The ironic part about get-rich-quick schemes is that the people who buy into them invest many years trying to get rich “quick.” But why are they so attractive? It could have something to do with “loss aversion” – the idea that people prefer to avoid losing 100 dollars than gain 100 dollars even if there … Read more
The Illusion of Separateness The biggest taboo of all is knowing who we really are behind the mask of our self as presented to the world. Through our focus on ourselves and the world as it affects us, we have developed narrowed perception. – Alan Watts, The Book To understand what Watts is saying, we … Read more
In The Triumph of the Therapeutic (1966), Rieff describes modern society as completely different from the past. Previously, society was marked by “religious man” – and then, many centuries later, by “economic man”, and now, in the current stage, by “psychological man.” And this new type of individual differs from ancestors in the way he … Read more
“Triumph of the Therapeutic: Uses of Faith After Freud,” written by sociologist Philip Rieff in 1966, is a seminal work that scrutinizes the shift in societal values and the rise of psychological man in the aftermath of Freudian thought. Rieff posits that Western society, having detached from traditional religious and moral commitments, is witnessing the … Read more
A great overview of Mimetic Theory, by Wolfgang Palaver. In a systematic careful synthesis of Girard’s thought, Palaver summarizes the mimetic insights that were derived from authors such as Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Flaubert, and Proust. And finally, he shows the precise stories of the Old and New Testament that confirm Girard’s thesis. What is Girard’s … Read more
In The Narcissistic Personality of Our Time, I discussed the trade-off of modernity, which recapped the ideas of A Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch. The belief of modern society, and perhaps even more so in the future, with the rise of techno-utopianism, is the belief that a combination of multiple autophile behaviors will be … Read more
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham is often cited as one of the best books on investment, most notably by Warren Buffet. Graham lays the foundation for laymen by giving a sound approach to investment, written with simple language that is easy (albeit dated) to understand. You are presented with Graham’s personal investment philosophy and … Read more
In Essays and Aphorisms, Arthur Schopenhauer makes an interesting remark about the pitfalls of reading too much. He refers to Alexander Pope’s poem. Forever reading, never to be read. Alexander Pope When you read the thoughts of others, you are allowing their flow of thoughts to steer you in one direction or another, even if … Read more
Ivan the Fool is a short parable by Leo Tolstoy first published in 1886. It presents Tolstoy’s philosophical critique of militarism and commercialism. Ivan belongs to a peasant family. He has two brothers. One of his brothers is a soldier, the other is a fat merchant. Ivan is the story’s hero; he is called a … Read more
Altered Traits by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson takes a scientific look at the practice of meditation. From the start, we are assured that the authors are not interested in giving us a sales pitch about meditation. They acknowledge that many hucksters try to make money by promoting meditation in a dishonest way, promising benefits … Read more