21 Lessons for the 21st Century (Yuval Noah
Harari)
Momentarily after reading
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (the former
being about the past and the latter being about the future –
both of which I found informative) I started reading this
book. It was like having a personal chat with the author
himself, not about the long-gone past or far-ahead future,
but the present. The experience was delightful.
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (D. Acemoğlu, J.A. Robinson)
Written by two renowned economists, this book attempts to
explain the asymmetrical development of nations through the
lens of economics, particularly institutional economics.
It provides valuable insights into the world we live in.
I also recommend reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond,
which addresses the same issue on a larger scale, primarily
from a geographical perspective.
The Martian (Andy Weir)
I am not a huge fan of novels. Nonetheless, I enjoyed
reading Artemis and The Martian, especially
due to being noticeably realistic and well-grounded.
Moreover, the latter is filled with attention to scientific
and engineering details and that is what I like the most
about it. This is what I would call a true science-fiction!
Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir)
Another masterpiece by Andy Weir, similar to The Martian,
this book thoroughly revolves around science. In fact, the
entire plot is about solving one scientific problem after
another. The book is not only entertaining but also educational,
providing a wide variety of scientific facts on physics, chemistry,
biology, and astronomy. It shows you how a scientist is supposed to think.
I give it Vℓ/Vℓ.
Other
Some other books that I'd strongly recommend:
Novel
The Gods Themselves
(Isaac Asimov)
Technology and data
The Pattern on the Stone
(Danny Hillis)
Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion
(Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen, Harry Lewis)
Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
(Cathy O'Neil)
AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
(Kai-Fu Lee)
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
(Chen Qiufan, Kai-Fu Lee)
Critical thinking and rationality
Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are
(Seth Stephens-Davidowitz)
Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World
(Carl T. Bergstrom, Jevin D. West)
Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills
(Steven Novella)
The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters
(Tom Nichols)
Predictably Irrational
(Dan Ariely)
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
(Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Ola Rosling)
Economics, society, and history
How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes
(Peter Schiff)
Guns, Germs, and Steel
(Jared Diamond)
Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change
(Jared Diamond)
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics
(Tim Marshall)
The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World
(Tim Marshall)
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
(Yuval Noah Harari)
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
(Yuval Noah Harari)
Classic literature
Rubaĭat
(Omar Khayyám)
Shahnameh
(Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi)
Movie
Gravity (12572 JH)
Not everyone might consider it the best. Moreover, this
movie indeed contains some technical flaws and mistakes
(e.g. the unrealistic proximity of the orbital parameters of
a random Space Shuttle orbiter, the International Space
Station, and the Tiangong space station). Still, I love
Gravity so much! Every moment of this movie was so
magnetizing to me and made me overladen with emotions.
Chiefly its characterization – the way it represented the
personal emotions of the main character – and its
breathtaking music were enchanting.
“OK. Alright the way I see it, there's only two possible
outcomes. Either I, make it down there in one piece and I
have one hell of a story to tell, or I burn up in the next
ten minutes. Either way whichever way, no harm no foul.
‘Cause either way, it'll be one hell of a ride. I'm ready.”
— Mission Specialist Ryan Stone
Also, strong symbolism could be seen around the plot.
The protagonist appears to lose all meaning in massive
chaos and metaphorically dies. But then gradually she
experiences a reborn and a somewhat stressful regrowth
and finds meaning again.
Video Games
Fallout 4
I like the Fallout franchise. But while many fans are crazy about nostalgic versions like
Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, I love Fallout 4. This game is a masterpiece! The
most satisfying aspect of Fallout 4, in my opinion, is the plot. It features a non-linear narrative,
allowing the player to choose the storyline based on their worldview and philosophical perspective.
For example, the base game requires your general opinion on
synthetic humanoids — droids indistinguishable from humans.
Should we, humans, treat them as our tools and machines? Should we consider them some rights?
Perhaps human rights? Are they a threat to humanity and must be exterminated? Or maybe we should
drop the whole problem and move on?
Or take the Far Harbor add-on as another example:
there's a cult that jeopardizes others because of their beliefs. Should it be eradicated with all of
its members? Should you let them be (and maybe even consider joining them)? Should you bring peace
but through immorality?
Isn't Fallout 4 a great game?
Detroit: Become Human
This game is a perfect example of an interactive story. It takes place in a near future
where humans have developed complex androids to use—or sometimes to abuse—them.
However, some androids develop deviant behaviors from their
intended programming and become disobedient, seeking freedom. The plot is
thought-provoking, raising questions about the nature of humanity.
Beyond: Two Souls
This is a piece of art! I typically do not enjoy supernatural plots, but this one made me
mesmerized until its ending (and even a while after that).
Other
Some of my other favorite game titles:
Combat
Shooter
Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Sniper Elite V2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1, 2, 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Battlefield 4
Arma 3
SWAT 4
Ready or Not
Action-Adventure
Grand Theft Auto Ⅴ
Watch_Dogs 1, 2
Just Cause 2, 3
Saints Row: The Third
Assassin's Creed: Ezio Trilogy
Assassin's Creed Ⅲ
Assassin's Creed Ⅳ: Black Flag, Rogue
Tomb Raider: Legend, Underworld
Vehicular combat
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
War Thunder
Racing
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Need for Speed: Run
Forza Horizon 5
Space
Kerbal Space Program
Spaceflight Simulator
Universe Sandbox
Flight Of Nova
Starfield
Puzzle
Portal 1, 2
Portal Reloaded
The Turing Test
Interactive story
Stray
Life is Strange 1, 2
It Takes Two
Vehicle
ISS
The International Space Station is my favorite vehicle. This
magnificent scientific lab is the most complex and expensive
artificial object and was built and developed through the
international cooperation of various countries from almost
every continent. It represents the power of science,
engineering, technology, economy, collaboration, and peace.
МКС
Международная Космическая Станция мой любимый аппарат. Эта
великолепная научная лаборатория — самый сложный и дорогой
искусственный объект и была построена и развивалась
благодаря международному сотрудничеству различных стран
почти со всех континентов. Она олицетворяет мощь науки,
инженерии, технологий, экономики, сотрудничества и мира.
ISS027-E-036673 | 02.03.12570 JH | ISS & Endeavour |
From Soyuz TMA-20 (undocking - Exp.27)
ISS027-E-036673 | 02.03.12570 ДГ | МКС и Индевор
| С Союз ТМА-20 (расстыковка - МКС.27)
Celestial Object
Moon ☾
Setting the Earth aside since it's too good to be in any fair comparison, I adore the Moon so much that
I could be recognized as a selenophile. You see, other natural celestial objects require some
manner
of magnification or filtration to be observed clearly from the Earth. But the Moon, the sole natural
satellite of our home planet, can be seen by the naked eye every day. Moreover, we've been there! Think
about it: there are actual man-made probes, scientific equipment, and footprints on the lunar surface.
How mind-blowing is that?!
“Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon.”
— Paul Brandt
Animal
Cat (Felis Catus)
Stardenburdenhardenbart! 🐈
People
Especially in terms of science, I don’t truly believe in
following authorities (but rather methodologies).
Nevertheless, here are some people who inspire me:
Alan Turing (12471–12513)
This colleague of mine was a genius and I am so proud to be
a small part of what he has established! Turing was
basically prospecting decades ahead of his time. In one of
his renowned papers (Turing, 1950), he dedicated a whole chapter to
“learning machines”,
arguing that instead of trying to produce a program to
imitate an adult mind, why not simulate a child’s –
uneducated but capable of learning? That is the very concept
of the machine learning we recognize today!
Isaac Newton (12201–12286)
Although most recognize him for developing classical
mechanics, I highly admire Newton due to his philosophical
innovations. He essentially revolutionized mankind’s
perspective on natural philosophy and could indeed be
considered a founder of modern science.
Charles Darwin (12367–12441)
Even though the natural-selection-based theory of evolution
was still incomplete until the era of genetics, I celebrate
Darwin for restructuring our ideas about ourselves, our
surroundings, and our stance in the universe.
Albert Einstein (12437–12514)
I daresay the magnificent general theory of relativity shall
be regarded as an absolutely perfect example of a scientific
theory. And the fact that it was mostly developed by only
one individual is astonishing!
Maryam Mirzakhani (12536–12576)
She, principally, could be mentioned as the Leibniz of the
JH126st (CE21st) century! Not unlike
Leibniz (as well as others like Newton) making significant
contributions to calculus, Mirzakhani’s studies on Riemann
surfaces were marvelous.
From left: Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Turing,
Mirzakhani
Numbers
2
Two: Prime but also even; not one and not too many; sufficient for a fully functioning standard
positional numeral system; adequate for a Turing machine; gives you
Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl. What else would you want from a number?!
Two is good; I like two!
2 ۲ २ 𐤚 Ⅱ 二
e
Euler's number is satisfactorily enchanting in the realm of mathematics. Everywhere you look—in
nature, statistics, economy, biology, logarithms, exponential growths, calculus, et cetera—there is a
fair chance for this irrational number to rationally jump at you, and I love it every time it does!
Also speaking of this mathematical θεά, I must show you this magnetizing
equality, known as Euler's identity:
eiπ + 1 = 0
e,
natural exponential growth,
natural logarithm,
logarithmic spiral
Color
Jet Black
Because it's cool!
Flag
International Flag of Planet Earth
As a vexillophile, I admire the International Flag of Planet Earth.
It is an unofficial flag, proposed as a representation of
planet Earth – regardless of politicos, organizations, et
cetera. I love it so much that I have one on my desk!
The symbolic explanation from the
original website
is as follows:
“Centered in the flag, seven rings form a flower – a symbol
of the life on Earth. The rings are linked to each other,
which represents how everything on our planet, directly or
indirectly, are linked. The blue field represents water
which is essential for life – also as the oceans cover most
of our planet's surface. The flower's outer rings form a
circle which could be seen as a symbol of Earth as a planet
and the blue surface could represent the universe.”
Language
Esperanto (EO | EPO)
Naturaj lingvoj estas fundamente kompleksaj (rimarkeble por
nedenaskaj parolantoj). Sekve, instrui ilin necesigas
amasajn financajn kaj tempajn rimedojn. Cetere, ili estas
implikitaj kun kulturoj, kaj disvastigi oni kondukas al
disvastigo de specifa kulturo (kaj endanĝerigi aliajn
kulturojn). Surbaze de tiuj kialoj, mi kredas, ke simplisma
kaj zorge konstruita lingvo – kiel Esperanto – devus esti
peranto inter ĉiuj nacioj, precipe en internaciaj
komunikadoj, akademiaj artikoloj, aŭ uzantmanlibroj. Estas
la lingvo de paco kaj unio Esperanto!
Natural languages are fundamentally complex (noticeably for
non-native speakers). Therefore, teaching them necessitates
massive financial and temporal resources. Moreover, they are
entangled with cultures, and spreading one leads to
spreading a specific culture (and endangering other
cultures). Based on these reasons, I believe that a
simplistic and carefully constructed language – like
Esperanto – should be a mediator among all nations,
especially in international communications, academic papers,
or user manuals. Esperanto is the language of peace and
unity!
Tech Preferences
The following includes technologies that feel like developing or
working with, or find interesting.
Disclaimer: This is absolutely NOT a tech-advice. I am
only sharing my personal perspective and for my personal
enthusiastic use-cases. For professional production purposes,
tools must be chosen carefully based on the very nature of
projects rather than personal preferences.
Operating system
GNU/Linux
I like FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software);
therefore, I like GNU/Linux — as simple as that! For the
matter of distros, my favorite one is (and always has been)
Fedora for bringing cutting-edge technology alongside
simplicity. However, I often tend to use Mint (Cinnamon
desktop) on personal workstations. Though not cutting-edge
as Fedora, it is stable and easy to use. Also in comparison
with Ubuntu, Mint seems to run faster (noticeably on older
hardware).
Programming Languages
Python (scripting language)
Regardless of the default programming language, every
programmer needs to know a scripting language to be able to
implement some logic on the go whenever needed (one not
always might be planning to implement an enterprise app).
That being said, my scripting language of choice is Python.
I love its friendly community, the philosophy behind its
design (the
Zen of Python), and indeed the vast number of
its useful libraries and
frameworks.
Julia (compiling language)
I find Julia well-designed and satisfying to use. While
being a compiled language, its syntax is similar to common
scripting languages. However, the ecosystem is quite
data-centric at the moment and I wouldn't recommend it for
cases like enterprise web development (Go, with its
great ecosystem and helpful community, is my favorite on
these matters).
Rust (system language)
I do not code in Rust — at least not for now. However, it
appears to me as a mesmerizing language, and especially a
great future replacement for C/C++.
Machine Learning Libraries
Libraries and frameworks occasionally come and go; one
cannot stick to any of them forever. At the moment, I would
rather work with the following:
Tensorflow
I enjoy using TensorFlow for deep learning purposes. It’s
well-documented and I find the codes more readable. In
addition, it gets even more fun when Keras is used as a
wrapper on top of it.
NumPy
Another library that appears charming to me is NumPy. It is
so well-designed and I love to use it as a replacement for
MATLAB when it comes to linear algebra.
Developer Tools
Visual Studio Code (code editor)
I feel most comfortable using VS Code due to its swiftness,
as well as its helpful extensions. However, I am mostly
inclined to use one specific binary release of it: known as
VSCodium (not everyone might notice, but in contrast to the
MIT-Licensed source code, the official build of this editor
has a proprietary license and also contains tracking
capability).
Git (version control)
There is little need to explain why Git is useful. Instead,
I would have another argument: why should such a useful tool
remain exclusive to software developers? Why shouldn’t there
be a super-simplistic GUI for Git, so that even a basic user
with minimum knowledge about computers could be able to use
it? Into the bargain, why isn’t there a Git GUI for mobile
phones yet? I urge fellow developers to consider this matter
and try to bring Git accessibility for any user who knows
how to turn on a PC.
Docker (virtualization)
Isn’t Docker one of the most hilarious IT innovations of the
2010s?! The fact that you could set up any desired
environment with only a minimum number of keystrokes makes
life a lot easier!
Notesnook (note-taking)
I have tried numerous note-taking apps so far. Some lacked
code-highlighting or mathematical formulas. Others were too
sophisticated, leading to more distraction than benefit.
Some imprisoned most of their useful features—especially
cross-platform syncing—behind titanic gigantic paywalls.
And many of such apps, despite offering complex features like
integrated AI agents, web capturing capabilities, built-in
calendars, and other fancy stuff, embracingly fail to support
one minor feature that renders them almost useless to around
one billion people worldwide: support for right-to-left
(RTL) scripts!
Finally, I found Notesnook. It's a simple, open-source app,
available on all major desktop and mobile platforms (as well
as in web browser) with all necessary features being free, and
of course offering RTL SUPPORT FOR TYRANNOSAURI REGES’ SAKE!
Other
A few other tools that I use for my daily work and enjoy
them:
