Book recommendation combining phenomenology with history and biology. (by Frank Yang)
Amazing piece written by Frank Yang. I recommend reading the free book, it's awesome!
"It's been a while since I've read a book like this. Evolutionary psychology/sociology/anthropology books don't make my mind cum anymore, but I'm reading this book right now and I recommend it.
The author is a historian, but has been attending Vipassana retreats every year for over 20 years. This book combines phenomenology with history and biology. Writers are usually either too new age goowoo without scientific rationalism or too reductionistic and analytical without regards to the role of subjectivity on reality.
Eckhart Tolle and Mooji might be fully Enlightened beings, but would get destroyed in an intellectual debate, making their mystical claims nothing more than wishful fantasies to "serious thinkers" like Dawkins, Steven Pinker, or even Hawkins whose first rate brains and high IQs lack the lubrication of consciousness that could only be developed through meditation, yoga and maybe psychedelics. This is a unique book that synthesizes both worlds like a good power-building program. Many claims made about the nature of object reality are mind-depended default positions, based on nothing more than fiction, beliefs, dogmas, and the human imagination. Reading this book makes me think of Hegal, but on a much more pragmatic and evidence based spectrum.
Yuval Noah Harari knows the difference between object reality and subjective reality and Vipassanalized the shit out of history, culture and biology without even mentioning the practice in the book. You can find a free PDF copy online.
https://www.docdroid.net/CMLOS8i/sapiens-a-brief-history-of-humankindyuval-noah-harari.pdf.html
The interview on Sam Harris's podcast
and his talk "Banana in Heaven" on TED X is also a good introduction to his writings.
He also has a new book, Homo Deus, the Brief History of Tomorrow which I'm reading next
https://www.amazon.com/Homo-Deus-Brief-History-Tomorrow-ebook/dp/B019CGXTP0
"
Source: Frank Yang
I'm looking for something new to read, might give this one a go.
Very recommended book. I insist :)
I like it, upvoted. I also wrote a post about Phenomenology today. https://steemit.com/philosophy/@bdmomuae/phenomenology-in-a-nutshell-who-are-you
I am still reading the book. I started to read it after 5 of 14 Universal History books written by Isaac Asimov (4 months ago I didn't even know Asimov wrote History books). So, the Yuval Noah Harari's book was complemented by my recent fragmented history knowledge and it changed my way to understand the whole world. For example, since that I understand The Fight Club movie in a different way :P
Thanks for the contribution.