Hi,
Thought I might share some information on some reading/research I've been doing lately.
I've read probably 40-50 books on wealth. The outcome of this has been a significant portfolio of assets.
More recently I've spent countless hours reading 100's of websites, articles and studies on various health topics. The outcome of this has been a trimmer, fitter, more healthy me.
But even more recently I've been reading books on Philosophy. I don't have the fortitude to attempt reading any of the classic texts, they all promise great gobs of verbiage, stuffiness and cryptic hints about things. But I've found an Author who has effectively distilled the thinking of some of History's most famous Philosophers and Novelists into a few easy to read books and even some DVD's if you're so inclined.
Alain de Botton actually has a neat little array of books that dovetail together quite nicely. I found Alain de Botton after watching a series on the ABC titled Status Anxiety which examined an illness that seeps through Western Societies. The producer of the series described the series, Status Anxiety, thus:
Philosopher and author Alain de Botton believes there's something the vast majority of people desire even more than money. Whatever their background or social class, whatever their age or country of origin, what they desperately crave is status.
In this two-hour programme, as well as testing his theory in Britain, De Botton travels to the United States, to investigate status anxiety, asking why people are unable to curtail their painful aspirations and whether those at the bottom of society merit their position there as much as those at the top do theirs.
I bought the book, "Status Anxiety" that inspired the series and was absolutely absorbed. Alain has the most eloquent and engaging style of writing. Everything hangs together beautifully in his words and he has the ability to take a really complex philosophical idea and provide a wonderfully descriptive and apt analogy to help you understand it. To a large degree I'd already well left behind the "Keeping up with the Jones'" thing, but after reading and considering this book I now wish the Jones' every success in their new car purchase, I'll stand out the front and cheer them when they get home if they want!
This book is an absolute must read, it traces back through history over the last 400 years or so and examines How and Why we seem to be inebriated with consumerism and the desire to ascend the ranks of society in income and status. You really MUST read this book, honestly! Buy the DVD if you have trouble getting through books its available at ABC Shops.
After seeing Status Anxiety and reading the book I went out and bought another of Alain's books, How Proust Can Change Your Life. Yet again I was fully absorbed, I had no idea who Proust was before I read the book but as I found out he's considered one of the 20th centuries greatest writers, Alain uses Prousts work to answer questions like
I was hooked after these two books, so I went out and bought Consolations of Philosophy
Alain describes "Consolations" at his site as:
Alain de Botton has set six of the finest minds in the history of philosophy to work on the problems of everyday life. Here then are Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on some of the things that bother us all: lack of money, the pain of love, inadequacy, anxiety, the fear of failure and the pressure to conform.
Consolations really is his crowing achievement. I feel like I've taken 20-30 of the worlds greatest philosophers books, essays, lectures passed them thru a blender and poured the mushy content into my brain where its been neatly absorbed. I know its just a largely superficial examination of Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche but without spending the next 20 years trying to understand it its the best I'm probably going to be able to do. I also bought the DVD of this series which is a wonderful way to spend 2 hrs. de Botton is witty, eloquent and engaging and he makes great documentaries.
Anyhow.. the REAL point of this post was not to wax lyrical about Alain de Botton like some gushing teenager talking about a rock star, but rather to suggest that there's 3-4 "platforms" that are needed to create a happy life.
Without reading some of the works of the great Philosophers or at least a distillation of them such as de Bottons it would seem, to me, quite a folly to make any plans about how to spend or plan your life. As a species we seem to be singularly alone in the ability to completely misjudge what it is that makes us happy.
Just as the Wealth books have made me Wealthier, the Health Research has made me Heathier, I fully expect some of de Bottons work to make me significantly Happier.
I highly recommend you consider buying some of his books, or DVD's, or taking a closer look at Philosophy in general.
Thought I might share some information on some reading/research I've been doing lately.
I've read probably 40-50 books on wealth. The outcome of this has been a significant portfolio of assets.
More recently I've spent countless hours reading 100's of websites, articles and studies on various health topics. The outcome of this has been a trimmer, fitter, more healthy me.
But even more recently I've been reading books on Philosophy. I don't have the fortitude to attempt reading any of the classic texts, they all promise great gobs of verbiage, stuffiness and cryptic hints about things. But I've found an Author who has effectively distilled the thinking of some of History's most famous Philosophers and Novelists into a few easy to read books and even some DVD's if you're so inclined.
Alain de Botton actually has a neat little array of books that dovetail together quite nicely. I found Alain de Botton after watching a series on the ABC titled Status Anxiety which examined an illness that seeps through Western Societies. The producer of the series described the series, Status Anxiety, thus:
Philosopher and author Alain de Botton believes there's something the vast majority of people desire even more than money. Whatever their background or social class, whatever their age or country of origin, what they desperately crave is status.
In this two-hour programme, as well as testing his theory in Britain, De Botton travels to the United States, to investigate status anxiety, asking why people are unable to curtail their painful aspirations and whether those at the bottom of society merit their position there as much as those at the top do theirs.
I bought the book, "Status Anxiety" that inspired the series and was absolutely absorbed. Alain has the most eloquent and engaging style of writing. Everything hangs together beautifully in his words and he has the ability to take a really complex philosophical idea and provide a wonderfully descriptive and apt analogy to help you understand it. To a large degree I'd already well left behind the "Keeping up with the Jones'" thing, but after reading and considering this book I now wish the Jones' every success in their new car purchase, I'll stand out the front and cheer them when they get home if they want!
This book is an absolute must read, it traces back through history over the last 400 years or so and examines How and Why we seem to be inebriated with consumerism and the desire to ascend the ranks of society in income and status. You really MUST read this book, honestly! Buy the DVD if you have trouble getting through books its available at ABC Shops.After seeing Status Anxiety and reading the book I went out and bought another of Alain's books, How Proust Can Change Your Life. Yet again I was fully absorbed, I had no idea who Proust was before I read the book but as I found out he's considered one of the 20th centuries greatest writers, Alain uses Prousts work to answer questions like
- How to revive a relationship
- How to choose a good doctor
- How to enjoy a holiday
- How to turn suffering to your advantage
- How to make a lot of friends
- Why we shouldn’t buy clothes in a hurry
I was hooked after these two books, so I went out and bought Consolations of Philosophy
Alain describes "Consolations" at his site as:
Alain de Botton has set six of the finest minds in the history of philosophy to work on the problems of everyday life. Here then are Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on some of the things that bother us all: lack of money, the pain of love, inadequacy, anxiety, the fear of failure and the pressure to conform.
Consolations really is his crowing achievement. I feel like I've taken 20-30 of the worlds greatest philosophers books, essays, lectures passed them thru a blender and poured the mushy content into my brain where its been neatly absorbed. I know its just a largely superficial examination of Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche but without spending the next 20 years trying to understand it its the best I'm probably going to be able to do. I also bought the DVD of this series which is a wonderful way to spend 2 hrs. de Botton is witty, eloquent and engaging and he makes great documentaries.
Anyhow.. the REAL point of this post was not to wax lyrical about Alain de Botton like some gushing teenager talking about a rock star, but rather to suggest that there's 3-4 "platforms" that are needed to create a happy life.
Without reading some of the works of the great Philosophers or at least a distillation of them such as de Bottons it would seem, to me, quite a folly to make any plans about how to spend or plan your life. As a species we seem to be singularly alone in the ability to completely misjudge what it is that makes us happy.
Just as the Wealth books have made me Wealthier, the Health Research has made me Heathier, I fully expect some of de Bottons work to make me significantly Happier.
I highly recommend you consider buying some of his books, or DVD's, or taking a closer look at Philosophy in general.
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