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5 Reasons People Don't Read Anymore, And 5 Good Solutions

1/15/2024

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Recent studies have highlighted a disturbing trend: over 50 percent of American adults haven't read a book in the past year. Worse still, fewer younger people are reading, and they read less than half the amount of older generations.

This is a unfortunate, since reading has so many scientifically-backed benefits: it increases intelligence, improves memory (especially in later life), makes it easier to relate to others, reduces stress, helps us to sleep better, and more.

So why aren't people reading as much as they once did? And what can be done to reverse this trend? In this post, I take a stab at answering both those questions. Here are 5 reasons why people aren't reading, and 5 good solutions to this problem: 



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4 Great Books About the Beauty and Transcendence of Nature

12/14/2023

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As we approach the Winter Solstice and Christmas Day, my thoughts often turn to the beauty and majesty of the natural world.

The last several years have seen a spate of books published about living a life closer to nature. They range in topic from how spending time in nature improves our health, enriches our lives and our children's lives, provides us with a sense of beauty and transcendence, deepens faith, improves creativity, and much more. 

I have created a list of my favorite books from this genre that I hope you enjoy this holiday season:
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Time to Parent by Julie Morgenstern: Book Review & Summary

8/12/2023

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Parenting really is the ultimate time management challenge. The reason is simple. Once you become a parent, you feel you now have that responsibility, plus everything you were trying to do or maintain from before you had children. Time to Parent shows us how to work smarter not harder when it comes to what we do with our time.

In last month's post, I described how I had to take a hiatus from blogging during 2014-2015 around the birth of my first child. I simply couldn't figure out how to get enough time to work on the blog. As I learned over the years, the good news is that you can still manage your time well once you have children, you just have to become much more strategic about it, and that is what Time to Parent is about. The book, by professional organizer and productivity consultant Julie Morgenstern, is a blessing for parents, and I highly recommend it.

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Time to Parent is unlike anything I have read before, as Morgenstern organizes life as a parent into two main categories, "Raising a Human Being," and "Being a Human Being," each with four essential quadrants which represent how we should be spending our time. Parents are often stressed about the busyness in their lives and how to meet their child’s needs along with all the other demands of life. I honestly think this book helps to take much of that stress away. Read on for my full review:


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Beauty in Philosophy, Ethics, and Art: A Conversation with David Fideler

4/19/2023

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In this engaging conversation, David Fideler and I delve into the rich history of ancient Greek philosophy to explore the concept of beauty as an objective quality of nature.

We discuss the ideas of Pythagoras, Plato, and the Stoics, and the ideas they held about beauty. In this highly illustrated video, we also explore the importance of harmony and proportion in nature and art, and how they were used to enhance beauty in ancient architecture and Renaissance paintings.

The conversation also touches on the connections between beauty, truth, and goodness, and the timeless wisdom of ancient philosophy that can still inspire us today.

Links:
https://livingideasjournal.com/
https://therenaissanceprogram.com/the-renaissance-program-in-florence-italy/

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Freedom and Flourishing: Why We Need Both for a Good Life

5/5/2021

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Freedom enables individuals to flourish in different ways, allows for growth of opportunities, and supports personal development by enabling individuals to exercise wise and well-informed self-direction.

My guest, economist Winton Bates, argues in a new book that Western freedom was more or less a happy accident of history. Loose it, and we may not get it back again.

​We discuss the future of freedom, progress, personal growth, and a lot more in his new book, Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing.*

Support Common Sense Ethics to see even more videos like this: https://www.patreon.com/commonsenseet...
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Major Announcement! My New Parenting Website is Live!

1/25/2020

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I've had something big in the works for a while that I'd like to share with you...announcing my new parenting website, Common Sense Mother!

For several years, I and various guests have written about philosophy and parenting here at Common Sense Ethics. However, not all CSE readers are parents, and (unfortunately) not all parents are are interested in philosophy. For this reason, I've wanted to launch a parenting site for a more "mainstream," audience. Common Sense Mother is that site.

Please head on over and check it out! If you like what you see, subscribe via the email opt-in there and share widely! You'll find helpful posts about creating a happy home, finding joy and motivation as a parent, overcoming stress, and managing the limited time that you do have well. My parenting philosophy is all about doing things intentionally, based on what you value most.

Of course I'll be continuing to publish new posts and videos here at Common Sense Ethics. This site is a labor of love that I've stuck with for more than 6 years! Thank you so much for your continued support! 

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Is Happiness the Destination or the Byproduct of the Ride?

7/17/2018

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Today's guest post is contributed by my friend Winton Bates. Winton has a background in economics. He writes about the good society, psychology, philosophy, and other topics at his website Freedom and Flourishing: 

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John Stuart Mill is often quoted as an authority on the question of whether happiness can be obtained by seeking it. In Autobiography he wrote:

“Those only are happy ... who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way”.

How can that view be reconciled with Mill’s conviction “that happiness is the test of all rules of conduct, and the end of life”?

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The Most Powerful Tool For Living Your Best Life

6/20/2018

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Right now is an amazing time to be alive; not least because because we have instant access to so many helpful resources to achieve the goal of living a good life - books, blogs, videos, digital downloads - the possibilities for learning and personal growth are endless.

My friend Jonas Salzgeber recently commented on the phenomenon where we take the time to learn things that will improve our lives, yet fail to properly apply them. In my experience, a major obstacle to putting what we have learned into practice is information overload and it's accompanying disorganization (not just the force of old habit or the lack of will to change - although these are major obstacles too!) Without proper organization and memorization, what sticks in our head after reading a good book or watching an interesting video is piecemeal. It's a matter of chance whether we remember and apply it, despite our best intentions. 

The ancient schools of philosophy had their own solution to this problem - handbooks. These were collections of useful and powerful phrases that the students memorized and kept close "at hand," for when they were most needed - in instances of challenge, stress, or trouble. As we'll see, the handbook is the most powerful tool in our arsenal for growth - both an organizational aid for our hectic lives, and a method for directly improving our habits and thinking. 



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5 Things That You Need To Be Happy According to Cicero

2/20/2018

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What do we really need to be happy? According to ​Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero, not very much.

In a letter Cicero wrote while trying to arrange a visit with his new friend, fellow scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, he states: "If you have a garden in your library, we will want for nothing."[1]

Cicero and Varro were rich. Both owned various estates across Italy. He could have asked for, and expected, all of the luxuries common to his class - silk sheets, scented oils, the finest food and wine. Why did Cicero place such high importance on the garden and the library then? What is truly necessary for us to flourish in life? 
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Why You Should Create Your Own Culture to Be Happier

10/23/2017

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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the nonsense bombarding us daily. Sometimes I think that mainstream American culture leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever I get disgusted, I'm reminded of Terrance McKenna's instructions:

“Culture is not your friend. Culture is for other people’s convenience and the convenience of various institutions, churches, companies, tax collection schemes, what have you. Culture insults you. It uses and abuses you. None of us are treated well by culture...
We have to create culture, don’t watch TV, don’t read magazines, don’t even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow.”  

McKenna is saying that if you don't consciously build your own meaningful culture in your life, it will be determined for you by dominant personalities, media, propaganda, peers, advertising, and all kinds of other capricious influences who have no business being in your head and determining your preferences and actions. 

Life is short, and progress towards virtue is often time consuming and hard won. You should be very selective about what you devote your precious and limited time to. If you want to be happier, cut out expressions of culture that sabotage your happiness and personal growth, and deliberately
 create your own personal culture of beauty and meaning based on your values, rather than on other peoples'.
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