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Poor Bjorn's Notes to Self

Read Books – Conduct Experiments – Grow

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Here is where you find my reading- and recommendation lists!

Recommendation Lists:

  • Favorite Books of 2017
  • Favorite Books of 2016

Reading Lists:

  • Reading List 2018
  • Reading List 2017
  • Reading List 2016

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For a long time depression and anxiety has been believed to be caused be a chemical imbalance in the brain and the solution a lifetime of pill popping. Hari challenges this idea, both the cause and the solution. ____ His research shows 9 very different causes for depression - Disconnection from... 1. Meaningful work 2. Meaningful values 3. Other people 4. Status and respect 5. Childhood trauma 6. The natural world 7. A hopeful and secure future 8. & 9. The real role of genes and brain changes. —— 📝 “You are not a machine with broken parts you are an animal whose need have not been met.” —— 📝 When asked how many friends people have, “zero” is the most common answer. —— 📝 Anxious and depressed people are prone to gaming addiction. Games have groups and teams, clear goals, and provides a sense of control. —— 📝 Anti depressant Companies (who often finance studies) only publish what makes their product look good. Just like when we take selfies, we discard the double chins and post the one where we look ace! 🤳 —— 📝 The more people value things, the more likely they are to be depressed. —— 📝 Obesity and loneliness are equally deadly. —— 📝 Studies show that depression is in fact to a significant degree a problem not with your brain but with your life. —— ⭐️ TAKEAWAY: I have not been depressed myself (I don’t think?) but like most people I have had periods that has been darker and more anxious than others. Reconnecting to the 9 areas pointed out by Hari definitely improved things for me. Whether it was starting to run in nature (6.), Meditation (5.), read books (2.) or work on this Insta account (1. & 3.). Unfortunately “Reconnection” is not as commercially lucrative and easy to package into a product as antidepressants. —— We all have people around us, friends or family members, that suffer from depression. Reading this book helped me gain a deeper understanding why modern society is a breeding ground for mental disorders. —— This books is a serious contender for Book of the Year for me - and it’s only beginning of February. ❤️ —- What actions and habits in your life protect you from depression and anxiety? 🤔 —— 5/5 —— Photo credit: @thelavinagency
“If you get your view of the world from the news, you’re always going to think that we’re living in violent times.” - Steven Pinker --------------------------- What’s the message of the mainstream media? Be afraid! Stay inside! Out there are Isis, the 1% staling your money and clowns! No wonder we feel anxious and afraid even though we live in the safest era in human history. --------------------------- The Lab Report - 006 - “Quit the News" --------------------------- I stopped following the news about 3 years ago. I don’t read any newspapers, I don’t listen to the radio and I don’t follow any blogs or news feeds. --------------------------- How has this experiment pan out? --------------------------- Short term effects: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ --------------------------- - “Fear of Missing Out” might haunt you in the beginning - don’t worry, if it’s important (most news aren’t) you will hear about it. - Fearmonger stories triggers stress and spikes your cortisol. Without these spikes you can enjoy a stronger immune system. --------------------------- Long term effects: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -------------------------- - Reduced fear and anxiety. - Less drama, more focus. - The media is experts at masking us feel concerned. Being concerned makes us feel like we are doing something while we’re not. Now you freed up time to do shit. --------------------------- Sustainability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ -------------------------- - You might work at a job where you’re unable to control news exposure i.e a places where TVs and radios on all the time. - Social media feeds can be challenging to manage. I solved it by not looking at social media feeds. - Ones your out off it, and if you pay attention to the positive effects, then it’s very hard to relapse. --------------------------- FINAL VERDICT: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ --------------------------- Quitting the news is the closest thing I’ve found to a silver bullet for improved happiness and inner peace. 👌🏻 ☯️ --------------------------- Of course you should not take my word for it. Think for yourself. And also -what is the counter argument to what I just said? 🧐 🤔
Spontaneous sex change, cyclops and mermaid syndrome and conjoined twins. The tall and the very short. Albinism and rapid aging. No stone is left unturned when Armand Marie Leroi’s takes us on a journey though the biology of the bizarre - and beautiful. —- This book “..is not only about the human body as we might wish it to be, but as it is - replete with variety and error”. —— 📝 Mutation arise from errors made by the machinery that copies or repair DNA. —— 📝 “We are all mutants, but some of us are more mutant than others.” —— 📝 Clitoris = Penis —— 📝: ‘I do not want to be embarrassed by your black body at Daddy’s grave’ said her mother. Rita Hoefling was a white girl in the apartheid society of South Africa who suddenly turning black. At first she got subtle racist remarks and by the end of her transformation she was denied attending her own fathers funeral.. racism is dumb. —— 📝 Preformationists= They believed the egg contained the entire embryo (complete with limbs) and that embryo had itself it owns sperm or egg which in turn contained embryos ad infinitum. —— 📝 In conjoined twins the skew toward femininity is overwhelming: about 77 percent are girls. No one know why this is. —— 📝 Boys who are castrated before puberty grow up to be unusually tall. —— 📝 “Women of all cultures seem to prefer men who are on average five centimeters (about two inches) taller than themselves.” —— The human body is amazing. This book feels like it celebration of the most haunting, weird and wonderful shapes the human body can take. It leaves me in awe. —— 4/5 —— What are you reading these days? 🤔📚
Goggins, Goggins, Goggins! This guy is proper crazy! He managed to escape an abusive family situation and decided become a navy S.E.A.L. The problem was that he was overweight, uneducated and unprepared. This was the starting point for the man that grew to become one of (if not THE), toughest endurance athletes I’ve come across. —- 📝 About his abusive childhood home: “Glossy surfaces reflect much more than they reveal”. Great expression! —— 📝 “Motivation is bullshit.” —— 📝 “I brainwashed myself to craving discomfort”. Schedule suffering into your life. —— 📝 It’s funny, humans tend to hatch their most challenging goals and dreams, the ones that demands the most effort and promises absolutely nothing, when we are tucked into our comfort zones. —— 📝 Ran 100 miles without training, on broken legs, pissing blood. —— 📝 Had the world record for most pull ups in 24 hours in 2013 (4030) —— 📝 When you think you done your upmost you’re probably only at 40%. —— ⭐️ TAKEAWAY: The most common excuse Goggins hears for not working out is that people don’t have time. We get it, we all got stuff to do. “You must win the morning” and master the dark hours, when your spouse and kids are asleep, he says. So, how do I act on this? I’m waking up 05:30 for the coming 66 days. The extra time in the mornings will be used for exercise, meditation, reading and writing. ——- ⚖️ VERDICT: This book made me add another 10km on my regular run last Sunday. There where two reasons: First, the book is really solid and I didn’t want to turn off the audiobook. Second, Goggins made me realize I’m not putting in even half the effort I could. —— This book will challenge you to set the bar higher for yourself, If you can look past the Navy jargon.. —— What your morning routine? 🤔 —— 4/5 —— 📷 credit: @portlandpickers
We keep reading about it; the most important endeavor one can undertake is self knowledge - “Know thyself” as the inscription reads at the Temple of Apollo - and what better way to start that examination than practice of meditation? --------------------------- The Lab Report - 005 - "Meditation: The First 100 Days" ----------------------- The meditation style I do is Zazen. This first phase of the experiment is about establishing the habit of sitting everyday (I prioritize consistency over duration) and building up my capacity concentration. ----------------------- I count each inhalation and exhalation starting from 1 and going up to 10, then repeat. Its easier said than done! ----------------------- This meditation is done with open eyes. I started with 8 minute sessions and I’m now at ~20 min sessions and I’m gradually increasing the duration. ----------------------- Short term effects: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ----------------------- - It can be quite frustrating to observe when one’s mind wanders off. - I dose off all the time. - Observing one’s thoughts and “monkey mind” creates a gap between Me and my thoughts. - Outside of meditation I feel that it is easier to catch myself when getting lost in thoughts and snap back to presence. ----------------------- Long term effects: ❓❓❓ ----------------------- - Still unknown. I’m aiming for doing 365 consecutive days in this experiment, so it’s still to early to tell. ----------------------- Sustainability: ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ ----------------------- - I find activities like this one, that should be performed everyday, to be tricky. I only missed 1 day out of 100 so far. But the only way for me to achieve that was to make meditation my number one priority during this period. So that’s what I did. ----------------------- FINAL VERDICT: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ----------------------- It’s still the early days but I’m happy to have established a solid habit. But it can be a frustrating practice. I guess Being is hard when you are used to Doing. Still, I love taking a few minutes out of my day for self care! ----------------------- Tell me about your experiences with mediation? 🤔 ----------------------- Check out #poorbjornsexperiments for more Lab Reports!
This is a new sub-genre for me; ‘Biographies about ancient dudes written by other ancient dudes’. Iamblichus wrote this book about Pythagoras life and teachings around 300 AD. —— The book is fascinating, often boring and sometimes complicated. (SWIPE for examples.) —— 📝 He traveled everywhere he thought he could find wisdom. “He thus passed 22 year in the sanctuary of temples, studying astronomy and geometry and being initiates in no casual or superficial manner to in the mysteries of the gods”. On top of that he studied 12 years of the sciences. —— 📝 He was regraded as a divinity and was a cult leader. —— 📝 People looking for apprenticeship with Pythagoras were studied and observed for a long before getting the thumbs up. If they passed these initial tests they had to spend 5 years in silence to learn to control their speech before they could see Pythagoras face to face. —— 📝 According to this book, Pythagoras l could tame animals by talking to them, be in several places at the same time and speak to rivers. (This book reminds me of Life of a Yogi in many ways..) —- ⭐️ TAKEAWAY 2: Pythagoras studied diligently under the best mentors in the world for +33 years. Then he started his career as a teacher. In modern society we expect things to go fast. For me this is was a great reminder of the value of playing long game and be patient. 🕰 —— ⭐️ TAKEAWAY 2: Now I have this weird urge to join a sect for some reason. 😆 —— I’m happy I read it but I don’t think this is for everyone. —— Who’s your favorite Hellenistic philosopher? 🤔 —— Photo credit: @maankawas —— 2/5
Me escaping the dark and cold! 🌞✈️ 🇸🇪—>🇪🇸 —— 📖 I’m finishing two books this weekend; ‘Mutants’ by Armand M. Leroi and “Life of Pythagoras” by Iamblicus. —— I’m thinking of making the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome and Egypt a theme for this year. It could be quite fun! 🇬🇷 🇮🇹 🇪🇬 —— Do you have any specific niche you want to explore this coming year? 🤔
“Each generation of media has a different cock in its mouth.” - Ryan Holiday, Trust me I’m lying. —- 😔 I thought I was on top of my media game and was able to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. I WAS WRONG! —- 📰 😱I knew the situation was bad; I even quit following “the news” 3 years ago because I thought it misrepresented reality to a larger degree than it represented it (and also for the sake of my wellbeing). But Ryan Holidays confessions from his career as a media manipulator paints a even darker picture than I could ever imagine! —— 👨🏼‍💻Understanding the structure and constraints of click-based media is essential. These structure explains almost everything they do. It’s in the nature of the system. —— 🥇 The first half of this book is should be mandatory reading (the other half turns into a bit of a rant). This is probably the book that influenced me the most this year! —— What was your most influential books this year? 🤔

Recent Posts

  • Thoughts on: “Lost Connections” by Johann Hari 11 February, 2019
  • Raw and Unedited Notes from “Lost Connections” 11 February, 2019
  • Lab Report: Quitting the News 4 February, 2019
  • Lab Report: Growing a Beard 1 February, 2019
  • Lab Report: Optimized Breakfast 30 January, 2019

Pages

  • 5 Outstanding Books this Year
  • A Guide to Quality Reading – Life is Too Short for Bad Books!
  • Favorite Books of 2016
  • Lab Reports – Life is an Experiment
  • Reading List 2016
  • Reading List 2017
  • Reading List 2018
  • Reading Lists
  • Top 10 Books of 2017
  • Reviews
  • Blog posts
  • Top 10 Books of 2017
  • Reading Lists
  • Reading List 2018
  • 5 Outstanding Books this Year
  • Lab Reports – Life is an Experiment
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