srividya g

• “Consciousness” is often used in the literature as if it implied more than just the qualities of experience.
• The key distinction between conscious and unconscious thought is that “Conscious thought is thought with attention.”
• If a thought escapes attention, then it is unconscious.

However,

• Is the mere lack of attention enough to assert that a mental process lacks the qualities of experience?
• Couldn’t a process that escapes the focus of attention still feel like something?

• It's inaccurate to assume that everything chemical is bad, and everything natural is good.

Eg: Poison ivy is natural, but that's not something you want to put on your skin.

• Ingredients are not intrinsically bad, it's about how they're used and in what quantity.

Eg: Think of a puddle of water — not a big deal, but a tsunami can be catastrophic.

• A product labelled as 'natural' tells us nothing about ingredient safety or sustainability but it makes patients and consumers feel better.

• Difference between investing and speculation is a matter of risk tolerance, with speculation being closer to gambling.
• The truth is that there’s no clear cut line between them, as all investing carries risk.
• Still, there are differences worth knowing about, no matter what your financial goals might be.

The love stories you encounter in The Betrayals are not made for fairy tales. There is no love at first sight. It doesn’t soothe or swoon or serenade. Their love is “full of desire and hostility, reflections and shadows.”

According to the author, “The Betrayals is in part a book about the joy we find in our playmates, in moments of shared humour or creativity, in seeing and being seen.”

• Most of us haven't been taught how to apologise
• Our efforts tend to be harmful: vague, intrusive, demanding, or full of warnings that can leave the recipient of an apology feeling even worse.
• When the apology is absent or it's a bad apology, it puts a crack in the very foundation of a relationship and can even end it.
• That's why it is critical to get an apology right.

• Much of modern economic theory is based around Utility.
• British Philosopher Jeremy Bentham was the inventor of Utilitarianism.
• To an economist, utility simply means how much people want something.
• Modern economists tend to assume that utility is good — that people should get what they want.
• More egalitarian economists tend to value the utility of the poor and disadvantaged more than the utility of the wealthy, but fundamentally it’s still about giving people what they desire.

• Commute initiates a sequence in which the feelings and attitudes of home life are deactivated, replaced by thoughts of work. This takes time, and if it doesn’t happen, one role can contaminate the other—what researchers call “Role Spillover.”
• Most people engage in “Role-clarifying prospection” during their commute deliberately thinking about plans for work day, which makes them highly satisfied. Skipping this task leaves them in limbo.

• Usually, all productivity advice says: “Say NO often, make time for other things.”
• This sounds smart but isn’t always practical
• Eg: You can’t always say NO to your boss. You can’t always say NO to your partner in doing household chores.
• What to do instead? : Learn to ask a better question.

We all have a voice inside of our heads that seems to comment on everything it sees. It also loves to criticize you or push you to go after things it desires - Things like more food, money, sex, alcohol, drugs, travel, entertainment.

This dialogue distracts us from the present. It makes us less focused and even disappointed in ourselves by making us question our self-worth.