Re: Life / on archery, immunity, and contentment
My life condensed into variably interesting posts on the internet
Welcome to Re: Life 👋 !
I’m Aaryan - currently a sophomore at Stanford diving headfirst into a world of biology, hardware, and mild sleep deprivation.
You just stumbled on the weird corner of the internet where I chronicle my life. In every post, I share three quick updates from my life, two links to noodle on, and one idea to reflect on for the week.
Let’s begin.
🎬 Three Speedy Updates 🎬
// Wrapping up my research at Stanford Medicine to discover new species of bacterial viruses. Still adding some final polish to our data analysis, but I’m looking forward to (finally) sharing the results of this work with you!
// Survived midterms - still hibernating from the aftermath. Currently taking up archery, brainstorming room decor, and organizing a class for high-schoolers on the unexpected value of “wasting” time. (More on this next week).
// Otherwise enjoying the simple pleasures that free time can afford: biking around campus, gathering friends to meet, and enjoying some world-class writing by Benjamin Labatut (shoutout to Phoebe Oldach for the brilliant recommendation!)
🎉 Two Links to Think 🎉
How Your Immune Cells Eat
Live footage of your body gobbling up its own infected cells. (Sure, it’s old science, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome!)
The Eerie Constant Behind Human Language
Strangely, most human languages - regardless of the speed at which they’re spoken - seem to convey information at roughly 39 bits per second. What’s going on?
🧠 One Interesting Idea 🧠
French philosopher Simone Weil on the nature of contentment.
“If we go down into ourselves we find that we possess exactly what we desire.”
This week, I’m asking myself: how much of my satisfaction comes from outside me - from people, ideas, and events beyond my control?
Who is steering your life?
Best,
Aaryan