Knowledge and Knowing

Book of the Month : December 2025 : Outlive by Peter Attia

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(Recommended by Krishnans)

Wouldn’t you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity, Dr. Peter Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health.

For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of aging that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late to help, prolonging lifespan at the expense of healthspan, or quality of life. Dr. Attia believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalized, proactive strategy for longevity, one where we take action now, rather than waiting.

This is not “biohacking,” it’s science: a well-founded strategic and tactical approach to extending lifespan while also improving our physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Dr. Attia’s aim is less to tell you what to do and more to help you learn how to think about long-term health, in order to create the best plan for you as an individual. In Outlive, readers will discover:

• Why the cholesterol test at your annual physical doesn’t tell you enough about your actual risk of dying from a heart attack.
• That you may already suffer from an extremely common yet underdiagnosed liver condition that could be a precursor to the chronic diseases of aging.
• Why exercise is the most potent pro-longevity “drug”—and how to begin training for the “Centenarian Decathlon.”
• Why you should forget about diets, and focus instead on nutritional biochemistry, using technology and data to personalize your eating pattern.
• Why striving for physical health and longevity, but ignoring emotional health, could be the ultimate curse of all.

Aging and longevity are far more malleable than we think; our fate is not set in stone. With the right roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.

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Unconditional Love and Karma Yoga: Two Paths to the Same Liberation

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Introduction

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.” This teaching from the Bhagavad Gita has echoed through centuries, guiding seekers toward spiritual liberation. Yet this wisdom is not exclusively Eastern, nor exclusively ancient. Unconditional love—understood not as fleeting sentiment but as disciplined commitment—teaches the very same truth in the language of the heart.

These two concepts, separated by culture and expression, reveal a profound convergence: both are disciplines of the will that transcend the ego’s demand for return. Both offer liberation from the bondage of expectation. And both invite us into a radically different way of being in the world.

Part I: The Bhagavad Gita’s Karma Yoga

The Teaching

In Chapter 2, Verse 47 of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna offers Arjuna foundational guidance for right living:

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.”[1]

This is the essence of Karma Yoga—the yoga of action without attachment.

Three Essential Instructions

Krishna’s teaching in this verse contains three interconnected insights:

1. You Have the Right to Action, Not to Results

The Gita distinguishes between what lies within our control and what does not. We have dominion over our effort, our choices, and our dedication to duty. We do not control whether success arrives, whether our work is recognized, or whether others benefit as we hoped. This is not pessimism; it is clarity. As one commentator notes, “We have the right to do our duty, but the results are not dependent only upon our efforts.”[2] The farmer plants the seed with full dedication; the harvest depends on rain, soil, and countless factors beyond his control. The soldier fights with complete commitment; victory belongs to generals and circumstances.

2. Do Not Consider Yourself the Sole Doer

Krishna teaches that the ego’s claim to authorship is a delusion. Our actions arise from a complex interplay of body, mind, abilities, circumstances, and the workings of nature itself. To claim credit for success is to misunderstand reality. As the Gita reflects, “we are not the proprietors of our accomplishments; we are instruments through which the universe expresses itself.”[3] This recognition is humbling, but it is also liberating. When you release the pride of doership, you also release the shame of failure.

3. Do Not Withdraw from Duty Through Inaction

Krishna warns against a common misunderstanding: the belief that non-attachment means non-involvement. Some interpret his teaching as justification for passivity—why act if the fruits are not mine? Krishna’s response is clear. Inaction is not the alternative to attachment; it is another form of attachment, rooted in fear and aversion. The path is neither frenzied attachment nor apathetic withdrawal, but engaged participation without clinging.

The Fruit of Karma Yoga

What emerges from this practice? Inner peace. A steadiness of mind that neither trembles at failure nor grasps at success. The Gita teaches that this equanimity is the true fruit—not external victory, but internal freedom. “By being free from the desire for the fruits of work, the mind is liberated and achieves stability.”[4]

More than this: action performed without attachment naturally becomes purifying. Freed from the distortion of ego-grasping, it aligns with dharma—cosmic order and one’s true nature. The Karma Yogi becomes an instrument of something larger than personal will.

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Top Lessons from Warren Buffet Shareholder letters over the Years

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Based on decades of Warren Buffett’s shareholder letters, here are the top lessons that recur throughout his writings:

1. The Power of Long-Term Compounding

Buffett emphasizes thinking in decades rather than months or years, noting that short-term market movements are irrelevant to compounding wealth. He often references Albert Einstein’s statement that “compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world” and urges reinvesting profits rather than seeking immediate returns. He reminds shareholders that “a single winning decision can make a breathtaking difference over time,” reinforcing the belief that a few exceptional investments held over decades can drive monumental value.

2. Value Investing with a Margin of Safety

Key themes include avoiding market speculation, evaluating intrinsic business value, and maintaining a margin of safety. In his 1996 letter, Buffett stated: “Your goal as an investor should simply be to purchase, at a rational price, a part interest in an easily-understandable business whose earnings are virtually certain to be materially higher five, ten, and twenty years from now.”

3. Focus on Quality Businesses with Durable Economic Moats

Over six decades, Buffett has emphasized prioritizing high-quality businesses with durable competitive advantages, as seen in Berkshire’s holdings like Apple, Coca-Cola and American Express. In analyzing 1,000 companies, only 25 met tests of economic excellence with average returns on equity over 20% and no year below 15%. These business “superstars” were also stock market superstars, and most sold non-sexy products in much the same manner as they did years prior, suggesting that making the most of an already strong business franchise produces exceptional returns.

4. Disciplined Capital Allocation

Buffett’s letters highlight the mistakes companies make in capital allocation, such as overpaying for acquisitions or issuing debt irresponsibly. He warns against empire-building by CEOs who make acquisitions for the sake of expansion rather than shareholder value. Buffett wrote in 2016: “Every decade or so, dark clouds will fill the economic skies, and they will briefly rain gold. When downpours of that sort occur, it’s imperative that we rush outdoors carrying washtubs, not teaspoons.”

5. Integrity and Quality Management

Buffett values integrity highly in business leaders. He famously stated: “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” When evaluating a company, investors should pay attention to management’s track record, compensation structure and corporate culture.

6. Patience and Avoiding Market Noise

In his 1984 letter, Buffett famously said, “In the short term, the market is a voting machine but in the long term, it is a weighing machine”—a timeless reminder not to get swayed by market hype and to focus on the fundamental value of a business. Buffett reaffirms that short-term noise is irrelevant; compounding wins in the end.

7. Simplicity and Understanding What You Own

Buffett prefers to keep investments simple, especially during complex market periods. During the dotcom boom, he avoided companies he didn’t understand, emphasizing that investors should focus on businesses that are easily understandable. His ability to distill complex financial concepts into understandable, even delightful prose—as if writing as a wise mentor rather than a distant CEO—is reflected in all his communications.

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett shares farewell letter to his shareholders.

The most important personality trait of the 21st century?

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The most important personality trait of the 21st century?

High Agency.

It’s the difference between people who wait and people who make things happen.

Here’s why:

High Agency means finding a way forward without waiting for perfect conditions.

No excuses or blaming circumstances.

Just action.

The Wright brothers had it.

The New York Times once wrote:

“Man won’t fly for a million years.”

Four years later, two poor bicycle makers were flying above the beach.

That’s High Agency.

High Agency people don’t ask, “Can this be done?”

They ask, “How can this be done?”

They don’t wait for permission.

They start with what they have.

They solve problems others call “impossible.”

The difference between high and low agency isn’t talent or luck.

It’s how you respond when someone says:

“That can’t be done.”

Credit: @georgemack

Suggested by Andrew D