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Staying Alive: The Psychology of Human Survival
Discusses how to overcome the psychological barriers to the solution of world problems such as pollution, poverty, and nuclear weapons
124 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 1984
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39 people want to read
About the author
Roger Walsh
30 books31 followersDr. Roger N. Walsh, MD, Ph.D., is an Australian professor of Psychiatry, Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, within UCI's College of Medicine. Walsh is respected for his views on psychoactive drugs and altered states of consciousness in relation with the religious/spiritual experience, and has been quoted in the media regarding psychology, spirituality, and the medical effects of meditation.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 10, 2018
We were fortunate to travel in the same group as Roger Walsh for ten days earlier this year, during which we got to know each other to know that we liked each other very much, and wished that the Pacific Ocean between us was not so very wide.
Thoughtful, kind, concerned for the present and future of the world, Roger’s work in psychiatry now focuses on wellbeing – what it is, how to achieve it in individual lives and in wider society.
After we returned home, Roger sent us two copies of this early book. One I have already passed on to circle through friends and family, the other we are keeping for ourselves.
Although he wrote it over 30 years ago (publ. 1984), its themes are just as relevant as they were then, though the immediate issues vary (climate change, for instance, was not as obvious a threat then as it is now).
His essential argument is that the state of the world, dire as it is, reflects our state of mind – greed, fear, suspicion lead to aggression and defensiveness and go round in cycles.
He urges us to work in our own lives to choose our thoughts, images and beliefs in our own lives, citing the Buddhist mantra:
We are what we think.
All we are arises with our thoughts,
With our thoughts we make the world.
Or, to put it in blunter language: We are what we think, what we say and what we do.
He advocates reducing threats and condemnation, encouraging honest, ethical behaviour, recognising that people in many cultures in many parts of the world share similar problems, doing what we can to contribute to a psychologically positive approach in our lives and the lives of those with whom we come in contact.
I read this pretty much at the same time as Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, whose view that if the dominant culture doesn't suit you, create your own subculture, resonated deeply with me. The two books fit together very nicely.
Thoughtful, kind, concerned for the present and future of the world, Roger’s work in psychiatry now focuses on wellbeing – what it is, how to achieve it in individual lives and in wider society.
After we returned home, Roger sent us two copies of this early book. One I have already passed on to circle through friends and family, the other we are keeping for ourselves.
Although he wrote it over 30 years ago (publ. 1984), its themes are just as relevant as they were then, though the immediate issues vary (climate change, for instance, was not as obvious a threat then as it is now).
His essential argument is that the state of the world, dire as it is, reflects our state of mind – greed, fear, suspicion lead to aggression and defensiveness and go round in cycles.
He urges us to work in our own lives to choose our thoughts, images and beliefs in our own lives, citing the Buddhist mantra:
We are what we think.
All we are arises with our thoughts,
With our thoughts we make the world.
Or, to put it in blunter language: We are what we think, what we say and what we do.
He advocates reducing threats and condemnation, encouraging honest, ethical behaviour, recognising that people in many cultures in many parts of the world share similar problems, doing what we can to contribute to a psychologically positive approach in our lives and the lives of those with whom we come in contact.
I read this pretty much at the same time as Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, whose view that if the dominant culture doesn't suit you, create your own subculture, resonated deeply with me. The two books fit together very nicely.
July 27, 2020
This has been sitting on my shelves for quite some time. It still resonates today. Substitute in racism or climate change in addition to military prowess. To deal with ongoing issues need to look inward and outward, need to work on symptoms and root causes.
September 18, 2019
Vintage but still good!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews