Have been busy this month, so I am just sharing a few things that I find interesting:

Sports in which women can be better than men

When watching the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, I wondered if there is any sport where women perform better than man? Turns out there are a few: diving, equestrian, riflery.

Recently I learned two additional sports in which women can be better than men, although not consistently and not on average.

  1. Ultramarathon running

Women are sometimes better at ultramarathon running – we are talking about races that are 200km+ long with 10,000m+ elevation in the mountain ranges. For example, Jasmine Paris won the 268 mile Montane Spane Race. Courtney Daulwater won the Big’s Backyard Ultra by 10 hours.

Some scientists explains this phenomenon with woman’s higher body fat reserve, better pain tolerance, smaller body size (and better heat radiation) etc. Nothing is conclusive, but it’s definitely interesting to see.

Kamila Valieva Kamila Valieva, the no.1 seed for women’s singles in the 2022 Olympic Games

  1. Figure Skating

Kudos to Kamila Valieva! This 15-year-old Russian figure skater, who scored 40 points higher than men in Rostelecom Cup. She could have won men’s champion too! I hope she stays injury-free and ready for the Beijing Olympics. Truly one of a kind.

If you are interested in watching a bit more of this beautiful sport, I’d recommend Exogenesis by Kamila Valieva and SEIMEI by Yuzuru Hanyu.

Book of the month: Four Thousand Weeks

I’ve recently come across a book that changed my view of “productivity”. This is not a typical self-help book despite its terribly cliché name (I suspect the author is intentional in this regard because it precisely targets the people who are looking for productivity advice).

The gist of the book:

Some quotes that I liked:
Life’s bounty is in its flow.
Your attention is your life.

Musician Keshi and the rise of independent multi-instrualmentalist

I recently discovered an Houston-based Vietnamese American independent musician who make some good stuff: Keshi

There are a few others like him, such as the black skirts.

I am always amazed when I realize that they are one-person-band who writes, records, produces all the songs. I guess since they have the total control over their creativity process, the songs are more in accord with each other and coherent in style. This is unimaginable 20 years ago without MIDI technology!

Be successful young

I have this observation, that the typical “successful people” are becoming younger and younger. Especially those in the domain of arts and sports. Recent debut singers, such as Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, snowborder Chloe Kim, freestyle skier Eileen Gu, writier Sally Rooney, etc. Some programmers also fall into this category.

This makes sense. These people delve into an idiosyncratic field at an early age and have spent more than 10,000 hours perfecting their craft. There is the developmental advantage of learning something young (our brain is more malleable). Also, they haven’t been sucked up in the ebbs and flows of mundane life.

However, this shouldn’t be a frustrating observation. On the contrary, it reminds me of the importance of focus. To have more than one priority, is to not have priority at all.

Skiing in Europe vs in the US

Last weekend I skiied for the first time this season! The condition was not optimal, but as always, everyday out there is a good day. There are a few differences I’ve noticed with resorts in the EU vs US.

  1. US resorts are a lot more expensive.
    A day ticket at Verbier cost 65CHF, a day ticket at Snowbird costs 128$. And Verbier is bigger.

  2. US have newer infrastructure
    I mean, of course, European ski resorts have existed for way longer.

  3. US resorts cover “off-piste”
    In the US, anything within resort boundary are avalanche-cleared, whether it’s groomed or not. In Europe, anything that is not groomed, you are on your own. People bring avalanche gears even in the resort. I find this a bit strange.

EPFL vs Yale

10 weeks into the semester, life at EPFL has become more rhythmic now. There are a few differences for those who are interested:

  1. curriculum design EPFL has a very rigid, rigorous quantative curriculum that is completely devoid of humanities. It’s almost like a high-school curriculum where you don’t have much choices. On the one hand, students here have an amazing mathematical foundation, and everyone is exposed to coding. On the other hand, I have questions about their abilities to read critically, read difficult text, and write clearly.

  2. administration EPFL administration is just as proficient as Yale, if not more efficient. Interestingly, the school includes some services that are quite handy, such as the Repro center for students to print posters and for professors to print some name cards / beautifully printed and bound thesis. EPFL also has one vegetarian day per week, where all the restaurants on campus do not serve meat. This would not go as well if at Yale (you violated my freedom to consume meat!)

  3. campus Yale is beautiful with its well-designed neo gothic architecture and carefully manicured courtyards. EPFL is beautiful too, because the backdrop of the campus is literally the Alps. Breathtaking!

EPFL