Breakfast Notes #66(The Singaporean Dream, Getting Swole, Islamophobia)

Hello friends,

Here is the 66th serving of the Breakfast Notes.

Thank you for all your comments on my essays about The Helsinki Bus Station Theory

For those who missed out, you can check the essay here.

Insightful Links Of The Week

• Rethinking Islamophobia. This is a crash course on the West's prejudice against Islam. Contrary to popular belief that Islamophobia only emerged after 9/11, Hilal highlights that this sentiment is nothing new in the West. It is particularly haunting when you read that after explorers from the West mastered the tools invented by Muslim scientists, (such as the compass and the astrolabe), studied Arab maps, and learned astronomy and oceanography from Arab teachers, they sought to undermine and erase their contributions to their own intellectual history. The heaviness of this history is a lesson to us that we ought to understand other religions and not attempt to control their adherents.
• Here Is How You Get Swole. People used to think to get big, you have to train big. Lift heavy to grow muscle! But this meta-analysis (a study of studies), shows that you can get stronger by lifting more weight or lifting a lighter weight for more reps. However, in both situations- you must push your intensity.
• Keeping the Singaporean Dream Alive. Ho Kwon Ping, the famous Singapore hotelier and Chairman of Singapore Management University shares three things Singapore (or any other country) ought to do to thrive in the 21st century. This quote stuck out, "Over time the Singapore model is in danger of being a static meritocracy, which sieves people based on only a narrow measure of capability in single snapshots of time - examination results basically - and from there on creates a self-perpetuating elite class. " It is a reminder that meritocracy is insufficient. We need a dynamic meritocracy where talents are selected based on current, diverse and comprehensive measures of capability. Written in 2015, Ho's assessment remains relevant in 2023.
• Michael Sugrue's Great Lectures on Modern Philosophy. These lectures by  were recorded as part of the Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition series, a collection of talks on the West’s greatest authors and thinkers. What is impressive about this staggering series of lectures is that Sugrue has simultaneously mastered the art of oration and the science of pedagogy. No notecards, teleprompters, no stutters or verbiage. After each lecture, you feel like you see the world through a new pair of lens.

Visualization Of The Week

Artificial intelligence explained by Artificial Intelligence shared by Organic Intelligence (hopefully)

May The Sun Shine Upon Your Face,

Keith