Quantum physics studies the behavior of matter and energy at the smallest scales, typically at the level of atoms and subatomic particles like electrons, protons, and neutrons. Electrons exist in cloud-like regions called orbitals around the nucleus, which is composed of protons and neutrons. The exact position of an electron isn't a fixed orbit but a probability distribution within these orbitals.

What is quantum physics

The Heisenberg principle of uncertainty states that you can’t simultaneously know with high precision both the position and momentum of a particle.  If you know the position, you won’t know the exact momentum and vice-versa. This is due to the act of measurements induced on the phenomenon being observed. For example, if we use a specific laser to know the exact position of an atom, the laser would also influence the momentum and we won’t know it. Translation in everyday life:Focusing solely on one thing, will distort your ability to have accurate information on the other things.

Heinsenberg Principle Of Uncertainty

An atom is in a multi state called ‘superposition’ until you observe it. That’s the only way to know the actual state. Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment that places a cat in a black box with poison that gets activated upon the decay of a radioactive atom.What is the state of the cat?It is both dead and alive simultaneously (demonstrating the superposition principle), until you open the box and see for sure. Translation in everyday life:Do not place your cat in such a box.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

space

Space

Simplified Quantum Physics for the curious

Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky, CMG is a former colonel of the KGB who became KGB resident-designate and bureau chief in London.He was a double agent, providing information to the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1974 to 1985.Oleg was the highest ranked double agent from inside KGB and provided the British with information about the inside organisational structure of KGB, how it was ran and the decision making process behind it. He also provided inside information in the critical period of heightened nuclear tensions between NATO and the Soviet Union.

Introduction

Oleg Gordievsky was raised by a father who worked in KGB and by a mother who secretly and silently detested the communist regime. His older brother also worked at KGB and helped Oleg secure a position in KGB. The duty came with a lot of benefits such as the opportunity to travel outside of Russia, something that was unavailable to most. During his early life, it was obvious that he had a really good memory and attention to details. This served him well during his prime years as a spy. He was able to memorize in details secret documents and later provide the information to Britain's MI6.

Origin

"Every act of espionage requires a betrayal of trust, not just once but constantly and repeatedly."

The 4 core motives for people to betray their country are known as MICE:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Money </li></ul> <ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Ideology </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Coercion</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Ego</li></ul>During his work visit to Denmark, Oleg was fascinated by the country with all of  the free music, the happy, free people and the community as a whole. He fell in love with democracy and the fruits that it bears. On the other side, he saw the destructive powers of communism in the face of the Berlin Wall and roll of the Soviet tanks during the Prague Spring. It was the ideology as his primary motive that made him switch sides.

Motives behind the betrayal

He had a loving family, who he had to keep secrets from. His wife was a daughter of a KGB agent as well, he couldn't risk telling her as he didn't know if she would understand the reason behind the betrayal of their country. Plus, even if she understood it would put his family in danger, as if they knew and didn't tell KGB they would be viewed as traitors as well. So, he had to live a second life, which would eventually separate him from his closest ones.

The most difficult choice

Due to his sacrifice and dedication to the freedom and democracy, the west had the edge in some situations. For example in the Able Archer 83 (nuclear escalation), NATO knew that the Soviets viewed this training as a direct threat and a preparation for a real nuclear launch against the soviet block, instead of just a regular training. Having this information, NATO was able to de-escalate the situation, before it became a nightmare reality.

The significance of his sacrifice

When the Iron Lady was planned to meet Mikhail Gorbachev, Gordievsky was the one who was able to prepare Margaret Thatcher for the meeting. Since he had inside information from the Soviets, he knew what was their plan about the interview. What key aspects would they mention and how would the whole meeting play out. He gathered the information, summarized it, outlined the fundamental points and gave it to the prime minister to prepare. The preparation paid off, the discussion with Gorbachov was a huge success.

Thatcher meets Gorbachev

The fascinating story of Oleg Gordievsky, the man who sacrificed it all

philosophy

Philosophy

history

History

career

Career

politics

Politics

Spy & Traitor: The Fascinating Story Of Oleg Gordievsky

Attitude matters the most. If you have the courage, perseverance and grit and slightly higher than average intelligence, you are way more likely to achieve your goal, than if you have high intelligence, but none of the other things. In the latter - you are just a lazy, high intelligent person. But success comes to the people who are willing to go the extra mile and do not easily give up.

Attitude is more than intelligence

Most of the successful people have this internal and insatiable curiosity. Curiosity allows you to develop a fresh perspective on the things around you. The more information you have, the higher the chance of making unique connections that nobody really sees except you. Think of an AI - the more information it has, the higher the chance of it being good. The other key aspect is processing the information the right way, but more on that later!You prefer deepstash over mindlessly scrolling on facebook/tiktok/instagram - that is already saying a lot about you, so keep going!

Have a multifaceted curiosity

Sometimes we are tempted to not go 100% especially if we are already winning. But that is a mistake. Never underestimate your opponent and never give him unnecessary chances of winning. If we are to draw parallels from chess, there are many lost games that were COMPLETELY won. That's because once you think you won, you start playing less attention and that's exactly when your OPPONENT flips the game and wins. No matter how hard your winning position is, STAY AWARE. This also translates to real life.

Try as hard as possible

History is full of such examples. The smallest chances might cause the biggest wins over time. All the big companies such as Apple or Microsoft, all relied at some point on a small detail to become what they are. For Microsoft it might have been the option in the contract with IBM that allowed them to sell their product to other companies and not solely on IBM. For Apple it might have been the 1984 commercial that made them stand out so much from the other companies.The point is that you should give your best at all times, you do not know which small detail might make you a winning behemoth.

The biggest wins were accomplished by the smallest chances

Some of the essential things required to be successful. It is all in your head.

productivity

Productivity

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

A recipe for success

Mamba Mentality is a term used to describe the basketball superstar Kobe Bryant. Simply said, it is trying to improve each day even if it is by a small %.
As a matter of fact, if you improve 1% each day of the year - at the end of the 365 days you would have become 37.78 times better (1.01^365)! That's the power of small, but consistent steps for your success.

What is Mamba Mentality?

Around 2003-2004 Bryant was at a low point in his career and personal life. Just before that he was at the peak of his game and all of a sudden, he fell like he had absolutely no idea where his life is going. Until he watched a scene from Kill Bill, where an assassin killed another character with a venomous snake. He was amazed by the snake's bite, length, strength and how it shed its skin. Symbolising not only the ability, but the need to change. Inspired by this, he created an alter ego, called Black Mamba.

How the Mamba Mentality was born

Talent matters, but discipline is what most people underestimate. It would be unfair to say that Kobe Bryant was untalented, but it was not the talent that set him apart from the others. It was his discipline. He was more than disciplined, he was obsessed at becoming better at his craft. That translated outside of the game, in his personal life as well. He was the embodiment of discipline and hard work. There are numerous stories how when his teammates partied - he worked, when they were on vacation - he..worked. So it was no surprise that he was one of the best.

Discipline over talent

If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over it. A lot of people say they want to be great, but they’re not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness. They have other concerns, whether important or not, and they spread themselves out.

Do not be afraid to start something new. Because the first step to being good at something is to be bad. Nobody starts and becomes the best at anything - this is simply not how life works. Hence, why you should not limit yourself and instead try new things and do not be afraid to fail. There is this cliché, that the successful people failed more times than the unsuccessful even tried - but I can't emphasise enough how true this is.

Every master was once a novice

To be successful you just need to win more than you lose - that's it. It doesn't mean that you should never lose or that you should mostly win. No, you should just win more than you lose. It might be 60% (win) - 40% (lose) but surprise, surprise this is still very good. Imagine that you bet 1,000$ and you have 60% chance of winning and 40% of losing, in the long run you will easily see how far you can go with this mindset.

Win more than you lose

There was a study made that compared accomplished people (winners) vs not so well-accomplished people. The results were incredibly insightful. It is not really that the so called winners didn't lose. They still won more than the other group, but it was not by much. The difference was elsewhere:When the "winners" lost, they didn't lose that much testosterone, but when they won they gained a lot. The other group was the opposite - their testosterone levels dropped a lot when they lost, but didn't increase that much when they won.

The mindset of winners (1)

This was all caused by their perception of the reality, instead of the reality itself. The reality was that both groups lost relatively the same amount of times. However, the perception in the groups was different. The first group viewed the loss as something normal and insignificant, but the win as big achievement that they deserved. The second group perceived the situation differently, they "suffered" a lot more from the loss, than they were "happy" about the win. In order to make yourself a winner, change your perception about the winning & losing dynamic.

The mindset of winners (2)

Mamba Mentality, or how to achieve great results by impeccable focus

habits

Habits

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

Mamba Mentality: You Too Can Be GREAT

Lee Kuan Yew was born in 1923 in Singapore during the British colonial rule. He was the prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990 and remained as a member in parliament until he died in 2015. Through his leadership, he transformed Singapore from a small, dependant island to an economic force. He raised standards for living significantly and made the workforce highly specialized instead. In turn the GDP of the country rose significantly. The GDP of Singapore for 2024 is projected to be 500b$ with population of 5,6m. So how did he accomplish such astonishing results? Read below

Soft dictatorship is when the country is still to a large extent controlled by one man (the dictator), but the dictator has the country's interests at heart. This is opposed to hard dictatorship where the dictator's goal is only to keep the power in his hands even when it means people will suffer. So on one side, you have power to one person, who has in mind the interests of the common people and the country as priority number one and on the other side (hard dictatorship) you have centralized power, with the end goal of staying in power no matter the circumstances.

Creating a soft dictatorship

Not everything can be solved with democracy. Sometimes, especially in dire circumstances (such as Singapore before Lee Kuan Yew) an authoritative approach is needed. History has proven that in times of war (or when pivot is needed), the leaders that are most fit are more on the autocratic side and in peaceful times it is the opposite. In order for Singapore's reforms to become reality, two things were needed: a clear vision and firm hands to executed it. Lee Kuan Yew had both.

Why was a soft dictatorship needed?

In one of his famous speeches, he compared Singapore with the fruit durian. He said that if Singapore was like an orange, the juice would already have been squeezed by the other more powerful players on the world stage. But instead even when it is small in size, it is more like a durian - highly nutritious, but hard to squeeze. If you attempt to squeeze it, your hands will get hurt. Don't hope that people won't squeeze you, instead become hard to squeeze.

Become impossible to squeeze

Lee Kuan Yew became the man of the people by deeply caring for the well being of the common man. He made it priority number one to increase the standard of living for everyone, hence why he was so loved by his people. Even today, people speak about him with utmost respect, love and gratitude for what he has done for the country. This was achieved not through self-indulgence or greediness, but instead through hard work and grand vision. In one of his speeches, he said that he views Singapore as his baby, due to the copious amount of effort and hard work he put into reforming the country.

Be a man of the people

Lee Kuan Yew's first priority was the well-being of the common man and not preserving the power that he had accumulated. Hence why he thought of a plan of succession before he stepped down from the prime minister role voluntarily. He knew that he would need a good plan of succession, if he wanted Singapore to continue prosper without him. Some even say that one of the best criteria for whether you did a good job in senior leadership, is the succession plan that you devise at the end of your career. Because did your results really matter, if everything is immediately destroyed once you exit?

Know when to step down

After his role of prime minister, he still remained involved in politics until his late years where he acted as a mentor. He switched his focus on dispersing the vast amount of wisdom and knowledge he had accumulated through his years. He gave lectures, seminars and acted as a teacher for the new generation.

Later in life

Lee Kuan Yew was the man who transformed Singapore making it what it is today.He did that with grand vision and firm hands. Even though he was closer to being a dictator, he still had the best interests of the country in mind and never made it about him having power just for the sake of having power. He had this mentality of being hard to squeeze (because people will try to squeeze you, especially when you are rich in nutrients). People loved and admired him as they understood he cared deeply for their well being.

Summary

Lee Kuan Yew was the person who transformed Singapore from a small island to one of the most advanced and well recognized economies in the world

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Lee Kuan Yew: The man who transformed Singapore forever

One minute manager is a book written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. It is one of the few books that have stood the test of time. Part of the reason might be that it shows 3 really simple rules for effective management. There is no "complicated" words and nothing too fancy. Just technique proven with time.

The first idea is that there should be a clear goal that could be explained and understood in one minute. Working without a clear goal in mind is like playing bowling, without knowing that the target is to clear the kegels. You just roll the ball and don't know what to expect. Is hitting the kegels a good or a bad thing? It is the same in work, if you can't set a clear goal for your employees, you can't expect them to be successful at what they do. And the blame is not theirs.

One minute goal setting

The second idea is one minute praise. Most people only point out the mistakes, but never really give praise for a job well done. They expect that the job should be well done by default and this requires no need for further discussions. But as humans, no matter how complicated we think we are, we still operate on some primitive principles. Think of when you train your puppy to do tricks, you first show him the trick and upon successful copying of the trick - you reward him with a 'treat'. In other words, you give him 'one minute praise', which in turn motivates him even more to do good job.

One minute praise

Nothing is always perfect. People make mistakes, but they should not be ignored. If ignored, only more will follow. Hence, here comes the one minute reprimand. You point out the mistake. The more specific you are - the better. The focus here should not be to attack the person behind the mistake or his abilities, but centre on the situation. Then, this is followed by a short silence, so the employee can reflect. After which, you pat him on the shoulder (showing him how valuable he is to you) and point out that he is capable of much more.

One minute reprimand

The 3 main ideas showed in the book are:<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">One minute goal setting.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">One minute praise.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">One minute reprimand.</li></ol>

Recap

3 Simple ideas that you could use to manage effectively.

education

Learning & Education

books

Books

One Minute Manager: 3 Simple Ideas for Effective Management 

Shogun is a novel written by James Clavell and was recently adapted in a film series by FX. It is about the battle for power between the daimyos. Well, it is a lot more than that, but that's the main theme. Proven through history, not the strongest survive, but the smartest, most adaptable to the situation.One should be willing to learn from anything, be it from movies, books or everyday life. Well, in Shogun there are many hidden wisdom gems that we can learn from.

Keep your enemies guessing and it is even better if you make them guess wrong. It is really hard to win a battle, if you do not know your enemies true intentions. And the opposite is also true, it is much easier to defeat an opponent if you know his moves in advance. That's why you should strive to conceal your next moves to your opponent. The surprise will increase your chances of winning by a lot. Toranaga is a master of this, he never really showed his true intentions to anyone, even to his closest people.

Do not show your true intentions to your 'enemies'

You should strive to make decisions that are logical, instead of emotional. Emotional decisions are rarely the correct ones. Instead try to look the situation from above. Play the situation, but remove yourself from the main role. Instead put some random person, but do not change the circumstances. Now, ask yourself what is the best move for the random person you've just placed. What should he do? How should he react? This helps a lot in making your decisions rational instead of emotional. Toranaga never really made an emotional decision, even if it was related to his closest circle.

Do not make emotional decisions

No matter the situation, plan it in advance. Imagine you are playing chess, the best players are the ones who can plan (correctly) the most moves ahead. The better you are at 'predicting' the most likely outcomes, the more likely you are to win. Make a simulation about the situation, imagine that you do X, how will things play out? What will the counterparty do? What's your move then and so on. Usually if you are able to plan 2 moves ahead, that will make a big change. 5 is ideal. Toranaga made sure that everything was planned out to the closest detail.

Plan in advance

Let's bring back the chess concept. You should not only plan for what your opponent will do next, but also plan your best response to this move. Well, if we are to go one step beyond, you should make such moves that your opponent doesn't have any good options. No matter what he does, you are still in better position. This was perfectly played out by Toranaga when he sent Mariko to Osaka. No matter how Ishido would have responded to the request of freeing the 'hostages', Toranaga would have gained an advantage. He simply gains better position WHEN his opponent responds (no matter HOW).

Think of the best moves

Let's recap:<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">Do not show your true intentions to your enemies</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Do not make emotional decisions</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Plan in advance</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Make the best moves</li></ol>That's only some of the lessons that could be extracted from this gigantic wisdom of power play.