At times, when you are immersed in a book, a movie, or a conversation, the experience transports you to a different place and time.
And when you return, the way you see the world changes — perhaps slightly, but permanently.
Each time it happens to me, words will crisscross my mind like meteor showers.
I then patiently arrange them into strings of sentences, ones that I hope will benefit others.
My name is Irwan Hanish. I help lifelong learners in finding meaning through learning.
I use principles I have studied in Immunology and Microbiology, Islamic Philosophy of Science and more (see Number 8 below).
I write on learning psychology and strategic spirituality to confront daily realities.
What I write may be useless for students in their next exam, but will help them navigate their lives after it.
I write for lifelong learners, those who love to learn more about life beyond what is offered at university.
I share my writings on this website and in Letters for Learners.
Eleven things about me
1. ‘Irwan‘ means ‘insightful‘ in classic Indonesian. Many Indonesians are named ‘Irwansyah’, which means ‘the insightful king’. I am a Malaysian, but my ancestors are Indonesians (with a bit of Chinese ancestry on my mother’s side).
‘Hanish‘ means ‘the herald of the storm‘ in ancient Mesopotamian (Mesopotamia was at present-day Iraq and Iran). In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Hanish forewarns the upcoming tempest so terrible than even the gods fear it.
To live up to my name, I learn multiple fields to gain insights, educate and forewarn impending societal storms.
2. I score high towards the introvertion trait. It means I love people, but my energy drains faster when in gatherings. I would later need to hide somewhere to recuperate.
3. As a child, I was fat. I suffered the consequences of childhood obesity until early adulthood, even after I lost the weight. It has shaped my view about myself and social life.
4. Too often, I’m captivated by ideas from unrelated fields (a trait called high Openness).
It’s a weakness, because success ordinarily requires staying focus in one field. But staying in just one field suffocates people like me.
I’m learning to embrace this part of my personality.
5. I was sorted into Ravenclaw, and suited to a 12 and 1/4 inches hornbeam wood containing a unicorn hair core, with solid flexibility. It conjures up a hedgehog on my happy memory.
6. I love reading. My idea of fun is sitting quietly in a beautiful park with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate.
7. At university, I did better in subjects I didn’t enjoy (I even got the best student award in my least favourite subject), but did worse in the ones that I liked. Our interests and strengths aren’t always aligned.
8. I overestimated the value of exams and academic learning until I did my PhD.
I now invest more in learning psychology, relationships, Kalām, Philosophy of Science, fictional movies, money, history—things not taught to me at university.
9. My mind drifts into thinking about death a few times a month. It started in Australia when I got really sick when I was 26.
The thoughts don’t make me feel sad or anything depressing. But it does make worldly ambitions less attractive than meaning.
10. People who inspire me are many. I will just name a few: Prof Osman Bakar, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Eckhart Tolle, Dr Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Dr Jordan Peterson, Nouman Ali Khan, Chris Nolan, Dalia and Yasmin Mogahed, Michael Saylor, and Dr Abdal Hakim Winter.
If you love their works, I’m glad we have found each other. Because you are my soul brother or sister. If you are, let me know here.
11. I once had a strange experience looking at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Like many science students, I embarrassingly knew very little about art and why it matters.
Yet, for the first time in my life, I was utterly absorbed by a painting: everything else in the gallery faded away. It felt like a pleasant conversation about the beauty of the ordinaries and simplicity.
Writing for you
I later learned that van Gogh painted the Sunflowers for Gauguin, a friend he admired.
Perhaps that sincerity is what we deeply respond to.
So I want to fill each of my writing with sincerity, and write it for you as a close friend who I admire.
Then hopefully, you will find it useful, or at the very least, a pleasant conversation.
📧 Letters for Learners
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English / Melayu