Books – Page 19

Bertrand Russell on why science — and today, technology — is the happiest profession

Of the highly-educated professions, the happiest today are the men of science. Many of them get such pleasure from their work that they can be happy even in marriage. Artists and writers consider it normal to be unhappily married, but scientists can often achieve so-called domestic bliss. This is because their highest intellects are so absorbed by their work, that they’re not allowed to invade other parts of their life where they would be harmful. They’re happy with their work because science today is progressive and powerful, and its importance is never questioned by themselves or the broader population.

This was written before World War II, yet swap “men of science” with “men of technology” and it’d ring true today. I think a career in science has lost value in many areas and for many reasons. A reduction in career prestige. Less everyday appreciation among the public, and more irrational outrage (eg, GMOs). The increasingly specialized nature of PhD programs. The stagnant academic job market. Challenges in higher ed posed by technology and software. And so on.

But technology today is progressive and powerful. Its importance is not questioned, really, by technologists or the broader population. Their jobs consume their mental energy. Hard to think of another highly-educated profession which is “happier”.

On the science vs technology divide, Kevin Kelly has a great piece.

*I have no opinion on domestic bliss…remember, in Russell’s time, female labor participation was below 25%. Mad Men was progressive by comparison

**I’m rewriting Russell’s The Conquest of Happiness, here’s a snippet

Bertrand Russell’s 4 rules for avoiding persecution mania

For Bertrand Russell — mathematician, writer, philosopher — persecution mania is two things: a belief that everyone is out to GET you, or a belief that everything that happens is ABOUT you. At a cafe, the woman on the phone who glances your way is gossiping about your outfit; a truck that cuts you off in traffic doesn’t like your driving style; and on it goes…

He believes persecution mania is a cause of insanity and a barrier to happiness, and offers four rules for prevention and relief (hah, I sound like a pharmaceutical commercial):

Number 1: your motives are not as altruistic as you think

Number 2: don’t overestimate your own merits

Number 3: don’t expect others to be as interested in you as you are in yourself

Number 4: don’t assume people care enough about you to want to harm you

Wise words from a book with many more: The Conquest of Happiness. Btw, I’m rewriting it — with the occasional adjustment — in a more casual, simple voice…I’ll share when it’s done!

Samuel Johnson on Sleep

Samuel Johnson is a brilliant essayist and 1700s pop psychologist. I’m reading a selection of his essays from “The Rambler” and “The Idler” [Amazon link]. I re-wrote the following essays in my own words; the exercise helps me explore writing styles, voices and phrasing.

Here it is! A re-write of Samuel Johnson on Sleep, no. 32 in “The Idler”.

—

People rarely think deeply about common activities. They confuse familiarity with knowledge, thinking they understand such things because they are used to them. But the thinking man looks deeper, knowing that the more he learns the less he understands.

Take, for example, sleep. A great part of our lives are spent sleeping. Every animal sleeps; some philosophers think vegetables sleep, too. Yet with something this important, we don’t know the cause, we can’t explain how falling asleep works and we’re unsure what precise benefits we receive from rest.

There are many theories, but none touch the truth. Sleep affects us all, the loud and the timid, the industrious and the lazy, the happy and the melancholy. Philosophers have long stated that all are equal in death. Sleep does the same: both the rich and poor succumb to its spell.

It is said that Alexander the Great thought himself a mortal only by his need for sleep. Whether he found it useful or not, to him it was a sign of human weakness: a body that needs sleep so regularly, yet dies so quickly.

No matter what emotional state we are in, no matter how passionate and absorbed we are, we eagerly await sleep. We will always retreat to sleep, casting aside a day good or bad, removing our senses and disabling our mental faculties.

Why then are we so greedy, ambitious and jealous? Even he who has everything is separated from his riches in slumber. Differences between us are more superficial than real, when the strong and timid, the famous and workaday, all desire that state of unconscious bliss.

We value sleep so highly that few are happy with its quality. Alexander would use wine as an aid, and almost every man has some trick to quicken its approach.

We spend little of life doing important things. Our time is passed in an equivocal fog. Daydreams, musings and idle thoughts disappear as quickly as they come, and soon the day is gone.

For some, their happiest moments are spent in solitary reflections, lost in their imagination, dreaming of untold riches and incomparable power, fancying a fascinating and luxurious life. For others, solitude is frightening, and they retreat to constant companionship. But the difference is slight; in solitude we wrap ourselves in our dreams, and in socializing we share them. The goal of both is to forget ourselves.

—

And here’s an original version.

The wisdom of Yoshida Kenko: on women’s laughter, painful hangovers and the 7 friends to avoid

It is a most wonderful comfort to sit alone beneath a lamp, book spread before you, and commune with someone from the past whom you have never met. — Yoshida Kenko

Essays in Idleness is a remarkable reminder of how things that are true stay true…even after 900 years.

Here were my favorite bits from his nearly-300 short essays:

I cannot bear the way people will make it their business to know all the details of some current rumour, even though it has nothing to do with them, and then proceed to pass the story on and do their best to learn more.

Desire is limitless, while money is finite. You cannot use limited resources to fulfill unlimited craving.

Aroma, for instance, is a mere transient thing, yet a whiff of delightful incense from a woman’s robes will always excite a man…

People will not take much issue with an invented tale if it shows them in a good light.

If someone new comes visiting, the boorish and insensitive will always manage to make the visitor feel ignorant by exchanging cryptic remarks about something they all know among themselves, some story or name, chuckling and exchanging knowing glances.

Even a deceitful imitation of wisdom will place you among the wise.

‘A beginner should not hold two arrows,’ his teacher told him. ‘You will be careless with the first, knowing you have a second. You must always be determined to hit the target with the single arrow you shoot, and have no thought beyond this.’

A man should be brought up so as to avoid being the butt of women’s laughter.

A man without stable means is a man whose heart is unstable.

One who considers himself superior through birth, skill or eminent forebears, even if he never expresses this, is full of error in his heart.

You should carefully consider which among the main things you want in life is the most important, and renounce all the others to dedicate yourself to that thing alone. Among the many matters that press in on us on any day, at any given moment, we must give ourselves to the most productive

The man who claims not to really understand is more likely to be thought a true master of his art.

It is very nice when a friend simply drops in, has a quiet talk with you, and then leaves. It is also wonderfully pleasing to receive a letter that simply begins, ‘I write because it’s been some time since I sent news,’ or some such.

On a moonlit night, a snowy morning, or beneath the flowering cherry trees, it increases all the pleasures of the moment to bring out the sake cups and settle down to talk serenely together over a drink.

Sigh:

I cannot understand why people will seize any occasion to immediately bring out the sake, delighting in forcing someone else to drink. […] A genteel man will quickly be transformed into a madman and start acting the fool; a vigorous, healthy fellow will before your very eyes become shockingly afflicted and fall senseless to the floor. What a thing to do, on a day of celebration! Right into the next day his head hurts, he can’t eat, and he lies there groaning with all memory of the previous day gone as if it were a former life. He neglects essential duties both public and private, with disastrous effects. It is both boorish and cruel to subject someone to this sort of misery. Surely a man who has had this bitter experience will be filled with regret and loathing.

Sorta get it:

The one thing a man should not have is a wife. No matter who the woman may be, you would grow to hate her if you lived with her and saw her day in day out, and the woman must become dissatisfied too. But if you lived separately and sometimes visited her, your feelings for each other would surely remain unchanged through the years. It keeps the relationship fresh to just drop in from time to time on impulse and spend the night.

There are seven types of people one should not have as a friend. The first is an exalted and high-ranking person. The second, somebody young. The third, anyone strong and in perfect health. The fourth, a man who loves drink. The fifth, a brave and daring warrior. The sixth, a liar. The seventh, an avaricious man. The three to choose as friends are – one who gives gifts, a doctor and a wise man.

A life hack:

One shouldn’t put new deer antler to the nose and sniff it. There is a tiny insect in it that will enter through the nose and devour the brain.

I’ve re-written a favorite Kenko passage here, if you’re curious.

The Scott Adams happiness formula, or life lessons from the Dilbert guy

I’m a big fan of Scott Adams and his irreverent, honest, quirky advice. I read his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big [Kindle] and wanted to share his happiness formula (in the fulfilling and deep sense of the word and not the light happiness crap peddled by self-help gurus):

Eat right
Exercise
Get enough sleep
Imagine an incredible future (even if you don’t believe it)
Work toward a flexible schedule
Do things you can steadily improve at
Help others (if you’ve already helped yourself)
Reduce daily decisions to routine

Each item is — by itself — a life’s worth of challenges but taken together it’s practical and dare I say MECE? From personal experience #1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 work for me. I need to improve at #4, 7 and 8.

Enjoy!

PS Here are past items I wrote about Scott: on systems and on success