2022 July Reads!

Introduction:

Chaos is the key to curiosity. This month follows the same trend.

Only two books were recommended to me, the others I chose myself. To those two, I would like to give a shout out to: Livia Piccolo from Antofágica for the 'On Writing Well' recommendation; and Isabella Lubrano from Ler Antes de Morrer for 'Torto Arado'.

List of books read:

1. The Evening and the Morning
2. On Writing Well
3. Torto Arado
4. Na Raça
5. A Caminho de Marte
6. Code to Zero

Reading statistics:

This month in specific could be categorized as the month I started but didn't finish books the most, in that list:

• How to read Fernando Pessoa - introductory guide to his poetry;
• The book of five rings;
• One hundred years of solitude - I'm struggling a bit with this one.

Nonetheless, I'm continuing on the same pace of 70ish pages a day (75 more specifically), totaling 2345. My plan for next month is to be a more active reader, reading less and retaining more. For the non-fiction ones, I already have a guide from Waldun:

Books and Reflections:

1. The Evening and the Morning

The general perception that religiousness is declining is indeed true. Ronald Inglehart restates that , from 2007 to 2019, 43 out of 49 countries analyzed became less religious when compared to 16 during 1981 to 2007. This sudden wave of disbelief included even former communist and developing countries, which used to rely on God in the past. However, that wasn't the case during the Middle Ages, when the Church had a broader control over people. Not only thoughts, but also daily practices were manipulated. Its downfall was in part due to the increasingly prominent corruption and failure to explain the Black Death pandemic [2]. Contextualized during that period of codominance of kings and the cleric, "The Evening and the Morning" provides examples of the effects of corruption and builds unique strong female characters.

Ken Follett - the author - manages well to curate historical details to better enrich his own stories. That's the case for this book, which explores the end of the Dark Ages - early Middle Ages - in England, contextualizing attacks by not only vikings but also by the welsh. Even if kings were supposed to be the top rulers of the kingdom during that period, nobles were almost free to counter any of their decisions. Along the story we follow three main characters: Aldred the English monk, Edgar the constructor and Lady Ragna the daughter of Count Hubert of Cherbourg. Each one with their own peculiarities and environments, providing us a complete overview of how life was during the 1000s.

The flow of reading is smooth, requiring only some effort in/at the beginning. Afterwards, the feeling of hatred towards Wynstan - a clever but corrupt bishop - and the hope for the success of the main characters enables our enrollment in the reading process of this long book - only 701 pages, the biggest one I have ever read. Further, as mentioned, the construction of two female personages - Edgar's mom and Ragna - is its outstanding feature worth mentioning, mainly because of the strong and fair qualities both of them show.

First, when vikings invaded Edgar's village, his family was devastated with the loss of their boatbuilding workshop and the death of his father. Ma, Edgar's mom, was strong enough to withhold her grief and helped guide the family to their new life. Which was a challenge in itself, because they would have to become farmers at a mediocre piece of land. In Edgar's own words:

"When things went wrong, she did not waste time bemoaning her fate, but set about putting matters right. [...] She was a leader, and not just of the family. [...] it was Ma who had led the townspeople in protest when Wigelm, the Thane, had tried to increase everyone’s rents." - Chapter 1

Secondly, Ragna is the perfect example about how politicians should behave and act. She always prioritized the needs of the people, contradicting all selfish motives from Wynstan. Aldred precisely puts:

"She was like a musician putting her fingers on the strings of a lyre, Aldred thought, trying it out before playing it. She was going to be a force in the region. She might do a lot of good. On the other hand, she might be destroyed." - Chapter 13

During trials and trips, for example, she would always stop to speak with the locals. "All she had done was to show interest in them as people, not just tenants, but they would remember it for years.", her empathy towards others along her intrinsic sense of justice provides an example to be followed by both men and women. Which reminds me about the importance to familiarize myself with feminist literature as well, such as books from Simone de Beauvoir and Virginie Despentes.

References:

[1] Religion’s sudden decline, revisited. (2021). Umich.edu. Retrieved July 17, 2022, from https://cps.isr.umich.edu/news/religions-sudden-decline-revisited/

[2] Mark, J. J. (2019). Religion in the Middle Ages. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1411/religion-in-the-middle-ages/

2. On Writing Well

Did you know that non-fiction books are increasingly being read more than fiction ones? Both reports - such as the Penguin Random House one mentioned at Forbes[1] - and book subscription programs like the Book-of-the-Month Club founded by Harry Scherman, which is offering more and more non-fiction stories, confirm this hypothesis. Moreover, analyzing the revenue data from traditional publishers provided by the first source, since 2014 non-fiction overcame its "competitor". William Zinsser also mentions that further back after the second world war, the US became a fact-minded nation, consequently demanding more true stories and memoirs to replace romance and fantasy books.

The majority of people are reading more non-fiction books, it is a fact. However, the authors who simply state the reality won't engage the "audience". If so, what's the best approach? The former journalist, now writer and editor, William Zinsser - "On Writing Well"'s author - tells us how and why someone should start writing.

"Writers who write interestingly tend to be men and women who keep themselves interested. That’s almost the whole point of becoming a writer. I’ve used writing to give myself an interesting life and a continuing education. If you write about subjects you think you would enjoy knowing about, your enjoyment will show in what you write. Learning is a tonic." - Part IV, Chapter enjoyment, fear and confidence

Even though writing provides a final product that is usually sold, the first belief a writer should follow is to simply please themselves, immersing in their own worlds. Consequently, that overwhelming feeling of the blank page will end up magically disappearing. As William perfectly states:

"You are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for." - Part I, Chapter the audience

'On Writing Well' is beyond a compilation of Do's and Don'ts, it even transcends the English language, those lessons can be expanded to all of them. Nonetheless, this book taught me the importance of people and how they can sometimes be caged in their own lives. Usually having someone to talk to brings the joy of living and excitement. Therefore, it became more clear to me how essential conversations are. For this matter, the book also provided me with some helpful insights on how to talk to others - which can be hard for some people, at least it is for me.

The most fascinating and intense stories are frequently hidden just for the fact that no one cared about them before, except for their own protagonists. An interview can be formal, however, a mere conversation allows the silence in someone's life to be broken. Some of William's tips, excluding the initial preparation - which eliminates the obvious questions, are:

1. as open a question can be, there's always the possibility of receiving a short response. Therefore, a trick to use is to push for the reasons behind it - why, why not, etc;
2. and never hesitate to ask if there's still something else.

References:

[1] Rowe, A. (2018, August 30). Traditional publishers are selling way more non-fiction than fiction. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamrowe1/2018/08/30/traditional-publishers-are-selling-way-more-non-fiction-than-fiction/?sh=7c23a65456d0

3. Torto Arado

Bureaucracy is frequently frustrating due to the amount of time it wastes, however, its main objective is to protect processes and customers whilst providing the necessary means of justice. From an analogous perspective the laws from each country should at least preserve the well being of its citizens. Imagine, nonetheless, those laws being simply ignored, neglecting and marginalizing a considerable portion of the population. It is inconceivable but indeed true. Itamar Vieira Junior's 'Torto Arado' - could be translated as Crooked Plow - contextualizes the daily lives of "free" black people years after the abolition of slavery in Brazil, and their relationships with their landlords.

From the context, it can be deduced that even after 50 years of the abolition, black people still lived in terrible arrangements with their abusive landlords. Along Itamar's story, we follow: the lives of two sisters Bibiana and Belonísia, who in their early ages ended up cutting their tongues; and also an entity - worshiped by Umbanda followers - wandering through the land searching for a new person to shelter under. Moreover, two underlying aspects are worth mentioning. 'Torto Arado' isn't a mere story, it brings to life the struggles of black people since the early days and its context is also enriched with the Umbanda religious rituals that were and are a huge part of the Afro-brazilian's lives.

First, Itamar tells us how those days were through Severo - Bibiana's husband. This supporting character in particular was a man willing to leave that submissive reality and wanted  his peers to have their rights respected. Therefore, along the story, we follow his steps to learn about the first periods of Brazilian History and share his knowledge, which is an opportunity to take a grasp of that "discovery" process - unfortunately neglecting the Indians that lived there already*.

The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese sailors, who later received the ownership of the lands. After others arrived, everything was divided between them whilst the indigenous people were either obliged to leave or work for the new "landlords", otherwise they would face death. Later, slaves captured in Africa were brought to conduct all tasks required in the extractivist activies hold by the Portuguese, from agriculture to mining. This exploration was not only harmful to the land, but also to the people - the Indians, the African slaves -, many lives were taken away. However, the mining phase was even more destructive to the population. Many were forced to work on dangerous lands while the rivalry between landlords even affected those willing to get away from that reality. The only way they were able to cope with all the suffering was through their communities and their religion [1].

Two can be mentioned, Candomblé and Umbanda. Both of which rely on a foundation of African matrices, one difference is that the second one introduced christian beliefs on their rituals [2]. Their two main characteristics are: the cult of Orixás (African Gods) or Saints, respectively; and the collectivism of the communities founded in two pillars: family and spirituality. Additionally, they comprise in common a set of customs and traditions, which are exposed along the story. For example, Zéca Chapéu Grande, father of the protagonist sisters, is what they call "pai de santo" (partially translated as "father saint"). His role in the ceremonies is to conduct the Orixás and Saints to take shelter in the followers. Always accompanied by percussion instruments called "Atabaques".

Furthermore, we meet some Orixás and Saints, through either the perspective of Zéca Chapéu Grande or his mother Donana. Such as the time when Zéca Chapéu Grande decides to leave Donana on his way to Água Negra, and she desperately gives him a blessing for his journey asking for the Umbanda Gods and Saints:

"'May the caboclos and the guides accompany you', those words barely lefting Donana's mouth. 'May also Sete-Serra, Iansã, Mineiro, Marinheiro, Nadador, Cosme and Damião, Mãe d'Água, Tupinambá, Tomba-Morro, Oxóssi, Pombo Roxo, Nanã accompany you.'"**

* An important disclaimer, the history line brought by Itamar is the one commonly written in Brazilian history books, that consider the start point of the country as the arrival of the Portuguese sailors. Indians already lived in Brazil and are a component of Brazilian culture, providing habits, vocabulary and many other contributions. Therefore, they should never be neglected. I do not in any way intend to marginalize anyone from any ethnicity, on the contrary, I do want to better comprehend and understand the history of Brazil since the Indian tribes were formed. In that regard, in the near future, I plan to read some books from that period.

** Out of those, Iansã and Oxóssi are recognizable from the Candomblé, the first one being the God of the Wind and Storms and the second the God of the Hunters. Additionally, it's important to mention that those are my translations.

References:

[1] Verger, P. (2000). Notas sobre o culto aos orixás e voduns na bahia de todos os Santos, no Brasil, e na antiga costa dos Escravos, na áfrica. EDUSP.

[2] NEGRÃO, LÍSIAS NOGUEIRA. (1993). Umbanda: entre a cruz e a encruzilhada. Tempo Social, 5(1-2), 113-122. https://doi.org/10.1590/ts.v5i1/2.84951

4. Na Raça

Guilherme Benchimol, one of XP's founders, started from scratch and caused the disruption of the Brazilian financial market. He had to find creative solutions to make the company profitable and expandable. The astounding results the company reached were only possible thanks to his commitment and values such as humbleness. Further, Guilherme's dedication is one of the factors that nurtured XP's culture, the main element for success, as Jorge Lemann says.

Maria Filgueiras - author of 'Na Raça' (i.e. Guilherme and XP's story) - explains that the focus on financial education was one of the first strategies the team pursued. It enabled the democratization of individual stock exchange, which was previously suited only to high income investors. The company's scalability was only possible due to a strategy that many traditional banks disapproved. They started by creating an "army" of freelance financial agents, allowing the growth of their network of influence and centralizing investments through an online portal. Only later, with the company established, did they take their next step of emulating Charles Schwab's strategy of a diverse investment shop with lower fees.

On the other hand, their journey was far from perfect, plenty of errors happened. However, Guilherme's short-stop moto empowered their success on the long run, in his own words:

"I make a lot of mistakes, but I'm right more than the average."

An example to mention is one of their first merging negotiations with Ágora, another investment company. Still on their earlier stages, the lack of experience in contract drafting and negotiation was visible when dealing with Eduardo Plass, who controlled Ágora. In the end, they didn't reach an agreement, mainly because of the clash of long term visions and objectives between both. While XP wanted to grow, Ágora wanted to stabilize the company and sell it to a bigger bank. However, many lessons were drawn by Guilherme, who gained more experience and was later able to gather more suitable investments, such as the ones from Actis and General Atlantic.

The success of a company comes from the sum of thousands of efforts. However, what makes all employees work towards the same goal like a school of fish swimming in synchronicity? One of the answers was already mentioned. Establishing a healthy and productive culture allows ambitious targets to be achieved. Leading by example, Guilherme shows two worth noting qualities:

• in lean periods, partners had their salaries highly reduced and were also encouraged by Guilherme not to show off, keeping always a humble approach;
• additionally, he wanted everyone to share the "pain of the owner", committing always 100% to the job. For example, when he had to move away from his family to São Paulo, he rented a small apartment near the office so as not to waste time. And after his early morning runs, he would still be at the office at 8am only to leave at night, having lunch either there or at a salad restaurant nearby.

5. A Caminho de Marte

Conspiracy theories often arise because people don't know what and where to look for specific information and reports. Ivair Gontijo adds that the language barrier can also increase the disbelief that men had never landed on the moon, for example. However, if the space programs that led to this achievement are explained, the doubts disappear and it becomes clearer that the work of thousands of engineers wasn't a mere excuse.

Therefore, Ivair - author of 'A Caminho de Marte' (i.e. 'On the Road to Mars') - explains and gives a few details about the 60s space program. Further, he adds his experience working for the MSL (Mars Science Laboratory) program. Where he was the project manager of the 'Microwave Landing Radar' and worked in the 'Advanced Electronics Fabrication and Packing' team. For space and engineering enthusiasts, there's nothing better to read. Additionally, for those seeking to work someday in such an environment, this is the dream. Ivair makes sure to address both topics carefully and with a slight humor.

To summarize and not to spread misinformation about the 60s space program, three moon missions are worth mentioning: Gemini, Ranger and Apollo. The first challenges were to leave earth's atmosphere and enter its orbit. Both of which the Gemini mission addressed. It additionally enabled practice and execution of crucial maneuvers. For example, space rendez-vous - the coupling of space shuttles and command modules -, long missions to simulate the road to the moon and extravehicular activities (EVA). After being able to handle launch and orbit, the next task was to 'hit the target', the moon shot. Only after 7 attempts the Ranger mission was finally able to hit the moon, literally, because they crashed there (aka crash-landing). In order to overcome this additional step, a smaller mission, called Surveyor, had to handle and establish the procedure for soft-landing. When 5 out of the 7 robots sent landed on the moon and were still functional. Hence, Apollo needed to connect all these pieces to successfully land and come back from the moon.

On the other hand, throughout Ivair's career, there's an underlying aspect that solves not only the problem of ineffective job interviews, but also motivation at work addressed by Daniel Lemire [1]. As an international person studying and trying to work abroad, Ivair had to overcome multiple challenges. Many were the periods when he had to look for job opportunities, because crisis (dot-com) and budget cuts (manufacturing in China) had compromised his positions. In most of those situations, he still thrived. Two episodes are worth mentioning: getting a job at an area out of his comfort zone after being fired for the second time in the US, and being accepted to a leadership program to keep his employment, offered by a different department at NASA.

If you had a two months notice of termination, what would you do? Probably, update your CV and apply to job opportunities. However, issues arise from job interviews. First, decisions are often taken on extrinsic factors - education, awards, experience, for example. Second, interview questions can be superficial, the candidate can simply state that they are motivated, hard working, etc. Nevertheless, what's the correct approach to choose the best candidate who in the long run will provide results to the company? The answer relies on intrinsic motivation, as expressed by Daniel [1]. The intrinsically motivated candidate will persist for longer periods and will put more effort on their tasks. Moreover, they do believe in what they are doing and that it provides value for others. However, how can an interviewer identify this kind of person? Ivair provides us the answer.

1. Proactivity

First proactivity. Nonetheless, what are some examples of tangible actions a candidate can show? Even with the two months notice, Ivair wasn't able to leave his old job already hired by another company. Previously employed in the doomed sector of optical fibers, he had to expand his horizon and look for opportunities out of his area of expertise. And that's what he did. From an announcement of a surgical R&D company, he applied to a position to design cataract lenses. His physics background provided the basis, however, there was still much room to cover. The phone interview went great and he got another opportunity for an in-person one. Predisposing himself to give a 1 hour presentation about his ideas on how to implement the project right away.

For the presentation, he started by familiarizing himself better with the task by reading scientific articles. And in order to illustrate his competence and ideas: he implemented numerically a model of the human eye, and did the necessary calculations. Therefore, it was clear for him and his employer how and where he planned to implement the procedure. A week after, he was already employed. Ivair showed not only competence, but also proactivity and real interest towards the job.

2. Real Interest

Already at the JPL, the second instance was when he had to find a solution to keep employed.

NASA labs are mostly project oriented, therefore, if a big project such as the MSL is finished, implementation staff is shortened. From his prior experience, Ivair knew he had to act fast and before most people if he wanted to continue employed at the JPL after the MSL was complete. The solution he found was through a leadership program. However, there was an eminent obstacle, the program only accepted applications from the formulation team (project), which he was not a part of. Nevertheless, after talking with his boss until the MSL chief engineer Rob Manning, he got the necessary recommendations for the program. But there was a missing step, he would still have to ace the interview. Prior to the appointment, he tried to talk to all previous employees who went through that program and successfully got feedback from 3 of them. Right at the beginning of the interview, he made it clear that he had done his research and was really interested in the opportunity. Further, to illustrate his duties on the MSL project, he even brought radar transmitters. Ultimately he was accepted, and the first one from the implementation division - one of the two out of 50.

References:

[1] Lemire, D. (n.d.). Extrinsic motivations are harmful…. Daniel Lemire’s Blog. Retrieved August 4, 2022, from https://lemire.me/blog/2014/07/09/extrinsic-motivations-are-harmful/

6. Code to Zero

"As biotechnology and machine learning improve, it will become easier to manipulate people’s deepest emotions and desires, and it will become more dangerous than ever to just follow your heart." says Yuval Harari in his book '21 Lessons for the 21st Century'. However, if we are on the verge of being devoured by technology, is there a way out? Harari explains that there is one solution, and this answer actually relies on ancient beliefs. Philosophers and prophets have endlessly wondered about it, on their own words:

"Know thyself."

Harari clarifies that we more than ever need to know what we are and what we want from life. Nevertheless, he isn't the only one to think so. Haemin Sunim also agrees, and adds that in order to cope with the chaos we live in, we should be more aware about ourselves and our bodies. Sunim - the author of 'The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down' - states "Only when we slow down can we finally see clearly our relationships, our thoughts, our pain. As we slow down, we are no longer tangled in them.".

Nevertheless, what does all of this have to do with 'Code to Zero' from Ken Follett? Extrapolating it to the extreme, we can relate to the protagonist Luke. After having his recent memory erased, he has to discover who he is and even why there are people tailing him. Contextualized during the space race between the US and the USSR in the Cold War, Ken Follett explores this constant battle for technology that would require any means for a win, including espionage.

Many are the questions Luke poses to himself in order to understand his feelings, behaviors, and therefore, remember who he is. For example, when waking up feeling hung over at an unknown place, he questions himself 'How long have I been drinking?', 'Am I an alcoholic?'. However, even when the evidence states otherwise, he refers to his sensations to reach a conclusion. Disgusted by cigarette smoke and alcohol, he therefore assumed he neither smoked nor drank.

After noticing that he was being tailed down, he knew in his subconscious how to deal with it, making him wonder about being a cop. However, even though he was trying to ask for help, no one would answer him. A sudden encounter suggests getting himself cleaned and changing clothes, because if he continued to look like a homeless person, he would remain invisible. Later, with a bath taken, he realizes he couldn't be a cop, because his skin wasn't affected due to the excessive sunlight exposure.

One of his remaining tasks was to understand the nature of his memory loss. And 'what's the best place to search for answers?', he thought, 'the library of course'. There he goes on his research, using every hint of information and sensation to eliminate wrong answers and delimiting the right ones. After understanding that his amnesia was restricted to his short-term memory and didn't affect the long-term one, he knew he had just to discover what his job was before the incident. Therefore, through skimming math, chemistry and physics books, he discovered that he was a rocket scientist, because he was not only able to understand the academic books he read, but also find mistakes in them. The last step was to analyze whether he was on the list of American scientists, which he ended up not being at. However, he could still try to look for those scientists searching for a colleague of his.

Along the book, we even feel overwhelmed by the sensations Luke must have been going through. However, Ken Follett excels in interpolating flashbacks and other perspectives to enrich the story. Of course, keeping a smooth language skipping to a completely different time frame as 'The Evening and the Morning'.

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