Thought Expansion

Not so long ago I was on google mucking around. I was just as they say "surfing", going from website to website with no purpose somewhat like a zombie ... Anyway I came across a website all about some fancy book by some guy with a French sounding name (Edward de Bono) and it drew me in instantly. I loved the title. But since I was just "surfing" I just clicked away ...

Then 3 days later a friend visited my house, he had a book in his hand, and before he even engaged in the usual chit chat, he pushed his arm outwards (the one with the book in his hands) and said "Alan you douchbag you need to read this." The was called Six Thinking Hats. According to my freinds it was 'brilliant'. I remember saying sarcastically "Oh really?" ...

"Yes it is brilliant you douchbag. Have you not heard of it?" then said my "friend".

I paused. Then said, "Ok first of all you are the douchbag and I am the coolest guy in the world, secondly most books you read are rubbish but since I was on some website and there were people like you getting excited about this, I will read it."

Read it I did.

Was it like my friend said ... "brilliant"?

No. It wasn't "brilliant".

It was 10 times better than just brilliant.

Six Thinking Hats is not just another book on psychology. I hate most of those books, usually I have to read them 4 times to just understand some of the concepts. Six Thinking Hats just demonstrates extreme sense.

At the core of the Six Thinking method explained in the book is the idea that in any situation or meeting people can put on different thinking hats. The benefit's of doing this are that you get to see problems from different angles and so be in a position to implement better solutions faster.

This book has changed the way I think about problems. It's changed the way I think period. You can find out more about it on Amazon.

Right before I picked up Consolations of philosophy for the very first time I was pissed off.

Pissed off at life.

I remember walking through the streets of my home town (Glasgow, Scotland) and seeing some middle aged man driving a ferrari. I remember thinking, what is wrong with the world?

Why does this guy get the Ferrari?

I want the Ferrari. And on that day the fact that I did not have a Ferrari and some other guy did actually made me unhappy. And on other days other things would annoy me.

I was in a capitalist world surrounded by people who had the things I really wanted and I wasn't happy because I did not have what I wanted and they had them - those nasty other people.

I couldn't be happy with almost anything I had in my life, even if I got what I wanted it was never enough I always wanted more.

Then I read Consolations of philosophy.

The author wrote the book with the aim of showing it's readers how to solve the everyday problems of modern life with the help of the finest minds in the history of philosophy. When I say "finest minds" I am talking about the top guns in ancient philosophy; we're talking about Socrates, Epicurus, and Seneca.

I think about and use a big list of things I learned from this book on a daily basis.

Here is a list of some of my favourite quotes from the book that I underlined took notes on and love:

• Socrates:"It is by finding out what something is not that one comes closest to understanding what it is."
• Socrates:"The value of criticism will depend on the thought processes of critics, not on their number or rank."
• Epicurus:: "Feeding without a friend is the life of a lion or a wolf."
• Epicurus:: "We want things when they are beautifully presented on walls, and lose interest when they are ignored or not well spoken of."

You can find out more about Consolations of Philosophy on Amazon

Final thing, my favourite quote from the book is from a philosopher called Nietzsche. Here it is:

"There would be few great human achievements if we accepted all frustrations. The motor of our ingenuity is the question 'Does it have to be like this?' from which arise political reforms, social developments, improved relationships, better books."