Geoff's Miscellany

Miscellaneous Musings

Learning to Read

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The abysmal truth is that few read before or during college:

“The desire to appeal to incoming students who have rarely if ever read an adult book on their own also leads selection committees to choose low-grade “accessible” works that are presumed to appeal to “book virgins” who will flee actual college-level reading. Since common reading programs are generally either voluntary or mandatory without an enforcement mechanism, such “book virgins” have to be wooed with simple, unchallenging works. This was our conclusion two years ago: the lay of the land is still much the same.”

If you want to get ahead in life, in college, and of yourself, read.

Why Read?

If you read you can:

  1. Get inside the head of somebody smarter than you. (Have you written a whole book?)
  2. You can empathize more effectively.
  3. You can learn new skills.
  4. You can be inspired by the great examples of great men.
  5. You can avoid the brain rot of emotional eating or over watching television.
  6. You can understand the foundations of your culture and find your place within it if you read the great books that helped make your people who they are.

What to read?

  1. Try reading classic fiction. Start easy with the Chronicles of Narnia, then try the Hobbit, A Study in Scarlet, Tarzan of the Apes, etc. Then try some Umberto Eco. Then the Iliad or Beowulf.
  2. Read a self-help classic or two: The Slight Edge and How to Win Friends and Influence People are really helpful.
  3. Read a how-to book for a skill that will help you make money, but as you read it, use the skill. This adds skin in the game of learning and therefore makes the process fell more valuable to you. Here’s one on public speaking. Here’s one on saving money. Here’s one on studying. Here’s one on weight loss.
  4. Read some classic philosophy. Try the meditations of Marcus Aurelius and the Lectures and Sayings of Musonius Rufus. Read the Handbook of Epictetus. Try The Last Days of Socrates by Plato or for something more practical like the Memorabilia of Xenophon, which presents a much more practical version of Socrates.
  5. Try reading about interesting figures in history. I like reading about Jesus, Alexander the Great, George Washinton, Teddy Roosevelt, Jim Bowie, and St. Paul.
  6. Think of a science topic you like (the launching of the moon rocket, the invention of the light bulb, the discovery of gravity, etc), and read a popular book about it.

How to Read

Now, you obvious can read words, but can you read well? Good reading involves several skills:

  1. Understanding what is being said (the point, plot, or core idea).
  2. Observing how it is being said (noticing the evidence, techniques, or tropes the author is using)
  3. Determining whether what you’re reading is true and to what extent (or if a fictional story, internally consistent).
  4. Finally, evaluating how what you have read matters.

These items have been framed as questions to ask when you read.

Did Jesus come to make bad people good?

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A common evangelical slogan, which I think comes from a Ravi Zacharias sermon is:

Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, he came to make dead people live.

While I think I agree with the main point of this phrase (Christianity is not merely morality), I usually hear it said in a way that contradicts everything the New Testament says about morality. For instance, Paul says that we’ll be judged for everything we do (Romans 14:12). Jesus says to do good works (Matthew 5:14-16). Peter says to add virtue to your faith (2 Peter 1:3-5).

If we define good person carefully, based on the western tradition of moral philosophy we get something like what Dallas Willard gives us here:

The morally good person…is a person who is intent upon advancing the various goods of human life with which they are effectively in contact, in a manner that respects their relative degrees of importance and the extent to which the actions of the person in question can actually promote the existence and maintenance of those goods.

A good person then:

  1. Is intent upon advancing the good of human life such as health, sustainable pleasure, beauty, knowledge both physical and philosophical, romance, family cohesion, showing honor and gratitude to whom it is due, and so on.
  2. Aligns their intentions to advance those goods with respect to which of those goods are most important and most appropriate in various circumstances.
  3. And focuses their efforts upon the goods that he or she can actually accomplish (a math genius who is awful at being with people should avoid hospital visits).

Now, look at these New Testament passages about why Jesus came:

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, (12) training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (13) waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Romans 8:3-4 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, (4) in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (10) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (11) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

These few passages should suffice to show that Jesus came to transform our character from evil weakness to strong goodness.

The Foolish Atheist

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Bruce Charlton comments on an atheist who didn’t follow his folly far enough:

Dawkins is a good example of one who refused to follow his path of excess to the palace of wisdom; because he was not even aiming at wisdom; he refused to persist in his folly, hence he remained a fool rather than becoming wise.

Two examples. The book Unweaving the Rainbow (1998) was an exercise in distraction, a non sequitur in response to the century-plus of observations that If natural selection were indeed regarded the ultimate truth, Then art, poetry, morality, science (including natural selection) and much else are invalidated.

(This is a fact; because all our feelings, indeed all our knowledge is revealed by the assumption as merely the side effects of adaptations to enhance reproductive success. For example, if natural selection is primary; the theory of natural selection destroys its own validity; all scientific theories being merely side-effects of the process of enhancing differential reproductive fitness.)

Essentially, one must reason this way in order to successfully adopt evolution and maintain a humanitarian and theistic worldview:

  1. If natural selection is the ultimate truth, then art, poetry, morality, science, and all endeavors of human beings are invalid.
  2. Human endeavors are valid.
  3. Therefore, natural selection is not the ultimate truth.

Anyway, read Dr. Charlton’s post. It’s great.

Defeating Self-Defeating Thoughts

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When you narrate your life, how do you write yourself? Personally, I have a long history of narrating myself as a loser, failure, or unfortunate person. If this is your struggle I found a helpful tool for you.

The reason that your self-narration is so important is that it affects your emotions, decisions, and ultimately your character. If the story you’re telling in your head is narrated by the voice of a jerk then you sacrifice your virtue as well as your personal power on the altar of self-pity. If you dramatically describe the tragedies of your life and how awful you are to an imaginary audience of zero, then you are wasting thoughts which could turn your attitudes to joy, your habits to virtue, and your demeanor to strength.

In Martin Seligman’s book Learned Optimism[1]. He outlines five steps for arguing with your self-doubts and while simple is usually better, simple is not always complete. His five aspects of self-talk are excellent. Here are my explanations of them below:

  1. Adversity – Whatever comes your way that leads you to either positive or negative explanations of yourself.
  2. Beliefs/Behaviour – The belief(s) that you base your self-talk on and the behaviors they lead to.
    You also reinforce those beliefs with your self-talk. You also reinforce those beliefs with destructive and unhelpful behaviors.
  3. Consequences – The consequences of your belief/self-talk/behaviors.
    For instance, saying, “I’m a loser,” won’t help fix your life. Saying, “I’m acting like a loser, but if I do [x] differently I can improve,” is more likely to give you a positive attitude. Also it’s important to ask, “What are the results of my behaviour when this adversity comes? Do they lead me to a place of strength, confidence, happiness, and virtue?”
  4. Dispute – This is where you argue with what you said or what you believe about yourself. Seligman recommends four possibilities for disputing:
    1. Evidence – This is important. Most hyper pessimistic thoughts are simply false and if you can distance yourself from them you can refute them by finding evidence to the contrary. You can also find evidence that things will get better. The forms of evidence can be found in the section called, “The Expanded Common Topics of Aristotle” below.
    2. Alternatives – Look for alternative explanations. Instead of “I’m a loser” say, “I messed up, I’ll fix it tomorrow.” Instead of “I always fail,” “This is hard, I’ll have to study longer.”
    3. Implications – If your negative belief is true, look for its implications. See what it means and how it connects to other truths. In a real way, this is just using the common topic of “cause and effect” or “antecedent and consequence.”
    4. Usefulness – Ask yourself, “Is this belief useful for attaining my goals?” If the answer is that the belief is hurting you, then reject it. I’m not a big fan of this approach, but it’s better than being stuck. Also, just because a belief is true does not mean you need to keep repeating it. “I messed up” said a million times in a row does not solve the problems created by the mistake.
    5. Alternatives – There are alternatives to disputing false beliefs and bad behaviors. You can distance yourself from them. This means realizing that beliefs are just beliefs. They may be the result of poor thinking, habit, or accidentally believing a lie. You can act based on what you wish to be true or hope to be true about yourself. Similarly, you can distract yourself. Do something that has nothing to do with the belief. Paint, exercise, cook, go to a coffee shop, anything but wallow. I highly recommend singing a song that is happier than you currently feel.
  5. Energize – Focus on the positive steps that you can and did take after disputing with your false/negative belief. This obviously corresponds with distracting yourself, but this step also includes energizing true beliefs by acting on behalf of them even when your feelings don’t measure up.

Now practice

Every skill requires indirect, “off the spot” training.

So, write these out. And think of specific times where your ABC had a negative belief and a bad consequence.

Then write out how you could have defeated that bad belief and acted (energized) in a more positive direction.

I recommend doing it several times. Try five, that’s a good number for strength training.

This is a thought-kata. A kata is a pattern for learning movements in martial arts. Katas must be practiced over and over again to until they become reflexes.

With practice, you’ll obtain a positive approach to your self-defeating ideas because the process will become a reflex, second nature.

Conclusion

Don’t let your inner jerk argue you into depression or helplessness. Use the best tools available, ancient and modern to destroy that jerk.

  1. Write the thought kata and practice it five times and see what you think.
  2. Use the common topics to perfect the art of refuting your inner-jerk.

Appendix: The Expanded Common Topic (types of argument) of Aristotle[2]:

The common topics are tools for building arguments. They are the ultimate tool for crushing writers’ block. The idea is that there are certain types of evidence to be used in any speech. It is important to categorize them so that you can research the various avenues of evidence and form an argument using the topics most convincing to your audience. Obviously, these can also be used to critique the arguments of others.

I recommend using the common topics not only as tools for rhetoric and argument, which I’ll write about in the future. For this post recommend using them to argue against a crappy mindset because they are forms of evidence and argument which will help you know yourself better and convince yourself to move on.

  1. Definition
    • Genus
    • Division
  2. Comparison
    • Similarity
    • Difference
    • Degree
  3. Relationship
    • Cause and effect
    • Antecedent and Consequent
    • Contraries
    • Contradictories
  4. Circumstance
    • Possible and Impossible
    • Past Fact and Future Fact
  5. Testimony
    • Authority
    • Testimonial
    • Statistics
    • Maxims
    • Laws
    • Precedents

Examples:
When some adversity comes your way and bad/negative beliefs come up and you want to argue against them here are examples using the different common topics:

  1. Definition – Using definitions to frame an argument.
    Negative Definition of Adversity: “Why do bad things always happen to me?”
    Positive Definition of Adversity: “How will I overcome this time?”
  2. Testimonial – Using a personal example from yourself or somebody else.
    Negative Belief – I have a bone disorder, I’m just a loser.
    Testimonial – Remember a story of somebody with a medical problem who succeeded.
  3. Authority – Appealing to an expert or an accepted body of knowledge.
    Negative Belief – I totally failed everybody, I’m the worst. I’ll never change.
    Appeal to Authority – The Bible says that people can change.
  4. Similarity – The comparison of similar things to yield new knowledge (argument by analogy)
    Negative Belief – I’m just a regular person, I can’t figure this stuff out.
    Similarity – This or that regular person is happy and takes ownership of like, I can too.

References

[1]  Martin E. P Seligman, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (New York: Vintage Books, 2006), 210-223

[2] Edward P.J Corbett and Robert J Connors, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 84-140

Four Questions to Instantly Improve Your Reading

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Mortimer Adler says that the core of good reading can be expressed in these four questions the reader asks a piece of writing:

1. WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT AS A WHOLE? You must try to discover the leading theme of the book, and how the author develops this theme in an orderly way by subdividing it into its essential subordinate themes or topics.

2. WHAT IS BEING SAID IN DETAIL, AND HOW? You must try to discover the main ideas, assertions, and arguments that constitute the author’s particular message.

3. Is THE BOOK TRUE, IN WHOLE OR PART? You cannot answer this question until you have answered the first two. You have to know what is being said before you can decide whether it is true or not. When you understand a book, however, you are obligated, if you are reading seriously, to make up your own mind. Knowing the author’s mind is not enough.

4. WHAT OF IT? If the book has given you information, you must ask about its significance. Why does the author think it is important to know these things? Is it important to you to know them? And if the book has not only informed you, but also enlightened you, it is necessary to seek further enlightenment by asking what else follows, what is further implied or suggested.

How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler

Most people never even ask the first or second questions and especially not the third. We live in an age of ever increasing memery and propaganda. May you and yours always read carefully.

Self-Experimentation

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Seth Roberts wrote The Unreasonable Effectiveness of My Self-Experimentation. He explains how self-experimentation improved his sleep, mood, health, and weight.

Self-experimentation is similar to foraging and hobbies more than strict lab-science, he says:

“My self-experimentation resembled foraging, hobbyist, and artisanal exploration, Professional science is a poor match for any of them. The similarity of foraging, hobbyist, and artisanal exploration suggests that our brains are well-suited for jobs with a lot of exploitation and a little exploration. Although full-time scientists are expected to explore full-time, full-time exploration is very uncomfortable.”

Seth Roberts

The idea is that foraging and hobbies involve exploration followed by rewards in a way that lab-science does not. In other words, self-experimentation is an engineering approach to personal problem solving using aggressive-tinkering. Taleb reminds us in Skin in the Game, “The knowledge we get by tinkering, via trial and error, experience, and the workings of time, in other words, contact with the earth, is vastly superior to that obtained through reasoning, something self-serving institutions have been very busy hiding from us.”

This makes sense. Now, self-experimentation involves some major problems. If you tinker with small changes in a way that increases risk, you’re making unwise gambles. For instance, experimenting with strength training almost guarantees health and strength gains. Experimenting with drugs to improve strength may sacrifice long-term health for short term strength.

Self-Experimentation and Published Science

Sometimes, when you have a specific problem, you can look up published research, determine the process used to test a hypothesis, and then try something similar on yourself if your problem was solved or improved by the experiment. But you want to do this in a risk-reducing fashion. For instance, when I used Kjaer’s chronic tendon loading research to cure my 8-year bout of patellar tendinitis, I knew that squats had never made it worse. I knew that my back was healthy. I knew that the highest risk I had was getting weaker over a few weeks or making my knee feel a bit worse.