A revelatory history of schizophrenia from a highly regarded expert in the field, demystifying the myths and misconceptions that have obscured our understanding of the disease and offering a path forward for those who are suffering and their families.
In this rigorously researched, dramatic, and compelling book, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman tells the story of the past, present, and future of the illness, describing how the complexity of the brain, the checkered history of psychiatric medicine, and centuries of stigma combined with misguided policies have impeded scientific and clinical progress. Yet there is hope: through evidence-based treatments combining medication with psychosocial services, doctors can now effectively treat schizophrenia, and the prospect of early detection and intervention-averting the outbreak of psychotic symptoms entirely— is just on the horizon. A must-read for fans of psychological histories and anyone whose life has been affected by schizophrenia, this powerful work offers a scientific accounting and comprehensive clinical portrait-providing crucial insights and hope for those living with the disease.
WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY “I”?
Deep down, your brain is a chaotic seething soup of particles. On a higher level it is a jungle of neurons, and on a yet higher level it is a network of abstractions that we call “symbols”. The most central and complex symbol is the one you call “|”. An “I” is a strange loop where the brain’s symbolic and physical levels feed back into each other and flip causality upside down so that symbols seem to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse.
To each human being, this “I” is the realest thing in the world. But how can such a mysterious abstraction be real? Is our “I” merely a convenient fiction? Does an “I” exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the all-powerful laws of physics?
These are among the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter’s first book-length journey into philosophy since his Pulitzer Prize-winning Gödel, Escher, Bach. It is a tale crisply told, rife with anecdotes, analogies, and metaphors – cutting-edge philosophy that any strange loop can understand.
FLOW = A BETTER LIFE AND FINDING YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE
When we align with circumstance, circumstance aligns with us. Using a cutting-edge scientific theory of synchronicity, Sky Nelson-Isaacs presents a model for living “in the flow”—a state of optimal functioning, creative thinking, and seemingly effortless productivity.
Nelson-Isaacs explains how our choices create meaning, translating current and original ideas from theoretical physics and quantum mechanics into accessible, actionable steps that we can all take to live lives in better alignment with who we are and who we want to be.
By turns encouraging and empowering, Living in Flow helps us develop an informed relationship to meaning-making and purposefulness in our lives. From this we can align ourselves more effectively within our personal, professional, and community relationships to live more in flow.
OVERCOMING ADHD, LIVING WITH AUTISM [AND THE PATH TO PREVENTING SCHIZOPHRENIA]
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. However I have become fascinated with medical literature. Currently I’m seeking patterns and so far have discovered many. With much more to learn. The goal of course is to fuse these unrelated materials in a new and hopefully interesting way to shine more light on understanding the misunderstood.
This is the most ambitious enquiry and investigation created to date. But when you make a decision to live in flow, in order to stay in it, nothing can ever be easy. For if it were, you would never find it. So to stay in it, you have to keep striving higher than before.
That’s about as complex in thinking of a problem to solve so far.
THERE IS NOTHING YOU CANNOT LEARN
The opposite of unhappiness is not sadness, it’s boredom. Therefore if you have ever experienced the mental state of boredom then you are choosing to feel unhappy. As it is in your power to wipe out that choice by investing your attention wisely.
Spending time endlessly spinning passive entertainment not actively engaging in the deliberate act of challenging the intellect will lead to all sorts of chaos in consciousness. Our ancestors did not evolve their minds for us to sit around all day and play ‘reels’, our modern day slot machines.
It’s strange how many people keep scores on other people yet they have no track record of their own life. They keep good watch over others all the time. We can refer to these people now as goal-less: people who lack a coherent sense of self and rely on others in order to feel something inside themselves. For if we asked who are you they might simply reply with their name. But they don’t know who they are. And if we were to prod further by saying, no not what they call you but rather, who are you?
The usual next response is identifying by a place of what they do for money. So they still don’t know who they are.
They will choose pleasure and distraction over discipline and productivity. They will watch others using their mind than seek to improve their own. They talk much but have very little to say. They are endlessly distracted and live life aimlessly. They will try to distract you too. When confronted by such environments where people project undesirable qualities through their hidden emotions onto you, you must slay them by moving to the next place.
You do not owe anyone anything. And you certainly never owe an explanation. There is only so much any man can take in life. And if he is pushed too far we may discover he wakes up one day and is introduced for the first time ever to his ‘other’ self.
Every engagement however is an opportunity to convert a negative experience into a positive outcome.
DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER: LOOK FORWARD TO THE SUN
The higher and harder you go, you’ll know what I mean.
NEUROSCIENCE. PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY.
In order to make sense of this piece it’s important to highlight that this has been inspired by a place I used to work. There was a guy (my old boss) who used to stalk me. He used to read and follow everything I did, never engage with it but report it to everybody the following morning before I arrived into work. He had a seemingly obsessive interest in my life (outside of work). It was weird. And so was he. Every time I would post on social media it would solicit a private WhatsApp message into the work group chat regarding my post, and sometimes unsolicited private messages sent direct to me, to make snarky remarks about my work I was just sitting at home doing. He also made some very explicit remarks about my wife, to customers. And that wasn’t very boss-like. So that was why I decided to leave. Make sure you do the same thing too, when men act this way around you. It was all fun and games when just a strange guy who does music drawings. Bit different when they take up psychoanalysis as their hobby. He was eventually called out for this strange behaviour, as he continued to stalk me, 5-years after I left. He then unfriended and blocked me. Brutal honestly has a way of terrifying man. The moment you show him who he is, he will run for his life.
So keep good notes on everyone who ever stepped on your shoes. They will forge the content to make your work.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me thrice, never happened.