February 21st, 2024 | #2
Hello Friends,
Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom where I share the many cool and interesting things that I come across in my pursuit of bettering myself everyday. Here are the things that I have discovered this week. I hope this provides a little bit of entertainment and enlightenment into your life.
Speech I’m Revisiting:
“This is Water'' by David Foster Wallace. You can pair this with the transcript I have linked here. This is a phenomenal commencement speech. I come back to this video often to remind myself of the importance of knowing how to think and having self awareness. In this speech, the late great David Foster Wallace provides the graduating students with the realities of life. He explains that happiness is dependent on the constant choosing of one's own thoughts. Every circumstance that you find yourself in can be interpreted in so many different ways and it's up to you to choose the one that best serves you and your happiness.
David Foster Wallace is incredibly thought-provoking, he was an American novelist and a university professor of English and creative writing. His book Infinite Jest, was termed one of Time Magazine's 100 best English-language novels from 1923-2005. DFW is someone who I will be exploring more of their work.
Book I’m Listening to:
“The Body: A Guide for Occupants” by Bill Bryson. This is a fun listen and an opportunity to learn some interesting facts about the human body. It discusses mainly the history of how we came to understand how our body works. This book is for people like me who are interested in the medical field or for people who just enjoy learning about the incredible machine that is us.
Bill Bryson is a very entertaining non-fiction writer and author of one of my other favorite books: “A Short History Of Nearly Everything” (I also listened to this one on Audible). Kudos to Bill Bryson also being the narrator for his own books. I think it's better to hear the author read their own book since they know how it should be read.
Motivational Videos I like:
While striving for my goals I sometimes enjoy some external motivation in the form of a motivational video. There are a few channels on YouTube that I am subscribed to and will watch their videos often. It’s great for some early morning or afternoon pick-me-up to keep you staying productive. The content we consume, including the thoughts that we produce are going to determine the life we live. I choose to input positive and motivating content into my brain. Here are the channels that I’m subscribed to and may help you in staying motivated in your life:
Favorite Radiolab Podcast:
“The Dirty Drug and the Ice Cream Tub” podcast by Radiolab. This is the story of how the drug, Rapamycin, almost never came to be. A story that I find fascinating as it starts out on the Island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The episode then goes through the adventure of the molecule to becoming what it is today, a multibillion dollar drug. It first found its way into the medical world for its effects as an immunosuppressant. This is important when transplanting organs so the host body does not reject the foreign organ.
It is now being researched as a longevity (anti-aging) drug. There are numerous studies showing the administration of rapamycin extending lifespan in model organisms. It does this by inhibiting the mTOR (mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin) pathway. mTOR is a master regulator in the body that is associated with cancer and many other diseases. Very excited to follow the new research that comes out on this molecule.
Studies:
Quote That Struck Me:
“In life there isn’t a single person that knows everything and there is no person that knows nothing. It’s not too late to learn because you just need to develop that interest, talk to people, share with them what you have and learn from them. There is no breakthrough in this world if you are isolated, you can only make a breakthrough by talking to people.”
— Marie-Christine Gasingirwa, the Director General for Science, Technology and Research in the Ministry of Education in Rwanda.
