How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan

How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics by Michael Pollan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Really interesting book. Though it's central theme is psychedelics, it's topic is really consciousness, the experience of being, the fear of death, willpower, and mental illness. The book was well-written as Pollan never disappoints. I definitely found new information and the book definitely challenged some of my assumptions about the world.

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The Way of the Bodhisattva by Śāntideva

The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyavatara by Śāntideva
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some interesting things to think about. Some weird stuff. Short but dense. Read it because Dan Harris said Dalai Lama recommended it. Hm.

I was particularly interested in some (accidental?) overlap with Christianity (love thy enemy) and modern particle physics.

As one reviewer mentioned, this is definitely not an introductory text for Buddhism but a more advanced book, and despite the previous Buddhism books I've read, a substantial amount was probably just above my head.

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The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand

The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism by Ayn Rand
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Note: Objectivism is deeply anti-Christianity, and anti-religion in general. You should not trust a politician that claims that he is both a Christian and a believer in the philosophies of Ayn Rand. He does not understand either Christianity or Objectivism, or possibly both, or he's a huge liar.

That said, this book isn't really what it sounds like. It's a collection of essays by Ayn Rand and Nathanial Branden that are not pro-heathenism per se. Rand and Branden try to explain how the philosophy of objectivism is that individuals need to think through their own rational system of morals and ethics. That's a good start. The problem is that a lot of the points in Rand's essays are either not logically sound or based on incorrect premises. (And I was pretty bored by Branden's sycophantic essays.) It's like swimming through mud.

For one thing, Rand refers a great deal to biological examples, and she repeatedly gets biology wrong. Obviously, she's not a biological scientist, and we know more today about biology than in the 1960s, but she premises her ethics arguments on the natural world- and her basis is incorrect. She believes that living creatures are driven primarily by continuing to live- that life (and the avoidance of pain) is the fundamental value of the natural world. That's only sort of true. The natural world is more driven by reproduction which means that animals regularly act on behalf of other related animals. Even on a cellular level there's the theory now that mitochondria used to be a separate free-living organism that combined with other organisms (endosymbiosis theory). Her idea that humans are emotionally and ethically tabula rasa when they are born isn't scientifically supported either. These are just a few examples, she gets a number of her points about science and animals either factually wrong or logically wrong. It reminds me of the absurd co-opting of evolutionary principals for political "Social Darwinism" nonsense.

As for her logical failures, (though I'm sure that some American Republicans agree with her) she makes no rational distinction between armed robbery, confiscation of all your property in a communist system, and taxation. She makes no distinction between altruism generally and complete self-sacrifice. Her views on love collapse into such total nonsense that arguing against them would require an entire treatise. She also incorrectly predicted many of the results of capitalism so this makes her arguments for unhindered capitalism look obviously foolish.

I do appreciate her condemnation of people's failure to engage in the pursuit of knowledge and reason. I also enjoyed her condemnation of communism.

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The Book by Alan W. Watts

The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan W. Watts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think I got more from The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley and from some modern similar books, Waking Up by Sam Harris, and The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt. This is a good companion book though and it goes in its own very unique direction. Plus I always give bonus points for brevity.

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The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV

The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Howard C. Cutler is the actual author of the book. Basically, Cutler has an outline of topics and questions he asked the Dalai Lama and then there are the Dalai Lama's answers to the questions. The Dalai Lama answers are excellent (obviously) but I don't love the organization of the book. I've read better and clearer books on both Buddhism and on mindfulness. I do love the Dalai Lama though.

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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read this as a kid, but my rating is the same as then. There are many interesting things to consider in this novel: a conscious computer, consciousness versus having a conscience, the principles of freedom and rebellion, the dangers of a crowded dystopian Earth, and some fun guesses at utopian futures: racial integration, varying family structures, tax-free government etc. All of this, plus the tricky revolution plots, make for a very fun book. But large chunks of the book drag, especially in the second half.

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Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I first read this book, I kind of hated it. (Not sure why I read it again, but...) My biggest issue was that she seemed to have left her husband for no reason, and didn't appear to try to work it out without him at all, and so it was really hard to relate to her. Back then, I also didn't have divorced friends. Now I understand the fact that she declined to trash her husband in the book doesn't mean she didn't have great reasons for leaving him.

Also, back when I read this book the first time, nothing very terrible had ever happened to me. After the death of my dad, I was depressed for a long time (maybe I still am?) so now I can relate to her sadness in the book. I've also tried meditation (it's very hard) and understand how much weirder it is than it seems. Gilbert got a lot flack for trying to "find herself" in India (but not for trying to "find herself" in Italy), but that's not really what it's about. She's trying to achieve a different state through meditation- which a lot of people have tried to do. It just so happens that she goes to India to study meditation full time.

I liked the book much better this time, but I do think it could have been tightened up with better editing. Less rambling would have made the book better.

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Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A little long with lots of tangents but informative. It's all about the Memory Palaces. That's the main takeaway.

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The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting book about how peyote/mescaline affect perception and consciousness. Mescaline is the active property occurring naturally in peyote and some other breeds of cactus. It was particularly interesting to me in light of the meditation and mindfulness books I've read this year. Huxley takes mescaline, records it, and have friends observe him and ask him questions while he's on it. It's a very interesting format.

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The Man Who Wasn't There by Anil Ananthaswamy

The Man Who Wasn't There: Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self by Anil Ananthaswamy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love articles about neuroscience so I'm trying to read more books about it. There is nothing more central to who we are as humans. Ananthaswamy discusses a number of disorders that cause disassociation to the self or a small part of the self. There were some new concepts and big surprises here for me: There are people who have the opposite of a ghost limb-- where they possess a limb they believe is not theirs: "alien limb." People with Cotard’s syndrome think they are dead.

The thing that's interesting about these disorders is that they teach us about the underlying mechanisms of the brain. There are so many components in the brain that function to differentiate the self from the outside world that it seems like it is the harder position to maintain.

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Stiff by Mary Roach

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book made me feel all the feelings. That would be a great review for a fiction book. This is of course, nonfiction. I'm not sure I wanted to feel some of these things as they pertain to the extreme realness of death. Even though it was really interesting, I couldn't in good conscience recommend the book to others.

Also, now I really want to be classroom skeleton after death though that seems to be nearly impossible these days.

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The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the best book I've read so far on happiness, love, and mindfulness, morality, and life purpose specifically because unlike the other books that I've been reading on the topic it combines science and philosophy on all of these topics instead of taking them individually. The author is not afraid to tackle some controversial topics, necessary because of the discussion of how an innate disgust system relates to our sense of morality. The author is honest about his own "bias" as he is not religious, but he maintains a professional respect towards world religions and seeks to understand what they can contribute to an understanding of psychology, happiness, and even societal well-being.

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Waking Up by Sam Harris

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book was really interesting. I think his negative view of religion hurt how broadly available this book will be to others. However, I thought his interpretation of some of the science and his unique descriptions of his experiences with and understanding of mindfulness and meditation is invaluable to someone trying to understand consciousness and mindfulness.

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Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg

Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this is a great book, the meditation exercises make almost an immediate difference. I left off a star because it was a bit boring to get through the beginning and I almost decided to stop reading it. But it actually gets progressively more interesting- both the reading and the practice.

It talks about different types of meditation: 1- Following the breath, 2- Body Scan, 3- Body Sensations 4- Walking Meditation, 5- Meditation of Thoughts or Emotions, 6- Calling up difficult emotions, 7- Lovingkindness. The latter was my favorite and I found it to be the most interesting and helpful so I'm glad I stuck with the book to the end.

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The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In order to illustrate the very close relationship between certain plants and humans, Pollan uses the examples of apples (I will be drinking more hard cider), tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. It's a bit slow in places, especially the tulip chapter. The marijuana chapter is very entertaining and informative, and the potato chapter is the most terrifying.

I might reread Omnivore now as it's been a decade since I read it, and I didn't then have the same background info I have now. Also, this book encourages a lot of Pinker and Dawkins reading, so I might do that as well.

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