Sep 18, 2025ABOUT 1 MIN READ

A Curated Collection of Thought-Provoking Ideas, Anecdotes, and Media

By Arjun Acharya · Originally published on Medium

Screen grab of a film called Two by Satyajit Ray. A must watch. You can watch it here

Last updated on 14 October, 2025. I’ll be collecting and sharing fragments of text and anecdotes that strike me as especially thought-provoking during my readings. This will be a living, ongoing work in progress.

A former colleague of mine, a professor of finance, prides himself on being a thoroughly rational man. Long ago he adopted a clever strategy to deal with life’s misfortunes. At the beginning of each year he establishes a target donation to the local United Way charity. Then, if anything untoward happens to him during the year, for example an undeserved speeding ticket, he simply deducts this loss from the United Way account. He thinks of it as an insurance policy against small annoyances.

— Thaler, Mental Accounting Matter (1999)

In the United Arab Emirates, the richest country, on the furthest right, the average incomes of the richest and poorest 10% are $389,750 and $1,522 respectively. In Somalia, the furthest left, the corresponding incomes are $6,894 and $16. You can read more about it here.

Scientific revolutions are inaugurated by a growing sense… that an existing paradigm has ceased to function adequately in the exploration of an aspect of nature to which that paradigm itself had previously led the way. – Kuhn

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Originally published on Medium on Sep 18, 2025. Text and publication date preserved from the original.