LIFE 3H by Alok Gotam

↳ Stories on Life, Intelligence, and Everything In Between!

Category: Personal Life

  • Accuracy of outcome does not validate correctness of cause

    Yesterday I found myself in a conversation about astrology. The gentleman I was speaking with said he believes in it — because, once, someone made a prediction about his life that came true. Not vaguely — exactly, to the date. That moment, for him, was proof. I understand why. When something improbable happens just as…

  • What Makes You ‘You’? Continuity of the story of Identity

    Introduction What makes you who you are? Is it your physical body, your mind, or something else altogether? The age-old question of identity has been explored through various thought experiments, from the Ship of Theseus to more modern takes involving teleportation and digital clones. These scenarios force us to question the very nature of existence and what…

  • The Paradox of Vision: Why Most Startup Founders Lack It, but None Have It Wrong

    Most of the startup founders I met have no vision, but I have not met even a single founder with incorrect vision. In the bustling world of startups, I’ve had the privilege of meeting countless founders—bright, driven individuals striving to bring their ideas to life. But one striking observation has stuck with me: most founders have…

  • A Gift from My Mindclone: What It Means to Be Understood

    A Gift from My Mindclone: What It Means to Be Understood

    On my 45th birthday, something remarkable happened. I received a book as a gift: The Innovators by Walter Isaacson. Within minutes of opening it, I was captivated. It resonated with me in the same profound way The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose did two decades ago. Later that evening, I found out this wasn’t just a lucky guess.…

  • A Decade of Discovery: From IIM-A to AI

    Reflections on the last decade 10 years back, it was Jun-end 2009 when I joined IIM-Ahmedabad. For the last 4 years, I was in the Himalayas … It was a world complete in itself, everybody around me was aspiring to become the God … Here at IIM-A, I was a misfit. IIM-A was a different…

  • Mind Over Matter: Meditation, Mastery, and the CAT Exam

    I was in the Himalayas, I didn’t open a book for 4 years. I decided to do my MBA. Planned to join some coaching institute. Called few friends to find out who’s living alone and has a spare room. Zeroed in on Sachin, he was living alone in a 2BHK in Kanpur. I shifted to…

  • Encountering Infinity: A Diwali Spent with Escher, Poincaré, and Penrose

    I so love this pot on my desk, it feels like Escher’s Circle Limit. A world complete in itself, with its own laws of mathematics, having its own time-space … It reminds me of the first time I had encountered the idea of circle limit. It was 2004, I was in JNU … planned to…

  • Challenging Conventions: A Tale of Academic Integrity and Intellectual Independence @JNU

    The author recounts their experience with Professor Bakshi, discussing Plato’s Theory of Justice, and their choice to pursue their own theories instead of traditional academics.

  • In Search of Enlightenment: A Journey into the Spiritual Heart of the Himalayas

    In summer 2003, the narrator and his friend Sandeep journeyed to the Himalayas in search of spiritual enlightenment. Their experiences in various ashrams led to disillusionment with traditional practices. After dialogues with multiple teachers, they ultimately returned to Delhi, with the narrator enrolling at JNU for his Master’s degree, planning another Himalayan trip later.

  • Embracing Equanimity: My Journey into Vipassana Meditation

    It was the year 1999, I was in BA 1st Year. I happened to meet a Vipassana Teacher … got indulged in argument … he was not very good with reasoning but he gave me the hard copy of a 4–5 page Newsletter on “What happens at Death?” published by Vipassana Research Institute, and highly…