Loved this piece..what I would like to learn from you is not how to start a newsletter but fundamentally how to write so well...how you have combined chemistry, math and philosophy..If you don't mind..what is your educational background to know all these different fields in such depth...if you come up with a course on writing, I will definitely sign up :)
Hi Deepti, thanks for taking the time to read and I am pleased that you loved it. Thank you for the kind words on my writing 🙏🏻
I assure you that I don’t know these fields deeply. I am a typical engineer + MBA, but I give credit to a lot of my teachers (both I had during my MBA and those I chose / stumbled into in my later years) for putting me on this path.
Mathematics has always been something I enjoyed, and I read popular mathematics reporting from places like Nautilus etc. to gain a rudimentary understanding of it. The stories of the people I have are a collection of five years of running my podcast, Postcards from Nowhere. As for the philosophy, these are fortunately or unfortunately, things I am going through in life, thinking and researching about them. What helps is that I have training in consumer psychology, something I did for a long time as a career as well.
As for the writing course, let me first write enough before I offer it!
I chose to listen to this essay rather than read it, and felt like I was on an actual journey through the lands you've conjured up. One part of my brain was visualising the soul-sucking allure of the evergreens, another was smiling at the idea of you and Rambo walking through the fruit trees, yet another about the "oddball" life of Paul Erdos, about whom I had never heard of. I love how you have woven different ideas and thought strands together to create a map (in this case, also literally). Possibly your best piece yet, Utsav.
Thank you Gowri for reminding me that this essay can be listened to as well! Thank you for such high praise, feedback like this makes my (and any writer's day!). Glad that I could take you on a journey that was worth your time :)
Oh wow Utsav! Charlotte Mason (late 19th century) wrote 6 volumes on her philosophy of education which is what I try to follow with homeschooling my children. What you've written is a thumping pat on her back according to me and she was over a century ago! Life should be all living, she said and I concur. It's not so much about feeling intellectual, but knowing that we are living, breathing, thinking, feeling, loving and more, beings and it's a travesty, even a crime, to be ignorant of that and settle for less. We were made for a lot more! That still doesn't answer why we had to go without shoes into the computer room. I'm going to linger on that one! Thanks!
I don't think I've ever read a piece that constructed such a complete inner world to be traveled while calling me deeper into my own. The maps, the metaphors, the rivers, the torches, the axes...insanely beautiful imagery, so layered and visceral.
Your comment made my day Lida! Thank you so much for reading, and thrilled that it spoke to you in a meaningful way. I hope you continue this journey of going deep within and uncover insights that help you live a life you want.
'Writing is emergence...' just one of the many powerful thoughts and phrases in this piece. Really enjoyed it, and the fantasy element gave it a real quest-wala feeling. A lot of the math went over my head, but I understood the gist of it. Looking forward to the next deep dive study :).
Thank you Binu, for consistently finding the time and reading these long pieces. I am so glad they resonate with you. And no stress about the math, I don't understand most of it either. One desire is to make it more accessible to people and bridge the false gap between the arts and the sciences. I hope to get the next one out in April. Thank you once again!
I believe this was one of the best essays I have read on this app. Your connection between those fields is not only explained in the process, but actively displayed and helped to explain your ideas. It was a pleasure to read! :)
This, dear Sir, is one of the best and most important pieces I have read in years. Not because it is a life changer for me. On a subconscious level I always understood that networking is a key to improve. But your text make it all crystal clear for me. I finally sorted out in my mind what I have been wondering about for far too long. Thank you for that! I am now your subscriber and I will read your previous longforms thoroughly. I also consider joining your 6% Club very seriously.
Hello Bartosz, thank you so much for taking the time to read. I sincerely appreciate it because it takes almost half an hour to get through this, and in this day and age, it’s asking for a lot!
I hope you find the people and the community who are interested in the same things as you are, and those who will open new doors for you. I feel all of us need that. And as for The 6% Club, if you are considering joining, I offer a 30 minute no commitment call to help figure out if we are a fit for each other. Happy to chat!
Namaste Sri Mamoria, What a marvelous journey this Yank had reading of your journey. You gave me a long list of subjects to investigate with a constant curiosity. Clear bold writing style. As a retired physician,I loved your point the the humanities and science are flip sides of the same coin of human experience. Thank you, a new fan. I do not know your politics - mine are NO Trump. Can we have better trade with India? You take Trump, we get Modi.
Namaste Peter, thank you for taking the time to read, and I am glad I have been able to give you more things to be curious about :)
What I am pleased about is that someone who has way more life experience than I, and a much deeper understanding of the sciences, finds resonance in the humanities and science being of the same coin. This is one of my core beliefs, and I am glad others think similarly. As for my politics, I am no fan of either of the two :) I hope you find the time to read through the other pieces as well!
The title of this piece piqued my curiosity months ago, and yet this remained an another unopened tab on my computer that I was "saving for later". Somehow today, I landed on it, paused.. and continued to read. And oh- I would say that I wish I had read it sooner, but I think it found me at the right time. As a college student, I think this is the best 'guide to life' that I've read yet.
I am so glad to hear that you found this to be the best 'guide to life'! I sincerely hope that this can help you in some way, in whatever you choose to pursue in your life. Thank you for taking the time to read and write back to me :)
Thank you so much for the post, it was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed it as a complete adventure. I felt how I traveled throughout all the places described while reading.
I guess I’m nowhere near an intellectual journey. Holy crap this was a long article. I listened to the article. It’s a great motivational piece overall although I did miss some parts because I just couldn’t keep my focus. There’s a lot to unpack so I may have to go back over it again but read it next time. Thank you
Haha, yes, it is a pretty long article, cannot run away from that :)
But more importantly, don't worry about not being on an intellectual journey - No one, including myself, can live like this, all the time, and that's ok. We must aim to imbibe the desire for an intellectually rich life and take small steps towards it.
Loved this piece..what I would like to learn from you is not how to start a newsletter but fundamentally how to write so well...how you have combined chemistry, math and philosophy..If you don't mind..what is your educational background to know all these different fields in such depth...if you come up with a course on writing, I will definitely sign up :)
Hi Deepti, thanks for taking the time to read and I am pleased that you loved it. Thank you for the kind words on my writing 🙏🏻
I assure you that I don’t know these fields deeply. I am a typical engineer + MBA, but I give credit to a lot of my teachers (both I had during my MBA and those I chose / stumbled into in my later years) for putting me on this path.
Mathematics has always been something I enjoyed, and I read popular mathematics reporting from places like Nautilus etc. to gain a rudimentary understanding of it. The stories of the people I have are a collection of five years of running my podcast, Postcards from Nowhere. As for the philosophy, these are fortunately or unfortunately, things I am going through in life, thinking and researching about them. What helps is that I have training in consumer psychology, something I did for a long time as a career as well.
As for the writing course, let me first write enough before I offer it!
I chose to listen to this essay rather than read it, and felt like I was on an actual journey through the lands you've conjured up. One part of my brain was visualising the soul-sucking allure of the evergreens, another was smiling at the idea of you and Rambo walking through the fruit trees, yet another about the "oddball" life of Paul Erdos, about whom I had never heard of. I love how you have woven different ideas and thought strands together to create a map (in this case, also literally). Possibly your best piece yet, Utsav.
Thank you Gowri for reminding me that this essay can be listened to as well! Thank you for such high praise, feedback like this makes my (and any writer's day!). Glad that I could take you on a journey that was worth your time :)
Oh wow Utsav! Charlotte Mason (late 19th century) wrote 6 volumes on her philosophy of education which is what I try to follow with homeschooling my children. What you've written is a thumping pat on her back according to me and she was over a century ago! Life should be all living, she said and I concur. It's not so much about feeling intellectual, but knowing that we are living, breathing, thinking, feeling, loving and more, beings and it's a travesty, even a crime, to be ignorant of that and settle for less. We were made for a lot more! That still doesn't answer why we had to go without shoes into the computer room. I'm going to linger on that one! Thanks!
Definitely one of my top 5 favorite Substack pieces. Loved every bit of this!
Thank you Nilah for your kind words. Top 5 Substack pieces is the kind of feedback writers live for - It made my day :)
Your quest to build an intellectually rich life has made the world wealthy a multiple times over. Thank you so much for this piece of art.
Thank you so much for such high praise! So happy that it resonated with you deeply. Readers like you keep me going :)
I don't think I've ever read a piece that constructed such a complete inner world to be traveled while calling me deeper into my own. The maps, the metaphors, the rivers, the torches, the axes...insanely beautiful imagery, so layered and visceral.
wow
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Your comment made my day Lida! Thank you so much for reading, and thrilled that it spoke to you in a meaningful way. I hope you continue this journey of going deep within and uncover insights that help you live a life you want.
'Writing is emergence...' just one of the many powerful thoughts and phrases in this piece. Really enjoyed it, and the fantasy element gave it a real quest-wala feeling. A lot of the math went over my head, but I understood the gist of it. Looking forward to the next deep dive study :).
Thank you Binu, for consistently finding the time and reading these long pieces. I am so glad they resonate with you. And no stress about the math, I don't understand most of it either. One desire is to make it more accessible to people and bridge the false gap between the arts and the sciences. I hope to get the next one out in April. Thank you once again!
I believe this was one of the best essays I have read on this app. Your connection between those fields is not only explained in the process, but actively displayed and helped to explain your ideas. It was a pleasure to read! :)
Thank you so much for such high praise! I am pleased to know you resonated with it 🙏🏻
The joy of finding like minded people is really something else.
And that’s why we love Substack, don’t we?
This, dear Sir, is one of the best and most important pieces I have read in years. Not because it is a life changer for me. On a subconscious level I always understood that networking is a key to improve. But your text make it all crystal clear for me. I finally sorted out in my mind what I have been wondering about for far too long. Thank you for that! I am now your subscriber and I will read your previous longforms thoroughly. I also consider joining your 6% Club very seriously.
Hello Bartosz, thank you so much for taking the time to read. I sincerely appreciate it because it takes almost half an hour to get through this, and in this day and age, it’s asking for a lot!
I hope you find the people and the community who are interested in the same things as you are, and those who will open new doors for you. I feel all of us need that. And as for The 6% Club, if you are considering joining, I offer a 30 minute no commitment call to help figure out if we are a fit for each other. Happy to chat!
Namaste Sri Mamoria, What a marvelous journey this Yank had reading of your journey. You gave me a long list of subjects to investigate with a constant curiosity. Clear bold writing style. As a retired physician,I loved your point the the humanities and science are flip sides of the same coin of human experience. Thank you, a new fan. I do not know your politics - mine are NO Trump. Can we have better trade with India? You take Trump, we get Modi.
Namaste Peter, thank you for taking the time to read, and I am glad I have been able to give you more things to be curious about :)
What I am pleased about is that someone who has way more life experience than I, and a much deeper understanding of the sciences, finds resonance in the humanities and science being of the same coin. This is one of my core beliefs, and I am glad others think similarly. As for my politics, I am no fan of either of the two :) I hope you find the time to read through the other pieces as well!
Loved this piece. My best read in substack till now
Thank you for reading Rahul. You are too kind 🙏🏻
The title of this piece piqued my curiosity months ago, and yet this remained an another unopened tab on my computer that I was "saving for later". Somehow today, I landed on it, paused.. and continued to read. And oh- I would say that I wish I had read it sooner, but I think it found me at the right time. As a college student, I think this is the best 'guide to life' that I've read yet.
I am so glad to hear that you found this to be the best 'guide to life'! I sincerely hope that this can help you in some way, in whatever you choose to pursue in your life. Thank you for taking the time to read and write back to me :)
Thank you so much for the post, it was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed it as a complete adventure. I felt how I traveled throughout all the places described while reading.
Thank you for your kind words Sebas! Glad that you enjoyed it so much :)
This is truly a masterpiece and I think you should seriously consider writing a book, I would so buy it.
Thank you Juliette for your kind words, and the encouragement! I sincerely appreciate it, because I have been thinking about writing a book :)
I guess I’m nowhere near an intellectual journey. Holy crap this was a long article. I listened to the article. It’s a great motivational piece overall although I did miss some parts because I just couldn’t keep my focus. There’s a lot to unpack so I may have to go back over it again but read it next time. Thank you
Haha, yes, it is a pretty long article, cannot run away from that :)
But more importantly, don't worry about not being on an intellectual journey - No one, including myself, can live like this, all the time, and that's ok. We must aim to imbibe the desire for an intellectually rich life and take small steps towards it.
That I can do. Thanks!