Sometimes I get tired and retreat into a safe echo-chamber where everything will agree with me. On that note, I downloaded The Black Swan and bought a paper copy of The Bed of Procrustes.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but The Black Swan seems dated and overly reliant on Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow.
I will share some gems from The Bed of Procrustes when I am done, but for the most part it doesn’t have the insight porn quality that I was looking for.
On another note, I noticed some autumnal waistline creep and decided that I should take measures.
During a moment of intense boredom with a hint of sadness, I complained that had I not been watching what I eat, I could have had a chocolaty pick-me-up, alas I am on a diet, so I will just sit here and be sad.
I was and am fully aware of how pathetic that is, but I figured sharing my feelings is better than comfort eating.
The reason I am sharing with you now is the response I got, which was:
How will food make it better?
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
I guess normally I would have said, it would make me feel better. However, I was just after writing an essay on appearance vs reality in Macbeth and the idea that the reality won’t be better crystallised for me.
The world weighs a little heavier since that realisation, but maybe I won’t.
A millennial's musings 
Taleb’s Bed of Procrustes was lackluster to say the least; playing off his celeb for Swan, no doubt. (Swan: outliers will shiv you in the pit of the night.) I do love the imagery of the actual Bed of Procrustes – Theseus and the innkeeper and all that. Trying to shove per-ordained assumptions into a rigid form. Nix that.
Re: food and holidays and all that, bah! Find a mate and go for a walk, and another and another. Must be good trekking there in Dublin.
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Yeah, it’s fascinating how much of a letdown it was. And he repeats himself shamelessly. There is really no point in reading all his books. It’s like reading the Economist cover to cover (tu-dum-tshhhhh)
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“During a moment of intense boredom with a hint of sadness.’ A great line that resonates. Which is exactly how I feel before I sit down to blog. I’ve already given up food for whiskey, which is why I refuse to download your chart. Just sayin’ I am Irish, for what it’s worth. The “F” stands for Finnegan. And thanks to James Joyce, I have big shoes to fill.
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Very good! I guess you’re not based in Ireland?
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Nope.
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I love the term “insight porn,” did you invent that?
With regard to food, it is the case that the foundation of all of our society is food. The sharing of food (and sex) are fundamental to us needing one another. Back when food storage was extremely difficult, we shared the food be gathered/hunted with others and they then were obligated to share back. We basically used other humans as food storage. Relationships were based upon the quantity and quality of the food and sex shared.
Of course, agriculture messed up all of this, creating the first wealth and poverty at the very same time (which it continues to do).
We think food is ordinary, and it is … and it is incredibly powerful.
Happy holidays, my friend!
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I believe Sarah coined the term http://theviewfromhell.blogspot.ie/2012/09/trying-to-see-through-unified-theory-of.html Let me know what you think of her
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And you are so right. Only as another super-blogger, The Last Psychiatrist said, “Shame over guilt; rage over anger; masturbation over sex; envy over greed; your future over your past but her past over her future…” I would add to that, eating alone over eating together
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I say, simply: Hate Thyself. People who don’t manage to be annoying and achieve nothing – all at the same time. 😀
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Ok Mr art dealer, you have me a lil confused 🤷♀️
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Contrary to what most believe, self loathing is a good thing. It’s a catalyst to success 😀
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That’s a refreshing thought in the age of compulsory positivity.
I guess like any advice is has to be adjusted by a persons baseline tendency to self-loath.
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