Clojurians Log v2

there’s this documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg4OCeSTL08

@bg got me into the whole dune universe

😋 👍🏾

my computer is called arrakas

and if I get a fish… I’ll call it leto

if the fish was male

> I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

i love, love, love this

😃

amazing stuff

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3634639-dune

there’s so much knowledge in those books

big time

“The mind commands the body and it obeys. The mind orders itself and meets resistance.”

i've been doing a lot of reading on brain / mind topics

bg talked about the 3 types of sci-fi - technology as the prime focus (star trek), adventure as the prime focus (star wars) and society/politics (dune)

the best type being dune

because it’s timeless

basically these, plus a couple more http://www.insidequest.com/toms-reading-list/

because even though there is technology, it’s not the main focus

oooh

which one do you recommend/

the top one is the fundamental one

mindset

I’m reading this myself:

https://www.amazon.com/Start-up-Nation-Israels-Economic-Miracle/dp/0446541478

cool

fixed vs growth mindset. once you discover your fixed mindsets and work on adopting growth mindsets instead, then you open to relentless learning and being willing to work hard on the things you want

there’s some really nice ones on that list

I’ve read 12 and 13

"the talent code" is great because you learn why you can't avoid deliberate, deep practice to build a skill

basically, myelin 🙂

it's a fantastic list. Tom's basic idea is that innovation and creativity comes from combining existing ideas. so ideas in, new ideas out

hahaha… I need a book that says… take this pill to learn a new language

hence the extreme learning focus -- read a LOT

-grin-

just googled myelin

but yes

I find that we really need to know what drives us

myelin is what actually builds a skill, by wrapping neural circuits as you repeatedly trigger them. more layers = faster, stronger signals on those circuits

cool

you trigger them by doing the thing, but at the limit of your capability

it's fascinating. i agree, we definitely need to know. the reason why mindset is at the top of list, is because it's vital to know and believe that you can change what drives you

I find that the thing that gets me down is fatigue

it's a decision

so how do we make the right decisions/

?

that leads to the second most important thing: having a goal

@robert-stuttaford: what was the first important thing?

because then the primary guidance for decision making can be "is this moving me towards my goals, or away from them?"

having a "growth" mindset, rather than a "fixed" mindset

@robert-stuttaford: how do you know if your goal is good and how long should you stick to the goal?

if you believe you can grow the skills you need, and know what you want to use those skills for, what remains is energy and attention management

that's a fantastic question 🙂

@robert-stuttaford: the question is born from experience 😉

there's a great book for that question -- so good they can't ignore you, by cal newport

i should caveat everything i'm saying here; i'm trying all of this on, i don't know if it's right 🙂

the usual disclaimer, heh

@robert-stuttaford: I had one goal for 2015 and got a lot of motivation from it. Then changed my goal in 2016 to a different topic, but it didn't work out. Returning to the 2015 goal.

@robert-stuttaford: I think you have to feel intuitively or from a flow of energy of the goal is really still valid, or something

@robert-stuttaford: there is probably no recipe for it, but trying too hard can be a trap also. Things have to work out at the right moment, with your cooperation.

yes, all great points

it all gets very zen at some point, because the answer, ultimately, is whatever you end up doing 🙂

I'm writing down the title of that book, but the list is getting big 🙂

-grin-

there is no reading list, there is only reading hash-tag-zen

😃

I like this channel

hehe

Eckhart Tolle said: if you have to choose between your head or your body (when something is not clear) choose for the body.

I think in retrospective I could have made better choices when I would have applied that.

it’s a good refuge from `(->> (update-in blah [:key] do-stuff) (reduce-kv some-function list-of-things))`

yeah, michael, this is what i like about mindfulness practice; you get back into your body

so many years i've treated my body as a way to move my head around

TIL about reduce-kv

I think I used that function exactly once in some project.

it’s useful… but now I’m sorry I brought it up 😂

@robert-stuttaford: is mindfulness a buddhist thing?

@zcaudate: mindfulness is something that can be found in all religions, it's just a practice

it's a core part of their teaching, yeah, but i don't think they can claim ownership

@zcaudate: for example The Order of Saint Benedict is very much mindful

buddhism directly relates mindfulness to a broader mental model for learning to befriend yourself

I always wonder what people think about when they are being mindful

it's not a thinking, it's an observing

for me these days, I start to nod off and fall asleep when I meditate and then I start dreaming

@zcaudate: I think it means doing one thing well, like a good unix command line tool or clojure function 😉

being the space for a phenomenon while being aware that you are being the space for the phenomenon

so it’s an action

or the act of observing the action

there's a book (i say this a lot 🙂 ) - http://www.shambhala.com/how-to-train-a-wild-elephant.html - which is great for tackling this idea of mindfulness being something you have to 'do'

it's more of a quality of mind while you do whatever it is you would usually do

doing so with awareness and intention and -- if possible, non-judgment

this book has lots of nice little practices, such as using your non-dominant hand, to force your attention into the present moment

see for me, I feel that awareness is just the feedback loop

I feel that integrity is what we should be working towards

brb work meeting 🙂

and awareness helps that

My colleague just started sitting in meditation posture on his office chair... don't know if he is aware of this conversation 😉

but being aware purely for the sake of it… I tend to see it has being a little selfish

@zcaudate: doing/being more mindful benefits all beings

I believe that mindfulness can be used to achieve harmony

but the goal is harmony

just do it for the sake of doing it, the benefits will follow

it’s a hard sell though

most people these days are like… show me the money

more money, more responsibility 😉

yeah

tell me about it

I would like to think that I’m more mature because I practised this and that

but I’m finding that age automagically solves a lot of the problems of youth

for no reason at all

well, becoming older means you have practiced life a lot more 😉

maybe it’s because we don’t give a fuck as much as we did as we were younger

but I’m really enjoying getting older

well, sometimes I wish I wouldn't give a fuck like I did when I was younger

but I'm glad it's working out for you 🙂

hahaha

same same 😃

anyways… back to work...

thanks for the conversation

likewise