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I stopped reading halfway through. The plot no longer makes sense to me, and the author has started to lean more to the eroticism genre in some instances. There are chapters where the plot stagnates, and we're left with cliches monologs of an author attempting to improvise a prescient and selfless hero. In doing so, we end up with an irrational contradictory character.

I heard book 6 is worth the read.

This book is a gem (so far). I find myself highlighting every other paragraph. More importantly, I can relate with and elaborate almost every point made.

The missionaries need to convert the red man who believes in archaic and satanic gospel... or was he? it turns out the native man was more religious than the christian and believed in a Great Spirit that transcends the material world. He had his own prophets who taught him how his value is in how he can perfect himself and be of help to the vulnerable. Most importantly, everyone is free to choose what to believe.

Basically, it is a **concentrate** of all the things that a self-aware procrastinator knows but does not want to hear, with no added sugar.
First, it starts with defining and identifying what procrastination is, an unconscious habit and a way of seeing life that discounts the passage of time. Then, it teaches you how to "sense" when your procrastination is being triggered, usually a fear of failure or uncertainty.

flow conditions:
- define clear goal
- the goal should be meaningful
- the goal should be at the edge of your abilities
flow consequences: satisfaction, fulfillment, more sociale. calmer, deeper.
accumulated lack of sleep impairs your abilities.
During sleep, the brain is rewired after learning to more things to long-term memory and link distinct regions, which affects creativity.

للحضارة العربية نزعتها الإنسانية التي تختلف في مصدرها وتجلياتها عن تلك الخاصة بالحضارة الغربية. وأخطأ من قال أنه لا نزعة إنسانية عند العرب، لأنهم بحثوا عليها إنطلاقا من تأثير الفلسفة اليونانية والسفسطائية.
ومن خصائص النزعة الإنسانية: 1- مصدر التقويم هو الإنسان (ككل وليس أفرادا معينين)، ثم 2- تقديس بالعقل ورد كل المعرفة إليه.

- within us is a force that makes it possible to focus for long stretches and enjoy it, and it makes us happier and healthier if only we create the right circumstances to let it flow.

- B.F Skinner "manipulative" (reinforce habits via rewards) psychology vs Mihaly's "positive" (meaningful activities) psychology

" I felt like everywhere I went, I was surrounded by people who were broadcasting but not receiving. Narcissism, it occurred to me, is a corruption of attention—it’s where your attention becomes turned in only on yourself and your own ego. I don’t say this with any sense of superiority. I am embarrassed to describe what I realized in that week that I missed most about the web."

I've started reading this book after a short video from AJ+ that mentioned it. it turned out they've probablyn't read the book.
I've already read the book "Hooked" by Nir Eyal, but I was unable to extract any practical advice, or at least remember it.
10% in this book, there are many stories and conversations with experts from which many practical solutions could be taken. However, they don't clearly show up.

Book 1: neither ideas nor principles are innate.
I'm into deep doubts whether this idea deserves the trouble of being refuted. Most importantly, what is "understanding"? The author has clearly defined his target and the path he ought to take to reach it. Yet, the main keyword has yet to be explained. We shall frivolously await such a task to be fulfilled in the upcoming readings.

it's getting depressing... "Do not try to change reality. You have to face it, live with it" time and time again

"I have mentioned mathematics as a way to settle in the mind a habit of reasoning closely and in train ; not that I think it necessary that all men should be deep mathematicians, but that having got the way of reasoning, which that study necessarily brings the mind to, they might be able to transfer it to other parts of knowledge as they shall have occasion."