Leadership by Henry Kissinger - Blinks

After reading/listening to the blinks of this book i have added it to my wish-list. The blinks are a good way/tool to sort/prioritize the potential books to my library. “…Leadership (2022) is a detailed analysis of six monumental twentieth-century leaders. By examining both the circumstances that formed these leaders and the strategies they used to shepherd their respective nations through periods of turmoil, it presents invaluable lessons for anyone working to shape the world’s future. From Charles de Gaulle’s strategy of will to Anwar Sadat’s strategy of transcendence and beyond, it serves as a historical debriefing on some of the defining leadership strategies of the last century. …” https://www.blinkist.com/books/leadership-en-henry-kissinger?utm_source=bk_ios&utm_medium=bk_referral&utm_campaign=book%253Aplayer&utm_content=63078fd96cee070008972a17&referral_token=b1174473fb42

- Pedro

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How Math compares with History (and other sciences): a perspective.

A great post on the “MATHWITHBADDRAWINGS.COM” on how Math relates and compares with History as “science” (and also with other knowledge domains). Really like the VIz where you have in one extreme Math and in the other History and how several other social/hard sciences can be placed. Statistics should be, in my opinion, very close to Physics, but slightly above in far right of the chart! Enjoy! https://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2024/06/04/whats-the-opposite-of-mathematics/

- Pedro

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Finalized: Do Dice Play God?: The Mathematics of Uncertainty → by Ian Stewart

Finalized Do Dice Play God?: The Mathematics of Uncertainty → by Ian Stewart Book Rating - 3.5 / 5 Great book on the science of uncertainty, learnt several concepts, revisited others in great journey through the world of uncertainty or this uncertain World. Review to come shortly “…Uncertainty is everywhere. It lurks in every consideration of the future - the weather, the economy, the sex of an unborn child - even quantities we think that we know such as populations or the transit of the planets contain the possibility of error. It's no wonder that, throughout that history, we have attempted to produce rigidly defined areas of uncertainty - we prefer the surprise party to the surprise asteroid. We began our quest to make certain an uncertain world by reading omens in livers, tea leaves, and the stars. However, over the centuries, driven by curiosity, competition, and a desire be better gamblers, pioneering mathematicians and scientists began to reduce wild uncertainties to tame distributions of probability and statistical inferences. But, even as unknown unknowns became known unknowns, our pessimism made us believe that some problems were unsolvable and our intuition misled us. Worse, as we realized how omnipresent and varied uncertainty is, we encountered chaos, quantum mechanics, and the limitations of our predictive power. Bestselling author Professor Ian Stewart explores the history and mathematics of uncertainty. Touching on gambling, probability, statistics, financial and weather forecasts, censuses, medical studies, chaos, quantum physics, and climate, he makes one thing clear: a reasonable probability is the only certainty. …” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43522601

- Pedro

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Should Chinese EV be subject to steep tariffs?

The new America tariffs (100%) on Chinese EV are reasonable? The free trade benefits to the global economy will be put on hold? If the EV manufacturers are being heavily subsidized by China, there is WTO to tackle those issues (or it should if the appellate body was working) and the security reason is a double edge sword. What will Europe do? Lost in enacting the best regulation on this subject, but losing the sight of value generation? In fact, what we are seeing is that the Chinese EV manufactures are far ahead of the American and European’s manufacturers (in terms of value and price) but protecting this industry via tariffs, will protect inefficient industries, make them less competitive and complacent, create overall inefficiencies with the foreseeable trade retaliations and harm consumers. America’s 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs: bad policy, worse leadership https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/05/15/americas-100-tariffs-on-chinese-evs-bad-policy-worse-leadership from The Economist

- Pedro

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The relevance of being a good follower!

An interesting and insightful article on the importance of being a good follower. Everyone talks and writes about on how to be a leader, but if all are leaders, then who will you lead:-)? At the end of day, you are a more likely to be a follower than a leader (e.g. what is the CEO ratio to all employees?). Key traits to be a good follower: Proactivity Challenge the leader by thinking for yourself and present you point of views, Give constructive criticism, Be positive, Be energetic. In a nutshell. behave like a leader in waiting. Below you can follow the path to the Economist article on the subject :-). “…As the British Army, a rare example of an organisation that has an explicit doctrine of followership, puts it, “To follow effectively…is a choice.” …” How to be a good follower https://www.economist.com/business/2024/05/16/how-to-be-a-good-follower from The Economist

- Pedro

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How technology, supported by AI, is enabling new crop-spraying techniques making them more efficient than ever

A great article from the Economist how technology (AI and the like) is already generating a big impact in the agriculture industry. In this specific case it relates with pesticide spray onto crops, where in the past the % that was lost without any impact was huge. This new methodology can cut the amounts of sprayed pesticides by more than 90% with direct impact on the economics of the industry and the overall environment. How advanced technology and AI can generate a significant positive impact to the agriculture industry, thus to the overall economy, thus to the wellbeing and standards of living. Happy readings! New crop-spraying technologies are more efficient than ever https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/05/08/new-crop-spraying-technologies-are-more-efficient-than-ever from The Economist

- Pedro

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A MIGRATION insightful discussion (past, present and future) with Hein de Haas

A great podcast from FFMS with Hein Haas about migration. Did not Hein Haas and was delightfully surprised by his knowledge, ability to see the big picture and frame the migration phenomenon holistically via a societal and individual lenses. All of us are migrants in some sort of way and we need push aside the narrative that supports most of the extreme speeches throughout Europe that are gaining traction. The way forward is to share and promote the knowledge about migration (history, present, future, key features, advantages and potential caveats/concerns) to a wider audience and listening to Hein Haas and others like him is always well invested time. Invest 46 minutes (listening speed 1x) and come-out more informed and better prepared to address this important topic in your daily life. Enjoy! “…«There is nothing more permanent than a temporary migrant. Don't create any illusions that a fair share of migrants in not going to stay», says sociologist Hein de Haas, in this episode of «It's Not That Simples», a podcast by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation. One of the most enlightened but also thought provocative voices of migrations, Hein de Haas explains that this hot topic of today is neither a phenomenon nor a novelty. «Migration is part and parcel of who we are as human beings, as a society», he explains, emphasizing that migratory movements have been taking place «for as long as humanity has existed». The difference lies in Europe's position in this chessboard, having shifted from being a point of departure (in colonialism or world wars) to being a continent where citizens from all over the world arrive. Highlighting that it is impossible to stop this movement, the sociologist warns against the hypocrisy of policies that punish migrants instead of those who accept them illegally. «In the United States, the number of employers who are prosecuted each year for employing undocumented migrants is between 10 and 15 a year, with no zeros», he claims. «If you would really be serious as a politician when you say 'I want to combat smuggling, I want to combat illegal migration'... If you really want to do that, you better punish employers», Hein de Haas explains, adding that the lack of consequences for those who employ them fuels exploitation and abuse. Breaking down the false narratives on this issue - from the left, which sees immigrants as «victims and refugees», and from the right, which speaks of the threat of those who «arrive to steal jobs» - the expert believes that these discourses hide the real problem: the fact that «in Western Europe and the US, there is the biggest labor shortage ever, especially of low-skilled migrants»…” https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/its-not-that-simple/id1636466578?i=1000654862704

- Pedro

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