THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F**K

THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F**K

Mar 4, 2023 | BOOKS

The subtle art of not givina a f**k is the book written by Mark Manson: three-time #1 New York Times bestselling author.

His books have sold some 20 million copies, have been translated into more than 65 languages, and have reached number one in more than a dozen countries.

In 2023, a feature film about his life and ideas was released worldwide by Universal Pictures.

Impressive numbers indeed.

The subtle art of not giving a f**k also received endorsements from very famous people.

My thanks rather go to Elisa Mirko and Diego for giving it to me.

A title that to call catchy is an understatement, needless to say my first thought was,:with all my multitude of paranoia, I surely have a lot to learn.

Do you always get your way?

Actually the Italian translated title is The subtle art of doing the hell you want and I think it doesn’t express the real meaning of giving a f**k.

It’s not exactly the same thing, is it?

The difference is as subtle as the “art” described in the book.

In my life I’ve given a f**k about a lot of people and a lot of things … And those f**k I didn’t give made all the difference. This is the sentence with which the author introduces the book on his blog.

Yes: blog. It all started from a blog because Mark Manson wanted to be a digital nomad.

Undoubtedly he was able to largely fulfill his desire.

Undoubtedly he has been able to maintain a remarkable balance, I quote his words: when we give a f**k about everything, then we feel as though we are perpetually entitled to feel comfortable and happy at all times, that’s when life f**k us.

So I may be too unbalanced: I have not been able to get involved in reading, I must be a hopelessly lost case.

And consider that I really like this phrase: not givinge a f**k does not mean to be indifferent, it means to be comfortable with being different.

A concept that encapsulates much more than I was able to get out of the book, despite all the right concepts it introduces.

Tell me about how comfortable you feel with doing what you want to do, are you directing your life, or is your life directing you?

SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT

SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT

Aug 21, 2021 | SCIENCE

Imagine you sit down and pick up your favorite book. You look at the image on the front cover, run your fingers across the smooth book sleeve, and smell that familiar book smell as you flick through the pages. To you, the book is made up of a range of sensory appearances.

With an opening like this, what do you think?

I was immediately attracted to it and continued reading:

But you also expect the book has its own independent existence behind those appearances. So when you put the book down on the coffee table and walk into the kitchen, or leave your house to go to work, you expect the book still looks, feels, and smells just as it did when you were holding it.

Have you ever thought otherwise?
Where is this question leading us?
If I had not “spoiled” through the title, I would almost leave in suspense curious about your answer.

The article, which I recommend you continue here is titled “Is Reality a Game of Quantum Mirrors? A New Theory Helps Explain Schrödinger’s Cat.”

Also thanks to a quote from the new book by Carlo Rovelli it is about this theory useful to understand in a very simplified way the concept of the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

Off course this information always comes to me from Massimo, because I am rather in chaos already considering only one dimension … yet in this case, even a less brilliant mind like mine can grasp this concept in a basic way.

Research from Yale University has been published on Nature mainly by Zlatko Minev according to which it is possible to predict the quantum leap and therefore to know before opening the box.

But regardless of this I would like to dwell on the idea of two different opposing versions, yet both true.

The cat is alive and dead at the same time.

A bit like a sort of extreme take on the famous Sliding Doors.

Finding myself in a particular moment of life, with the aggravating circumstance of being a chronic indecisive, I will inevitably have to make crucial decisions.

Are you resolute or recriminating?
Do you attribute events to chance, to fate, or do you ever think that something could have gone differently?
The typical question what if… is it just a mental journey for you?

Are you a fatalist or would you rather be able to close the lid of the box to save the cat?

WHITE WOLF OR BLACK WOLF?

WHITE WOLF OR BLACK WOLF?

May 2, 2020 | CULTURE, SCIENCE, WORLD

In the period in which we are living, among the numerous aspects that have taken the place of what was our daily life before, we also observe forms of behavior that are not exactly social, not to say friendly at all.
The idea that the true self of some people comes out only in emergencies or forcing, has always been latent. We come into contact with it through sayings or legends, just like that of the white wolf who is joy, love of peace, hope of serenity, humility, well-being, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith; or the black wolf who is anger, envy, jealousy, displeasure, regret, self-pity, greed, arrogance, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
The official origin is lost over time: the source has been handed down orally, but I found this Tale of the two wolves.
Each individual has within him both wolves and who will win is the one he decides to feed.
Therefore free will.
Concept as broad as it is debated.
Among the countless discussions that are lost in history, between nature and culture, between philosophy and science, one example comes out: the Stanford experiment.
In 1971 a young psychology professor from Stanford University: Philip Zimbardo recreated a prison in the basement of the university and selected 24 students from 70 candidates who had offered themselves, doing various tests that ascertained, for example, the absence of diseases, of addictions, and criminal records. These students were divided equally and randomly into two groups: prisoners and guards.
The aim was to demonstrate the impact of situational variables on human behavior.
The Lucifer effect, this is the definition given to the result of the experiment, interrupted after only 6 of the 14 days scheduled, due to harassing and violent incidents by the guards against prisoners.
This effect was also induced by de-individualization: the guards in the institutional role, behind uniform and mirrored glasses, which gave a sort of individual anonymity precisely, showed to let emerge their worst side.
Zimbardo himself said that he had taken the role of prison director and the accusation of having induced and piloted some dynamics, brought copious criticisms and tended to refute the validity of the experiment.
So now, seeing various types of outlets not only virtual, perhaps we can consider the fact that some people feel “prisoners” and others assume the role of “guards”.
What we can do is try to stay ourselves and not feed the bad wolf … and not even the Lucifer effect.

IS THE FROG BOILING?

IS THE FROG BOILING?

Mar 30, 2020 | CHRONICLE, ITALY, WORLD

In these days in which we are under the centrifuges of information shot at accelerated speed, we find ourselves thinking also about how many rights enshrined in our Constitution have been suspended by decrees with that initials so far unusual: DPCM.
Our Constitution actually does not provide for the declaration of the state of emergency, and simply refers to the Civil Protection Code, in fact this Code is referred to in the now infamous publication in the Official Journal of January 31.
Our constituent fathers did not consider appropriate to insert emergency clauses, considering that the eventual conferral of full powers to a specific body, or the legitimization of the limitation, or even the suspension of citizens’ rights, could have represented a danger in the event of possible risks of dictatorship.
Emergency is, by definition an unforeseen circumstance, a concept therefore that in fact refers to a critical moment, to a particular condition that requires immediate intervention.
Undoubtedly what we are experiencing is a series of completely incomparable events, and it would be appropriate to try to keep focused on the fixed points: that is, the certain data.
It costs just a few seconds to go and read from official sources.
What is real and correct, helps anyone to make their own reflections, in the shelter of the bass drum of some media that feed panic and consequent misplaced behaviors and, on the other hand, helps to answer the title question.
The boiling frog is Noam Chomsky’s infamous metaphorical principle that if
“Imagine a pot full of cold water in which a frog swims quietly.
The fire is lit under the pot, the water heats up slowly. Soon it becomes lukewarm. The frog finds it rather pleasant and continues to swim.
The temperature rises. Now the water is hot. A little more than the frog does not appreciate. It gets tired a little, but it does not get scared.
The frog finds it very unpleasant, but it is weakened, it does not have the strength to react. Then it endures and does nothing. Meanwhile, the temperature still rises, until the moment when the frog ends – simply – boiled dead.
If the same frog had been immersed directly in the water at 50° it would have given a strong paw and would have jumped out of the pot immediately.”
However, this pot has a further disturbing characteristic: its size. It involves the whole world.
But “Being boiled” also has a slang meaning, at least we can remedy that.

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