Mumbai

Jash Dholani is a 27-year-old writer with over 110k followers online. His readers include Elon Musk, Jordan Peterson and other global leaders. Jash shares wisdom from old books and tries to bring in a new perspective on contemporary events. In the past he used to make ads. In the future he wants to make films. WION catches up with Jash Dholani to know more about his philosophy, X following and his interest in old books.  

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Why have you named your X page (formerly Twitter) OldBooksGuy? What is it about old books that attracts you? Do you think the same wisdom is lacking from new books?  

Firstly, authors of old books are not afraid of getting cancelled, so they usually speak their minds. Secondly, old books are vetted by time—only the best have survived. There were many reasons I chose to niche down on old books, but these two were probably the biggest ones! 

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A lot of world leaders including Elon Musk have retweeted your posts on Twitter. How did your content reach them? What is it about your tweets that resonates with them?  

The internet is amazing. I can write something sitting in a cafe in Delhi, or a train station in Budapest, and reach people around the world. But I think you're asking a more specific question about internet virality. There are parts I can control and parts I cannot. Here are 3 things I can control: volume, experimentation, and relevance. I have tweeted more than 21,000 times - that's close to a million words. So - volume is important. Before Twitter I was uploading content on Youtube and Instagram - so I've experimented a fair bit with different formats. And then there's relevance: when the trailer for the Napoleon movie came out in 2023, and became a talking point on Twitter, I immediately uploaded a thread on Napoleon - and got a reply from Elon. But I could not have done the thread if I hadn't been reading Napoleon's private letters for years before! 

Now that you’re about to hit 100k on Twitter with leading global leaders following you - what are your next goals with your Twitter platform?  

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I want to hit a million followers and sell a million books. 

What’s your book Hit Reverse about? Please share 3 key lessons in the book.  

Hit Reverse has 750+ new ideas from 75+ old books. People should read my book if they want the best insights from old classics (and some forgotten gems) but don't have the time to read them. Here are 3 snippets: 

1. Charisma is being comfortable in your own skin. Here’s La Rochefoucauld, 16th century French writer, on how to be irresistible: "There is an air which belongs to the figure and talents of each individual...We should try to find out what air is natural to us and never abandon it, but make it as perfect as we can." Authenticity is hot. 

2.  Napoleon on Courage: "Courage can't be counterfeited—it's a virtue which escapes hypocrisy." Courage with logical thought is unbeatable: "The burst of courage which, despite the suddenness of events, still leaves you capable of thought, of judgment and decision, is excessively rare." 

3. Men and women miscommunicate because they dance to DIFFERENT rhythms. Nietzsche: "The same emotions in man and woman are different in tempo: therefore man and woman never cease to misunderstand one another." Well-arranged differences in tempo, however, make a song… 

Since most of your content involves research - how do you spend your day?  

I cast a wide net. I go down rabbit holes. I read wikipedia, wikiquotes, old essays, old letters, old journal entries. My goal is to find ideas that are useful, interesting, and memorable. That's the golden trifecta - not easy to find! But extremely rewarding when I do… 

What is a philosophy/ theory that you came across recently that has baffled you?  

Historian Stephen Meyer says there are some very weird gaps in the evolution of life. There are sudden explosions in new species, sudden increases in the size and capacity of the human brain - from 1 to 100 with nothing in between. Explosions and improvements so sudden that the normal evolutionary process, which takes millions of years, just can't explain them. He's saying there was some extraterrestrial influence. Very baffling idea - but he's a brilliant guy and makes his case really well.  

You were recently a speaker at Brainbar. What did you speak about there?  

Brainbar is an incredible conference based out of Budapest, Hungary. Thousands of high school and college students come each year to hear talks on technology, history, and much more. This year they were kind enough to invite me for a keynote address. My talk's title was "5 Modern Mistakes." It will be out soon! 

What is your opinion on these three current trends - self care, revenge travel and international education?  

I think the best form of self-care is getting richer, hotter, and more powerful. Revenge travel - I had to google what it means. Hah - I'm generally pro-revenge, just don't physically hurt anyone