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On 7/2/2018 at 3:50 PM, 17 Moments of Spring said:

 

i bought this book some years back:

 

Did you read it? 

I listened to the 6 hour abridged audiobook.  My review: I thought it was a good primer but it didn't go deep enough. It was broad though.  It reminded me of the book "emotional intelligence" by Daniel Goleman in its structure- lots of academic studies being presented, and their insights.

I read "the Hows of Happiness" which imho was the better book.  She does the same thing- combs though a vast amount of research but she organizes it in a very clear way.  Then she basically makes an action plan.  She also likes to point out the vast amount of conventional wisdom about happiness that is very wrong.  It's  a must read and in many instances, can be life-saving.  The Myths of Happiness, which expands on this book, is good too but I haven't finished it yet.

IIRC both state that happiness is 40% up to free will, 50% genetic (makes sense, per temperment), 10% circumstances.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Happiness-Approach-Getting-Life/dp/0143114956

Another audio that I listened to was "2017: Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body"  By Goleman.

I thought it had a lot of great nuggets (about how Harvard studied the brain patterns of Yogis) but was far too wordy and I felt that I wasted some time on it.  Essentially, the thing that stood out was that the Yogis, through years of training, were capable of controlling their emotions and even inducing powerful emotions onto themselves, such as great joy.  

I listened to half of "How emotions are made" and it was very good education.  

On 7/2/2018 at 6:33 PM, Enrico_sw said:

 

Far cry primal was really good. The lifespan was too short though and they could've worked a little more on the weapons (like they could've added more, it just gives a sense of progression). Same for animals: they could've added some more (though I have to admit this "animal" system was really interesting and good).

 

 

The Deus Ex world is great. Dark and cold. It would be good if they made a movie out of it (or out of Metro Last light). I like "cold" movies with a well thought and complex storyline (not horror movies, just cold universes). I think that a lot of movies these days are too full of "feelings": good feelings (comedies, etc.) or supposedly sad feelings (dramas, etc.) which all end up being annoying.

 

Total Recall (reboot) was a bit like Deus Ex.  I didn't like the movie.  

The original Deus Ex would have been more interesting if there were more villians.  Metal Gear Solid games (I thought 1-3 were the best in terms of story, although 4 and 5 had the best gameplay) remind me of Deus Ex but without the city part.  They do touch on cyborg themes and advanced technology.

What's wrong with feelings?  what do you mean about the latter? 

as far as cyberpunk movies go, nothing can really touch Blade runner IMHO >  A perfect movie, endlessly rewatchable

I thought Minority Report was good but I don't know if it can be considered cyberpunk

The same actor did the voice work for this game (looks very interesting in terms of design)

15 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

 

Total Recall (reboot) was a bit like Deus Ex.  I didn't like the movie.  

 

the original total recall was so much better.

1 hour ago, Cult Icon said:

as far as cyberpunk movies go, nothing can really touch Blade runner IMHO >  A perfect movie, endlessly rewatchable

 

i wonder how on earth they hasn't yet made a movie based on neuromancer.

23 minutes ago, 17 Moments of Spring said:

 

the original total recall was so much better.

 

 

i wonder how on earth they hasn't yet made a movie based on neuromancer.

I don't know about Neuromancer but sometimes (otherwise good) scripts don't get through because they are too expensive to make in reality. A big budget film or tv series needs massive profits.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/30688399/William-Gibsons-Neuromancer-Concept-Art

the original ghost in the shell anime was largely inspired by do androids dream of electric sheep and neuromancer, as i saw it.

johnny mnemonic, the movie was pretty bad.

from a comment:

Quote

The original from Vangelis was released only in 1994 (12 years after the movie) for reasons unknown, but some say Vangelis was mad with Ridley Scott and the producers of the movie. So, this orchestral version was the surrogate soundtrack released in the 80s.

original vangelis version:

^

That's a classic soundtrack.  Too bad it was released so late.

Ghost in the Shell 2 was rather mediocre/forgettable.  The TV show fleshed out the ideas a lot more.  Blade Runner was supposed to be most inspired by "Electric Sheep" too.

There was also "AI" by Spielburg that was pretty good.

I think the best AI show is Westworld Season 1 and 2.  (although not cyberpunk, it explores the mind a great deal).  Season 1 in particular is outstanding.

17 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

 

Did you read it? 

 

Not yet, it is on my list, but i saw a few of his lectures on the topic. seligman is the founder and "doyen" of the positive psychology domain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology

i skimmed thru goleman's emotional intelligence book, but i find him a shallow traveling salesman of others' findings.

19 minutes ago, 17 Moments of Spring said:

 

Not yet, it is on my list, but i saw a few of his lectures on the topic. seligman is the founder and "doyen" of the positive psychology domain.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology

 

i skimmed thru goleman's emotional intelligence book, but i find him a shallow traveling salesman of others' findings.

Flow  by  Mihaly  C.  is a classic in psych literature.  I also listened to the audios for the follow up: "Evolving Self" and "Psychology of Creativity".  They were both good.  Flow is his most essential work, followed closely by Psych of Creativity, which explores how creative geniuses think, work, feel, and live.

The author of "Hows of happiness/Myths of Happiness" is also part of this group:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonja_Lyubomirsky

these are the psych ones i recently got from second hand bookshops, i already read thru "change", the other ones seem like great works, too:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/789725.Change

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174879.On_Becoming_a_Person

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/347852.The_Road_Less_Traveled

1 hour ago, 17 Moments of Spring said:

these are the psych ones i recently got from second hand bookshops, i already read thru "change", the other ones seem like great works, too:

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/789725.Change

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174879.On_Becoming_a_Person

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/347852.The_Road_Less_Traveled

 

 

Do you have a particular area that you are interested in?

do you guys like Nolan's Batman trilogy?

I'm a big fan of it

23 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

 

What's wrong with feelings?  what do you mean about the latter?  

 

Many movies are overwhelmed by feelings; it's too much. I'm not saying that movies should be heartless, but I like when the characters can control their emotions and behave like grownups. A movie catch my interest when there's complex storylines where there's something to uncover, but I see too much movies with simple realities: there's the good, the bad, happy/not happy. I have the impression that the US movie industry (which is the major player - if not the only player) is more and more inclined to do cheesy movies.

1 hour ago, Cult Icon said:

do you guys like Nolan's Batman trilogy?

 

I'm a big fan of it

Yeah, great movies.

On 7/10/2018 at 1:46 AM, Cult Icon said:

I listened to half of "How emotions are made" and it was very good education.  

i've  read this one on emotions:

https://www.wiley.com/en-hu/Understanding+Emotions,+3rd+Edition-p-9781118147436

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1108797.Understanding_Emotions

and this one:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=9912835293

12 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

 

Do you have a particular area that you are interested in?

personal growth / development (even crises and therapies), emotions, transpersonal psychology, evolutionary psychology

9 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

do you guys like Nolan's Batman trilogy?

 

I'm a big fan of it

i saw "batman begins", but i don't really remember the details of it. the original one with nicholson / keaton / basinger was enough for me.

new book :Drama Between Budapest and Vienna by Georg Maier.

This aptly named text is about one of the most fascinating and important parts of the war- but not well known.  The author was the Chief of Staff of the 6 SS Panzer Army.

Part I: Setting the Stage
Chapter 1: Overview 3-11
Chapter 2: The Struggle for Budapest 12-111
Chapter 3: The struggle for "Daily Oil". 112-1212
Part II: The Attack
Chapter 4: The buildup in Hungary 123-147
Chapter 5: The "Paper War" Before the Fighting 149-162
Chapter 6: Unterrnehman "Frühlingserwachen" 163-218
Part III: The Final Fighting
Chapter 7: The Turning Point---The Russian Offensive is Launched 219-284
Chapter 8: The Red Flood 285-341
Chapter 9: The War's End in Austria. 342-379

On 7/10/2018 at 7:39 PM, Enrico_sw said:

 

Yeah, great movies.

what did you think of part 3?  I thought it was an admirable mess of a movie, like Westworld season 2.  

I think that the series is the best "Heroes' journey" out there.

On 7/10/2018 at 7:39 PM, Enrico_sw said:

 

Many movies are overwhelmed by feelings; it's too much. I'm not saying that movies should be heartless, but I like when the characters can control their emotions and behave like grownups. A movie catch my interest when there's complex storylines where there's something to uncover, but I see too much movies with simple realities: there's the good, the bad, happy/not happy. I have the impression that the US movie industry (which is the major player - if not the only player) is more and more inclined to do cheesy movies.

^

I have noticed that older films tend to be a lot more "masculine"  (particularly in the 1950s).  

As far as the US movie industry goes, around 80% of global revenues accrues to it, so movies often have to be popular with a global audience- which seriously limits the state of the art.  The US movie industry is pretty stagnated; right now its the golden age of TV series. 

On 7/11/2018 at 3:24 AM, 17 Moments of Spring said:

 

i've  read this one on emotions:

 

https://www.wiley.com/en-hu/Understanding+Emotions,+3rd+Edition-p-9781118147436

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1108797.Understanding_Emotions

 

and this one:

 

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=9912835293

 

personal growth / development (even crises and therapies), emotions, transpersonal psychology, evolutionary psychology

 

It looks like some good books.  I don't have any of them but I will see if they are online.

With psychology, I mostly do not read physical books.  I binge- listen to audiobooks while I'm traveling, doing chores, etc.  I read some digitals if I cannot find an audiobook for it.  A lot of audiobooks can be torrented/or downloaded from a file host. 

With emotions, I liked the classic book "Feeling Good".  This teaches a lot of the "CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)" concepts along with Albert Ellis' line of work.  Basically any book that covers how to better think through emotions is interesting to me.  So I've listened to many audio on anger management and stress management.

I currently have the classic book "Survivor Personality" "Deep Survival" "Survivor Advantage" on my list.  I listened to some things about trauma and grief about last year- the most memorable one was "Grief Works" - which covers cancer victims, deaths of family members, and so forth.  I recently lost my grandfather and it helped me cope a bit with it.  My parents are aging as well.

I like evolutionary psych and anything that covers the subconscious mind, male/female psych, and "hidden" instincts.   

Overall, learning this stuff has been significantly beneficial, improved my well being, and I have changed the way I approach things.