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What are you reading?

CosmoDreamer

CosmoDreamer

Member
Hi folks, I’m curious to know what books you’re reading.

They don’t need to be dream related. I’ve never personally been a big consumer of fiction, but I enjoy reading the back covers of fiction books to see what they’re about lol.

Right now I’m reading “Thinking in Systems” by Donella Meadows, which is about systematizing thoughts, and making better decisions by following well defined systems and steps. It’s decent but a bit wordy.
 
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PaulKH

Active member
CosmoDreamer said:
It’s decent but a bit wordy.
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*chuckles* I sure would hope so, since that's the primary way we communicate over distances: with words. While I'm writing I don't read, so I don't have a standard answer to your query but I do have a caution.

Observe that the vast majority of people who are wrong in some way (and stubbornly so) are doing so from a "system". It often boils down to their foundation (or who they trusted to lay their foundation) being wrong/incomplete. Rather than patiently yearn-struggle to learn with an open-critical mind, they seem to be in a hurry to form an opinion (or shortcut) and launch all their processing off of this. Then many of them will double-down by using all of their cleverness to *make* their decision (system) seem right. Can someone have a satisfyingly successful life journey from within the trenches they have dug? Emphasizing using systems to make "better" decisions might very well be a trap for some to reinforce their wrong-headed notions and ruin their mental flexibility (which can manifest in forms like consideration and discernment).
 
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CosmoDreamer

CosmoDreamer

Member
PaulKH said:
*chuckles* I sure would hope so, since that's the primary way we communicate over distances: with words. While I'm writing I don't read, so I don't have a standard answer to your query but I do have a caution.

Observe that the vast majority of people who are wrong in some way (and stubbornly so) are doing so from a "system". It often boils down to their foundation (or who they trusted to lay their foundation) being wrong/incomplete. Rather than patiently yearn-struggle to learn with an open-critical mind, they seem to be in a hurry to form an opinion (or shortcut) and launch all their processing off of this. Then many of them will double-down by using all of their cleverness to *make* their decision (system) seem right. Can someone have a satisfyingly successful life journey from within the trenches they have dug? Emphasizing using systems to make "better" decisions might very well be a trap for some to reinforce their wrong-headed notions and ruin their mental flexibility.
Click to expand...

You just described the mental gymnastics of my day job as a software developer! We have a lot of consideration put into systems, building them, evaluating them, and fixing them. One of the core structures for design of a great system, is having a plan to iterate on it, and fix it when it has been invalidated.

Indeed, a problem arises when systems become rigid ideologies that must be defended at all costs. I once lost my job and a year's worth of work because I was designing a system that didn't need to be built, and justified it with my idea that a system could be built for it, in reality, flexibility was the missing piece of the puzzle.

It is indeed a hard balance to strike. I also resonate with your point that you need time for information to settle in before making decisions on them, as that is something I have been trying to get better with in recent years.
 
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j. oak 357silversword

Active member
are you curious?well, for myself i read a wide variety of topics. art,literature,philosophy,history and spirituality. . Sydney J. Harris, Paul Goodman,Gabriel Marcel, H.L. Mencken. Jacques Barzun,Max Planck.Arthur Conan Doyle.
 
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