What books are you currently reading?
- Thread starter Jon
- Start date
He does indeed. He's best known for his work on evolutionary psychology. I'm very taken with this passage - it sums up what it means to be alive, I think:
'As a sentient being, you have the potential to flourish. You can refine your faculty of reason itself by learning and debating. You can seek explanations of the natural world through science, and insight into the human condition through the arts and humanities. You can make the most of your capacity for pleasure and satisfaction, which allowed your ancestors to thrive and thereby allowed you to exist. You can appreciate the beauty and richness of the natural and cultural world. As the heir to billions of years of life perpetuating itself, you can perpetuate life in return. You have been endowed with a sense of sympathy - the ability to like, love, respect, help, and show kindness - and you can enjoy the gift of mutual benevolence with friends, family, and colleagues.
And because reason tells you that none of this is particular to you, you have the responsibility to provide to others what you expect for yourself. You can foster the welfare of other sentient beings by enhancing life, health, knowledge, freedom, abundance, safety, beauty, and peace. History shows that when we sympathise with others and apply our ingenuity to improving the human condition, we can make progress in doing so, and you can help to continue that progress.'
'As a sentient being, you have the potential to flourish. You can refine your faculty of reason itself by learning and debating. You can seek explanations of the natural world through science, and insight into the human condition through the arts and humanities. You can make the most of your capacity for pleasure and satisfaction, which allowed your ancestors to thrive and thereby allowed you to exist. You can appreciate the beauty and richness of the natural and cultural world. As the heir to billions of years of life perpetuating itself, you can perpetuate life in return. You have been endowed with a sense of sympathy - the ability to like, love, respect, help, and show kindness - and you can enjoy the gift of mutual benevolence with friends, family, and colleagues.
And because reason tells you that none of this is particular to you, you have the responsibility to provide to others what you expect for yourself. You can foster the welfare of other sentient beings by enhancing life, health, knowledge, freedom, abundance, safety, beauty, and peace. History shows that when we sympathise with others and apply our ingenuity to improving the human condition, we can make progress in doing so, and you can help to continue that progress.'
Before I retired, my reading was entirely technical because I had to keep up with U.S. Navy certification requirements. I reached a limit when the government slapped yet another qualification on me. It was no longer enough to have a system admin certification in my specialty O/S. It was no longer enough to have a Security+ certificate. It was no longer enough to renew the Security+ every three years. BUT ON TOP OF ALL THAT we gained the requirement to take 40 CEUs per year in a field relevant to our work. BUT none of those requirements were paid for by the government and they didn't give our contract companies a billing code to get reimbursement. In essence, an unfunded mandate.
I was approaching one of those "milestone" dates - age 68 1/2 - which was significant because the U.S. Social Security Administration does things by half-years. But the date happened to coincide with exactly 28 1/2 years of service as a contractor AND my security clearance was going to run out at the end of the month. So I decided that it was time to cut the cord.
What has this to do with reading? Well, my reading habits changed dramatically. I no longer pore myopically over technical books on security issues. I can read for pleasure. But since I'm in another revision cycle, I'm reading my own work to find & fix flaws. In between, I read some Peirs Anthony fiction, and I have taken to Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter series. I also read Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series about prehistoric Man in Europe. Both of them give me hope that one of these days, I might be published. Let's just say that those two authors proved to me that perfection is not a requirement for publication. And even imperfection can be a source of inspiration. I hope I said that kindly.
I was approaching one of those "milestone" dates - age 68 1/2 - which was significant because the U.S. Social Security Administration does things by half-years. But the date happened to coincide with exactly 28 1/2 years of service as a contractor AND my security clearance was going to run out at the end of the month. So I decided that it was time to cut the cord.
What has this to do with reading? Well, my reading habits changed dramatically. I no longer pore myopically over technical books on security issues. I can read for pleasure. But since I'm in another revision cycle, I'm reading my own work to find & fix flaws. In between, I read some Peirs Anthony fiction, and I have taken to Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter series. I also read Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series about prehistoric Man in Europe. Both of them give me hope that one of these days, I might be published. Let's just say that those two authors proved to me that perfection is not a requirement for publication. And even imperfection can be a source of inspiration. I hope I said that kindly.
Sam's Teach yourself SQL in 10 minutes is the most recently completed real book. I'm in the last chapter of "Brief Cases" from the Harry Dresden series awaiting the next novel. I usually cycle through a sci-fi or fantasy novel, a college course and religious study in my Audible collection.
Having nerve damage in my neck rendering me unable to read without a prop for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, I rely on Audible for 90% of my books now. There are some things, like technical references, that I have to digest in physical form or I just don't absorb the material as well. The college courses on Audible are part education, part personal interest study so I am a bit more casual.
Having nerve damage in my neck rendering me unable to read without a prop for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, I rely on Audible for 90% of my books now. There are some things, like technical references, that I have to digest in physical form or I just don't absorb the material as well. The college courses on Audible are part education, part personal interest study so I am a bit more casual.
Insane_AI, did you get that nerve damage from your work? I know it is hard to "fix" nerve damage. My mother has neuralgia pain after a nasty bout of shingles, leaving her with a chronic condition where paracetamol has little effect. The neurologist said they can try to kill the nerve, but it involves sticking a needle into the brain and there are risks.
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Jon,
The nerve damage comes from bone spurs and multiple vehicle accidents. I had a ACDF of C5/C6 in 2012 followed by a partial Cervical Laminectomy of C6 and widening of the foraminal "channels". in both cases, the myelin sheath had been breached and the nerve was partially cut. I was getting better until my 2nd heart attack in April where I believe I re-injured myself fighting through the pain.
All of this reminds me of another study related to chronic pain and how it re-wires the brain to be pessimistic over time; and the process to reverse the damage with CBT (of all things). I can fix the mental, even if the physical isn't there yet. I'll have to link that one later.
The nerve damage comes from bone spurs and multiple vehicle accidents. I had a ACDF of C5/C6 in 2012 followed by a partial Cervical Laminectomy of C6 and widening of the foraminal "channels". in both cases, the myelin sheath had been breached and the nerve was partially cut. I was getting better until my 2nd heart attack in April where I believe I re-injured myself fighting through the pain.
All of this reminds me of another study related to chronic pain and how it re-wires the brain to be pessimistic over time; and the process to reverse the damage with CBT (of all things). I can fix the mental, even if the physical isn't there yet. I'll have to link that one later.
Wow, sounds like you have been through the wars there. 
Anything to do with the spine freaks me out a bit. Currently, medical science seems to struggle with regrowing nerves. I am certain in the near future they will find a way. I know someone who was in the police force and rolled the squad car. All his ribs were stripped from his body. Paralysed from the waist down. Then, while doing a paralympics type event they went into a ditch while in their wheelchair at I presume some speed. Now paralysed from the neck down. Apparently, they are frequently reading sites about research results for spine damage, regrowing nerves and so on.
Anything to do with the spine freaks me out a bit. Currently, medical science seems to struggle with regrowing nerves. I am certain in the near future they will find a way. I know someone who was in the police force and rolled the squad car. All his ribs were stripped from his body. Paralysed from the waist down. Then, while doing a paralympics type event they went into a ditch while in their wheelchair at I presume some speed. Now paralysed from the neck down. Apparently, they are frequently reading sites about research results for spine damage, regrowing nerves and so on.