Learn the secret of happiness and success.
Joe Rogan is an interesting character.
He is a well-liked podcast host but not without his fair share of controversies. The topics that he covers are many and varied. Be it politics, science, or current affairs, he touches them all.
Today, we are bringing you his book recommendations. From ancient wisdom to modern research, these books cover a variety of topics.
Let’s go through them one by one!
Wisdom from the great ancestors.
Humans need to live a meaningful life.
To do that, there can be several ways. In this book, Don Miguel Ruiz brings us wisdom from the ancient Toltec civilization.
The Toltec society was in prominence from 950 to 1150 CE.
“The Four Agreements
1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
3. Don’t make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.”
The author tells us that one’s quality of life is dependent on the agreements he has made with himself, with God, and with others.
Ruiz brings us 4 agreements, which according to him will lead to a happier life. He goes into detail regarding each.
“There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.”
The author tells us that we all have been ‘domesticated’ since birth. The will of others has been imposed on us.
He motivates us to break free of the shackles and create our own agreements.
The ins and outs of happiness.
What is happiness? How can we increase it?
These are the themes that Jonathan Haidt covers in this book.
Happiness cannot be chased, the author tells us. We have to set the right conditions and then wait. Some of these conditions are inside us. Or example how we think and perceive certain situations.
Others are outside. They include work, love, and connecting to something larger.
Getting our relationships with each of them right will lead to the emergence of meaning and purpose.
“Just as plants need sun, water, and good soil to thrive, people need love, work, and a connection to something larger.”
What happens when something bad happens?
Every person deals with adversity in a different way. That is determined by affective style. Affective style is determined by our genes. Those who score high on affective style are more prone to negative emotions.
We all know people who are more likely to stay positive, even in a bad situation. That can be attributed to their affective style.
“Each of us thinks we see the world directly, as it really is.”
This book is a very good in-depth discussion of happiness and all it entails.
Wisdom of a warrior!
Miyamoto Musashi is a Japanese swordsman.
His book is a discussion of sword fighting strategies. These can be applied in one-on-one combat and also in a large-scale battle.
Not only that, Musashi’s philosophy also provides a guide to modern-day professionals.
They might not have to do literal combat but they deal with competition and enemies in business and at work, etc.
“The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.”
The book is divided into the following parts:
The Book of Earth
The Book of Water
The Book of Fire
The Book of Wind
The Book of Void
“Timing is important in dancing and pipe or string music, for they are in rhythm only if timing is good.”
The author talks about the importance of timing, balance, and preparedness for a swordsman.
This book is fascinating. It gives us 17th-century wisdom that we can apply today.
Is man monogamous by nature?
The authors of this book consider “marriage,” “mating,” and “love” socially constructed phenomena.
“The good news is that the dismal vision of human sexuality reflected in the standard narrative is mistaken.”
Their theory is that monogamy is to be blamed for divorces and cheating as humans are not made that way. They claim that our human ancestors were promiscuous, practiced group sex, mate-swapping, and had casual affairs.
I have a really hard time digesting the author’s proposition.
Since the dawn of time, humans have been engaging in different types of reckless behaviors. That doesn’t mean we should make those mainstream.
“Modern man’s seemingly instinctive impulse to control women’s sexuality is not an intrinsic feature of human nature.”
I was curious about the authors’ relationship and went to Google. A simple search brings up this image from an article about their non-monogamous marriage in The Times from 2010. It features Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá.
This also led me down the path of tracking the current status of their relationship. Spoiler alert: They are not together anymore.
The unusual story of the last Comanche leader.
Comanches were one of the most powerful Indian tribes.
This book explores the various conflicts between the white settlers and the Comanches.
It details the violent tactics employed by both sides as well.
The book starts by going deeply into the history of the Comanches. We learn about their skills as horsemen and warriors.
“The first generations of Comanches in captivity never really understood the concept of wealth, of private property. The central truth of their lives was the past, the dimming memory of the wild, ecstatic freedom of the plains, of the days when Comanche warriors in black buffalo headdresses rode unchallenged from Kansas to northern Mexico, of a world without property or boundaries.”
Cynthia Ann Parker was a young girl when she was captured by the Comanches. She assimilated into their world and married their chief.
The main figure of this book is their son, Quanah Parker. He led the resistance against the settlers until Comanche’s defeat. After this, Quanah and his tribe started living on a reservation.
History is complex and should be taken as such. This is what I think is the takeaway from this story.
Rediscover breathing!
Do you breathe through your mouth while sleeping?
I certainly did it last night with a severely congested nose from the flu.
“Smell is life’s oldest sense.”
But… as this book tells us, breathing from the mouth is the root cause of many many health problems. (I am half-sure that the flu season is exempt.)
The author takes us on a journey of understanding our breathing. Our nose is much more than a hole to take in oxygen. It warms our breath and filters out particles, thanks to the mucus.
“All these invaders could cause infection and irritation if they got into the lungs; the mucus is the body’s ‘first line of defense.’”
The author goes on to tell us about the optimal breath. 5.5 seconds inhale, and 5.5 seconds exhale.
James Nestor stresses the importance of breathing from our nose. Breathing from the mouth has negative effects on our airways. And it leads to even more mouthbreathing.
The lesson of this book is simple. But the science and data that back it up are detailed. Reading them is well worth your time.
The loss of bonds.
Humans need each other to survive.
We are nothing without our close bonds. Yet society is increasingly becoming individualistic, depriving us of the necessary social connections.
“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary.”
The author uses the example of war veterans to expand on this. When they come home, they lose the brotherly bond they had with their mates in the war zone. This leads to negative psychological conditions.
The author says that many don’t understand this. Hence, all the psychological disorders are only attributed to the violence that the soldiers have experienced in war zones.
“The public is often accused of being disconnected from its military, but frankly it’s disconnected from just about everything.”
This book invites us to have an informed perspective on human connections and modern life.
How does a person become successful?
Malcolm Gladwell discusses the various factors that go into determining the success of an individual.
“Success is not a random act.”
From birth year to geographic area, there are many factors that we cannot control. Yet they play a major role in how we turn out. IQ doesn’t matter as much as one might think.
The author examines the mathematical capabilities of people in Eastern and Western countries, the birth years of hockey players, and airplane crashes in various countries.
“It’s not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It’s whether or not our work fulfills us.”
Then there are things that are in an individual’s control. For example, skill cultivation and practice. Gladwell puts the amount of practice required to master any skill at 10,000 hours.
“The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all.”
He summarizes that all successful people might seem outliers but they are not. They are a result of legacy, history, opportunity, and practice.
A journalist’s dive into the Charles Manson saga.
After accepting an assignment, the author went down the rabbit hole of researching the murders committed by the followers of Charles Manson in 1969. This research took him 20 years.
The murders are termed as Tate-LaBianca murders. They claimed the lives of 5 people.
“And so, feeling the line between “researcher” and “conspiracy theorist” blurring before me, I hunkered down in the library to read about the many ways our government has deceived us.”
The author discusses the loopholes in the official theory. He chases down leads, interviews key players, and digs up documents.
Was Charles Manson truly a rogue disturbed mind? Or was he a CIA mind experiment gone wrong?
“In literature a murder scene is often likened to a picture puzzle.”
An interesting thing is that even the CIA has reviewed the book on its official website.
The many implications of genetic engineering.
The field of genetics has made unprecedented progress. We can now detect genetic anomalies in human fetuses. We also use genes for insulin production.
The author discusses the many opportunities that genetic engineering brings us. He also touches on the ethical issues related to them.
“…our cells already have a way of resetting the clock.”
We learn about the CRISPR technology. It allows scientists to cut and reattach various DNA sequences.
Its contribution to the cure of diseases is enormous.
The author impresses on the importance of having the right conversation and pushing for regulations so these technologies might not hurt us.
“Although many gene-therapy protocols are now being actively explored, one of the most exciting and widely covered in the media is genetically enhancing the ability of a person’s T cells, white blood cells that play an essential role in the body’s natural immune response.”
One thing is for sure. Our future will be changed by the many ways DNA can be manipulated.
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If you enjoyed these book recommendations, check out the rest of my book lists on my blog- https://www.thenovelnest.com/blog
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