factors of personality, just as everyone has a height and a weight. Where we differ is the magnitude ... Read more
- [Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches by Marvin Harris](https://arunak.net/cows-pigs-wars-and-witches-by-marvin-harris/): One-line takeaway Human life is not merely random or capricious as we might think. What is Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches about? Marvin Harris’s Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches is built around a compelling assumption: the strange things people do and believe are usually not as strange as they seem on the surface. The primary hypothesis of the book, therefore, is that “human life is not merely random or capricious.” Behind food taboos, rituals, wars, messiahs, and witch hunts, Harris is looking for patterns. He draws from a wide range of domains, including ecology, land, labor, inequality, and power to make ... Read more
- [How to Find Your Strengths: Stop Looking for a Job and Start Looking for Evidence](https://arunak.net/how-to-find-your-strengths/): At many points in our adult lives, we seriously ask ourselves the question: “What am I actually good at?” A reasonable question. And, most of all, a really important one to ask. Also, the answer should not be that hard. I mean, there are so many opportunities now. So many job roles, career paths, online courses, personality tests, and examples to follow. Right? But the more I think about this question, the less I trust the easy answers. Because “What am I good at?” is rarely one question. It’s several questions stacked on top of each other. Trying to answer it ... Read more
- [Think Again by Adam Grant](https://arunak.net/think-again-by-adam-grant/): One-line takeaway “What evidence would cause you to change your mind?” is the kind of question that leads to a more balanced perspective. What is Think Again about? Adam Grant gives Malcolm Gladwell and Jordan Peterson a run for their money… But, in the beginning, I felt that this book could also create a wrong expectation. At first glance, Think Again seems to be building toward a clear practical message: being able to unlearn and rethink is useful in life. Read that way, the book can become a bit underwhelming, because it does not always turn that idea into something particularly ... Read more
- [Should I Do a PhD? 4 Reasons Why You Should Consider Doing a PhD](https://arunak.net/should-i-do-a-phd/): Doing a PhD isn’t just something that comes to your mind at the end of your undergraduate studies because we’ve all been thinking about it for a long time. However, when deciding whether or not to do a PhD, you must ask yourself some serious questions. Should I do a PhD? It seems like a rather simple question to ask yourself, but if you dive into it, you’ll find that it’s a lot more complicated than you anticipated. There are many compelling reasons to do a PhD. However, there are also some not-so-good reasons to do a PhD. You do not ... Read more
- [Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel](https://arunak.net/station-eleven-by-emily-st-john-mandel/): One-line takeaway Art might be the only effective mechanism for restoring ‘meaning’ after a civilization collapses. What is Station Eleven about? Station Eleven is a dystopian novel in which humanity has fallen victim to a deadly virus. Ironically, the novel was published just before the covid pandemic struck the globe. That said, this is not just a story about a pandemic, which is perhaps one of the main reasons for its success, that it presents one of the finest “approaches” to restoring a civilization after it has been completely destroyed: art. And there’s also a TV miniseries based on this story, ... Read more
- [How to Take Notes in College: 7 Practical Strategies to Study Better](https://arunak.net/how-to-take-notes-in-college/): When I first got into college, it took me a while to realize that life in college is completely different from life in high school. It’s a serious upgrade. You’ll have access to more interesting classes, more freedom, and more opportunities. But you’ll also need to make some extra effort to keep up with all of it. In high school, teachers usually give students notes as a point of reference. But in college, it’s mostly up to you to make your own notes. Taking notes in college is important for obvious reasons. It helps you revise things pretty quickly before finals. ... Read more
- [Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke](https://arunak.net/thinking-in-bets-by-annie-duke/): One-line takeaway Good decisions and good outcomes are not the same thing. What is Thinking in Bets about? Thinking in Bets is a book about learning how to live in a world where outcomes are inevitably unpredictable. Because outcomes are unpredictable, Annie Duke argues that we should not judge our decisions only by what happened afterward. A good outcome does not always mean we made a good decision. A bad outcome does not always mean we made a bad one either. One of the clearest anecdotes she uses to explain this is the difference between chess and poker. Real life is ... Read more
- [48 Laws of Power: Notes, Quotes, and Practical Lessons for Everyday Life](https://arunak.net/48-laws-of-power/): I’ve never seen a book that’s so equally hated and loved as The 48 Laws of Power. The duality of its reception is unbelievable. That said, the first time I read it, I immediately fell into the “hating” camp. Then, I picked it up again. But this time not just to read it, but to write about it. After hundreds of highlights and notes in this second run, and probably more than 40 hours of reading time, I realized that this book can be read in useful ways, and that it’s not “all evil.” Here are some of my notes, blended ... Read more
- [So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport](https://arunak.net/so-good-they-cant-ignore-you-by-cal-newport/): What is this book about? So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport argues that “passion” is a weak strategy for finding a well-fitting career. With many useful ideas, concepts, frameworks, and real-world examples that Newport uses to prove his point, also comes the sense that he overly pushes this idea into its most extreme case, that passion is completely useless, which I don’t agree with. I think someone will be able to get the best out of this book when they read it this way: All in all, I find that this book is most persuasive when it reads ... Read more
- [Are Multiple Intelligences Tests Worth It?](https://arunak.net/multiple-intelligences-tests/): The danger of reading a good book, a book like Frames of Mind by Howard Gardner, is that it’s quite easy to jump to a conclusion that the author didn’t even make. For example, the way this book has long been popularized is as an “identifier” for intelligence, such that, after reading it, the kind of intelligence within us is going to become very clear. And then, it’s quite easy to jump to conclusions like, “I have linguistic intelligence, not musical intelligence, and should work toward it,” or the opposite: “I obviously can’t work a people-heavy job because I don’t have ... Read more
- [Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t by Steven Pressfield](https://arunak.net/nobody-wants-to-read-your-sht-by-steven-pressfield/): What is Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t about? This is one of the best books on writing I’ve ever read. What’s interesting is that Steven Pressfield didn’t really write his first novel until 51, but had been working and honing his craft for almost 27 years. What’s even more interesting is that the knowledge he accumulated about writing did not come from a single domain. He’s been a copywriter, screenwriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, offshore oil-rig worker, migrant fruit picker, and even an adult-content writer. Through these roles, he learned real, valuable lessons about storytelling before he became a novelist, and ... Read more
- [How to write a follow-up email to a potential supervisor(With examples)](https://arunak.net/follow-up-email-to-a-potential-supervisor/): You might have been working so hard to craft that decent looking email to a potential supervisor, But you haven’t heard from them back after you sent it. This is quite a stressful situation to be in. But do not get too stressed to the point where you make bad decisions that will potentially lead to losing a potential research opportunity. This is why a follow-up email to a potential supervisor should be well-timed and crafted. Professors do not reply to emails for a plethora of reasons. But, after all, you have to do something if you don’t receive a reply. ... Read more
- [Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://arunak.net/children-of-time-by-adrian-tchaikovsky/): What is Children of Time about? Children of Time is built around a fascinating concept, that, a failed human experiment, meant to guide human evolution on a distant planet, accidentally gives rise to an intelligent civilization of spiders. Though I couldn’t get a proper grip on the story, I came to admire the evolutionary concepts that Tchaikovsky threaded through it. The story explores how intelligence grows, how civilizations form gradually, and how survival mostly depends on whether different forms of life are willing to move beyond their fear of the unfamiliar. Review I was more interested in the concept of the ... Read more
- [5 Best Dystopian Books to Read](https://arunak.net/5-best-dystopian-books-to-read/): “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free,” said Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, writer, and orator who taught himself to read while being enslaved. And I never truly understood how accurate this quote really is until I started reading dystopian fiction. Because a dystopian book, when done right, is almost always held together by a common thread, the very thing Frederick Douglass fought so hard for: freedom. Now, there are many, many ways a writer can explore the dimensions of freedom, as evident in the books I’m going to discuss in this article. But what was strikingly common across ... Read more
- [Creativity Inc by Edwin Catmull](https://arunak.net/creativity-inc-by-edwin-catmull/): One-line takeaway The quality of any creative work hinges on how well a company protects its employees. Short summary This is one of the best books I’ve read on creative leadership and organizational culture. In many ways, it reminded me of Bob Iger’s memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime. Creativity, Inc. explains how Ed Catmull and his colleagues built Pixar’s creative culture, from its technical origins through Toy Story, Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, and the later challenges of keeping up with their success. The book explains how candor, failure, creative feedback loops, and management practices were all essential for protecting the ... Read more
- [How to Find Your Core Strengths for Your Career](https://arunak.net/how-to-find-your-core-strengths-for-your-career/): The conventional approach to finding a job has almost always been an outside-in process. It begins with the job title, then moves to salary, prestige, current trends, qualifications, and what other people seem to be doing. More often than not, this approach does not lead someone into a well-fit career. So, people try to approach this by going in the other direction. They begin with passion. This feels more personal than starting with an available job title. It sounds liberating, even ambitious. This is the inside-out approach. But this approach has limits too, because passion is difficult to quantify. It does ... Read more
- [The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro](https://arunak.net/the-remains-of-the-day-by-kazuo-ishiguro/): One-line takeaway Devotion to duty can give a life meaning, but it may also come at the cost of love, honesty, and moral clarity. At a glance The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro follows Stevens, an English butler, as he looks back on his years of service at Darlington Hall after the Second World War. Through his memories of his employer, Lord Darlington, and the housekeeper Miss Kenton, the novel explores dignity, regret, loyalty, and the emotional cost of a life built sorely around professional duty. Review A great novel does not force emotions upon the reader. It gives ... Read more
- [Don’t Follow Your Passion. Follow Your Contribution.](https://arunak.net/follow-your-contribution/): In 2005, Steve Jobs stood in front of Stanford’s graduating class and delivered one of the most beloved commencement speeches ever. Somewhere in the speech, he said, “You’ve got to find what you love,” and just like that, it became one of the most admired pieces of career advice in the modern world. But if you look closely at Jobs’s own career path, it is hard to argue that a simple act of following passion was the primary engine of his success. His career looks less like the straight expression of a pre-existing passion and more like the gradual buildup of ... Read more
- [The 48 Laws of Power Explained: 3 Ways to Categorize the Laws](https://arunak.net/the-48-laws/): When I first read The 48 Laws of Power, I had the same reaction many people do: this book is really interesting, but it is also somewhat confusing. One law tells you to stay quiet. Another tells you to get attention. One says to be bold. Another says not to outshine the master. One says to become more visible. Another says to become mysterious. If you read the book straight through and try to hold all forty-eight laws in your head at once, chances are you will end up more confused than empowered. That was the problem I ran into with ... Read more
- [The Monkey King by Wu Cheng'en](https://arunak.net/the-monkey-king-by-wu-chengen/): One-line takeaway A playful and surprisingly profound story that turns the chaos, ego, and rebellion of a strange hero into spiritual discipline through an unforgettable adventure. At a glance Part myth, part adventure, and part spiritual satire, this is a book that looks simple and just funny on the surface, but carries more philosophical weight than I expected. The Monkey King by Wu Cheng’en traces the arc of Sun Wukong from a brilliant, chaotic troublemaker into a student forced to confront limits, authority, and the possibility of change. The story begins with Wukong’s refusal to submit to authority, then gradually becomes ... Read more
- [Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell](https://arunak.net/basic-economics-by-thomas-sowell/): A while ago, I heard that there was another American who was considered by many to have been the first black president, whose name was Thomas Sowell. Now I understand why. Sowell’s view on economics is more rational than optimistic. His objective view allows the reader to grasp the raw image of the economic scene, but with the right tools to guide our thinking toward our own economic prosperity. This is one of those texts that will eventually garner Thomas Sowell the respect that he deserves despite the fact that he may not get it in his lifetime. He writes.. “No one writes a 900-page book ... Read more
- [The 3 Questions That Changed How I Think About Every Personal Knowledge Management System](https://arunak.net/personal-knowledge-management-system-2/): TL;DR A good personal knowledge management system isn’t the one with the most features. It’s the one that gives you lasting leverage, fits how you actually think, and keeps working when life gets messy. Over time, the best system is usually the one you can return to without friction, grow without effort, and can use without spending more energy maintaining it than doing the work itself. A personal knowledge management system is mostly talked about in terms of features, aesthetics, or appealing workflows. I also used to think this way for years. Even now, I don’t resent those ways of thinking ... Read more
- [The Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows](https://arunak.net/the-limits-to-growth-by-donella-meadows/): The Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows could be the most rationally pessimistic book I’ve come across in quite some time. Some weeks ago, I came across a short video clip from Lex Freidman’s podcast. Lex asks Economist Steve Keen: ‘Can you advise young people who are in high school and college who are interested in a career in economics ?’ And Steve Keen goes: I say don’t do an economics degree! Lex chuckles… Steve continues: I’d say learn system dynamics, do a course in system dynamics that you can apply in any field, and then apply what you learn out ... Read more
- [A Step-by-Step Guide to Researching Potential Graduate Programs](https://arunak.net/researching-potential-graduate-programs/): There is no doubt that getting into your dream academic program is not a walk in the park. The amount of work involved in preparing and sending out applications can feel overwhelming at first. Having gone through the same process myself, what I learned the hard way is that not every hour you spend on applications is equally valuable. It is easy to focus on the more visible parts of the process, like writing personal statements, CVs and preparing other documents, while overlooking the steps that lead up to them. There is a whole other side to the process, and that ... Read more
- [The Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard](https://arunak.net/the-destiny-of-the-republic-by-candice-millard/): One-line takeaway A story about a little-known president and how a bullet, combined with poor medical treatment, cut short his time in office. At a glance The Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard is a narrative history of James A. Garfield’s rise from poverty to the presidency, followed by his assassination, which tragically cut short his time in office. The book also builds out the larger political ordeal and the painfully long medical disaster that unfolded around Garfield’s story. It ends with Garfield’s death, assassination trial, and the settling of Garfield’s place in public memory. Summary An unlikely president is ... Read more
- [Why “Follow Your Passion” Is Bad Advice and What to Do Instead](https://arunak.net/follow-your-passion/): TL;DR “Follow your passion” may be the most repeated piece of career advice in the modern world. From Richard N. Bolles’s What Color Is Your Parachute?, first published in 1970, to Steve Jobs’s Stanford commencement speech in 2005, the idea has been repeated, recycled, and elevated into one of the most celebrated mantras of modern career thinking. And it reigned supreme for so long for a very good reason. “Follow your passion” sounds generous, personal, and hopeful. It sounds like noble advice meant to rescue a person from a life of dull compromise. It tells us that somewhere inside us there ... Read more
- [Senkottan by Mahinda Prasad Masimbula](https://arunak.net/senkottan/): One-line takeaway A family saga of struggle, heartbreak, and the slow erosion of self-worth in the face of an unjust caste order. At a glance Senkottan (සෙංකොට්ටං) is a Sinhala novel by Mahinda Prasad Masimbula, first published in 2012. Set in the Sabaragamuwa highlands of southwest Sri Lanka, it spans from the 1930s into contemporary Sri Lankan life, tracing the social and psychological struggles of people shaped by an unjust caste order. The story centers on a boy named Baba Henaya, who belongs to the Radaa caste, one of the lowest in the entire caste system of the time. The Radaa’s ... Read more
- [Career Fit: Why Most Advice Fails (And What Actually Works)](https://arunak.net/career-fit-model/): TL;DR Most career advice starts from the wrong place: the job. It asks what role fits you best, instead of asking what kind of person you are at a deeper level. Because of this, many people end up in careers that look right on paper but feel wrong over time. A better way to think about career fit is through three layers: A career is not something you simply choose. It is a translation of your core strengths through the forces that shape your path. If the translation is poor, the answer is not always to try harder. It is to ... Read more
- [Frames of Mind by Howard Gardner](https://arunak.net/frames-of-mind-by-howard-gardner/): One-line takeaway Gardner’s central argument is that human intelligence isn’t one general capacity, but a set of partly independent, biologically grounded potentials that culture and experience shape into different forms of expertise. Quick facts At a glance For a long time, intelligence was treated as something close to a single measurable quantity. In practice, that meant IQ and school performance became the default metrics for discussing human ability. In Frames of Mind, Gardner challenges that assumption. But the book’s thesis isn’t simply that intelligence should be measured by IQ plus a few extra categories. Gardner is making a more foundational claim: ... Read more
- [Do You Actually Need a Personal Knowledge Management System? Lessons Learned From 10+ Years of Building One](https://arunak.net/personal-knowledge-management-system/): TL;DR: A personal knowledge management system isn’t really about shiny apps, productivity tricks, or building a “second brain” overnight. It’s about solving a much simpler problem: not losing your thinking to the mess of daily life. Over time, I found that a good PKM system needs to do five things well: help you create, store, retrieve, connect, and reshape information as your work and thinking evolve. For me, Obsidian became the tool that did that best. Not because it forced a perfect system from the start, but because it let one grow naturally, over the span of five years. On August ... Read more
- [One Tool to Rule Them All: Obsidian for Personal Knowledge Management](https://arunak.net/obsidian-for-personal-knowledge-management/): The apps we use shape who we are. So it’s worth thinking twice before committing to one for the long run. That said, note-taking takes up a significant portion of the time most of us spend inside an app every day. In that regard, Obsidian is one of those topics that comes up frequently, and for all the right reasons. Here’s why using a platform like this is more important than you might think. Beyond note-taking, there’s real value in building up a systematic place for your thoughts, ideas, and essential references, all in one place. Over time, that convergence of ... Read more
- [Night of the Grizzlies by Jack Olsen](https://arunak.net/night-of-the-grizzlies-by-jack-olsen/): One-line takeaway Even a little possibility of something terrible happening is still a possibility, and when lives are at risk, it should never be ignored. At a glance Night of the Grizzlies by Jack Olsen narrates the extraordinary events of two grizzly bear attacks in Glacier National Park on the night of August 12–13, 1967, both happening hours apart. The story then follows the emergency response and the aftermath to explain what caused such a rare and tragic incident. Quick Facts What is the book about? A summer season sets the trap (Glacier National Park, 1967) The book centers on Glacier ... Read more
- [Ikigai by Garcia and Miralles](https://arunak.net/ikigai-by-garcia-and-miralles/): One-line takeaway A long, satisfying life is built on small habits, done daily, with people you love. That, in its most traditional sense, is what ikigai means. At a glance Ikigai by Garcia and Miralles defines the concept ikigai as a reason to get up every day. But the book doesn’t stop there. It moves through several interconnected territories, from the psychology of purpose (logotherapy) to the state of deep focus known as flow, and then into the concrete routines that support a long life: food, exercise, community, and the acceptance of imperfection that the Japanese call wabi-sabi. Chapter by chapter ... Read more
- [Ikigai Meaning: The Difference Between a Reason to Live and a Purpose to Live](https://arunak.net/ikigai-meaning/): TL;DR: Ikigai meaning is best understood in its most traditional sense: that which makes life worth living. It’s not a framework or a career plan, but rather the ordinary, everyday things that make someone feel alive. It’s plural, personal, and already present in our lives right now. It describes a reason to live. The ikigai model, on the other hand, the four-circle Venn diagram most people have seen, is a different thing entirely. It was created in 2014 by a British blogger who swapped one word on an existing purpose diagram. It went viral. And somewhere along the way, the two ... Read more
- [The Wager by David Grann](https://arunak.net/the-wager-by-david-grann/): One-line takeaway When nature strips away the naval hierarchy of the British warship Wager, the boundary between the battle for survival and the battle for authority becomes a moving target. At a glance The Wager by David Grann follows the 1741 wreck of HMS Wager during Britain’s naval campaign against Spain and the brutal survival that follows on a remote island off the Patagonian coast. When survivors return home by different routes, at different times, they each have a very different story to tell. That sparks a whole other fight over blame, authority, and who gets to define the official version ... Read more
- [Kindle vs Physical Books: Why I Stopped Buying Physical Books and Switched to Kindle](https://arunak.net/kindle-vs-physical-books/): TL;DR If you’re stuck at the whole Kindle vs physical books debate, my shift to the Kindle ecosystem came down to: access + usability. Switching to Kindle removed the friction that limited how much I could read, how well I could learn from what I read, and how quickly I could turn my highlights and notes into usable ideas, reviews, and evergreen notes. Reading, at its core, should be an immersive experience. Everything else comes after that. If you’re someone who likes to read, we probably share the same reason for doing it: that feeling. The one that pulls you in ... Read more
- [How to Build a Productive Morning Routine as a Grad Student](https://arunak.net/productive-morning-routine/): How often have you felt frustrated after oversleeping and missing your perfectly planned productive morning routine? I guess we’ve all been there. For graduate students especially, a well-thought-out productive morning routine can be a quiet advantage: you start the day with momentum instead of panic. The problem is that discipline and consistency aren’t easy, especially if you’re not naturally an early riser. Why do so many graduate students struggle to build a productive morning routine they can actually stick to? I’ve been asking myself this question for more than four years. I’m someone who’s always on the hunt for a better ... Read more
- [Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck](https://arunak.net/of-mice-and-men-by-john-steinbeck/): One line takeaway Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck tells the story of two men’s struggle to hold onto their hopes and dreams in the teeth of the Great Depression. Snapshot In 1930s California, two men walk side by side along a dusty road, searching for work in an economy crushed by the Great Depression. The tall one, George, does most of the talking. The other, Lennie, is massive and childlike, with a mind that can’t keep up with his strength. “One day”, they tell each other, “they’ll own their own ranch”; their own piece of land, a place where ... Read more
- [Earth abides by George Stewart](https://arunak.net/earth-abides-by-george-stewart/): One line takeaway What happens to an ordinary person when the world around him suddenly turns into a wasteland? Earth Abides by George Stewart is this stark thought experiment, put to the test. Snapshot Isherwood Williams, a graduate student in geography at Berkeley, leaves town to do research in the Sierra Nevada. He’s studying the geography of the mountains, collecting data for his thesis. After getting bitten by a rattlesnake and recovering alone in his cabin, he comes back to find out that the whole world, as he knew it, was entirely wiped out by a sudden plague. As he walks ... Read more
- [How to Find Research Papers: The System I Wish I Had in My First PhD Year](https://arunak.net/how-to-find-research-papers/): “I’ll read this paper later,” I thought to myself before adding another tab to my overflowing internet browser. Of course, I didn’t read it later. This was the first year of my PhD, and that meant reading…a lot of reading. For many hours, I read papers, determined to master the literature in my field, but the more I read, the more I felt like I was falling behind. “How to find research papers quickly?” has been a never-ending question for me. Because my workflow was so unorganized, I missed out on reading many important papers. This was a tipping point. The ... Read more
- [Greenwood by Michael Christie](https://arunak.net/greenwood-by-michael-christie/): One line takeaway An epic family saga that stretches across four generations, exploring the interconnected relationships between people and the nature around them. Snapshot Greenwood by Michael Christie is an epic family saga that follows the Greenwood family across four generations, tracing their connection to forests, wealth, and environmental collapse from the past into a climate-ravaged future. The story shows how inheritance, exploitation, and care for the natural world shape both personal lives and collective survival. What stands out to me about this book is how different it is from most novels that come out these days. The story has an ... Read more
- [How to Organize Research Papers: A Simple System that Saved My PhD](https://arunak.net/how-to-organize-research-papers/): During the first year of my PhD, I remember spending an embarrassingly long time trying to find a research paper I’d just read but somehow got lost in the shuffle. The number of papers to read wasn’t going down either, so I desperately, and immediately, needed a system to manage all the input before I drowned in PDFs. That’s when I started hunting for an answer to a problem a lot of grad students eventually turn to: how to organize research papers. I’ve probably spent too much time on this, but my shiny object syndrome didn’t all go to waste. I ... Read more
- [Top 15 Must-Read Risk Management Books for Everyday Life](https://arunak.net/risk-management-books/): With life moving at lightning speed, getting a grip on how to handle risks is something we all need to learn. No matter if we’re dealing with our daily finances, kicking off a business, or making team decisions at work, handling risks well can have a great effect on our lives. And there’s no better way to learn about anything than from a book! These risk management books will inspire you to challenge and widen your views about almost all aspects in life. With engaging stories and practical tips, these books can teach you spot patterns, embrace the uncertainty in everyday ... Read more
- [Dark Matter by Blake Crouch](https://arunak.net/dark-matter-by-blake-crouch/): One line takeaway Good Science + Bad Fiction. Snapshot Dark Matter by Blake Crouch tells the story of a failed scientist who wakes up in a world where nothing around him makes sense. So he turns to the only thing he knows to get help: physics. But what follows isn’t answers but more questions, stranger realities, and a desperate race to find his way back to his own life. Review At its core, Dark Matter is a novel about decision-making. But the holes in the story keep it from feeling complete. The narrative feels like a puzzle made up of pieces ... Read more
- [How to Choose the Best Colors for a Scientific Presentation?](https://arunak.net/colors-for-a-scientific-presentation/): I’ve been in academia for more than a decade, and choosing the right color is still something I think about every single time I make a new presentation or poster. It’s hard for a reason. An average person can tell apart nearly a million different colors. That’s a lot. So choosing just two or three of them for a scientific presentation can feel overwhelming. Yet the color scheme you choose is almost as important as the data you present. Colors influence attention, comprehension, and credibility, often subconsciously. When the colors aren’t right, it leads to unappealing visuals, distracted audiences, and negative ... Read more
- [Interaction of Color by Joseph Albers](https://arunak.net/interaction-of-color-by-joseph-albers/): Snapshot For a book in this genre, Interaction of Color by Joseph Albers takes a different approach and leans more towards philosophy than just facts. To me, this is what makes the book really enjoyable. The book is structured as a teaching guide, filled with bite-sized lessons and exercises using colored illustrations. But even outside a classroom, it reads as an accessible and thought-provoking study of how color behaves in our day-to-day lives. Color Is Contextual Albers starts by pointing out something surprisingly intuitive: our visual memory is far poorer than our auditory memory. Most of us can hum a melody ... Read more
- [The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel](https://arunak.net/the-stranger-in-the-woods-by-michael-finkel/): One line takeaway An unbelievable true story of one man’s desperate attempt for solitude. Snapshot The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel tells the true story of Christopher Knight, who walked into the Maine woods in 1986 at age twenty and lived alone for twenty-seven years, surviving by stealing from nearby camps. The book follows his arrest in 2013, his conversations with journalist Michael Finkel, and explores what drove him to make such a choice. The book also follows the aftermath of his capture and how he adjusted to the world he’d left behind. Summary A quiet kid trying to ... Read more
- [How Many Books Should You Read at Once? A Mood-Based System for Reading 50+ Books a Year](https://arunak.net/how-many-books-should-you-read-at-once/): For the past couple of years, I’ve always had three books going at the same time. It helped me read about 100% more than I did before, when I was reading only one book at a time. On a coffee break, a friend who knows this asked me: “Don’t you feel guilty? Reading a couple of books at the same time?” Then, with a playful grin, he added: “Isn’t that cheating?” It was a silly accusation. But I desperately wanted to defend myself. “No, no, no,” I said. “I only read one novel at a time. I don’t cheat.” We had ... Read more
- [10 Most Powerful 48 Laws of Power Quotes (And What They Actually Mean)](https://arunak.net/48-laws-of-power-quotes/): The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene was destined to become a cult classic. It’s a no-nonsense, straightforward guide to understand how the world really works. On top of the well-researched reality checks presented in the book, Greene writes them with masterful clarity. If you read carefully, you’ll see a pattern in each law. Greene starts with a story and brings it to a single point. Then he distills it into a few sentences before moving to the next story. These quotes hold the essence of each law, the core truths about human nature. Here are 10 most powerful 48 ... Read more
- [The River of Doubt by Candice Millard](https://arunak.net/the-river-of-doubt-by-candice-millard/): Snapshot The River of Doubt by Candice Millard tells the incredible true story of one of America’s most celebrated ex-presidents’ final grasp at the glory he once knew. The book covers Theodore Roosevelt’s actual 1913-14 scientific expedition down an unmapped river of the Amazon called the Rio da Dúvida(the River of Doubt). Roosevelt, along with his son Kermit and Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon, completed this dangerous journey that nearly cost him his life. Summary Why Roosevelt Went to the Amazon? After two successful terms as president, from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt made a bold decision to run again. This time under ... Read more
- [The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin](https://arunak.net/the-dispossessed-by-ursula-le-guin/): One line takeaway A story about a lone physicist’s quest to define what freedom really is. Snapshot The most unsettling societies are the ones built on good intentions, not the openly tyrannical ones. This is why, even though The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin is considered a utopia, you might end up thinking you read the beginning chapters of a dystopia. In this novel, we follow Shevek, a physicist who lives on the deserted moon Anarres, much like our own moon, located in the Tau Ceti solar system. Anarres orbits the mother planet Urras. About 170 years ago, Shevek’s ancestors migrated ... Read more
- [30 Lessons from 30 Years](https://arunak.net/30-lessons-from-30-years/): In our early 30s, we stop keeping track of our age. We know we’re not 29 anymore, but not 35 either. And that’s exactly enough information to keep us comfortable. But a couple of weeks ago, I was filling out a form that asked for my birthday. The next line was auto-generated and read: YOU ARE 32 YEARS OLD. Damn it! Anyhow, this little unsolicited truth bomb got me thinking: What has happened in my life so far? What have I actually learned? Here are some of them, learned from life itself and/or from somebody else. 1 – 17 Going fast ... Read more
- [The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz](https://arunak.net/the-paradox-of-choice-by-barry-schwartz/): Snapshot The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz argues that we now live in a world where choosing has become a constant activity rather than an occasional necessity. Our strategies for decision-making control not just what we choose, but how satisfied we’ll be with the choices we make. Beyond a certain point, however, having more options makes us less happy, less satisfied, and more anxious. The solution isn’t eliminating choice completely. It’s choosing when and where to choose. In other words, our well-being doesn’t come from having fewer options to choose from, but from having the wisdom to know when to ... Read more
- [The Influence of Loss Aversion on Consumer Buying Decisions](https://arunak.net/loss-aversion-on-consumer-buying-decisions/): Ever notice how losing a $100 bill feels way worse than finding $100 feels good? If this ever happened to you, you are not alone! In fact, scientists even have a name for it—loss aversion. Loss aversion on consumer buying decisions has become one of the most widely discussed topics in behavioral economics, for a good reason. Because loss aversion affects more than our feelings. It affects how we shop, invest, vote, work, and even how we manage our relationships. The urge to avoid a loss can sometimes lead us to make irrational decisions. So, the more we understand the role ... Read more
- [48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene](https://arunak.net/48-laws-of-power-by-robert-greene/): Snapshot 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene has a cult-like following. It has sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States alone since its release in 1998 and has been translated into 24 languages. Despite all this success, people still have three major reservations about the book. First, is it evil? Some of the advice is undeniably dark. At times, it reads like a villain’s handbook. Second, are the stories even relevant? Many of Greene’s examples are ancient, dusty, and hard to connect to modern life. Third, do the laws contradict each other? Law 1 says “never outshine the ... Read more
- [Before You Email That Professor: A Research-First Strategy for Emailing PhD Supervisors](https://arunak.net/emailing-phd-supervisors/): Emailing PhD supervisors is, by far, the best way not only to get into a program but also to get into one that really fits your goals. Unlike the standard graduate admission screening process, where you apply through a portal, this is one-to-one communication with your potential future collaborator and advisor. Despite all this, it’s really important to understand the etiquette of doing this. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the first email you send to a potential supervisor can make or break your application. You’re walking a thin line between making a strong first impression, or a disastrous one. ... Read more
- [The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood](https://arunak.net/the-handmaids-tale-by-margaret-atwood/): Snapshot The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a story about the power struggle between personal freedom and social stability. In this dystopian world, women’s rights are stripped down to the bare minimum as the world is on the brink of collapse when the birth rate goes exponentially down. As a solution to maintain social stability, the remaining fertile women have been forcefully assigned to reproduction. Summary The world collapses into Gilead as society breaks down and a new regime rises from the chaos. If we can’t reproduce, our society collapses, both physically and mentally. How would we behave if the ... Read more
- [How to Read More Books by Quitting More: The Strategic Quitting Method](https://arunak.net/strategic-quitting-books/): There are two types of readers when it comes to quitting a book before it ends. There’s the completionist reader who says, “We must finish what we started.” And on the other end, there’s the selective reader who says, “life is too short to finish a bad book.” I’ve been both of these types in the past. When I’m reading a book, if the first part was interesting but the second half gives me nothing, I still used to push myself to the end. I was stuck in the sunk cost fallacy. But I’ve been on the opposite end, too. When ... Read more
- [The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt](https://arunak.net/the-righteous-mind-by-jonathan-haidt/): Snapshot The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt shows why people split over politics and religion. Haidt leads with two main arguments. First, we lead with gut feelings, then use logic to defend what we already decided to believe in the first place. Second, our minds are built to be loyal to our own group, even when it breaches moral reasoning and truth. In other words, we value reputation over truth. So the best way to make a constructive argument with someone who has a completely different moral foundation is to speak to their intuitions first. Once you have the permission of ... Read more
- [How to Set up Your Sony A6000 Series Camera for Street Photography: A Complete Guide](https://arunak.net/how-to-set-up-sony-a6000-series-camera/): What I like about street photography is how undemanding it is. What you really need is an idea and a camera that doesn’t get in your way. For example, say you’re walking down the street. And then, something catches your eye. Now, you want to share what you saw with someone else. If there’s someone with you, you’d just point to the scene. But that reaches one person. What if you could reach thousands? That’d be amazing. Also, the scene changes in the next fraction of a second. So when the other person turns, that moment is probably already gone. So ... Read more
- [1984 by George Orwell](https://arunak.net/1984-by-george-orwell/): Snapshot 1984 by George Orwell, shows a world where the central government controls every aspect of people’s lives; not just their actions, but their thoughts, too. In this society, individuality is completely crushed, and truth is manipulated to serve the government’s goals. Orwell’s warning is that, in the face of totalitarian power, personal freedom and identity become invisible, leaving people entirely subject to the government’s will. Summary A World Where Even Your Thoughts Aren’t Yours Anymore Winston, a 39-year-old clerk in the Ministry of Truth, walks onto the street on another dark, cloudy day. Everywhere he looks, there’s a poster with ... Read more
- [Gifted (2017)](https://arunak.net/gifted-2017/): Snapshot Gifted (2017) follows Mary Adler, a math-whiz kid who’s just lost her family, as she gets caught in a custody battle between her uncle and her grandmother. Mary lives with her uncle, Frank Adler, after her mother’s death, and he’s taken on the role of raising her. Even though Mary is a math prodigy, Frank wants her to have a normal, happy childhood, rather than being pushed too hard into academics. The film focuses on Frank as he tries to give Mary a normal life while navigating the family conflict over her custody. What the movie is really about At ... Read more
- [What the Opposite of Risk-Averse Really Means? (And Why It Matters)](https://arunak.net/opposite-of-risk-averse/): Imagine that you just received a $5,000 bonus from your job. Amazing! This was so unexpected that you don’t even know what to do with it. Well…here are some options: If you’re risk-averse, you will probably put your money in a savings account. A risk-neutral person might invest it in a balanced mutual fund. But if you’re the opposite of risk-averse, that is, risk-seeking, you would buy cryptocurrency or lottery tickets. Your choice depends on how comfortable you are with risk and what you value most: security, a balanced approach, or chasing excitement. It seems quite straightforward, doesn’t it? Well, it ... Read more
- [Clear and Simple as the Truth by Thomas and Turner](https://arunak.net/clear-and-simple-as-the-truth-by-thomas-and-turner/): Snapshot Clear and Simple as the Truth by Thomas and Turner presents a way to approach life, even though on the surface it appears to be just a writing guide. The authors begin with a question: Why, even with so many writing programs available today, has the quality of writing not improved? This suggests there is no direct correlation between writing good prose and having stronger technical skills like grammar or vocabulary. Their argument is that writing is not merely a skill but an intellectual activity. In other words, learning how to think—rather than focusing solely on grammar—helps you become a ... Read more
- [Why Fiction Matters More Than You Think (And How to Find Time to Read More of It)](https://arunak.net/why-fiction-matters/): Is fiction really dead? It sure seems that way. Everybody wants to read non-fiction these days. And, it makes sense, too. For a long time, my reading list followed the same pattern. My twenties were mostly non-fiction. But it didn’t start that way. When I was around fourteen, I read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I still find myself returning to that story in my mind. The scenes look different now, the characters feel different, because over the years, the story has merged with my own experiences, evolving and growing with me like a never-ending movie. The version that plays ... Read more
- [The Giver by Lois Lowry](https://arunak.net/the-giver-by-lois-lowry/): Snapshot Would we be comfortable living in a world where there are no conflicts, no inequality, no divorce, no unemployment, no injustice, but also no personal choices? In The Giver by Lois Lowry, Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy, finds himself asking the flip side of this question, as he has just discovered these concepts for the first time in a dystopian world where they don’t exist at all. Jonas hesitated. “I certainly liked the memory, though. I can see why it’s your favorite. I couldn’t quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was so strong in ... Read more
- [Loss Aversion vs Risk Aversion: Understanding the Key Differences to Make Smarter Decisions](https://arunak.net/loss-aversion-vs-risk-aversion/): How much should you worry about earthquakes, hurricanes, wars going on around the world, dengue flu, or inflation? And how much of a risk are you willing to take to avoid that associated with each of these? As you can imagine, life is complex. So the risks and potential losses associated with different sorts of dangers can be quite cumbersome to comprehend. When money is involved, it is obvious that one uncalculated loss could lead to dire consequences. This is why it’s extremely important to make calculated decisions in our daily lives. The first step to such a balanced life is ... Read more
- [A Conflicts of Visions by Thomas Sowell](https://arunak.net/a-conflicts-of-visions-by-thomas-sowell/): Snapshot Why can’t we all just get along? You’ve probably heard this question everywhere, on the news, on social media, even on the road. It sounds simple. But it points to something deeper about how we think. Take abortion laws, for example. You might hold a stance that feels completely reasonable, and obvious to you. But to someone else, that same stance looks wrong, wrong on so many levels. Now imagine debating it. You both bring facts, studies, and every piece of evidence you can find. And yet, at some point, the discussion hits a wall. We’ve seen it over and ... Read more
- [How to Read More: A Simple, Proven System to Read 50+ Books a Year](https://arunak.net/how-to-read-more-books/): In the past five years, I’ve read 261 books. That’s roughly an average of 52 books a year, or one book each week. But I didn’t just wake up one day and start reading one or two books a week. It sounds good on paper, but with a busy life, it’s hilariously impractical. To get there, I had to build a system, one that took a lot of trial and error over several years. Like any habit, reading starts with no momentum. Take a snowball, for example. If you want to build a giant one, you first have to make a ... Read more
- [Brave New World by Aldous Huxley](https://arunak.net/brave-new-world-by-aldous-huxley/): Snapshot In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, society is controlled through technology, genetic engineering, and psychological conditioning; all designed to preserve stability and happiness. In this so-called “brave new world,” there are no mothers, no families, and no such thing as love. People are born in laboratories and divided into castes: some are engineered to be intellectually superior, like the ‘Alphas’, while others, like the ‘Epsilons’, are given just enough intelligence for routine labor. When John, a man raised outside this system, is brought into this “civilized” world, his struggle to understand and ultimately reject its emptiness ends in tragedy. ... Read more
- [4:3 vs 16:9 Aspect Ratio: How to Design Your PowerPoint Slides Like a Movie Director](https://arunak.net/43-vs-169-aspect-ratio/): Once, I saw a fellow researcher presenting his work in a 4:3 format at a conference. “Strange,” I thought, because at the time, my preconception was that the debate over “4:3 vs 16:9 aspect ratio” was already settled, that 16:9 had clearly won. With that mindset, I started listening to his talk. And as it turned out, his choice of this ‘outdated’ format didn’t matter at all; in fact, it was a strikingly clear and no-nonsense presentation. It seemed like this aspect ratio was a perfect choice for the type of content he was presenting. Later, he even won the best ... Read more
- [Let Truth be the Prejudice by Ben Maddow](https://arunak.net/let-truth-be-the-prejudice-by-ben-maddow/): Snapshot Let Truth Be the Prejudice by Ben Maddow tells the story of W. Eugene Smith, one of the most influential photojournalists in the 20th century. The book is as unique in its writing as it is in its content. In some places, the book is written in almost poetic style, while giving a deeply personal account of Smith’s life—complete with his own letters and thoughts. It follows Smith from his early years to his death, covering it all—the successes, the struggles, the heartbreaks, the moments of glory, and everything in between. Summary Early Life and Influences Eugene Smith was born ... Read more
- [How to Remember What You Read (A Practical Framework for a Busy Life)](https://arunak.net/how-to-remember-what-you-read/): 20 years ago, I remember going to this small, two-room library my dad once introduced me to. I would spend my summer holidays reading books, as if reading was my day job. For three months straight, I’d eat breakfast, pack my lunch, and head to that library, only to return home past six in the evening. I followed that same routine every summer and every December break for six years, and by the end of it, I had probably read eighty percent of all the books on those shelves. That’s a lot of books. But more importantly, I remember everything I ... Read more
- [Why PhD Applications Get Rejected (and How to Avoid Them)](https://arunak.net/phd-applications-get-rejected/): So, you’ve just received another dreaded “We regret to inform you” email. After all your hard work, rejection stings. I’m nearing the end of my PhD, and I still sometimes think about some of those emails I got when I was applying. But you and I are not alone. Most PhD applicants get this email when they’re applying to graduate school. It’s just a part of the process. Even when you eventually get in, you will face rejection on a daily basis (journals, funding grants, positions, course release requests) they don’t get easier; you just get better at handling them. But ... Read more
- [Genghis Khan by Jack Weatherford](https://arunak.net/genghis-khan-by-jack-weatherford/): Snapshot On the book, Chronica Majora(1240s–1250s), the author describes the mongol army: “They clothe themselves in the skins of bulls, and are armed with iron lances; they are short in stature and thickset, compact in their bodies, and of great strength; invincible in battle, indefatigable in labour; they wear no armour on the back part of their bodies, but are protected by it in front; they drink the blood which flows from their flocks, and consider it a delicacy; they have large powerful horses, which eat leaves and even the trees themselves, and which owing to the shortness of their legs, ... Read more
- [The Wolf by David Mech](https://arunak.net/the-wolf-by-david-mech/): Snapshot The Wolf by David Mech is packed with valuable insights and offers a fascinating window into the world of wolves. Even though the author himself wanted to stop its printing due to ‘some’ inconsistencies with current knowledge, it is still a worthwhile read. Wolf is often a ‘friendlier’ animal than we might think In the first chapter, Mech describes how the wolf’s social nature shapes its personality. Being comparatively smaller than their prey, over millions of years, wolves learned to hunt in groups. This increased their capacity for making emotional attachments to others, making the wolf far less aggressive. They ... Read more

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- [About](https://arunak.net/about/): Hi, I’m Aruna. I’ve been writing online for more than five years on decision-making, personal growth, and career clarity. Through my writing, I’ve realized that fulfillment is something most of us crave, but it is becoming increasingly hard to hold onto in this noisy, fast-moving world, both in our professional and personal lives. Just because you are good at something does not mean you will come to love what you do. This is the through-line of the articles I write on arunak.net: how do you recognize your strengths, use them well, and build a fulfilling and meaningful life around them? You ... Read more
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- [Home](https://arunak.net/): Discover Your Strengths andBuild a Life That Fits Weekly insights, written to be read in under three minutes. Add Surface Tension Newsletter to your inbox: Surface Tension is a carefully researched, slowly brewed, story-driven weekly newsletter of connected insights for anyone trying to understand themselves better, make wiser choices to build a fulfilling life. Hi, I’m Aruna. I’ve been writing online for more than five years on decision-making, personal growth, and career clarity. Through my writing, I’ve realized that fulfillment is something most of us crave, but it is becoming increasingly hard to hold onto in this noisy, fast-moving world, both ... Read more
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