Hey friends,

Welcome to the first instalment of Thought Caffeine, a weekly newsletter where I'll be sharing my favourite productivity tips, random party facts, and other interesting finds throughout my week.

By the way, I'm not 100% in tune yet with the name of this newsletter, so if you're feeling particularly inspired and have ideas for other cool names, please let me know by hitting <Reply> to this email. If I end up choosing that name, I'll give you a proper shout out here ✌🏽

⚙️ Dunning-Kruger Effect

I was reintroduced to the Dunning Kruger effect while listening to a Jim Jefferies podcast episode with Tom Nichols, where they argued about what it means to be "an expert". It describess a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. The Dunning-Kruger effect is different from pure narcissism, which is a problem of personality. When you dive deeper into a certain expertise, you begin to comprehend the full breadth of the field and therefore acknowledge that you know only a small percentage of that certain topic. By the same logic, a beginner with near zero competence will stand at the peak of "Mount Stupid", brimming with confidence because they are not aware of the full expanse of the field.

🔫 Fun facts about the James Bond franchise

Last week I listened to another one of Jim's podcast during one of my evening runs, where he rather failingly tried to impress James Bond expert and documentarian Steven Jay Rubin with his bar level knowledge of the subject. Needless to say, it gave me a good crack on. Here are some highlights from the episode that I found interesting (at the very least they make for good party trivia).

• Ian Fleming was a naval intelligence officer for Great Britain and acquired inspiration for his novels from his experience dealing with field spies. He was NOT one himself.
• The first book was Casino Royale (1953), the first film was Dr. No (1962).
• Up to this day, there are 14 books in total (plus several shorts) and 25 films (excluding a bunch of parodical spin-offs)
• Goldeneye was the name given by Ian Fleming to his Jamaican home, where he wrote most of the Bond novels in (shown above)
• Your favourite Bond was the one you grew up watching.

By the way, Jim Jefferies is an amazingly funny human being. If you love good stand-up, I recommend you check out his podcast series. It's mostly about him exaggerating his bar level knowledge of things (like James Bond, cheese, and the Arabic royal family) to experts, polishing his assertions with a comedic flair and quick-witted humour. I've been a listener since day one. (Pro tip: Listen at 1.5x speed)

📕 Book: This Is Going To Hurt (Adam Kay)

I started reading this book last week after Tricia gifted it to me before I was due to start my hospital rounds, which btw, has been postponed...again. This hilarious memoir talks about Dr Adam Kay's eventful journey through his **short-lived** medical career, through horrific junior doctor rounds and sleepless nights as an Obs and Gynae registrar. He eventually left the medical scene to seek a career in comedy, which explained why he doesn't talk like 99% of the doctors I know. This book is littered with witty, self-deprecating humour, elegant metaphors, and the most peculiar cases you never knew existed within the medical wards. I think I'll be gifting this book a lot this year.

🩺 Mnemonic: How I remember pancreatitis causes (I GET SMASHED)

For all the non-medics out there, mnemonics like this is how us medics manage to memorise an endless laundry list of aetiologies, risk factors, drugs, and other disease associations. This particular one was featured in the book I mentioned above.

🗒️ This week's article: How Much Should You ‘Expose’ Yourself During This Pandemic

I talk about:

• Why staying at home can be bad for you
• Why a little bit of "exposure" is necessary during this pandemic
• Why chickenpox parties don't work for Covid-19

Click here to read more

📖 Quote of the Week

"Less is a good thing. Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you've got. There's no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.”

From Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Resurfaced via Readwise.

🐦 Tweet of the Week

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Have a blast of a week!

John