Reads

My favorite pieces of writing I’ve read over the years.

Books #

• The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
• The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew (for the Singaporeans)
• The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin (Book 2 of the Three-Body Problem trilogy)
• The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
• Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Online writing #

• The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work: Phillip Rogaway’s 2015 essay on the political and moral implications of cryptography. If I had to choose a single piece from this list, I’d probably identify this as the one that’s had the most influence on how I think about what I want to work on. I also encourage you to check out other material that he’s written in the years after. I don’t agree with everything he has to say, but it’s inspiring to see someone be able to take a long hard look at their field from a step back after having been immersed so deeply in it for so long.
• You don’t need to work on hard problems: Career advice from Ben Kuhn I hope to embody.
• 200Bn Weights of Responsibility: Felix Hill (RIP) on the stress that comes with working in AI.
• If you meet the Singaporean on the road: “Give a Singaporean a few hundred thousand dollars, and he will build a tuition center.”
• I thought Singapore already has great government. Isn’t it good enough?: OGP director Li Hongyi’s short reflection on failures in the handling of the Megan Khung case.