More Than You Know! (but you're learning!)

I've also been reading Michael J. Mauboussin's More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places (2008). Terribly entertaining essays loosely figured around the subject of finance and investing that pick-up and use insights from all manner of trains of (serious) thought. For instance, Phillip Tetlock on "experts" (i.e., hedgehogs vs. foxes), Robert Sapolsky on stress (and how it leads to short-term investment thinking to the detriment of return), and so on. More later on particulars. Very good, entertaining reading indeed.

American History

With the Fourth just ahead on the calendar, I've decided on my American history reading, and I've started it: Garry Wills's Explaining America: The Federalist (1981). This is, of course, a re-read, as I purchased my copy at the time of publication in 1981. But having just completed listening to Thomas Pangle's Teaching Company course on The Great Debate: Advocates and Opponents of the Constitution, it seems a perfect choice. Also, of course, Wills's prose and insight are always a treat. The opening considers how Federalist No. 10 (Madison) was mostly ignored until Charles Beard went after it as a part of his economic vision of the Constitution. Since then, Laski, Dahl, Burns, and others have criticized Madison's formulation. Will states that he aims to consider whether history and historians have treated Madison's work here (and in No. 51) fairly. The opening chapter deals with the Annapolis convention, and delightful physical descriptions of Madison and his partner in forming the nascent government: Alexander Hamilton. As often the case with Wills, his analytic insights into a text are framed by a "you were there" description of the principal players. Madison as an aging gnome, and Hamilton as all energy inside his small frame; while Madison conserved energy, Hamilton radiated it. More fun to come.

rev'd 08.14.19

Burning & Energy

I'm reading Phillip Moffitt's Dancing with Life (2008), in which he writes about Buddha's "Fire Sermon" and how all of our life involves "burning". While everything and every process involves "burning," the evil of craving (or excessive desire) makes the necessity and unavoidability of burning into suffering.

In a sense, this seems quite right, if "burning" can be seen as energy. Everything is a form of energy in a sense. (Einstein, right?). All transactions, whether physical or mental, are energetic transactions. This leads to the question: how well do we manage these energetic transactions? How do we gain warmth from them and not get burnt, as Buddha seems to ponder in the Fire Sermon? I suspect that these issues go to some very fundamental issues on how we approach life, although, most of us, most of the time, conduct it unknowingly. Perhaps writing and thinking about it will make it more accessible. Indeed, the task should be to see life as a constantly ongoing energy transaction. Energy, after all, is eternal delight (Blake).


rev'd 08.14.19