Welcome to another edition of Ideas here on my newsletter Light Years. For my newer followers who don’t know what it is, it’s basically a monthly post where I list my top 10 ideas from around the web which I really liked or found intriguing, enough to list in this series.
Somehow, we’ve reached the 10th edition of ideas, essentially “ideas that shape the universe”, as the tagline to my Substack newsletter suggests(which I try to adhere to).
So here’s the La Decima equivalent of my posts of Ideas, and although Real Madrid won their Decima several years ago, here’s the 10th edition of Ideas on this newsletter. I hope you find the links interesting.
Here we go:
In this week’s post, my pick from the YouTube channel “Artificially Aware”, (the channel I listed in the last edition as well) which is basically an AI YouTube channel that delves into human philosophy, psychology, culture and science & learns and creates videos, is this video on ‘Polymaths’. In the video, it argues that being a polymath instead of a specialist is the future of work & humanity. It’s a call to arms for everybody to explore different job roles and career avenues instead of just one, “specialists are only useful until their industry is disrupted at which point they become obsolete,” it suggests. It’s an eye-opening & extremely essential video in today’s times reflecting on a Medium article I wrote on the subject a couple of years ago titled Demystifying The Old Saying: Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None. You can watch the YouTube video below. It’s a must watch which could help propel your life in a new direction.
Quantum computing is widely touted to replace current computers in the near future, however, it comes with its set of challenges. The biggest challenge is to build stable qubits. I’ve touched upon what qubits (the building blocks of quantum computers like bits in classical computers) are in an old article in this newsletter (linked below).
Essentially, because qubits spin clockwise & anti-clockwise in superposition, it’s harder to keep them stable for enough time to complete computing tasks. This article in Quanta Magazine’s newsletter explores how to make quantum computers a mainstream reality, we need to build more reliable qubits. In the article, they suggest: “Google, IBM, Microsoft and other institutions devoting billions of dollars to the enterprise. But the devices built so far are still only proof-of-concept science experiments. Each group is chipping away at the same colossal challenge: to marshal thousands of reliable “qubits””. You can read the article here.
There’s been a lot said about Oumuamua, the strange space object that drifted into our solar system in late 2017. But apart from the name sounding like you’re making out with your girlfriend, it was a rather eerie incident that spooked space organisations globally when it drifted into close proximity to the Earth while travelling through our solar system. From naming it “Oumuamua” based on Hawaiian linguistics & history, to revealing the excitement of this being the first interstellar object to visit our solar system from another, this TED Talk by scientist Karen J. Meech sets the record straight about Oumuamua, not ruling out the possibility of it perhaps being an some kind of camouflaged alien probe. Although the alien part is highly speculative, the talk reveals what we do know about the strange space object, and what we don’t, so if you’re curious about this event, check the video out below.
This award-winning documentary video is gripping as it is moving. As the YouTube description reads: “On a dry lakebed in the Mojave, a group of friends build a practical scale model of time: 13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution, and our place within it.” It puts the timeline of our universe & human evolution to scale elucidating how brief our lifespan both since the dawn of human kind and us today is. It’s a lovely 10-minute documentary worth watching.
The picture below is from the World Economic Forum, the WEF’s Future of Jobs report. In essence, it reveals a snapshot of the fastest-growing emerging jobs and the fastest-declining ones that could become obsolete, especially because of AI & automation. You can read my full inference in a post I made on LinkedIN. But anyway here’s the list, which could help you understand the jobs & industries that are in demand to make more informed career decisions either for yourself or your children or extended family.
In this post’s poetry & literature section is this short poem written by William Saroyan titled ‘The Time Of Your Life’ which is a reminder to live fully, building on the documentary in the earlier point. He writes: “When you laugh, laugh like hell…Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.” “In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches.” You can read the full post on Poetic Outlaws (a Substack I’d recommend following).
“When you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough…
a month ago · 208 likes · 13 comments · Poetic Outlaws
I managed to compile a list of my top 20 or 20-ish most philosophical songs ever written, on my Medium. From Eddie Vedder and Pink Floyd, to David Bowie & Bob Dylan, and bands like Radiohead & A Perfect Circle, the list is pretty extensive. I was going to post the same article here on Light Years as well but because of the YouTube embeds in it, it wouldn’t allow the full list in the email newsletter format (Substack limits the size of email newsletters). Here is the article & I hope you enjoy the music: read/listen here.
Coming to the film section, I’d highly recommend watching the films 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Chuck (aka The Bleeder) and the TV show The Penguin. I wrote an article on my Medium about Why There Should Be A Season 2 of The Penguin & short reviews about 13 Hours & Chuck on my Letterboxd. They’re great watches & what I’ve been binging on lately.
Coming to the music section. The intersection of two artists I absolutely dig, FKJ and Yussef Dayes performed this live set in a greenhouse or ‘the greenhouse’. It’s just 20-odd minutes long and whether you like experimental jazz or not, this one’s as smooth as it gets.
Another great live performance also in the jazz space is this one by the popular band Kokoroko. Kokoroko shot to fame with their song “Abusey Junction” which is a must-listen if you haven’t heard it. But here’s them live on KEXP.
As always, I’ll leave this ideas post with some music or playlists rather from my #playlist YouTube channel #1PlaylistAWeek. Do consider subscribing to it here: https://www.youtube.com/@1PlaylistAWeek
Morning Mood
Link: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiEpN-FJ79cgVgz9_35CATH6wTwVjsP2&si=TORC6E2h-9idQQc7
This Is Just The Beginning
Link: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiEpN-FJ79dg0DNpxptp8TmIOql2kt3Z&si=O9UFTEgTcj0ryy9c
Thanks for reading & checking out the links! As always, stay tuned for this series called ‘Ideas Of The Week’ on my publication Light Years!
Here are a few earlier editions of Ideas:
Read more articles of mine across my newsletters:
How Perfectionism is the scourge of progress: The Flaws of Perfectionism
On the Gig Economy: What is the Gig Economy? And Is It The Future Of Employment? — Insights According To LinkedIn Cofounder Reid Hoffman
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