The World Beyond Your Head - Matthew B. Crawford

Subtitled:  On Becoming and Individual in an Age of Distraction


A broader scope than his exploration of work on work, Shop Class as Soul Craft.

A complex set of ideas.

He explores things like:

- the importance of connecting with the real world as opposed to the virtual world or the inner world

- the concept of freedom, not as 'freedom from' but freedom as mastery of areas of agency

- the importance of attention to the world and people out there

- the modern drift to interiority where encounters with the world and unmediated others is seen as a bother, as something risky

- touches on the culture of safety and the 'smooth society' (for lack of a better word)  where there is no conflict, no jagged edges - essentially the tasteless, flavourless corporate culture and culture of school

- the longterm social and psychological effects of our current view that everyone is a self-made person

- how the concept of revolution in the arts in the early 20th century, by throwing out tradition and history of the arts, ended up killing the arts that were being revolutionized - acutally, no surprise when you consider the results of violent social revolutions in the 20th century in Russian and especially China;  the very culture itself is destroyed and replaced by nothing, or by money and consumerism

Worth rereading, maybe even buying.

Shop Class as Soulcraft - Matthew B. Crawford

Subtitled 'An Inquiry into the Value of Work'.   An interesting book that pursues several threads:

- the mind-numbing inutility of most work in our society at both the top and the bottom end - at the bottom because it is repetitive and mindless - at the top because it deals in nebulous concepts and half-baked ideas that don't actually produce anything, and that focus on a process that often seems to go nowhere

- the intellectual value of work that focuses on engaging with things, whether it be motorcycles or children - he explores some of the same concepts as Taleb in the idea that knowledge is born of experience and working with things, not of formulae and abstract reasoning

- the relation between mindless, repetitive work and consumerism

- the contradiction of the pursuit of freedom while living in a society where we have little agency and depend completely on technology and experts to build and maintain our 'stuff'

- he also explores how university education has been perverted by its relationship with the corporate world, both in its teaching and in its very structure

To find:  The Electronic Sweatshop:  How Computers are Transforming the Office of the Future into the Factory of the Past - Barbara Garson

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain

An interesting read for anyone who is an introvert who hasn't figured out what it's all about yet.  A good look at the current cultural stereotypes around the most valued personality types.  The book also does a good job of highlighting the strengths and value of introverted personalities, mostly in the work place.

The Happiness Advantage - Shawn Achor

While a bit skewed towards business leadership, this book is still worth the read.  It makes some interesting points regarding achieving goals, being satisfied in life.  I particularly the idea of studying the outliers in successful, happy lives as opposed the norm of studying the outliers of unhappiness, disturbance and sickness.  This is part of a general movement in psychology referred to as the 'Positive Psychology' movement - it would be worth checking out their presence on the internet.

He has seven principles in creating the happiness advantage:

- happiness advantage:  retraining the brain to focus more on positive experiences in life

- fulcrum and lever:  adjusting expectations, way of looking at things to more positive, achievement        oriented set

- tetris effect:  changing the patterns we perceive in the world to focus on opportunities and possibilities

- falling up:  using failures, stressful situtions as learning opportunities

- zorro circle:  learning to divide large goals and difficult tasks into manageable bits that can be completed successfully one step at a time

- 20 second rule:  changing patterns and habits by making it as easy as possible to follow the new path you want to set for yourself - limit the amount of choice so it's easier to get started on the new habit or activity you want to set

- social investment:  the importance of establishing relationships and using them as support when experiencing difficulties

Each chapter has some techniques to help develop each mindset or skill, though many of them apply to a business environment more than a personal environment