Category: NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

On MLK

One price of success is the higher scrutiny you will be subject to.

Perhaps the reason you’re still at your current level is because of the private battles you’ve not won yet.

Perhaps God is protecting you and you’re experiencing a dimension of grace to change your ways before it’s too late.

Everyone knows the role that Martin Luther King Jr (MLK) played in the civil rights movement.

Naturally, because of his prominent role in the struggle against inequality, MLK was subject to greater scrutiny by the powers that be.

What they found wasn’t pretty.

Behind the cool, calm and charismatic Reverend that gave the “I have a dream” speech, the FBI allegedly found a man who drank, smoked, spoke vulgar and had multiple sexual partners.

While some of the FBI findings were released sometime in 2019, this image of MLK had been painted by his associates in books they wrote as far back as the 1980s.

If you look through the annals of history, you’d find it littered with the blood and bones of great men who may have gotten public victories but were limited by their private battles.

I’m reminded of the story of the two wolves:

‘A fight is going on inside every person. It’s a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil and the other is good. The wolf that will win is the one that is fed”

This story is instructive.

Take care of your private battles. Do everything in your power to avoid joining the list of casualties on the road to destiny.

Overhead Aversion

In their 2014 paper, “Avoiding overhead aversion in charity”, economic researchers, Ayelet Gneezy, Elizabeth Keenan, and Uri Gneezy observed that people are usually hesitant to donate to charities that spend too much on admin costs (e.g., staff salaries, supplies, utilities, etc.). They called this phenomenon overhead aversion. But charities that don’t spend money on these overhead costs will not have the infrastructure in place to meet their goals. Thus, these researchers conducted a study to find out the contexts where overhead costs won’t prevent people from donating to charities. In their study, they sent a donation request on behalf of a charitable organization to 40000 potential donors in the US. One group of potential donors were told that the charity had already received $10,000 from a private donor; another group was told that every dollar donated up to $10000 would be matched; a third group was told that the charity had already received $10000 from a private donor that would be used specifically for overhead and administrative costs; the final group were simply asked to donate. Ayelet and her collaborators found that the third group – the one where donors were told that a private donor had covered overhead costs – made the largest donation!

Ring of Gyges

In his classical book, The Republic, Plato has his brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, engage Socrates in a conversation about whether it is being just, or having a reputation for being just that makes people to happy. The brothers construct their argument by invoking the mythical ring of Gyges which was supposed to make people invisible at will. The brothers hypothesized that if such a ring existed, one can tell the true nature of human beings. A person wearing the ring of Gyges will have no constraints on his actions but will be steal, kill and live wildly without any fear of negative consequences. Since there is no real ring of Gyges, Glaucon and Adeimantus argue that people only act virtuously to escape consequences in the form of damage to their reputations when they are caught.

The Beloved Sleep

For years, I read Psalms 127:2 as,

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep”

But the original Hebrew, in which the Old Testament was written, did not have commas and full stops; and this may have posed a challenge to the English translators.

Now, watch what would happen if you’d place a comma in the second part of that verse…

“…for so He giveth, His beloved sleep”

The Lord is doing the giving, while His beloved ones are doing the sleeping!

Pretty cool, right?

The truth is that until you receive a revelation of the love that God has for you, you’d never be able to sleep and rest in His Love.

You can only rest and sleep when you secure yourself in the fact that your Heavenly Father loves you deeply!

Just take a look at what John the Beloved called himself. Do you know that Jesus didn’t bestow John with special preferential treatments? The truth is that Christ loved all His disciples the same – even Judas Iscariot.

But what distinguished John from the other disciples?

Well, John simply secured himself with the revelation that the Mighty God in human form could actually love him. He meditated on this, and magnified the love that Jesus had for him in His heart.

The truth is that until you receive the revelation that you are God’s beloved, you cannot rest and sleep and allow Him to give His benefits to you.

Instead, you’d always want to do things to earn/merit God’s blessings, favor and all. You’d wake up early and sleep late, all in a bid to merit God’s blessings by your works!

But there’s a better way!

Receive a revelation that YOU are the Lord’s beloved. And then you can rest and sleep, as your Heavenly Father does ALL the giving, while you do the receiving!!!

Third-order Effects

In the early 1440s, German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press which revolutionized the way books were produced. Prior to this invention, books were extremely expensive to produce and only available for the elite. With the printing press, that changed. Books could be produced much more quickly and at a much lower cost. This had the first-order effect of making them more widely available to people, which, in turn, led to a second-order effect – an explosion of knowledge and ideas. One of the people who was influenced by this new availability of knowledge was Martin Luther. He read a copy of the Bible for himself and had a revelation that people could connect with God through faith alone, without needing to rely on middlemen or the infrastructure of the Church. The idea that people could acquire knowledge and understanding without gatekeepers was a natural extension of this concept. With books more widely available, people could acquire their own personal copies and interpret the meaning for themselves. This also meant that people from all walks of life could access specialized information about new technologies, business strategies, and financial opportunities, which ultimately had the third-order effect of driving innovation and economic growth, first in Europe, then to the rest of the world.

Austrian Wills

Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Viktor Frankl were all prominent figures in the fields of psychology and philosophy who lived in Vienna, Austria at some point in their lives. They were all interested in human nature and wrote extensively about the motivating forces powering human drives. Freud was a proponent of the Will-to-Pleasure perspective which suggests that people are driven by the need to maximize pleasure and minimize pain in their lives. Nietzsche, on the other hand, posited Will-to-Power approach where people are driven by the need to overcome obstacles and be in control of their lives; Frankl, for his part, came from the Will-to-Meaning perspective where people are driven by the need to make meaning out of their different circumstances. Most people are driven by a combination of the three wills: Will-to-Pleasure, Will-to-Power, Will-to-Meaning

Whorf’s Hypothesis

In his now classic 1940 journal article, Science and linguistics, Benjamin Lee Whorf proposed the controversial position that the way we think about the world is influenced by our language.

As humans, we like to hold ourselves up as rational beings that have used the power of intellect to bring nature to its knees. We cite the examples of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein – the great men of science whose elegant mathematical formulas form the foundations upon which our present understanding of the physical world is built.

Yet, we take for granted the role that the language they spoke played on the way they thought.

For instance, in English, sentences take the form of actor-action. So, we say, ‘The boy is running’ or ‘Lightning is striking’. In contrast, in Hopi, a language spoken by a Native Indian tribe in North America, sentences take the form of action duration. Therefore, instead of saying ‘The boy is running’, the Hopi people will say ‘Running’, and instead of saying ‘Lightning is striking’, they will simply say ‘Lightning’.

This slight distinction in language implies that to those who speak English, an action can never occur in isolation – there must always be an actor responsible for causing the action. In contrast, the Hopi are satisfied with actions without a cause.

The same event occurring in the world evokes a reaction in the observer that is dependent on the language he/she thinks in!

Digging for Gold

Proverbs 21:5 says, “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone that is hasty only to want”

In the original Hebrew text, the word translated “diligent” implies the continual act of mining for gold or digging a trench.

No one digs for gold by striking the topsoil once with a shovel before giving up.

Yet, when we think, we don’t hold our thoughts and spiritual impressions long enough for them to take root.

The Bible promises that if you’re diligent with the thoughts that God impresses upon your heart in the same manner a man mining for gold continues to digs, you will lead a fulfilling life.

Consider this: Perhaps the reason you’re facing chaos in your life is because you’re too hasty in thought – refusing to consider a thought long enough before jumping into your next bout of busyness and distraction.

The Drake Treasure

In the early 1900s, Oscar Hartzell made a lot of money by running a scam involving Sir Francis Drake’s supposed fortune. He called up people in Iowa with the last name “Drake” and told them he was a distant relative. He claimed that Sir Francis Drake’s estate, worth $100 billion, had never been paid to his heirs, and he promised to give everyone who invested $500 for every dollar they put in. At the height of the scam, even people outside of Iowa and without the last name Drake fell for Hartzell’s scheme. Around 1917, Hartzell went to London to meet with the supposed heir of the Drake estate, but he ended up staying there and living a luxurious lifestyle. He kept telling his investors that he was negotiating with the British government for the money and needed more donations for expenses. His agents in the Midwest collected the money, even though some of them believed in the scam. Hartzell was eventually found out and deported back to America where he stood trial in 1933. By that time, he had collected $800,000 (almost $20M in 2023 dollars) from the scam, and during the trial, his followers sent him a further $68,000 for legal fees. This is a story that demonstrates how people, with different histories, interests, passions and backgrounds can be united by a common belief, even if that belief is based on a falsehood.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Adam Smith is today known for his concept of “the invisible hand” where people, in pursuit of their selfish interests, could create products and services that other people wanted. When this happens, there is increased economic growth and prosperity for everybody. However, in his lesser-known book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith argues that people’s behavior are also influenced by another kind of “invisible hand” – the approval or disapproval of others. Although people are inherently selfish and self-centered, the approval or disapproval of others serves as feedback for the kinds of behavior that should be repeated in the future. Hence, majority of the time, most people will behave in a prosocial manner because doing so is likely to be rewarded with social approval while not doing so will be met with social disapproval.

Contexts for Cooperation

In their 2013 study titled, “Religious context and prosociality: An experimental study from Valparaíso, Chile“, researchers Ali Ahmed and Osvaldo Salas wanted to find out whether being in a religious environment could make people act more cooperative. To find out, they conducted an experiment called a one-shot public goods game. In this game, people in a group are given some money or tokens and have to decide whether to keep it for themselves or put it in a shared pool. Whatever money or tokens put in the shared pool is then multiplied by some factor and divided equally among everyone in the group. Because the tokens are multiplied, everyone benefits if they put everything they have into the pool. However, if one person holds back while others contribute, he can get extra money or tokens while others lose out. In Ahmed and Salas’ study, some groups of people played the public goods game in a church building while others played in a regular lecture hall. They found that people who played in the chapel had a higher expectation of cooperation from other players compared to those who played in the classrooms. Interestingly, how religious someone said they were didn’t affect the results of this study.

Wellsprings of Counsel

Proverbs 20:5 says, ‘Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out’

As you are seated there, quietly poring over the letters of this mail, you have counsel bubbling up within you.

But there is no way you would be able to draw out counsel out of your heart if you do not take a pause from the noise that you would encounter in your life.

The term ‘noise’ isn’t limited to external disturbances to the sound waves in our immediate environment. Noise also includes all forms of mental clutter that fill our minds throughout the day.

When you find yourself constantly and continuously anxious about what you would eat or what you’d wear or what people say or think about you, you are unwittingly filling your mind with mental clutter.

When you are filled with doubt, uncertainty, negative self-talk, personal prejudices influenced by your cultural background, upbringing, and so on, you are unwittingly giving in to these mental noises.

Read this carefully: If you are in a quiet, noiseless environment, far away from the rumbles of the city, but your mind is in a state of clutter, you’d still be unable to tap from the wellsprings of counsel available within you!

You’re only going to be able to discern and draw out what you’ve got within you if you are able to still your mind from the noises from everyday living and negative self-talk.

Khrushchev’s Heckler

Sometime in the 1950s, former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech denouncing the crimes of his predecessor Joseph Stalin. During the speech, a heckler interrupted Khrushchev and asked why he did not stop Stalin. Khrushchev did not see the heckler, and asked “Who said that?” When no one responded, Khrushchev replied, “Now you know why I didn’t stop him.”

Khrushchev did not use rhetoric and rationality argue his position. All he had to do was replicate the visceral feeling of fear in the mind of his heckler. That was more convincing than any argument he could have made.

The Parable of the Mad Man

In his book, The Gay Science, German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, tells the story of tells the story of a man who ran into a marketplace yelling that he seeks God. The people begin mocking him instead of helping him. In response, the madman then proclaims that they have killed God, and that everyone is responsible for his murder. Although Nietzsche was an atheist, he used the parable to highlight what happens in a society that pushes God out of its consciousness in the name of scientific innovations and technological breakthroughs. A society that has ejected God has no foundation upon which it can erect its morality and ethics. For people living in such a society, everything else loses its meaning and value – leaving people feeling lost and uncertain without a sense of identity and purpose.

Subtractive Changes

In their paper titled, People systematically overlook subtractive changes, Adams and colleagues conduct a series of experiments where participants were asked to improve various designs, such as recipes, golf course layouts, travel itineraries, and Lego bridges. Despite scenarios where subtracting was the better strategy for improvement, participants overwhelmingly kept on adding to the designs. This tendency is likely due to the fact that people simply did not consider subtraction as a possibility and instead instinctively defaulted to adding. This may explain why individuals often find themselves adding more to their already busy schedules, or why some interventions cause more harm when they are introduced into a system.

Identity-Based Excellence

Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

To manifest excellence, you must have a God-inspired identity. Daniel’s example illustrates this point. He was determined and uncompromising about his convictions, but at the root of his convictions was his identity as an Israelite Jew. Daniel saw himself as a member of a nation chosen to be in covenant with God, and this sense of identity governed every aspect of his life.

In the same way, you need to find your identity in God’s Words and who He says you are. The devil will try to shake your sense of identity by tempting you to shift our sense of worth away from who God says you are. But it is only when your identity is centered in God’s Word that you can manifest excellence in everything you lay your hands to do.

Inversion

Carl Jacobi was a renowned 19th-century German mathematician who made profound contributions to the field of differential equations. One aspect that set Jacobi apart was his unique problem-solving approach. Jacobi believed that when one inverts known facts in a particular discipline, additional knowledge can be revealed that was previously unknown. He always encouraged his graduate students to invert the known confines of the field and examine what they found there.

Jacobi’s approach, known as “inversion,” involves thinking in a contrarian way and challenging assumptions. By asking questions that invert a problem, such as “What would happen if we did the opposite?” or “How can we make the problem worse?”, one can identify the things that are preventing them from achieving their goals and find new solutions and insights that they may have missed otherwise. Inversion is now considered an analytic strategy fundamental to scientific and mathematical thinking, and it can be applied to many other areas of life, such as business, personal relationships, and self-improvement.

Inversion is not just about thinking differently but also about challenging one’s assumptions. By questioning preconceived ideas and beliefs, one can identify the things that are preventing them from achieving their goals. Inversion can thus help people to break free from the constraints of conventional thinking and achieve success in many areas of life.

Teleology

Aristotle’s conceptualization of the universe was based on the idea of teleology, that is, everything had a purpose or a final end point – which is rest. Thus, a ball’s final resting place is the ground and when it is thrown up, it moves towards that final resting place on the floor. Thanks to Newton’s first law of motion, Aristotle’s idea no longer relevant in a scientific context. However, I think it still has a metaphorical extension that is still applicable in a psychological and spiritual sense. This metaphor suggests that the human soul has a natural tendency to strive towards a higher purpose or state of being, which can be seen as the final resting place of the human spirit.

However, negative emotions and actions can act as weights that draw the soul towards a state of unrest, which can be seen as the depths of hell. This metaphorical extension of Aristotle’s universe has implications for how we live our lives. It suggests that we should strive towards a higher purpose or state of being, and avoid negative emotions and actions that can weigh us down. By doing so, we can achieve a state of spiritual rest and fulfillment. The metaphor of the soul as a traveler on a journey towards a final resting place can help us understand the importance of living a purposeful and virtuous life.

Lindy Effect

In a paper titled, “Implications of the Copernican principle for our future prospects”, astrophysicist J. Richard Gott III describes how in 1969, he visited the Stonehenge (which was estimated to be over 3000 years old) and the Berlin Wall (8 years at the time). Gott then wondered which of the two structures will outlast the other. As you probably know, the Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1991, while Stonehenge continues to exist to this day. Gott then mathematically proposed an argument that the longer a thing exists, the more likely it will continue to exist. This has been popularly called the Lindy Effect. This principle also applies to other areas of life, such as literature and medicine. Older books, which have stood the test of time, often contain more wisdom and practical knowledge than newer books, which may be trendy but lack staying power. The same is true of medicine, where herbal remedies that have been used for centuries are often more effective than newer drugs, which may have side effects or other problems. Using the Lindy Effect as a guide, we can focus on systems and structures that have been vetted by time, rather than always chasing the latest fad or trend. This can help us to make better decisions and achieve more lasting success.

Length of Days

Proverbs 3:1-2 says, ‘My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.’ The text encourages us to keep God’s commandments, and promises that doing so will result in “length of days” and “long life.” While these two concepts may seem similar, there is a subtle difference between them.

“Long life” refers to growing to a full, old age before expiring. This is a concept that most people are familiar with. However, “length of days” refers to the ability to make the most of each day. This means being able to accomplish more in a day than others can in a month or a year.

This idea may not be intuitive to everyone, but it is a powerful concept that can transform one’s productivity. Time is a property that is bound to the physical realm, but God is spirit and transcends the physical. This implies that when you partner with God, you unlock the potential for greater productivity and efficiency. By tapping into God’s wisdom, guidance, and strength, we can achieve more than we ever could on our own.

Mesmerized

Franz Mesmer was an 18th century Viennese doctor and scientist who was a pioneer in animal magnetism – the idea that people have magnetic matter within them that can be harnessed by specialists for healing purposes. Mesmer’s work faced opposition in his hometown of Vienna and he was forced to move to Paris in 1788 where his theories were met with more enthusiasm.

In Paris, Mesmer adapted his approach to suit the love for theater and spectacle among the French. He added elements like incense and harp music to his treatments and started treating patients in groups, which allowed for the belief of one person to infect others and ultimately overcome any disbelief in his methods.

Despite being discredited in his day, Franz Mesmer’s legacy lives on today. He is remembered as the patron saint of charlatans, cult leaders, and snake oil salesmen. In fact, the word “mesmerize” was derived from his name and means to hold someone’s attention with a captivating and alluring display.

Ergodic Systems

Ergodicity is the idea that the outcome for a group aligns with the lifetime outcome of each individual within the group. A simple coin toss is an example of an ergodic system – the results will always tend towards 50% heads and 50% tails, regardless of whether one person flips the coin 100 times, or 100 people flip the coin once. However, when it comes to decision making, it’s human nature to assume that everything is ergodic. But in reality, most human systems are non-ergodic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, that the average number of ICU beds in a country were above some threshold did not mean that all hospitals could handle a local outbreak. In many cases, local health professionals were overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases because public health administrators had assumed ergodicity where it did not exist.

Mere Exposure Effect

In his 1968 paper, “Attitudinal effects of mere exposure.”, Robert Zajonc asked participants to rate their liking for various things such as geometric shapes, Japanese pictograms, Chinese characters, and nonsense words in a made-up language. To his surprise, he found that the mere frequency of exposure to these items, even if it was only for a fraction of a second, greatly influenced people’s liking for them. This phenomenon, known as the mere exposure effect, has been exploited by the advertising industry to shape public desire and drive consumer behavior.

Sacrifice

2 Kings 3 tells the story of Mesha, king of Moab who had rebelled against the king of Israel, ceasing his yearly tributes. In response, the King of Israel solicited help from the king of Judah and the king of Edom to reclaim Moab. But as the battle raged on, King Mesha realizes he is losing. In a desperate move, he sacrifices his own crown prince to his idol, Chemosh. What happens next is remarkable. 2 Kings 3:27 says that there was a great indignation against Israel and the allied armies withdrew their troops! Why was there an indignation against Israel even though it had been Mesha who offered his son as a sacrifice? It appears that the dynamics of the spiritual realm are sensitive to sacrifice. When we choose to give up something we hold dear, whether it’s certainty or immediate gratification, we open up opportunities for the spiritual realm to influence human activity. The question now is what will you sacrifice?

The Dreyfus Affair

In 1894, a French military officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was wrongly accused of passing secrets to the Imperial German Army. With Anti-Semitic tendencies rampant in French society, Dreyfus’ Jewish heritage made him an easy target.

When Dreyfus stood before the jury, his calm but colorless tone was interpreted as guilt. Despite his innocence, Dreyfus was condemned to life imprisonment and publicly dishonorably discharged from the military. Even during the discharge ceremony, onlookers interpreted Dreyfus’ stoic demeanor as further proof of his guilt.

The truth soon emerged and Dreyfus’ innocence was proven, but not until after he spent three grueling years in exile. The lesson of the Dreyfus Affair? People will take the slightest emotional cues – tone of voice, for instance – and use that information jump to conclusions that support their preconceived notions.

The Narcissism of Small Differences

In a society where everyone has equal rights, such as in a democracy or on the internet, the gap between a person and the model(s) they want to imitate can shrink, leading to an increase in the potential for rivalry.

This is because in a world where everyone is equal, the smallest differences between individuals become magnified. People’s self-identity becomes shaped by the differences they have with others and hatred towards the “other” becomes a crucial component in defining themselves. People become alike in their desire not to be alike.

This phenomenon is even more relevant in contemporary times as traditional social structures that once imposed physical or metaphysical distance, such as the family, church, and monarchies, are no longer present to prevent or channel conflicts. The result is a world where the smallest differences between individuals can escalate into intense rivalries and potentially violent confrontations.

Descartes’ Error

In his book, Descartes’ Error, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio explored the role of emotions in the decision-making process. In a study comprising of patients with damage to their ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), Damasio found out that even though these individuals were emotionally unexpressive when presented with either pictures with gruesome images or those with joyous one. Despite having normal IQ scores, these individuals struggled to make even basic decisions in their personal and professional lives.

Through his research, Damasio discovered that the vmPFC integrates emotions into rational deliberations, highlighting the fact that emotions are not just disturbances that prevent us from living a full life, but are actually essential for rational decision-making. Without emotions, decisions would be based solely on weighing the pros and cons of the physical attributes of different options, which can easily become overwhelming.

A Tale of Two Brothers

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. The traditional interpretation is that there are two types of people – the wild and the responsible. But there’s so much more to this story than just that. Jesus was actually uncovering a fundamental truth about human nature in this parable.

We all have a part of us that’s impulsive, short-sighted, and driven by instant gratification – just like the Prodigal Son. But we all also have the personality of the Older Brother, who is calculated, rational, and judgmental. Both sides of human nature are united by a common thread of pathological self-centeredness.

But, there’s one constant in this story that shines through – the love of God. It’s this love that remains ever-present, no matter how far we stray or how much we judge ourselves and others.