2022 May Reads!

Introduction:

Dear fellow readers,

My name is Luis Hatashita, I am a Mechanical Engineer. I have recently fell in love with reading books to learn more and to be entertained. Some of the books I read are recommendations from different kinds of people, either from Youtube or friends, for example. Therefore, there may seem that there is no logic in the order I read them. Which may be confusing, however, I just aspire to follow my own curiosity.

As a disclaimer, I try not to give spoilers in my reflections about the books, in order not to impact your reading experience. My main objective is to illustrate a reflection of mine led by the book, and in this way, inspire you to later read it if you desire.

To explain the structure I use in my monthly reading lists, I first list all books in the same order I read them, and further the way they will be presented. Secondly, as a part of my reading habit, I control the amount of pages I read everyday, which, for me, helps to keep track and motivation towards this journey. And therefore, I expose some of my reading statistics (total pages read and daily average). Finally, within each reflection, I try to give a context about the subject covered in the book, I mention whether it was a recommendation of someone else or not and I conclude with a few topics that I enjoyed about it. It is important to mention that those reflections were written in a way they are independent from each other. Therefore, feel free to skim the list and choose the books that most suit you (they are labeled as either fiction and non-fiction with a subject topic also).

Have a joyful reading!

Yours sincerely,

Luis

List of books read:

1. The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
2. What is Life? Understand Biology in Five Steps
3. The Firm
4. Mastering the Market Cycle
5. The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers
6. Predictably Irrational
7. Foundation

Reading statistics:

Even though I wondered in the past to keep the same pace as before, I now perceive that depending on the activities I am required to do. Reading becomes very energy consuming, instead of being pleasant. This month I set my target for 80 pages a day, and I managed to achieve it.

For the 31 days from May, I read in total 2514 pages with a daily average of 81.1.

I believe this target is still challenging for me and therefore instigating enough to keep me motivated.

Books and Reflections:

1. The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

Sauron after being defeated and losing his ring of power. Starts his resurgence in the shadows conquering the east lands of middle earth. The first part of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron in this case, is a story about the start of an adventure, which will require the creation of a diverse group of Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Men and Mages. Their journey to defeat Sauron once and for all will require the destruction of the One ring that Frodo, the Hobbit, carries.

This series has always been in my TBR list, but I knew preemptively that it wouldn't be an easy read. After creating some courage and building my reading skills, I decided to give it a shot. It may differ from the Hobbit book in its unique features.

Even before the prelude in the notes section, we are alerted by the author, that even though he lived through chaotic historic periods such as the world wars, such symbolisms and metaphors are not the main objective of the book. He emphasizes that he wanted to further expand the magical world and write it as a case study of fictional languages. It is perceived along the whole text the shift of vocabulary and phrase constructions between all the different creatures whilst speaking the same language. As well as the distinct elfic and dwarfic languages that he invented, which are also astounding in their own way.

Of course, I do have my own preferences for subjects and characters, despite that, I did really like the reasoning and speech from Gandalf, the gray mage, for example:

At the council of Elrond, one of the ancient elves, he explains that the only way for Sauron to be stopped is the craziest, which Sauron would probably not expect and therefore is their only hope:

"It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy!" - Gandalf, at the council of Elrond

Another episode worth mentioning, this time from Aragorn, a man who wanders through middle earth, is when the fellowship of the ring (the diverse group before mentioned) crossed Moria (an ancient dwarf mine) and faced the Golden Woods of Lorien (an elf refuge). After crossing the Nimrodel river, they meet three elves, who will later guide them on their way to Cerin Amroth (a city inside that refuge) and to meet the lords of Galadhrim (other ancient elves). However, in Naith on their way to Cerin Amroth, foreigners are not allowed to "spy", therefore Gimli (the dwarf) was supposed to be blindfolded. Nonetheless, at that time, Aragorn said:

"If I am still to lead this Company, you must do as I bid. It is hard upon the Dwarf to be thus singled out. We will all be blindfold, even Legolas." - Aragorn, crossing Naith in the Golden Woods of Lorien

This episode showcases a leader's role of including everyone of the group and not singling out no one.

Finally, it may be tough to go through the whole series, but it is worth for those moments and of course all the action we go through the adventure.

2. What is Life? Understand Biology in Five Steps

A question repeatedly asked throughout the whole history is about the definitions of life. Philosophers, physicists, chemists have all tried to answer it. Paul Nurse, a Nobel prize winner, tries to find this response from a biological perspective, since the inner mechanisms of the smallests cells to the largests scales of all information/data we have.

Despite my little knowledge in Biology, I found this book, sort of blindly. However, it not only illustrated key biology concepts that may answer the question about what life is, but also, as Paul Nurse says, gives the taste of being involved in a scientific discovery, which was one of my favorite parts of the book.

Many scientists were and are involved in plenty of areas of research. From Paul’s perspective and experience, he mentions historical discoveries and other fellow colleagues and friends of his that were responsible for groundbreaking theories, experiments and findings. Moreover, for me, the main takeaway from those relationships is how some key people can have positive influences in another person’s journey and life. Therefore, I would like to highlight some of those people that Paul endorses:

Of course, he also met brilliant scientists that were a little exquisite, however, it is compelling to find uniqueness in our society. One of them was Peter Mitchell, who proposed how cells produced energy (which is quite curious, it is similar to how hydroelectric power is generated, when protons move a tiny rotor to generate ATP, an organic compound necessary for all cells). He always showed inexhaustible curiosity and love for learning. Another one was François Jacob, who, with Jacques Monod, executed experiments to reveal how gene regulation works. Paul met François some times, from which he perceived how François was not only fascinated by his experiments but also by literature, philosophy and politics, demonstrating a diverse range of interests, which is also eye opening that we can all be engaged in different topics.

Furthermore, another topic worth mentioning is the importance of data since the early stages of scientific discovery. For example, Gregor Mendel, the pioneer to study how genetics work, understood that he would require a lot of data to further exploit and find patterns on the whole sample set. Therefore, through some years, he registered the combination of pees and detected patterns of how some characteristics would or would not appear. Another case was from Charles Darwin, who in order to make his statement about natural selection, observed and compiled data about plants and animal fossils.

Finally, alongside all those curiosities that I restated from the book, it is crucial to cite Paul again about the importance of information/data nowadays to formulate new ideas that may eventually lead to "strange" results. However, only through contributions from scientists of other disciplines, such as mathematicians, physicians and even philosophers, life can be further explored, therefore, encouraging the collaboration between us.

3. The Firm

In Portuguese, there’s a saying that could be partially translated as: “when the alm is too big, the saint suspects”. It basically means that there are situations when you realize that it is too good for it to be true. John Grisham’s story “The Firm”, explores a situation of a recent lawyer, Mitchell McDeere, from Harvard upon being offered the “perfect” job opportunity. He ends up accepting it and dedicates 100% to the new job, in order to justify all the benefits he’s been given. However, after some time, he finds himself in a cross-road about how to deal with his very “legal” firm.

As a recommendation from Stephen King in his book "On Writing", which I read earlier this year, I decided to give it a try as one of the fiction books in my TBR list. Stephen's main argument for this suggestion is how well the author John Grisham, former lawyer, manages to merge his own experience and specific knowledge to further enrich a fictional story. Whilst not being a lawyer, even though I have some lawyer friends, I'm really far from that reality, both in ambience and context. Nonetheless, in order to enhance my perspective on life, I read it.

Generally speaking, it is a fairly light read, the language and dialogues are fast and fluid. It can increase our reading rhythm and hooks us up to the story and the main character Mitchell McDeere. We start to wonder if he will succeed in the end, even against all odds.

My main reflection about the book is about the work-life balance shown at least for this law context. Right in the beginning of the book, in Mitchell's interview for the new job, his soon to be employers mention that he will become rich in a fairly short period of time, 10 years to retire as a millionaire, however, he will need to work for 80 hours per week or even more. Is this real? I wonder if I would be able to handle it. A few pages later, we are also introduced to Mitchell's university life. Working at night for 30 hours per week in a convenience store, while still playing football and acing all his exams in Harvard, of course, he had to sleep very little. This makes me question myself, why am I lazy, why am I always tired, why can't I do more and how can I do it.

Finally, I wonder, are there any engineering related fictional books? I know that there is the science fiction genre, which extrapolates technology, and also books with movie adaptations such as Hidden Figures and The Martian, both of which I have already seen, but I am yet to read them. However, what else is out there? Do you have any recommendations?

4. Mastering the Market Cycle

Many factors may influence someone’s financial “health”. Sometimes the salary is very little, sometimes we spend too much money (more than we have). However, for a more prosperous and less stressful future, it is highly encouraging to save some of your money for later. The most efficient way to do it is by investing it, therefore, you would have not only the amount you saved, but also, what you would have earned through interest. Investment types may differ from country to country, therefore, I would recommend to better understand those types before diving into more generalistic investment strategies.

Howard Marks is an investor and the co-founder/co-president of Oaktree Capital Management. In his book ‘Mastering the Market Cycle’, he explains how the market is highly influenced by the psychology of all investors. Nonetheless, he encourages a more analytical perspective, while keeping in mind this aspect. In general, the market flows in a cyclical way, and when everyone's optimistic, you should be afraid, and vice-versa.

Because my interests in economics and investments have been slowly growing, I decided to read this book, even though I had never heard about this specific title before (P.S.: this book was laying around my house). Howard’s book follows the same trend of Nassim Thaleb’s, where a more abstract concept is used to advise how to behave in your investments.

As previously mentioned, I would not recommend it to someone that is just starting to save money, the first one hundred pages are very abstract and the language itself is quite repetitive. I felt slightly bored and annoyed by it. Nonetheless, after this part, Howard starts to give some concrete examples in larger areas of the market, such as the credit and the real estate cycle. Both are easily comprehensible and provide the overall feeling you must develop to identify the stage in which we are and consequently make the correct decisions and rearrange your portfolio.

Basically, the overall strategy you should follow is to "go against the current", because whenever the market is heated up, the stocks are consistently rising, people start to neglect risk and make stupid decisions, which lead up to a potential downfall. And when this downfall happens, you must calculate the intrinsic value of the assets you desire to buy, and if below your estimation, you should buy them, and if they go down even more, the better the opportunity becomes. However, it is important to mention that you can never wait for it to reach the bottom, because by that time, it would probably be too late and not too good of an opportunity.

Speaking for myself, I did understand what he meant in general. Nonetheless, there are some gaps that I need to cover to fully implement this strategy. I do lack the ability to analyze and calculate the value of the assets and I would also like to analyze the fluctuations of the credit offers to maybe spot and gather data about this cycle in specific. I also see an opportunity to mix this strategy with Thaleb's barbell strategy (which may in the future be other topics for reflections and study cases of mine).

Alongside the wide overview of the book, to conclude, there are some other topics worth mentioning:

• right at the introduction, Howard quotes Charles Munger about the importance of reading:

"Legendary investor Charlie Munger often points to the benefits of reading broadly; history and processes in other fields can add greatly to effective investment approaches and decisions."

* (I'm biased and I'm aware of that, this is a clear example of the confirmatory bias, and maybe an opening for me to search for other learning methods besides reading, but putting this aside and continuing...)

• nowadays with the rise of the inflation rates all over the world, it is interesting to understand what could be done in order to control it. Mr. Marks mentions both responsibilities of federal banks and what they need to juggle, the growth of the economy to limit the inflation and to stimulate the economy to generate the opening of more job opportunities.
• a question that may arise is how do recessions start, and Howard explains one of its factors from the credit cycle as an example: with the economy growth and the increase of loans, banks, in order to cope with the demand, start to offer options with fewer margins of safety, which, in his words, "stacks the logs of a fireplace", and just needs an igniter, that can be a war, bankruptcy, scandals and so on.
• finally, he mentions the necessity of humility and confidence. Because success can be dangerous for us, because it makes us change, not for the better usually, creating overconfidence for example.

5. The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers

Please refer to the first paragraph of my consideration about part one of The Lord of the Ring’s book (The Fellowship of the Ring). There I give a brief introduction about the story.

Continuing the second part of the book The Lord of the Rings, as stated by Tolkien, not a trilogy. The company ends up separated into smaller groups, Frodo and Sam, Merry and Pippin (all the hobbits), and finally Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas (the elf). All of them end up having to face arduous obstacles.

What caught my attention the most in this part is how Tolkien handles telling all three stories, giving them the correct depth not being too vain. For example, out of the books that I recently read, the Firm also uses this mechanism to tell the same story from two or more different perspectives. However, it differs from Tolkien because those extracts are much shorter to keep the fast rhythm of the narrative. On the other hand, in the second part of The Lord of the Rings, we first follow Merry and Pippin, from their capture to the time they meet Fargorn, one of the Ents leaders (ancient wise trees). Later, with Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas, in Rohan (one of the men’s kingdoms), we are able to accompany them across the battle of Edoras and on their way to meet Merry and Pippin at Isengard (Saruman’s the white mage, headquarters). Finally, Frodo and Sam, who won't rejoin the group for now, continue their mission to destroy the ring One.

Despite all Tolkien's storytelling, the part I enjoyed the most was when Sam took a more active role in the story. Being separate from the group, it becomes clear how big of a burden was for Frodo to carry the ring, and even more avoid using it. Further we are able to see Sam support Frodo. For example, in times when he was about to give up, Sam always tried to cheer him up:

"said Frodo. ‘I’m afraid our journey is drawing to an end.’ ‘Maybe,’ said Sam; ‘but where there’s life there’s hope, as my gaffer used to say; and need of vittles, as he most ways used to add. You have a bite, Mr. Frodo, and then a bit of sleep.’" - Frodo and Sam, before the cross-roads

And later, when Frodo is captured, Sam's rage becomes unleashed.

"Fury at the treachery, and desperation at the delay when his master was in deadly peril, gave to Sam a sudden violence and strength that was far beyond anything that Gollum had expected from this slow stupid hobbit, as he thought him." - Sam at the Shelob's lair

Finally, it is worth mentioning that even though the beginning of the second part was slightly slow, along the way, we become more attached to the story and the characters.

6. Predictably Irrational

I don't remember exactly in which book I found the recommendation for this one, it was either in Originals from Adam Grant or in Talking to Strangers from Malcolm Gladwell (most probably). Before any commentary, there's something I have to mention. Alongside reading Mastering the Market Cycle and The Two Towers and having to finish my thesis, I had to step back a little and entered my reading slump. Nonetheless, this book brought me the joy of reading again, even though I disagree with it in some aspects.

The overall language, as Thaleb also said, is fairly easy and fluid, one of the reasons why I enjoyed it. Therefore,  if you are interested in the topic, it is an easy book to start with. Summing it up, Dan Ariely explains with his experiments and his own life experience why Descartes and Hamlet were wrong stating that us humans are completely rational, on the contrary, we are irrational without even noticing.

Dan suggests in the beginning of the book that we should take some notes and make some comments along the chapters. Some of my reflections are as follows:

• one of the first topics he explores is the human's inner tendency of comparing things and each other (our relativity). It can even be exploited, for example, we can be induced to buy something if there is another thing similar but slightly worse. Additionally, comparison is also the reason why we are never satisfied with what we have and always wanting more and more. However, if we are aware of this phenomenon, we can actively search for healthier circles of comparison, promoting happiness instead of consumerism and hatred;
• relationships are either driven by market or social norms, and trying to mix them is dangerous and may even cause destruction. What does Dan mean with this? For example, when parents do something for their children, they usually don't expect anything in return, this is driven by social norms. Another one would be when you ask a friend for help, probably you wouldn't pay them for it. On the other hand, at work, you are exchanging your effort and time for money, therefore, if asked for help, you would usually expect a return later. A dangerous spot is when you introduce market rules in social relationships, for example, when you offer money for a neighbor to help you, they would probably deny helping and even endangering the relationship (if the total sum is little). This was successfully illustrated by Dan with an example of the "philosopher" Jerry Seinfeld from one of his episodes (it is already the third time for me that I see him being mentioned in a book, first in Deep Work, later in Atomic Habits, now here, making me increasingly enjoy more the series). Generally speaking, it is majorly a warning for you to keep in mind while dealing with others. However, further in the book, introducing social norms in market relationships is an interesting way to improve engagement and happiness at work for example, but once the shift is made, coming back may cause anger and a feeling of betrayal;

You may also read about the effects of our expectations and how it can influence our experience and even in wider conflicts, also how we may be dishonest without even noticing.

My main concern about this book and also a suggestion of new experiments, as mentioned by Dan in the beginning of the book, is that the sample of the population he used with his fellow peers may be slightly limited. This is mentioned in The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt, even though plenty of universities were analyzed, universities in specific are already just a small portion of the population and usually biased. I am aware that all of the experiments have considerable costs, nonetheless, it would be interesting to slightly change those experiments and apply for a wider variety of people, in high schools (private and public) for example.

7. Foundation

Imagine somewhere else in the future, when finally the human kind manages to rule the entire universe. However, after thousands of years of human supremacy, the system may be collapsing from the inside. And even further, imagine the possibility of predicting that this was going to happen. Isaac Azimov's Foundation series explores this context, not only illustrating a possible future in space, but also the political aspects involved in controlling the vast universe. The first book of the original Foundation trilogy, which was later expanded, delves into the fall of the human space empire, and how the man who predicted it plans its rebuilding.

Some years ago, I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is more of an adventure when compared to the context of the Foundation series. There is no problem with that. However, one of the main upsides for Azimov's books, in my opinion, is how he addresses political mechanisms that were used to control huge population masses in a scale of planetes, for example. Moreover, after two recommendations, one from my friend Matheus and also from Jovem Nerd, I decided to read it.

Nonetheless, I did not know much about it, and actually, the factor that instigated me was to further explore fictional realities where engineering played a larger role. I can not deny that in this aspect I could not be more satisfied. Even though in sci-fi "everything" is possible. I do wonder how some of those technologies work or how they could work. Therefore, I could say that the two topics that caught my attention are those futuristic technologies and mass population manipulation.

Taking a grasp from some of those futuristic devices/technologies, I could mention:

• first, for space travel, nowadays we are still limited in terms of the cost of all space missions and also in terms of speed to travel through space. However, through the hyperspace jump, where there's no time, space, matter nor energy, they find the most practical way to travel long distances;
• secondly, there are plenty of nuclear energy related power generation (which I will later research and compile some notes about it) and devices mentioned in the book, some of which may be considerable, and some not even imaginable, for example:
  • on the border of the universe, where Terminus is located, the base for the reconstruction of the human space empire, the scientists used nuclear energy to create valuable connections with barbarian planets;
  • as devices, even in a pocket size, we are required to use our imagination. Nonetheless, there are many manufacturing devices he mentions, such as, nuclear scissors, nuclear device for welding and others for machining and forming. From my engineering background, the nearest we are from this is by using plasma for cutting, for example. However, the scale is much bigger, and to reach a pocket size, there's still a lot of ground to cover.

Additionally, despite those simple descriptive concepts that are more science/engineering related, the second topic that caught my attention (and may be something you would be more interested in) is how those technologies in specific are used/offered to other planets in order to create a submissive bond. In this case, the barbarian planets near Terminus, the Foundation headquarter, were unconsciously manipulated through a religion that involved a mysticism about nuclear energy. Two characters play a larger role in this manipulation process, they are Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow. In my opinion, it is fascinating to follow Hardin in specific, since the time he took control over the Foundation until the "diplomatic" deals that he arranges with the neighbor planets. He shows an innate rhetoric ability and for diplomacy, as he says:

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." - Hardin, Salvor

From a fairly easy read, I would recommend this book for now, mainly for its mind blowing concept of mass population manipulation, which in the book was used to control what could be violent relationships with nearby barbaric planets. I will continue reading the original trilogy first to later explore the "expansions" of the series. So keep tagging along if you want to follow this journey or to take part together.