From April to June 2022, I read these interesting books, mainly focusing on psychology and art:
- Why do we often fall into collective hallucinations and make wrong decisions?
- Is it easy for people who are accustomed to giving to suffer losses?
- What kind of unique artistic light bloomed in the Islamic world in the sixteenth century?
- Why small daily changes can lead to huge achievements?
- How to obtain lasting joy?
- What are the passages in ancient Persian poetry that are full of beauty and spirituality?
- How does Japanese conductor Ozawa Seiji perform Western symphony?
- What are some of Mo Yan’s imaginative short stories?
01
Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions
:☆☆☆☆
us We often fall into collective hallucinations. When most people in the community privately disagree with a certain point of view and behavior, people still pretend to agree and comply with it. We mistakenly believe that the mainstream of society is like this, eager to join the group, and finally make Doing what no one wants to do, saying what you mean, living in lies and unhappiness.
Former Harvard Professor Todd Rose combines neuroscience and social psychology theory to explain how collective delusion can lead us to make poor decisions that harm individual and collective interests and happiness. For example, people who are in urgent need of organ donation simply refuse a matching kidney without asking for specific reasons because the person at the top of the waiting list refuses; parents in North African tribes privately disapprove of circumcision of girls, but are afraid that it will not meet the assumptions. The mainstream still leaves their daughters lying in a pool of blood; a social survey found that 97% of people believe that success has nothing to do with wealth and fame, but rather doing what you are good at and like, but 92% of people believe that other people’s definition of success is to pursue success. The pursuit of fame and fortune makes people pursue things they don’t believe in, and even impose things they don’t believe in on more people.
Are we powerless in the face of collective delusion? No. It’s not that we don’t have the power to change, but we just blindly surrendered without doing anything. Rose pointed out that the most effective way is to make behaviors consistent with inner beliefs, stop living in lies, and no longer remain silent in the face of the truth; the small choices we make every day will make the world better or worse. , Only by following the guidance of the soul and conscience, rather than letting collective illusions dictate to us , can individuals achieve happiness and society can progress.
We always expect the external environment to change first, but we don't know that only by allowing ourselves to live without going against our will can we promote changes in the external environment. Czech Former President Havel once said: "A better system does not automatically ensure a better life. In fact, it is quite the opposite: only by creating a better life can a better system be developed."
02
Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success
（Wharton School of Business ’s most popular success course）
By Adam Grant
Type: Psychological
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Do you think that people who love to contribute and think about others are easy to suffer? ? And people who only consider their own interests, flatter those above and bully those below, and are ruthless and tough are more likely to succeed? Research by Wharton organizational psychology professor Adam Grant found that this assumption is wrong.
Professor Grant divides people into takers (Taker), matchers (Matcher) , givers (Giver) : In the eyes of takers, success is a zero-sum game , if you want to climb to the pyramid At the top, others must be trampled to death; the matcher believes that giving and receiving must be equal, and I will be good to others only when others are good to me; while the giver always understands the needs of others, takes the initiative to help others, and believes that everyone can be successful. potential, be willing to share experience and resources, make the cake bigger, and benefit yourself and those around you.
Which kind of person can achieve the highest and lasting achievements? Not a taker or a matcher, but a giver. Grant pointed out that in this unpredictable world, it is difficult to determine who will be your noble person and which network will bring you unexpected opportunities. Therefore, helping others is a necessary prerequisite for long-term success.
Are the people who give the money the good old guys who have no opinions and bow their heads? no. They are no less ambitious than takers, but they do things differently. Givers not only clearly know their own interests, but also take the demands of others into consideration. They benefit others as well as themselves. They do not care about short-term petty profits, but help and cooperate with each other and consider long-term success.
The more people give, the easier it is to obtain wealth and happiness. Economic research shows that, after excluding various variables related to income and education level, every additional US$1 donated by a person will increase the wealth by US$3.75. In addition, psychological experiments have found that the happiness brought by donation is far greater. More than spending for yourself.
Why do we often see selfish behavior in life? In fact, people are much more generous than we expected, but cognitive biases lead people to be selfish, because people often assume that others are selfish and not helpful, and believe that selfishness is the main theme of society. Some givers even hide their nature and are afraid of giving. This is seen as weakness, and this cognitive bias leads to selfish behavior.
But the good news is that as long as someone takes the lead as a giver in a group, the matchers and takers will follow suit. The more they are seen, the more willing these people are to give. Therefore, it is important to set the rules and culture of the group.
According to my observation, I have almost never met a taker who can only get in but not get out. I believe that no one is a complete taker. People who only satisfy their own interests and harm others will find it difficult to go far and are likely to experience social death. On the contrary, the classmates, professors, colleagues or casual friends I met all tried their best to give each other time, feedback, recommendations or other resources. People with strength never fell into a zero-sum game. Thinking, you don't care about the effort, but focus on making the cake bigger. Success for others will also make you successful.
03
Masterpieces of Islamic Art
(Masterpieces of Islamic Art)
By Oleg Grabar
Category: Art
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
In the sixteenth century, Italy and Northern Europe entered the heyday of art, and the Islamic world was also blooming during the same period. With a distinctive artistic light . This book includes the most representative paintings from North Africa, the Middle East, West Asia, and Central Asia (mainly Iranian art in the sixteenth century). The original works are collected in the Louvre, France. Library , Cairo National Library, British Library , Metropolitan Museum of Art and other well-known museums, from epics, calligraphy, historical stories, characters, religion to flowers, birds and landscapes, this book explains the Islamic cultural background and aesthetic characteristics .
I have seen a lot of Islamic artworks at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Islamic culture opposes idolatry and tends to abstract geometric figures, patterns and calligraphy, and rarely depicts people and animals in detail, but this book It contains different works, including characters, animals, flowers and birds, and the whole reading process is a visual feast and cultural journey.
The most impressive thing is that different civilizations can always blend together perfectly. Islamic art was influenced by the Chinese landscape paintings brought by the Silk Road, and also absorbed the skills and aesthetics of Western oil paintings; the patterns of Persian and Turkish are somewhat similar to Dunhuang art; there are poems similar to the Butterfly Lovers in the epics of the Arab world. The story also has teachings similar to Confucianism that a gentleman cultivates his moral integrity and governs the country. In the process of understanding different civilizations, you will find that different human cultures lead to the same destination through different paths. Cultural exodus is also a spiritual return. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
0We always attribute our success to A major decision, but in fact, every daily decision (ie habit) we make subconsciously, cumulatively, determines the direction of our life . I very much agree with the core thesis of this book: small changes lead to huge achievements, that is, is accumulated over time and is achieved.
Many people develop good habits and give up after only a few days of complaining about not seeing any results. However, any skill unlocking takes time. We expect progress to be linear, but the reality is in the form of exponential function . The early and middle stages of are both "latency periods", and the changes are very small. When accumulated to a certain extent, there will be Obvious effects and breakthroughs . If we make 1% progress every day, we will make 37 times progress in one year.
Some fans sent me private messages asking, why can’t I speak fluently after listening to English broadcasts and imitating English speeches for several days? Is it possible that some people can master Chinese conversation from birth? Elementary school students only know a few hundred Chinese characters, and high school students only know a few thousand Chinese characters. Pianists and violinists need at least 6,000 hours of effective practice to reach the professional level, and English beginners need at least 720 hours of effective study to basically cope with academic and work communication. Unlocking new skills takes at least one year.
When explaining the steps to develop good habits, the book also mentioned Self-control is a false proposition . People cannot resist temptation by willpower for a long time, but should eliminate temptation directly. Self-disciplined people do not live in a tempting environment and do not need self-control. "The person with the best self-control is usually the person who least needs to use it."
I strongly agree with this point. When people need to control themselves, it means that they have a strong impulse or resistance to something in their hearts. However, once a good habit is formed, it will come naturally without any thought or effort. The brain is as automatic as the background of a computer. deal with.
A person's habits are closely related to the family environment. I believe that if the environment created by parents is free of temptation and interference, it will have cleared the growth obstacles for children at the source. My childhood playmate once complained to me that her parents played mahjong, smoked, and stayed up late all day, and the house was in a mess. She wanted to study, but she was so noisy that she couldn't study. Later, her friends came to my house to study. My house was quiet and quiet. People smoke, the room is full of books, and there are no processed snacks to eat, so they can just finish their homework. Therefore, the environment is really important. Reduce distractions and avoid brain decision-making fatigue, so that you can focus on what is really important.
Should we always have a goal in mind? The goal can only be set in a general direction. Just focusing on the goal and trying hard without establishing a habitual system will be counterproductive. Focus and enjoy the process, and only if you persist over time will the results be effective. The last chapter of the
book also mentioned that habit formation also depends on talent . Every one of your behaviors and preferences has the shadow of genes. In the fields that you are good at and like, you will naturally do . The more you do, the more positive feedback you will get, and it will be easier to achieve your goals. If Phelps, a swimmer with well-developed upper limbs and short lower limbs, is asked to practice middle- and long-distance running, he will probably become a loser, because his body has no advantage in track and field, and it is impossible to develop a running habit. If you put him in the water, his thick arms can generate forward pulling force, and his talent can be maximized, then he will naturally develop the habit of swimming.
It can be seen from this that we have to consider what is a good habit for ourselves? If you are in the wrong field, no matter how good your habits are in the eyes of others, they may not be suitable for you. Positioning is more important than hard work. Only by constantly trying new things and finding a field that suits you can you develop good habits.
05
Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy
(Inner Engineering)
By Sadhguru
Category: Philosophy
Rating: ☆☆☆
The most difficult disease to cure in modern society is unhappiness, and to maintain it Pleasure is a test of wisdom. Indian yogi Sadhguru proposed that intelligence and wisdom are two different things, and the intellectual training of modern education brings pain to people .
Intellectual training is to judge and analyze the external world, which means binary opposition and differentiation. What we see as good or bad is just the bias of the human brain. We always use external attributes and things (work, family, Gender, material) to define life, so we obsessively seek satisfaction from the outside world, but the more we are obsessed with foreign objects, the more painful it becomes . He wrote, "When you regard as yourself something that does not belong to you, life becomes an unnecessary struggle."
Where does anxiety and pain come from? From our unconscious reactions to the world. If we don't take control of our reactions to the outside world, our emotions will fluctuate and we will lose our spiritual freedom. If you are calm, no disturbance from the outside world will disturb you.
In addition, the intelligence and thoughts that humans are proud of hinder our ability to perceive happiness.. Western philosophy "I think, therefore I am", while Indian yoga philosophy believes that "I am, therefore I think". Once we regard thoughts as identity, we become slaves controlled by thoughts, lose our perception of the present, and lose our happiness. feel.
How to obtain lasting joy? The key to happiness lies in our own hands. We are the only ones who can be responsible for our own happiness. The meaning of life and spiritual happiness do not need to be in opposition, and there is no need to rely on the external world. There is no so-called right person or thing that can give you happiness. Instead, look inward, let the body, mind and all things in nature achieve a peaceful unity, and watch life quietly. Flow, feel its dimension and depth.
Sadhguru writes at the end of the book: "There is a way out. And the way out is in. It is only by turning inward that we can truly create a world of love, light, and laughter. You have The only way out is to go inward, and only by going inward can we truly create a world full of love, light and laughter.”
06
The Essential Rumi
(Into the Orchard from Spring: Rumi Classics)
By Jalal al-Din Rumi
Category: Literature
Rating: ☆☆☆
The Persian Empire was born in the 13th century Rumi, a poet comparable to Li Bai Su Shi (Rumi) is a representative of Islamic mysticism. After his poems were translated into English in the 20th century, they became the best-selling poetry collection in the United States. In the process of cross-cultural communication, his poems have stripped away religion and passed through the world. The daily self-cultivation and the search for the truth of being one with the world. The beauty and spirituality in the poems have soothed the hearts of many readers.
Many of the poems tell the philosophy of life in the form of fables. I particularly like the quote here. Verses: There is a milk fountain inside you. Don't walk around with an empty bucket. You have a channel into the ocean, and yet you ask for water from a little pool.
07
Afternoon music with Seiji Ozawa Time
By Haruki Murakami
Category: Art
Rating: ☆☆☆
Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa and writer Haruki Murakami chatted about music. An oriental musician who first came to the Western classical music scene was criticized completely by newspapers and media. Later I became the director of Boston Symphony Orchestra . I read it with the purpose of understanding the living conditions of musicians.
First, classical musicians seem to be glamorous, but their income is only enough to maintain a basic life. Expenses. The performance income of the symphony orchestra is not fixed, and the salary paid to young conductors can only reach the average level of the region. It is normal to have more than enough money. In recent years, musicians cannot sign long-term contracts with the orchestra, and most of them are free performers. I appear when there are performances, and I find ways to make a living part-time on weekdays.
In addition, the classical music circle is a very small, monopolized, and even hereditary industry. Masters monopolize the direction of the industry. Classical music masters basically come from musical families. Seiji Ozawa was born in a dental family in Japan. From time to time, he would like to thank his mentors Karajan and Bernstein for promoting him, because without their support, it would be difficult for him to gain a foothold in the music industry.
To pursue a career in music, you really need the support of a family background. Musicians trained by civilian families face even more obstacles. For example, Shen Wenyu, the Chinese piano prodigy of the last century, was born in a family of laid-off workers. After studying in Germany, he did not choose to stay on the international stage. He was brought back to China by his father, and participated in a piano competition with children to win prizes. The media was full of lamentation and criticism. Shen's father is short-sighted, and some senior musicians said that it is useless that Shen Wenyu's finger speed is unrivaled, because he is just a machine without emotion. Isn’t it a subjective feeling whether music has emotions? Objective techniques are impeccable and can only find fault with "emotionless". How can a small but elite "noble" tolerate a commoner kid in his circle who breaks the rules of the game?
Since 2018, this pianist has been recording children’s grade examination tracks over and over again in his basement every day, and posted them on the video platform. The number of views is not high, but he has persisted and has helped the majority of piano children. When most pianists are busy in and out of high society, how many are willing to provide music education to the public?
The only shortcoming of this book is that it does not come with a CD or MP3. You can only read the music reviews without hearing the music. You can only search and play them one by one, listening and reading at the same time.
08
Mo Yan's collection of strange and strange stories
By Mo Yan
Rating: ☆☆☆
Mo Yan's short stories are indeed very "weird". Inspired by Pu Songling, they are based on rural ghost stories, including a daughter-in-law who ran away and flew up a tree. The mysterious stalking woman who always smiles and exudes fragrance, the ghost who wants to pay back the money after death... These ghost characters are all shadows of people in Mo Yan's memory. He said: "Over the past few decades, the real harm to me has been people. "What really scares me is people."
The story is very absurd and imaginative, and it is hard to figure out what thoughts it is trying to convey, but novels that may be incomprehensible are excellent works.
Mo Yan wrote at the end of the book, "A writer's thoughts cannot be directly exposed in his works. The more hidden they are, the better. Moreover, truly ideological works may not necessarily be understood by contemporary people. Those people follow what they say. The thoughts are actually not worth writing into novels. ”
What good books have you read recently? Welcome to share it with everyone in the comment area!
