THE CHAOS THEORY

“The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy

This is a charming novel that gives the feel of what’s life like in 1960s southern USA, especially New Orleans. The book revolves around the character of Jack “Binx” Bolling, a stockbroker and a son of a wealthy family who has troubles living his life after the trauma from his childhood (when his father committed suicide) and the Korean war.

He also has difficulties in having a long lasting relationship, has the tendency to date multiple women (including few of his secretaries) and is so into the artificialities of movies that he tend to daydream more than actually living his life.

And then leading up to his 30th birthday, in a desperate need of spiritual redemption and without any sense of direction, Bolling then left the rat race of his everyday life and went to a journey in search of meaning. Starting from the Mardi Gras in New Orleans then to Chicago and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he is having philosophical epiphanies along the way about all the important things in his life from family, to friends, career, and ultimately to the 1 unexpected woman who can truly understands him.

Indeed, it is a book about existential crisis and the journey to overcome it, with the protagonist meeting new people with colourful characters along the way in a distinctively southern flavour. No wonder that it became an instant American Classic.

“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig

This is a classic book that was published in 1974 after 121 rejections, but eventually proceeded to sold millions of copies in 23 languages, listed in the best-seller category for decades, with the book once described in the press as “the most widely read philosophy book, ever.” It is also influential in the cultural transition from the rebellious 1960s to the “me decade” of the 1970s.

The book is not about Zen Buddhism and not really about motorcycle maintenance, however. The title is a play on a 1948 book “Zen and the Art of Archery” by Eugen Herrigel, and it is more of a fictionalized autobiography of the author, Robert Pirsig, who, just like in the book, went on a motorcycle journey across America with his 11 year old son.

It was during this trip that Pirsig started to contemplate questions about the meaning of life, especially after all the extraordinary things he had experienced throughout his real life. Experiences such as having an IQ of 170 and skipped 2 grades and enrolled to university at age 15, enlisted in the US Army and got sent to Korea, studied philosophy for a year in Banaras Hindu University at India, had a mental breakdown and spent time in and out psychiatric hospitals for 2 years, diagnosed for having a schizophrenia and endured an electroconvulsive therapy on numerous occasions, and began a PhD in philosophy at the University of Chicago but quickly feuded with the department head over his interpretation of “quality”, a topic that eventually became the central philosophical focus of this book.

“I’m happy to be riding back into this country”, said the narrator in the book, as the father and son duo is joined by a husband and wife friend John and Sylvia Sutherland. “It is a kind of nowhere, famous for nothing at all and has an appeal because of just that. Tensions disappear along old roads like this.” Indeed, this is about going out of the daily routines and wandering around the open road, embracing the sceneries, smelling the air, feeling the wind in your face and stomping directly on the ground. No music, no pressure, no distraction, just you and your thoughts.

“You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other”, the narrator continues. “In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.”

However, this is not only a tale of motorcycle adventure, as we do get a some form of discussion on motorcycle parts and structures in chapter 8, which also serve as an analogy of the structure and hierarchy of the government. As the narrator observes, “[t]hat’s all the motorcycle is, a system of concepts worked out in steel. There’s no part in it, no shape in it, that is not out of someone’s mind.”

The maintenance of the motorcycle also serves as an overall analogy of life, where John and Sylvia are described to be people who enjoy the look and the feel of riding a motorcycle but utterly hopeless on the maintenance part while Phaedrus (whom the narrator uses as the main philosophical muse) is fascinated by how the machineries work and proficient on the maintenance part to keep it functioning properly.

This is key in life, the narrator argues, where we can go far in life if we understands the inner working of the machines that support us and have the know-how to fix them when broken. And this book illustrates this point through the many interactions between the characters in the journey.

As the narrator remarks, “[t]o put it in more concrete terms: If you want to build a factory, or fix a motorcycle, or set a nation right without getting stuck, then classical, structured, dualistic subject-object knowledge, although necessary, isn’t enough. You have to have some feeling for the quality of the work. You have to have a sense of what’s good. That is what carries you forward.”

Here are some more of my favourite quotes from the book:

• Some things you miss because they’re so tiny you overlook them. But some things you don’t see because they’re so huge.
• He was insane. And when you look directly at an insane man all you see is a reflection of your own knowledge that he’s insane, which is not to see him at all. To see him you must see what he saw and when you are trying to see the vision of an insane man, an oblique route is the only way to come at it. Otherwise your own opinions block the way. There is only one access to him that I can see as passable and we still have a way to go.
• But to tear down a factory or to revolt against a government or to avoid repair of a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack effects rather than causes; and as long as the attack is upon effects only, no change is possible.
• You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it’s going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.
• Any effort that has self-glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster.
• The past exists only in our memories, the future only in our plans. The present is our only reality.
• Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.
• Zen Buddhists talk about “just sitting,” a meditative practice in which the idea of a duality of self and object does not dominate one’s consciousness. What I’m talking about here in motorcycle maintenance is “just fixing,” in which the idea of a duality of self and object doesn’t dominate one’s consciousness.

“The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) lived in Renaissance Florence in the 15-16th century, during the time when the Medici ruling family gradually went out of power especially after the collapse of their Medici Bank in 1494.

In the midst of the chaos that ensued, Machiavelli observed from his position as secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence (1498 to 1512) all the political deceptions, treacheries and crimes occurring in front of him, and eventually wrote this book in 1513 that is filled with his ideas of a perfect leader in the context to deal with this political wave in Florence.

It became a polarizing hit when it was finally published in 1532 five years after his death, where at one side people saw that for the first time there’s a practical political book that directly dwell on realpolitik without mentioning the likes of religion and allegiance (and written in Italian as well, rather than the customary Latin). But the other side of the argument saw it as a ruthless book that give advice to govern people with the absence of morality (if needed) or to justify any means necessary to reach the goals. And both sides of the argument are correct.

It is one of those chicken-and-egg dilemma, where the book was written to observe the nastiness that had already happening, but it is also accused to be the inspiration for the nasty political maneuvers ever since. There’s even a term for this political ruthlessness: Machiavellian.

But of course The Prince is much more than just this. With many lessons from the likes of Roman Empire, Persia, Plato, Cicero, and others such as Alexander the Great, the book covers the subject of princedom, on conquering many different types of new kingdoms or states, conquering new states with their own rules already in place, conquest by virtue, conquest by fortune, conquest by crime, becoming an elected prince, how to judge the strength of principalities, ecclesiastical principate, on military and defense, the qualities of a prince, a prince’s duty in military matters, on reputation of a prince, the morality of a prince, how a prince can avoid contempt and hatred, and the prudence of a prince in various matters.

Normally old texts that have been quoted so many times are usually dull in its original form, compared with the new books that quoted them. But this is the exception, as I find The Prince to be very well written and have clear ideas and fitting examples from its time. And just like other well written classics, such as The Art of War by Sun Tzu and The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, this book is a short but concise one. Perfect for game changer ideas to spread.

“Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC” by Pep Lijnders

In 2021-2022 season, Liverpool FC played all available 63 matches across 4 tournaments: the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, and the Carabao Cup, where they reached all 3 finals as well as just 1 point short of winning the Premier League at the very last match of the season.

Although they eventually “only” won the FA cup and the Carabao Cup, it was the first time in history that an English club have a shot at a potential quadruple (winning all 4 trophies) and they do so by breaking numerous records along the way. So how did they do it?

This is the behind the scene story of that incredible season, a sporting diary written by Jürgen Klopp’s assistant manager, Pep Lijnders, broken down into 44 chapters that represent 38 match weeks for a season + 6 more off match weeks in between.

It is filled with many insights on what they did right, what tactics didn’t work out, all the closed-door chaos, the players’ development, the club culture, the role of the backroom staffs that make things happen, down to the small things such as the many different WhatsApp groups or the fans’ love story with Dua Lipa’s song “one kiss” that became that season’s unofficial anthem.

The book, however, is written with the assumption of the readers’ prior knowledge about the club and its players, so it could be a tad bit confusing at first for those who aren’t familiar with the names. But this is a minor inconvenience that could easily be overcome once we start getting into the flow of the book.

And for the rest of the fans, the book feels like a codified version of the nostalgia that we all remember from that season, but crucially with an added perspective from the inside. It reveals the club’s day-to-day operations and what the people inside the management were thinking during that season, which shows a lot about the overall atmosphere, the dynamism within the club, the synergy between owner-director-manager, the players’ relationship, all the way to Jürgen’s special relationship with the fans (and his fist-pumps).

Nevertheless, the book paints such a complete picture on how Liverpool operates that it started to get me thinking, was this the reason why in the proceeding 2022-23 season Liverpool played so miserably? Not because of the burnout from last season, not necessarily because of the unfortunate injuries, but can it be exactly because of this book that reveals everything? I mean, all opposition managers can just read this book and discover Liverpool’s trade secret, their special sauce, and construct a plan to curb its intensity.

They don’t even need to send a spy to the training ground because the book lay down all the strategy and tactics: it shows how they prepare for every upcoming match, the research approach on the oppositions, the detailed game plan complete with the tactical reasoning behind them, and the many different types of drills and trainings to perfect their game plan, in horrific details! Hence, suffice to say that reading this book has been a mix of “oh wow” and “oh my Fowler, don’t reveal that!”

But at the end of the day it is a book that brings out fond memories, that captures the very essence of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool era, complete with great sayings applicable for both football and life in general, which are mostly said by Pep but some by Jürgen and others. Here are some of my favourites:

• There is a saying that the way you speak to your players become their inner voice.
• Dominate midfield and you will dominate the game.
• Talents need models, not criticism.
• We attacks with triangles, but we defend with triangles as well.
• If you try to chase the players, they will always run away from you. But if you have what the players want, they will come to you.
• When you don’t smile, the game doesn’t smile.
• That you lose on the scoreboard, it can always happen, but you don’t lose yourself.
• Our players need to react quickly to defence and create confusion when losing the ball. If you want to explain Jürgen’s football ideas in one sentence, this is probably it.
• Give them pressure everywhere and from everywhere, high and in the highest intensity, and give them pressure in an unpredictable way.
• This is what training is all about: You have a problem, you create a solution, start training and see it isn’t working but insist and keep repeating and correcting behaviours until everyone gets the point.
• A player doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
• A good team solves problems, a top team avoids them.
• You don’t prepare for finals in the week leading up to them – it’s a long, long journey.
• The brain beats the muscle, but the heart beats the brain.
• We will repeat until we vomit.
• The world is not full of winners, the world is full of triers.
• What I learned about life is if you stay on track, when you keep going, you get the reward.
• Without clarity there is no consistency.
• Bring together a German who admires Sacchi and a Dutchman who admires Cruyff and you create a monster!

“Vangabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel” by Rolf Potts

This is a guide book on travelling. Not from the angle of what, not from when, not even from where. But from why. And also about the how, for that why.

It attempts to show that travelling requires less money than presumed. That the best timing to do so is now, even if we don’t have that much money, instead of when we have accumulated a lifetime of wealth but we cannot really enjoy it due to our deteriorating health in old age.

So instead, the book encourages a sabbatical, a gap year, a career break, becoming a digital nomad or a remote worker, or even finding a job overseas. And it provides us with all the tips and tools to help us make that decision, as well as providing the many website references and books for the specific topics at the end of each chapter.

Indeed, this is not a travel story book, but it’s more of a condensed Lonely Planet-esque how-to checklist for vagabonding. The art of backpacking on a shoestring, if you will. But of course it still has the incredible stories from the author himself and the many testimonies and/or stories from fellow travellers, which are very inspiring.

The book teaches us how to plan ahead and keep ourselves informed, how to avoid danger, how to be minimalist and frugal, how to pack light and get the secondary necessities on the road. It is about budgeting our travel, having an emergency fund, a travel insurance, and discussing the pros and cons of bringing money vs. getting them at the local ATM.

Apart from the essentials, the book also gives us tips and tricks on everything we can think of about travelling, such as how to buy souvenirs and the art of bargaining, how to successfully interact with children or how to deal with hostile locals, how to avoid scams, how to keep healthy on the road, how to do volunteer work, and of course it addresses the end of the journey: on coming home and adapting back to our ordinary lives.

It is simply THE book to read before you embark on a backpacking journey, before you do your research, and before you open the travel guide books. The only drawback of this book is, it infects me with a huge amount of travel bug and gives me this urge to leave my life and career behind, take my family with me, and do a life of wandering around the globe (which looks very doable, thanks to this book).

“Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Democracy: A Global Citizens Report on the Corporate Control of Technology, Health, and Agriculture” edited by Vandana Shiva

This is a series of papers by several experts that expose the hijacking of technology, media, health, education, and the main focus of the book, agriculture, by opportunists that hide behind the mask of philanthropy. Edited by none other than the Gandhi of grains herself, Dr. Vandana Shiva.

It is a critical view on how capitalism destroys the planet’s ecosystem, the rich variety of seeds, and hundreds of food sources to replace them with corporations’ own genetically modified crops, all in the name of profit and shareholders’ wealth. Along the way, by doing so these corporations eliminate thousands of year worth of ancient methods of sustainable agriculture that are good for the Earth, and subsequently send the indigenous population into poverty and famine.

Worse still, the newly genetically modified food, as it turns out, are proven in this book to have less nutritions and more risk to cause multiple diseases, even those in the “healthy” plant-based food hype including the Impossible Meat. But the corporations then create their own research with paid scientists arguing over the benefits of the new food and the primitiveness of the ancient way.

As mentioned in the book, just like missionaries trying to save indigenous people from their “barbaric practice”, corporations “turn a blind eye to the knowledge, tools, and innovations farmers have evolved over millennia to breed seeds, renew soil fertility, manage pests and weeds ecologically and produce good food. They elevate corporate tools to a new religion and new civilizing mission, which has been imposed to civilize the ecological, independent, knowledge-sovereign farmers who are seen as the new “barbarians.””

To be clear, this is not a case against capitalism per se, since “a more enlightened and beneficent capitalism is possible…, but it requires capitalists to transcend self-interest and greed, which is not wholly supported by the record.”

Indeed, self-interest and greed are what this book is investigating, with arguments predominantly build up against the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (or the Gates Foundation for short), the philanthropy foundation that have made strategic donations to some of the nastiest bunch of capitalists: the petrochemical companies, agribusiness, and multinational corporations that together form what is dubbed in the book as the “Poison Cartel.”

It is through the web of Gates Foundation’s fundings that the book is making its case, by providing a thorough evidence complete with the dollar amount and the sinister purpose of the projects.

However, we need to take a grain of salt in reading this book, as some of the arguments look suspiciously biased. Such as the critic over Bill Gates’ funding for geo-engineering experiments to curb the climate change, which could well be a genuine attempt to search for options rather than to protect the fossil fuel industry (in which Bill Gates has some stakes in them). Or the attempt to create a digital education was criticised as if they’re trying to deny the children access to human relationship and prevent them to be out in nature, and instead an author in the book proposes a new concept of holistic school as suggested by one guy, J. Krishnamurti.

Another minor bias is shown in some of the authors who criticise Warren Buffett for giving a large chunk of his money to the Gates Foundation, money that they say came from “speculations on the market”, which is not how Buffett makes his money and thus makes me wonder on what else do they get the detail wrong or misleading? And then there’s the concluding chapter in part X where bizarrely “Gaia” or “Mother Earth” somehow can write an article about herself, where the terra madre herself basically criticise the human conduct since the industrial revolution for destroying her (which is true) but not presenting the acknowledgement that it also generates many good things to modern society (which is half the story) and is not necessarily implemented only by pure greed as presented.

But then again, for the most part the critics towards the Gates Foundation are indeed justified (and more importantly, argued with concrete evidence). Such as Gates’ effort to eradicate malaria using gene drives in Burkina Faso that turns out to be an open air lab for human experiment on genetic manipulation of mosquito. Moreover, the revelation on how Buffett invested the Gates Foundation Trust’s money in food and consumer products that are harmful to health, is indeed questionable. And the good image and good reporting about the Gates Foundation do come from the likes of NBC, Al Jazeera, BBC, Viacom, the Guardian, El Pais, NPR, to name a few, that happen to either receive funding from the Gates Foundation or they are its partners on global health and development agenda issues.

Then there’s the Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunizations (GAVI) where the Gates Foundation is the largest private donor for 20.8% of its budget and where the Foundation strongly promotes the financialization of health. And of course their infamous big funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) that makes them the second largest contributor in 2010-2011 after the US government (and 24 times higher than Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa combined). As a result, the WHO priorities have mimics Gates Foundation’s priorities (although the book doesn’t elaborate further on the Covid conspiracy theories that expand from this).

All in all, the book is filled with incredible accusations towards one of the biggest philanthropic foundations in the world and one of the richest people in the world. But it is nonetheless accusations with solid evidence that should make us at least listen and think, although a degree of healthy skepticism is still needed.

“Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans” by Terry Deary and Martin Brown

You know that saying by Albert Einstein “if you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, then you don’t understand it yourself”? Well this book is kinda like that.

It is one of the clearest explanations about all things Roman Empire that I have come across, delivered with short and concise wordings, accompanied with cool illustrations and a British sense of humour (with sarcasm, puns, and some dad jokes every now and then). What’s not to like? And, oh, it is indeed intended to educate young readers.

At the very beginning, the book shows a glimpse of what to come with this neat summary of the Roman timeline:

“First there were Roman “kings” – war leaders who went around smashing other people. Then the seventh king started smashing his own Roman people so…

Kings were thrown out and the people ruled themselves – that’s called a ‘republic.’ But the Romans decided one strong leader was better for smashing other people so…

They created ‘emperors’ with an ‘empire’ which smashed everyone in sight… and many who were out of sight too. It all started back in the distant mists of time in Italy…”

The book then proceeded to cover everything you can imagined about the day-to-day Roman life, from festivals and wedding ceremonies, to the different types of gladiators and how the gladiator matches were organised, the “hooligans” supporters fighting between people from Pompeii and Nuceria (like in football culture today), to the class warfare between the posh Patricians and the working class Plebeians.

It also covers the more superstitious side such as how to get into a Roman heaven, the story of the first ghost buster, the deal with the God of cupboard, how to spell a curse on your enemy, fortune telling (and how to do it ourselves at home), some of the local beliefs such as lighting strike is caused by angry gods, the story of one particular Emperor who banned sausages, or why it is unlucky to have a cow stuck on the roof of your house.

Moreover, the book addresses the misconceptions about the Romans, such as the ability of the Roman soldiers. Sure, they’re good at swords and war battles, but the one thing that became their winning edge was their ruthlessness, with unbelievable cruelty as their war tactics as well as towards their own deserters. You know what they did to Jesus with the whipping and the nailing on the cross? Yeah that looks mild now in comparison with the stories in the book. But nothing compares with what the evil emperors did to their enemies, which are described pretty vividly in this supposedly children’s book.

Another example of misconception is about the gladiators. Contrary to popular belief gladiators don’t usually fight to the death, but it was criminals and prisoners of war who do. Also, not all gladiators are slaves as there were some freemen who became gladiators, did well, and retire rich. In fact, gladiators from many different walks of life train and fight like boxers today, complete with the bettings happening on the fight day.

Meanwhile, every once in a while the book tells amusing stories that portrays the human day to day lives. Such as one story where there was once an old senator Aponius that fell asleep in an auction with his head kept nodding (a custom that indicate you’re bidding), and when he woke up he found out that he had just bought 13 gladiators (that cost him 90,000 gold pieces!).

And of course, there’s the amusing long list of many things during Roman times, including the shocking [and sometimes hilarious] remedies for diseases.

In the end, I cannot believe that all of these rich information are covered in just under 136 pages, and even that already includes all the fun quizzes. Needless to say I am thoroughly entertained while learning a lot, and will definitely show this book to my kids.

“North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors” by Daniel Tudor and James Pearson

Beyond Kim Jong Un and his predecessors, beyond the secretive nature of the hermit kingdom, beyond the missile launches and the occasional butt of a joke on the internet, there are 24 million ordinary North Koreans with common concerns just like people anywhere else in the world to make money, raise their children, and have a little fun every once in a while.

This book gives a rare glimpse into what this world really looks like, with impressive details and a tone of writing that switches back and forth between what feels like a Lonely Planet travel guide and The Economist in-dept investigation.

The authors, Daniel Tudor (The Economist’s Korea correspondent) and James Pearson (Reuters’ Korea correspondent), gather their research materials from interviews with Pyongyang’s government insider, diplomats, NGOs, cross-border traders and defectors, as well as written accounts in Korean, English and Chinese. And if that still doesn’t convinced you, they only use reliable claims made by 3 or more separate and credible sources to produce an honest view on the reality of life in North Korean society today.

The book started out by introducing the structure of the economy, where there are practically 2 functioning types of economy in North Korea: 1. The government controlled, which serves as the front or the face of the ruling regime that international observers see from outside, and 2. The real underground capitalist economy that consist of black markets and network of bribes that actually runs the country.

It is very interesting to read about how despite the oppression from the central government, capitalism can spring up naturally underground. For instance, while the average North Korean breadwinners still have official jobs in state-owned factories, they also increasingly make a living from private trade using business stalls in the black market, or Jangmadang, which interestingly are paid by people chipping in together in a shareholders kind of scheme.

Another fascinating observation is the market mechanism for the black market prices, as the authors describes, “Rice traders, for instance, (illegally) monitor foreign radio in order to find out in advance about aid shipments into North Korea. If a shipment is on its way, the market price of rice will fall due to the expectation of increased supply—and the race is then on to sell up before everyone else finds out. A big incoming supply of fertilizer will have a similar impact on the market, as it will have the effect of increasing rice production.”

Moreover, in an utter contravention of the government’s wishes, thanks to these black markets people can now enjoy listening to South Korean pop music, as well as watching South Koreans TV shows obtained from China in the format of DVD, Micro SD card, or USB stick. And when they do get caught in possession of these goods, unlike in the olden days when they will be severely punished, today they simply pay a bribe and can walk away free.

Indeed, while it seems that the country looks like a dictatorship with an iron fist rule and strict law enforcements, in truth corruption is rampant and it is what makes the underground capitalist economy works, where Chinese Yuan, US dollar or even a pack of cigarette act as the currency of choice for bribing the officials (and quite often they became familiar with one another and treat the bribes as normal fee money). In other words, the real North Korea is a society governed by unofficial cash and connections.

The main shift towards this more lenient North Korea is actually a tragic one: the 1990s famine where several hundred thousand people died. It weakened the bond between the state and the people, which then forced the average North Korean to survive on themselves without the help of the government. As a result, the government is now just one part of a quasi-capitalist market economy instead of the sole coordinator of economy that it once was.

And actually, even the government itself has unofficial illicit businesses, using complex smuggling techniques pioneered by drug trafficking organisations to conceal the movement of small arms, nuclear weapons or missile component, as well as luxury goods, and using a complicated financial countermeasures to mask its transactions from international watchdog and to make their way around international sanctions. All of which involved complex corporate ecosystem of foreign-based firms and individuals, as well as the North Korean embassy.

Moreover, what’s happening in the economic front is also happening in the political structure, where today Kim Jong Un does not actually impose an absolute power that we thought a dictator would have. At least not like his father Kim Kong Il. And instead, they have an incredibly complex structure inside the party. As per the authors, “Viewed from the outside, the government of North Korea appears as a monolith in which all power is invested in Kim Jong Un, an omnipotent boy-tyrant who threatens the world with nuclear weapons, and executes his uncle—while still enjoying the adulation of his brainwashed subjects. Internally, however, what lies beneath the uniformed and “single-hearted” image of the state is a collection of competing factions and power-brokers who jockey for political control, influence, and money.”

And this shadow power structure was actually set up by Kim Jong Il, in the form of Jojik-Jidobu (or Organization and Guidance Department – OGD). As the authors remark, “those who consider the execution of Jang Song Thaek [the uncle] to be Kim’s work would do well to know that the OGD had far more to gain from it. At the same time, the OGD is no ordinary organization—it is headless, and to further add to the confusion, some of its members are not even “real OGD.”

So what exactly is this “headless” organization? “The OGD has existed since 1946,” the authors explain, “but its role was reinvented following Kim Jong Il ’s accession to its directorship in 1973, when he began to use it as the main means by which to take control of the state. The OGD since then has risen to become the central hub of power in North Korea.” The OGD today consists of 9 deputy directors but no director since Kim Jong Il passed away and the succession of power to Kim Jong Un wasn’t completed before his father died (hence the OGD remains “headless”). The 2 most powerful deputy directors in OGD are Hwang Pyong So (in charge of military affairs) and Kim Kyong Ok (surveillance), with the rest are in charge of the Supreme Leader’s personal secretariat.

Even the generals fear the OGD, because military guidance comes through the General Political Bureau, and General Political Bureau answers to OGD Section 13, as ordained by Kim Jong Il in 1992 in a speech to senior officers. But the OGD does not issue policy, that’s the Supreme Leader’s job where his words is quite literally the law: “if Kim Jong Il said to an aide, “women should be made to wear traditional Korean dress,” then the aide would note this down, and it would become a policy.” But then it is the OGD that is processing and documenting the note and implements the new law to various branches of the state.

The authors summarize it pretty neatly: “Today’s DPRK is best considered a formally unstructured coalition composed of Kim Jong Un and his close relatives, senior OGD members such as Hwang Pyong So and Kim Kyong Ok, and any high-ranking military or party officials who have their trust. In that sense, North Korea has something in common with other countries. The DPRK has an identifiable figurehead, but behind him stand a layer of powerful people with interests and inclinations that do not necessarily always match. If a “hard-line” policy is followed by a “reformist” one, or a “rising star” is suddenly pushed out, it does not mean that “absolute dictator” Kim Jong Un is mercurial and unpredictable. It means that neither he, nor any one other individual, is in full control.”

Furthermore, the book is not all economics and politics as it clearly attempts to paint a balanced picture on North Korea as a whole. For example, there are chapters dedicated on fashion and leisure where once again shows the softening grip from the regime: while there are strict code for fashion and style, which is enforced by fashion police, women close to the Chinese borders now wear skinny jeans and can get away with it despite it being technically illegal to wear. And when anyone seek out romantic liaisons outside marriage, which is illegal in North Korea, they now have their version of South Korea’s “love motel” but in a more discreet place: at someone’s home for an hour of two. And like their cousins in the South, people in North Korea are big on drinking alcohol in social gatherings. Even Kim Jong Un himself is suspected as a drinker who loves to have parties, as well as a smoker who struggles to quit.

But there is still one area where most ordinary North Koreans cannot enjoy freely, even in black market: travel. As the authors explain, “It is illegal for DPRK citizens to travel to places outside of their region, except where permission is given. And even when permission is given, the terrible infrastructure makes the journey long and arduous. It is no exaggeration to say that North Korea had a better overall railway system 80 years ago; power cuts and breakdowns can make a single cross-country journey last a week.” As a result, the idea of foreign travel is still far away from reality, most cannot even travel to other region within the country simply because they’re not allowed to.

This evidently shows that North Korea is still a brutal regime that oppresses its citizens. This is reconfirmed in the crime and punishment chapter in the book that shows the cruelty of the regime, including the caste system based on your family’s loyalty to the Kim family and the infamous prison camps filled with some political prisoners, some real criminals like murderers, but some only there because of being blood-related with, for example, someone who gives a snark comment on the dear leader.

Yes, the brainwashing to worship the Kim family is true and still very much in practice today. What’s intriguing for me is how Kim Il Sung wasn’t even supposed to be the first dictator of North Korea, as the leader of the Korean Communist Party during the war was Pak Hon Yong, but Kim Il Sung somehow managed to eliminate Yong to eventually become the supreme leader. The book also shows that it wasn’t a smooth succession either from Kim Il Sung to Kim Jong Il, with plenty of in-fightings occurred within the family, just like Kim Jong Un notoriously killed his own step brother Kim Jong Nam to secure the succession.

All these infightings and loosening grip on power begs the ultimate question: with all these iron fist brutality and lesser control over the social and economic aspects of the country, will the regime stay on power for much longer or will it eventually collapse? The authors are doubtful about its demise because the key political control is still intact, while any challenge to it is met with extreme ruthlessness. And those powerful people with vested interest are not looking to undermine the system either, while with China’s massive support and interest for the regime there is little incentive for the US and South Korea to even contemplate attacking North Korea.

But if there is ever going to be a change in the country the authors suspect that it would likely begins from the underground capitalist system, like it’s already going on in a small scale. But the fact of the matter is, we just don’t know what the future lies for them. Thus, the country remains one of the most closely monitored and anticipated in the world. And thanks to this book we now have a better understanding over its complete picture.

“Plays Well with Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships Is (Mostly) Wrong” by Eric Barker

Sigmund Freud once said, “Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.” While Eric Barker’s first book was about work, where he tests out all the theories and common beliefs about work and whether the maxims of success were all true, in this second book Barker explores and tests out the myths and science of the other half of Freud’s statement: on relationship.

In his signature style, the book mix hard science and wide range of psychological findings with humor, a laid back tone of writing, and amusing stories to illustrate the points, which makes reading it feels like we’re on a holiday with a funny but wise friend.

Stories such as the tale involving a genius horse, a Korean War hero who fought against hundreds of enemies alone, the girl who broke Casanova’s heart, the love story between a Japanese man with his anime pillow, lonely Frankenstein’s monster, a story about a leper colony, the search for an alien frequency, the invention and marketing of Viagra, a made up disease to protect jews in Rome from Nazi, a case of severe picnic deprivation, and the real life case of amnesia and love like in the 50 First Date movie.

The book also provides tips and tools for a good relationship, such as the danger of making assumptions and instead we should always clarify, how to ask questions to figure out whether someone is lying or not, tools – like active listening, mirroring, labelling – that would make Chris Voss proud, understanding our primordial need to make sense of our surrounding (hence how people can get duped by the likes of astrology or Tarot card), or the important concept of emotional contagion where when we feel excited we tend to associate it with what’s around us, even if they are not directly responsible.

Now, there are so many notes taken from this book, but in a nutshell it gives an insight into human relationship as a whole. And if we only learn one thing from the book, it’s probably this: “What predicts how meaningful we perceive life to be? [A] 2013 study found a very robust and clear answer to that question: a sense of belonging.”

Indeed a sense of belonging gives us a feeling of meaning in life, because as Barker said “it’s why our species’ superpower is cooperation. It’s what we saw with drug addiction hijacking the social reward pathways of the human brain. It’s what we saw with the placebo effect curing ills by telling your body someone cares.” Oh yes, research found that the placebo effect have an active ingredient after all: human beings caring for one another, which was brilliantly illustrated in great length in the book.

Moreover, the book addresses misleading or incomplete statistics such as the claim that married people are happier, while in truth people who are in a happy marriage are happier but so do people who are happily single. Meanwhile people in a bad marriage are worst off, the same with single miserable people.

Another statistic shows the minimum requirement ratio between positive and negative experience for a relationship to work out. For example, friendships need an 8:1 positive to negative ratio, marriages 5:1 positive to negative ratio, where couples who headed for a divorce typically have a ratio of 0.8 positives for every 1 negative. And with your mother in law? The number is 1000:1. HA! Surely it’s an over exaggeration? But hey if the science says so.

And then there’s the big one, the topic of loneliness epidemic. “Loneliness is a subjective feeling”, Barker wrote, “it’s not necessarily about physical isolation. We’ve all felt it: lonely in a crowd.” Indeed, loneliness isn’t actually about being physically alone, but instead it’s more about not having a feeling of meaningful connection.

And we can trace this phenomenon back to the 19th century, where the term loneliness did not actually exist. So what happened? In the 1800s a new concept emerged alongside other social narratives such as the idea of marriage for love, and it can be summed up in one word: individualism. It is not a coincidence that the term “individualism” was first appeared in the 1830s, about the same time that loneliness began to appear. As Barker remarks, “We went from seeing life as ensemble drama to a one-man show. We went from a default “someone cares” to “no one cares.””

And it gets trickier. Psychologists call it parasocial relationship. It is a concept created in 1956 to describe the pseudo-relationships people would have with TV characters, because according to researchers Cohen and Metzger “television represents the perfect guest—one who comes and leaves at our whim.” And the statistics back this up. Between 1985 and 1994 there was a 45% drop in involvement in community organizations, 43% drop in time spent on family dinner, 35% drop on activities where people invite friends over, in fact virtually all forms of togetherness became less common over the last quarter of the 20th century, and the primary culprit is television.

And the introduction of the internet and the rise of smart phones make it even worst. Meaningful human contact now largely replaced by online interactions that are fundamentally different in some ways. Most significantly, it eliminates the body language and human expressions that serve as a feedback loop for the things we said.

The ease of having “online friends” also makes people more likely to be selective over engaging with online behaviour, where they can just tune out when they don’t feel like responding, a behaviour that could carry over offline into the real world. Hence the resulting younger generation with severe lack of empathy, because they never learn how to develop their empathy that can only be learned from trials and errors from physical human connection.

Barker remarked, “add in the hypercompetitive atmosphere and inflated expectations of success, borne of celebrity ‘reality shows,’ and you have a social environment that works against slowing down and listening to someone who needs a bit of sympathy.” So what happens in a world that is lack on empathy and instead focuses on status and so little on care? We become depressed.

But luckily, the cure for this is quite straight forward. Barker noted over a camping experiment, “In only five days in a sleepaway camp without their phones, empathy levels come back up. How does this happen? The campers talk to each other.” Indeed, go offline and interact with each other. Or as Barker would suggest, we can join the Amish community. As he explains, the Amish “don’t eschew technology because they’re Luddites. They do adopt some of it, like tractors. How do they decide what gets approved and what doesn’t? By the effect it has on the closeness of the community. Tractors help you grow crops. Sounds good. But cars let people live farther apart. No bueno.”

Now, we don’t need to literally join the Amish community but we can certainly learn from them. Because, “[w]hen we’re in a community, we get high on our own supply, but when there is no community, we must get our supply elsewhere.”

And as it turns out we cannot discount the huge effect of what having a physical community can give us. When Paula Klemm and Thomas Hardie studied online cancer support groups, they discovered that 92% of the participants were depressed, but when they studied physical cancer support groups? The depression goes down to zero percent. They report: “Traditional cancer support groups can help people cope with their cancer, but the efficacy of Internet cancer support groups . . . remains to be proven.”

Indeed, while it is relatively easy to replace face-to-face contact with online interaction, it doesn’t have the same effects on us. This is backed by psychologist Thomas Pollet who found that “spending more time on IM or [social networking sites] did not increase the emotional closeness of relationships.”

All of these come back nicely to the main point of the book: the sense of belonging. Us humans tend to maintain the sense of belonging through stories, with the primary purpose wasn’t necessarily truth but unity. As Barker remarks, “[j]ust like your body accepts a fake story in the placebo effect. The acupuncture doesn’t help, but the care it delivers is a clear signal of belonging, and that’s what’s important.”

Barker then continues, “How do we maintain belonging when our stories are mutually exclusive? The solution is simple: more stories. We can always create another story to unite us in a new way. We do it now. You may not be my family, but you are my friend. You may not be my religion, but we are part of the same nation. We may not have any of these in common, but we may both be Star Wars fans. New stories can unite us when the old ones fail to.”

This, in the end, is our human story. A story about community, togetherness and belonging. We might not be the strongest or the quickest animal on Earth, but we’re the most cooperative with each other. As Dutch historian Rutger Bregman puts it, “If Neanderthals were a super-fast computer, we were an old-fashioned PC—with wi-fi. We were slower, but better connected.”

And this can be evident in the unlikeliest circumstances, where in the most difficult situations where survivorship is at stake – like during war or disaster – humans tend to go back to our default settings and help each other more.

“Walden” by Henry David Thoreau

Between 4 July 1845 and 6 September 1947 Henry David Thoreau went into a solitude and live a simple life alone in the woods in Walden Pond for 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days. He did so to escape what he saw as “over-civilization”, and to search for the “raw” and “savage delight” of the wilderness.

And by immersing himself in nature, Thoreau wished to gain more understanding over society as a whole from afar as well as to learn about simple living and self-sufficiency. This book is the brainchild of his thoughts and diary that came out from that deep state of meaning, which became an instant classic.

At least that’s what initially portrayed, which is why I was surprised when I finally get my hands on the book and it turns out to be nothing like the many good reviews and references about it.

Firstly, his idea of solitude was living in his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson’s property (and not, as he claimed, “in a house which I had built myself”) just 2 miles away from Concord where his parents are and where he still go out to every day. Secondly, he spent quite some time playing host to a variety of visitors, which spoils the spirit of solitude. And thirdly, the resulting diary out of the semi-solitude was written in a condescending tone, where he seems to project a sense of superiority by practising frugality and a minimalistic lifestyle and that everyone else who don’t follow this path are idiots.

Moreover, while some parts of the book focused on his contemplation of society and the affairs of men, there are many parts that got weird real quick such as a detailed account on bean cultivation, his many grocery lists (complete with the prices), and an obsession on how to measure the depth of the pond. Indeed, the majority of his solitude diary contains nothing more than gibberish rants over his experiment.

Nevertheless, if we stick with him until the end of the book he will eventually come around to what makes this book ground breaking in his time: the mindfulness feel of living in solitude, no matter how flawed it was. Sure, after a wave of transcendentalism movement his ideas are not new anymore today, but it was something inspiring and fresh during his time.

Read the beginning in chapter 1 and the conclusion in chapter 18, skim read the rest in between, and we arguably can still get the overall mood of the book and might learn one or two things in the process.