Seneca failed to live up to the principles outlined in Letters from a Stoic. But he was still an outstanding figure in history. He is credited with inventing the essay format, and the content of his letters have been useful to many people after his time. In his eight letter to Lucilius, he said that … Read more
Massimo Pagliucci has written How to be a Stoic, a great book about the history of how Stoicism emerged, as well as its theoretical background. Overall, this was an enjoyable book, but deteriorated towards the end. Summary When Pagliucci left religion and became an atheist or a secular humanist, he felt something was lacking … Read more
In The Lucifer Principle, Howard Bloom sets on an ambitious undertaking, to find a single explanation for why there is evil in the world. Bloom is a controversial figure. He once suggested that Islamic cultures treat their children harshly, they despise open displays of affections, and the result is a society of violent adults. If … Read more
The Obstacle is the Way Summary The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday is about the practice of Stoicism. The ancient Greeks had many philosophical schools, but the most pragmatic among them was stoicism, and this may explain why in the practical, modern world, it has gained in popularity. Ryan Holiday was a student … Read more
Lincoln Abraham Lincoln battled with depression his whole life. It was known as melancholy at the time, it nearly drove him to suicide. Though he had a penchant for jokes and vulgar humor, he suffered periods of intense isolation and pain. His life was defined by enduring and overcoming great difficulty. He grew up in … Read more
Demosthenes Demosthenes was born sickly and frail with a severe speech impediment. He lost his father at age 7. The large inheritance left to him was stolen by the guardians entrusted to protect him. They didn’t pay his tutors, depriving him of education. But he was determined to become a great orator, as he had … Read more
The Difference Between Observing and Perceiving Musashi, swordsman and author of The Book of Five Rings notes the difference between observing and perceiving. The perceiving eye is weak, but the observing eye is strong. The observing eyes sees simply what is there, while the perceiving eye sees more than there is. The observing eye sees … Read more
Life is short. This is something that everyone knows, but it bears repeating, because we very often forget it. We forget that life is short, and then we end up living it badly. On the Shortness of Life was written by Seneca to his friend Paulinus. In the book, Seneca tries to convince Paulinus that … Read more
In ancient Chinese rituals, straw dogs were used as sacrifices to the gods. ‘Gaia’ is the name of a goddess in Greek mythology, and the Gaia principle, by Lovelock, suggests that the earth is a self-regulating, complex system that is influenced by its habitants. And that human beings, are merely organisms in this system, that … Read more
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom is about the inevitability of a technological dystopia unless serious action is taken. Imagining a technological dystopia is not original.Huxley and Orwell, have been able to write about the end of the world we love in novels, that people to this day refer to, they even have debates about who was … Read more