Book Summary:

PHILOSOPHY FOR LIFE AND OTHER DANGEROUS SITUATIONS by Jules Evans

Publisher: Rider 

Release date: 1 May 2012

Jules Evans is the policy director at the Centre for the History of the Emotions at Queen Mary, University of London. He is also co-organiser of the London Philosophy Club, and the founder of projects for philosophical research and the promotion of philosophy groups worldwide.

Jules Evans has written this book to explore ancient philosophical ideas that are still relevant enough today to be able to make us happier, wiser and more resilient. In an interesting format of presentation, he imagines a dream school, whereby 12 of the greatest philosophers of all time each conducts a lesson.  When reading the book, we feel like we have gate-crashed into live lectures given by these great men and learning their special techniques of exalted living.  Through these privileged eaves-droppings, we will realize that much of these ideas resonate with modern psychological theories and their urgings are consistent with contemporary psycho-therapeutic practice.

These lessons are:

1. Socrates - the Socratic Method is an art of constantly questioning ourselves and others to examine our beliefs and to change them for the better. This plasticity of the human psyche and the resultant habits is the basis of CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy). The aim is to achieve human flourishing through the path of resilience.

2. Epictetus - the stoic art of achieving calmness and resilience by freely maintaining control over our own thoughts and beliefs and defiantly accepting the external chaos that are not under our control.

3. Musonius Rufus - the art of self-control through daily practice and training.

4. Seneca - the art of managing over-optimistic expectations in order to alleviate anger. A clear-eyed appraisal of the world will make us be aware and be ready to adapt to potential setbacks.

5. Epicurus - the art of savoring the moment. This advocates idleness and pleasure as the antidotes for stress and anxiety. Happiness is a choice of simple desires and the belief in enjoying the moment.

6. Heraclitus - the art of cosmic contemplation gives us a big-picture perspective of all existence as one of survival in a dynamic flow of nature.  Our petty problems and anxieties pale in comparison to the grand unity of the Universal Law.

7. Pythagoras - the art of guiding our lives through maxims in our hearts.

8. The Skeptics - the art of cultivating doubt and practicing the Scientific Method of probabilistic induction and empirical falsification.

9.  Diogenes - the art of anarchy. The abolishment of authoritarianism and the enhancement of participatory democracy are elements of a cultural revolution against capitalism and a movement against consumerism. The cynic's way of voluntary desensitization to public disapproval prevents social anxiety and misery by moving us from a false morality based on appearances to a genuine one based on adherence to personal moral codes.

10. Plato - the art of justice. The rational realm of our psyche overrides the emotive and the basic realms, just as the the truths of the intellectuals triumph over the glory of the soldiers and the money of the businessmen. On the other hand, democracy is an anarchy of impulses with an appetite driven by the popular and the trendy. It also lacks harmony between the whole and its parts.

11. Plutarch - the art of heroism.  Youths have the desire to emulate greatness and heroism, so we must educate by example.

12. Aristotle - the art of flourishing.  Doing the right thing at the right time is the Golden Mean. It is achieved through daily practice. True happiness comes from the meaningful fulfillment of what is highest and best in our nature in the company of others.  The good society is one that allows human fulfillment to take place.  People become philosopher-citizens in order to achieve eudaimonia by living meaningful and virtuous lives. There are 5 different versions of happiness, namely, positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement. He also taught that empiricism should be balanced with practical reasoning.

AN APPEAL FOR CALM AND PATIENCE 
                                                              in our daily lives

In a shrill voice, you interrupt;

In a manner so fierce and abrupt;

A friendly conversation you disrupt, 

The air of cheerfulness you corrupt.

Even if in patience you're bankrupt,

You shouldn't let your temper erupt.

For in much of human history,

There's enough of harm and misery.

Though it's never all hunky-dory,

Conflicts are often unnecessary.

So, we must not be loud or scary,

If peace were to become ordinary.

BOOK SUMMARY

ANIMAL TEACHINGS  by Dawn Brunke

Publishing date: 1 march 2012

Publisher: CICO Books



Ms Brunke's main message in this book is that by observing various animals, we can uncover personalized lessons for ourselves. These lessons confer meaning beyond the superficial, thus enhancing our lives.

Each of the 12 lessons is derived from the observation of 5 exemplary animals as follows:

1. Attention and awareness (giraffe, mouse, rabbit, raccoon, tiger) - experiencing ourselves and understanding the world.

2. Balance (camel, cow, penguin, prairie dog, wolf) - knowing that all is well.

3. Communication (badger, coyote, elephant, monkey, raven) - satisfying our universal need to share.

4. Creation and creativity (cat, eagle, octopus, pig, robin) - producing reality and rearranging it.

5. Dreaming (bear, dragonfly, groundhog, lizard, seal) - providing fertile grounds for the self and the soul to meet and deepen their relationship.

6. Healing (dog, frog, gorilla, manatee, salamander) - making us whole again.

7. Integration (fox, hippopotamus, peacock, swan, zebra) - bringing together that which is separated.

8. Intuition (chicken, jaguar, llama, mantis, rhinoceros)- knowing instinctively.

9. Joy (dolphin, goat, goldfish, hummingbird, otter) - experiencing the fun and thrill of being alive.

10. Personal power (grasshopper, horse, lion, porcupine, shark) - being free and at peace with our authentic selves.

11. Transformation (alligator, bat, beetle, butterfly, snake) - being able to change.

12. Wisdom (moose, owl, spider, turtle, whale) - knowing the essential truth of life.

Author Dawn Baumann Brunke is an animal communicator, dream enthusiast, editor and writer of several books on healing, metaphysics and spirituality. Her emphasis is on the deep connection between animals, nature, self and spirit.

"LIFE IS FULL OF PROBLEMS; BUT HEY, WE CAN TACKLE THEM!"

Life can be hard and problems can come in quick succession.

Sometimes when you set about tackling them, you don't know where to start.

Instead, you get bogged down by trivial things.

There is danger in trying too hard ...

Because you may hurt yourself in the process ...

Or threaten to hurt some innocent bystander ...

You know you can't dodge them forever ...

And running away can only make things worse!

So, you should focus your mind, aim straight, keep your eyes on the target and just do it!  You will defeat your problems gloriously!

THE EDUCATION VICIOUS CYCLE




As our National Conversation on education enters its second phase, let me present my analysis of our national education conundrum.

So far, most people give their opinions as to whether the PSLE should be retained, whether our education in Singapore is too stressful, whether students of different abilities should be taught together, whether our emphasis on high-stakes exam is healthy, whether tuition or remedial lessons are necessary and whether our education system is conducive to social mobility. But, I believe I'm able to pinpoint where the central fault lies.

The crucial error is in our basic premise that intelligence is fixed (not developable), intra-personal (the property of an individual) and one-dimensional (mainly IQ).  It is because of this belief in a rigid definition of intelligence that schools have degenerated into becoming proving grounds for students to show their worth. The intention of all that teaching is not to improve the intelligence of students per se, but to provide the means to uncover their intellectual status.  Exams then become the raison d'etre of schooling.  The sad realization is that the real reason we go to school is not to learn but to be classified.

Whatever learning that takes place is purely incidental because the name of the game is to be accredited with an official seal of  approval in the form of excellent exam results.  Such results will become the deciding factor in determining the availability of entry to better schools and to future higher educational opportunities which inevitably lead to better jobs and rosier economic well-being. It is no wonder that every student wants to jump into the golden bandwagens by 'studying to the test' and teachers responding by 'teaching to the test'.  Extra tuition and remedial lessons also become mandatory if we desire to manufacture excellent exam results.  Yes, excellent exam results can be manufactured.

Unfortunately, such a fixed and narrow way of studying is not conducive to the development of essential life skills, social maturity, good character and the establishment of moral values as these will not stand a chance in the race to prove that you are smarter than others.

Inevitably, students live in a high-stress world where there is no time for study-life balance (and later work-life balance) and the pursuit of happiness and civic consciousness.  Because of the neglect in the cultivation of real-world skills, the prospects for future high work-productivity and creative entrepreneurialism appear dim.

The other consequence is that because of how the rules of this education farce are applied, the rich and the already-successful have higher resources to better prepare their offsprings to propagate their familial success in this game.  Now, we know it is no mystery why social mobility in Singapore does not improve despite apparent equality in educational opportunities.  Further, this consequence will appear to provide powerful 'objective' evidence that intelligence and ability are fixed and probably highly genetically-determined.

So, if you refer to the diagram at the top of the page, you will realize that the last point merely brings us back to our first mistaken premise that intelligence is fixed and cannot be changed by the educational process.  So, round again it goes in this very vicious, vicious cycle!

What needs to be done?

The very first step towards sanity is to keep ourselves updated on the latest research from experts like Carol Dweck, David Perkins and Robert Sternberg so that we can correct our first premise to read: intelligence is developable, multi-dimensional and inter-personal!  If we can change the premise, there is hope to reverse this vicious cycle and transform it into a virtuous cycle.