The world is infinitely complex.
The more we understand it, the more we can navigate it freely in our lives: choose our destinations, the rhythm of the trip, the emotions it brings, the people on board…
To perceive the complexity of the world, it is essential to be humble.
If I accept that I am globally incompetent in one area, then I can open up and listen to more competent people. Researcher Gloria Flores illustrates this principle in her book "Learning to Learn and the Navigation of Moods: The Meta-Skill for the Acquisition of Skills". She made adults play World of Warcraft, and she found out that one of the major barrier in their learning curve was the frustration of being incompetent. Instead of humbly accepting that they had no skills in the game (that's normal, it was their first time playing!), players were doing their best to appear strong, even if it meant making their team lose or lying to their colleagues. Lack of humility was a barrier to learning and listening, and prevented them from getting out of their comfort zone.
Once one accepts without judgment that one is, on the whole, ignorant and incompetent, then one can listen more competent individuals and learn. I am not only talking about technical skills, but also psychological, philosophical and social knowledge that can be used in one's daily life to improve one's life.
I can't count the number of books that have had a huge impact on my life. I can cite the first examples that come to mind:
- Joe Navarro (former FBI agent) immediately changed the way I perceive people's non-verbal language. Ever since I read his book, I have been observing people's lower bodies when they speak, because it is the part of the body that betrays what we really think the most.
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb (a former trader and professor at New York University) gave me a better understanding of the probability of an improbable event occurring, and the impact of that probability on the economy and society.
- Seneca (Roman philosopher) helped me to better detach myself from life's problems and to understand that they are not really problems. This philosophy helped me to make decisions (that I thought were) crucial (but were not really).
Thus, in recent years I have read dozens of books that contain the essence of what scholars, researchers and professionals have learned over the course of their lives. Reading these books with humilityis a direct dialogue with these people, and a simple way I think to improve one's life.
I understand that not everyone has as much time to read all these books. That's why , with this blog, I would like to share what I have learned.
I hope it will help you appreciate the thoughts of the authors I will present, and I hope it will help guide you in your (potential (future)) reading.
Have fun,
Thibaut Ehlinger