Github-Sync

The gist of this book is a guy, from the UK, moves to Japan after college to work in a school over there. With no Japanese and never being there before, it’s a trial by fire and he’s to deal with the culture clash and other random situations of a small, relatively rural corner of Japan. A while in he starts a YouTube channel and this grows over time into a great success.

The book itself is split into two parts. The first is about moving to Japan, getting over the culture shock and settling in. The second is about his success as a YouTuber and the opportunities that afforded.

I think the best/most interesting thing about this book for me is the first part. I’m not saying the second part isn’t good, but it does take a different approach to things. The first very much focuses on the small details of living in a relatively unknown corner of Japan. Even just moving to a new country is an interesting story, much more so a country like Japan where the language barrier is great and the culture is vastly different to somewhere like the UK. I find it just so interesting to learn about the mundane or trivial every day interactions. I read before, in The Discovery of France the following quote about how the more people that have an experience, the less evidence we have about it:

IT SEEMS TO BE a law of social history that the greater the number of people with a particular experience,

Optimistic locking Transactions proceed freely without acquiring locks, only at commit time are they checked for potential conflicts. This means that a HUGE number of transactions can be in flight without locking contention.

In opposed to pessimistic locking where the transaction acquires the lock before attempting the transaction.

Napoleon was a bona fide intellectual, and not just an intellectual among generals. He had read and annotated many of the most profound books of the Western canon; was a connoisseur, critic and even amateur theorist of dramatic tragedy and music; championed science and socialized with astronomers; enjoyed conducting long theological discussions with bishops and cardinals; and he went nowhere without his large, well-thumbed travelling library. He was to impress Goethe with his views on the motives of Werther’s suicide and Berlioz with his knowledge of music. Later he would inaugurate the Institut d’Égypte and staff it with the greatest French savants of the day. Napoleon was admired by many of the leading European intellectuals and creative figures of the nineteenth century, including Goethe, Byron, Beethoven (at least initially), Carlyle and Hegel; he established the University of France on the soundest footing of its history. He deserved his embroidered coat.

• Napoleon the Great (Andrew Roberts)

He seemed to read everything and anything he could get his hands on. And not only that but he would remember it too as evident by the respect of experts in the field he was reading about.

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Mastering the art of asking the right questions isn’t just about filling your head with more information; it’s about sparking curiosity, embracing the unknown, and being okay with not having all the answers.

Curiosity

Looking back, perhaps the lesson I would draw is this: If you don’t love it, don’t do it. I loved it—teaching people how to reach in deep to fulfil their potential, how to become great. And when you do that with a group, you, as the leader, enjoy the thrill of creating a great team. For me it was like creating a work of art. Only instead of painting on a canvas, I had the great joy of creating in collaboration with others.

The Score Takes Care of Itself - Bill Walsh

I’ve come across this a few times the last day or two where you should aim to do something that you really love doing. The other was a Founders podcast about Ken Griffen of Citadel who’s been doing that for 30 odd years now and also makes the claim that you need to love what you’re doing. He also brought up how we all dedicate our lives to something, so you may as well make it worthwhile. For some that could be mastering a niche skill or hobby, for others it might be their kids, and others yet again it might be work related. But regardless, at least try make it worthwhile and make it something you enjoy doing. And at least try be better than the rest.