Author: edwinsetiadi

“Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty

This book gives me the clear and content feeling during and after I finish reading it, the same feeling I had during my pilgrimage to Mecca or when I went to a retreat with my Catholic school. Whatever pain I didn’t know I had, it feels healed. And whatever virtue that I’m lacking, it feels fixed and fulfilled.

Drawing lessons from the many wonderful stories across culture, science, religion, and different types of monk, Jay Shetty breaks down the most important factors that would bring us closer to inner peace and serenity. And one chapter at a time the book slowly guide us to be free from our ego and judgements, detach us from our material possessions and status, direct us towards discovering our true self and our dharma, and help us to develop a great sense of compassion for our surroundings.

This might sound like just another personal development checklist, but the way Shetty wraps the lessons from the lens of an actual monk experience is what distinguish this book from many others. Hence, this book can be seen as part autobiography part spiritual book and part practical self-help tool. And just like a real life monk training, it’s not easy, it takes dedication, focus, and hard work. But it’s worth it.

It is one of the slowest books I’ve read this year, where I fittingly slow my pace down in order to fully absorb the timeless wisdom, just like I would have done if I’m physically there at the ashram. Beautiful, beautiful book.

“The Hero With a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell

This is by far the best book ever written on mythology and religion, and I can confidently say with absolute certainty that there won’t be anything like this book ever again in our lifetime. It’s that distinguishable.

The author, the now-legendary Joseph Campbell, read a lot of religious scriptures and mythology from many different cultures and can identify the common themes and surprisingly common story developments among them, in which he then proceeded to write them all into one single unifying timeline without corrupting the original texts. It’s quite literally reading multiple mythological and religious journey all at once (hence the book title) and it’s a mind-blowing experience.

So what’s really going on, as it can’t be a coincidence that multiple mythology and religious texts that were born hundreds or even thousands of years apart can have a similar “hero’s journey”?

A single passage captures the essence of the book perfectly, at Emanations chapter: “it appears that through the wonder tales – which pretend to describe the lives of the legendary heroes, the powers of the divinities of nature, the spirit of the dead, and the totem ancestors of the group – symbolic expression is given to the unconscious desires, fears, and tensions that underlie the conscious patterns of human behaviour. Mythology, in other words, is psychology misread as biography, history, and cosmology. The modern psychologist can translate it back to its proper denotations and this rescue for the contemporary world a rich and eloquent document of the profoundest depths of human character.”

It is by far the hardest book I’ve ever read because every word is seemingly important and could become the key to understand the next few sentences. It’s so packed, concise, and inter-connected. Heck, it took me 2 years to finally finish this book, as every single paragraph in this 432 pages book is so damn interesting and important. I’ve said it once and I’m going to say it again, there’s simply no other book that can match this masterpiece.

“Shoe Dog” by Phil Khight

Holy moly, what an insane story. This book is an exhilarating memoir of the adventures of Phil “Buck” Knight, from a backpacker with a crazy idea to eventually building one of the most iconic brands on the planet.

With a gripping style of writing the founder of Nike tells it all through all the epiphanies, the lucky encounters, the boardroom battles, courtroom battles, the many ups and down of his own personal story and the people surrounds him, the many times they nearly get out of business, this one promise he made to himself to someday come back to Manila, how they came up with the name Nike, how he accidentally met the designer of the swoosh logo, and all the tragic tragedies that almost shock me into tears, all of which cannot possibly be mentioned here without giving away the great plot of the story.

Indeed, the book reads like an epic movie that kept me glued way longer than my usual daily reading miles. I even lost sleep for couple of days as I could not possibly put down the book before bed. And now as I write this review a couple of days later since I finished the book, I actually miss reading it and wondering how the guys are doing right now.

Phil Knight runs, he reads a lot of books, he’s a backpacker at heart, a romantic poet of life who often gets his inspirations from the great men of history. And his charisma and worldly charm shines bright in the written pages of the book. What’s not to like?

Easily one of the best biographies I’ve ever read, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Kasus penanganan Covid-19 di Indonesia sekarang ini mirip dengan kasus subprime mortgage market di US yang menyebabkan global market crash 2008. Problem utama nya dicuekin, dan di bungkus secantik mungkin sampe kasih ilusi kalo semuanya udah aman. Dan ketika problem utama nya akhirnya meledak, it’s all too late to react.

Jadi di awal tahun 2000an mortgage lenders di US bikin subprime mortgage loans untuk minjemin KPR ke orang-orang yang nggak punya aset, nggak punya kerja, nggak punya income. High risk sekali dan hampir pasti gagal bayar? Well, subprime risk nya ini digabungin ke satu instrumen yang namanya Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) yang isinya dicampur dengan instrumen-instrumen aman lain nya kayak government bond, US dollar, gold, dll. Dan CDO ini dapet rating A+ dari ratings agency, jadi kasih kesan aman.

Karena ratings A+, CDO jadi laku keras dan dijual belikan banyak orang dan masuk ke global financial network, dimana pemerintah berbagai negara banyak yang beli, hedge fund beli, mutual fund beli, pension fund beli, semua banks punya, insurance punya, sampai investor retail juga banyak yang beli.

High risk nya subprime mortgage secara perlahan jadi dicuekin dan dilupakan, karena udah di bungkus secantik mungkin di CDO. Tapi problem nya tetep nggak ilang, orang-orang kategori “subprime” yang minjem KPR ini tetep nggak ada uang untuk bayar, dan mayoritas jatuh tempo nya 4-5 tahun. Subprime mortgage loans mulai banyak di issue tahun 2003, jadi di tahun 2007-2008 bakal jatuh tempo. Dan by tahun 2007 CDO udah nyebar banget diseluhur dunia, ketika satu per satu subprime borrower nya mulai gagal bayar. It’s a ticking time bomb, yang akhirnya meledak collapse setahun kemudian di 2008. Global crash!

Subprime Covid

Kasus Covid-19 di Indonesia bisa masuk ke analogi subprime crash. Problem nya jelas, ada deadly virus pandemic. Tapi sama pemerintah di bungkus secantik mungkin jadi keliatan nggak bahaya. Mall buka, GBK buka, boleh CFD di sebar di beberapa titik, tempat hiburan dibuka, bioskop mau dibuka “biar happy”, tiba-tiba ada banyak “obat” abal-abal yang quick fix (jangan mau ditakut-takutin Covid, cuma tinggal pake kalung Covid aja beres, atau cuma minum jamu, atau cuma jemur matahari, minyak kayu putih, dan masih banyak lagi yang nggak ke verifikasi secara ilmu kedokteran).

Ironis nya, ketika PSBB mulai diterapkan pada bulan Maret orang-orang pada ketakutan stay at home semua, ketika penyebaran masih dibawah 100 kasus. Tapi sekarang pas udah 150 ribu – 200 ribu kasus? Kalo di subprime mortgage crisis ada CDO, di krisis kita ada yang nama nya “new normal.”

Dan pemerintah kita, yang udah terang-terangan ngaku nutup-nutupin data keadaan asli nya biar nggak “nakutin masyarakat”, berhasil mengajak banyak orang untuk menjalankan semangat “new normal new spirit.” Berawal dari kumpul aktifitas baru, kongkow makan-makan “kita kita aja” sambil lepas masker, ktemuan sebentar dan foto rame-rame pake masker dan sekali lagi tanpa masker, dan untuk yang takut di kota jadi naik gunung rame-rame nggak pake masker dan ketemu banyak orang dari luar rumah juga.

Dan semua nya di posting di social media dan kontribusi untuk kasih kesan keadaan udah A+ aman, dan ignore the fact kalo “subprime covid” nya angka nya naik terus dan nyebar makin cepet. I mean, kalo mau keluar rumah do it responsibly, jangan lepas masker sama sekali, bener-bener jaga jarak, dan just don’t post it di social media dan bantu create availability bias (info yang available di social media itu cuma postingan semua orang udah keluar-keluar dan aman).

Efek nya, yang uneducated dan ignorant nggak peduli (malah marah kalo dikasih berita-berita update Covid, “tolong jangan membuat resah”). Dan yang well-informed dan educated selalu coba cari justifikasi untuk kelakuan mereka, share berita-berita yang ngejelekin komunitas/kegiatan lain tapi ignore problems di kegiatan mereka sendiri, atau coba downplay angka official Covid sebagai hoax atau “permainan rumah sakit biar dapet duit dari pemerintah” (selalu hear say, dan belum pernah ada Bukti nya).

Dan sekali nya ada yang kena positif Covid? Mereka nggak pernah posting kalo mereka kena, cuma ngilang aja dari social media jadi nggak pernah kontribusi nunjukin kalo penularan nya ini nyata (bantu create survivorship bias, alias yang orang-orang liat di social media itu cuma yang survive aja). Dan yang sembuh, sadly bakal keluyuran dan posting-posting lagi karena it’s just their nature. Yang nggak abis pikir itu yang punya uang, banyak yang positif Covid dan mereka milih untuk isolasi mandiri di hotel tanpa mikir mereka expose pekerja cleaning service dan room service hotel tersebut.

Sementara itu, di saat angka penularan terus naik, tenaga kesehatan harus banting tulang kerja keras untuk nyembuhin orang-orang yang kelakuan nya kayak gini. Kita bukan cuma darurat Covid, tapi darurat empati juga.

Jadi nggak heran, ketika ada orang yang komen “udah enak-enak mulai normal eh dihajar lagi ditutup PSBB sama gabener.” Mereka cuma liat CDO nya, dan nggak liat subprime mortgage problem nya.

Peran pemerintah

Kalo kita liat New Zealand yang berhasil sempat clear 100 hari dari kasus covid mereka (dan sekarang tetap rendah dibawah 10), approach mereka simple: PM nya bilang ini kasus medis jadi dia nurutin 100% saran dokter dan scientist untuk solusi nya. Kalo di semua negara lain di dunia, masalah medis solusi nya dari politisi yang di politisir. Di Indonesia udah di politisir, decision making nya sengaja dibikin layer birokrasi lagi karena pemimpin nya nggak decisive dan nggak mau disalahin. Presiden lempar tanggung jawab ke gubernur, tapi gubernur harus minta ijin dulu ke kemenkes (yang di bawah presiden). Jadi menimbulkan benturan kepentingan dimana antara pusat, pemda, dan para ahli beda semua mau nya / pendapat nya.

Kayak sekarang,“tiba-tiba” PSBB mau diterapin lagi di Jakarta. Ini karena pendapat dokter dan scientist nggak didengerin dari awal, dan kebijakan pemda dan pusat lebih mikirin ekonomi harus tetep jalan dibanding short term putus penyebaran Covid nya. Dan berkat “new normal, new spirit” rakyatnya jadi ngeremehin dan di fasilitasi pula (semua dibuka, asal… Dan condition “asal” nya ini nggak di supervise). Seperti masuk ke Ancol cuma boleh terbatas, untuk social distancing, tapi dengan bodoh nya pembatasan ini menciptakan antrian panjang desel-deselan diluar gerbang Ancol dan dibiarin aja.

Jadi apakah PSBB lagi itu perlu? You damn right perlu banget. Tapi sebulan yang lalu, bukan dadakan sekarang ketika tinggal beberapa minggu lagi health care system kita bakal collapse.

Karena “mendadak PSBB” lagi itu last minute panic nya pemda DKI, di keadaan yang udah rada telat. Dan karena panic, justru PSBB yang drastis banget measures nya bisa bikin usaha-usaha mati. Kayak nggak ada planning mateng dari awal, semua serba reaktif dari liat keadaan yang uncertainty nya tinggi. Tapi kalo nggak PSBB lagi?

Ini kayak 2007 dimana financial institutions ignore problem subprime mortgage yang bentar lagi bakal default satu per satu, mengabaikan semua pihak yang udah kasih warning dari awal, dan even have the nerve untuk ngomong kenaikan market ini (yang ada andil dari property bubble karena subprime people tiba-tiba bisa beli rumah, jadi create demand) bisa berlangsung selama nya, seperti yang di claim oleh CEO Dow Chemical dan CEO Citigroup pada saat itu.

Dan di 2008 awal ketika mortgage lenders Fannie Mae dan Freddy Mac mulai collapse, regulator fail to see cause-and-effect nya yang eventually collapse nya bakal merembet seperti ini: mortgage lenders yang issue subprime mortgage – investment banks yang create CDO – all kind of funds and countries yang beli CDO nya – insurance companies yang issue insurance just in case CDO gagal – corporations yang nggak pegang CDO tapi yang credit line nya di freeze di bank mereka karena bank nya collapsing – the economies kena imbas big time.

By the time Fannie Mae dan Freddy Mac collapse, udah a little too late kayak Covid-19 udah 3000+ kasus per hari di Indonesia. Karena kalo ini kayak dinamit di film-film kartun, sumbu nya udah dinyalain dan mulai merembet jalan. Jadi ada PSBB lagi atau nggak, does it really matter at this point?

The problem is, baik di level pemerintah pusat maupun level pemda peraturan dibikin sedemikian rupa untuk menjaga bisnis dulu, baru manusia, dan nggak bisa liat jauh ke depan kalo selama virus nya masih nyebar terus, bisnis-bisnis ini bakal mati juga in the long term.

Dan ketika kita ngomong bisnis, lebih tepat nya bisnis nya orang yang ada leverage. Mall dibuka, tempat hiburan dibuka, dan kalo ada yang positif Covid? Cuma diumumin aja di berita (kayak satu toko di mall di Senayan). Ada yang positif di restoran mahal? Nggak ada tindakan. Tapi kalo ada yang positif di pasar tradisional? Pasar nya langsung di paksa tutup.

Penegakan hukum yang setengah-setengah dan diskriminasi sekali seperti ini jadi create privilege bias, kalo ini sorry to say “penyakit orang miskin.” Kalo di “klaster komunitas” ada yang kena Covid? Tracing satu komunitas dia nggak di tindak sama sekali. Tapi kalo satu warga desa ada yang kena, satu desa harus di karangtina.

Orang-orang menengah atas pada umum nya jadi gede kepala, that they’re untouchable. Sedangkan yang rakyat miskin bakal mikir ini cuma conspiracy orang kaya aja yang mau control mereka. Hasil nya, jadi socio-economic problem yang totally ignore the main problem dari awal: ada deadly virus yang terus nyebar.

The collapse

Waktu subprime mortgage market crash merembet menjadi global financial crash di tahun 2008 setelah Lehman Brothers collapse, banyak yang bingung nggak ngerti kenapa “tiba-tiba” crash dan collapse semua, kenapa tiba-tiba CDO A+ yang mereka pegang jadi worthless dan uang mereka jadi ilang.

Dari cara Covid-19 di handle sampe sekarang, dari sisi pandemi nya with 3000+ new cases setiap hari kita keliatannya tinggal tunggu waktu aja untuk healthcare system kita collapse (17 September di DKI kalo menurut para ahli, sebelum PSBB diperketat kembali), ekonomi juga kemungkinan besar akan masuk resesi, dan usaha-usaha banyak yang udah mulai tutup. Alias dengan kebijakan yang setengah-setengah tanpa bener-bener tackle problem utama nya, pemerintah bakal end up jebol di semua sisi.

Ini bakal jadi kegagalan pemerintah pusat yang nggak berani tegas decision making nya dari awal, dan kegagalan pemerintah daerah yang terlalu reaktif dan nggak ada planning yang matang juga, dimana dua instansi tersebut terlalu dengerin opini short-term lobbyist pengusaha dibanding opini long-term para ahli medis.

Dan nanti the same “CDO holders” nya Covid yang udah telen mentah-mentah ilusi “new normal” yang di create sama pemerintah dan komunitas mereka masing-masing, bakal bingung juga kenapa tiba-tiba semua collapse di sekitar mereka. And these same people bakal yang kritik pemerintah pusat dan pemda paling keras, sembari makan-makan dan ngobrol lepas masker. And they won’t see the irony kalo kelakuan mereka ini justru yang kontribusi besar ke penyebaran virus nya.

“The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham

Warren Buffett often said that reading this book is the greatest investment that he has ever made, and it’s not difficult to see why. Buffett even specifically mention that chapter 8 and 20 are the most essential ones to understand how investing and the market work.

But if you want to learn about the very essence of the book, chapter 14 is where the real gem is. This is where the core Graham principles are presented, which the commentary on chapter 14 (as well as chapter 18 and its commentary) prove that this principles can stand against time for more than 3 decades.

This book to investing is like The Art of War by Sun Tzu to warfare, or The Origins of Species by Charles Darwin to evolution. An absolutely vital book to read.

“The Crime Book: Big ideas simply explained” by DK

After reading few books on happiness, well being, and stuff like discovering your inner Buddha, I thought to myself you know what I haven’t read for a while? A f***ed up book on f***ed up people. So, here we are.

It is an absolutely billiant book with a complete history of every crime imaginable, covering organised crimes, heists and robberies, gang violences, mafia related violences, white collar crimes, serial killers, political assassinations, and so much more. With prominent names and cases from Yakusa, Jack the Ripper, Ponzi scheme, Bernie Madoff, the murder of Tupac Shakur, the charm of Ted Bundy, the enigmatic Rasputin, Pablo Escobar and the drug wars, the assassination of JFK, and hundreds more sick stories that shook the world.

Holy cr*p that was one gruesome book. Couldn’t recommend it more. 5 stars.

“The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why violence has declined” by Steven Pinker

This book is the ultimate history of human violence. The thick book brought us in a journey into the very dark places in history, with gruesome details on how different civilisations in different parts of the world in different periods of time conducted their violent acts as a daily occurrences, which can be overwhelming to read at times. The historically accurate Roman-style brutal crucifixion, for example, is even more sadistic than the depiction in the movie The Passion of the Christ.

Indeed, the book seemingly covers every single violence known in history, from war, murder, rape, bullying, violence against women children homosexual, all the way to violence towards animal.

But as the book progresses, it then points out the many pivotal moments that turned humans into a less barbaric creatures, such as the introduction of printing press that introduced empathy, and completes the thesis with its main point that today humans have evolved into a more civilised and peaceful beings, and that our time today is the most calm and peaceful era despite all the media portrayals. The gradual narrative is also complemented by all the available social theories known to man about the particular growth periods.

However, I stop reading it mindfully 3/4 of the way after I realise the arguments that Steven Pinker is presenting in this 800+ pages book are directed toward overly justifying the current status quo of State and capitalism (with weak cause-and-effect association from his own data) that ignored the dark and also violent side of it. Moreover, it also dawns on me a little too late that his arguments are biased towards New Atheism doctrines that would make Richard Dawkins blush (an argument that can be easily refuted, but that’s for another day).

All in all, great build up, impressive data, but disconnected conclusion. It certainly a big let down after such a promising start of the reading, hence the eventual 4 stars.

“Homo Deus: a brief history of tomorrow” by Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens is one of my top 3 favourite books of all time, so I had such a tremendous expectation for this sequel. In retrospect, it is still a brilliant book with vast range of topics filled with plenty of data and insights that are signature of Harari. Some parts are even world class.

However, almost the majority of the contents are stretched a little too long, and give the feel like they are only the extended notes that didn’t get the cut in Sapiens. Moreover, it is not really a direct book about the future, in which I expected to be like the brilliant last chapter in Sapiens. But instead it dwells quite some time in history, thus the overlapping feel with his 1st book.

And when we finally arrived at the predictions of the future? Nothing is really new, although to be fair I have read, watched, and listened to a lot of interviews with Harari talking about this book.

All in all, when reading this book, I can’t help but feeling like when I’m watching the 8th season of Game of Thrones. Sure, it’s brilliant on its own. But when we compare it with the early 7 seasons it becomes obvious that it’s a rather disappointing follow up from the build up.

Already bought his 3rd book though. And I remain a massive fan.

“Stoicism and the art of happiness” by Donald Robertson

Modern Stoicism is largely based on the wonderful thinking of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca through their “main 3 books” of Meditations, Discourses, and Letters, respectively. This is because these books are only a handful of surviving bodies of Stoic writings left that are almost fully intact (with only 4 books out of 8 of Discourses survived).

But these 3 wise philosophers were all part of the so-called 3rd Stoa, the 3rd generation of “Late Stoa” in Rome. So what about the wisdom of the founding fathers of Stoicism, the 1st generation of “Early Stoa” in Ancient Greece? Well, it is said that there are only 1% of surviving Stoic materials left in the world, with the “main 3” dominate the canon, while everything ever written by the founder Zeno have all but disappeared. And so I thought.

This book is different than the rest of 7 modern Stoic books that I’ve read so far, because besides discussing the teachings of the usual 3rd Stoa it also provides the teachings from the 1st Stoa such as Zeno, Cleanthes, and what growingly becomes my favourite Chrysippus, as well as many other Stoic philosophers. And the stories are simply astonishing.

Firstly, I never knew that Pythagoras (the math triangle guy) had such an interesting life and philosophy (and many cult-like followers too in Ancient times) which the Stoics like to refer to. Then we have the story of Paconius Agrippinus, a highly regarded Stoic philosopher who responded with a complete composure when being informed of his impending death execution, by finishing his lunch with his friends.

But my favourite got to be the story when Macedonian king Antigonus II, a powerful political and military leader, came to visit Zeno to listen to his teachings, and Zeno was completely unconcerned when he met the powerful king. Because Antigonus had power over nothing that Zeno saw as important in life and he possessed nothing that Zeno desire about.

Furthermore, the book also has a neat “try it now” section in every chapter, which consist of the suggested Stoic lesson for us to practice for the topic. My absolute favourite is got to be contemplating life as one big festival, with us getting a ticket to attend Glastonbury or the modern Olympic games or any art event. Like the sequence of life, we attend festivals to absorb the experience, to learn a thing or two from it, to enjoy it fully but to never get too attached to anything in it because we’re only a visitor and it is only a temporary gig. When things get rough, it’s okay because it’s the nature of chaotic festival. And when it’s time to wrap up the event, you don’t get upset by it but instead you just leave the event bringing fond memories along with you.

As a reader (and dare I say, a practitioner) of Stoicism it delights me that up to this point I found the numerous modern books on Stoicism as complementary for each other rather than competing. While one focuses on the history, others adapt the lessons into modern-day contexts. While some focused more into the academic discussions, others are more targeted towards bite size day-to-day implementation. And this book is no different, it serves as another piece of Stoic puzzle by dwelling deep into the origins and the formation of the philosophies that becomes the Stoic principles.

Thus, it is a form of injustice if we compare the modern books on Stoicism against each other, as each have different purpose that serve the greater good. Instead, in the quest of reading all available books written on Stoicism I am absolutely estatic, wait, hang on, nay, I’m preferably indifferent that there is another excellent book that provides yet another new angles on the Stoic philosophy. And this one, happens to be written by the founder of the influential Stoicon.

“How Children Succeed: grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character” by Paul Tough

Firstly, children who grow up in a stressful environment will find it hard to concentrate at class, difficult to follow directions or rules, hard to rebound from disappointments, or difficult to just sitting still. It is because stressful environment negatively affects the part of the brain called prefrontal cortex, which is critical for our ability to self-regulate. A case in point, almost all of the cases of “troubled kids” have uncontrollable bad tempers and attitude, which are rooted from their stressful encounters at home or their surroundings. So we really are the product of our environment.

Secondly, but the good news is children whose parents (especially mother) or guardian are attuned to their mood and responsive to their cues will produce a securely attached children, where early attachment creates a positive psychological effects that could last a lifetime. Moreover, if children grow up in a nurturing parental environment where there are a lot of comforting, physical affections like hugging, and reassuring talks since birth, they will have a stronger and braver character. So a good or bad parenting is the absolute key in a child’s character development, no matter the surrounding circumnstances (remember how in the movie “Life is Beautiful” Guido can turn a horrifying Nazi concentration camp into a fun game for his unknowing son).

And thirdly, it is vital for parents to teach their children since infant the ability to manage their inflamed stress system and to restore themselves to a resting state, which includes teaching them how to calm down after a tantrum or a bad scare. And when the child grows older, they will also need to learn about discipline, rules, and limits. And perhaps most crucially, they also need a child-size adversity appropriate for each of their age levels, a chance to fail and get back up on their feet without help. This is the best gift a parent could ever give to their children, the chance to develop self-control, persistence, grit, curiousity, conscientiousness, and the self-confidence that they can handle anything life throws at them.

These are the 3 key messages of the book, where the author back them up with scientific findings and illustrate them with plenty of real-life great examples. And this is how children succeed.