Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal
Mark Bittman traces the history of food from early human societies to modern industrial agriculture, showing how the shift from diverse hunter-gatherer diets to grain-based farming fundamentally reshaped societies. Agriculture enabled surpluses and population growth but also produced inequality, elites, and systems of labor exploitation, while monotonous diets, disease, and environmental degradation became widespread consequences. Early…
Man vs Markets
In Man vs Markets, Paddy Hirsch explains financial markets by breaking down the mechanics of debt, derivatives, swaps, securitization, and capital structure, showing how these instruments allow risk to be shifted, priced, and traded. His highlights emphasize that borrowing is not inherently harmful; leverage, private equity buyouts, and derivatives all serve practical economic purposes when used…
Bullets, Basketballs, and Boardrooms
Three different authors from different domains present leadership lessons drawn from three disciplines—military, business, and sports—showing how principles from each domain reinforce one another. From the military perspective, the book emphasizes discipline, prioritization, contingency planning, and preparation before crises occur. Leaders are encouraged to train rigorously, anticipate scenarios through tools like wargaming, and understand that…
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus is an examination of history and the forces that have steered humanity along particular paths at critical junctures. The book draws attention to the recurring tension between conflict and cooperation. Harari’s central thesis is that, despite the violence and division that have marked much of human history, the arc of history…
CliftonStrengths® Top 5 for Migo Aguado
Test taken last 09 September 2024 Learner® You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you.…
The Hour Between Dog & Wolf: Risk Taking, Gut Feelings, And The Biology of Boom & Bust
Capital markets post-industrial revolution demand intense biological processes that can surpass natural limits. John Coates, a neuroscientist trader and author of The Hour Between Dog & Wolf (2012), argues that the biological storm associated with our work and lifestyle is too much for a human’s biochemical makeup. This is especially true with traders in financial markets who…
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Growing up, I was exposed to Wyeth’s successful marketing campaign for their formula milk, Promil. The Promil kids seemed to have become a benchmark of an entire generation in having a head start and are expected to be successful in their respective fields. Some kids, now all grown-up, have chosen a path different from how…
Wilful Blindness
When I knew that a colleague shared the same birthday as mine, I suddenly felt an urge to befriend him even though I had virtually zero knowledge of who he was and what he was like. Familiarity, after all, doesn’t breed contempt–it breeds comfort. The book Willful Blindness (2011) by University professor Margaret Heffernan described…
Be Good: How to Navigate the Ethics of Everything
In the Filipino culture, we tend to rationalize an individual’s behavior by saying, “mabait naman siya (s/he’s actually kind).” We start or end with such a statement before or after criticizing someone’s character. This phenomenon could be primarily cultural, as Filipinos are non-confrontational and relationship-based in the culture map. Cognitive dissonance drives this culture to…
The Class of ’77: China and Critical Junctures
I first encountered the term “critical juncture” in the book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (2012) by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. Critical Junctures are significant, rapid, discontinuous changes (Collier & Collier, 1991) and the long-term causal effect or historical legacy of these changes (Flora, 1992). They can be defined as…
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Migo Aguado 