^zhurnaly 0.9951

Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience, in his 2021 book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness does an excellent job of examining big, important ideas about mind and mathematics, intelligence and evolution. What Seth calls "the real problem of consciousness" is to "explain, predict, and control the phenomenological properties of conscious experience" — that is, understand the connections between patterns of body-brain activity and subjective experiences. This is better-defined than the fuzzy-philosophical so-called "hard problem" of the relationship(s) between mind and body.

Seth argues that progress is possible on the real problem in much the same way that progress was made on understanding life during the past century. Biologists and chemists worked on "describing the properties of living systems, and then explaining (also predicting and controlling) each of these properties in terms of physical and chemical mechanisms." Seth concludes that what seems impenetrably mysterious about mental phenomena now may not always be incomprehensible — once the underlying mechanisms are figured out for components of consciousness.

There's much more to be said, and the bulk of Being You is devoted to examining various facets of consciousness. The three big themes are:

Seth discusses objective measures of brain neural activity and their connections to mental states via the "Integrated Information Theory" of consciousness — "IIT". He explains the "top-down" theory of perception, specifically "controlled hallucination" and how:

In other words, stand the usual notion on its head: conscious minds don't see the world through sensory organs, but rather they see a "hallucination", internally generated and updated based on prediction errors.

That's an awesome inversion, one that needs much work to wrap one's mind around. Seth provides excellent examples, explains Bayesian reasoning, and offers good evidence to make a strong case for that new model of mind. He discusses other kinds of consciousness, in animals and machines. He examines the challenges of controlling bodies in the countless ways needed to stay alive, thrive, and reproduce. He distinguishes between intelligence and consciousness, and explores moral issues as well as technological ones.

Is Math Real?

Eugenia Cheng's new (2023) book "Is Math Real? How simple questions lead us to mathematics' deepest truths" is a chatty general-audiences discussion of what mathematicians do, and why. In the Introduction Dr Cheng summarizes the entire enterprise:

The book is rich in geometric examples, personal asides, fascinating trivia, and more. Again from the Intro:

Relaxation and Stress Reduction

The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook by by Martha Davis, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman, and Matthew McKay was recommended recently in Hope Reese's "Feeling Stressed? These 5 Books Can Help". It's rather pedestrian in style, and prone in places to false precision or overly-certain quick-fix prescriptions. But there are insights, like the list in Chapter 5, "Meditation":

All good! — though expressed rather too strongly and without qualifiers. Other parts of the "Meditation" are beautifully written, especially some of the suggestions for how to focus, relax, let go, and accept. They're reminiscent of another book of the five recommended in Hope Reese's article: Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Nature and Nurture

Brief History of the Female Body

Deena Emera's delightful (2023) book A Brief History of the Female Body: an evolutionary look at how and why the female form came to be delivers precisely what its title promises. It's a scientific overview of how evolution by natural selection drove the emergence of human physical designs, reproductive systems, and developmental strategies. And in additional to sharp technical commentary, Dr Emera is funny and engaging in discussing her personal experiences as a mother and evolutionary biologist. She reviews how life in other species on Earth met analogous challenges over the eons. She is meticulous in describing current research, open questions, alternative hypotheses, and gaps in the data. Key topics include everything from chromosomes to breasts, menstrual periods to orgasms, pregnancy to menopause, and children to grandmothers. All are treated with a light touch as well as, when needed, deep detail (though no equations). Worthwhile reading on many levels!

Mantra - Words in the Language of God

... a metaphor by William Irwin Thompson, as quoted by Sallie Tisdale — possibly in the book The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light ...

Be You, Only Better

Be You, Only Better by Kristi Hugstad, is a short, cheerful guide to "real-life self-care for young adults (and everyone else)", as per its subtitle. The chapters and their sub-heads say it all quite nicely:

Mantra - Sit with the Void

... about the need for deep patience and self-knowledge when seeking love in one's life — from an NY Times essay by Annie Dwyer, which ends with:

Friday Barnes, Big Trouble

Big Trouble: A Friday Barnes Mystery, third in the series of R. A. Spratt novels, follows the path of its predecessors in pre-teen detective work, with snappy dialogue between the hyper-quantitative title character and her idiosyncratic-orthogonal roommate-best-friend Melanie. The girls each view the world from their unique perspectives. Result: delightful humor!

An example, from Chapter 12 ("A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words"), as Friday and Melanie examine a gossip magazine photo of two of their fellow boarding-school students apparently embracing, captioned "Secret Smooching at Swanky School":

Fast, fun, a bit more picaresque than the prior books in the series — and all good!

Friday Barnes, Under Suspicion

Book 2 in the "Friday Barnes, Girl Detective" series by R. A. Spratt, Under Suspicion, continues the tween-fiction-mystery in entertaining directions – including sly asides involving physics ("M-Theory" and "electroweak bosons"), physiology ("benign positional paroxysmal vertigo"), classic myth ("Sisyphean"), and other break-the-vocabulary-list terms. There's snappy dialog, pre-teen pre-romance humor, and cute sleuth action. Fast and fun, like its predecessor!

David Brooks on Being Human

"The Essential Skills for Being Human" by David Brooks is a thoughtful essay adapted from his new book How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. Brooks discusses how to connect — crucial skills for helping self, others, and World:

All the World's Babies

Friday Barnes, Girl Detective

What a great paragraph — in a novel that says it's for "ages 8-12" — as protagonist Friday Barnes confers with her best friend Melanie:

That's not atypical prose for R. A. Spratt's book Friday Barnes, Girl Detective. It's a delightful fast-paced tongue-firmly-in-cheek first-in-a-series of stories featuring a scary-smart somewhat-shy socially-skewed young lady who solves crimes and other mysteries. The author is Australian, and (judging by an interview with her) much like her central character. Highly recommended for all who cherish cleverness and silly fun.

Princess Diaries

Recommendation from a good friend: The Princess Diaries, a young adult novel by Meg Cabot. Best bit: the quote at the beginning from Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess:

Other Minds

Peter Godfrey-Smith's 2016 book Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness is a fun, fast romp through evolutionary biology, philosophy of mind, neurophysiology, and the author's personal relationships with cephalopods as a scuba diver. It raises an ocean of questions and suggests some potential answers. As Godfrey-Smith says in the first chapter, "Doing philosophy is largely a matter of trying to put things together, trying to get the pieces of very large puzzles to make some sense." Some big takeaways from Other Minds include:

Placebo Effect

So placebos should be used – with full recognition of both their benefits and limitations: "[They] shouldn’t be a first-line treatment; patients should be given what effective medicines are available. After all, placebos rarely, if ever, change the underlying pathology or objectively measured signs of disease. I like to remind people that they don’t shrink tumors or cure infections."

Paul Bloom on How to Teach

In "Diminishing returns and tripping balls" psychology professor Paul Bloom offers excellent advice on how to be a great teacher. Abridged and arranged to include Bloom's additional commentary:

Mantra - Less I, Less Me

Send the self off-stage sometimes, and give the starring rôles to others — start sentences with fewer first-person pronouns — turn the knobs on the Utility Function to place greater weight on the rest of the universe — open more windows, doors, eyes, ears, arms, mind ...

... so magically, everything becomes easier, quieter, more graceful, less brittle, and perhaps infinitely happier!

Nasty, Brutish, and Short

"Ask Questions, and Question Answers!" Think of Socrates as a comedian, with little children as his props. That's what Scott Hershovitz's book Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids is about: deep issues, explored entertainingly as dialogues with his two sons, plus extensive asides and commentary. Major themes, as per chapter titles:

Among the best bits, from the Introduction ("The Art of Thinking"), on how to read the book:

... and in the chapter "Mind", on the importance of not coming to conclusions prematurely:

Bottom line: Nasty, Brutish, and Short is full of fine stuff, though at times perhaps it gets a bit too personal-narrow, with too much foul language and too much bias toward what-would-be-nice-if-it-were-true currently-conventional political beliefs. But that's ok – the reader has already been warned not to accept "answers" unquestioningly! Worth reading, and pondering.

Jimmy Buffett, R.I.P.

No Harm, Yes Foul

The "No Harm, No Foul" rule is simply wrong – as per the lovely anecdote told by wise investor-philosopher-professor Benjamin Graham ("Current Problems in Security Analysis", Lecture, New York Institute of Finance, 1947) quoted in the Hussman Funds Annual Report for 2023:

Jubilant Retirement

The word for "retirement" in Spanish is Jubilación – an obvious cognate for "jubilation", and the perfect term for an ideal transition from the Work-for-Pay-from-Others back to the Learn-and-Grow-for-Self early phases of Life!

Ways to Mend the World

Another kind, helpful, loving list to ponder, Anglican priest Tish Harrison Warren's "11 Small Ways You Can Help Mend the World", in her newsletter from the New York Times dated 12 June 2022:

... yes, rather religious – and yes, full of hope and good ideas for the future.

Friendship

"Being There" by David French (NYT Gift Link) is a beautiful ode to friendship – including:

Money and Happiness, Analyzed

"The Rich Are Not Who We Think They Are. And Happiness Is Not What We Think It Is, Either." by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a cute data-analytic 2022 book-excerpt. It begins by noting that most high-earning people – the top 0.1% who take in more than ~$1.5M/year – are not famous billionaires. They're owners of a "regional business" like an auto dealership or beverage distributor. These tend to be local quasi-monopolies that make money in a boring way.

More fascinating are Stephens-Davidowitz's comments on happiness and its sources. Getting more money helps, but only logarithmically. ("You need to keep doubling your income to get the same happiness boost.") The leading factors behind feeling good are unsurprising:

The data behind this are in the study "Are You Happy While You Work?" by Alex Bryson and George MacKerron. Its abstract summarizes:

The results are in Table 3, "Happiness in Different Activities (fixed effects regression model)":

Abundance Mindset

Eleven Laws of Systems Thinking

Stiff

Activity	% change in Happiness
Intimacy, making love	14.20
Theatre, dance, concert	9.29
Exhibition, museum, library	8.77
Sports, running, exercise	8.12
Gardening, allotment	7.83
Singing, performing	6.95
Talking, chatting, socialising	6.38
Birdwatching, nature watching	6.28
Walking, hiking	6.18
Hunting, fishing	5.82
Drinking alcohol	5.73
Hobbies, arts, crafts	5.53
Meditating, religious activities	4.95
Match, sporting event	4.39
Childcare, playing with children	4.10
Pet care, playing with pets	3.63
Listening to music	3.56
Other games, puzzles	3.07
Shopping, errands	2.74
Gambling, betting	2.62
Watching TV, film	2.55
Computer games, iPhone games	2.39
Eating, snacking	2.38
Cooking, preparing food	2.14
Drinking tea/coffee	1.83
Reading	1.47
Listening to speech/podcast	1.41
Washing, dressing, grooming	1.18
Sleeping, resting, relaxing	1.08
Smoking	0.69
Browsing the Internet	0.59
Texting, email, social media	0.56
Housework, chores, DIY	-0.65
Travelling, commuting	-1.47
In a meeting, seminar, class	-1.50
Admin, finances, organising	-2.45
Waiting, queueing	-3.51
Care or help for adults	-4.30
Working, studying	-5.43
Sick in bed	-20.4

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (2003) is a humorous survey of dead bodies. The chapters cover a wide range of applications:

... and more! Roach's writing style is smooth and chatty; the technical content seems reliable; the only major fault is the lack of an index.

Recovery to Health

All so difficult to do, and so important to try (or at least try to try) — even when not (totally) successful — and to Dr Wen's list, perhaps add:

Longevity List

Genuine, Gallant, Generous, Grateful, Good

Turn around some common character woes – scared, selfish, spiteful, small – and make a list of positives, perhaps in an alliterative style to aid memory and encourage virtue?

The Marriage Question

Clare Carlisle's book The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life is a deeply detailed and insightful literary biography of Mary Anne Evans aka Marian Evans aka George Eliot (1819-1880), the extraordinary British novelist who "married" — but not in the eyes of the law or society — the love of her life, George Lewes. Carlisle's analysis of Eliot's maculate situation is fascinating and raises profound, important questions about life. As the book's synopsis says:

Carlisle in her Preface touches upon such issues and their relevance today, more than a century later:

Earlier in the preface, via rich metaphors, Carlisle sketches the reality of long-term relationships:

PS And there's also arch humor, as in Chapter 11 ("The Other Shore") where Carlisle breaks the fourth wall in discussing Eliot's marriage, two years after Lewes death in 1878, to John Cross, 20 years younger than she:

Better Memory

So as not to forget 😊, some obvious-and-good suggestions from Jancee Dunn's NYT essay "Phone. Keys. Wallet … Brain?:

Don't Do Your Best

... and from the slides of quotes – of which only four of the eleven were used:

Electrolyte Friends

Funny how giving or receiving a tiny gift can lead to something marvelous! Three dear trail buddies, for instance, first met during ultramarathons a decade or more ago. One or the other of us was suffering from electrolyte imbalance, cramping up, or game-ending fatigue. A timely mid-course present of a few electrolyte capsules ("Succeed!" brand e-caps, as it turned out) solved the problems and laid the foundations for long-term friendships. The stories began at:

... and continued in dozens of runs, races, and other meetings thereafter. So wonderful we met, comrades!

They Have a Word for It

Howard Rheingold's 1988 book They Have a Word for It is subtitled "A Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words and Phrases". It's fun, albeit a bit dated in tone, not dense in information, and erratic in quality. Some of the better words are widely known already; others are deservedly forgotten. Here a few examples that may lie somewhere in between:

Many of Rheingold's words are ostentatiously obscure, arcane, or of questionable utility. May they rest in piece, along with their forgotten siblings!

Burnout

The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives, by Jonathan Malesic is, sadly, a mostly-personal report on the author's tragic life-experiences, clothed in a discussion of historical-societal exhaustion, depression, and general suffering associated with "work". There are insightful bits – esp perhaps the discussion of "workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values" as six key areas (identified by Michael Leiter and Christina Maslach). As Malesic summarizes near the end of Chapter 4:

Excellent insights! But overall, Burnout is long on anecdote and short on higher-level analysis. Malesic includes appropriate disclaimers, like "... I am just one worker; I want to be careful not to overdraw any conclusions about work itself from experience that may be peculiar to me. ...". And Malesic's vision is a noble one, as he summarizes in Chapter 6:

The vision, however, is far better captured in his op-ed essays in the NY Times, parts of which are derived from Burnout.

Not Your Job

Jonathan Malesic in his NYT op-ed "College Students: School Is Not Your Job" offers a deep insight on work versus being and learning and growing and flourishing:

College is a unique time in your life to discover just how much your mind can do. Capacities like an ear for poetry, a grasp of geometry or a keen moral imagination may not ‘pay off’ financially (though you never know), but they are part of who you are. That makes them worth cultivating. Doing so requires a community of teachers and fellow learners. Above all, it requires time: time to allow your mind to branch out, grow and blossom.

... and openness to new learning applies to old retirees too! – and everyone else, eh?

_{(cf Pursuit of Excellence (2002-02-22), Knowledge and Society (2002-03-25), Improving My Mind (2003-06-22), What We Know (2006-08-15), Asimov on Libraries (2007-12-28), Learn to Learn (2020-01-29), Learningful Life (2021-07-02), Future of Work (2021-09-26), Work as School (2023-06-02), ...) - ^z - 2023-09-04}

- Monday, September 04, 2023 at 21:20:25 (EDT)

Proud Hugs

Public embraces:
   ... in the gas station driveway
         — as if we were newlyweds
   ... at the metro parking lot
         — as if it were time to part forever
   ... beside the giant MRI magnet
         — as if someone were about to enter surgery
   ... next to the table in the restaurant after dinner
         — as if this were the last meal before an execution

Or maybe ... we're just sharing our loving friendship with the World!

_{(cf Startled by Beauty (2002-12-31), Silver Anniversary (2003-09-06), Public Glimpses (2007-03-10), In a Poem (2010-06-17), Elements (2015-06-02), Startled by Beauty (2016-11-17), Be the Loving (2018-06-03), In Your Eyes (2018-08-04), Imagine Meaningless Beauty (2018-11-09), Like a Bud (2020-03-21), Like a Hand, Like a Wind (2021-04-26), ...) - ^z - 2023-09-04}

- Monday, September 04, 2023 at 15:48:35 (EDT)

Goodnight Mind for Teens

Books on how to reduce insomnia are many and diverse. Goodnight Mind for Teens: Skills to Help You Quiet Noisy Thoughts and Get the Sleep You Need by Colleen Carney focuses on helping adolescents get better sleep via science, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) methods. It's fast-reading and — maybe, for some people who follow its suggestions for a few months — could be helpful. The ten "tips" are actually a good high-level outline of the approach:

Identify Your Sleep Problem with the Right Tool: The Sleep Tracker
Use Your Body Clock to Get Better Sleep and Feel Better During the Day
Wind Down Before Bed
Make a Plan for Managing Anxiety
Stay Awake During the Day by Addressing Sleepiness
Develop a Plan for Getting Out of Bed in the Morning
Develop a Plan to Feel More Alert During the Day
Manage Substances That Rob You of Deep Sleep
Think Like a Good Sleeper
Make a New Plan If Your Sleep Remains a Problem

... good steps for problem-solving in general!

_{^z - 2023-09-03}

- Sunday, September 03, 2023 at 15:25:01 (EDT)

Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs

Tristan Gooley's book The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs has the enchanting subtitle "Use outdoor clues to: find your way; predict the weather; locate water; track animals; and other forgotten skills". And it really does deliver on those promises!

Lost Art isn't summarizable – it's a semi-organized buffet of observations, methods, phenomena, rules, and connections. The main focus is mindful walking – paying attention and asking oneself questions about what one is sensing. Gooley explores Earth and sky, plants and animals, natural and artificial structures, and the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. There are also safety tips, personal stories, and silly cynical asides. For instance, from the Introduction:

Most of the walking books I have come across over the years get bogged down in obsessive attention to safety and equipment. I have rarely found myself enjoying these books, because I do not go walking with the purpose of staying within a world of perfect safety and comfort. Personally, I would rather die walking than die of boredom reading about how to walk safely. This is a theory I have experimented with over the years, as you will see.
In this book I will take the original approach of assuming that you are capable of walking safely and with roughly the right socks on. If you are the sort of person who likes to go ice-climbing in a nightie, then you probably don't read many walking books and I suspect it would take more than a book to mend your ways. With a handful of exceptions, my advice in the area of safety is three words long: don't be daft.
That said, everyone needs the right tools for certain jobs.

The Introduction concludes with a fine Executive Summary of the whole mission:

This is a book about outdoor clues and signs and the art of making predictions and deductions. The aim of the book is to make your walks, however long or short, eminently more fascinating. I hope you enjoy it.

A smörgåsbord of delight follows ...

_{(cf Weltschmertz Rx (2005-07-13), Seeing Nature (2005-07-19), Miracles and Wonders (2007-03-31), Mantra - Keep Looking (2017-05-30), ...) - ^z - 2023-09-03}

- Sunday, September 03, 2023 at 08:13:09 (EDT)

Mindfulness: an Eight-Week Plan

Insightful bits from Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World (2012, by Mark Williams and Danny Penman) beginning with Chapter 1 ("Chasing Your Tail"):

A typical meditation consists of focusing your full attention on your breath as it flows in and out of your body (see "A one-minute meditation"). Focusing on each breath in this way allows you to observe your thoughts as they arise in your mind and, little by little, to let go of struggling with them. You come to realize that thoughts come and go of their own accord; that you are not your thoughts. You can watch as they appear in your mind, seemingly from thin air, and watch again as they disappear, like a soap bubble bursting. You come to the profound understanding that thoughts and feelings (including negative ones) are transient. They come and they go, and ultimately, you have a choice about whether to act on them or not.
Mindfulness is about observation without criticism; being compassionate with yourself. When unhappiness or stress hovers overhead, rather than taking it all personally, you learn to treat them as if they were black clouds in the sky, and to observe them with friendly curiosity as they drift past. In essence, mindfulness allows you to catch negative thought patterns before they tip you into a downward spiral. It begins the process of putting you back in control of your life.

... and later in that chapter:

Mindfulness meditation teaches you to recognize memories and damaging thoughts as they arise. It reminds you that they are memories. They are like propaganda, they are not real. They are not you. You can learn to observe negative thoughts as they arise, let them stay a while and then simply watch them evaporate before your eyes. And when this occurs, an extraordinary thing can happen: a profound sense of happiness and peace fills the void.
Mindfulness meditation does this by harnessing an alternative way in which our minds can relate to the world. Most of us know only the analytical side of the mind; the process of thinking, judging, planning and trawling through past memories while searching for solutions. But the mind is also aware. We do not just think about things, we are also aware that we are thinking. And we don't need language to stand as an intermediary between us and the world; we can also experience it directly through our senses. We are capable of directly sensing things like the sounds of birds, the scent of beautiful flowers and the sight of a loved one's smile. And we know with the heart as well as the head. Thinking is not all there is to conscious experience. The mind is bigger and more encompassing than thought alone.
Meditation creates greater mental clarity; seeing things with pure open-hearted awareness. It's a place—a vantage point—from which we can witness our own thoughts and feelings as they arise. It takes us off the hair trigger that compels us to react to things as soon as they happen. Our inner self—the part that is innately happy and at peace—is no longer drowned out by the noise of the mind crunching through problems.
Mindfulness meditation encourages us to become more patient and compassionate with ourselves and to cultivate open-mindedness and gentle persistence. These qualities help free us from the gravitational pull of anxiety, stress and unhappiness by reminding us what science has shown: that it's OK to stop treating sadness and other difficulties as problems that need to be solved. We shouldn't feel bad about "failing" to fix them. In fact, that's often the wisest course of action because our habitual ways of solving such difficulties often make them worse.
Mindfulness does not negate the brain's natural desire to solve problems. It simply gives us the time and space to choose the best ways of solving them. Some problems are best dealt with emotionally—we select the solution that "feels" best. Others need to be slogged through logically. Many are best dealt with intuitively, creatively. Some are best left alone for now.

... and from Chapter 2 ("Why Do We Attack Ourselves?"):

When you try to solve the "problem" of unhappiness (or any other "negative" emotion) you deploy one of the mind's most powerful tools: rational critical thinking. It works like this: you see yourself in a place (unhappy) and know where you want to be (happy). Your mind then analyzes the gap between the two and tries to work out the best way of bridging it. To do so, it uses its "Doing" mode (so called because it performs well in solving problems and getting things done). The Doing mode works by progressively narrowing the gap between where you are and where you want to be. It does so by subconsciously breaking down the problem into pieces, each of which is solved in your mind's eye and the solution reanalyzed to see whether it's got you closer to your goal. It often happens in an instant and we're frequently not even aware of the process. It's a tremendously powerful way of solving problems. It's how we find our way across cities, drive cars and arrange hectic work schedules. In a more refined form, it's how the ancients built the pyramids and navigated the world in primitive sailing ships, and it is helping humanity to solve many of our most pressing problems.
It's perfectly natural, then, to apply this approach to solving the "problem" of unhappiness. But it's often the worst thing you can do because it requires you to focus on the gap between how you are and how you'd like to be: in doing so, you ask such critical questions as, What's wrong with me? Where did I go wrong? Why do I always make these mistakes? Such questions are not only harsh and self-destructive, but they also demand that the mind furnishes the evidence to explain its discontent. And the mind is truly brilliant at providing such evidence.

... thoughtful introductory remarks, which lead into the later chapters of detailed step-by-step practices to try for the next two months.

_{(cf Coming to Our Senses (2009-01-01), Finding the Quiet (2009-12-05), Waking Up to What You Do (2010-03-21), Beginning Mindfulness (2013-09-22), Mindfulness in Plain English (2015-11-01), ...) - ^z - 2023-09-01}

- Friday, September 01, 2023 at 20:07:17 (EDT)

Commitment, Discipline, Playfulness, Lightness

Delightful words in Jon Kabat-Zinn's introduction to Mindfulness: an Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World (2012, by Mark Williams and Danny Penman), with emphasis added:

The practice of mindfulness has been shown to exert a powerful influence on one's health, well-being and happiness, as attested to by the scientific and medical evidence presented in this book in a very accessible fashion. However, because it is a practice rather than merely a good idea, its cultivation is a process, one that of necessity unfolds and deepens over time. It is most beneficial if you take it on as a strong commitment to yourself, one that requires a degree of stick-to-it-ness and discipline, while at the same time being playful and bringing to each moment, as best you can, a certain ease and lightness of touch—a gesture of kindness and self-compassion, really. This lightness of touch, coupled with a steadfast and wholehearted engagement, is really a signature of mindfulness training and practice in all its various forms.

Such a beautiful combination of hard work and good humor!

_{(cf Posture (2009-06-05), Mindfulness As a Love Affair (2013-08-10), Simple but Not Easy (2018-01-10), ...) - ^z - 2023-09-01}

- Friday, September 01, 2023 at 20:04:51 (EDT)

Happiness Projects

In 2007-2008 as Gretchen Rubin was beginning her "Happiness Project" she shared some excellent thoughts online (see zhurnalyWiki notes [1], [2], [3]). Alas, looking a decade-plus later at the results – her books The Happiness Project and Happier at Home etc – there's a lot more length but not much depth or breadth or height.

First, to get a mundane truth out of the way: Ms Rubin is rather wealthy: a lawyer's daughter who went to Yale law school, clerked for a Supreme Court justice, married the son of Robert Rubin (the former US Treasury Secretary and investment bank CEO). She doesn't need to worry much about money. Maybe that's irrelevant to her happiness.

The Happiness Project's preface summarizes with a big disclaimer the mission of the book:

Could I discover a startling new secret about happiness? Probably not. People have been thinking about happiness for thousands of years, and the great truths about happiness have already been laid out by the most brilliant minds in history. Everything important has been said before. (Even that statement. It was Alfred North Whitehead who said, "Everything important has been said before.") The laws of happiness are as fixed as the laws of chemistry.
But even though I wasn’t making up these laws, I needed to grapple with them for myself. It’s like dieting. We all know the secret of dieting—eat better, eat less, exercise more—it's the application that’s challenging. I had to create a scheme to put happiness ideas into practice in my life.

And what follows? Relentlessly first-person anecdotes, gambit-suggestions to nudge oneself into action, quotations from famous people, ... and few non-obvious insights. Lots of self-described petty behavior, however – egocentrism, anger, and short-sightedness. Plenty of personal data about her family, as well as the author herself. Self-indulgence galore. Not much "So what?"

The book goes month-by-month through a year, in unfortunately pedestrian fashion: January = "vitality" (sleep, exercise, tidy up); February = the Relationship; March = work (blog, experiment); April = parenthood; etc, etc. No visible coherence, just stuff thrown against a wall.

Bottom Line: Happiness is an intrinsically important topic, and there are many extraordinary quotes and important ideas in Ms Rubin's books – but the density is low and the disorganization makes it hard to learn much. Sad.

_{(cf AntiArrogance (2007-12-24), Pursuit of Happiness (2008-11-19), Habitual Virtue (2008-12-18), ...) - ^z - 2023-09-01}

- Friday, September 01, 2023 at 12:34:01 (EDT)

Insight Dice

draft "documentation" for version 1.0 of the Insight Dice ...

Dice

The Dice offer gentle suggestions for insight. There are many ways to use them – for example:

Toss a die for a word of the day — a nudge, a goal, a tiny theme to think about and share with friends
Roll dice to make a mini-mantra — a phrase or sentence to ponder, play with, and hold in one's heart
Carry dice in purse or pocket, to touch or peek for a quick cue — a reminder to aspire and observe

Symbols

The Symbols on the Dice are adapted from "toki pona", a beautiful tiny language designed to catalyze calm and joy. Look them up on the Cards, or see the Matrix on the back of the Box. Some seem simple, some subtle. Learn more at tokipona.org and Wikipedia.

Matrix

The Matrix summarizes the 3 dice and the 18 symbols they bear. The rows of the Matrix are Dimensions of insight. The columns of the Matrix move toward increasing simplicity, in patterns that may add meaning or aid memory.

Dimensions

The Dimensions of insight are three:

Mindfulness — awakening to the present moment — appreciating the thoughts and events that form it, the paths that lead through it, and the skill and courage needed to live with grace in it → Be
Nonattachment — acknowledging and releasing all that was, is, or might be, without judging or clinging — accepting and cherishing the countless causal connections that web this world → If
Oneness — knowing the deep-down unity of all things — striving for strength to aid others and self (and no-self!) at all times – repairing the universe and removing suffering → Do

Words

The Words are mere labels for half-a-dozen facets of each Dimension – sounds, symbols, and suggestions that point toward underlying unspoken concepts that form the foundations of insight.

🪷
- sona — Mindfulness — insight - wisdom - awareness
- lukin — Attention — seeking - observing - encountering
- nasin — Path — way - method - journey
- ni — This — now - here - presence
- ale — All — life - abundance - completeness
- lon — Be — truth - reality - existence
⚖️
- pana — Nonattachment — giving - sharing - releasing
- jo — Acceptance — holding - receiving - cherishing
- open — Open — clarity - freedom - innocence
- kon — Soft — spirit - resilience - forgiveness
- ken — May — potential - permission - transformation
- tan — If — cause - emptiness - uncertainty
✨
- wan — Oneness — yes - union - universe
- kulupu — Alliance — help - partner - community
- wawa — Power — courage - strength - confidence
- pona — Kind — peace - beauty - goodness
- olin — Love — care - concern - compassion
- pali — Do — action - creativity - achievement

_{(cf Mantra - Mindfulness, Nonattachment, Oneness (2017-01-25), Meditation Map (2019-01-19), Awakening Matrix (2019-04-29), Mind Matrix in toki pona (2023-03-13), How to Navigate the Awareness Matrix (2023-06-08), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-28}

- Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:44:15 (EDT)

Various Virtues

For further thought, adding to the lists of Franklin's Virtues (2008-05-23) and Epistemic Virtues (2018-06-05), from Wikipedia's "Cardinal Virtues":

Prudence: the ability to discern the appropriate course of action to be taken in a given situation at the appropriate time, with consideration of potential consequences
Justice: also considered as fairness
Fortitude: also termed courage, forbearance, strength, endurance, and the ability to confront fear, uncertainty, and intimidation
Temperance: also known as restraint, the practice of self-control, abstention, discretion, and moderation tempering the appetition

... plus three "Theological Virtues":

Faith
Hope
Love (or Charity)

And from a description of Martin Seligman's taxonomy:

Wisdom
- Creativity: Thinking of new ways to do things
- Curiosity: Taking an interest in a wide variety of topics
- Open-mindedness: Examining things from all sides; thinking things through
- Love of learning: Mastering new topics, skills, and bodies of research
- Perspective: Being able to provide wise counsel to others; looking at the world in a way that makes sense
Courage
- Honesty: Speaking the truth; being authentic and genuine
- Bravery: Embracing challenges, difficulties, or pain; not shrinking from threat
- Persistence: Finishing things once they are started
- Zest: Approaching all things in life with energy and excitement
Humanity
- Kindness: Doing favors and good deeds
- Love: Valuing close relations with others
- Social intelligence: Being aware of other people's motives and feelings
Justice
- Fairness: Treating all people the same
- Leadership: Organizing group activities and making sure they happen
- Teamwork: Working well with others as a group or a team
Temperance
- Forgiveness: Forgiving others who have wronged them
- Modesty: Letting one's successes and accomplishments stand on their own
- Prudence: Avoiding doing things they might regret; making good choices
- Self-regulation: Being disciplined; controlling one's appetites and emotions
Transcendence
- Appreciation of beauty: Noticing and appreciating beauty and excellence in everything
- Gratitude: Being thankful for the good things; taking time to express thanks
- Hope: Expecting the best; working to make it happen; believing good things are possible
- Humor: Making other people smile or laugh; enjoying jokes
- Religiousness: Having a solid belief about a higher purpose and meaning of life

... lots of words, in lots of categories – but is there systematic way to organize the Good? And how about balancing the trade-offs when multiple Good goals clash?

_{(cf Ethical Fitness (2000-12-15), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-24}

- Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 14:55:20 (EDT)

Perfect Theory

The Perfect Theory by Paolo G Ferreira is a delightful history of General Relativity (GR), Einstein's explanation of gravity. It focuses on people (a wild menagerie of characters) and problems (including the most important questions in the cosmos). The Prologue puts it neatly:

It sounds like the ultimate overstatement, but I can’t resist it: the reward for harnessing Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity is nothing less than the key to understanding the history of the universe, the origin of time, and the evolution of all the stars and galaxies in the cosmos. General relativity can tell us about what lies at the farthest reaches of the universe and explain how that knowledge affects our existence here and now. Einstein’s theory also sheds light on the smallest scales of existence, where the highest-energy particles can come into being out of nothing. It can explain how the fabric of reality, space, and time emerges to become the backbone of nature.
What I learned during those months of intense study is that general relativity brings space and time alive. Space is no longer just a place where things exist, nor is time a ticking clock keeping tabs on things. According to Einstein, space and time are intertwined in a cosmic dance as they respond to every single speck of stuff imaginable, from particles to galaxies, weaving themselves into elaborate patterns that can lead to the most bizarre effects. And from the moment he first proposed his theory, it has been used to explore the natural world, revealing the universe as a dynamic place, expanding at breakneck speed, filled with black holes, devastating punctures of space and time, and grand waves of energy, each carrying almost as much energy as a whole galaxy. General relativity has let us reach further than we ever imagined.

Much of the feel of the GR research in The Perfect Theory is that of exploring a cave or a labyrinth – as mathematician Andrew Wiles said of his work (in Amir Aczel's book Fermat's Last Theorem – see "Good Mistakes"):

"Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of entering a dark mansion. You go into the first room and it's dark, completely dark. You stumble around, bumping into the furniture. Gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is. And finally, after six months or so, you find the light switch and turn it on. Suddenly, it's all illuminated and you can see exactly where you were. Then you enter the next dark room ..."

That's precisely what the physicists, astronomers, and astrophysicists are doing throughout The Perfect Theory – usually on timescales of decades. In Chapter 11 ("Seeing Gravity"), for instance:

Weber died in 2000, before LIGO started operations. It had taken decades of devotion to get the most perfectly tuned instrument to work. Along the way, there had been delay after delay. Kip Thorne had made a number of bets with colleagues in the 1980s and 1990s that gravitational waves would be discovered before the turn of the millennium, and he lost them all. Even in the beginning of the twenty-first century, LIGO faced setbacks, from the loggers with their circular saws in the Louisiana forest who set off the detectors at Livingston, to mysterious whirrings in the nuclear reactors around the Hanford site in Washington. But when it was finally turned on in 2002 and run for a few years, LIGO was able to achieve the sensitivity everyone had been gunning for. It was the first stage in the experimental journey laid out in the proposal in the early 1990s. Its detectors could pick up vibrations of less than a proton’s width, as had been envisioned decades before. In fact, the LIGO team announced, the instrument was even more sensitive than they had predicted. LIGO was, by all means, a resounding success, even though it didn’t see anything. As expected in its first incarnation, LIGO was not yet sensitive enough to actually detect gravitational waves, but it did show the way forward. The LIGO team can now improve the existing instrument so that at some point it will see the ripples in spacetime that Einstein had first predicted.
It is a long game. Unlike Weber’s results, which came fast and steady the moment he turned on his instrument, LIGO will have used up thousands of technicians over many decades before it can actually detect gravitational waves. The founding trio, Ron Drever, Kip Thorne, and Rainer Weiss, now in their seventies and eighties, might not all be around when that moment comes, and they may have devoted their lives to something they will never see. But there is unwavering confidence that waves are out there; Einstein’s theory predicts them, and they have been seen, albeit indirectly, through the gentle but steady orbital decay of the millisecond pulsars. It is just a matter of time before gravitational waves are seen, and then a field of research that started with Weber’s bang will end with a whimper: the whimper of spacetime shimmering as it passes through Earth.

The Perfect Theory was published in 2014, and LIGO made two detections of gravitational waves that reached the Earth in 2015. The 2017 Nobel Prize in physics was shared Barry Barish, Kip Thorne, and Ray Weiss. (Ronald Drever died shortly before that; R.I.P. Ron!)

Near the end of the book in Chapter 13 ("A Spectacular Extrapolation") Ferreira discusses next steps for GR:

Now, in the early twenty-first century, we seem to be in a similar situation, with a wonderful theory of gravity that, to explain cosmology, requires that more than 96 percent of the universe be made up of something we can’t see or detect. Could this be yet another crack in the edifice that Einstein had constructed almost one hundred years before? That general relativity might have to be corrected due to quantum physics had been accepted without too much fuss. But questioning general relativity’s efficacy on large scales was something different. If the dark matter and dark energy of the universe were eliminated from the picture, Einstein’s beautiful theory would have to be modified. The prospect was as unappealing to many astrophysicists as taking a sledgehammer to a classic car just so it would fit in the garage.

The Perfect Theory is a loving, lovely history of a central field of physics.

_{(cf Vulnerable Theories (1999-05-17), Relativity Plus Astrophysics (2000-03-29), Cherished Beliefs (2000-04-19), No Concepts At All (2001-02-22), Universal Knowns (2002-06-13), Gravitational Waves - Thirty Years Later (2011-07-15), Little Book of Cosmology (2023-03-31), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-23}

- Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 13:33:09 (EDT)

Mantra - Be a Gray Rock

🪨

... a skillful way to deal with difficult people, up to and including "... malignant narcissists, psychopaths, sociopaths, borderlines, drama queens, stalkers and other emotional vampires ...":

be boring
answer questions with a shrug or "uh-huh"
react minimally to anger, attacks, or manipulative behavior

... perhaps applicable to other stressful situations as well?!

_{(cf [0], [1], [2], Mantra - Be Like a Log (2016-01-26), Mantra - Cling to Nothing (2016-04-17), Mantra - Be a Duck, Not a Sponge (2016-08-15), ... ) - ^z - 2023-08-22}

- Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 08:10:27 (EDT)

Buddhish

Buddhish: A Guide to the 20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas for the Curious and Skeptical (2022) by C Pierce Salguero is a delightfully written and well-structured tour through all of Buddhism — not just the narrow Western sliver of secular-humanistic mindfulness. Salguero is a Professor of Asian History and Religious Studies at Penn State University. He describes his book's goal as offering a useful middle path, between pop-psych and scholarly doctrinal analysis. It largely succeeds.

Salguero's "20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas" are summarized in the book's chapter titles: Awakening; Suffering; Path; Karma; Renunciation; Non-Self; Buddha; Mindfulness; Buddha-Nature; The Middle Way; Skillful Means; Bodhisattva; Compassion; Rituals; Well-Being; Zen; Buddhist; Refuge; Interconnectedness; Doubt. The first half of Buddhish is mostly theoretical-philosophical; the second half is mostly real-world applications. Some memorable tidbits follow.

from Chapter 8 ("Mindfulness"), on varieties of meditation:

Buddhist trainings that emphasize concentration often focus on generating what in the Pali language is called jhana, advanced states of absorption in which you become so concentrated on the object of meditation that the rest of the world melts away. When everything else disappears, you're left with states of deep bliss, rapture, or stillness. Trainings emphasizing insight, on the other hand, focus on perceiving your chosen object of meditation as a manifestation of suffering, impermanence, and non-self—which in Buddhism are called the "three marks of all existence." This kind of work is more deconstructive, breaking down your mental and physical experience into increasingly finer phenomena. Many training systems call for you to practice both concentration and insight sequentially or simultaneously. Normally, the goal of all of these kinds of advanced practice is to experience "cessations," moments during which the whole self and the world drop away. In other words, Nirvana.

from Chapter 9 ("Buddha-Nature"), on mystical-breakthrough-realization experiences:

One way of talking about what these experiences have in common is to classify them as "non-dual." Religions and philosophies that are "dual" see an irreconcilable gulf between the ordinary world and the enlightened state, between the soul and God, between the self and the world, or between consciousness and matter. Non-dual systems, on the other hand, teach that these boundaries are illusory. In India, entire religions have been built up around the premise that you can unify the individual self—with all of its problems of anxiety, fear, sadness, helplessness, and self-identification—with a greater, cosmic, divine, wise, and perfect whole that encompasses all of reality. Such traditions include most forms of Hinduism and Buddhism.
However, there is one thing that separates Buddhism from many other non-dual traditions, both in India and beyond. That is its emphasis on using subtraction rather than addition to describe its non-dual insights. A non-dual form of Hinduism, such as Advaita Vedanta, says that an individual's soul merges or unites with God. Buddhism, on the other hand, generally prefers to describe this insight in the negative. The self is inherently illusory, it insists. There is no God with which to merge. Instead, our true inner nature is a vast, still emptiness.

from Chapter 13 ("Compassion"), on the varieties of compassionate feelings:

Buddhists tend to be much more precise about compassion than we usually are in everyday English. We commonly use the word in rather vague ways, to refer to a whole range of positive feelings. Buddhists, on the other hand, differentiate between four different positive mental states that might all be part of the ordinary English notion of compassion. Collectively known as the "immeasurable states of mind" (si wuliang xin) in Chinese or the "heavenly dwellings" (brahma vihara) in Pali, they are as follows:
Loving kindness (metta in Pali): a feeling of universal friendliness, goodwill, and love toward all beings
Empathetic compassion (karuna): a feeling of wanting to remove the suffering experienced by other beings.
Altruistic joy (mudita): a feeling of joy at the happiness and success of other beings, untinged by jealousy or pride.
Equanimity (upekkha): a feeling of tolerance, peace, and tranquility in the face of annoyances, including those caused by other beings.
These four immeasurables were understood to go together as a set in Indian culture long before the Buddha's time, and they appear in other Indian religious traditions as well. However, they were absorbed into Buddhism and came to be among its central ideas. The main idea behind the Buddhist discourses on this subject is that we can and should cultivate these positive states of mind. As is true with mindfulness or concentration, the brain can be trained in the immeasurables.

and from that same chapter, on the benefits of training the mind to feel compassion:

Part of the power of this kind of practice is that it has the ability to disrupt the loops of unkind, negative, and self-destructive thoughts toward ourselves and others that most of us normally hear playing inside our heads. If the thoughts floating down your mindstream are angry, for example, the perfect antidote may be to fill your mind up with loving kindness instead. If your thoughts tend toward cruelty or violence, why not replace them with empathetic compassion? If your thoughts often revolve around jealousy or greed, perhaps balance them with altruistic joy. If your mind is characteristically annoyed or perturbed by the people around you, then try to cultivate a little equanimity. Even if you recognize that this practice involves artificially creating positive affirmations and even if you know you are intentionally planting them in your head, it can still work. In fact, it can still work even if you don't actually feel anything while you are saying these words—even if your repetitions are completely mechanical.

and in conclusion for that chapter:

The simple point I want to emphasize is that, just as the mind can be trained to concentrate more and more through the practice of mindfulness meditation, it can also be trained to become more and more kind, compassionate, and even-keeled through meditation practice focused on the immeasurables. There isn't any magic woo-woo going on here. From what we know about the neuroplasticity of the brain, it is not at all surprising that we can transform anger, anxiety, and self-concern into gentleness, calm, and generosity toward others if we are willing to commit the time to the practice of reprogramming ourselves.

from Chapter 15 ("Well-Being"), re Buddhism and health:

... talk about subtle energies or winds is at its core an elaborate cluster of metaphors that clearly describes—and tunes you into—how the sensations in your body change in response to your mind. I don't think there's necessarily anything mystical or supernatural going on here. Rather, I see it as a culturally specific way of describing a common everyday experience that all human beings share—and that any of us can notice if we pay attention.
...
... the main point Buddhism is trying to get across is that it’s helpful for your health to improve your interoception, your attention to what's going on inside your body. When you pay more attention to what's going on inside, you can see how the mind triggers negative reactions in the body and the body responds to the mind. Once you can observe this process in real time, you can learn ways to intervene in order to bring yourself a bit of relief.

from Chapter 16 ("Zen"), re open awareness as opposed to narrow focus:

... in the Zen practice of "just sitting," one keeps one's attention wide open, choicelessly accepting anything that comes into one’s awareness, chirping birds and all. Far from tuning them out, it seems that sounds, sights, and other perceptions become heightened by this kind of practice. You start to perceive things more crisply, and everything can seem more beautiful than ever. This enhanced perception may be one reason that Zen masters have frequently celebrated the natural world and have lovingly dwelt on small details in the environment.

and also in Chapter 16:

You'll notice the suffix -do (pronounced something like the English word “doe”) on the end of both kyudo and chado, as well as on the word for calligraphy, shodo, the word for flower arrangement, kado, and on the words for many other traditional Japanese arts. On its own, do means "path" or "way." When you add do to an activity in Japanese, you are implying that it is no longer a conventional activity but an intentional practice. You're no longer just doing calligraphy or shooting arrows or arranging flowers or drinking tea. Rather, you have elevated these activities to rituals with great significance. It's now a matter of form arising spontaneously out of emptiness, an expression of your Buddha-nature, an enactment of the non-dual union of ultimate truth and conventional truth.
To become a do, a practice requires years—decades, in fact—of training and a very high level of expertise. The Zen emphasis on naturalness does not mean that actions are unplanned—the whole idea is that it takes intricate focus and exactitude to execute a simple spontaneous action. With the right attention to detail and the right mindset, however, anything at all can be a do. At least that's my interpretation. If you remain grounded in emptiness, allow the actions to spontaneously occur, and are unattached to the outcomes, your whole life can be a do. Every mundane action can be transmuted into an expression of your Buddha-nature. What would it be like to live life from that place?

from Chapter 19 ("Interconnectedness"), on Indra's Net:

For most Buddhists, it's not only all beings but also all objects that are intricately interconnected. The Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh calls this interrelatedness "interbeing." In an essay titled "What is Interbeing?," he uses the example of a piece of paper to illustrate the idea. A piece of paper, he says, could not exist independently of all the other things with which it is connected. In order for the paper to arrive in your hand, we need the sun, clouds, rain, trees, loggers, paper mills, warehouses, stores, and everything else along the way. Each of those links in the chain, in turn, can't exist independently of all sorts of additional interconnected factors—the logger, for example, wouldn't exist if it wasn't for his parents and grandparents, or all the food he has eaten throughout his life.
There is an ancient Indian metaphor called Indra's net, or Brahma's net, that makes this same point in a more visual way. This vivid image is found in both the Flower Ornament Scripture and the Brahma's Net Scripture, two Mahayana texts that have been highly influential in East Asia. The metaphor hinges on the image of a massive net belonging to the god Indra or Brahma, which is made completely of jewels. The net extends infinitely in all directions so that it covers the entire cosmos, and the jewels are so clear and so bright that each one reflects all the others simultaneously. Thus, if you look at any one jewel, you see the reflection of the entire universe all at once.
Both the example of the paper and the metaphor of the jeweled net make the same point: Begin from any object, no matter how simple—whether a piece of paper, a cup of coffee, your own fingernail, or a discarded piece of trash on the side of the road—and follow the connections of interbeing outward. Before you know it, you'll realize that, in that seemingly mundane thing, you are looking at a reflection of the entire cosmos. All objects are inseparable from each other, and everything is constantly arising and existing together in one interconnected whole.

and later in that chapter, re Awakening:

The mystical experience of the oneness of everything is emphasized more in Mahayana forms of Buddhism than in Theravada, and particularly in Zen and Vajrayana. Having this kind of realization even for a moment can have a profound, irreversible, and liberating effect on how you perceive yourself and the world. You may discover a bottomless well of compassion that you can effortlessly share with all beings, because you see them all as inseparable from yourself. You may experience all things as interlinked entities and be overwhelmed with gratitude for how each one plays its own unique role within the grand unfolding of the universe. You may experience all things, including yourself, as a single field of experience that has no boundaries and is always transforming and giving birth to something new. You may be struck by the sheer beauty of nature or of everyday objects, seeing each as a miraculous expression of its own "suchness" (tathata) that couldn't ever be anything other than the way it perfectly exists right now. Some of the most mystical descriptions of this kind of realization say that the whole universe reveals itself to be the Dharma body of the Buddha. That is to say, the entire universe is experienced as one seamless, alive, wholeness that is Awakeness itself.

Bottom line: Buddhish is a gem of a book!

_{(cf Buddhism Without Beliefs (2008-09-19), Buddhism - A Way of Life and Thought (2008-09-30), Bodhisattva's Brain (2013-04-20), Buddhism Naturalized (2013-06-02), The Heart of Buddhism (2015-01-10), True Buddhism (2017-02-25), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-20}

- Sunday, August 20, 2023 at 10:33:01 (EDT)

Making Friends with the Present Moment

Sylvia Boorstein's (2013) little book Making Friends with the Present Moment is full of sweet insightful thoughts. In her discussion of the Buddha's reputed final words, "Transient are all conditioned things. Strive on with diligence." Boorstein muses about those two sentences:

Things pass. ... however painful this moment is, it will change. ... Things happen and, as a result, other things happen. We need the understanding of impermanence. And we need the understanding of contingency, of interconnection, that things happen because other things happen. ...

... and ...

... what we do makes a difference. We're not individually in charge of the world. We don't run the world. But what each of us does makes a difference. This doesn’t contradict contingency. ...

Boorstein talks about wisdom:

Wisdom is really the goal of practice. Mindfulness is the tool to arrive at wisdom. It's the clarity of mind that allows for wisdom to arise. The Buddha taught that there are three essential insights that constitute the whole of wisdom: the insight of impermanence; the insight of contingency or interconnection; and the insight of suffering and how it arises or disappears depending upon the ability of the mind to accommodate change, and change, and change.
We practice mindfulness in order to, over and over again, see those same insights. It isn't a one-time deal to understand the insights of impermanence, contingency, the causes of suffering, and the end of suffering. It's not as if you understand them and then you're set for life. ... We need the continual practice of mindfulness—being aware of what's happening now, what’s going on—to remind us.

and about different forms of meditation:

... walking meditation is equally potent as a path to insight as sitting is. Each is a posture in which the practice is to have the attention rest steadily with the experience at hand. In both cases the experience involves simplicity—it is just plain sitting and just plain walking. Both have a repetitive rhythmic quality. Breathe in and out. Take one step, then another. The plainness of both of them calms the mind. The constant predictable changes keep the attention steadily focused. Keen, balanced attention allows the mind to see things in new ways. Insights about how the mind operates as well as how life operates are both born out of that calm alertness.
At a typical mindfulness retreat, periods of sitting meditation alternate with periods of walking meditation throughout the day. It seems that sitting has the tendency to deepen concentration since there are fewer stimuli for the mind to process. And walking keeps the attention from becoming drowsy because there are more stimuli present—we need to walk with the eyes open and all the body moving.

She summarizes metta, the meditative practice of lovingkindness:

The technique and practice of loving kindness, in the largest sense, is to wish all beings well as you go about the day, as you meet them on the bus, as you see them on the plane, as you see them in the supermarket, as you encounter them in line. The practice of continual wishing well rescues the mind from falling in on itself in self-concerns. It pulls you out of a well of despair, disgruntlement, unhappiness, or fearfulness and connects you in a warm way with what’s happening out there.

and says that peace is possible:

... Each of us knows that at some point in our lives there have been times—short or long—in which everything was really okay, just the way it was. Peace is possible. That doesn’t mean we won't have loss or difficulties. But we can learn to be with them in a different way.

... such a beautiful collection of gentle, helpful ideas!

_{(cf It's Easier Than You Think (2011-04-07), Quiet in There (2011-05-31), Verbs, Not Nouns (2011-06-29), SHIP of Lovingkindness (2015-08-15), Unconditional Friendliness (2018-08-10), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-19}

- Saturday, August 19, 2023 at 18:56:19 (EDT)

How to Calm Your Mind

How to Calm Your Mind is a 2022 book subtitled "Finding presence and productivity in anxious times", by Chris Bailey, author of Hyperfocus, a book he wrote a few years earlier on developing intense concentration and working more efficiently. How to Calm Your Mind, alas, is relentlessly first-person ("I" is the first word of the Preface and of Chapter 1). It's much like Dan Harris's 10 Percent Happier – well-intentioned, mega-confessional, pedestrian in style, but with some gems amidst the chatter. For instance, a footnote in Chapter 2 suggests:

... Time is the most limited resource we have with which to live a good life. We should value it highly. In fact, we should value our time so highly that we don't just try to use the time to get stuff done.

Yes! – and likewise, in Chapter 8, the recommendation:

Journal for a couple of minutes at the end of the day about how the day went. At the end of the day, set a timer for a few minutes and recount how the day went; what you were able to accomplish, how deliberately you worked, what went well, and what you could improve on the next time around, including how you can become kinder to yourself as you work. Remember that this exercise is more of an opportunity to reflect on what went well than it is a chance to beat yourself up about what you want to change. ...

Not a bad practice – especially the focus on being kind, although perhaps one might reflect upon kindness given to others as well as to oneself. And maybe it would also be good to look for opportunities to give more praise to others, as the Duke of Wellington wished he had done. Unselfing, anyone?

_{(cf Unselfing (2009-01-14), Unselfing Again (2009-11-01), Ten Percent Happier (2015-03-07), Mantra - Give More Praise (2019-07-28), The Buddha Walks into the Office (2019-10-26), Gratefulation and Gratituding (2021-11-11), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-18}

- Friday, August 18, 2023 at 21:03:58 (EDT)

Mantra - Be the Anchor, Not the Waves

⚓️ Be the Anchor
not the Waves 🌊

_{(from MK-sensei; cf Mantra - Let It Go (2014-12-27), Mantra - Be Like a Log (2016-01-26), Mantra - Cling to Nothing (2016-04-17), Mantra - Be a Duck, Not a Sponge (2016-08-15), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-18}

- Friday, August 18, 2023 at 07:19:41 (EDT)

Twenty Second Hugs

Pop psychology, and also deep truth? In recent years "The 20 Second Hug" has become increasingly trendy. Maybe there's something to it. Busy Executive Summary: long slow hugs may help reduce stress, build connections, and catalyze happiness. Some representative tidbits:

from "The Healing Power of a 20-Second Hug (and other surprising finds)" by Zoe Yarborough, citing the book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Amelia and Emily Nagoski and their interview with Brené Brown:

"... Emotions are cycles that happen in your body. They are neurological events ... When you finally finish a [highly stressful activity], the cycle of stress cannot complete itself through reason. We have to do something to tell our minds and show our bodies we are safe again. ..."
7 Ways to End the Stress Cycle
Any physical activity — "... moving your body is the most efficient way to complete your stress cycle. It can literally be any type of physical activity."
Breathing — "... the 'gentlest' way to complete the stress response cycle, so if you have survived trauma, abuse, or other adverse childhood experiences, 'a great place to start so that you don’t get overwhelmed is just with tuning into your breath' ..."
Positive social interaction – "... connect with other people ... as simple as a pleasant interchange of compliments with your barista ..."
Laughter — not fake-polite social laughter, but "... the slightly embarrassing, mouth hanging open, belly jiggling, uncontrolled, ridiculous laughter that really takes over your body; you can’t stop laughing. That laughter will take you all the way through the end of a stress cycle."
The 20-second hug — "… research suggests a 20-second hug can change your hormones, lower your blood pressure and heart rate, and improve mood, all of which are reflected in the post-hug increase in the social bonding hormone, oxytocin .... it is less about the amount of time and more about it being a tight and equal embracing of your body with someone else's .... Holding your own center of gravity and staying there, breathing together until you feel the shift in your chemistry … that's your body going, 'I have come home to a place of safety … because my body feels safe with this other person pressed against it,' .... In these weird, distanced times, hugging the people in your pod often and longer than usual can help tell your body to end a stress cycle."
A big ol' cry — "... [focus] on the physical sensations felt while crying rather than what's making you cry. 'Usually [it] just takes a few minutes .... if you don’t continue feeding it thoughts about the cause of the stress, really five minutes maybe.'"
Creative expression — "... taking the thoughts and feelings inside you and putting them out in the world through drawing, or knitting, or sculpting, or designing, or choreographing ..."

from "20-Second Hug Effect: trade stress and busyness for love and happiness" by Courtney Carver:

As an introvert, an extra long hug isn't always my favorite thing but there are a few people in my life I never want to let go of and plan on hugging them more frequently. If you need to lean in to the 20-second hug, you'll be happy to hear that research shows a 6-second hug is powerful too. ... Sometimes it's good to say, 'I love you,' sometimes it's good to express that thought without words."
...
"If you are looking for a simple technique with no negative side-effects that will reduce stress, improve connection with others, and spread love, try the 20-second hug. Hug someone you love for 6 – 20 seconds. If your loves are far away, call them and tell them you can't wait to give them a big hug the next time you see them."

from What Are the Benefits of Hugging? by Erica Cirino:

Hugs reduce stress by showing your support
Hugs may protect you against illness
Hugs may boost your heart health
Hugs can make you happier
Hugs help reduce your fears
Hugs may help reduce your pain
Hugs help you communicate with others

_{(cf Cuddlers vs Goths (2001-12-14), Inhabiting the Body (2015-09-10), How Full Is Your Bucket (2016-09-13), Nothing Here (2016-11-21), Cwtch (2017-09-25), Mantra - It's a Blessing (2017-11-23), Comfy Jeans (2021-01-25), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-15}

- Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 20:32:00 (EDT)

Happiness Rules

"The 'World's Happiest Man' Shares His Three Rules for Life" is an interview by New York Times staffer David Marchese with Matthieu Ricard.

On Ricard's three secrets of happiness:

First, there's no secret. Second, there's not just three points. Third, it takes a whole life, but it is the most worthy thing you can do.

On why compassion should be given universally, even toward the most evil people in the world:

... compassion is to remedy suffering wherever it is, whatever form it takes and whoever causes it. So what is the object of compassion here? It is the hatred and the person under its power. If someone beats you with a stick, you don't get angry with the stick — you get angry with the person. These people we are talking about are like sticks in the hands of ignorance and hatred. We can judge the acts of a person at a particular time, but compassion is wishing that the present aspect of suffering and the causes of suffering may be remedied.

On the need to work on sources of suffering at the systemic level:

Delusion is a cause of suffering. If you could get rid of that, that will alleviate suffering in many forms.

On learning to control one's emotions:

... happiness is a skill. It can be deeper, more present in your mental landscape. We deal with our mind from morning to evening, but we spend very little attention on improving the way we translate outer conditions, good or bad, into happiness or misery. And it's crucial, because that's what determines our day-to-day experience of the world!

On a helpful thought to remember throughout life:

If you can, as much as possible, cultivate that quality of human warmth, wanting genuinely for other people to be happy; that's the best way to fulfill your own happiness. This is also the most gratifying state of mind. ... If we try humbly, with some happiness, to enhance our benevolence, that will be the best way to have a good life.

On the best advice ever given to Ricard by the Dalai Lama:

"In the beginning, meditate on compassion; in the middle, meditate on compassion; in the end, meditate on compassion."

... all such wonderful wisdom!

_{(cf Pursuit of Happiness (2008-11-19), Happiness Buffer (2013-12-22), Lovingkindness - The Revolutionary Art of Happiness (2015-07-12), Happiness Is (2015-07-28), I Want Happiness (2015-12-04), Mantra - Happiness Is (2018-03-20), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-14}

- Monday, August 14, 2023 at 09:12:03 (EDT)

How We Got to Now

How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson is subtitled "Six Innovations that Made the Modern World". Those Big Six are its chapter titles (and a six-part PBS tv series):

Glass — bottles, lenses, optical fibers, etc
Cold — refrigeration, air conditioning, etc
Sound — phonographs, telephony, sonar, etc
Clean — sewers, chlorination, etc
Time — clocks, navigation, etc
Light — artificial lighting, flash photography, etc

The book is a well-written, fast-reading, general-audiences history of important technologies. But alas, despite occasional disclaimers and caveats, it tells complex stories of science and engineering largely as single-threaded chains of events, rather than more realistic tapestries of progress. Like many other popularizations it skips past alternatives that didn't happen, the might-have-beens that could have replaced what seem to be extraordinary conjunctions of genius and luck.

Also alas, How We Got to Now is also just plain wrong (or woefully incomplete) in its explanations of some physics (esp in describing atomic clocks, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, etc). A picky technical editor could have caught and fixed those glitches. Maybe in some future edition!

(cf Celebrity History (1999-05-08), Threads of History (2001-06-06), Foxy Fables (2002-04-23), True Story (2002-11-30), Wee Bit More Complicated (2007-08-29), Two Concepts of Liberty (2010-06-27), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-11

- Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 07:13:48 (EDT)

First-Rate Intelligence

"... the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise...."

... F. Scott Fitzgerald, writing in 1936, on the pressures of fame, poor health, addiction, poverty, failed relationships, etc ...

(from "The Crack-Up"; cf Hemingway on Letter-Writing (2008-11-23), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-11

- Friday, August 11, 2023 at 07:06:40 (EDT)

Brain in a Bone Box

The "Brain in a Vat" is a famous philosophical puzzle. It raises issues of "How do we know there's a World 'out there'?" and so forth.

But what do we call call a Brain in a Bone Box (skull), connected to the rest of the universe only via feeble electro-chemical membrane-discharge wires (neurons) to noisy unreliable sensors (eyes, ears, nose, skin, etc)? It sure feels like there's a World "out there" – a World that's incredibly complex, overflowing with joy and beauty (and pain and tragedy). As new bits of the World are discovered, they seem completely consistent with what we already know. "Stuff makes sense", though sometimes only after considerable study, as per the discoveries of modern physics, biology, etc.

How awesome and wonderful to be a Brain in a Bone Box, and to know it!

(cf Polygon Power (1999-06-19), Freudian Paralysis (2003-03-23), Appear vs Is (2006-10-19), Problems of Knowledge (2010-07-29), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-10

- Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 06:52:36 (EDT)

Designing Your Life

Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (2016) is a useful book that raises good questions to ponder as one moves through school and into a career, and perhaps beyond. The authors recommend five "mind-sets" to approach the challenge of finding one's Good:

Be Curious
Try Stuff
Reframe Problems
Know It's a Process
Ask for Help

(aside: all of those are, in one way or another, aspects of Openness – a dimension in the Mindfulness-Nonattachment-Oneness space of wisdom)

Burnett and Evans begin, in the chapter "Start Where You Are", with a four-parameter "Dashboard" exercise, a personal evaluation of one's:

Health — "... being well in mind, body, and spirit—emotional health, physical health, and mental health ..."
Work — "... your participation in the great ongoing human adventure on the planet. You may or may not be getting paid for it, but this is the stuff you 'do.' ..."
Play — "... what brings you joy purely in the doing..."
Love — "... in a wide range of types, from affection to community to eroticism, and from a huge array of sources, from parents to friends to colleagues to lovers .... That sense of connection ..."

The self-assessment begins with Health, "...because, well, when you're not healthy, nothing else in your life works very well. Work, play, and love are built on top of health and represent three areas we think it's important to pay attention to ...".

Designing Your Life then challenges readers to draft a short written essay on their "Workview" and "Lifeview", respectively answering questions:

Why work?
What's work for?
What does work mean?
How does it relate to the individual, others, society?
What defines good or worthwhile work?
What does money have to do with it?
What do experience, growth, and fulfillment have to do with it?

and:

Why are we here?
What is the meaning or purpose of life?
What is the relationship between the individual and others?
Where do family, country, and the rest of the world fit in?
What is good, and what is evil?
Is there a higher power, God, or something transcendent, and if so, what impact does this have on your life?
What is the role of joy, sorrow, justice, injustice, love, peace, and strife in life?

After thinking about those fundamental issues, Designing Your Life offers advice on résumé-writing and the job application process, and then sketches out a four-step "Life Design" methodology:

Gather and create options – brainstorm, prototype, collaborate
Narrow down the list – prune, prioritize, review, repeat
Choose discerningly – combine cognitive judgment with emotional-spiritual-intuitive assessments
Let go and move on – step forward, learn, enjoy, and don't agonize about might-have-beens

The book concludes with "just two more things" beyond the "five mind-sets":

Your compass — "... those great big organizing ideas of your Workview and Lifeview ..." – to bring into alignment "... who you are, what you believe, and what you're doing ..."
Your practices — "... yoga, meditation, poetry writing/reading, prayer, ..."

(aside: this echoes the Personal Mastery theme in Peter Senge's classic book The Fifth Discipline)

Overall, Designing Your Life is a fast-fun-chatty read, insightful and provocative – perhaps lacking in rigor and poetry, definitely missing an index in the back, and overall valuable.

(cf What Is My Life? (1999-04-30), Bennett on Life (2000-03-19), Self Improvement (2002-07-29), Life As a Work of Art (2008-11-11), Parachute Color (2011-12-06), Work as School (2023-06-02), Eight Life Goals (2023-07-20), Building Is Thinking (2023-08-05), ...) - ^z - 2023-08-08

- Tuesday, August 08, 2023 at 19:51:42 (EDT)

For back issues of the ^zhurnal see Volumes v.01 (April-May 1999), v.02 (May-July 1999), v.03 (July-September 1999), v.04 (September-November 1999), v.05 (November 1999 - January 2000), v.06 (January-March 2000), v.07 (March-May 2000), v.08 (May-June 2000), v.09 (June-July 2000), v.10 (August-October 2000), v.11 (October-December 2000), v.12 (December 2000 - February 2001), v.13 (February-April 2001), v.14 (April-June 2001), 0.15 (June-August 2001), 0.16 (August-September 2001), 0.17 (September-November 2001), 0.18 (November-December 2001), 0.19 (December 2001 - February 2002), 0.20 (February-April 2002), 0.21 (April-May 2002), 0.22 (May-July 2002), 0.23 (July-September 2002), 0.24 (September-October 2002), 0.25 (October-November 2002), 0.26 (November 2002 - January 2003), 0.27 (January-February 2003), 0.28 (February-April 2003), 0.29 (April-June 2003), 0.30 (June-July 2003), 0.31 (July-September 2003), 0.32 (September-October 2003), 0.33 (October-November 2003), 0.34 (November 2003 - January 2004), 0.35 (January-February 2004), 0.36 (February-March 2004), 0.37 (March-April 2004), 0.38 (April-June 2004), 0.39 (June-July 2004), 0.40 (July-August 2004), 0.41 (August-September 2004), 0.42 (September-November 2004), 0.43 (November-December 2004), 0.44 (December 2004 - February 2005), 0.45 (February-March 2005), 0.46 (March-May 2005), 0.47 (May-June 2005), 0.48 (June-August 2005), 0.49 (August-September 2005), 0.50 (September-November 2005), 0.51 (November 2005 - January 2006), 0.52 (January-February 2006), 0.53 (February-April 2006), 0.54 (April-June 2006), 0.55 (June-July 2006), 0.56 (July-September 2006), 0.57 (September-November 2006), 0.58 (November-December 2006), 0.59 (December 2006 - February 2007), 0.60 (February-May 2007), 0.61 (April-May 2007), 0.62 (May-July 2007), 0.63 (July-September 2007), 0.64 (September-November 2007), 0.65 (November 2007 - January 2008), 0.66 (January-March 2008), 0.67 (March-April 2008), 0.68 (April-June 2008), 0.69 (July-August 2008), 0.70 (August-September 2008), 0.71 (September-October 2008), 0.72 (October-November 2008), 0.73 (November 2008 - January 2009), 0.74 (January-February 2009), 0.75 (February-April 2009), 0.76 (April-June 2009), 0.77 (June-August 2009), 0.78 (August-September 2009), 0.79 (September-November 2009), 0.80 (November-December 2009), 0.81 (December 2009 - February 2010), 0.82 (February-April 2010), 0.83 (April-May 2010), 0.84 (May-July 2010), 0.85 (July-September 2010), 0.86 (September-October 2010), 0.87 (October-December 2010), 0.88 (December 2010 - February 2011), 0.89 (February-April 2011), 0.90 (April-June 2011), 0.91 (June-August 2011), 0.92 (August-October 2011), 0.93 (October-December 2011), 0.94 (December 2011-January 2012), 0.95 (January-March 2012), 0.96 (March-April 2012), 0.97 (April-June 2012), 0.98 (June-September 2012), 0.99 (September-November 2012), 0.9901 (November-December 2012), 0.9902 (December 2012-February 2013), 0.9903 (February-March 2013), 0.9904 (March-May 2013), 0.9905 (May-July 2013), 0.9906 (July-September 2013), 0.9907 (September-October 2013), 0.9908 (October-December 2013), 0.9909 (December 2013-February 2014), 0.9910 (February-May 2014), 0.9911 (May-July 2014), 0.9912 (July-August 2014), 0.9913 (August-October 2014), 0.9914 (November 2014-January 2015), 0.9915 (January-April 2015), 0.9916 (April-July 2015), 0.9917 (July-September 2015), 0.9918 (September-November 2015), 0.9919 (November 2015-January 2016), 0.9920 (January-April 2016), 0.9921 (April-June 2016), 0.9922 (June-July 2016), 0.9923 (July-September 2016), 0.9924 (October-December 2016), 0.9925 (January-February 2017), 0.9926 (March-April 2017), 0.9927 (May-June 2017), 0.9928 (June-October 2017), 0.9929 (October-December 2017), 0.9930 (December 2017-March 2018), 0.9931 (March-April 2018), 0.9932 (May-July 2018), 0.9933 (July-September 2018), 0.9934 (September-December 2018), 0.9935 (December 2018-February 2019), 0.9936 (February-April 2019), 0.9937 (April-July 2019), 0.9938 (July-August 2019), 0.9939 (August-November 2019), 0.9940 (November 2019-February 2020), 0.9941 (February-June 2020), 0.9942 (June-August 2020), 0.9943 (August-November 2020), 0.9944 (November 2020-March 2021), 0.9945 (March-July 2021), 0.9946 (July-September 2021), 0.9947 (September 2021-January 2022), 0.9948 (December 2021-August 2022), 0.9949 (August 2022-April 2023), 0.9950 (April-August 2023), 0.9951 (August-November 2023), ... Current Volume. Send comments and suggestions to z (at) his.com. Thank you! (Copyright © 1999-2023 by Mark Zimmermann.)