How much can we ‘compress’ wisdom? Are there general lessons that we can infer from history? from the intersections between different thinkers from around the world? Is there such a thing as ‘the greatest ideas of all time?
This post compiles ideas from 4 key books to reflect on history, philosophy, Wisdom and the applicability to our work and every day life.
The World’s Wisdom : “How The World Thinks” and the journey across perspectives
Baggini’s “How the World Thinks” is an amazing journey and a very ambitious work. I picked this book up from a small library in Frankfurt as a souvenir, partly because the cover looked really beautiful.. I was (very pleasantly) surprised by the scope covered by the writer and his ability to assimilate so much knowledge around these themes.
The book has 4 major parts :
- How the World Knows
- How the World Is
- Who In the World Are We
- How the World Lives
And they are all thoughtful and exciting. To my mind, the elegance and beauty stands in contrast to the overrated blandness of the much-hyped Sapiens…
Highlights from: “How the World Thinks”
My copy is full of highlights and folded pages, because every chapter has many valuable lessons and reflections. Here are a few (short, easier to copy) highlights from the book:
- Did Confucius shape the Chinese mind, or did the Chinese mind shape Confucius?
- “Words are for meaning. When you’ve got the meaning, you can forget the words” (Zhuangzi)
- It has been said that everything good, but more usually bad, about Western culture, can be found at McDonald’s.
- Questions from the conclusion of ‘how the world is ‘ :
- is metaphysics dead?
- what about phenomenology?
- how much can physics say?
- is philosophy the leader of the sciences?
- Intimacy vs Integrity are two directions in defining the self (Identity). The self is usually relational, but also atomized.
- A koan :
Kyozan Ejaku asked Sansho Enen : “What’s your name?”Sansho said : “Ejako”
“Ejaku!” replied Kyozan, “That’s my name!”
“Well then”, said Sansho, “my name is Enen”
Kyozan roared with laughter..