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How to live an intellectually rich life

utsavmamoria.substack.com

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Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#291

Post by bloomca »

Eextra953 wrote: post #82
tomrod wrote: post #12

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?

There are a lot of things, but one warning I can give is try to avoid perfectionism.

Cook some novel dish, or maybe just significantly modify your regular one with some spices. Write a blog post. Sit and think about some library you wanted to write, but didn't have time. Even writing a draft with API is a pretty good example of producing.

You can fix things by yourself. E.g. service your bike, maybe reorganize your workspace, stuff like that.

Just start small and think about things which bother you and what you can do about it.

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#292

Post by [deleted] »

glitchc wrote: post #234
quantumgarbage wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this list reads like one a Midwestern high schooler would go through to impress his failed literature teacher, who will write him a nice recommendation letter for the ultra-conformist university of his dreams, dooming him to 25 years of debt and a miserable life working as a consultant

Yes, but now tell us how you really feel.

[deleted]

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#293

Post by Balgair »

kylecazar wrote: post #279
WillAdams wrote: post #32

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…

I'm sure you're familiar with the Harvard Classics (5 foot shelf) and have browsed their volumes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics

You can download them all for free here:

https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120212

The Reading Guide at the bottom of the page is the best way to get into them, I think. It's a daily ~15/20 minute selection. Be aware, it's the book's page number that is referenced, not the .pdf's page number.

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#294

Post by losteric »

jahbrewski wrote: post #289
sepositus wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate this perspective as it matches mine and I think comes from experience. I imagine myself sitting on my peak and seeing millions, maybe billions, of other peaks and the desire to traverse them propels me forward. However, as soon as I'm a quarter of the way up one, I start to think, what am I missing on the other peaks? That's the FOMO. Then I spend the next five years of my life partially breaching a thou…

Are you American, by chance? I am, and this resonates with something a Japanese woman recently told me. I asked her what she thought some of the negative traits of Americans are, and here’s the first thing she said: “You bounce around too much. From thing to thing to thing.”

We (Americans) have this culture of individualistic self-invention, consumer identity as a lifestyle (intellectual/artistic pursuits included), and the felt experience that worth/belonging/security is contingent on performance or achievement. Plus struggles with emotional intelligence and trauma (esp. among men), perpetuating that internalized conditionality.

I know so many people that got burned out and around their 30s, went off trying to do everything all at once (me too)… dancing around the hole.

The mixing of all of the above feels more uniquely American. Not that Japan (or others) don’t have some of the facets, like aspects of meritocracy (arguably balanced by other cultural values).

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#295

Post by Balgair »

WillAdams wrote: post #32

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…

I'll assume you've run into Mortimer J. Adler's Great Works of the Western World and are familiar with the selection. For those not in the know, the 60 volume set was done by a somewhat sparse group that included many people like Isaac Asimov and William F. Buckley Jr. (what a spread there).

The thing that always made GWWW a killer collection was Adler's syntopicon to the 58 other volumes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Syntopicon

The term 'syntopicon' was coined for this effort and is essentially a way of indexing information. Like how a dictionary uses words to sort the data, and an encyclopedia uses a subject, a syntopicon uses a topic. Think 'jurisprudence of judges' and not 'African elephants'.

I've always thought that more book collections should include a syntopicon to them. With the modern AI revolution, I'd suppose that it's a lot easier to do so now, but it's still a lot of work and effort to edit the 'link table' for these things. More enjoyable though and great for giving the collector a really good grasp on the books.

Try putting in your list of books and then ask your AI of choice the help put together a syntopicon for it. Here's a (poor) example:

https://chatgpt.com/share/6815ad20-9d54-800a-853e-2517d64a15...

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#296

Post by ahazred8ta »

MarkusQ wrote: post #278
whatnow37373 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seeing that I am on HN and can unleash unrestrained pedantry I wish to ask where Cicero actually writes that because I cannot find it?

I dodn't think it's a quote; more a paraphrase of: https://www.loebclassics.com/view/marcus_tullius_cicero-orat...

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#297

Post by jwarden »

ruraljuror wrote: post #280
iandanforth wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who puts "Ulysses" at the top of a best books list is suffering from expertitis. Ulysses has a massive user experience problem. It's hard. Dense, convoluted, absurd. If your friend asks you for a good book, you don't recommend it. The only time you do is when your college English major, or advanced highschooler, who is bored with the tropes of even very good novels wants to stretch themselves. Then you hand th…

Expertitis is not a thing and your criticism is based merely on public perception of the book and not the book itself. In case it wasn’t clear, I disagree completely: Ulysses is very worthy of the honor. It is as approachable as it is lofty.

I have never heard that book described as approachable.

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#299

Post by dmichulke »

jebarker wrote: post #285

I appreciate the spirit of this essay, but I think it overstates the idea that intellectual pursuits are an escape from modern dissatisfaction. I've spent most of my life driven by curiosity, forming my identity around being someone who seeks knowledge. But over time I’ve come to see how that, too, can become a kind of consumerism—chasing ideas for the dopamine hit of a new insight, then feeling the letdown and scram…

The main difference is that you get the pleasure through yourself and not through external objects.

Just take care you don't get it from the external validation of you being that "always learning guy".

It must come from within

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