Jovial January at Minerva University (2024)

Angel island, Cirque du Soleil, four cornerstone courses, and 200 lifelong friends

Cirque du Soleil (Kooza) – A performance to remember

Last weekend, I had the delight of viewing the magical ‘Kooza’ performance in San Francisco, hosted by Cirque du Soleil, the longest running and one of the most famous circus productions in the world. The event organizers had not taken the easy path of just hosting the performance in one of the city’s grand theatres. They had set up a huge tent right next to the ocean’s edge, to truly give viewers the authentic circus experience. It was 100 minutes of pure magic. With intense lighting, blasting music, and the grandness of nature’s entire colour palette for the dresses of the artists and performers, the show did not allow me to peel my eyes away even for a second.

I think that every adult is constantly looking for even brief moments and experiences where they can feel like a child again, and nostalgically reflect back on days long gone. It was heartwarming to see the adults openly laughing, hollering, whistling and singing alongside their kids, with no fear or embarrassment – the same adults who perhaps never get a chance to loosen up and truly be themselves in any other public environment, even alongside their close friends. The child within us never disappears – it often just lies dormant within, and I think many of us spend our whole lives never being able to bring that little boy or girl back, who once was.  

A child needs a very tiny reason to be happy. A silly joke, an airplane, a clown passing by, a cute animation and he/she will be giggling for joy. As adults, we bring the threshold for joy higher up and as we aspire for greater heights and take on new responsibilities, we are unable to find joy in the littlest of things. We need reasons. We need logical reasons. Reasons to be happy. Reasons to smile. Reasons to laugh. We cannot just be happy for the sake of merriment and joy, because how in the world does that make any rational sense?

Angel island – Beauty, history, and a memorable ferry ride 

We departed from the fancy Ferry building on the pier, which reminded me of Grand Central Terminal in New York City, with its fancy terminals, bustling crowds, and gold paint on the walls. It was a sunny, windy day and the ocean was alive and vibrant. We docked on the island, stretched our legs, and began the uphill hike to the center of Angel island.   

The 6-mile perimeter loop of the island which runs alongside the ocean is gorgeous, both to hike and cycle around. But the main attraction of the island lies closer to the center, as you walk through dense forests and breezy fields, towards the immigration center.

Angel island was the official immigration center for all immigrants approaching the West coast of the United States, to take their shot at living ‘The American dream’. It was on this island that immigrants were screened for diseases, viruses, physical fitness, mental and emotional stability, and official paperwork, before being allowed to officially step on American soil.

Behind the natural beauty, the island holds many a dark tale. While some immigrants got off the island in a matter of days, others spent up to 2 years on the island, waking up every day and seeing San Francisco with their own eyes, yet not knowing when, if ever, they would be able to set foot on American soil. Heavy discrimination against Chinese and other Asian immigrants led to derogatory medical screenings where immigrants had to strip naked, the forced separation of families, and intensive hours of questioning to try and force immigrants to give one wrong answer and be deported back to their home countries. The island walls are filled with the anguished and hopeless poetry of immigrants who wrote about their treatment and experiences by the Americans, who often viewed them as ‘alien’ and ‘unworthy of respect’. With living conditions not much worse than a prison camp, it made many immigrants question whether they truly were transitioning toward a better life in this so-called ‘land of the free’.   

We love creating in-groups and out-groups, based on every conceivable distinction we can find between ‘us’ and ‘them’, however significant or petty. We form hierarchies out of nowhere and stick to them so rigidly as if they are the unchangeable, rational laws of nature. I’ve always found ‘humanity’ an ironic word.  

 

Academics – Cornerstone courses

HC highlights

1)    Complex Systems – #networks

We are part of a plethora of networks, even if we do not realize it. Social networks, digital networks, geographical networks, political networks, economic networks – each network we are a part of shapes us just like we shape the network.

Real world examples:

·      Politics and governance – A centralized network like the Chinese political system has high efficiency because information flows quickly throughout the network from the central point of the government, however it lacks robustness because there is a single point of failure at the center. A more decentralized network like the United States or India has a slower implementation of policy and spread of information but is more robust because no single point of failure can render the entire network in-operational and helpless. Political networks are a huge factor in how a country is governed, how laws are implemented and where malicious parties choose to attack the network when they aim to destabilize it.  

·      Social networks – A key skill in professional networking is unlocking the right’s person’s social network. One good connection could open access to that individual’s entire network, which is why sometimes it’s better to focus on quality over quantity in social interactions. Moving closer to the center of a network takes skill and planning, as an individual tries to penetrate different groups which unlocks greater access, until eventually they are able to push themselves through to the center of a social network, with a high degree of influence, proximity and connectedness to all other nodes in the network.  

·      Neural networks – In Machine Learning, neural networks are used to help computers make decisions through a dense interconnection of artificial neurons, mimicking the way the human brain learns. Understanding the flow of information as inputs and outputs at each layer of the neural network helps a Machine Learning engineer understand the model’s decision-making process. In today’s world, this is high stakes information given that even many Machine Learning engineers do not understand quite exactly how their model learns and makes decisions, leading to implicit biases which have real-world consequences. Biased models may be harmfully used to predict individual’s credit card defaults, a criminal’s probability of re-offending or which candidate to hire for the job, perpetuating existing societal inequalities which our ‘objective’, ‘neutral’ algorithms are supposed to minimize.     

2)    Formal Analyses – #fallacies           

We would like to think we are rational, logical beings most of the time, but scientific research has proven time and time again that we are susceptible to a wide range of logical fallacies as we think and make decisions. Awareness of these fallacies need not always prevent them from influencing us, but at least we can learn to be humbler and reduce that inflated sense of ‘always knowing what is best’.   

Real – world examples:

·      Identifying manipulative marketing – Advertisements are fraught with logical fallacies, which is what makes them so persuasive. The entire basis of an advertisement is built upon the concept of ‘transfer’, where an organization would like you to believe that because they can make a funny/intelligent/thought provoking advertisement, their product is worth buying. This seems like an obvious decision, but we all can remember times where a company can make beautiful advertisements, and miserable products. Being aware of persuasive techniques used in ad campaigns all around us can help reduce impulsive buying behaviour. 

·      Evaluating arguments more critically – We are being persuaded all the time – by our friends, parents, presidents, co-workers, and favourite actors. If we can dissect an argument and identify its logical fallacies, it immediately pushes our brain from emotional, impulsive responses to more logical, thoughtful decisions. When George W Bush famously tried to draw international support for the ‘War on terror’, he said ‘Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists’. A compelling argument on the surface until you remember learning in class about the false dichotomy – a logical fallacy where an entire spectrum of choices is simplified into a simple ‘either-or’ choice, upon which you realize that there is indeed the third option of neutrality which much of the world was forced to forget about in a time of extreme polarization where a country was either ‘with us or with the enemy and therefore against us’.  

·      Introspection and humility – Take your strongest personal beliefs and try to objectively ask yourself whether they contain any fallacies. A lot of deeply held stereotypes are simply hasty generalizations we make about the world. A lot of our childhood conditioning is a mere appeal to authority forced upon us by parents, teachers or other community leaders. And a lot of our personal beliefs are also just adopted from our culture and society, in the ‘bandwagon’ effect – we eventually convince ourselves that this our personal worldview, but ask yourself, do all of your personal beliefs really come from you having thought deeply about the topic, or does their source lie elsewhere?       

            

Student spotlights 

Taya Maltez (Israel)

Let’s begin with your military service. Tell us more about your role as a Psychotechnical analyst and recruiter with the Israeli defense forces. 

Of course! I underwent intensive training for 3 months to learn how to conduct interviews for young girls, ages 16-17, who were joining the army, to better determine which department and role would suit them well, and whether they required any special emotional and mental support during their army service, because many roles involve high levels of emotional stress. The interviews would range from 20 minutes to 3 hours. They were all semi-structured, meaning often, the conversation would flow in whichever direction I wanted it to flow – we would talk about their family, childhood, school, friendships, personal traumas, difficult experiences, emotional insecurities and much more. I had extremely light-hearted and simple interviews, and highly emotional and deep interviews, where girls would relate deep personal traumas with me, which they hadn’t openly spoken about for years. I then become a commander in this course and began training other soldiers in the skills of interviewing – including both the technical (psychoanalytical) and more human (emotional) side of it.  

Prior to this, you also served young women in Israel, as the youth counsellor for the Beit Ruth for young women and girls at risk. What was that experience like?

The year before the army, I volunteered at a hostel with girls who were removed from their houses by a court order, because living in that house would be dangerous for them, either due to their own emotional condition or abuse/ threat from family members. I was a live-in volunteer at this hostel, working with young women and girls, most of whom had undergone some form of sexual assault, and needed a space for psychological and emotional care and love, to aid with their recovery and improve their mental stability. In the morning, I would tutor and prepare materials for them in school, in the afternoon we would do household chores, have fun activities, sports and games, and in the evenings, I held a lot of deep conversations with the girls, both as a collective and one-on-one. The entire experience was deeply transformative and taught me how to become more emotionally open, and connect more deeply to my personal emotions, so I could better understand the girls I worked with and be a better listener, friend and guide in their lives.      

What occupied you between leaving the army and joining Minerva?

After wrapping up my army service, I worked as a waitress in Israel for 6 months, before I decided to leave Israel for many months and go backpacking throughout Asia – Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Nepal and Vietnam. My travels were very spontaneous. I would just land in a country and then figure out everything from there. I went back to Israel and worked as a waitress again, then went to Indonesia for a month, then to Australia for a few more months where I also worked as a waitress, and then flew directly to San Francisco and joined Minerva!  

  

Jason Shi (China)       

Let’s begin with your Start-up. What was the inspiration and what is the business model?  

My friend and I started a Chinese cultural communication company in Shenzhen. We host many events in China and abroad, with a focus on psychological well-being and mental health, where we invite professional psychologists and mental health experts to take mental well-being courses and lectures for the Chinese and Hong Kong public. Our inspiration came from the market need for an organization like ours, especially in China, where both the government and private sector organizations now give greater importance to an individual’s mental health and emotional well-being, because research has shown that happier, more stable individuals are more economically productive than their counterparts, any day of the week.           

A lot of the work you do is based on networking and building deep relationships – with the government, other companies and all the attendees of your events and conferences. What has this journey taught you about how to build effective, deep and long-lasting human connections?    

All human relationships are about value – emotional, intellectual, spiritual, entertainment, validation – some or the other kind of value. Especially in university, many students focus on externally finding friend circles, professional connections, and mentors. This is a valid approach, but my approach has always been to focus on myself. I spend my time reading, learning, thinking deeply, and building interesting projects, basically working on myself and building a beautiful garden within, rather than chasing butterflies outside. I advise people only to go to a networking event after they have an interesting project they’re currently working on. That way, you can introduce yourself as more than just a college student, and provide value by emphasizing that you are working on something valuable, which the other person can learn or draw inspiration from.   

Finally, the easy part is creating a bridge by making a connection. The bridge will always stand, once you’ve made a good first impression. But the real question is – what is being transported across the bridge, both ways? Connections need to be maintained, and this is done through a constant exchange of ideas, advice, deep thoughts, emotions, and insights between both parties. The true value of a bridge is the goods transported across it, not the structure itself.    

What is a wild vision you have for yourself and the world 10 years from now?

I have a wild, some might say unethical, idea which I believe has the potential to transform humanity forever. Our greatest limitation today is the physical body, which ages, grows weak, and eventually passes away. I strongly believe that you are not your body, rather you are your mind and your consciousness. If we can take human consciousness outside the limited physical body and use our powerful minds to control other sentient beings (call them cyborgs, robots, the term is irrelevant), we can make a great positive impact on the physical world, and never have to die, because consciousness is infinite. What if we could turn humans from a carbon-based life form to a silicon based one? We would stretch human potential farther than we can even dream of today. What would you do if you knew your mind and consciousness were eternal? How would that change the way we live and interact with the world around us? Now that’s a question worth digging deeper into.

Book of the month

Movie recommendations

Top watches of the month

·      Wonder (2017) – Stephen Chbosky

·      Hidden figures (2016) – Theodore Melfi

·      Arrival (2016) – Denis Villeneuve

·      Green book (2018) – Peter Farrelly

·      October sky (1999) – Joe Johnston

·      Brooklyn (2015) – John Crowley

·      Little Women (2019) – Greta Gerwig

·      The big short (2015) – Adam McKay

·      Spotlight (2015) – Tom McCarthy

·      The Game (1997) – David Fincher   

Poem of the month

Phone call

Ring!

Ring!

The ringtone plays

Stress gushes through your veins

And you hurry over

To pick up

The phone call

You slide your finger across the screen

Hold the phone to your ear,

And whisper softly, unsure,

‘Hello?’

One phone call

Is all it takes

To get laughter erupting

And tears flowing

To get triumphant yells

And angry swears

To receive shocking news

That turns your world upside down

Or downside up

News of loved ones dead

And diseases cured

Of competitions won

And dear friends lost

News of love

And news of hate

Nods of agreement

Or a great debate

In today’s digital world,

So many life-changing conversations

Take place over a phone call

So the next time you pick up your phone

A known contact

Or even a random number

Be prepared to be amazed

And perhaps have the course of your life

Entirely changed

Over one simple, insignificant, annoying

Phone call

Ring!

Ring!    

That was long. Thank you for being patient with me and reading (or skimming) to the end.

Please subscribe to my monthly newsletter if you would like to stay updated with my monthly adventures as I travel to 6 global cities (San Francisco, Taipei, Seoul, Buenos Aires, Hyderabad, and Berlin) over the next 4 years with Minerva University. Until then, Au revoir!