Issue #25

Hey friends 👋🏽,

Welcome back to Thought Caffeine, a weekly newsletter where I share my favourite discoveries during the week.

This week I am finally signing off from my 6-week spell in community medicine, which I’m quite happy to report. As you may have gathered, community medicine isn’t my strongest suit, nor is it inherently any bit exciting. Alas, I shall begin my Paediatric rounds next week, and I’ve heard of “very good” things about it from my weary-eyed colleagues. At the very least I’m expecting more clinically-related brain wanderings and that makes my neurones tingle in excitement.

Woosah.

💎 Diamonds Explained

Another week, another Explained episode. I try to be conservative with these and sneak an episode in during my (self-imposed) lunch breaks because I realise binging on docu-series can really do your head in.

On this week’s display case is an episode on diamonds and their unorthodox road to fame:

• De Beers was the first company to successfully capitalise on the diamond industry, monopolising its trade, controlling supply, and creating demand with their creative (though ethically questionable) marketing campaigns. De Beers is who we thank for the association of diamonds as a symbol of love
• The 4 Cs of diamond quality assessment: Cut, Colour, Clarity, and Carat
• Diamonds are called veblen goods, where increased price triggers an increased demand, in contradiction to the law of demand. Other examples include Birkin bags, Cristal champagne, and luxury cars.
• Diamonds can now actually be manufactured in the lab, structurally indifferent from earth-harvested diamonds, for the fraction of the price.

"A diamond is a product of heat, time, capitalism, and us"

🏠 Tiny Homes

I’ve pondered a lot about tiny homes lately, a thought that was inspired by Codie Sanchez’s Substack column. These modular homes cost a fraction of what regular houses cost and is gaining a lot of traction in the entrepreneurial community.

Apparently, their rent demand is on the stratosphere right now for the millennial market because (1) they allow for a nomadic experience to reconnect with nature and (2) are relatively cheap to rent. Plus, most millennials are ok with discounted space and minimal utilities.

Also, how good do they look!

✍️ Austin Kleon on Writing Your Bio

Strike all the adjectives from your bio. If you take photos, you’re not an “aspiring” photographer, and you’re not an “amazing” photographer, either. You’re a photographer. Don’t get cute. Don’t brag. Just state the facts.

📚 BOOK GIVEAWAY!

I’ll be giving some 5-6 books away for my newsletter subscribers for free next month! More info on that soon via my other social media outlets (Follow my Instagram and Twitter for the latest).

Enter the Contest 📚

🙂 Other things I've been enjoying

1. Article: What Makes Work Meaningful – Or Meaningless. A longer form article (that actually took me 2 days to read) divulges the 5 qualities of meaningful work and the 7 pitfalls that render them meaningless. The inner leader in you needs to read this.
2. F1: I listened to one of Sam’s (from Seen Through Glass) podcast episodes during a run where he and another Youtube car guy talked about the upcoming F1 season. Now I am what you would consider an F1 virgin, but Sam & Paul somehow made it interesting & that tickled my F1 fancy. Jokes aside, my winner prediction for 2021: Valentino Rossi.

📸 Photo of the Week

I got myself a new roommate last week.

I found this little fellow in the reject pile of bettas in front of a shop, which in hindsight was probably because his tail looked a little wonky. Long story short, I brought him home and so far he seems to be having a grand time in his new tank.

Bleep bloop.

📖 Quote of the Week

"In actuality, reality is never strange. The only reason it appears to be is because we interact with it through the lens of human consciousness, which itself has its own predispositions and attributes. We view reality with certain expectations, many of which are built over time by personal experience and our logical intuitions."

From Reality Is Never Strange. We Are. by Lawrence Yeo. Resurfaced via Readwise.

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Hope you have a great week! 👶🏻

John