Book Review: 48 Laws of Power

A Moral, Cunning, Ruthless and Instructive, this piercing work distils three thousand years of the history of power into Forty Eight well explicated Laws. As attention grabbing in its design as it is in its content, this bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-Tzu, Carl Von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers.

Some Laws require prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), some stealth (“Law 3: Conceal your Intentions”), and some the total absence of Mercy (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”), but like it or not, all have applications in real-life situations. Illustrated through the tactics of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissenger, P T Barnum, and other famous figures who have wielded – or been victimized by – Power, these Laws will fascinate any reader interested in gaining, observing or defending against ultimate control.

The book takes each “Law” in turn and gives historical examples of those who follow the Law and fall to follow the Law. One will quickly see that the Laws of Power aren’t really Laws – they’re more like principles that will help in the art of gaining and exercising Power. Robert Greene uses the examples of Tesla and Edison to illustrate the several of the Laws. Tesla was the better inventor, but we’ve heard of Edison because Edison understood Power.

However, I do not agree with all of its ideas. This book contains examples of History from Sparta and Persia war, Chinese warriors, Scientists and Europe History. It does a brilliant job of explaining the logic and mindset of people who play such games to get power. If one want to understand why people play these games, this is a book well worth reading. It is interestingly written as well, with a lot of somewhat biased historical anecdotes to support each of the points.

My Belief is that real power comes from earning respect, and this is just a list of shortcuts that will easily fall apart under scrutiny. This book is useful for no other than it clues one in to how people tend to think; particularly those that are overly power hungry. For that reason alone, if one work in a competitive office environment, this book is worth reading just to understand the logic behind some of these games. Of course, playing these games yourself is highly likely to get one labeled as the office scumbag, so tread lightly on this stuff – use it to understand the behavior of others, not to try to gain power yourself.

Technology – Boon or Bane for Teenagers

Human beings are lazy by nature and would love it if other people did all their work. The introduction of technology has done precisely that. If you notice, over the years we have stopped writing letters, we now write informal emails. We do not remember phone numbers; we depend on our phones to remember them for us. We do not remember birthdates, Facebook does that for us and we also wish people online now instead of making that two minute personal phone call.

Teenagers are the biggest victims and addicts of technology. They are desperate to stay connected. They’re afraid to be left out, as they feel they will miss something. This leads to a constant feeling of needing to be “on”. It is like a substance addiction. Children are so overloaded with information that they cannot focus, thereby they retain very little. Teenagers are looking for instant gratification and acceptance of who they are from their peers and Social Media gives them that platform.

Every picture or post they upload gets them a few likes and comments. This boosts their morale and that triggers the release of Dopamine, the feel good chemical. Technology is also a boon. It has connected people from all over the world. Years ago, friends would lose touch with each other because there were limited models of communication. However, today one can keep in touch with all your friends all over the world via Whatsapp, Viber, Skype, Facebook and others. Technology has increased awareness.

Technology has helped reduce the use of paper. Technology has encouraged self-learning. It is a wonderful tool if we use it appropriately. Excessive exposure to any activity will become a bane, hence it is important to limit screen time. Technology can be used for reading, enhancing analytical skills, editing videos and more. We need to make the best use of the digital world. 

Sports Climbing in Olympics

Climbing has been around since man discovered mountains. There has always been a certain romanticism associated with it, and it has generally been kept out of the purview of international sport. Yet, there have been moments in the past when climbing has been competitive, not in the literal sense, as was the case in one of the most renowned battles between the Swiss and the Brits to first climb Mount Everest.

All that is likely to change as sport climbing will take centre stage at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. It was announced at the 129^th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Rio de Janeiro in August, where in addition to sport climbing, four other sports – Surfing, Karate, Baseball/softball and skateboarding were included. Indoor climbing became a sport in itself and is today known as Sport Climbing.

According to International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) there are 25 Million people climbing regularly around the world, with 39% below the age of 18 years. The IFSC currently has 87 member federations, up 25% since it was founded a decade ago. Currently Sport climbing has three formats – bouldering, speed climbing, lead and it practiced on an artificial wall of varying heights, depending on the format. Bouldering features problems, which an un-roped climber must crack in a given time by getting to the top of the route – the climber who makes the maximum top, wins.

Speed Climbing sees two roped climbers go head to head on identical routes, where the first to get to the top wins. Lead involves roped climbing where the climber who goes the highest in a fixed time wins. Route setters are handed the task of designing the routes. These routes setters are climbers themselves and at times, they attempt the route before the competition to analyze it. The difficulty of these routes keeps increasing with each round.

There could not be a better venue for sport climbing Olympic debut than Japan. Yuji Hirayama triumph at the Lead World Cup in 1998 – the first by an Asian – and again in 2000 triggered a revolution for the sport that today has around 800,000 followers in more than 400 indoor facilities in the country. Things have been more organized with the Japanese since, with a coach, manager and a video team that travels with the climbers and analyze their performance. For the record, Japan took top spot in the national team ranking for bouldering in 2016.

However, the sport is dominated by climbers from Europe, where it has been practiced for decades. While France, Germany and England are some of the top countries in terms of facilities, sport climbing has seen a massive leap in popularity in Austria. In 2008, the country had 141 clubs, with 23,170 climbers, which jumped to 176 clubs and 64,140 climbers by 2016.

India has been a proving ground for a number of climbers over the years. Though India remains a hub for climbing and sport climbing is slowly finding its feet, it still trails the rest of the world. Indoor climbing facilities have cropped up in the metros, and the outdoors remains regular jaunts for the dedicated ones. But the sport is still governed by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) whose focus remains on mountaineering expeditions organized by them.

Mother Teresa: A Revered Nun

Mother Teresa, the revered nun whose work with the dying and the destitute made her an icon of the 20^th Century Christianity was declared a saint today. The elevation of the Nobel Peace Prize winner to Catholicism’s celestial pantheon comes on the eve of the 19^th anniversary of her death in the Kolkata slums with which she is synonymous.

Mother Teresa was honored with many awards throughout her life, from the Indian Padma Shri in 1962 to the inaugural Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971 to Albania’s Golden Honor of the Nation in 1994. In 1964, during a visit to India, Pope Paul VI gave his ceremonial limousine to her which she offered to raise money for the leper colony.

Born to Kosovar Albanian parents in what is now Macedonia in 1910, Teresa died on 5^th September 1997. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910, in Macedonia, she was fascinated with missionaries from an early age, and by 12 she knew that she would commit herself to a religious vacation. Mother Teresa left home at the age of 18 and joined Sisters of Loreto in Dublin to become a nun. She never saw her family again in her entire life.

She was a household name around the world and also a citizen of India, the adopted homeland that embraced the diminutive and doggedly determined sister to the extent that she was granted a state funeral. Sister Teresa began teaching history and geography in Calcutta at St. Mary’s, a high school for the daughters of the wealthy. She remained there for 15 years and enjoyed the work, but was distressed by the poverty she saw all around her.

Her canonization has been completed in unusually quick time on the back of the extraordinary popularity she enjoyed during her lifetime and with the help of influential supporters. The late Pope John Paul II, was the pontiff at the time of Teresa’s death and he fast-tracked her beatification. When she was travelling from Calcutta to the Himalayan Foothills to participate in a retreat, she had a calling that Christ asked her to leave teaching and join the service of the sick and the poor.

The current pope, Francis, is also an admirer of women he sees as embodying his vision of a “poor church for the poor.” In 1982, she travelled to Beirut, Lebanon, to offer her service to the children of Christian dominated East Beirut and Muslim dominated West Beirut. The Missionaries of Charity, the order that Teresa created in 1950, now operates in 133 countries and comprise almost 5,000 male and female members.

Mother Teresa also founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963, the contemplative branch of the Sisters in 1976, the Contemplative Brothers in 1979, and the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in 1984. During her life, Teresa was widely revered as a self-sacrificing force for good, despite ferocious criticism from prominent intellectuals including the British writer Christopher Hitchens and the Australian feminist academic Germaine Greer.

Rio Olympics 2016: Best and Worst Performances

Olympics were a high wire games, full of challenges and contrasts, abrupt shifts in mood and momentum. It was no doubt quite a mess backstage and yet quite a spectacle at the front of house.

Best Performances on Land

Bolt. Bolt. It was always Usain Bolt and he went three for three again in the gold medal department, holding off the fading threats (Justin Gatlin) and the rising star (Andre De Grasse) without looking as if he were quite giving it his full attention. Bolt times in major championships have been increasing for years now.

For the novelty factor and the wow factor, there was no surpassing American Simone Biles. Even if she was a three time all round world Champion, she was an Olympic rookie and her explosive and exuberant brand of gymnastics leapt off any screen in any culture.

Worst Performances on Land

There were no shortages of candidates, including the loose lipped American goalkeeper Hope Solo but only one genuine contender Ryan Lochte should definitely have stayed in the pool.

Best Performance in Water

Phelps. Phelps. It’s always about Michael Phelps and he won five more gold medals, this time at age 31. The Americans also got individual gold medals from five other swimmers, including members of the new wave Ryan Murphy and old guard Anthony Ervin. Americans stormed back to win 33 swimming medals in Rio more than three times what any other nation could master.

Worst Performance in Water

It took another collective performance to secure this prize, and it deserves to be shared by all those still unidentified individuals who contributed to turning the water in the Olympic diving pool from transparent blue to opaque green. Hydrogen peroxide? Inactive chlorine? Whatever the latest excuse, this was not the body of water that the world was worried about Rio keeping clean.

Best Performance on Water

Blair Tuke and Peter Burling were utterly dominant in the 49er class. Danuta Kozak of Hungary won three more gold medals in women’s Kayak, bringing her career total to five. The women’s eight from the US rowed to yet gold of their own. The oldest sailor in the Olympic fleet at age 54, Lange learned he had lung cancer but the Argentine still made it to starting line for South America’s first Olympics.

Worst Performance on Water

Rio’s scenic Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon was comparatively calm when Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Yakovlev managed just 10 strokes before capsizing in his single scull. Based on water quality studies of the lagoon before the Olympics, this was definitely not the place to get wet.

Best Performance in Midair

Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller desperate face first lunge across the line to beat Allyson Felix of the US in the women’s 400 meters is clearly on the shortlist. Brazil’s Thiago Braz da Silva. Coming into the games, his personal best in the pole vault had been 5.93 meters (19 feet 6 inches). But when he and the host nation needed it most, he cleared 6.03 meters to set an Olympic record and upset world-record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France.

Worst Performance in Midair

Russia’s Nadezhda Bazhina is no tourist athlete. She is a former European champion in the 3-meter springboard. But she made a splash for another reason in Rio: mistiming her takeoff during the preliminaries and leaving the board at a suboptimal angle.

Best Performance Per Capita

The Caribbean still rules. Tiny Grenada, with slightly more than 100,000 inhabitants, topped the standings on medalspercapita.com. But Grenada won only one medal, silver by sprinter Kirani James and the defending Olympic champion in the 400. This year, James was thoroughly overshadowed (outside Grenada) by South African Wayde van Niekerk’s gold medal and world record in Lane 8.

For planetary impact per capita, it remains best to go with Jamaica, which might have won only one medal for every 247,000 inhabitants but still has the world’s fastest man (Bolt) and fastest woman (newcomer Elaine Thompson).

Worst Performance Per Capita

Only two medals and no gold’s for India, well on its way to supplanting China as the world’s most populous nation. Time to retire the trophy? Certainly not, but perhaps time to get cricket into the Olympics (everything else seems to be included).