"I wish I had read that book years ago"... Which are your two choices and why?

1) "Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking"
2) The drawing books of Betty Edwards.
3) Pretty much everything from Alain de Botton.
4) This Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiRiQGCHGjDLT9FQXFW0I3A (its about philosophy)
5) Determinism "Freedom and Necessity" by A. J. Ayer
6) The news in general (BBC app for the win!)

Generally a lot of philsophy, but not only books, also videos, talks, etc

1) Although especially applicable to the more extroverted USA region, I as european also found myself described very well as a calm Introvert in an pushy, extroverted environment; helped me identifying myself more and liking myself

2) Helped to really "see" things like an artist does. By that I mean that people tend to generalise what they see and dont really look at everyday things. We find this in extremo in the fact that most adults dont get over the stadium of childrens drawings, which are symbols for the real thing (like a simple 2- dimensional car); helped me see beauty in everyday life

3) Allain de Botton is just a boss; for example I especially liked his thought that since we have the internet, smartphones etc., there is a whole flood of information coming at us, and by indulging in things like constant facebook checking or reddit memes we are letting foreign thoughts which do not come from us personally into ourselves, undermining everything beautiful that may have come from ourselves. An expression of this may also be something I did a lot: constantly searching Google for my problems, consequently eliminating my own thought process about problems.

4) This is just a great beginner channel about philsophy, which greatly enhanced my knowledge and interested in the field

5) Oh, bitter-sweet determinism. Helped me freeing myself about a lot of apathic thinking about myself, like talent. And helped me become an idealistic person with optimsm and passion about learning. Why am I the person that I am today? It was a causal chain that led me here. If I were the son of a clown I might have become a clown too, but is "being a clown" my talent then? Or was it my environment that shaped me that way? I am aware that the nature VS nuture debate is still raging around, but thinking about that I am exactely in my position that I am now in, and that it could have also been completly different, gives me strength to not fall into a fatalistic, foreign-determined thinking.

6) This also greatly shaped my underdstanding the world. I was so apathic about politics before I started reading the news. It enhanced my understanding about the world and consequently about me and my place in it. It also gave me the notion that I can change things politically, avoiding the trap of politic apathy, making me a more idealistic and optimistic person, caring for the things that go on.

I know these weren't all books, but these things and concepts shaped my view of the world and I thought I might share it like this as well.

Edit: oh and what lately is on my mind is the Memento Mori thought, that we will die. Helps me seeing life as something very precious, and very limited.

 

Very interesting! I will check out TTC and your other recommendations. Another good site for philosphy is also this: http://iai.tv/

Yes, I also think that we are living in a society of denial of death. (as of denying the memento mori concept)
Just look at those ridiculos advertisements: "BUY THIS THING NOW IT GOT Q10 in it blabala antiaging bla" Back in the days it was Christianity and other religions with the promise of an heavenly afterlife that calmed the people at the thought of death and nowadays it is science.
In my opinion science and the thought of constant development of new technologies and domination of nature is the new morphium for the fear of death.
But since I don't believe in an afterlife or a god for that matter and I also do not believe that death can be resolved by science (at least not in my lifetime), which makes me an agnostic in both, the afterlife and the overcoming of death by science. I am hoping to become what the stoics of the ancient greeks wanted to become: apathic(apathic in a positive way, not how it is used nowadays as in "political apathy") towards death, pain, pleasure.

Calm, no matter what comes. And I think we should embrace this stoic view of the world, that death will come and reap us all, but that it shouldnt bother us, since it is out of our control.
We should rather embrace the thought that we will end and that we should therefore not waste our precious time on minor and distracting, maybe harmful things(aka porn and other distractions)
Or like Epicur said: “Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not”
We should stop chasing any immortality cult, may it be the new arising transhumanism or religion (which is in my view, or maybe a view I lately agreed with, a death denying cult; (cult ofc not in a negative sense, I respect religion [in some aspects] but we have to admit that religion fullfills a function here);

Camus, came like maybe you, also from depression to an appreciation of life, but I think this would be too long to write now about it, but its definetly checking out his thoughts.

Have a nice day

 

For all you philosophical types:

1) http://www.theabsolute.net/minefield/poison.html

2) http://members.optushome.com.au/davidquinn000/Wisdom/WisdomContents.htm

 

I think The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doige has to be up there particularly given the issues that bring us together here. It's full not only of stories of incredible personal change brought about by rewiring the hardware but also of practical advice for how to change some of our own circuits we may be unhappy about. It's fascinating to me that most of my life I've been focused exclusively on software issues (thinking, attitude, point of view) but it turns out that in many cases the hardware is also implicated in problem thinking and makes it much harder for the "software programmes" to run successfully.

 

With all the talk of stoicism, I thought I'd throw out the "original" stoic manual, The Enchiridion by Epictetus. I keep a copy on my phone and like to read one of the "rules" whenever I'm in line or otherwise waiting.

 

I'll play this game. My two choices:

1. Also sprach Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Reading this book helped me to define my life philosophy and initiated a transformation of my life goals and values. The material in this work is admittedly very heavy, and notoriously prone to misinterpretation. Nietzsche's philosophy is very personal, and he makes no attempt to explain the reasoning behind his thoughts. The only way to truly understand Nietzsche's works is to put yourself in his mindset. However, as he was a troubled, lonely soul, methinks many PMO-addicts are well positioned to understand his work. Many of us share his deep loneliness, his unease with the complete meaninglessness of life, and his dedication to taking the difficult path as a means to spiritual fulfillment.

Quote: "Man is something to be overcome."
Interpretation: One does not accomplish anything by giving in to his/her primitive instincts for sex, food, power, etc. Rather, one accomplishes by rising higher than these instincts, by trancending one's own human nature. There is no greater power than the ability to control oneself, and this is the means to spiritual fulfillment.

2. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
If you haven't read this book, I strongly suggest you do. In reading this little book, I pulled myself out of depression and set myself on a path to improve my life. What does Siddhartha tell us? It helps us to determine what is truly important in life. The book speaks of eschewing property and worldly pleasures for simpler, meaningful things. It tells us that possessions do not bring happiness. Food, sex, status do not bring happiness. It tells us that happiness cannot be taught or learnt, but rather can only ever be found through a personal journey of discovering the self. That you can only become happy when you are comfortable with having nothing other than yourself and the emotions you feel for the world around you.

Quote: "Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast."
Interpretation: Pretty much self-explanitory. The difficult part of accomplishing goals is entirely mental. It requires patience. It requires that you be willing to go through hardship. It requires resolve. If you can understand and accept that, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Easier said than done, of course.

 

Here are my two choices:

1. The slight edge by Jeff Olson
This is the best book i've read so far for improving your life. Any aspect of your life. The message is simple: do the little things that you need to reach your goal, every day. But there's a whole attitude behind this which he shares in a way that will make you want to do it and do it. I've read it just a few months ago, and i really wish I had read it years ago - maybe I'd speak 5 languages fluently by now and have already run a marathon if I had that knowledge a few years earlier. Really, just read it!

2. How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler (and Charles Van Doren in the 1972 edition)
I'm just reading this book, haven't finished it yet. Mortimer Adler was the director of editorial planning of the Encyclopædia Britannica. The title says it all: he teaches you how to read a book so you get the most out of it. I think it's obvious why i wish I had read that years ago - if i had i could have gotten so much more out of every book i've read in the past.

 

I have just begun Mastery by Robert Greene. PMO kepte from reading much but I have changed that now that my concentration is way better. After a few non fiction novels I found myself ready to take on this beast of a book. Anyone else read any of Robert Greenes books?

 

Yea, i once started reading his 48 laws of power, but i constantly disagreed with him so i stopped reading this book. i really didn't like his attitude.

 

I'm a bit Buddhist so...

1) Buddha's Brain - Dr Rick Hanson

2) Feeling Good Handbook - David D Burns
This one got me over depression. I think the CBT theories work well and can be translated and applied to other aspects.