141–150 of 337 posts
This is interminable and appears to be a disaster of mixed self-help metaphors and embarrassingly naive writing -- a TED-talk blog post, though TED talks mercifully have a length limit.
Conciseness is really undervalued. Long and meandering is okay for a personal journal or diary, but if you're sharing it with the world, be concise.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
would have loved to see some non native English speaking authors on the list. (instead of listing some authors twice - as great as they are). There were 2 Russians that stood out but no Camus, Feuchtwanger, Remarque, Musil, Borges, ...
Yes, it's kind of a strange slice - we get Faulkner three times and we get Joseph Conrad no fewer than four times(!), but not a single book from Dostoevsky or Tolstoy? No Bulgakov, no Turgenev? No Flaubert?
For my part, one of the most striking things which I recall from my youth was reading Dumas' _The Count of Monte Cristo_ and the Abbé Faria contending that everything a gentleman needed to make his way in life was contained in less than 100 books --- which he had memorized the content of, and could impart to the young Edmond Dantes. A naïve younger me tried to brute force this by reading one non-fiction book from eac…
- Seneca, Letters
I was surprised to learn that the temptation to read too many things was also a problem 2,000 years ago. This inspired me to work on a short list of books that I know deeply.
I tried this for awhile, but was dissatisfied. I found myself a constant consumer of intellectual material instead of being an engaged participant. Once I realized that, I set course to become more of a producer of useful things. That's led me to woodworking, to running a consultancy, to producing AI/ML for nonprofits, and to writing academic works. All in all, I enjoy life substantially.
I've been trying to create/produce more but I'm stuck in the consumption mindset. I can't think of what to create. How did you decide what useful things to produce?
Based on an area of interest I:
1. Find interesting people or projects that are interesting (discovery)
2. Identify the things I don't know how to do yet, or where I don't have enough information (information consumption with plan as output)
3. Execute on the plan (creation and delivery)
4. Evaluate on the outcomes -- modified ikigai is the framework I use: (1) does the world need it? (2) what is the world willing to pay for it? (3) did I enjoy it? (4) could I be good at it
As with nearly anything, an obsessive pursuit of knowledge, simple living, or 'enlightenment' to the exclusion of other things can be very harmful. We should be constantly exposing ourselves to new ideas and exploring new avenues; but diving down a rabbit hole for a years-long journey is not the way. Sitting in a mountain shack trying to digest the best 100 (or 1000) books ever written, might yield some real benefits…
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St John's College is known for their Great Books curriculum - the foundation of their four year program - where students read the primary text of western civilization. It's always held a soft spot in my heart as my own experience was mostly reading derivative descriptions and the rare times when I was able to read a primary text during my coursework were always my happiest memories. 1. https://www.sjc.edu/academic-pr…
Trying to learn Newtonian Mechanics from Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica is kinda dumb though. I certainly noticed that it was ineffective in discussing implications with the students. I found Boyle's observations far more effective in teaching science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Pri...