Sometimes people wanna know who my influences are. It’s tough to assemble a perfect or exhaustive list, but here’s an attempt that I’ll update from time to time.
When I was really young, I read Charlie Brown’s ‘Cyclopedia. I think it influenced some of my aesthetic sensibilities. More broadly, I read everything I could get my hands on to understand the world – dinosaurs, galaxies, plate tectonics, volcanoes, lightning, magnets… I get into this stuff more in The Library Ethos.
Being born and raised in Singapore definitely shaped me in ways that are challenging for me to perceive when I’m in my home environment, but it usually reveals itself in the differences I have with people from other countries. Might have to write a separate post about that, but here’s a thread in the meantime.
I read a bunch of Enid Blyton as a kid, initially at my mum’s suggestion, and then in a self-directed way from libraries. I’m not sure I’d particularly recommend her, but I must’ve been influenced by her work to a greater degree than I realize. Calvin and Hobbes was a big influence in my adolescence. I deeply enjoyed Calvin’s irreverence, playfulness, mischief. I also had a phase where I read a lot of Robert Cormier – very dark, bleak stories for young adults. There was a memoir by Judith Kerr called When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit that moved me deeply.
More books… The User Illusion by Tor Norretranders blew my mind several times. A Sideways Look At Time by Jay Griffiths is great. You can look up a bunch of these books on my youtube channel’s book review playlist.
I was a big fan of MBTI theory when I first discovered it, though I no longer care for it much anymore. Here’s a post about my journey through that.
My biggest living influence right now is probably Hayley Williams, the lead singer of Paramore. Here’s a twitter thread about that. I cherish a lot about her – her vulnerability, her charisma, her eagerness to connect with people, her graciousness as a host, she’s just an all around wonderful person as far as I can tell.
When I was a teenager I discovered Karl Paulnack’s address to freshman parents at the Boston Conservatory. He spoke beautifully about how artists are the first responders, chiropractors of the soul. Steeled my resolve in wanting to be an artist, in whatever sense. “If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of mutual understanding, I don’t expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. […] I expect it will come from the artists, because that’s what we do.” Here’s a post about the role of music in my life.
When I was about 20, I read Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power. I know it often gets a bad rep for being on the reading list of amoral, sociopathic, manipulative types, but for me this book opened my eyes to ways in which I was bungling my social interactions with people. I think it’s possible to read this book and remain a thoughtful, kind, nourishing person – and be more effective about the way you do it.
In my mid-20s, when I was feeling really low and depressed, I discovered Alan Watts. I found his cheeky, cheerful, mischievous energy to be a wonderful salve, and it helped me see the humor in my despair. Here’s a twitter thread with a list of my favorite Alan Watts quotes.
There was a time where I used to watch a lot of TED talks. Many of them are kinda fluff, but some of them are really good. One talk that really stuck with me is Eve Ensler’s 2004 talk. She talked about how helping other people helped to heal her own trauma. She said, “When we give in the world what we want the most, we heal the broken part inside each of us.”
I rewatch Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture about once a year or so. He had a great “nurturing teacher” vibe. The bit that changed my life was Randy talking about what one of his mentors said to him: “Randy, it’s such a shame that people perceive you as so arrogant, because it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish in life.”
Benjamin Zander has similar vibes in his TED talk about classical music and leadership. “The conductor doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make others powerful.”
David Ogilvy’s Confessions of an Advertising Man was a substantial influence. He had such a strong voice, a clear sense of what he valued. He helped clarify for me that I want to aspire to excellence, to “strive for the company of immortals”. (youtube review)
Kirby Ferguson’s Everything Is A Remix is probably the single thing that’s most impacted my view of creativity. It dramatically reduced my creative anxiety. There’s no point trying to be “original”, since nothing is truly new. We can only keep making remixes – copy, transform, combine – until we get to interesting, evocative remixes. So be prolific and make as many remixes as you can!
Amanda Palmer’s Art of Asking – I related to this a lot as a musician. I now kind of think of this as an exploration of gift economies vs transactional economies. I know Amanda has gotten into some ugly drama over the years, here’s my POV on that
I revisit this Elizabeth Gilbert TED talk every year or so: about artists, creativity, mental health, the fear of failure and the curse of success, and how other people talk about you and your work
Bobby McFerrin – demonstrated what it’s like to teach the audience something and to play with them. You see Benjamin Zander do this too.
Victor Wooten. I always knew that Wooten was a phenomenal musician, but it took me a while longer to discover that he’s also a fantastic teacher, with a wonderful attitude towards learning. He talks about music as a language, and how language acquisition is organic and natural. (Economist Robert Frank, another great writer and educator, who similarly talks about how he learned the Nepalese language with the Peace Corp, mimicking children.) Wooten also blew my mind with some very specific things about music, thread here.
The Mass Effect trilogy of video games was definitely a substantial influence on me in my late teens and early 20s. Here’s a blogpost I wrote about it in 2012. I would say Final Fantasy 6 and 7 impacted me similarly, as did Horizon Zero Dawn. What I got from all of these stories was a reinforced belief that we can do great things by finding and assembling a crew, taking care of each other.
Kenny Werner, jazz pianist – one of those fellas who just puts you right at ease with his zen perspective on music and life.
Sir Ken Robinson helped put words to my frustration with school, and I enjoyed his cheeky humor. RIP.
Jon Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness – a restful, peaceful presence
Sequelitis on Megaman X – I must’ve rewatched this video a dozen times, excellent presentation of an excellent game that does storytelling incredibly well
I was pretty late to learning about Richard Feynman but I definitely caught some of his infectious curiosity. Same for Carl Sagan. I think I encountered Neil Tyson before either of them, and I was particularly won over by this nuanced criticism Tyson had of Richard Dawkins: “Being an educator is not only getting the truth right, but there’s got to be an act of persuasion in there as well… Here are the facts, and here is a sensitivity to your state of mind. It’s facts + sensitivity that creates impact.” Unfortunately Tyson doesn’t always live up to the ideal that he articulates here.
I had a Jason Silva phase – To understand is to perceive patterns and The biological advantage of being awestruck are two great videos
I had an Elliott Hulse phase – at his best he was a good model of grounded, earthy, nurturing masculine energy. But he kind of went off the rails at some point, sad
I loved all of George Carlin’s content when I first encountered it. It’s aged well, he was really great. I also like the best of Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock’s work – I think they’re both very incisive when it comes to racial and societal issues, although they can kinda bungle things when talking about gender stuff.
I generally am wary of most motivational speakers, but Les Brown has some great riffs. “Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.” There are several inspirational videos by youtuber MateusZ that I used to watch over and over again that really tattooed a bunch of nourishing sentiments into my mind – Why Do We Fall, Dream and Unbroken. Les Brown’s quotes are featured in these videos quite a bit.
Internet creators I’ve enjoyed: Contrapoints, WaitButWhy, XKCD, Abstroose Goose, SMBC, bill wurtz, Overly Sarcastic Productions, OverSimplified, Crash Course. Also see the people mentioned in my blogroll.
Last updated 30th May 2021.