My book, Common Sense Versus Wisdom: A Guide to Emotional Control & Rational Thinking is available in paperback at alondrapress.com (once on the site, click "Book Store" and search for my book). It is also down-loadable for $5.00 to Kindles (amazon.com) or Nooks (barnesandnoble.com), or, using free apps found online (Kindle app is best), to just about any smart phone (iPhone, Android), tablet (e.g. iPad, Galaxy) or computer (PC or Mac). Along with my e-book, you will get several free e-books.
Questions in the video are at the end of this blog.
Preface
This book is about avoiding extremes of thought and belief and of emotions and behavior. More specifically, it is about avoiding religious, political and ideological extremes. It is about being rational when it comes to finances, health, and safety. It is about managing anger, love, frustrations, decisions and non-conscious motivations, including prejudices. It is about preparing to resist social influence forces that can cause people to obey an immoral order and fail to help someone in the throes of a catastrophe. You will learn about growing wiser as you grow older, how to share your passionate interests with your children and grandchildren, and how to leave a lasting legacy. You will learn to cope with the memory and cognitive deficits that accompany aging. You will learn that family is not everything, IQ is not all there is to intelligence and DNA is not destiny. You will learn why people are so obsessed with being beautiful, handsome and youthful, that friendship may be the most underrated of close relationships, and that selecting a partner for life is not what it seems to be. Most importantly, you will learn that the keys to contentment are optimism and altruism, looking to the future without neglecting the present or ignoring the lessons of the past, and always keeping an open mind. Jesus, Bob Dylan, Woody Allen, George Washington, Charles Darwin and recent work by dozens of psychologists contribute to the provision of solutions to these complicated human problems. To avoid footnotes and references lists, I have included enough information for readers to successfully search online for the articles and books upon which I have relied.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Table of Contents
Chapters
1: Turning Clouds into Sunshine
Accentuate the positive … eliminate the negative.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Looking for something good in something bad that has happened.
2: Relationships
I’m not getting any respect!
I know when you lie!
Woody Allen’s, Bob Dylan’s and Darwin’s theories of close relationships.
Selecting a mate: Is it all about beauty and handsomeness?
3. Thinking straight
Never say …
They did it. They said it. It happened to them. Or not …
The facts about George Washington.
I am certain that something or other is true or is going to happen.
How common is common sense?
Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
Seeing yourself in other people, creatures, and objects.
If it isn’t one thing it’s another.
Time: The fading past, the pressing present and the anticipated future.
4. Ointments for Irritants
Ah, politics … how we love to hate it.
Filibuster: How to get nothing done.
Avoid political extremes.
Doggone media!
Computers made less frustrating.
5. In good conscience
Guilt is good.
Support our troops.
Are humans doomed to be first and foremost self-interested?
6. Managing money
What did Jesus do about money lending?
When it’s time to invest in the market, it’s time to get rational.
Negotiate the price of pricy items.
7. Human foibles
Slips of the tongue and other non-conscious blunders.
I knew it all along!
Understanding anger and aggression.
Bystander apathy.
Whether to obey or to defy … which and why?
Why not curse?
8. Get wiser as you grow older
Growing older.
Remembering and forgetting.
Multitasking.
Leaving a legacy.
Making decisions.
9. Making the future bright for the children in you life
What’s smart and how can you help your children be smart?
In the future most children must graduate from high school and earn post-secondary degrees.
10. Saving your own life
Drive safely? Of course I do.
Medicine’s magic numbers, advice based on logic but no evidence, and searching for life-saving information while avoiding dogmatism.
Exercise and health.
Developing a long-term exercise program.
1: Turning Clouds into Sunshine
Accentuate the positive … eliminate the negative.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Looking for something good in something bad that has happened.
2: Relationships
I’m not getting any respect!
I know when you lie!
Woody Allen’s, Bob Dylan’s and Darwin’s theories of close relationships.
Selecting a mate: Is it all about beauty and handsomeness?
3. Thinking straight
Never say …
They did it. They said it. It happened to them. Or not …
The facts about George Washington.
I am certain that something or other is true or is going to happen.
How common is common sense?
Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
Seeing yourself in other people, creatures, and objects.
If it isn’t one thing it’s another.
Time: The fading past, the pressing present and the anticipated future.
4. Ointments for Irritants
Ah, politics … how we love to hate it.
Filibuster: How to get nothing done.
Avoid political extremes.
Doggone media!
Computers made less frustrating.
5. In good conscience
Guilt is good.
Support our troops.
Are humans doomed to be first and foremost self-interested?
6. Managing money
What did Jesus do about money lending?
When it’s time to invest in the market, it’s time to get rational.
Negotiate the price of pricy items.
7. Human foibles
Slips of the tongue and other non-conscious blunders.
I knew it all along!
Understanding anger and aggression.
Bystander apathy.
Whether to obey or to defy … which and why?
Why not curse?
8. Get wiser as you grow older
Growing older.
Remembering and forgetting.
Multitasking.
Leaving a legacy.
Making decisions.
9. Making the future bright for the children in you life
What’s smart and how can you help your children be smart?
In the future most children must graduate from high school and earn post-secondary degrees.
10. Saving your own life
Drive safely? Of course I do.
Medicine’s magic numbers, advice based on logic but no evidence, and searching for life-saving information while avoiding dogmatism.
Exercise and health.
Developing a long-term exercise program.
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