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Kant
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 5, 2024
If you’re a young guy or gal, and you have never previously read many books, the Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman says you may be languishing in a dearth of Heuristics.
Run that one by me again?
OK, try this:
Quite simply, a heuristic is an experiential Benchmark - a Tool for making a Judgement about new experiences or tasks that arise in your life.
Older people, having been around the block many more times, have a greater variety of heuristics in their lives, and so analytical judgements will generally be a snap for them - providing their minds are healthy.
Kahneman calls that Thinking Fast.
Now, when you run out of heuristics (as everyone indeed will), you slog out the problem methodically and logically.
That’s Thinking Slow.
So the more you read, with close attention - relating the book to your own life - the more correct snap judgements you’ll make. That will help you in Every aspect of life.
But what are the nuts and bolts that DRIVE your thinking, that in turn will benefit from book-knowledge? This little book will help you uncover them...
***
I drove my poor Dad to distraction in 1968, sitting in the back seat of our ‘62 Ford Comet while he was driving, and trying to give him - and my longsuffering siblings - the straight goods on what I’d learned from Stephen Korner’s insights.
And, know what? I had learned an Enormous amount from this learned man!
For Korner gave me an ontological map of my brain.
Cause in reading this book I had learned how, in order for us to think, meditate or muse, our brain has to Automatically Pre-Organize every bit of salient data into digestible bits.
No, this is not a bit like the medical discoveries of neurosurgery.
For the arguments Korner makes are all purely abstract.
They’re arguments for which you must “think against thinking,” in Heidegger’s words.
What you’re doing is looking at your very acts of thinking at an abstract remove WHILE you’re thinking. That’s hard.
Now get this! You see, what we have here in Kant is the brain THINKING ABOUT HOW IT ORGANIZES THOUGHT - but ONLY as the dense forest of our busy daily life and our lazy habitual mental energy permits.
And do you know how much attention THAT amounts to?
Precious little, in these days of being “distracted from distraction by distraction!”
Man is a rational animal, but not MANY of us can truly think rationally!
But Kant tries to fix that.
It’ll bamboozle you. It’ll baffle your imagination. And it will Drain your Brain of every ounce of energy, if you start.
But Oh, the Places You’ll Go (remember Dr Seuss?) - in your Insight.
And yes, I know nowadays our brains are even more channeled into ruinous but clearly-delineated ruts by endless hours of Google, TV and YouTube, and we likely will NEVER make ourselves think like dry old Kant.
But, you know, we’re missing out on a Radical New Way of clearing out our brain clutter -
AND FINALLY GETTING ALL OUR THOUGHTS STRAIGHT!
Run that one by me again?
OK, try this:
Quite simply, a heuristic is an experiential Benchmark - a Tool for making a Judgement about new experiences or tasks that arise in your life.
Older people, having been around the block many more times, have a greater variety of heuristics in their lives, and so analytical judgements will generally be a snap for them - providing their minds are healthy.
Kahneman calls that Thinking Fast.
Now, when you run out of heuristics (as everyone indeed will), you slog out the problem methodically and logically.
That’s Thinking Slow.
So the more you read, with close attention - relating the book to your own life - the more correct snap judgements you’ll make. That will help you in Every aspect of life.
But what are the nuts and bolts that DRIVE your thinking, that in turn will benefit from book-knowledge? This little book will help you uncover them...
***
I drove my poor Dad to distraction in 1968, sitting in the back seat of our ‘62 Ford Comet while he was driving, and trying to give him - and my longsuffering siblings - the straight goods on what I’d learned from Stephen Korner’s insights.
And, know what? I had learned an Enormous amount from this learned man!
For Korner gave me an ontological map of my brain.
Cause in reading this book I had learned how, in order for us to think, meditate or muse, our brain has to Automatically Pre-Organize every bit of salient data into digestible bits.
No, this is not a bit like the medical discoveries of neurosurgery.
For the arguments Korner makes are all purely abstract.
They’re arguments for which you must “think against thinking,” in Heidegger’s words.
What you’re doing is looking at your very acts of thinking at an abstract remove WHILE you’re thinking. That’s hard.
Now get this! You see, what we have here in Kant is the brain THINKING ABOUT HOW IT ORGANIZES THOUGHT - but ONLY as the dense forest of our busy daily life and our lazy habitual mental energy permits.
And do you know how much attention THAT amounts to?
Precious little, in these days of being “distracted from distraction by distraction!”
Man is a rational animal, but not MANY of us can truly think rationally!
But Kant tries to fix that.
It’ll bamboozle you. It’ll baffle your imagination. And it will Drain your Brain of every ounce of energy, if you start.
But Oh, the Places You’ll Go (remember Dr Seuss?) - in your Insight.
And yes, I know nowadays our brains are even more channeled into ruinous but clearly-delineated ruts by endless hours of Google, TV and YouTube, and we likely will NEVER make ourselves think like dry old Kant.
But, you know, we’re missing out on a Radical New Way of clearing out our brain clutter -
AND FINALLY GETTING ALL OUR THOUGHTS STRAIGHT!
February 22, 2025
Honestly this is a pretty bad introduction to Kant and his work.
The author does cover the main ideas and concepts, but doesn’t give them the weight they deserve. I honestly think that if you’re interested in reading Kant, read his works (not works about it).
I’d start with “critique of reason” and then do “on the groundwork’s of metaphysics”.
This book mentions both of the aforementioned works, but doesn’t explain them properly.
I also don’t agree entirely with Kants retributivist philosophy but that doesn’t mean his works are bad.
If you are interested in the mindset surrounding retributivist ideas, just read Kants actual works. The language may be hard to follow at times but it is SO much better than this book gives it credit.
The author does cover the main ideas and concepts, but doesn’t give them the weight they deserve. I honestly think that if you’re interested in reading Kant, read his works (not works about it).
I’d start with “critique of reason” and then do “on the groundwork’s of metaphysics”.
This book mentions both of the aforementioned works, but doesn’t explain them properly.
I also don’t agree entirely with Kants retributivist philosophy but that doesn’t mean his works are bad.
If you are interested in the mindset surrounding retributivist ideas, just read Kants actual works. The language may be hard to follow at times but it is SO much better than this book gives it credit.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews