Based off the initial trailer, I’m actually more excited for Rogue One than I was for Episode 7! I think this is because of the chance to see a story in the Star Wars universe that doesn’t revolve around the Jedi and Sith conflict, it’s simply the Rebels against the Empire.
I think it has been a brilliant play by Disney to have these anthology stories made. I simply cannot wait until December!
So yes I took a little while to get to writing this. But I’m putting that blame completely on Helen Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni, which is an amazing piece of fiction, and a book I’ll write about later.
For the month of February, I mainly read three books: Mediations by Marcus Aurelius, Lying by Sam Harris, and The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.
Meditations (the specific translation is the one by Gregory Hays) is a very interesting book, written in the Second Century CE (or AD as some people prefer), it surprisingly is very relevant today. It was written by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius as a private journal, the thoughts he wrote down have applications even today.
I’ve so far marked 77 passages in a book which is 170 pages long. Here are a sample of some of the shorter ones in no particular order:
“Everything is in flux. And you too will alter in the whirl and perish, and the world as well.”
“People exist for one another. You can instruct or endure them.”
“Practice really hearing what people say. Do your best to get inside their mind.”
“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.”
Although some of the passages may seem a bit pessimistic, Marcus Aurelius was a practitioner of the philosophy of Stoicism, which is a philosophy and a way of life which places importance on accepting the reality of a situation and living with it. A way of life which focuses on what can be controlled rather than worry about what cannot.
This philosophy has resonated with me quite a lot and I suggest that a lot of people in this day and age should learn to live this way. As many people I know end up being very stressed about things that are far outside their zone of control, which I believe is a huge waste of energy.
But I’ll cover this off more when we get to The Obstacle is the Way below.
Lying is more of a short essay than a full book, but it still thoroughly covers the subject of lying. In the roughly an hour read, I had my preconceptions challenged in a few different ways, but as I mentioned in my earlier post, the biggest impact has come from my belief that no one has a good reason to ever lie.
Harris’ approach isn’t all about the blunt truth though, while he says that speaking the truth as you know it is the best policy for almost every situation, sometimes the truth needs to be applied more pragmatically. This approach is far less ideal though.
This has lead to me continuing to try to always speak the truth, although I have struggled with old habits getting in the way before my conscious mind realises what I am saying. It is a very interesting experience as sometimes you have to choose your words very carefully, which is actually a surprisingly good side effect as the longer you take to say something the more you can think about what needs to be said, rather than filling up space with useless words. Which could harm without knowing.
I mentioned Stoic philosophy before in the context of Marcus Aurelius, however Ryan Holiday takes on the practical application of Stoicism in The Obstacle is the Way. I have to say that February was a great month for me when it came to good books, and The Obstacle is the Way is probably the top one for dealing with the stresses of everyday life.
Holiday breaks up his book into three areas: Perception, Action, and Will. These three sections are designed to lead you through how to see adversity, how to react to adversity, and how to ensure you’re mentally fine with adversity in its many forms.
Again this is a relatively short book (at 181 pages) which has some very direct applications, making sure this isn’t a book which is read and then forgotten. But a book I’ll surely read again and again throughout my life.
Freakonomics was a surprise addition to my reading list in February, as I’ve always looked at it in the past as a book that looked like it was hyped up too much. But after a recommendation from my boss, I decided to pick it up and give it a try.
And I was very pleasantly surprised (so much so that I've already bought the sequel SuperFreakonomics)!
While I love the higher order theories of economics, I’ve never been particularly interested in the practical applications (I imagine this opinion was formed in the mandatory Economics subject I needed to take for a semester at University). Luckily Freakonomics is nothing like that! In fact it seems like Steven D. Levitt isn’t a fan of traditional economic applications either.
Levitt manages to apply economics in a wonderful way to questions that most people wouldn’t even think of applying economics to including things like the reasons that a drug dealer would continue to live at home, and applying economics to track cheaters both in the realm of teachers on standardised testing and sumo wrestlers in ensuring their rankings.
I have to applaud Dubner for taking Levitt’s extremely interesting work and crafting it into a story that can be absorbed by almost any curious mind. And I thank Levitt for thinking outside the box of typical economists and applying his skills onto so many interesting topics.
Overall, I think that Freakonomics has something to offer anyone who has any interest in economics or just interesting solutions to problems in the world.
So that’s it for February, these were the four books I read and what a great selection of books they ended up being!
For March, I’ve read/I’m reading/I’ll be reading the following:
If you have any suggestions of other books to read please feel free, and please let me know if you liked this kind of post, so I know whether to continue writing them.
Until next time.
A fantastic video from Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell one of my favourite educational YouTube channels, exploring why the "War on Drugs" hasn't been a good things for society. Including issues with high incarceration rates, increased drug related violence, and the fact that supply still hasn't suffered.
It’s probably every parent’s worst nightmare, especially parents of the generation mine came from. This was dumb people music to them. It was ridiculous, ugly, and only a few short steps from tattoos, drugs, long hair and dropping out of school (only a few of those things actually happened to me!)
But really, heavy metal put me on the path I am on today—in every positive sense.
A few years ago a study found that kids with the highest IQs are disproportionately attracted to heavy metal. The reason is that the themes of alienation, frustration, and even pain, match the experience of a smart young person struggling to fit in and make sense of the world.
A very interesting look into how metal music has effected Holiday's life. I also must say that this article hits a lot of the reasons I also listen to metal.
Recently, I’ve heavily cut back on the podcasts I listen to, as I’ve been reading when commuting, so the only time I have to listen is mainly when I’m exercising. And since the podcasts I enjoy are often longer than an hour, sometimes a podcast can last multiple sessions.
Recently, I’ve taken my self improvement interest into the podcast realm, and have come to listen to three podcasts regularly that I feel improve myself. They are:
This podcast is a companion to the website, The Art of Manliness, which has many tips for people who are looking to improve themselves in many different ways. The podcast also takes this on board with episodes on “Deep Work”, Stoic philosophy, and digital etiquette.
I feel that the wide and varied interviews that appear in the Art of Manliness feed are very beneficial for all people, males and females. Sure, wet shaving may not be 100% useful for all people, but having an understanding of many of the skills that are talked about, will improve many people’s lives.
If you haven’t read a Tim Ferriss book, I’d be very surprised, as Ferriss has become a large personality in the self-improvement sector. His podcast generally shifts away from the very direct action style of his books to more of a interview show with people who interest and inspire him.
This leads to a very interesting mix of people on the Tim Ferriss Podcast. He has has interviewed a huge variety of people from authors such as: Seth Godin, Sophia Amoruso (the author of #GIRLBOSS) and Maria Popova (the prolific writer of Brianpickings); to entertainers such as: Jamie Foxx, Triple H, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Some of my favourite episodes have been with: Jamie Foxx, Seth Godin, Pavel Tsatsouline, Tony Robbins, Ed Catmull (co-founder of Pixar), and Sam Harris (who we’ll get to very shortly).
In a very short time, the Tim Ferriss Show has become one of my most listened to podcasts, as Ferriss is very good a coaxing out interesting tidbits from his guests.
Waking Up is a very interesting podcast being a mix of interviews Sam Harris with his guests, a series of monologues that Harris has about a variety of different subjects, and a series of Ask Me Anything’s which can cover an even larger array of topics. However this mashes together into a interesting feed, which makes me think a lot more than normal.
Some of the topics that Harris has covered include: the conflict in Israel, the benefit of hallucinogens in recards to spirituality, and chats with ex-Seals about the nature of violence.
Again I believe the wide variety of topics covered by Harris help inform me beyond most traditional media, making sure I understand a variety of view points and know a topic more deeply than before.
So that’s my top three podcasts I feel make me a better person. I invite you to listen them to yourself and see what they do for you.
Let me know what you think of them, and feel free to let me know of any other podcasts you believe make you a better person.
I just finished reading Lying by Sam Harris and I’m quite moved by the premise. Harris argues that there is no reasonably ethical situation where one should lie (even a white lie) and I tend to agree with him.
The most important thing that Harris does consider, is that on shouldn’t be bluntly honest. One should consider the truth that is told rather than defaulting to a lie, as if a lie is found out it is often more harmful than any truth, not matter the brutality of the truth.
So this is why I’m going to stop lying completely. It will help me make sure I’m measuring my words more carefully, as sometimes the truth needs to be delivered gently.
I also strongly suggest everyone read or listen to the book, as it is very short, and shouldn’t take much more than an hour to read, but could make you think about the words you say more thoroughly. Especially when it comes to what you say to loved ones.
This is a fantastic video exploring how a photographer’s perception can drive the photo that is created in the end.
I see this quite a lot with people I shoot with, when we’re all at the same location often shooting similar things, we can come up with some extremely different perspectives.