Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Soz, the tao te ching is this book about the way Lao Tzu thinks one should live in order to be happy and fulfilled. Written over 2,000 years ago. Somewhere around 500 B.C. (is disputed). I read the version by stephen mitchell (the actual text is in chinese, so there are many translations and versions) and the interpretation of the tao te ching by Dr. Wayne Dyer (Change your thoughts, change your life).

In my life, the tao te ching has played a semi important role. It used to be my god when I was in high school (softmore-junior year). I had never read a book that I connected so deeply with. Then, stuff happened, and I fell out of touch with it. This summer, I revisited the text.

As I re-read what I had read two years ago, I realized that I did not agree with all of the things the Tao Te Ching said, like I normally thought. Before, I had gone along with all of its thoughts, because of the beauty of the writing and the ideas. Even though the ideas are beautiful, I now realize that I was foolish to give up my own thoughts because of this divine text. What is put beautifully is not always right for the individual (though it may be right for Lao Tzu).

I do agree with many of the ideas of the Tao Te Ching, but there are also many that I just can’t see eye to eye on.

You really need to read it. It’s unlike any other book. It’s more of a collection of poems/orders/observations. It’s incredible that such an insightful book was written so long ago in such a beautiful form and even before christ. The writing style is so incredibly simple, but meaningful. READ IT.

Dislike: the idea of serving the needs of others to fulfill your own, that the tao is a force that we can interact with and draw strength from, that we should have no desires and want nothing, that you should not take recognition for your work, that there should  be no goal in mind, that you should be content with an ordinary life, that I should see everyone as my equal, that you should be content with where you live, that you should have no posessions, that humility is the highest virtue,

For a long time, I wanted to be the type of person the tao te ching described and take on those characteristics. Now I realize that that’s not who I am. That’s who Lao Tzu is and that’s his way, not mine. I take what I see as thought provoking and the new perspectives I like and apply it to my own life and ditch the rest perhaps to be discovered at a later time.

Everybody’s got their diff way of getting through life… everybody’s got their Way. Lao Tzu’s is beautiful and simple. Mine might not be so, but it will be beautiful and right for me. Maybe not for others.

*nod*

-TK

Review of Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

*tumbles in* I’m heading out west cuz I wanna be a cowboy baby! *tumbles out*

This book focuses on thin slicing. Thin slicing is rapid decision or assessment making that relies on the unconscious part of the mind. It’s the cognition you perform in the “Blink” of an eye. This can include judgements you make when meeting new peeps, split second life or death decisions, or that feeling you get that something is off (in a storyline/person/work of art/project at work).

The book is split into the following:

1. benefits of thin slicing,
2. drawbacks of thin slicing
3. when to thin slice and when to analyze (conscious cognition)
4. realizing that you can improve your ability thin slicing and analyze.

The majority of the book is made up of examples that support or illustrate these four ideas. I don’t want to give too much of the book away, so I’ll stick to the examples I like most and worm in my own thoughts ^.^.

1. Benefits of thin slicing

The whole idea behind thin slicing is focusing on several critical pieces of information to understand a situation instead of taking all variables into account. Also, the idea that you can make better decisions by knowing less about the situation.

Example on focusing on several critical pieces: There was this one general dude who was challenged by the government to beat their “challenge.” The government decided that the best way to win any war was to know all that you possibly could about the situation and your enemy. They simulated a battle, and the general won. Outcome… he used guerilla tactics. The government couldn’t act fast enough or know how to act because they were so swamped with information about their enemy and the battle field. They didn’t know which pieces to act on when the situation changed so rapidly. Because general focused on a few bits of info he knew about his enemy, he used those bits well to defeat the enemy.

Example on how you only need a thin slice of an experience to know a lot: There was this study done where they took married couples and studied 15 minute conversations. The psychologist would analyze every frame of the video and look for facial cues and listen for changes in tone and emotion. He plotted it all out and he could predict with 95 percent accuracy if the couple would still be married 15 years later. Pretty incredible eh? You don need to live with peeps for years to tell if they have a good relationship or not. You just need to intensely focus on the brief encounter you have with them. Apparently, this guy got so good at being able to read relationships in the first few moments that he could be having dinner in a restaurant and tell you what couples would stay together and which wouldn’t. Pretty trippy eh?

2. Drawbacks of thin slicing

Because these are snap judgements, they can often be biased and are largely drawn from personal experience. Also, they cannot often be explained because they are made by the unconscious part of your brain. Finally, relying on snap judgements severely narrows the scope of what you are paying attention to in a situation.

Biased judgements: I read a lot about these in psyche, so i don really feel like putting down all the experiments. READ THE BOOK. There was this one cool one where the most successful car dealers are good at reading people, but in not the way you think. Most car sellers were turning away people who didn’t look like they had the money to buy an expensive car (teens, older people, people dressed poorly). These were horrible snap judgements though because the teens would come back with their parents who did have money, the old people could have been saving up, and you can be a rich farmer who is covered in mud. The best sales men treated everyone equally and at the same time, were able to read what the people wanted and offer them that. Soz, snap judgements give you a good idea of who someone is or what they want, but if you let your biases about wealth take hold, they will be inaccurate.

There were a lot of other experiments done on race and sexual discrimination because of learned attitudes. Basically, you gotta remember that you are influenced by your past experiences and not let that interfere with your snap judgements.

Blink judgements not able to be explained: Most of the people who made blink judgements were not able to explain why they drew such a conclusion. One example is that there was a statue and a professional art viewer/historian felt that there was something not right about it the second he saw it… but couldn’t put his finger on it or say why. Over time, the piece was revealed to be a very well forged fake.

Another example is that tennis coaches could tell when a player would fault, but they couldn’t quite say why. They just knew it.

Twas interesting, they did a study and when people did try to explain why the chose what they chose or did what they did, they distorted their real reason for doing it. Apparently, the left side of the brain (words) influenced the right side of the brian (pictures). When peeps were asked to describe a stranger they saw, they would do less well than if they were asked to pick him or her out in a line up and the more they described what the stranger looked like, they more they perverted the image of him.

Writing down thoughts impairs flashes of insight.

Blink judgements can narrow scope of experience: When you focus intently on several things (like when chasing someone, if they have a gun, how they’re dressed), you lose sight of other things (that they are afraid of you, not seeking to hurt you or shoot you). There was a case that the book talked about where a policeman swore this kid had a gun, but it was just a wallet and he ended up shooting him. He got caught up in the blink-zone perception and couldn’t see past what he was looking for. Kind of an extreme snap judgement perception where it takes over the person rather than aiding them.

3. When to thin slice when to analyze

He didn’t spend much time on this. Basically said it’s about experience and judgement. One thing he noted was in simple, straight forward decisions, it’s better to analyze  the pros and cons, and in more complex multi-variable decisions, better to use blink judgement.

4. Improve ability to thin slice and analize.

Basically, it’s all about positive experience. The more you practice not letting your bias interfere, better you will be. It’s about knowing what to look for (reading the book) and then keep doing it till your good at it. Being able to read people and make good decisions isn’t a gift it’s a skill.

*nod nod* I liked it. Good experiments and easy to read. I do think it’s about finding a balance between thinking and intuitively doing.

cool stuff:

ratio of positive to negative emotions in a relationship needs to be 5:1 or it won’t survive.

peeps in two states in a relationship, one where positive overrides irritability, other negative overrides.

Contempt and disgust = end of relationship

Mating can’t happen without communicating emotion on face (or caring for babies)

Optimal state of arousal is when heart rate is between 115 and 145 (just enough stress), more and motor skills break down, less and not enough motivation.

Body guards rely on blink decisions, but can’t always react fast enough because of human limitation

What porn, the draft, clubbing, and consensual sex with older women have in common

… They all become legal on your 18th birthday XD.

I had a very enjoyable, peaceful, birthday…. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so content with life/world/me.

My birthday kind of was like a cup of tea, enjoyed slowly, and although ordinary, leaves you feeling relaxed.

Got up early and went out to breakfast. Huge heaping of waffles, eggs, home-fries, bacon, and of course coffee and oj. My dad had to go into surgery prep today, so I didn’t see my parents for most of the day.

After that, I went home, got some things together, and decided to go into boston. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing.

Went into boston, walked around cambridge, got a journal, sat in the harvard yard and read the Tao Te Ching and thought about it. I wish… who ever you are… were there. It was so beautiful. It was a perfect day and all the trees provided just the right amount of shade so that there were shadows of tree limbs all over the grass with sunlight streaming through the spaces between the leaves.

I found myself just looking up at the sky… marshmellow puffy clouds… it was seriously a perfect day. There was even a slight breeze. I was content just sitting there watching everyone walk around, children, old people, aspiring high school students who want to be a part of the “elite” harvard circle. Beauty thy name is woman and woman thy  name is earth.

After harvard yard and looking at books at the coop, I found my way over to china town and then to the boston common. Boston common was as beautiful as harvard yard, in some ways more so. Chicks sunbathing in bikinis, old women riding their scooters along the path, peeps playing at the base ball field, tennis lesson going on, dogs sniffing around, and the shade of course.

It was the right amount of activity and inactivity. Not too busy, not to solitary. I claimed a spot under this one tree, near this older woman and her white puffy dog. The dog was restless and kept staring at me when the woman wasn’t looking and I’d make faces at it and then it would do a double take. HEHEHE. Then these bigger mellower dogs would come by and this one would start yapping and the older bigger dogs were so chill. They just looked at it and kept walking.  *grin*

I miss my dog. I am so having another dog when I grow up. They are so pure… so enjoyable to watch and be around.

After spending a little bit of time there, I was planning to come home and spend some time with my friend, but once I drove all the way back home, it turned out she was busy  and i was busy and it just went down the drain. Oh well. Instead, I had two servings of cake and milk and watched harry potter. Then, got pizza take out for dinner, finished harry potter, kind of sat around, then went to look at stars. It was too buggy though and I had to turn back.

OH! I tried out this new tea we got at teavana. was pretty good. im having it now actually.

This is more of a diary entry than a blog entry… hmm… oh well

I have some thoughts on the Tao Te Ching, but i’ll post then when i finished this other translation of it.

When I was 12-13, I started to become self aware and philosophical. At least, that’s the age I think I did. Maybe a bit earlier. I didn’t think at 18 I would be where I am now. I thought I would be significantly more mature and advanced. At the same time, I had no idea i would have had the experiences I’ve had. I have defs been surprised more than once in these 18 years and am looking for a few more good surprises in the next 4 years of college.

True, I may not be as mature or adult like as I thought I would be, but in a way, I’m glad I’m not. I want to have fun in college as well as figure out who I am. I want to get out of my comfort zone, and being wise already at the age of 18 is not the way to go when normal peeps live to be about 70. I have 52 more years to become a sage :-P.

One thing this does teach me though is… I know… if my conceptions of adulthood at 18 were not accurate, my conceptions of how I will be when I marry and have kids are not accurate. This gives me an even greater want to experience everything I can in every year and moment I have so that I can be as mature and wise and fulfilled and happy as I want to be when I am graduating college or taking my first real job or looking at my baby’s face.

At 20 years of age, Alexander the great became the ruler of a gigantic empire. I am two years away from that point, and I have barley done anything worthwhile to contribute to society, to significantly further myself, or to make myself known. I am at the age when many people of historic significance begin to craft their road to success, begin to produce works in the field of their passion. I feel the need to start progressing towards my life masterpiece, be it a novel, a status in the medical community, a personal goal, what ever.

I am now a legal adult. God, I can’t even believe that. I am equal to a 30 year old in the eyes of the law or a 60 year old.

It is kind of depressing in the (i started loving writing when I was 13) 5 years I have loved writing, I have not completed one good complete novel or work. I am going to figure out if writing is what I want to do, and if it is, live and breath it.

Overall, good birthday. Thought a lot and enjoyed a lot. Going to mount washington to climb tomorrow. ttyl yo.

The Twilight Zone (story of my life… i wish)

Yo,

My god, I never realized how much The Twilight Zone episodes rock. Amazing short episodes/film pieces. Der in black in white, but you don’t even notice and I like the acting… more based on facial than body language.

Mostly about paranormal events and horror, with a message about our universe or idea of reality *nod nod* quite good.

I gobble these things up like their made of gummi or oreo.

I’m going to be going to college August 25… the date is nearing. I think I am ready though. Still have a bit of shopping to do. Ugh, I have to put on a happy face so that I can make new friends. I don’t feel like making new friends, but oh well.

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I forgot how much I love to read. It gives purpose to my life and is just hardcore. Ttyl. I might be climbing mount washington August 9 to celebrate the 20,000 mark on my blog (yes long overdue celebration). My birthday is august 7. Idk what imma do for that yet.

oh… my dad has cancer of the tongue too…i hope he doesn’t die.

Review of Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

Just read ^^^^. Richard Bach is one of my favorite authors. Apparently, the book was bestseller, and the story is less than 100 pages! Tis incredible. I’ve written stories longer than that… to think that one of my shorter ones could become a bestseller like this one…

Surprisingly, it was very good. Kind of emphasized the idea of developing a passion (in this case flying) to perfection and that by doing so, you learn more about yourself and the universe. Also talked about the idea of how the reality we know is only a small part of the real reality, which is limited by our perception. Finally, showed how a christ-like figure can be both revered, thought to be a god when he isn’t, and hated. Sends messages about why you should love other people, how, and the purpose of life (to realize what/who you truly all and keep surpassing limitations by following a passion).

Reading this helped me understand Jesus more and how he was accepted (or not) by the people of his time and what his mission was.

In the story, Jonathan strives to perfect his passion, and later down the line, begins to teach other gulls how to do so. I think… I’m slowly beginning to realize that no matter how much I read or experience now, I will not be able to fully understand the world to the maximum amount I am able to understand it until I am older and can look at others who were my age… and be in the place of the elders I see now. Understanding is all based on perspective.

I guess living is not constant. Wisdom isn’t something that you acquire, it’s more of an attitude or a state of being as you move through your life.

Anyway, definitely recommend it if your into spirituality. It’s an easy, yet meaningful read.

Quotes:

“The same rule holds for us now, of course: we choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.”

“Perfect speed, my son, is being there.” (In the moment, not thinking about an end speed you want).

“Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere.” (Put aside your idea or wishes for the future and instead concentrate on the now)

“The only difference, the very only one, is that they have begun to understand what they really are and have begun to practice it.”

“Don’t let them spread silly rumors about me, or make me a god, OK?” (If someone is a god, less able to relate or think you can achieve their status).

P.s. Short, meaningful reads rock my world.