At Actionable Books we are incredibly grateful for the unique and diverse people who make up our team and strive to celebrate them whenever possible. Prashanth Gopalan is one such person.
Prashanth has written 11 summaries for Actionable Books since 2010–a veteran! So we thought now was the perfect opportunity to find out a little bit more about Prashanth. And if you would like to join our community of guest writers, learn more here.
1. What do you do when you’re not writing Actionable summaries?
I spend a lot of time reading and thinking, and trying to find connections between the various ideas I come across and then write them down so I don’t forget. I also think about how I feel about certain issues and topics, or about topics or observations that I could be writing about, or details from conversations and books and articles I’ve read that I think would be worth recording or documenting with a well-timed transfer of thoughts to paper.
In many ways, thinking and reading leads me back to writing. Writing is a way of having a conversation with myself that allows me to make sense of the thoughts I have about the things I read and think about. When I’m not writing, I’m usually trying to untangle a problem or dissect an idea that I’ve come across, and when a breakthrough realization or insight sinks through, I’m usually rushing for a pen and notepad, or my laptop.
Something I’ve been thinking about recently is just how fragile the record of our existence (and self-awareness) as a species on this planet really is, and how our writing tradition is an inalienable part of that picture.
If you think about it, the history of the knowledge of the human race, the vast edifice of our recorded presence on this clump of rock, has only been kept alive and at the forefront of our imaginations because millions of people across the ages, both well-known and unknown, chose to take a moment out of their day to write something down. Even if it turns out to be a scrap of a note or an observation scrawled in the corner or margin of a page or a book, or the largest and most voluminous of tomes, or just even a well-thought out morsel of condensed and reflected wisdom that we revere, their simply being written down keeps those observations and ideas alive and in our memories for posterity, conferring a sort of immortality to the ideas themselves.
The significance of our species, in the larger story of the universe, will only be as heavy as the total weight of our written records. Written records act as the output of our efforts on this planet, our memories, and so far are our only living link to a past that transcends the passing of generations. Our ability to write down aspects of our momentary presence on this planet on pieces of paper and publish them ensures that we can actuate an immortality for ourselves, of sorts, that will outlive our brief, flickering lives and ensure that a legacy is left for posterity and future reference. Writing, in other words, keeps our memories, culture and civilization alive, and helps make us self-aware.
2. How has Actionable Books impacted your life?
It’s given me an opportunity to express myself, which is not something I can say about many of the other things I’ve done in the past. I think everyone is secretly yearning for an outlet which allows them to express their uniquely precise cocktail of creative talents in order to leave their mark on the world. While I’m certainly not there yet, writing for Actionable Books has provided me with an opportunity to experience the fulfillment that comes with expressing yourself through a craft like writing. Some people carve hunting knives, paint or do yoga to relax, unwind and explore their inner landscapes. I write.
AB has also provided me with a platform from which to read books that I find interesting, and write about them with a view to inspire, challenge and educate readers. In doing so, I’ve managed to train my mind to connect the dots between the often disparate concepts that I encounter in daily reading and the books that I read, and in doing so I’ve realized that there’s a wholly new layer of meaning that can be excavated from reality that brings perspective and enrichment in a way that eluded me in the past.
It’s very invigorating.
3. What’s your favorite summary you’ve written so far?
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt was by the far the one summary I enjoyed writing the most. Anyone looking for a role-model in today’s day and age need not look any further than Teddy Roosevelt, at the very least by virtue of the sheer volume of feats he managed to accomplish in only sixty years on this Earth, but all the more so because he managed to master the equally conflicting demands of a strong body, a powerful intellect and towering soul and coordinate their exertions to his benefit. Forget Thomas More, Roosevelt is the man for all seasons.
A close second would be my summary of Baltasar Gracian’s The Art of Worldly Wisdom. Why? Because it’s an evergreen and oft-missed companion for anyone who wants to create value in the world dominated by powerful egos.
4. Where will you be one year from now?
Hopefully writing my first book, and actively moving towards a career where the exploration of ideas, writing, debate and discussion are an inalienable part of the experience. My ultimate goal is to live a lifestyle where I am in a position to inform, inspire, challenge and educate people for a living.
5. Best advice you’ve ever been given…
Actually three pieces of thought that have served me well, taken together, constitute some solid advice for writers (and lifelong-learners):
Christopher Hitchens’s maxim, that a writer has a “promiscuous mandate is to be interested in everything”, was a well-timed encounter that pretty much confirmed my growing sentiment that writing was the direction I should be going in, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s lament is the eternal peeve (and muse) of every writer: “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”
Lastly, a quote from Charles T. Munger’s Poor Charlie’s Almanack rather accurately captures the notion that you shouldn’t necessarily limit your friend circle to those who are still alive: “I am a biography nut myself, and I think when you’re trying to teach the great concepts that work, it helps to tie them into the lives and personal ties of the people who developed them. I think that you learn economics better if you make Adam Smith your friend. That sounds funny, making friends among the eminent dead, but if you go through life making friends with the eminent dead who had the right ideas, I think it will work better in life and work better in education. It’s way better than just giving the basic concepts.”
6. Describe your own personal brand in 5 words or less.
Stay tuned.
