Denes Lenard » book

Buddhist book and Ted talk

Denes Lenard — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:23:38 +0000

Matthieu Ricard, has a Phd in molecular genetics and was one of Frances most promising scientists. But then he went to the Himalaya and became a Buddhist monk. After a long time he met his father again and had a wonderful dialogue with him, which has been published: the Monk the Philosopher (also available in Romanian). His father is an important french philosopher Jean-François Revel.
The book is great, because it is easy to understand the Buddhist ideas he explains, and because it is a good example of how two people from completely different paradigms can communicate (which is why Dumitru Bortun recommended it at school).

Here is a Ted.com talk by Matthieu Ricard. He combines cognitive psychology with Buddhist ideas on happyness. ted talk

2 books with weird events in the brain

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:17:32 +0000

The two books are something like a “freak show” of people who have some problem in their brain, which leads to amazing manifestations in behavior. They are not about serial killers or anything morbid, but about what amazing things can happen when you have brain damage. Both books are very easy to read and extremely entertaining:

1. The man who mistook his wife for a hat by the neurologist Oliver Sacks is a classic and a best seller. In the book you will find quite a few short case studies of outstanding patients who can or can’t do certain things. I must stress this is a very entertaining book and perfect to get you interested in literature about the human brain.

2. The mind of a mnemonist by Aleksander Luria. This book is about a single man who could not forget anything and wh lived in a totally different world from ours, just because he had a different brain.

3 books to find out what you are (neuroscience)

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:03:56 +0000

Neuroscience is a vast body of reasearch which looks into how our brain works and how it relates to what we do and who we are. In the last decade and more, a lot of funding has been poured into this and there has been quite impressive progress in the field. Now even some “big” questions have been tackled and if you want to be up to date with how scientists think we “work” as humans, you should read into this. Here are some books I recommend:

1. The blank slate by Steven Pinker. This book caused great outrage in the US, because it basically explains that humans are not born as a blank and they don’t become who they become due to culture and education. Rather, Pinker says, the most part of who and what we are comes with our genes, and this refers not only to our physical appearance. The book is great to read even if you already agree with this view, as it gives you a good overview of a) the arguments and b) the implications for vestern culture

2. Synaptic Self by Joseph LeDoux. This is about who are we? from a neurological point of view. There really is nothing more to say, except fo you know who you are and what the difference between you and your brain is?

3. Looking for Spinoza by Antonio Damasio. A book about what we feel, why we feel and what to do with that. This is one of the best writers in the field of neuroscience and the book will really help you understand yourself and your feelings so much better. Also very interesting for those who are curious about cognitive behavioural therapy and obviously for Spinoza fans

Amazing book on consciousness

admin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:59:43 +0000

Read The Mind’s I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul by Dennett and Hofstadter. This is a book that tackles the question who/what am I? in such a way as to leave you with more questions at the end. It is great if you really want to be challenged.

The book is actually edited by the two, and it is full of various texts that give you different viewpoints. It is a great mix of fiction and non fiction texts, suitable both for the specialist and the novice. The book is particularly good to take abreak from it all, and still be active at a mental leval.

2 great books

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:51:16 +0000

I would like to recommend two outstanding inspirational books:

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. This book is very engaging and it will be hard to put it down once you start it. It is actually a dialogue between a person and a very wise monkey. The monkey actually makes a cultural analysis of our world and goes very deep into its assumptions. It is very interesting to read no matter what your interests are, but extremely interesting if you are interested in cultural studies, semiotics, communication, paradigms etc. The book should be insipireing for anyone and it will make you thing about your role in the world. There are some illegaly translated copies in Romanian traveling around the web.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. This book is autobiographical- it refers to the experiences of the author in several concetration camps, but primarily deals with how he was able to find a way to stay “motivated” to survive. It will teach you that no matter how bad your life is, there is a way. Here is a quote, which I find illuminating:

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

And another one:

“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”