Life's Philosophy: Reason and Feeling in a Deeper World by Arne Naess

Life's Philosophy: Reason and Feeling in a Deeper World by Arne Naess is a book about the philosophy of Arne Naess, ecosophy. Ecosophy is the philosophy of living within the context and appreciation of all life on earth (I'm paraphrasing, I don't remember verbatim). Naess, considered by some to be the greatest philosopher of our time wrote his ideas on the nature of humanity and his understanding of what it means to live, in this book. Having a deep interest in philosophy and what it all means, I decided to read this book in the hopes of coming away with a better understanding of life.

Arne Naess, describes life in terms of natural essence and discusses his ideas on finding an equilibrium with nature. Essentially always planning for long term gain and keeping happiness in mind should always lead to true expression of human nature as it is intended. While negativity and pessimism lead to the suppression of human natures true essence, the key to living is exploring your positive side and overcoming your emotional negativity.

His many examples and thorough explanations, while confusing at times, lead to a better understanding of his philosophy, which is hard to disagree with. I think that if we were all emotionally mature, the world would certainly be a much better place. The best we can do is constantly strive to reach that maturity and share in those gains with our friends, family, cohabitants and environment. This book is well worth reading if not for the profound lessons, then at least for a different perspective on life.

The Assult on Reason by Al Gore

Al Gores latest book, The Assult on Reason, is a sobering assessment of the detrimental trend in public media, politics and general American interest in the grander view of our worlds current state of affairs. Al Gore outdoes himself with eloquent arguments supported by fact and reason and founded in many of the logical arguments of our forefathers. Interspersing political issues with the broader world outlook, the truly profound and important issues in our world are covered in great detail.

This book begins with the almost disgusting obsession the American press has with the sensational news bites of the day. As I laughed at the anictodes provided in the first few pages, I realized they were more depressing than funny. Moving onto the countries founding principles and the hope that America once was for the world Gore continues by pointing out the misdirection and manipulation of our public at large by the past administration. Finally, looking beyond our current state of affairs he looks offer solutions to the grander issues at stake.

This book was thoroughly fascinating, it kept my attention, kept me at the edge of my seat eager to read page after page. If these were the closing arguments of a court case I would feel obligated to pass a guilty plea against the Bush administration on the whole for their selfish intentions and immoral methods, if not illegal. Clearly, Bush is the antithesis of the what the founding fathers had in mind. I highly recommend this book for all who are interested in sound logical reasoning on where we are as a nation and where we should direct ourselves in the future (also favorable to those who disagree strongly with the G-Dubya adminstration).

Made to Break by Giles Slade

Made to Break by Giles Slade is an interesting account of the history leading up to the modern throw away culture of American consumerism. While most people would assume a book about consumerism would be packed with horrifying facts and statistics, this book really focuses more on the evolution of consumerism through industrialization, war, business strategies and general economics. The facets of capitalism that are explained within this book are extrodinary and at times seem to trail off into tangents that are besides the point, though the side stories are fascinating and entertaining.

Giles opens with a few alarming statistics about todays production of waste and then dives immediately into the history. From bottle caps to pantyhose and onto cars and appliances Giles covers just about all the consumer products, business scenerios, political environments and consumer psychology there is to discuss on the topic. Weaving this intricate and seemingly disparate set of variables into a cohesive story of the evolution of mass production. Giles concludes by discussing todays biggest polluters and the efforts attempting to curb the mounting pollution issues.

I found this book to be fascinating more than anything else. Though so many names and stories were dispersed throughout, most the stories are all vivid in my mind and will be hard to forget. If you're interested in the history of consumerism, this book covers many aspects and combines them nicely. However, if you're looking for something that inspires action, this book is probably not what you're looking for. Although, 'how we got here' always helps when determining a course of action for 'how we fix this'. One will definately come away with a clearer understanding that the world isn't full of evil but more that social evolution has simply led us down this path. Happy reading.

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle explains the learning process in terms of three specific factors that have been distilled through Coyles research. This book follows in the vein of how we decide, where how we decide explained the inner workings of the brain, The Talent Code focuses primarily on learning as a biological and psychological function.

There are three main aspects to learning, one has to do with Myelin, a dielectric material, developed in the brain that wraps neural pathways, essentially speeding up the thought process. The second is something he terms ignition which has to do with inspiration. The third is coaching or being taught. Coyle explains how and why these factors are essential to learning by linking them to his experiences in the slums of Sao Paolo Brazil with the brightest up and coming soccer stars to violinists, tennis players, pilots, teachers and many more.

Unfortunately for those of you who think some people are just born talented, this book will attempt to sway you from that illusion and try to inspire you to work harder in the right ways. This book was extremely enjoyable, I highly recommend it.

How We Decide by Jonah Leher

The book "How We Decide" by Jonah Leher, is in my opinion a fascinating exploration that combines the new research of nuerology with psychology. While dispelling some of the common conceptions of the human psyche Jonah explains where previous philosophers and psychologists have been right and wrong. Most importantly the book discusses how the advances in modern technology have given us further insight into the workings of the human brain and how they relate to human bahavior.

Jonah begins by discussing the evolutionary importance of how the brain evolved and lightly covers why it evolved in the manner it has. The emotional side, commonly termed the reptilian or emotional brain and the logical side or frontal lobes play important roles in our decision making processes as they compete to win control over our actions in every decision. Contrary to popular belief he explains how the "repitilian" or emotional brain is actually the more capable part of your brain which is able to comprehend and process much more information than that of your logical brain. I won't give away anymore details or the final analysis, though it has a lot to do with how we decide. :)

This book was a very interesting read filled with unique and supporting research projects, scientific data and interesting speculations about our thought process and our brain as modern science is uncovering it. I highly recommend this book.