Reading, watching, doing #2

[Note: lack of suitable photographs has forced me to draw you some illustrations]

I have started on the fascinating Strangers to Ourselves - Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious by Prof. Timothy D. Wilson. It is an exploration of the adaptive unconscious that reveals the hidden motives, feelings and judgments that determine our actions, and which introspection and psychoanalysis are often unable to show us. I have just got into it (on my Kindle) - but work and TMW (Too Many Words) have interrupted what has been a very good read thus far.

In between the editing and proofreading sessions I relax by reading Lonesome Dove. Yes, I should probably use this time to finish Strangers to Ourselves first, but when I work I find it very hard to concentrate on non-fiction. Too much required from my already overworked brain cells - poor, wee things. Anyway, Lonesome Dove is excellent - I find it extremely difficult to put down and get back to work. Augustus, Call, Lorena, Jack, Newt, Deets - all characters that I am sure will stay with me for a long time. I am only a quarter through, so there is a lot of delicious reading still to be done - yay!! I don't know about you, but when I read a good story I get quite anxious when I get near the end, because I do not want the experience to be over.

After being prompted by my very good friend Svetlana the Mad Mathematician, I took the bold step to start doing an online course on Complex Systems through the Santa Fe Institute (free and open to all). The field of Complex Systems relates to many other areas - natural and social sciences, mathematics, and so forth. Examples of complex systems include ant colonies, the ecosystem, the financial system, our brains ... think fractals and the butterfly effect!  Anyway, as usual I started with great enthusiasm - I finished the first unit (with 9 lessons) in two days. Oh man, what fun! and what is more, I think I understood most of it. I even wrote my first two teeny weeny  netlogo programs in which I created an ant, and made it run around madly in different directions, and then I created a field of grass and made the ant gobble it all up. Aaah, the power of being a creator of beings ....

I do hope that I will be able to finish the course, but sadly, a lack of Time or Brain might prevent me from doing so ...