Reading and writing
Writing uses the left hand side of the brain to help crystallize thought and maintain continual growth. It helps lay foundations for additional thought. It can be read at a later date and modified based on the further developed mind of the writer.
Reading is a way to supplement ones own thoughts and concepts with those of others. Although not giving you the chance to discuss with the author even a book which you disagree with allows for you to gain further insight into humanity by reading the thoughts of another.
Discuss.... :-)
PS People write too many long emails, especially at work, including me. What about the difference between written passages that should be long and ones that should be short. Is not being clear, crisp and concise always a benefit? Writing does not replace discussion :-)
Self Help Books Vs. Books on Core Development
In my comments previously on Steven Covey's "7 habits of highly effective people" I mention how the book is a revelation.
I had a similar feeling when reading Dale Carneigie's "How to win friends and influence people".
I've never enjoyed a pursuit of so-called "self help" books and I'd stil stand by this. So why am I enjoying books that could be categorized as such and what's my take on why reading the above books, and perhaps even others along the same tracts doesn't fall into what I'd categories as "self help"?
Like much of the population I consider myself as a learner. I would like to think that I will continue learning each and every day. "Every day's a school day" I've been heard to mutter on more than one occasion. Yet I'm not into "self help" books. From my perspective many such books might have the a tack that is intent on personal gain in a particular area or on overcoming negative aspects to ones personality. My interest is fundamental. Again as I'm sure it is with many people. Therefore I wish to read, to learn and to study concepts which can continue to aid me in the development of my foundation, in the clarification of my core principles and in my the core of who I am.
So the 2 books mentioned above appeal to me on that front - as I'm sure they do the millions of others who have read them. HTWF&IP was a more chatty book. It was more focused on the soft skills of dealing with people and dealing with yourself in the context of other people. 7 habits is more of conceptual framework for developing your core and your external interaction... I have finished the first but not the second so the jury is still out.
PS: Another interesting thought on the 'self help' books rather than the 'core development books' is the human trend to compartmentalize things - and life in general. We do this with the left hand side of our brain to make sense of things. It is not entirely negative but like many things in life needs to be maintained in harmony with the big picture, incidentaly managed by the right hand side of the brain. I categorized these two types and was perhaps negative to one side... as I said this last paragraph is just an interesting thought and doesn't go to explain allot, it does however illustrate a little how the human brain works :-)
Able to respond (Response able, responsibility)
I've been reading Steven Covey's "7 habits of highly effective people" and its turning into nothing short of a revelation to me. My only criticism so far is the fact faith, religion and church have made their way into the text. Now I don't object to people's faith. I just like to read a book which is focused on the development of self in as unrestricted a paradigm format as possible - which if you read 7 habits will be slightly ironic due to the attention Covey draws to paradigms.
That said the religious element is minimal and is mentioned few and far between. It is a great book so far and is a fascinating read.
One of the core concepts of the book and a major factor to its first half (Personal Victory) is responsibility... Your ability to choose your response. Response able. Able to respond. It separates the 'cause' and 'effect' of situational, genetic, hereditary impulse responses from the stimulus by calling out the 'freedom to choose'. Using the example of Frankl, a Jewish man in a German death camp and how he managed to maintain a personal freedom beyond his prison. I wanted to call it out here for 2 reasons;
1) the word's breakdown is fasicnating and helps really identify what the word means
2) As per David Bohm's writing many words have 'lost' their true meaning and people don't really pay that much attention (myself included) on what words 'really' mean. Many more complex or meaning laden words can be broken down into parts which call our what their roots are and this breaking down helps illustrate both what they mean and the mandala of words for what they mean for the human brain. Note: Many words, inc. shorter more common words this isn't clear for and to understand their roots and meaning you must delve back much further... With English to Latin and further. David Bohm covers this much better than I do and I can recommend his book Wholeness and the Implicate order;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415289793/pd_ka_0/026-2010337-7834807
His other books 'On dialogue' and the Limits of Thought explore these concepts in more detail. Its very much about how the human brain works and what language really means for thought. Reading it I personally felt like a child again due to the broadness of concepts and ideas it raised which were areas that were vast tracts for opportunity to learn in :-)
All in all I recommend the book.
It has begun
Thanks to Phil for recomending blogging. Seems I have so much to say I should poison the world with it and not just him over MSN.
Life is too short to stuff mushrooms... something a teacher once shared with me which just always stuck in my head. I guess its related to occam's razor (
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/OCCAMRAZ.html) . I think it holds true about life... unless your job is stuffing mushrooms and you are being paid well for it isn't there something else you could do that would leave you with more time. I don't actualy know what the teachers point was. It was about 10 years ago so I guess that's not suprising.
