GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Category: Notes

  • Wild Problems, Russ Roberts, 2022

    Should you do something that will change you forever?

    Get married, have kids, become a vampire? Once it’s done, nothing will stay be the same. And you can’t go back.

    How can you assess that decision before making the fateful step?

    The book is great at laying out the dichotomy between wild problems and tame problems. A simple cost benefit analysis is fine for figuring out the best method to get your stuff to New York.

    But should you move to NYC? That’s a wild problem.

    Wild problems are challenging because they ask what you want to become. Wild problems probe your dreams.

    Unfortunately, defining the question is much easier than finding the answers. Plumb your core values and hold fast to them. View your life within the context of your relationships and community. (In podcasts Roberts admits that he has transitioned from an economic libertarian towards a temperamentally conservative worldview.)

    Fundamentally, you just won’t know what your future altered self will judge the results. It can go well — it can go horribly. At some point, you make a leap of faith. But stay flexible and adjust in mid flight.

    Fortunately one doesn’t come across many wild problems. Hopefully most of them are in my past…but the kids have all theirs in the future.

    ䷅䷬

    I shouldn’t get too cocky, the gods love to throw wild problems at fools who have settled into comfortable circumstances.

  • The Five Invitations, Frank Ostaseski, 2017

    This book explores the question of living fully from the zen perspective of one who has worked closely with death and trauma.

    • Don’t Wait
    • Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing
    • Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience
    • Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things
    • Cultivate Don’t Know Mind

    It’s a long read, but worth the effort. I ought to listen to it again. But it’s heavy.

    One day (like it or not) I’ll be back.

    ䷜

    I heard about this book from the excellent episode 204 on Risk Parity Radio.

    ䷁

    Sometimes I imagine writing something that leaves a lasting impact.

    A book like this reminds me of the cost.

    Nah, I’m good.

  • Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It, Daniel Klein, 2017

    As a sucker for collected aphorisms, this is the perfect format — aphorisms with commentary!

    A thin thread connects the essays from piece to piece, but there is no overarching narrative to this book as Klein meanders through a variety of philosophers and their thoughts.

    I enjoyed having the meaning of life be the driving motive of this book. Though of course, philosophy doesn’t readily grant such a simplistic deliverable.

    (But at least he didn’t get mired in the arcane elements of this field.)

    In the end, maybe the search is what counts.

    ䷩䷋

    I started relistening to it, but got sucked onto other fare. One day, I should re-read this book, preferably with my eyes.

    If I were to create a 5 point scale for books it would be

    1. Didn’t bother to finish
    2. No plans on rereading it
    3. Should reread it one day
    4. Read this book twice
    5. Have reread this multiple times

    3/5

  • 5000 B.C. and Other Philosophical Fantasies, Raymond Smullyan, 1983

    I stumbled into the midst of a forty year old debate.

    I enjoyed his puzzle books and his book on Taoism.

    The Tao is Silent dipped its toes into polemics, but 5000 BC waded into the melee.

    Smullyan tackles a variety of philosophical topics.

    Most of it was over my head.

    I enjoyed his chapter of short “Miscellaneous Fragments” (I’m a sucker for aphorisms), and I understood just enough to persevere to the end of the book.

    From my dim perspective, he seems to be taking on the logical positivists and moralists on their terms and arguing for a fuzzier more Eastern view of the world.

    In that vein, it may be a less personal and more rigorous extension of The Tao is Silent.

    But I’m not surprised that it hasn’t been reprinted and I won’t be surprised if I don’t revisit this book — unless I stay on this philosophy kick.

    ䷭

    pushing upward has supreme success
    one must see the great man
    fear not

    It’s time for GEB.

  • V is for Vulnerable, Seth Godin, 2012

    My boy was curious about the book, so I read it to him, as Seth recommended in the postscript of his introduction.

    Per the subtitle, it’s an “ABC for grownups”.

    This book is distilled Seth.

    If you follow his work, it’s nothing new — a collection of his key maxims, with colorful illustrations by Hugh MacLeod.

    It embodies the “simple not easy” model, discarding the customary fluff that self-help authors use to make the “simple” feel less “not easy”.

    I like Seth, but I’m not an tech-gig artist-entrepreneur so much of his work isn’t for me. I appreciate his gracious demeanor though I fear I’m overlooking a catastrophic deficiency in his optimistic worldview.

    Oh well. Until I figure out the source of my nagging discomfort, I’ll keep saying that Seth is the great self-help artist of this era.

    My two Godin favorites are the Dip and Linchpin. This book comes close to that top pairing.

    ䷕䷖

    I should write a book of 26 maxims.
    But of what subject?
    One day.

  • The Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton, Selick, Elfman, 1993

    A CEO experiences a midlife crisis and attempts a bungled corporate takeover before returning to his company to their core competencies

    (He also finds true love.)

    ䷤

    The kids loved it.

    Great visuals and we’ve been playing the soundtrack on repeat for the last three weeks.

  • “Crepes” and Summer Bread

    Over summer I developed a crepe recipe.

    We eat it savory because the batter is often the product of failed bread.

    300g starter (150 flour + 150g water)
    3 eggs
    150g water
    2g pepper
    2g garlic powder
    2g salt (when its not failed bread dough)
    90g cheese (optional)

    My wife likes them crispy (hence the scare quotes in the title).

    So they take a while to cook.

    Almost cheesy crackers.

    Unfortunately the kids lost interest in making crepes and pancakes. But it’s a nice solitary activity on a weekend morning.

    ䷰䷂

    The big toaster oven at my in-laws finally died, replaced by a smaller unit. So I downsized the recipe to 50g starter, 100g water, 150g flour. Worked well as long as I refreshed the starter twice before the main mix — I start the night before, refresh in the morning, mix in the mid-morning, bake at night.

    When we went home, I forgot the starter, so I spent the first couple days using yeast (1g yeast for 250g flour). Whoohee! I see why people use yeast. So quick! Don’t have to baby the starter! Dried out a touch faster than sourdough, but not a problem if the loaves are gone within a day. Will keep this in mind if I need to bake a loaf before dinner.

    In the move I found year-old wheat berries. Back to making blended whole wheat bread. The first loaf was 50% whole wheat. Didn’t go well. I’ve settled into 50g of wheat berries to 200g flour. Close enough to the ~25% percent sweet spot for flavoring bread.

  • 20th Century European Philosophy, Ed Casey, 2006

    Unfortunately, this experience matches my experience in the critical theory class in grad school. Interesting ideas that entered and immediately exited my brain.

    The ancients paid attention to how shall we live, but these modern philosophers were exploring the cutting edge esoteric problems of their discipline. The theories are stimulating, but it’s difficult to follow their intricacies in a cursory summary.

    In all, good enough to figure out that it’s not worth pursuing further.

    My philosophical interests are pedestrian. I lose interest once I see intellectual scaffolding under construction. I tried that hobby as a Calvinist teenager, but I’ve realized the beauty of Christianity is in the Beatitudes, not in its palaces of theology.

    Same here for the philosophers. I should return to Greeks, their squabbles are much more enticing.

  • Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Chinese Philosophy, Crispin Sartwell, 2006 and Confucianism & Taoism, Julia Ching, 2006

    I came across the Crispin’s philosophy book last year when showing my dad all the cool things you could find on Libby, the Overdrive Library app.

    It’s a quick listen as a 3 hour survey of Chinese philosophy from Confucius through the rise of the Neo-Confucianism, with sections on Daoism, Mohists, and Chan Buddhism.

    As for substance, unfortunately my knowledge of Chinese philosophy is at the perfectly wrong point to judge the value of this book. I’ve read just enough that none of the info is new to me so I can’t attest if it would be difficult for a true beginner. But I’m not an expert to have an opinion on its accuracy, aside from attesting that the information was in line with I’ve read elsewhere.

    The most notable aspect in the presentation was their use of voice actors with Asian accents when reading extended quotes. It was a little surprising at first but you get used to it quickly. It adds a variety to the proceedings.

    ䷒䷾

    In my recent omnivorous push to gobble up reader digest summaries of the ancient philosophers, I came across Ching’s survey of Confucianism and Taoism.

    Because the subject was about the broad religious traditions instead of the philosophers themselves, this book includes many comments from western observers over the centuries. It paints a richer picture of the thought and practice beyond the original conceptual ideals. (And yes, I enjoyed the mix of European and Asian accents in this presentation.)

    It’s a great pairing with Crispin’s philosophy survey. I’m more drawn to the philosophical side of these traditions, but I enjoyed seeing how they have developed in history and society.

    If you’re going to listen to one, I’d recommend that you listen to both.

  • Confucius in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern, 2005

    At 1.5x speed it took less than an hour – a podcast length summary of one of the most influential thinkers in the past three millennia.

    Having been on a Confucius kick for the past couple of years, I can’t say if it would be comprehensible for a pure first encounter with the sage, but the summary was inline with consensus opinion and my own impressions from reading the Analects.

    The author takes a cheeky irreverent tone, which could be off putting but is in the spirit of such a quick summary. Such a tone might wear out its welcome, but again, this is third of the length of your typical Joe Rogan episode.

    I’ve become a fan of Strathern’s “In 90 Minutes” series. Though short like a podcast, they have the benefit of a unified voice and have cleared a (minimal) bar for repeated publishing for profit.

    As such, I suspect will make more efficient introductions to the various subjects over crawling the internet. They aren’t anything deep, but fill the niche of semi-intellectual breaks when the mind has tired of ponderous multi-hour tomes on tape.