Living Well — Catalog of Sources
I've realized recently that my study of psychology (including socionics), physiology, nutrition, etc. is all based on an interest in living well. By "living well" I am talking not about standard of living or material success, but achieving as high a degree of happiness and contentment as is possible.
Different facets of good living have interested me at different times. Perhaps due to upbringing, my interest in mental and interpersonal aspects initially far outstripped my awareness of influences from the body and nutrition. Now these last two have become very important, and I am slowly becoming something of an expert on them and have had a fair bit of success implementing my knowledge of them in my day-to-day life.
Here is a kind of catalog of good and very good books I have read recently that may be of interest to readers. Following each book I assign it a category in parenthesis and give a very short summary. I heartily recommend all these books.
Rick's "Living Well" Catalog
(last update Aug. 9, 2013)The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (psychology, lifestyle) — proven contributors to happiness according to scientific research, plus some philosophy
The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions (general psychology) — the seven basic emotional systems, their origins and operations
The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal (lifestyle) — what to do to get your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual engines running properly
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It (general psychology) — facts and studies that illuminate how our minds work and how we are able to concentrate and focus our will
The Highly Sensitive Person (psychology) — people who are prone to overarousal, the challenges they face, and the individualistic lifestyles they lead
The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything . . . Fast! (skill acquisition) — the principles and practice of skill acquisition with a number of practical examples
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (physiology) — developing our bodies' potential through wise nutrition, training, and technique, supported by abundant research and self-experimentation
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (nutrition) — study of traditional societies, their overall health, and what they ate
2 comments:
Hi Rick - read The Willpower Instinct, really a great book covering addictions of all kinds, well organized and with techniques simp,e enough to actually use. Thanks!
It does seem to be an argument for a rational vs irrational lifestyle, from a socionics perspective. At one point the author cites research discussing better outcomes across the board for prefrontal cortex rational decision-making. How would we interpret these conclusions using socionics? Are irrationals less effective, less highly developed than rationals?
-Donna
Thanks, Donna. I don't see any reason to suppose the prefrontal cortex is smaller or less important in irrationals. Maybe there is a tendency for different people to apply their executive functions to different situations. Certainly, looking at people who I typed as rationals in the past, I don't think of them as any more developed.
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