For me:
Competitive debatingThe exhilaration of constructing cases in 15 minutes on topics from whether states should ban the positive depictions of former oppressive leaders to or when allocating resources to their children, poor families should allocate most of their resources to support the most talented child in the family to granting human rights to any machine that passes the “Extended Turing Test" ( An Artificial Intelligence machine/robot passes the “Extended Turing Test” if through extended conversation a human being cannot distinguish between the machine and an actual human) . Unravelling the layers of complexity of cause and effects in topics and figuring out the best strategy to crush other teams (hopeful dream)
. I think what most people (namely non- uni debaters) misunderstand about debating, it is very much strategy and structure based (on an argument formulation level as well responding to the opposing team) rather than about how loud you yell or assert yourself (assertions are highly discouraged). Also the esoteric memes on society, politics, economy and debating, is why I still debate in uni (as well as teach and judge school kids)
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The Brain Just unravelling the networks of neurons that make up the brain, and particularly those that create the thought and feelings that differentiate human beings. And exploring treatments and diagnosis methods for various neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis, stroke and autism. The fact it is a constantly-evolving field, makes it particularly exciting to study.
Classical music Hauntingly beautiful, especially on the Cello although I do enjoy playing the Piano as well. The sheer eloquence and emotional depth contained in Dvorak's cello concerto.
Liverpool FC (also European football in general) The rich culture and history of the club <3. YNWA
Physics and ChemistryTelling people that studying Physics and Chemistry is not like the TV show Big Bang Theory. Studying theories and concepts developed by some of the greatest thinkers in science is pretty cool though as well as admiring how those people managed to devise such theories despite the lack of resources and through pure observation. Also its vast applications to energy, medicine and technology.
High quality investigative journalism/ photojournalism/ documentaries The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, Guardian, National Geographic, BBC (occasionally CNN too), The Economist and various independent blogs. I appreciate good quality investigative journalism that does justice and genuinely unravels the complexity of the stories that are writing about. The type of stories that presents a new dimension on a culture, group of people, place, event, or issue etc.
Ice-creamWatching Liverpool lose or not winning a debate absolutely sucks. Ice-cream understands.
Global Health and MedicineThere are interesting times ahead on how the global community will tackle issues like environmental refugees, ageing populations, food provision, human-machine integration, patents on pharmaceuticals in the developing world and personalised health.
Culture (especially of the developing world as well as geographically marginalized groups )Encompasses everything travel (Central Asia, South-east Asia and South America are on top of my list because of the exotic culture, history, lush landscapes and authenticity) and language (I'm currently learning Spanish and Arabic, and can speak elementary Russian and Chinese at a half-decent level) as well. I'm particularly interested in how personhood/identity is constructed through culture, race and ethnicity especially in the developing world and amongst indigenous groups. I would also like to further explore how culture and identity influences political self-determination and economic development in such countries or groups of people.
Philosophy Exploring big questions on the nature of the good life and of reality, identity knowledge, truth and beauty. Period.
Economics Being able to understand why the 2008 Global Financial Crisis happened, Eurozone crisis and its impact on the world economy, bounded rationality, how international institutions like monetary unions, IMF and the Work Bank function and whether developing countries should adopt economic development policies that heavily disincentivise urbanization is pretty awesome.
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