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Wilber
Aug 14, 2004 15:54:06 GMT -5
Post by Adam Solomon on Aug 14, 2004 15:54:06 GMT -5
Picked up "A Brief History of Everything", as recommended by OL so often in his blog...anyone else read it here?
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Victor
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Wilber
Aug 14, 2004 18:25:16 GMT -5
Post by Victor on Aug 14, 2004 18:25:16 GMT -5
I haven't read it Adam, but I'd be curious to hear what others think about it too. I read a bunch of reviews on it over at Amazon.com - sounds like people either find it life-altering or total bunk. Although the majority of reviews were positive.
I was at a bookstore today and flipped through it just to see if it grabbed me. Seemed more "heavy" than I was in the mood for so I left it for now. But there are certainly times when I enjoy philosophical/spiritual reading. So if some of the Fanmencos give it a thumbs up then I'll probably pick it up sometime.
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Wilber
Aug 14, 2004 18:30:30 GMT -5
Post by boris on Aug 14, 2004 18:30:30 GMT -5
No, I'm not that much into spiritual reading. I read the .doc Wilber posted on IN but well... I prefer Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt (although they are not spiritual authors, they just came up to my mind).
All I can talk about is the fictional stuff OL mentioned.
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Victor
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Wilber
Dec 13, 2004 19:12:04 GMT -5
Post by Victor on Dec 13, 2004 19:12:04 GMT -5
I just finished reading "A Brief History Of Everything". Thought there was some discussion about it here - but I guess not much. Adam, did you ever get a chance to read it? Anybody else?
Well, I won't try to write a review because I'm still digesting it and don't think I could do it justice. However, I will say that it's having a profound impact on my thinking!
I thought it would be kind of heavy (like textbook reading) but found the conversational style it's written in makes it easy to follow. It's definitely a worthwhile read whether you're looking for something philosophical, something spiritual, or if you're just interested in getting a comprehensive look at Ken Wilber's work.
I guess I'd say that if you've ever thought that there is truth and validity in different views of the universe but felt like these views denied the validity of the others then you'll find something satisfying in how Ken Wilber ties everything together. At least that's how I see it.
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Wilber
Dec 14, 2004 3:08:59 GMT -5
Post by boris on Dec 14, 2004 3:08:59 GMT -5
I've only read the .doc from the IN web site. Think it was about the big mind or whatever. Haven't given me anything reading it. In fact the style annoyed me. I'm not talking about the philosophy behind it now just how he wrote that 5-6 page explanation. I don't intend diving into it soon and think that I'm far too unbalanced at the moment to be spiritually calm enough to enjoy such a book. Maybe in five years.
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Wilber
Dec 14, 2004 8:06:38 GMT -5
Post by UncleTito on Dec 14, 2004 8:06:38 GMT -5
A Brief History of Everything? Interesting. I'm currently reading a book called "A Brief History of NEARLY everything" By Bill Bryson. It's obviously not the same book. Bryson's book is a history of the world viewed from an evolutionary standpoint. I actually find the book quite fascinating.
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Victor
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Wilber
Dec 14, 2004 11:50:23 GMT -5
Post by Victor on Dec 14, 2004 11:50:23 GMT -5
I read the Bryson book several months ago. I'd say it's more of a history of everything that is known in science. Definitely some eye-opening concepts in there as well. Of course, Bryson is a non-scientist and has a very humorous style of writing which makes his book both very easy to understand and also makes you laugh at times! Definitely a good read!
Wilber is talking more about how there is reality both in the realm of consciousness as well as in physical science and how those concepts mesh. The "history" part in his book is placing the evolution of human consciousness in the context of the evolution of human society.
I know that might sound heavy but it's really not and Wilber makes it easy to understand. It's just saying that the same levels of awareness a person goes through from birth to adulthood have been experienced collectively by humanity and therefore out-pictured in the way our societies have organized and evolved.
Of course, all this growth and evolution begs the question "What's next?" - and that's where things get interesting! Not that Wilber tries to answer that question in any strong sense because really the book is about understanding his integral model of the universe and putting that in a historical context of human evolution. So from that standpoint it has left me doing more searching.
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Wilber
Dec 14, 2004 18:11:53 GMT -5
Post by Adam Solomon on Dec 14, 2004 18:11:53 GMT -5
OK, forget The Fountainhead, I'll push it off for a little while and it's back to Wilber for me ;D Resumed Wilber's book today (after reading the first few pages a coupla months ago...lol).
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