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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Self Improvement books.


Self Improvement books.

Learning is a lifelong process and the only unfortunate thing being life is not long enough to learn many things.

So, everything that we happen to encounter or anything or anyone who happen to come across in our life may have a purpose (either useful or otherwise) of which we may or may not be aware. 

Self improvement books are great enablers of immense value and importance though everyone is entitled to have his/ her prejudice for or against anything or anyone.

Self improvement, obviously by its very term, has to emanate from the self.

However, I have personally felt there are scholars and wiser souls
( wiser than me- as I cannot talk for others) who have helped me to glean into insights from various perspectives through thoughts and ideas which have worked as prompts, all of which otherwise may have missed the radar of even my attention.

Ultimately , nothing can manifest unless it is hiding somewhere within waiting for the correct moment and conducive situation or connection either through men whom we meet in flesh and blood or whose thoughts and ideas we get to come across through books, films, speeches etc.

There are like live electric wires waiting for a switch.

I always adore the great Saint Lord Dattatreya who saw a guru in many things, events and persons.

That way Self help books are excellent source and they have helped me to look at many areas or aspects of living in the vast map of life as a whole.

Preachy and pontificating stuff are the chaff or ornamentation or dressing on the menu (depending upon how we view them) of anyone who resorts to interpret or expound any thought. We can either appreciate them or ignore them and still continue to choose the essence or substance.

It is also a fact that the publishers and book stalls classify many stuffs under self improvement.

In fact all the works of Neale Donald Walsch (one of the best philosophical works in the past two decades) and ‘Enlightenment Now’ by Steven Pinker are always classified under self improvement.

Lot of religious books also get categorized that way.

All books of philosophical enquiry, books that throw up scientific hypotheses, books that dare to question rationally (relative term) any existing social practice are all books of Self improvement. 

We all have options to get engaged with or entertain innate or inherent intelligence, inherited in​tellectual qualities and involve in inculcating improvements to both through many ways.

I feel that many self improvement books play a big role in the 'inculcating aspect' through powerful prompts, sharp statements ( sometimes sensational slogans- a good slogan can not only stop reasoning but can also prompt to savor a worthiness of a valuable reasoning) impactful interpretations and relevant reasoning etc.

Everything in every aspect of life is a step and every step is an improvement and every improvement is another step.

The problem arises only when we confuse the step for stop or stop at a step and start admiring the step (though every step is very important) but stopping at steps obviously prevent movement.



Teachings and Understanding


In my view  Teachings are  ingredients and Understanding is making them into a tasty cooked food.

Practical and Ideal


Practical and Ideal

A PM is there to help economy to grow, infrastructure to develop, ensure social harmony and many other issues concerned with governance. 

It does not matter whether he is a devotee of Durga or Allah.

I think Indians must learn to not to mix irrelevant things.


​ At times it is difficult to draw the lines of being idealistic and being practical.

What is idealism in one era becomes practical in another.


Read this book 'An idealist  View of Life' by our former President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan who was at ease in the theory of both eastern and western philosophical systems.


Practical and idealistic are context specific, so without real context, only generalization will govern.

In reality those holding any top position of importance in government like MPs, Ministers, more so PM or PRESIDENT must, in public, confine themselves,  to mere publicity posturing or participation as symbolic gestures but must not overdo, irrespective of whatever be their personal identity or private affinity. 

These become more important in pluralistic societies with excessive media freedom [now added to these we have a huge military of memes generators].


It is not a question of mere playing on words or verbalization but sometimes harsh reality and at times it is perceptions that get in to expose the differences.

Practicality consists in seeing through the differences, not to admire or to avoid but at least to acknowledge and to accept.

For example, STANDARDIZATION is very important in certain spheres like size of plug point or size of sim cards; in certain areas UNIFORMITY is a necessity to measure and make comparative analysis to determine relative merits and demerits like syllabus in education system.

However, forced HOMOGENIZATION to mutilate variety is unwelcome like compelling everyone to lead only a certain way of life.

Similarly, even natural beauty like a vast mountainous region or travelling in big rivers like Amazon can get boring after sometimes due to sheer MONOTONY.

Either unintentionally or intentionally all the four above i.e. Standards, Uniformity, Homogeneity, Monotony all indicate some sort of sameness or similarity.

However, their importance, impact and our interest in them are obvious but in the case of homogenization it is subtly injected and in the case of MONOTONY it is our mental reaction or attitude.​​

Evaluation of any profession must be based on matters intrinsic to the domain and relevant to context. 

No big terms of idealism or practical, both them can be used relatively.

What is possible or Practical for someone at some place may be idealistic for others.

It is more or less like trends and taboos.

For example while discussing about pace bowling you admire McGrath, Walsh, Akram irrespective of what religion, what color, what country, what language , who are their girl friends, how many wives they have, whether they drink or smoke weed. What matters is only their bowling.

You admire or abuse anyone of them for other reasons than bowling when we discuss about their personal life in some contexts, not when they are admired for their bowling.

Even for Modi, like all politicians, symbolic overtures to garner votes may be good but to prioritize and project such symbolic overtures and gestures may be also counterproductive.

All said and done the greatness of USA and the beauty of INDIA are the freedom, secular fabric, aspirations of youth predominantly towards education, economic development, and overall cosmopolitan civilization and progress beyond and besides the confines of native traditions and practices, however, great or good they may be. These have been the reasons for which both nations are sought after by many despite all adverse projections by global media. 

The most comprehensive book on evaluations ‘ Making Evaluation Matter-a practical guide for evaluators’ by Cecile Kusters with Simone van Vugt, Seerp Wigboldus, Bob Williams and Jim Woodhill also emphasizes certain factors repeatedly and predominantly they are context/situation, situational responsiveness, stake holders, inherent qualities of the project /program/person being evaluated ,multiple roles, consequence awareness etc

Even this material also throws lot of light on evaluation ‘American Journal of Evaluation-2011-Smith-565-99.pdf

Here I am tempted to quote, “Friend to Groucho Marx: “Life is hard…” Grouch Marx to Friend: “Compared to what?”

The problem is we as a nation work on defending the undeserving, justifying the unjustifiable, resorting to unloving criticism and uncritical love, hero worshiping and deifying and many other vulnerabilities so much do that we seldom see and observe facts as they are and fail to appreciate performances of anyone in existing contexts with immense limitations, enormous compulsions and exaggerated expectations and on top of it all media manipulated narratives and misinterpretations etc.

Evaluation is a very deep science to be performed dispassionately and which must be devoid of prejudices and factor in various aspects with inherent attributes of the issue or thing and their contextual relevance along with considerations for the sensitivities of the performers and so on.

Most importantly we can avoid the following usual traps while exploring the facts.

They are we must desist getting distracted by:-

Mutilating the facts,
Analyzing them with preconceived notions or prejudices,
Generalizing the particular and particularizing the general,
Approaching facts with unloving criticism or uncritical love,
Evaluating facts with our pet isms or philosophies,
Resorting to statistical justifications,
Unleashing unworkable utopia,
Mask them with logical fallacies,
Mute them in pleasant jargons, and
Give historical justifications
Comprehend with confirmation bias or pre conceived conclusions
Trying to over simplify the complicated and over complicate the simple factors/aspects.

Ultimately, conceptually , Bhagawad Geetha, in fact the whole of Bhagawad Gita is popular  because ( one of the reasons why it became more popular among the 28 Gitas, is that all its 700 stanzas are sand- witched between two words the starting word 'Dharma' and the last word ‘Mama’.)


It must be actually read as ‘Mama Dharma’= my dharma- does not mean either Krishna’s or Arjuna’s Dharma, rather  when everyone reads it becomes ‘his Dhrama’ and all these 700 verses [ subjected to all sorts of excellent, enlightening as well as, often used as tools to justifying traditional practices, explanations by many] primarily are about attitudes to be adopted, actions to be executed and reactions to show at different situations taking into consideration the overall welfare of all [humanism].


This manual is more about balancing the intellect and emotions and most importantly through both emotions and intellect, or to be precise, in short it talks about the dynamics of synthesis of human nature and nature of Truth [ define as you may- it is the inevitable and intellectual perception and sometimes all logic eluding factor].


Life is all about movements, actions and reactions which broadly could be defined as i.e. Karma but then the Laws [Dharma ] of motions [Karma] of life are very important and therefore prioritized.

Personal grief, sorrows and miseries are difficult to handle even for some of the most advanced intellectual giants or highly sane and even balanced souls.

It is easier to sit and sermonize or pontificate dispassionately as an outsider.


It is difficult to prescribe rules for any type of crisis in any aspect of life.

However, if the mind, especially of a grown up individual, is equipped with certain qualities, then, encountering the crisis becomes a shade more simple and sane.


However, the balanced mind, calm soul, caring heart, clever mind will wait and work on multiple options before resorting to impulsive actions which may more often result in regret.

Life is the sum total of many choices and decisions we make/take at every moment and the concomitant actions and reactions based on them.

But, does life or our cultures or social systems or religions or education systems offer us ready made templates to make/to take relevant or correct choices and decisions with multiple options at every moment?

Or   even if they offer and are ready, are we willing or capable of understanding and making use of those templates?






When fear grips


Though certain advices may sound very logical, when actual fear grips the human heart and mind, then emotions take charge and push aside everything else.

In a way if we deeply analyze , almost all emotions, actions and reactions emanate out of either fear or love- the two major primary factors of life. 

They manifest in several forms with varying degrees of intensity and we try to identify each shade of those intensities with various nuanced terminologies.

However, neither Fear nor Love can be avoided and they need not be, instead, we may look at how best to face them and also once we decide to face them, we would realize they actually place before us a whole gamut of options both nice and nasty. 

I was ruminating on this after my accident and when the mind was ensconced in serene solitude I came up with the following.



New Year 2019.



Wish you all a Very Happy New Year 2019.


The pleasures and probabilities of teens as we get into the last year of teen in this century 2019.



In many ways many aspects of life are interconnected and we need to consciously get inter related to create positive vibrations and sensible synergy.


As even J.KRISHNAMURTHI says, “No one can live without relationship. You may withdraw into the mountains, become a monk, a sannyasi, wander off into the desert by yourself, but you are related. You cannot escape from that absolute fact. You cannot exist in isolation".


How we relate with others and everything define who we arebetter than what we claim ourselves to be.




"Anything that can be lost was never truly ours; anything that we cling to only imprisons us"—Jack Kornfield.




"The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday"-Steve Maraboli.

Here, ‘let go of yesterday ‘does not mean chronology but psychology of approaching the new with a new vision and renewed enthusiasm.

Otherwise, everything will be a mere extension of the old.


Life is all about evolution and  metamorphosis.
In most areas and aspects they
[ evolution and metamorphosis] emerge involuntarily but in certain areas and aspects we need to voluntarily make efforts or create enabling environment, through well thought out and seriously developed perspectives and attitudes which go on to impact how we relate  with others , issues and things.

Somehow, most calendared observations of  festivals and celebrations lose their charm, amid myriad debates, differences, controversies  and they end up metamorphosising from festivals or celebrations into mere ritualsbecause they lose their significance [ due to various reasons] or we lose interest with both justifiable and unjustifiable priorities.

However, when many parts of the world have decided to accept the Gregorian calendar with all its obvious short comings and celebrate January First as New Year Day, though it is a mere chronological continuation, the word ‘NEW’ captures my attention and I tend to reflect and share with others the importance of effecting something really ‘NEW’ in our routine lives.

I end up writing something every year which I feel can create at least some impact.


This year I was too busy to write something more elaborate and original but still, could not resist the temptation to write something.

Some write ups of previous years are indicatedat  the end within brackets.


Thus, this follows.

None of the observations made below indicate anything as either right or wrong.


Nothing can be a panacea for all life forms.


However, individuals and humanity as a whole have immense opportunities, enormous comforts and enough ways and means to utilize them all.


Either one of the following or some of them or all of them become inevitable part of our frames of reference for our perception and our perspective and they impact each and every one of us at least in our formative years, if not longer.


In short, they are ideologically indoctrinated identities of various hues and colors.


These identities could be broadly generalized as being based on socio-economic, socio-cultural, socio- religious, socio-political, ethno-centric, racial, caste and regional life style etc.


In some cases they become our second nature and which by extension also become part of our intellectual firmament.


Besides the above list of over generalized factors, there are many other very impactful influences like the educational back ground and open or narrow mindedness of the family along with social traditions and taboos.


So, whatever ideas, thoughts, ideals are encountered initially they need to satisfy the confirmation biases emanating from some or all of the above.


However we may try hard, ultimately the above indicated factors are embedded in our brains and permeate through us in all our opinions, reactions, understanding, interactions etc so much so, that these not only get internalized but manifest in our evaluations as extrapolations irrespective of whether they are relevant or not.


So, when we hatch out of our formative years and have the freedom to explore and experience the world of ideas, thoughts, ideals, experiences and so on beyond and besides these confirmation biases, and have the option to evaluate differently, we are either too tentative out of lack of confidence or in false bravado or hyper enthusiasm grab in awe the new found freedom without realizing whether it can enhance any aspect of our life or it is just a different set of confirmation biases or old vine in new fangled bottles.


This transition period is a very important hinge which must ensure that on one side it must not be killed by over protectionism and on the other side lulled by the intoxication of suddenly unleashed new found freedom.


While the former may pull us back with a sense of lurking feeling of insecurity to predominate all decision making and prefer to linger in the past, the later may push us into absolutely uncontrolled and irretrievable eccentric aberrations.


Those who are either too innocent or ignorant or ignorant of the fact that they are ignorant or too pampered and mostly living in comfort zone and some other categories may not even notice or be aware of this transition from formative years.

Self proclaimed or labeled ‘Thought leaders’ lead me to think only of these lines:-


Phenella writes in “The Unwritten Comedy”.

“To be ignorant of many things is expected
To know you are ignorant of many things is the beginning of wisdom.
To know a category of things of which you are ignorant is the beginning of learning.
To know the details of that category of things of which you are ignorant is to no longer be ignorant.”



But then, they have another chance when they migrate from the teens.


This phase is a really volatile, vulnerable which moves around with emotional gullibility and intellectually impressionable mind.


But then, that does not mean one must succumb to anything and everything.


It is also a phase of which can enable one to blossom into balanced maturity and matured balance along with sense of personal responsibility enabling to blossom into a responsible personality.


“Trying times are not the times to stop trying" - Ray Owen.



Even after that, if people choose to curtail their radar of communication, connectivity, interactions etc and confine to the cocoon of their confirmation bias emanating from the indoctrination that is nurtured mostly very scrupulously by religion, politics and other institutions with vested interest and those who are unwilling to even acknowledge other options, ideas and ideology, then, they deserve to get interred in their identity.


"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes"-Marcel Proust.


Such luddites will be the biggest stumbling blocks to progress, peace and unity.


As it is with individuals, more or less, it is so with nations, all of which are globally emerging into the last year of teen in this century this year being 2019.


So, let us all as individuals and nations encourage various ideas and ideologies and enable a conducive atmosphere of global maturity which acknowledges the differences but avoids divisions and use every possible energy and resource to create synergy.


If we observe without any bias we would realize the factors that predominantly influence our interactions and reactions are not intrinsically vital to life.


Life basically is a biochemical mechanism with energy, all of which are gifts or part of the nature of our planet common to all species.


Probably we as Homo sapiens have additional combo of advanced states of conscious awareness and advanced means of communication compared to other species which have enhanced our species.


In addition, all our scientific and technological advancements have rendered our life more comfortable and also enabled us to enhance our abilities further.


In addition commerce and trade have enabled us to benefit as a species beyond geographical constraints.


However, ironically we take for granted nature and scientific advancement but we weave all our psychological, emotional, intellectual requirements around factors not intrinsic to life like politics, religion, regionalism etc.


Is it not obvious that human beings can live anywhere where nature is conducive for life and can also live without any religious or political affinity?


Let me make it clear that I am not in any way either denouncing or ignoring their ( religion, politics etc.) importance and immense contributions in multiple ways to improve living and they have sharpened our sensitivities to find multitude of options to cohabit and cooperate for betterment of life as cohesive groups but they have also used up too much of valuable time, energy and human lives and caused enough damage disproportionate to their intrinsic value and have caused more divisions among our species.


So, let us consciously observe the differences and avoid the divisions and focus on factors intrinsic to our life now and for posterity beyond and besides all sorts of ideologies be they political or religious or cultural or any of those multitude of 'isms' and 'ologies' that obsessively occupy our mind space.


This cannot happen overnight but must be consciously cultivated as a way of life and scrupulously manifest in every word, thought, action and interaction.


"Your life will never improve unless you start making daily improvements" - Lewis Howes.


Life is neither a pause button nor a pass it on batten.


It is by its very nature and the word indicates is lively and in motion.


One has to seek and to see the meaning of life from its very source or center while living and also simultaneously learn to look at and to lift up the existing meaning of life to subtler realms.


It is something similar to what VIVIAN GORNICK writes, “You have to learn to write from the very center and to have the courage to look at that center".


Make your life like what SHEL SILVERSTEIN says, "Make it so good and so clear that it doesn't need any further explanation."


And feel like what Douglas Adams says, "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be".




So, move ahead with a firm hope for change for the better.


"Once we choose hope, everything is possible"-Christopher Reeve.


"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known"— Carl Sagan.


It is obvious fact that in all domains of life many things emerge as an aspect of evolution without our active participation or plan.


We cannot plan for everything in life nor live to merely to plan.


At the same time we cannot afford to be passive spectators with fatalistic attitude that things emerge because they are destined to be so.


We need to also voluntarily, consciously and actively work towards creating a meaningful life on a daily basis.


The present generation is already realizing the comparative utility and inutility of most of the factors.



Let us not get over addicted to or affiliated to anything as if that is going to be something of everlasting importance.

Even if it were really so, none of us so are going to last forever.

We all must remember that everything and everyone is temporary, only permanent thing being there will be variations in the duration of existence and longevity.


There is no single philosophy which can explain or fix all issues concerning human life and the life of all other species.

Everyone needs his/ her own space and time to spend every day.

Ingratitude and betrayal are not just emotional aberrations or shot comings but are unique psychological crimes because both the victim and consciousness of the perpetrator are inflicted.


The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. ~


"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are." - Niccolo Machiavelli


"One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody." - Mother Teresa

There is a peacefulness that comes with discovering your passion for writing. Even though it may be hard, you know this is what you are meant to be doing. -Joy
Harper Lee


So, what are certain factors that we must be aware, at least with regard to what is happening around the world and look at them beyond and besides the prisms and prisons of main stream media so that we get to know facts and not mere opinion coated versions of issues and events.

Fortunately, the internet offers a whole lot of such websites and blogs.

I have selected some 60 of them followed by some 40 plus mix of positive quotes to counter the excess of negativity that main stream media peddles every day and thought provoking contents to counter the prosaic redundant sermons and pontifications and lot of book suggestions.



















          6. The following site gives insight into Mass Media’s Manipulations and probable manipulators











A media figure doesn’t have to show up for a business meeting in an open bathrobe to do harm. He can help frame the coverage of a candidate’s supposedly disqualifying flaws. He can squelch a writer’s promising work. He can threaten an underling’s job if she doesn’t stay in line. All these little moments add up.





Especially in these wild and unpredictable times, it is important to talk about the concept of fluid intelligence in relation to the ability to expand our awareness. Fluid intelligence has little to do with IQ or "book" intelligence. It is rather the ability to step outside of our beliefs and consider information which does not fit into our previously accepted view of reality.
Our deepest beliefs and conceptions about life and the world are to some degree conditioned by our childhood experiences, our education, the mass media, and various other external influences. An individual's level of fluid intelligence can be determined based on the degree to which he or she is able to let go of previously held conceptions on encountering reliable information or experiences which show these conceptions to be mistaken or overly simplistic.



In reality, all of us play the victim and all of us play the creator at various points in our lives. Yet few people realize just how much choice we have in which role we play at any given time. One person, on losing a j   ob or a special relationship, may feel as if it is the end of the world and sink into terrible suffering for months, years, or even a lifetime. Another with the same experience may choose to first experience the grief, yet t    hen accept the loss and in a relatively short amount of time move on to be a powerful creative force in their life. In every moment and every circumstance, we can choose to play an active role in creating our own .
Choosing to Create a Life Filled With Joy and Meaning
By choosing to see and inspire the creator not only in yourself, but in all you meet, you can create powerful transformation in your life and world. If you have spent a lot of time in victim mode, it may not be easy to make the shift, but it is entirely possible. By exploring your core challenges and working to transform them, and by consistently choosing to stop the need to place blame and instead take responsibility for how you interpret your life, you can make the shift.
None of us is perfect. We all have made and will continue to make mistakes and bad choices in our lives. When we fail, there is no need to blame ourselves or anyone else. We can choose to simply accept that we didn't do what we had intended and then work to understand why, so that we might do better the next time. Notice when you find yourself blaming yourself or others. Then stop for a moment. Take a look inside and ask, is it really empowering you to place blame, even if you believe it is very well deserved? Is this really how you want to live, or is there something better and more fulfilling? There will most certainly be times where you slip back into your old victim ways. But by continually reminding yourself of your intention to be a creator, you can transform your life

















13. WRONG PROJECTIONS








































































36. Two way impact



37. Objective truth



38. Poetry of science and the importance of mathematics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RExQFZzHXQ

























61. 7 Thought-Provoking Short Films You Can Watch Now For Free Online – Collective Evolution






62. Books of the Year 2018 | The TLS contributors decide



63. 24 of the best podcasts for curious minds in 2018 | WIRED UK





64. Libraries





65. An Optimist’s Guide to Political Correctness | Moot | Thoughts...Provoking Debate





66. Articles | Moot | Thoughts...Provoking Debate

67. 46 Most Intellectually Stimulating Sites That Will Spark Your Inner Genius in 10 Minutes a Day





68. The best business books of 2018 – Business Insider Singapore





69. Words we loved: Journal staff share their favourite books of 2018 – Edmonton Journal





70. 52 Existential Questions - Deep, thought-provoking questions.





71. 9 thought-provoking books that every doctor should read | Medmastery





72. Issues & Controversies | Infobase





73. Are You A Spiritual Narcissist? – Collective Evolution





74. great paintings 20+ NEW Illustrations That Highlight The Harsh Realities Of Modern Society – Collective Evolution





75. Stories



76, 7 Thought-Provoking Blogs That'll Take Your Thinking To The Next Level





77. 18 Thought-Provoking Quotes From Convening Leaders 2018 - PCMA.org







78. The 50 Best Tech Blogs You Should Read in 2018 / Detailed.com





79. 10 Thought-Provoking Quotes from TEDxDayton 2018





80. Opinion | Small-Town America Is Dying. How Can We Save It? - The New York Times




81. The Power of Drama/Movies - KSInfo



82. Great articles



83. 18 Thought-Provoking Questions that Will Free Your Mind in 2018



84. Most Popular Articles of 2018 (So Far) - Behavioral Scientist







85. Best non-fiction books of 2018 - Marginal REVOLUTION





86. Best Books of 2018





87. Lit Hub's Favorite Books of 2018 | Literary Hub





88. Best of 2018: the most thought-provoking books the Vox staff read – Vox





89. 50 Mind-Blowing Things That Have Happened This Year Already



90. Alphabetic list of theories





91. . Alphabetic list of theories



92 .Best of 2018 : Longreads





93.GDP and beyond







94.. Top 101 Economics & Finance Blogs (2018)







95. Amanda Spielman's speech at the Association for Science Education Annual Conference 2018 - GOV.UK





96.. Edge.org







97. Psychology Research Paper Topics: 50+ Great Ideas







98. 100 Notable Books of 2018 - The New York Times







99. Creative Ideas That Worked in 2018, From The New York Times to Nike | Muse by Clio





100. 509 Informative Speech Ideas [Updated 2018





101.  - We're on a mission to spread important ideas and change minds



102. 580 Inspirational Quotes That Will Make 2019 Your Best Year Ever





103. The 8 Best Motivational Quotes From Commencement Speeches in 2018 | Inc.com