Wisdom from a Sage

Favorite quotations, etc.
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Dragline
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Wisdom from a Sage

Post by Dragline »

Daniel Kahneman was interviewed on this podcast:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/201 ... ness-audio

Towards the end of it, he talks about some interesting ERE-related topics that we have discussed, including:

-The difference between "happiness" and "satisfaction" and the valuation of one's time that is involved. He says that most people choose "satisfaction". I like to think that we are in the pursuit of happiness.

-The importance of "time with friends" (outside of family) as a part of achieving both happiness and satisfaction. (I like to think that's part of what we do here.)

-A recommendation to read Harari's "Sapiens"; and Taleb's "Black Swan".

-A recommendation not to go into academia because its not the right decision for most people.

J_
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by J_ »

I found this podcast a good way to "reinstate" the core of Kaneman's book "thinking fast and slow". And to remind me again of the likelehood of biases in my thinking. And that there are ways to discover some, if I think slow.
So thanks Dragline! I agree with your further your observations, and yes both bookrecommendations were eyeopeners for me too, I have both read twice.

Life is about learning, to avoid mistakes, to widen ones scope, a lot of learning and tips I find in this forum.

Last years I had marital problems, and I was in need of wisdom about this field. I found a Sage in Alain de Botton, eg in his short films from " the school of life" on youtube. But mostly and more in depth in his recent book "The Course of Love" which I recommend for anyone who lives a married life for some time.

My marital problems are mostly solved now, I learned a lot about it and about myself. It has brought us distress, sadnes too. But also the expierence that such problems exist for a big part in our minds, and that the solving of those problems are also there to be found. de Botton gives a new angle to look critical at our (my) Romantic view of a sustained married live. Just like Harari did about history in Sapiens.
And problems sparkled new ideas, and realising those ideas were fun to do. We are in the process of selling the appartment we bought for my wife, because in the end it was not neccessary to go to live separate. We together refurbished that appartment, decorated it and put our best furniture in it. It is very likely that we will earn some "cost of living" years! with this project. A kind of ere component.

To live a good life I need to stay curious and on the look out for wisdom.

Dragline
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by Dragline »

I like to watch those "School of Life" videos, too, especially the ones about classic writers and philosophers I don't know very well.

Botton also just put out a very good lecture on Romanticism and the problems in causes in our love lives due to its lack of realism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOuIyEJnbE

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Ego
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by Ego »

Dragline wrote:
-The importance of "time with friends" (outside of family) as a part of achieving both happiness and satisfaction.
The thing I miss most when we leave is my cycling group. There is a core group of a dozen guys who hang around after the ride and talk about many of the things we discuss here in long, meandering conversations. Lately we've wandered through solipsism, free-will, The Better Angels of Our Nature and schadenfreude. We think of ourselves as a philosophical society with a cycling problem. After each 'ride' I am reminded of how important and valuable it is to surround myself with good, kind, decent human beings.

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GandK
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by GandK »

Dragline wrote:Daniel Kahneman was interviewed on this podcast:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/201 ... ness-audio
This was awesome. Thanks.

I gotta say... I downloaded this and the Ezra Klein/Heather McGhee podcast at the same time and listened to them back to back. There was no contest. This spurred thinking and was relevant in a dozen ways, and very enjoyable. The other was frustrating.

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jennypenny
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by jennypenny »

The Botton video was good but it highlights the problem I have with the pursuit of happiness. As he discusses, we've fallen in love with falling in love. For me, that's the 'happiness' aspect of it. The satisfaction comes from staying in love and making it work. Semantics, I suppose. It's also partly because I believe a person can choose to be happy in any situation. Satisfaction implies that some effort was involved, which is probably why I prefer that as a goal.


@J_-I'm glad things are working out for you!

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GandK
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by GandK »

Dragline wrote:Botton also just put out a very good lecture on Romanticism and the problems in causes in our love lives due to its lack of realism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOuIyEJnbE
That was great, too. He's one of my favorites.

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Sclass
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by Sclass »

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting.

Reminds me of a friend I play an on going game of mental chess with. He tries to figure out and tell me what I'm going to do based on what he knows about my past. Almost as if he can read my mind because he has such a well conditioned model of it. When he gets it very wrong I let him know the history he is using is just a lie I made up to throw others off. It makes for a funny game for me at least. Now I know why it works so well on him.

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Ego
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by Ego »

Dragline wrote:I like to watch those "School of Life" videos, too, especially the ones about classic writers and philosophers I don't know very well.

Botton also just put out a very good lecture on Romanticism and the problems in causes in our love lives due to its lack of realism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOuIyEJnbE
That was excellent. We should probably post it in every one of the relationship threads. I liked the fact that he said Romanticism set the bar rightfully high for expectations but then left us without the skills necessary to get there.

The ability to negotiate differences of opinion with generosity and humor... is not some fixed, inherent characteristic. It is a skill. A skill that can be learned.

I have to admit, as I was watching I got a little grumpy because I know that Mrs. Ego treats me (when I'm grumpy) like Larry David, a somewhat lovable idiot. Hum

enigmaT120
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by enigmaT120 »

Sclass wrote:Thanks for posting that. Very interesting.
Almost as if he can read my mind because he has such a well conditioned model of it.
I learned that idea from Frank Herbert, The Dosadi Experiment. I can't do it though.

theanimal
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by theanimal »

I enjoyed the podcast, thanks.

I never really enjoy hearing Kahneman say that learning all this didn't really lead to him overcoming biases and tendencies in his own life. I wonder if it's due to a lack of application and practice. As there are others, like Buffett and Munger, who have fought against and structured their lives to overcome these principles to a large extent and have had great success.

Dave
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by Dave »

theanimal wrote:I enjoyed the podcast, thanks.

I never really enjoy hearing Kahneman say that learning all this didn't really lead to him overcoming biases and tendencies in his own life. I wonder if it's due to a lack of application and practice. As there are others, like Buffett and Munger, who have fought against and structured their lives to overcome these principles to a large extent and have had great success.
This is curious to me, too.

It may be what you said (lack of practice), Dunning Kruger at play (Kahneman underestimating the extent to which he overcomes these biases better than average), or perhaps that it is difficult to overcome these biases and tendencies in all areas of one's life. Buffett and Munger certainly seem to have done well at these things in their business life, but even after reading The Snowball I don't know enough about Buffett's life to definitively say that he is immune to biases in all areas. In fact, I believe it extremely likely he is victim to biases in other areas of his life, as it is likely unrealistic to completely eradicate all biases and tendencies from one's psychology - they are after all part of our nature.

theanimal
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Re: Wisdom from a Sage

Post by theanimal »

@Dave- Agreed on not covering all aspects. Buffet certainly succumbs to quite a few biases in his relations and dealings with members of the opposite gender.

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jennypenny
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