Solomon King (On Social Media Break)
@solomonking
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Founder: @fundibots | Infinitely curious about: AI | Robotics | STEM | Education | Creativity
Joined January 2009
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Taking a break from the socials, once again. Going to see a bit more of the real world and work on some exciting ideas and build some new things.
Be kind to each other. Stay awesome.
Remember, we're all just trying to make it home.
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Forced to trust AND fund the process.
Born to be a Trust fund baby, forced to trust the process😔
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I'm very dark-skinned, even by Ugandan standards and I travel a lot, but the only place I ever feel safe is when I'm in Africa. I love Emirates, but every single transit through Dubai is a nightmare of resolutely ignoring stares, hushed whispers and pointing, sneering adults.
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We're still here. Letsile Tebogo's entrance vs. Noah Lyles'.
🤭🤭🤭
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Sharing her photo in case anyone has seen her.
Martha Kebirungi, current whereabouts unknown.
Last tweet says she was being arrested, but wasn't able to share location.
Does anyone know where Martha is? This was her last tweet. I don't think she got time to finish mentioning the location.
Full name Martha Kebirungi
@AAgather
@GodwinTOKO
@DannyT_UG
@NoirEnBlanca
@ug_lawsociety
#March2Parliament
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"Just calling to confirm if we're still on for today." - an introvert who in fact absolutely does not want to be on for today.
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LOL. Banange Umeme, the election results are for another country. Calm down.
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I know I'm late to this, but as someone who dropped out of school, all I can say is:
Please get that degree.
That paper is useful in ways you'll never understand until you desperately need it.
Outlier stories are nice and all, but they are not the average person's story.
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I've never felt more aware of the color of my skin than when I was in India, walking alone through a mall in Mumbai, and people pulled out their cameras to start filming me, laughing with each other. Or when I went to this school and the teachers pulled the kids away from me.
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Uganda's economy struggling with the weight of politicians.
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Every trip comes with the mental preparation for the fact that I will be judged first by of the color of my skin.
Not by the decades of experience. Not by the skills I have acquired. And not by the impact of our work.
But judged by the one thing I have no control over: My skin.
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And yet, in all this, I am privileged. Why? Because I have the option of walking away and choosing better people and places to direct my energy.
But my biggest privilege? I know that when I come back home, I'm not going to get killed just because of the color of my skin.
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Or being in a meeting with a white consultant who was guiding and advising us, and everyone in the room addressed the white person, for almost the entire meeting, until I spoke and they realize that I'm actually the one in charge of the company.
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So when people are out on the streets fighting for justice and raging against centuries of oppression, I support without reserve because I know that even though I have my own problems at home, in my country, it doesn't erase their struggle and their fight for social justice.
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Racism can be overt, aggressive, and it can also be subtle and nuanced to the point where you may never realize it.
Like back in the day when
@katawonga
and I used to joke that maybe we should hire a white person to be the face of our company so we could get more business.
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"Just checking to see if we're still on for today."
- An introvert, hoping the plans have been cancelled.
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Or being in conversation or discussion and being ignored because I couldn't possibly have anything of value to add, until I speak and then suddenly its all about whether I went to school in the US or if I really grew up in Africa.
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But when someone stands up and screams their lungs out at the injustice, when someone is afraid that each day their child walks out the door, they may not return home, you listen.
When someone tells you that they are being murdered in their own homes, you f***** listen.
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It doesn't help that I'm tall, so I stand out like a sore thumb in almost all crowds. I always joke with friends that if we ever get lost in a huge crowd, all they have to do is look for me.
I am, in very, very many ways, hard to ignore. Especially because I'm very dark-skinned.
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Racism can be subtle, nuanced and harmless. But it can be overt, aggressive, and increasingly, fatal.
Our experiences will always be subjective, and we'll all point towards the data that suits us to frame the arguments that support our own biases and privileges.
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I have an entry in my journal that's filled with rage because we lost a competition where we were hands-down the most qualified organization to drive consistent, long-term impact, but the organizations that won were all African organizations... with white leaders.
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Or the incredible relief I felt that one time, deep in a rural American town, when I was hanging out with a bunch of awesome white American friends at a store, and I finally saw a black person for the first time that day.
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I've never felt comfortable walking down the streets of the United States, because I am ALWAYS afraid.
The month Trump won elections, I was with a group of friends in Atlanta, and I remember us saying that if anything happened, our white friends would form a shield around us.
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I've built an AI GPT that enables Ugandans to interact with the Constitution and various acts and amendments.
The link is here.
It currently comprises of core constitutional documents and 2023 acts. I will be constantly updating it.
Disclaimers follow.
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Wow! Thank you all for following, sharing & commenting.
If you're able to, please support our work
@fundibots
-better science education for Africa's children -
Or if you're into tech + business, subscribe to my YouTube channel -
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And I know that racism can also violently culminate in a singe moment of blinding hatred for a race that leads to a man being killed as they beg for mercy, as a grown man cries out for his mother, ignored by the law, even as cameras roll and people watch.
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I have had conversations with potential funders in which it was obvious within a few minutes that my funding request wouldn't go far because I didn't LOOK like someone they could trust with their money.
I would never be given the chance to prove that we knew what we were doing.
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11 years ago.
Time does fly.
@FundiBots
was still a part-time hobby.
0 staff.
The only space I had was a spare room in my home that some students used to learn from.
Today we have 125 staff in 4 regional offices working with 22,000 students this year.
Eternal Gratitude.
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No matter how many times you do it, adulting never prepares you for the price of curtains.
😩
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This video has given us so much joy at
@FundiBots
.
It's incredibly exciting and humbling to see our work with schools being taken to greater heights by the students and teachers themselves.
Shout out to Comboni College for supporting the Fundi Bots Robotics Club.
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And I know that racism can be a slow, nefarious, centuries-long campaign to prove that someone is inferior because they LOOK different. And that used to subjugate them, re-write their history and erase their identity. And create a narrative perpetuated across the entire world.
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You see, in 1986...
The same person, 26 years apart in China, an astounding progress!
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Normalize going on vacation to just sleep.
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Never in my wildest dreams did I think
@FundiBots
would end up in Times Square on the Nasdaq Tower!!
We are beyond grateful to
@PersonioFoundation
, one of our donors, for giving us this exciting opportunity to showcase our work on such a global stage.
@Personio
@PledgeOne
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Man, so much stuff happens at Fundi Bots and it's hard to believe how far we've come.
From a tiny spare room in my home in 2011 to four regional offices with a phenomenal team of 150+ staff working with more than 50,000 students across Uganda.
In all things, eternal gratitude.
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21 Ugandans so far arrested by the police. These are the ones we know of. Imagine those without social media presence.
You can track them here:
Thank you
@WesKambale
for putting this together.
cc
@ug_lawsociety
@GovUganda
@PoliceUg
#March2Parliament
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To every fresh graduate (and student) asking "What's Next?", here's the no-bullshit response.
0. Your Health. Everything you dream of is meaningless if you're unhealthy.
You're at your peak right now, so eat well, drink moderately, practise fitness. Your body will thank you.
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Those saying 200/- is little money or that VPNs cost more forget that people are not protesting the amount being paid, but the principle behind taxing every little thing from an already suffering economy so a corrupt government can get even more money to steal.
#SocialMediaTax
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Say hello to our new Fundi Bots home.
😊❤️
Cheers to the next chapter of growth.
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If you earn above 1,000,000 UGX ($260) net per month, you're in the top 1% of Ugandans.
49% of Ugandans earn less than 150,000 UGX ($40) per month.
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If you know what this is, we have a meeting at 5PM tomorrow.
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Do y'all ever just sit at the edge of your bed wondering what the hell is going on in Uganda?
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Asking university-age people to get married and have kids. Have kids when you're just exiting your childhood years?
Emotional maturity? Financial maturity? Social capital? Upward mobility? Self-awareness? Personal growth? World knowledge?
In this economy?
Banange.
My advice...
Get married early.. About 21 to 24 years...
It will help you to get kids earlier and learn to understand each other better.
Earlier kids = better long term health...
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I'mhonoured to officially announce that I have joined the Board of Segal Family Foundation (
@SegalFoundation
).
SFF has been instrumental in the growth of Fundi Bots and hundreds of other social enterprises in Africa through funding and capacity support.
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I think Zuku wants us to leave but is too scared to ask us.
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Najjeera, Kira, Bulindo and Sonde people preparing to go back home.
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Uganda Railways giving that minimalist metal exterior.
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Uganda: "Eh mamaring" since 1962.
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This habit y'all have of dismissing or laughing other people's lived experiences is tragic.
You mock the food people eat. You mock the struggles they go through, their backgrounds...
Enjoy your privilege without demeaning others, & pray that you never fall from your pedestal.
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All weddings should be scientific weddings going forward.
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I'm an art nerd, a symmetry nerd, a maths nerd and a hustle nerd. So when I saw these gorgeous symmetrical string-art pieces by Manzuru Uganda I just had to get one.
The lady in the photo is the artist. Holla at them on IG and Facebook (Manzuru Uganda).
(not a paid promotion)
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Some great news to end the week.
Fundi Bots has received a Certificate of Accreditation from the Directorate of Industrial Training.
We are now a recognized training and assessment center for youth in communities to gain technical skills for employment.
Onwards and Upwards!
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Also, I still have one. 🤓
Original. Glass + paraffin.
Someone asked me why I’m not a clumsy person and I sent them this photo
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So excited to see our progress towards the development of our own SMD Arduino boards.
Lots of very cool, very nerdy stuff in the pipeline.
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I loved Budo as a school, but the people in there were some of the worst.
Two kinds of people really suffered at Budo: broke, poor, "lower-class" kids (a story for another day), and girls.
Girls really had an awful time at this school.
6 years of being a budo girl, you had no choice but to become an impenetrable wall of self esteem and confidence with the capacity to persevere all circumstances.
So we became!!
A thread of experiences as a budo girl...
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Bambi a tenant of our family property just called asking me to "forgive" her the rent for April.
She runs a salon on the property is a widow, single mom with two kids.
I told her to not even think about paying it.
We're in this together. Empathy above all. Humanity above self.
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Drive the trucks to Parliament.
Pictures below show a line up of KCCA trucks heavily loaded with garbage from Kitezi, diverting it to Nkumba dumping site.
Entebbe municipal council has stopped further dumping of garbage citing lack of space, and deterring conflict with NEMA.
#NTVNews
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Good morning only to those who understand that women don't owe you anything.
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So many people have built incredible multi-million dollar careers working for other people, being part of awesome teams, yet we still push the narrative that everyone must be an entrepreneur.
Bruh, entrepreneurship is hard as hell and very rarely as rewarding as people claim.
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Some people single-handedly lower the total IQ of Uganda just by tweeting.
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At some point in 2002, I dropped out of my first semester (Kyambogo University) and never attended any school again.
A thread on the perceived value(?) of university education versus the expected outcomes.
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The Covid 19 response is the greatest publicly visible money heist in Uganda's history.
We're being robbed literally as we watch.
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I've just gone through Najjeera on a boda...
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My very loving grandmother died in 2020 in a very, very poor health center.
The "ambulance" needed us to buy fuel to transport her to Gulu.
The district hospitals told us to prepare 5 million UGX before starting the journey.
She didn't make it.
We are NOT your grandchildren.
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Things you only say AFTER you have made the money.
" I just found out money wasn't what I needed, freedom was". Couldn't haven't said it better~
@TonyNatif
@FoundersLounge_
#startups
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The thieves and apologists keep thinking the country will only collapse on poor, unconnected people.
We will all suffer from your incompetence and stupidity.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens and Rebels.
It is my honour to present the results of the elections.
We had 5,832 votes cast and 106,000 impressions.
The winner, at 51% of the vote, is...
BOILED MAIZE.
Congratulations to the winning camp.
Let's settle this on the streets.
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Kenyans and Ugandans uniting to find their missing people.
I stan.
🇰🇪 x 🇺🇬
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CNN!
Solomon King Benge's
@FundiBots
is promoting science in schools through hands-on learning in Uganda.
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With our drainage? You might end up in a culvert near Owino.
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The only thing keeping Ugandans sane is their sense of humour.
But that, too, will have its limit.
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Kisementi, November 2010. Before Acacia Mall, Endiro, The Cube and Krishna Mall.
You can see Fatboys and JK in the distance.
I shot this very random video from our office which was above Banana Boat.
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Looking back at my business journey over the last fifteen years (especially the failures), three lessons stand out above all:
1. Good ideas are useless without execution.
2. Good execution is incredibly difficult without money.
3. Focus on generating cash from day one.
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Excited to be back in Oxford for the Skoll World Forum.
This is one of my favourite weeks because it's one big community of thousands of players in the social enterprise space.
I can't wait to delve into a plethora of deep, wonderful conversations around the future of Africa.
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Watching Microsoft Excel World Championships and I have no clue what's happening 😂😂😂
All these years of using Excel and it turns out I might only know less than 1%
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Entrepreneurs have to master the art of rejection, internal and external. But let me tell you, it [censored] hurts.
We never talk about failures, yet they are more than the wins. So let me share just a bit about the tough side of my work.
Thread.
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We're expanding production capacity to all our
@fundibots
offices.
Kampala. Gulu. Mbale. Mbarara.
More production capacity = more learning tools = more Ugandan children learning science better = stronger expansion of accelerated science education in Africa.
Onwards & upwards!
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Yes you can thrive and succeed without it. Yes there are lots of options for people who've dropped out of school.
But if you have the choice & privilege to get an academic qualification, get it. There are roadblocks ahead in your career that can only be opened by qualifications.
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I'm begging you: when you get a chance, have real, genuine conversations with the Ugandans you walk past daily.
Askaris, boda guys, policemen, market vendors, wheelbarrow pushers, homeless people...
I've talked to all these people. Their stories will never leave you the same.
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Finally, bambi, remember the country you're in. This tiny place of ours is very harsh and everything is working against you.
Don't compare yourself to so-and-so in a country with systems that work efficiently.
You need to use all the tools you can get in order to make it here.
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Exactly 9 years ago, August 30th 2014.
Fundi Bots left my home.
Literally everything we had could fit in these 10 boxes.
Today, we've delivered 65,000 learning tools to over 19,000 students.
One subject for one class in one school needs 3 times more boxes than these.
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Our
@FundiBots
students from Comboni College in Lira won the Stanbic Bank National Schools Challenge!
You may remember them from the solar cooker that went viral.
Super hyped to have been there in person to witness!
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Update: She has been found. Confirmed by
@NelsonSsenyange
& team to be at Central Police Station.
Thank you everyone for spreading the word. We're truly grateful.
Let's keep searching for the others.
Sharing her photo in case anyone has seen her.
Martha Kebirungi, current whereabouts unknown.
Last tweet says she was being arrested, but wasn't able to share location.
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You will delete tweets until you allow. We shall continue to hold you accountable for the nonsense you share.
We might banter on normal days, but you cannot mock or undermine the efforts of young people marching for a better Uganda.
We will all fight back.
#March2Parliament
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The brain drain that's going to happen to Uganda in the next few years is scary.
Disillusionment is very high.
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Boda Guy: Talks for 10 minutes straight.
Me (hearing absolutely nothing): Okikakasa?
Boda Guy: Talks for another 10 minutes.
Me: Wabula!
*Pays and leaves
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Anyway, the entire country is a setback.
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So excited that our Fundi Bots Gulu office has moved premises today. More room for growth and expansion in the northern region.
Also more compound space for the kids to play!
Onwards and Upwards!
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BREAKING: Uganda to introduce 70% tax on taxes in an effort to tax more taxes on top of the taxes.
/s
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I can't stress this enough:
Entrepreneurship is hard, lonely, depressing and mentally, emotionally, financially, and physically exhausting.
Let those who want pursue it.
And let those who want a 9-5, a salary at the end of the month and a decent life also do their thing.
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One last thing:
These drop-out decisions are easy to make in your early twenties when everything is rosy and you have the energy and excitement of eternal youth.
But your thirties will come and with them, the reality of actual, proper work to care for family, investments, etc.
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I really hope we can move past the narrative that tech/coding is the (only) future of work.
Education must be addressed holistically; not everyone can or will be a coder.
We need artists, sportspeople, doctors, authors, architects, dancers, lawyers, farmers, etc.
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"Critical thinker" in your bio.
But heavy on the critical, absent in the thinking.
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