I have always been a voracious reader. I enjoy reading difficult texts, be they either on particle physics or seemingly strange ideas that people have come up with and put together in a very logical manner. There is not much about particle physics that you can use on day by day basis, and in most cases, there is nothing about strange logical thoughts you can use either. In college, I took philosophy courses just for the fun of it. I love the fact that one philosopher built upon or took apart what another philosopher had written. Do you remember the Dewey Decimal System? It is the way books are cataloged in a library. Anyway, the system was designed by John Dewey. He was a philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. Reading him on philosophy would bend my mind until it would almost snap.
I think I can give you an example. You are standing and looking at a beautiful arrangement of flowers in a vase. You describe it. Next, you take one step to the left and describe it again. You do that until you have worked your way all around the vase. Dewey would do that with a philosophical idea. It was tremendously difficult to read because it was boring. However, it was useful. Let’s go back to that vase full of flowers. As you move around the vase, you might see a hole in the arrangement that needs something put into it. As Dewey moved around the philosophical idea, he would find a hole in it that destroyed it or needed filling.
The other day I got a catalog from the Bear Company. The tagline on the front of the catalog is “Books for the mind, body, and spirit since 1975.” Some of the titles contain words you probably don’t understand like Enochian or Akashic. Others are about people you probably don’t know, such as John Dee or Robert Fludd. Other titles might offend you, such as “When God Had a Wife.” However, if you want to indulge yourself in new and unusual ideas, go to their website. https://www.innertraditions.com/ I have bought books from them since I’m on their catalog list. I find an occasional book that it’s interesting enough to spend money on. However, from past reading, I know who John Dee and Robert Fludd are. John Dee worked for Queen Elizabeth I. Robert Fludd was from the late 16th century to the early 17th century. He was somewhat like Francis Bacon, who lived in the same period. Be careful about reading some of those books advertised in their catalog. Some are tremendously boring. Some will warp your mind. Some will inform you.
