#043: What Makes Good Taste, DIY Engines, Why Certain Olympians Stand Out

Hi All!

We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com.

This week, we will explore what makes good taste, how you can create your own model V8 engines, why certain olympians are destined to create viral moments, and more. Let's dive in:

Paul Graham on Taste

​Paul Graham is one of the co-founders of legendary startup incubator Y-Combinator. He is also a prolific writer, and regularly shares essays on his blog regarding various life topics. I recently found myself coming back to his, 'Taste for Makers' essay, which in essence asks the question: How do you make good stuff?

We highly suggest reading the entire article, but some of the key points are as follows:

• Good design is simple
• Good design is timeless
• Good design solves the right problem
• Good design resembles nature
• Good design uses symmetry

There are a few other principles he describes, but these are a a few of the points in the essay we believe in as well. If you are looking to refine your taste, create beautiful products, or generally appreciate design, this is a great essay to read.

Directory of Directories

​Chris Osborne has stepped up the game of curation and done the unthinkable: he has created a directory of directories. Our own site is a directory of sorts, so this is naturally something we are very interested in. You'll find directories to help you book a local magician, find the right accountant, explore the best one page websites, and more.

What we enjoy about the site in particular, is that it shows a few of the directories' estimates in Monthly Recurring Revenue and viability as a business. It's also a great starting point to try and find more pinpointed recommendations for different niches you may be interested in.

Build Your Own Engines

Last week, we featured LEGO Technics which received a lot of positive feedback from our community! We wanted to share another website that has a similar 'DIY' approach to learning engineering and physics...

Sam Parr recently posted that on top of his LEGO Technics, he started to tinker with building his own model v8 engine. The company he ordered his kit from was Engine DIY, which has a huge number of options to choose from ranging from gasoline engines, RC engines, V8 engines, jet engines, steam engines, and more.

One aspect I find funny is that depending on the model you're interested in, these engines are actually less expensive than some of the LEGO Technics! It's an incredible site, and a great starting point if you are looking to experiment within engineering.

A Slow Paced and Intuitive Math Teacher

​@Samyak1729 recently shared a new YouTube math resource on Twitter, Dr. Trefor Bazett. From the channel's description:

We love this approach of making sure people actively participate in the math and aren't just watching the videos. Many people under Samyak's original post vouched for the quality of Bazett's channel:

​@Inkev_kevin : A few semesters ago I had gotten really behind in my discrete (math) class and this dude saved me.

​@4cc3lerte : I learned my muti variable and vector calc from him!

​@yashwanth__e : bro carried my differential equations course

Why We Love Effortless Grace

​Yusef Dikeç is the Turkish marksman who turned into a global sensation during the Olympics. He won silver for his country, but captured the hearts, minds, and memes of people from around the world. From Japan calling him "Uncle Free-to-Play" (meaning a gamer who's able to win without spending any money on freemium mobile games) to people coming up with outrageous backstories of him being an international spy, he has transcended the games. But why is this?

​@andrewglynch proposes the idea of 'sprezzatura' which roughly describes a 'kind of effortless grace, the art of making something difficult look easy, or maintaining a nonchalant demeanor while performing complex tasks'.

In contrast to the other viral sharpshooter, Yeji Kim, Dikeç has an understated look that 'makes it seem like the Olympics were the third thing on his to-do list that day.'

We are drawn to the naturals, the effortless, those we can see ourselves in. Whatever you find yourself doing in this world, be a natural at it.

We appreciate any feedback you are able to provide here. What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Feel free to reach out to us on Instagram and give us a follow there, tag your friends on our posts, and please forward this newsletter along to anyone else who would enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Becket U is an Amazon Associate and purchases through Amazon links may earn a small affiliate commission, but the price is the same for you. We only recommend books we love and think you would love, too.

Always wishing you the best,

J.B.