Hey reddit, I've got a challenge for you.
I (M22) am doing a phone detox. Not touching it for a month.
I really don't read too much, but I really want to. So far, the books I've read and enjoyed are 1984, All quiet on the Western Front, The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm and some biographies.
I'd like to read about philosophy in an easy way. I've tried books from my parents collection before, but somehow they seem to old for me. Not the setting but rather the writing style. I don't mind fiction, but I want to learn something from a book. Either real knowledge or something more abstract, like self-help or a new philosophy on life. Books about easily implemented exercise or meditation could be interesting too. If that knowledge is presented through fiction I don't mind it, as a matter of fact it might actually be better.
I guess I'm just in a part of my life where I want to find out more stuff about myself, and be able to improve myself physically and spiritually if that makes sense.
Thanks in advance
by Fatcockpewdiepie
4 Comments
Robert Fulghum – All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten
I mean … not touching your phone for a whole month? That’s a little extreme. What about talking to your friends and stuff? Sounds like it could get lonely. You might want to start a little slower, restricting yourself from apps you waste too much time on. A digital diet, not a digital fast. But it’s good that you’re trying reading!
That said … while the protagonist of this story is a 14 y/o female, I think this story would be a really good place to start – it touches on most of the major western philosophical influencers but in a narrative way. I might suggest reading it and then following up by reading the philosophers whose ideas interest you as you read the book. It’s called *Sophie’s World*.
“One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?” From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.”
*Fully Present* (Susan Smalley and Diana Winston) might be a good pick. It’s written by a mindfulness teacher and a cognitive scientist discussing some of the science and practice of mindfulness meditation. Would probably be a good pick on multiple fronts (proximal and distal): 1) you’ll learn some interesting stuff about mindfulness in general, and 2) a mindfulness practice is likely to be helpful in your goal to change your relationship with your devices.
Cold-Blooded Kindness by Barbara Oakley