Milan Kundera, the son of a famous concert pianist and musicologist, was born on April 1, 1929. Brno, Czechoslovakia (now in Czech Republic). The young Kundera studied music but gradually turned to writing, and he began teaching literature at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Prague in 1952. He joined the Communist Party in 1948, was expelled in 1950, and was readmitted in 1956, remaining a member until 1970.

He published several collections of poetry in the 1950s. Then his short stories and highly successful one-act play, The Owners of the Keys, were published in the 1960s, followed by his first novel. One of his greatest works, The Joke, a comic and ironic (讽刺的) about the private lives and destinies (命运) of various Czechs, was translated into several languages and achieved international recognition. His second novel, Life Is Elsewhere (1969), about an unlucky, romantic-minded hero who supported the Communist takeover of 1948, was forbidden of its Czech publication. Kundera refused to admit his political errors to the authorities, who banned all his works, fired him from his teaching positions, and drove him away from the Communist Party.

In 1975 Kundera was allowed to emigrate with his wife from Czechoslovakia to teach at the University of Rennes in France. In 1979 the Czech government took away his citizenship. In the 1970s and 80s his novels were published in France and elsewhere abroad but were banned in his homeland until 1989. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, one of his most successful works, is a series of ironic meditations (沉思录) on the modern state’s tendency to deny and clear out human memory and historical truth.

Kundera began writing in French with Slowness in 1994, followed by Identity (1997), Ignorance (2000), and The Festival of Insignificance (2013), which is about a group of Parisian friends.

On July 11, 2023, Milan Kundera died in Paris, France.

While it’s true that introverts tend to enjoy alone time, it’s not true they dislike people or social environments. Just because you show more reservation than enthusiasm in these settings, it doesn’t mean you need to change or that you can’t make new friends. Kat Vellos, a speaker and connection coach, advises introverts to “Resist pressure from the outside world and don’t hide your true nature or force yourself to be extroverted.”

Danielle Bayard Jackson, a friendship coach, says that introverts can be good friends. “I think we sometimes joke about them being incapable or not knowing what to do…and they actually have a lot of superpowers that we don’t give credit(赞扬)to. They’re very observant. They’re really good listeners. And I think that makes for really good friends.” So, how can introverts use their strengths and make new friends in the process?

“One of my favorite ways to do this is by going to a social event, then camping out on the edge with other highly sensitive people who don’t want to be in the center of the action.” Vellos, who is an introvert herself, says. “The kitchen and the edge of the yard are where I’ve often found the best conversations and feelings of connection at an otherwise overwhelming(令人难以应对的)party.”

The key for introverts is to be mindful of how they spend their energy so that when they spend it, they spend it well. “If you know you have a small social battery and you can show up for one hour after which it’ll be overwhelming for you, make good use of that information about yourself.” Jackson says. “If you know you only have an hour to spend, choose carefully the things that you say yes to.”

As an introvert, you feel and think deeply, so this means that you have the rare(罕见的)ability to go deeper more quickly with someone new. An hour or two nay be just the amount of time you need.

While doing homework, Seoyoung Jun closed one eye and successfully picked up her pencil holder. She realized that directing herself in a 3D space didn’t require both eyes. This surprised her so much that she did some research. And she learned the brain can process 3D information with poor vision (视力) or even without any vision. Then the idea for Mind Beacon was born.

It uses a thin line of light to gather 3D information about the placement of walls, furniture and other things. Then the light sends that information back to Mind Beacon,which then raises little pins (大头针) to show where those obstacles (障碍物) are. Then blind people can “read” the position of those pins to understand the positions of structures and objects ahead and walk around them.

When the invention worked for the first time, Seoyoung didn’t believe it. She’d been up all night working on it. To be sure there wasn’t a mistake, she shut it off and started it up. It had been seven long months of research and testing. Now this tool can help disabled people create a mental image of their surroundings.

The heart of Mind Beacon is a 3D depth sensor that’s connected to a computer. That computer can control motors that are lined up in three rows of three. Each motor controls a pin that can move up and down. When the sensor finds an obstacle, the pin rises. It can rise to three different heights. Each height roughly represents the height of the obstacle. Someone who runs their hand over the nine pins can tell where the obstacle is and its general height.

Mind Beacon won Seoyoung a place at the world’s high school research competition, Right now, she wants to ameliorate it. She imagines in the future it can be connected to a smartphone, with more little pins to show the exact height of the obstacle. It would feel like a little map showing the location and size of the obstacle ahead.