Irrational man ...

Stuart Sutherland 1992 book "Irrationality" explores the vast areas of irrational thinking omnipresent in human judgments and decisions. Sutherland was professional psychologist, hence the book is not a set of novel-like digressions about human nature. It is scientifically grounded analysis of sources of our mistakes and misconceptions. For example, it explains how skin-deep obedience, false conformity, biased impressions or communal follies bring disaster to many organisation, from army units (he comes back to the Pearl Harbour attack) through government organisations to business organisations. Some of the examples he gives are just hilarious...

There is a lot about medicine and irrationality there, about false diagnosis that can lead to death and about modern superstitions that still pervade the popular medicine (like homeopathy).

The book is full of examples, explanations and recommendations - how to avoid the irrational thinking in our life. The true goal of the book is - of course - the promotion of true and well based rationality!

Every chapter of the books end with a "moral" - a digest of the chapter content in a form of few most important "sententia".

See some of these "morals":

1. Never base a judgement or decision on a single case, no matter how striking.


2. In forming an impression of a person (or object) try to break your judgement down into his (or its) separate qualities without letting any strikingly good or bad qualities influence your opinion about the remainder. This may seem cold, but it is important in situations, such as interviews or medical diagnoses based on a range of symptoms, where the judgement may seriously affect the person being judged.


3. When exposed to connected material, suspend judgement until the end: try to give as much weight to the last item as the first.


4. Try to avoid obtaining information that would bias you: for example, in judging whether an article or a book should be published, remain ignorant of the author’s name until you have formed your own opinion of the work.
   

Reading this book is a must for all decision-makers...

And, last but not least - it is also beautifully written - so you read it as a good novel :-)

The Unconscious Religiousness and the Men's Search for Ultimate Meaning

Victor Emil Frankl was one of the greatest psychiatrist/neurologist/philosopher of XX century. He was Holocaust survivor - prisoner of numerous concentrations camps, including Auschwitz, where his mother and brother were killed.

The book: "Men's Search for Ultimate Meaning" is his last book, for some it is a sequel to "Men's Search for Meaning" but it is rather his "credo" - and is based on his Ph.D. dissertation.
The book's main theme is the refutation of reductionism approach to human mind. In simple words he shows us that the human mind is a unique, irreductible phenomenon.
The ultimate force that drives human person, is according to Frankl, is its search for meaning,which in fact is a search of ultimate meaning, i.e. the search for transcendence.

The book has some great passages and amazing chapters. In one of them: "Unconscious Religiousness" Frankl shows how modern psychoanalysis (existential analysis) reveals the level of human mind - where the unconscious presence of transcendence becomes predominant...

There are also great passages about human love, freedom and responsibility.
He devotes a large part of the book to the problem of "existential vacuum" - the feeling of meaninglessness, that dominates our culture.

Across the book there is a lot of references to love and to its unique importance in human life. His words are stunning expression of the effort to humanize the sexual part of our life. Once we understand, that the sexual life is not a goal in itself (as it exists in modern culture), and that it is ultimate mean to be with, to know your partner - there is no longer any problem with pornography, debauchery, untruthfulness, prostitution and all other plagues related to the intimate sphere of our lives.....

What is also very important - the book has scientific character, in many places you read the language of professional psychology and psychiatry - but, even if you are not of these professions - you have no problem with deep understanding of all ideas the author expressed there.