Recommended Books: Discussion

[SMM]

I lean towards a similar trend of thought. The problem for me is, on the intellectual aspect I'm kind of a hoarder, so that when I realized my potential weakness to NLP I went on a digital "raid" and obtained a variety of NLP reference books... which I haven't touched yet. I also have previously obtained many books from the Psychopathy, Narcissism and Cognitive Science subsections, all of which sit on my shelves, begging for my time and attention.

The core of my question was where I should focus my attention if my priority is to establish this subtype of mental hygiene, i.e. resilience in face of external manipulation/suggestion factors. Self-remembering and observing emotional/mental processes will clearly be vital, and I am frank enough to admit to myself that much more internal work remains to be done, but I think it makes sense to make a parenthesis in order to establish more specialized awareness of/against manipulation techniques.

If I do not receive any specific suggestions before I finish my current reading, my guess is that my next read will be the NLP Workbook by Joseph O'Connor with Thinking, Fast and Slow as a reading companion, and see where it goes.

I have similar disposition in regards to the intellect & wonder where my focus next should be to establish mental [& emotional] hygiene.
My current reading is alternating between Trapped in the Mirror, Wave: Through A Glass Darkly & Strangers to Ourselves. Thinking, Fast & Slow sounds like a good companion with NLP material, as well as the power of suggestion hypnotic or otherwise, in observing thought operations/systems taking place osit.

I read your post a couple of days ago and didn't intend to answer, but had, then, yesterday, two interactions with what I would call "narcisstic beings". In reflecting these interactions I found that narcissists seemingly try to manipulate you through your emotional center, whereas NLPers do the same through your intellectual center. I don't want to take up space here and it's a bit OT, just want to offer my thoughts.

Since you seem to have a "weak spot" for intellectual stuff (shooting into the dark here), you might indeed be quite susceptible for NLP manipulations: NLP was created to "reprogram" your thoughts and ways of thinking and people using it often come over as seemingly knowledgable and intellectually in control. Maybe this impressed you?

M.T.

From experience this makes sense but my reading into the Cognitive Science subsections is limited at the time. Does it follow that this impressionable state - in other words you're impressed by those who come over as seemingly knowledgeable & intellectually in control - trigger acquired emulation in thought processes?

 

[Mildain]

I am only able to find a few of those titles at my local library.. I guess i'll have to order the rest on amazon or elsewhere.

Going to pickup "Ultra Mind Solution" ; "Social Intelligence", "What makes your Brain happy", and "Myth of sanity". I might just pickup 2 of those titles one time because I can't read 4 books in 3 weeks...I'll get the rest after that. anyway, this area is kind of where I think I need to start. I do have a lot of issues being able to think straight, and have anti-social problems that makes it hard to network with anyone. I'll take a look at these books and see what I can learn.

Thanks for the list !

 

[Psalehesost]

I am only able to find a few of those titles at my local library.. I guess i'll have to order the rest on amazon or elsewhere.

That reminds me of something to mention in this thread for whoever it might help: If you don't mind getting books used, searching on bookfinder.com can list some cheap places to get them.

 

[Mildain]

Thanks. I'll add that site to my bookmarks.

:)

 

[Minas Tirith]

Does it follow that this impressionable state - in other words you're impressed by those who come over as seemingly knowledgeable & intellectually in control - trigger acquired emulation in thought processes?

Sorry for not answering your question, I didn't see your post until now.

This is a subjective experience, but I feel that the thought processes themselves are tampered with. Picture a narcissist manipulating your emotions and an NLP trained person with the way you think.

M.T.

 

[3DStudent]

Which version of Beelzebub's Tales do you guys have?
The one available on amazon is supposedly a revised edition and lacking 100 or so pages.

Originally written in Russian and Armenian, it has twice been translated into English:

* The original translation of 1238 pages, first published in 1950 by Harcourt, Brace & Company (New York); Routledge & Kegan Paul (London). Copyright 1950 by G. Gurdjieff. This translation was made under the personal direction of the author, by a group of translators chosen by him and specially trained according to their defined individualities. Later published in 1964 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., Library of Congress No. 50-5848. Again published in 1973 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. in paperback (3 volumes), SBN 0-525-47348-3, 0-525-47349-1, 0-525-47350-5. Then published in 1993 by Two Rivers Press. Again published in 1999 by Penguin Arkana, a paperback which contains correction of errata and insertion of two paragraphs omitted from page 568 of Chapter 32 "Hypnotism" in earlier editions.

There is also a Guide and Index available for the original translation published in 1971 by Traditional Studies Press, ISBN 0-919608-01-9, copyright Traditional Studies Press 1973. There’s also a Beelzebub Syllabus available for the original translation printed in 1996.

* A revised translation of 1135 pages, first published in 1992 by Arkana, an imprint of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc. Copyright Triangle Editions, Inc. 1992, ISBN 0-670-84125-0. This revision was begun on the initiative of Jeanne de Salzmann. The translation team included members of the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York, aided by members of the Gurdjieff Society (London) and the Institut Gurdjieff (Paris), as well as Triangle Editions.

A Page Correlation Table between the original 1950 and revised 1992 edition is available.

So is the version available on amazon the one to go with?

http://www.amazon.com/Beelzebubs-Tales-His-Grandson-Everything/dp/0140194738/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366565566&sr=8-1&keywords=beelzebub+tales

Yep, that's the one.

I haven't read Beelzebub, but I first bought that edited version which is 100 pages less and hardcover. I recently bought the "official" version as listed above. I'm guessing the edited version is pretty much "useless", because you want the most accurate version when it comes to something like a 4th Way text.

So I guess it would be best to give the book away to some used book store, or maybe sell it? Any thoughts on that?

 

[Mal7]

I don't think the revised edition is actually missing 100 pages, it just has more words fitted on to each page. For example, looking at page 4 in both editions, they both begin at the same point "In any case [. . .]", but the revised edition fits in an extra 5 lines at the bottom of the page.

The revised edition is extensively revised throughout, with many small changes made by the editors intended it seems to make it easier to read, or more free-flowing, but which take the text further away from the earlier edition, the one approved of to some degree by Gurdjieff.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

The list has been updated with a section on essential reading about Caesar:

12. Caesar
Gallic War and Civil War - Julius Caesar
Civil War - Appian
Ancient City - Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges
Escape From Evil - Ernest Becker
Caesar: Politician and Statesman - Mattias Gelzer
Assassination of Julius Caesar - Michael Parenti
Julius Caesar - Philip Freeman
Et tu Judas! Then Fall Jesus - Gary Courtney
Jesus Was Caesar - Francesco Carotta

 

[MK Scarlett]

The list has been updated with a section on essential reading about Caesar:

12. Caesar
Gallic War and Civil War - Julius Caesar
Civil War - Appian
Ancient City - Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges
Escape From Evil - Ernest Becker
Caesar: Politician and Statesman - Mattias Gelzer
Assassination of Julius Caesar - Michael Parenti
Julius Caesar - Philip Freeman
Et tu Judas! Then Fall Jesus - Gary Courtney
Jesus Was Caesar - Francesco Carotta

Thank you very much for the update! I was not came for a while, and to say the least, it grew up very fast!

 

[loreta]

The list has been updated with a section on essential reading about Caesar:

12. Caesar
Gallic War and Civil War - Julius Caesar
Civil War - Appian
Ancient City - Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges
Escape From Evil - Ernest Becker
Caesar: Politician and Statesman - Mattias Gelzer
Assassination of Julius Caesar - Michael Parenti
Julius Caesar - Philip Freeman
Et tu Judas! Then Fall Jesus - Gary Courtney
Jesus Was Caesar - Francesco Carotta

Thank you very much for the update! I was not came for a while, and to say the least, it grew up very fast!

I second this: thank you very much for this list. I checked, Ancient City I found it in Project Gutenberg in French. The other books will wait till I have money for them. :) But I keep the list!

 

[zulhelmi]

That reminds me of something to mention in this thread for whoever it might help: If you don't mind getting books used, searching on bookfinder.com can list some cheap places to get them.

Thank you for the info. Imported books here are very expensive, always almost double the original price and it doesn't help that kindle e-book is unavailable. But now I can save a lot by comparing on bookfinder.com .Thanks.

 

[James Henry]

Suggestions:

1. Should "Life is Religion" be added to the List?

2. For convenience and ease of ordering, could the List in the first post have direct hyperlinks to Amazon (or other site). With QFG's affiliate number this would also provide a little extra income.

I understand that members are based around the world, so a convention of [US] [UK] [Fr] etc. could be used at the end of each for the most appropriate Amazon (or other) site.

Of course people can order from whatever site they choose, but this would allow those that want to give back a little to the Group's efforts a convenient way.

3. Most members are ordering books online. Providing affiliate links to the main book seller sites could also be used as personal bookmarks/favorites.

 

[SMM]

Robert Hare's "Without Conscience", along with many other titles, can be found on Audible as an audiobook, on the UK or US site. It's 8 hours & 43 minutes long.
Listening to a book is different to reading one though, what are others' take on it?

 

[clearmiddle]

Robert Hare's "Without Conscience", along with many other titles, can be found on Audible as an audiobook, on the UK or US site. It's 8 hours & 43 minutes long.
Listening to a book is different to reading one though, what are others' take on it?

Most of my reading is through audiobooks. The main issue I run into is that they are pretty much impossible to search, afterwards, and that to even identify which book contained something I remember, I have to go Googling for a table of contents, which Audible doesn't provide.

The solution to that of course is to buy both the Audible audiobook and the Kindle edition, assuming that both are available. And the more recent ones will even sync between the two, though I have yet to use that feature.

The reason I prefer audiobooks is that my vision is poor and I can't go through nearly as many "print" books (I use Kindle whenever possible, so that I can enlarge the fonts) in a given time. My Kindle/print backlog is huge, and problematic because I am missing important things discussed here on the forum, where my Audible queue is empty at the moment. Oh well.

 

[Carl]

Robert Hare's "Without Conscience", along with many other titles, can be found on Audible as an audiobook, on the UK or US site. It's 8 hours & 43 minutes long.
Listening to a book is different to reading one though, what are others' take on it?

Most of my reading is through audiobooks. The main issue I run into is that they are pretty much impossible to search, afterwards, and that to even identify which book contained something I remember, I have to go Googling for a table of contents, which Audible doesn't provide.

The solution to that of course is to buy both the Audible audiobook and the Kindle edition, assuming that both are available. And the more recent ones will even sync between the two, though I have yet to use that feature.

The reason I prefer audiobooks is that my vision is poor and I can't go through nearly as many "print" books (I use Kindle whenever possible, so that I can enlarge the fonts) in a given time. My Kindle/print backlog is huge, and problematic because I am missing important things discussed here on the forum, where my Audible queue is empty at the moment. Oh well.

I'm sure you're well aware of this, but it is quite easy to send PDFs to your kindle. I just email them to my kindle address, with the word convert in the subject line, and it syncs to my device in an eBook format (just requires a few minutes of WiFi).

I've done this with a lot of books which haven't yet been released on kindle, but where people have posted a pdf of a given book somewhere online (usually pretty easy to find). Of course, it's good to buy the book as well, giving back to the author.