Hello, and welcome to another edition of Kat’s Kable. This is number 52, and if not for my enthusiasm in sending multiple issues some weeks, would mark a year’s progress. That, however, is a few months away. Enjoy this week’s list.
- If Humble People Make the Best Leaders, Why Do We Fall for Charismatic Narcissists?
Humble leaders improve the performance of a company in the long run because they create more collaborative environments. These “unsung heroes” help their believers to build their self-esteem, go beyond their expectations, and create a community that channels individual efforts into an organized group that works for the good of the collective.
HBR tells us why we keep falling for charismatic narcissists who work their way to the top of corporate and political ladders. Is it because our system and society encourages boisterous people who are abnormally self-confident? - Terminal Democracy - A great piece, right from a great double entendre in the title to the final paragraph. It’s rather old and talks about why airports made the best protest spots post the Trump administration travel ban. Get the title pun yet? Terminal democracy because airport protest, and terminal democracy because it’s an end to it.
- Inside the Race to Build the Battery of Tomorrow - Most of our digital devices, including the laptop on which this was typed, and the device on which you’re reading this, work on lithium-ion batteries. But are they sustainable? Also, they are expensive and will be rare soon. Good, large and reliable batteries can be used for storage, and “A battery will do for the electricity supply chain what refrigeration did to our food supply chain”, says MIT researcher Donald Sadoway.
- Do Not Pass Go: Interview With The Monopoly Thimble - If you didn’t know yet, the thimble is not a part of Monopoly anymore. Here is a rather hilarious NPR interview (which is fictional, of course) with the thimble.
I’m not bitter. Look, life goes on. It’s a dangerous world. But one of the new tokens you could vote on was one of those record players with the big horn things on it, you know? Like teenagers are listening to those. I’m way less obsolete than that. And there’s a hashtag! And that’s not a thing! We were things. Dog. Shoe. Iron. Wheelbarrow. How do you put a hashtag in jail? A smiley face can’t build a hotel! You can’t rent from a poop emoji! - Why Darwin? - Steven Jay Gould wrote this about Charles Darwin back in 1996 - it’s a great biography of the great man. It’s probably the one piece you should read this week because it traces Darwin’s train of thought as he examines his own success and intelligence.
- The Great Cryptocurrency Heist - There are a large number of proponents in the world for blockchain-based systems, the most famous of these systems being bitcoin. What holds them back from being used worldwide? This piece says that this missing piece is trust. It’s a study of Ethereum, a blockchain-based platform that was suppose to be revolutionary until something happened and money was re-apportioned.
- Here’s the Best Way to Guess Correctly on a Multiple Choice Test - Fun read about how to ace tests with multiple-choice-questions. Apparently one needs to master metacognition, which in other words means that one needs to know how one’s mental processes work.
- Being Lazy is the Key to Success - Michael Lewis, who is a great author, breaks down why his inherent laziness is the reason he is so successful. He has valid points; for instance, only if he is motivated enough to work on something despite his laziness does he know that it’s worth working for. He also does only what he needs to do, and nothing else.
- A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite - This is a tale of one of the largest homemade bombs in the USA from Atavist Magazine. It’s brilliant just because of the sheer desperation involved, and the fact that this plan went so far as to call helicopters and the FBI.
- The Holocaust’s Great Escape - The discovery of escape tunnels in Lithuania brings back stories and tales of a Nazi labour camp and the legendary escape from it. Gut-wrenching to start off but I’m glad that these (80 out of thousands) guys made it out of the camp, alive.
Have a great week ahead.