Monthly Archives: January 2021

Recent Reading – Psychology, Politics, Religion

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The best non-fiction book I have read in the last ten years, easily, is “The Righteous Mind – Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Jonathan Haidt. I won’t spoil it for you by trying to summarize… instead, you should click that link and buy it right away and read it as soon as it gets into your hands. I finished reading it a few weeks ago now, and I can’t stop thinking about it, applying it, seeing it play out in real life, and wishing more of my friends and family and colleagues would also read it.

I also have some in-progress reading.

I’m making my way through “Cynical Theories” – very interesting analysis of Post-Modernism (philosophy).

And I’m re-reading, and studying carefully, “The Prosperity of Humankind” a short document released in 1995 by the Baha’i International Community. Again, even though it is short, a summary is difficult. I am (re-)learning a great deal about the spiritual principles behind creating a prosperous global civilization. My favourite point in the document is the importance of justice (the spiritual principle) in the creation of prosperity.

FB: Understanding Conflict

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The events in the United States over the past several years are legitimately upsetting to many people. It is hard to understand how other humans, with hearts and minds like our own, can do things that seem so harmful, ignorant or subversive.

I hope that most of my friends want to see peace in the world, both globally and locally, that most of my friends want to see our environment treated responsibly, that most of my friends want to see society advance with harmony instead of conflict.

But, many of my friends do not know how to make this possible when there seem to be some many on the “other side”.

Friends, there are two things that I want to recommend to your attention to help you resolve this conundrum:

  1. For the secular-minded among you, I strongly recommend the book “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt. It is easily the best non-fiction I have read in 10 years (and I read a lot of non-fiction). It provides research-based explanations for the seemingly growing conflict between “left” and “right”, in a way that allows us to build some bridges.
  2. For the spiritually-minded among you, I strongly recommend the publication “The Prosperity of Humankind” from 1995. It is the most concise and insightful statement on the connection between justice and social progress I have read.
    A quick online search will reliably find you either of the above.
    Of course, I recommend all my friends read both!

(originally posted on Facebook here)

FB: Ruhi Book 2 Discussion

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Study from my Ruhi Book 2 this evening. We had some really great discussions. The concept of “fixed” vs. “growth” mindset came up along with some discussion of current events in the US.

“The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.”

– Baha’u’llah

I know this is difficult to do. Another idea that came up in our discussion is that science and religion must both rest upon reason. One of the unique gifts of humans over other animals is the ability to search for, perceive and reason about the truth. We apply this standard to science “easily” in the sense that we expect it. Why don’t we expect this about religion too?

Both science and religion without reason are nothing but pointless fantasies. Science without religion is materialism that leads to depression and despair (as we can see so prevalently in our society). Religion without science is superstition and leads to fanaticism and conflict (which we can also see prevalently in our society).

I’ve been learning about post-modernism (philosophy, not art) lately and it seems that it attacks reason and truth-finding. If there are any of my friends who are experts on post-modernist thought or theory, I would be interested in talking and learning more.

(originally posted on Facebook here)

FB: Addiction to Food

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Just finished my second indoor cycling session of the new year. I really need to realize that the high I get from exercise needs to replace the high I get from food… not supplement it!

20 virtual km, set a couple personal records, and loving my new setup.

Anyone else on Zwift? That’s the software I’m using to connect to my smart trainer and track all my activity.

(originally posted on Facebook here)