Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Social Animal - David Brooks (This is the Happiest Story You've Ever Read)

I have been waiting for this day for over a year, today The Social Animal came out of the closet. I have started reading it , this the best book of the year (yeah, I am biased and I don't care!!). This is the happiest story you've ever read because it's a story about TWO people (no one makes it alone, no one - period). This book is about unconscious mind, emotions (thank you, Damasio) and a call against cognitive fluency. 

"If the outer mind highlights the power of individual, the inner mind highlights the power of relationships and the invisible bonds between two people. If the outer mind hungers for status, money, and applause, the inner mind hungers for harmony and connection - those moments when self-consciousness fades away and a person is lost in a challenge, a cause, the love of another or the love of God.

If you ignore the surges of love and fear, loyalty and revulsion the course through us every second of everyday, you are ignoring the most essential realm. You are ignoring the processes that determine what we want; how we perceive the world; what drives us forward; and what holds us back."


Brooks wrote yet another brilliant column covering the premise of this book without even mentioning his book:

"
Over the past few decades, we have tended to define human capital in the narrow way, emphasizing I.Q., degrees, and professional skills. Those are all important, obviously, but this research illuminates a range of deeper talents, which span reason and emotion and make a hash of both categories:
Attunement: the ability to enter other minds and learn what they have to offer.
Equipoise: the ability to serenely monitor the movements of one’s own mind and correct for biases and shortcomings.
Metis: the ability to see patterns in the world and derive a gist from complex situations.
Sympathy: the ability to fall into a rhythm with those around you and thrive in groups.
Limerence: This isn’t a talent as much as a motivation. The conscious mind hungers for money and success, but the unconscious mind hungers for those moments of transcendence when the skull line falls away and we are lost in love for another, the challenge of a task or the love of God. Some people seem to experience this drive more powerfully than others."

No comments: