Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

BOOKS - What are ASF members reading?

Jump to new
Mastery

http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/dp/0670024961

What did Charles Darwin, middling schoolboy and underachieving second son, do to become one of the earliest and greatest naturalists the world has known? What were the similar choices made by Mozart and by Caesar Rodriguez, the U.S. Air Force’s last ace fighter pilot? In Mastery, Robert Greene’s fifth book, he mines the biographies of great historical figures for clues about gaining control over our own lives and destinies. Picking up where The 48 Laws of Power left off, Greene culls years of research and original interviews to blend historical anecdote and psychological insight, distilling the universal ingredients of the world’s masters.

Temple Grandin, Martha Graham, Henry Ford, Buckminster Fuller””all have lessons to offer about how the love for doing one thing exceptionally well can lead to mastery. Yet the secret, Greene maintains, is already in our heads. Debunking long-held cultural myths, he demonstrates just how we, as humans, are hardwired for achievement and supremacy. Fans of Greene’s earlier work and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers will eagerly devour this canny and erudite explanation of just what it takes to be great.
 
"The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.
This engrossing book is subtitled "A Journey through the Madness Industry".

Jon Ronson is a British journalist whose interest was piqued when he heard about a man who, when drunk, had assaulted another bloke, and was at risk of being sent to jail. He had heard that if he was declared insane, he would avoid jail. So he faked madness and apparently convinced the court. As a result, however, he was sent to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, a very high security UK institution housing murderers and rapists et al.

His ruse achieved, he then set about making clear to his treating doctors that he was, in fact, perfectly sane.
They refused to acknowledge their diagnostic error and labelled him a psychopath, a condition for which there is considered to be no cure, and he was therefore doomed to remain there on the basis of being incurable.

The author goes in search of the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy and meets Bob Hare, a clinical psychologist who has authored a checklist for diagnosis of psychopathy.

What follows is a fascinating account of Ronson's interviewing of various people, including corporate CEO's, whose responses to the checklist seem to clearly mark them as psychopaths.

As the subtitle suggests, it's a questioning of the nebulous and often ill founded bases of diagnoses of psychiatric disorders.
The writing style is intelligent and surprisingly page turning.

One of the most fascinating books I've read in some while.
 
Julia said:
"The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.
This engrossing book is subtitled "A Journey through the Madness Industry".

Jon Ronson is a British journalist whose interest was piqued when he heard about a man who, when drunk, had assaulted another bloke, and was at risk of being sent to jail. He had heard that if he was declared insane, he would avoid jail. So he faked madness and apparently convinced the court. As a result, however, he was sent to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, a very high security UK institution housing murderers and rapists et al.

His ruse achieved, he then set about making clear to his treating doctors that he was, in fact, perfectly sane.
They refused to acknowledge their diagnostic error and labelled him a psychopath, a condition for which there is considered to be no cure, and he was therefore doomed to remain there on the basis of being incurable.

The author goes in search of the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy and meets Bob Hare, a clinical psychologist who has authored a checklist for diagnosis of psychopathy.

What follows is a fascinating account of Ronson's interviewing of various people, including corporate CEO's, whose responses to the checklist seem to clearly mark them as psychopaths.

As the subtitle suggests, it's a questioning of the nebulous and often ill founded bases of diagnoses of psychiatric disorders.
The writing style is intelligent and surprisingly page turning.

One of the most fascinating books I've read in some while.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Juila, might be an interesting aside from the normal stuff i read...did you read it in e-format?

CanOz
 
CanOz said:
Thanks for that Juila, might be an interesting aside from the normal stuff i read...did you read it in e-format?

CanOz
Click to expand...
No, hard copy. But it's quite well known so probably available in e-format.
 
If you are interested in cultic studies or "high demand" groups then consider checking out "Mushroom Satori" by Joseph Szimhart. A first novel by a highly experienced person in the field. Just been released electronically (Amazon)with hard copy coming out next month.
 
Julia said:
"The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson.
This engrossing book is subtitled "A Journey through the Madness Industry".

Jon Ronson is a British journalist whose interest was piqued when he heard about a man who, when drunk, had assaulted another bloke, and was at risk of being sent to jail. He had heard that if he was declared insane, he would avoid jail. So he faked madness and apparently convinced the court. As a result, however, he was sent to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, a very high security UK institution housing murderers and rapists et al.

His ruse achieved, he then set about making clear to his treating doctors that he was, in fact, perfectly sane.
They refused to acknowledge their diagnostic error and labelled him a psychopath, a condition for which there is considered to be no cure, and he was therefore doomed to remain there on the basis of being incurable.

The author goes in search of the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy and meets Bob Hare, a clinical psychologist who has authored a checklist for diagnosis of psychopathy.

What follows is a fascinating account of Ronson's interviewing of various people, including corporate CEO's, whose responses to the checklist seem to clearly mark them as psychopaths.

As the subtitle suggests, it's a questioning of the nebulous and often ill founded bases of diagnoses of psychiatric disorders.
The writing style is intelligent and surprisingly page turning.

One of the most fascinating books I've read in some while.
Click to expand...

Sounds fascinating. Will order.
 
"The Centre Cannot Hold: A Memoir of my Schizophrenia" by Elyn Saks.

Professor Saks is Professor of Law and Psychiatry at the University of Southern California and this is her moving account of her resistance to accepting that she was schizophrenic and required medication to function. For many years she believed if she just 'tried harder', was 'more courageous' she could beat her psychotic episodes.

That she has achieved what she has, and that she has in the process so furthered the understanding of this devastating illness, is a great tribute to her courage.

For anyone with a friend or family member with this disorder, this book is enlightening and ultimately encouraging.
 
Re-reading for the umpteenth time "Pickwick Papers" and other writings by the same author. It's excellent stuff.
 
"How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer"
Author: Sarah Bakewell

Since the publication of Michel de Montaigne’s Essays in 1580, readers from Blaise Pascal to Virginia Woolf have seen the French author as a kindred spirit and friend. He was the inventor of the essay, a word that comes from the French essaie meaning “attempt,” and, in his short, conversational works, with titles such as “How Our Mind Hinders Itself” and “Of the Custom of Wearing Clothes,” captured what Sarah Bakewell calls “the experience of being human.” In How to Live, an affectionate introduction to the author, Bakewell argues that, far from being a dusty old philosopher, Montaigne has never been more relevant””a 16th-century blogger, as she would have it””and so must be read, quite simply, “in order to live.”
...

(Emily Stokes, book review in The Daily Beast)
 
You know how sometimes you read a review on Amazon, and you think to yourself "that was really cool, this guy should write a book himself!". I wish I'd written it myself, it's just so nicely done. Anyway, here it is, and the book he's referring to is called "As It Is".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Scott Meredith.

This book is the classic and still best-of-breed presentation of what I call the "Third Option". What is the Third Option? Third of what I see as 3 broad choices for "What the frik is really going ON here??"

Option 1 (Cold World): This is the scientific/materialist worldview in its purest form. That means that there is no meaning, nothing but mindless DNA chemicals endlessly attempting to convert all available matter and energy (such as can be scrounged in the universal near vacuum) into pointless copies of themselves, forever. See Dawkins "The Selfish Gene" for a good explication, but all modern sci/tech is based on this idea.

Option 2 (Hot World): This is the entire grab-bag of BOTH traditional religion AND all "New Age" systems of any kind. It might seem strange to lump traditional religion together with New Age stuff given they are so often at each other's throats, but in fact they share identical premises: that there is or could be a transcendent "meaning" to human or biological existence, further that there are gradations of meaning and purity and power and value and so on ... so that a task of vertical ascent is laid out for us in all cases (pass the collection plate). It is true that the specifics of all these meaning-construction systems contradict one another, they share an over-arching commitment to a transcendent value system and gradations of achievement/progress vs degeneration/perdition as a core logical structure. In short, duality all the way down.

Option 3: (Non World): Pure non-dualism/Advaita. tracing back to ancient Indian scripture, but pioneered in modern times by Ramana Maharishi (died 1953). Now I finally get to this Parsons' book, where I find "As It Is" to be both a pioneering statement of "neo-Advaita" (Advaita stripped lean and mean for Western consumption) and probably still best-of-breed explication of the core idea. The core idea is distinguished most clearly in opposition to Option 2 above. NeoA holds that there is no meaning, there is no personal identity, there is no progress, there is no time, there is no enlightenment and no ignorance. There is nowhere to stand, nothing to do, and nobody to do it anyway even if there were. If that makes sense, ha ha! Anyway the point is that we are situated kind of like the recent cool movie "Open Water" where two divers are left stranded in the middle of the ocean by their support boat, leaving them to just ... float there in the open ocean... nothing to stand on or cling to ... nothing to do... nowhere they can go... no way to call for rescue... and things just ... happen ... (such as being eaten by sharks, hee hee). Anyway that's the feel of the purest NeoA, as best exemplified by Parson's teachings (or, non-teachings). This book is the best, shortest, clearest, least-BS presentation of this view. It should be clear how different this is from Option 2. What about Option 1? Well, it seems strange to say it given the radically distinct cultural origins of these two worldviews, but in a weird way the NeoA cosmology (if such it can be called) is actually very reminiscent of the purely coldest sci/tech world. No "meaning" in either case. No possible "progress" (teleological fantasy in evolution). We are just Dust in the Wind. However, Parsons does allude here and there to a background field of unconditional love into which the false meaning-structures and personality-structures ultimately collapse, so that could be point of difference with respect to Option 1. He doesn't make that big a deal of that aspect however.

There are the very broad, overly broad I guess, pigeon holes into which I find I can cleanly dump pretty much whatever loony new or old explanation of the world that comes down the pike.

So given the above (which you might view as pure bullspit, ask me if I care!) you got to step up to the window and place your bets. It could be "important" (sorry!) how you choose, because if you go with Option 1 or Option 3, there is no morality, and you have zero moral responsibility. Furthermore with those options you don't have to worry about improving yourself, your mind, body, or soul because it just ain't gonna signify. This is in a way, as Parsons points out, quite a relief.

On the other hand. after a lifetime of social mind control that what we do matters and that we matter, or the accepted view most of us have of ourselves that we do actually exist as "individuals" I could see the NeoA thing could be very hard for many people to swallow. Or I guess I should play word games here and say, hard for the small-i egoic mind to swallow, blabitty blah blah blah.

Anyway this book is a must-read if you want to spend the very least time possible time acquiring pretty much a perfect understanding of the terms of the NeoA thing (short of actual "awakening").

Overall it is a uniquely soothing book to read, whether "true" or not. Somehow less grating and less attitude/arrogance than the many many other new Western NeoA books now popping up like mushrooms after an autumn rain.
 
Interesting reading GB, thanks for sharing, I will stick with the Hot World : )
 
catch & kill your own...neddy smith


brian alexander...my hands were tied! classic

[video=youtube_share;eNGhisQsf3Q]http://youtu.be/eNGhisQsf3Q[/video]
 
pavilion103 said:
Mastery

http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/dp/0670024961

What did Charles Darwin, middling schoolboy and underachieving second son, do to become one of the earliest and greatest naturalists the world has known? What were the similar choices made by Mozart and by Caesar Rodriguez, the U.S. Air Force’s last ace fighter pilot? In Mastery, Robert Greene’s fifth book, he mines the biographies of great historical figures for clues about gaining control over our own lives and destinies. Picking up where The 48 Laws of Power left off, Greene culls years of research and original interviews to blend historical anecdote and psychological insight, distilling the universal ingredients of the world’s masters.

Temple Grandin, Martha Graham, Henry Ford, Buckminster Fuller””all have lessons to offer about how the love for doing one thing exceptionally well can lead to mastery. Yet the secret, Greene maintains, is already in our heads. Debunking long-held cultural myths, he demonstrates just how we, as humans, are hardwired for achievement and supremacy. Fans of Greene’s earlier work and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers will eagerly devour this canny and erudite explanation of just what it takes to be great.
Click to expand...

Interesting...i've just started this book - The Element by Ken Robinson

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility. Drawing on the stories of a wide range of people, including Paul McCartney, Matt Groening, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Bart Conner, he shows that age and occupation are no barrier and that this is the essential strategy for transform*ing education, business, and communities in the twenty-first century.

A breakthrough book about talent, passion, and achievement from one of the world's leading thinkers on creativity and self-fulfillment.
Click to expand...

Will let ya'll know that i think of it...

CanOz
 
The People's Tycoon - Henry Ford and the American Century
-- Steven Watts

Love this book so far about 60 pages in. Following on from my previous read.

Titan - a John D Rockerfeller book by Curnow
 
I just finished China Cuckoo...after spending the weekend in the authors little town south west of here...

Here is the review i did for Amazon...

Mark Kitto's China Cuckoo was my best read this year. Well written and reflecting well of life as a foreigner in China. His unbeaten spirit and sense of humor are well presented in this wonderful book. Even though Mark has some bitterness from events beyond his control he still presents vivid imagery, heartfelt feelings and a genuine love for the people of Moganshan. This book is a must for China Expats who will find themselves nodding their heads in agreement and chucking all the way through this fast, accurate account of life in China. Mark's style is very easy to read and this makes it a perfect book for a weekend away, somewhere in the mountains in Asia. "
Click to expand...

CanOz
 
I listen to audio books on the train to and from work.

  • Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
  • The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury, by Robert Kirkman.
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything: by Bill Bryson.
  • Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World, by Christopher Steiner

Antifragile: Im about 20% through this and its starting to get boring...this guy can really rattle on, some interesting facts and analysis though, some market and money making content.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragile:_Things_That_Gain_from_Disorder

------------------

The Road to Woodbury: is a spin off prequel novel based on characters from the excellent TV series The Walking Dead, its an ok listen, some stupid characters doing pretty dumb things but it wasn't boring and is only a short read/listen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead:_The_Road_to_Woodbury

------------------

A Short History of Nearly Everything: This was a great listen, a really really good book, very entertaining and very interesting, full of fun and amazing facts...it really is a short history of nearly everything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything

---------------------

Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World, this is pretty good to, lots of trading and money making history and eye opening facts, very interesting and a great read with lots of futuristic stuff and history that you didn't know about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automate_This
 
So_Cynical said:
A Short History of Nearly Everything: This was a great listen, a really really good book, very entertaining and very interesting, full of fun and amazing facts...it really is a short history of nearly everything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Nearly_Everything
Click to expand...

I've listened to that book 3 times and plan to again. Very informative and entertaining. Bryson has a very accessible style. He has written other books which are interesting as well but I've not yet read them. Should make some time though.

Highly recommend this one.
 

Similar threads

basilio
TV/Films - What ASF members are watching
22 23 24
Replies
472
Views
69K
basilio
basilio
Top