Seeking Wisdom” delves into the psychological and physical foundations of decision-making, exploring how evolutionary principles and mental misjudgments influence our thinking and behavior, drawing extensively on insights from Charles Darwin and Charlie Munger
Thomas A. Harris’s “I’m OK–You’re OK” provides a detailed exploration of Transactional Analysis (TA) as a tool for personal growth, emphasizing the potential for change and improved interpersonal relations.
“The Untethered Soul” explores consciousness, self-awareness, and spirituality, guiding readers toward inner peace through self-discovery and emotional freedom.
“Lestrade doesn’t understand just how wrong he is—and just how central a role imagination plays, not just to the successful inspector or detective but to any person who would hold himself as a successful thinker. If he were to listen to Holmes for more than clues as to a suspect’s identity or a case’s line of inquiry, he would find that he might have less need of turning to him in the future. For, if imagination does not enter into the picture—and do so before any deduction takes place—all of those observations, all of that understanding of the prior chapters will have little value indeed. Imagination is the essential next step of the thought process. It uses the building blocks of all of the observations that you’ve collected to create the material that can then serve as a solid base for future deduction, be it as to the events of that fateful Norwood evening when Jonas Oldacre met his death or the solution to a pesky problem that has been gnawing at you at home or at work. ”
Excerpt From: Maria Konnikova. “Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes.”
“I remember discussing this dynamic with my Russian teacher one day, and he had an interesting theory. Having lived under communism for so many generations, with little to no economic opportunity and caged by a culture of fear, Russian society found the most valuable currency to be trust. And to build trust you have to be honest. That means when things suck, you say so openly and without apology. People’s displays of unpleasant honesty were rewarded for the simple fact that they were necessary for survival—you had to know whom you could rely on and whom you couldn’t, and you needed to know quickly.”
Excerpt From: Mark Manson. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.”
“You are not consciously aware of the vast majority of your brain’s ongoing activities, and nor would you want to be—it would interfere with the brain’s well-oiled processes. The best way to mess up your piano piece is to concentrate on your fingers; the best way to get out of breath is to think about your breathing; the best way to miss the golf ball is to analyze your swing. This wisdom is apparent even to children, and we find it immortalized in poems such as “The Puzzled Centipede”:
A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, “Pray tell which leg comes after which?”
This raised her mind to such a pitch,
She lay distracted in the ditch
Not knowing how to run.”
Excerpt From: Eagleman, David. “Incognito.”
“Many professional judgments are nonverifiable. Barring egregious errors, underwriters will never know, for instance, whether a particular policy was overpriced or underpriced. Other forecasts may be nonverifiable because they are conditional. “If we go to war, we will be crushed” is an important prediction, but it is likely to remain untested (we hope). Or forecasts may be too long term for the professionals who make them to be brought to account—like, for instance, an estimate of mean temperatures by the end of the twenty-first century.”
Excerpt From: Daniel Kahneman. “Noise.”
“When choosing people to work and associate with, do not be mesmerized by their reputation or taken in by the surface image they try to project. Instead, train yourself to look deep within them and see their character. People’s character is formed in their earliest years and by their daily habits. It is what compels them to repeat certain actions in their lives and fall into negative patterns. Look closely at such patterns and remember that people never do something just once. They will inevitably repeat their behavior. Gauge the relative strength of their character by how well they handle adversity, their ability to adapt and work with other people, their patience and ability to learn. Always gravitate toward those who display signs of strength, and avoid the many toxic types out there. Know thoroughly your own character so you can break your compulsive patterns and take control of your destiny.”
Excerpt From: Robert Greene. “The Laws of Human Nature.”
“A modern development started with thought about how we acquire language. Children quickly learn to speak very accurately, with virtually no lessons, which suggests that the mind has an inbuilt module that contains the necessary skills of grammar and concepts, which are then triggered by experience. But if we have one module for language, why not other modules, for mental capacities dealing with psychology, biology, physics and geometry?”
Excerpt From: Peter Gibson. “Degree in a Book: Philosophy.” – Amazon Link
“The world is simple, and life is too.’ ‘But keeping it simple is difficult, and it is there that the passage of days become one’s trial.”
