Successful Aging

By Daniel J. Levitin.

A book that has a very concise set of conclusions spread out over hundreds of supporting stories...

1. Don't retire. Don't stop being engaged with meaningful work.
2. Look forward. Don't look back. Reminiscing doesn't promote health.
3. Exercise. Get your heart rate going. Preferably in nature.
4. Embrace a moderated lifestyle with healthy practices.
5. Keep your social circle exciting and new.
6. Spend time with people younger than you.
7. See your doctor regularly, but not obsessively.
8. Don't think of yourself as old-- other than taking prudent precautions.
9. Appreciate your cognitive strengths-- pattern recognition, crystallized intelligence, wisdom, accumulated knowledge.
10. Promote cognitive health through experiential learning: traveling, spending time with grandchildren, and immersing yourself in new activities and situations. Do new things.

Books to look up...

The Logic of Perception by Irv Rock

Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to better Ideas by James L Adamas.

Tips...

Take 0.25 - 0.5 mg of melatonin three hours before you go to bed to reset your body clock.

 

The Amber Spyglass.

By Philip Pullman

I enjoyed this book, though there was a lot of tying off of the various plot threads that had popped up in the previous two books. 

Factfullness

by Hans Rosling

The book has two themes... First, the world is improving at a far better rate than we'd expect. Gone are the days of first-world excess vs. third-world poverty. The majority of the world lives somewhere between the two. 

Most of the world has access to electricity. More than 80% of all children are vaccinated. Since vaccines must be kept refrigerated, that means the electricity, maintenance and support to for this refrigerated network, must be healthy and world wide. 

Why don't we know this? Why do we think the world is crappier than it is? Rosling covers this...

1. Gap... Things are rarely A. vs. B. They are a continuum between A & B. What is this continuum like?

2. Negativity. We expect, and look for bad news. We don't pay attention to good news or boring news.

3. Straight lines-- We expect growth to follow straight lines. It rarely does. The curve will bend.

4. Fear-- When something scares us we over guard against us. We have to remember that Risk = Danger * Exposure. If we are not exposed to a danger, we should not trust our fear.

5. Size-- Judge things in proportion. A single number is rarely useful. What was that number last year? Two years ago? How big is that number in proportion to the rest of the problem? The rest of the world?

6. Generalization-- we put things in categories. This may not be true. What are the differences within a category? What are the similarities across category? 

7. Destiny-- Things change. Slow change is still change. Statistics from 10 years ago can be very different today.

8. Don't use a single tool to analyze your problems. Develop a toolbox.

9. Blame-- Resist pointing your finger. We stop thinking about root causes when we can blame someone. We really need to go beyond that to deeply understand a problem

10. Urgency. Things are rarely so urgent that you need to react quickly and dramatically. Take small steps. Validate.

Rosling suggests that many First world companies are missing business opportunities in the rising middle class world. The first world population is growing much more slowly than the middle-world.  

Digital Minimalism

By Cal Newport.

Newport makes a strong argument that we should sharply reduce the time we spend on smart phones and with social media. We are at our happiest and at our best, when we focus, when we actually have a conversation, when we actually engage in focused leisure.

Social media, with it's blips and sips of conversations and likes is a distraction that drags us down.

Using social media to arrange actual conversations... that is keeping in touch with someone. Facebooking for hours, skimming, clicking likes, that is unhealthy. It's an addiction.

Use technology intentionally, with a deep seated philosophy and set of goals.

The cost of a thing is the amount of life you had to exchange for it.

Reclaim leisure. Prioritize demanding activity over passive consumption. Use skills to produce valuable things in the physical world.

Dreyer's English

By Benjamin Dreyer.

Dreyer knows the style and rules of English far better than I every will. Several times he admits that there are more exceptions in English, than there are rules. At the end of the day the only rule is "Does it look right, and is it clear, to someone who knows and loves the language?" Convention, Consensus, Clarity & Comprehension.

Somethings to remember...

Stop using very, rather, really, quite, in fact, just, pretty, of course and actually. Sentences can be shorter and more clear without them. 

Read your prose aloud. It's one of the best ways to determine whether your prose is well-constructed.

If you can append "by zombies" to the end of a sentence, then you have written the sentence in the passive voice.

Use the series (Oxford comma.) It's more clear.

High Output Management

By Andy Grove.


On career reviews... "There are three L's to keep in mind when delivering a review; Level, listen, and leave your-self out."

On managing the unexpected... "The motto I'm advocating is 'Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos'"

The book contains three ideas...

The first is an output-oriented approach to managment.

The second idea is that the work of a business, of a government bureacracy, of most forms of human activity, is something pursued not by individuals, but by teams"

"The output of a manager is the output of his or her organization."

Third idea-- High managerial productivity depends largely on choosing to perform tasks that possess high leverage. A team will perform well only if peak performance is elicited from the individuals in it.

"If a person is not doing his job, there can only be two reasons for it. The person either can't do it or won't do it. Either he is not capable, or not motivated. This enables a manager to dramatically focus her efforts. All you can do to improve the output of a team is motivate and train. There is nothing else."

"How you handle your own time is, in my view, the single most important aspect of being a role model and leader."


"As a rule of thumb, a manager whose work is largely supervisory should have six to eight subordinates. Three or for is too few. Ten is too many."

Solitude. A return to self

By Anthony Storr.

I was hoping this book would provide a powerful case for Solitude. I starts to, but then meanders off and in the direction of Freud and his thoughts on social life. It concludes that pursuit of the whole needs both interpersonal relationships, and time alone.

"When a person is encouraged to get in touch with and express his deepest feelings, in the secure knowledge that he will not be rejected, criticized, nor expected to be different, some kind of rearrangement or sorting-out process often occurs within the mind which brings with it a sense of peace; a sense that the depths of the well of truth have really been reached."

"The capacity to be alone thus becomes linked with self-discovery and self-realization; with becoming aware of one's deepest needs, feelings and impulses."

"It appears, therefore, that some development of the capacity to be alone is necessary if the brain is to function at its best, and if the individual is to fulfill his highest potential. Human beings easily become alienated from their own deepest needs and feelings. Learning, thinking, innovation, and maintaining contact with one's own inner world are all facilitated by solitude."