Hi Team,
Welcome to the latest edition of Ramble, a compilation of what I have been pondering, learning and enjoying for the past month or so.
Now, grab a beverage and let’s begin.
Something Interesting:
This is just genius in real time. Paul riffing with nothing, while George and Ringo sit and watch (yawning), then suddenly (not suddenly) 'Get Back' appears. Sort of mesmerising to watch.
Naturally then, we jump into a rabbit hole of genius musicians making things:
- Sympathy for the Devil - The Roling Stones
- Hotel California - The Eagles
- MGMT - Electric Feel
What I am Reading:
Another fantastic piece from Jared Diamond. Can we view the crises of Nations through the lens of personal crisis recovery? Maybe. In dependable Diamond style, he explores the questions through a bunch of wonderfully deep case studies.
Finland's Winter War, Japan's Meiji restoration, Allende's and Pinochet's Chile, Sukarno's and Suharto's Indonesia, the rebuilding of post-war Germany, Australia's identity crisis, modern Japan, the United States and her many issues.
A mixture of history, geo-politics and digestible culture by a polymath. Get on it.
Holy shit what was the point of school? Yes, the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. But what about repairing relationships, being kind, managing your mood, emotional maturity, choosing a partner? These are really important things.
Anyway, some favourite quotes:
"We shouldn't - by now - be overly surprised: school curricula are not necessarily designed by people who have much engagement with, experience of, or talent at, the intricacies of the world beyond. School curricula are not engineered on the basis of close study of the determining ingredients of fulfilled adult lives. Historically speaking, they were intellectually influenced by a range of slightly random forces as these evolved over hundreds of years - shaped by, among other things, the curricula of medieval monasteries, the ideas about fact-based learning of some nineteenth-century German educationalists and the emphasis on grammar and logic of the ancient Greeks. As a mass phenomenon, education has only been going on for a couple of hundred years."
"The fastest, easiest and most inadvertent technique for messing up one's life remains that of getting into a serious relationship with the wrong person. With very little effort, and without any innate taste for catastrophe, one can end up - by midle age or earlier - contemplating wholesale financial ruin, loss of parental rights, social opproprium, homelessness, nervous exhaustion and shattereed esteem, to begin a lengthy list of harrowing side-effects."
"Nowhere in his speech was there recognition that opinion polls, over many years, show close to 80 per cent of us agree with this law, including a majority of Christians. Instead, he spoke of his own feelings."
"Nowhere was there mention that five Australian states, having looked forensically at all the evidence, have already made assisted dying legal. Instead, he spoke deceptively about countries half a world away."
"Nowhere was there acknowledgment that assisted dying has operated safely and effectively for two years in Victoria. Instead, without offering evidence, he talked of hypothetical people who would suffer under the same law in NSW."
"Doctors are masters of disguise. Professional bedside manners and dark humour can mask the suffering. We do not bend so we break. And we break well. We have the knowledge and the appropriate skills. We take matters into our own hands. Families are left wondering what happened to their resilient, indefatigable, hard-working child."
"The list goes on. In total, Al-Raisi has criminal complaints against him in five countries, including France, where Interpol has its headquarters and Turkey, where this week's election took place."
"However, aside from individual cases of the brutal treatment of innocent people which make this man totally unfit to lead any police force, let alone one representing the international community, there is a much more sinister threat emerging from Al-Raisi's election."
"This is the way that Interpol is being used by autocratic states to track down opponents and critics living abroad through the use of 'red notices'."
What I am Watching:
Look, I'm back on to watching Henry Cavill fight monsters in 'The Witcher' on Netflix.
Cool Thing in Medicine - Science or Ethics or something:
From the Vaccine Makers Project - a couple of cool little animated videos explaining (and hopefully helping dispel some myths) about how the common COVID vaccines work.
"How COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Work"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nD6Q9X0SFw
"How COVID-19 Viral Vector Vaccines Work"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDc9Q_m-W0
Also, why we are on the medical topic, if you or any Medical Students want some free Medical Education emails in your inbox, head HERE. (Also you can listen to each edition if you like, if you dont want to read it...)
What I am Thinking:
This is nerdy and clever and made me giggle.
Closing Thoughts:
Anyway, that will do me for the year. I hope everyone has a nice break.
Thank you once again for reading along with me.
See you in 2022.
Talk soon.
Luke.