3 Books That Helped Me Live a More Examined Life
Books expose you to concepts you may have not known existed. They can expand your reservoir of life trajectories to undertake. And that is incredible and useful if you want to live a fulfilling life and not fall into mimetic traps. Books can shape you in a subconscious but impactful manner. I think the same for Youtube videos—educational ones: you can improve drastically as an individual by exposing yourself to diverse, educational Youtube content. You can learn(almost) anything on the Internet.
Educational YouTube content is the type based on scientific evidence. It teaches something through the experience of the presenter/scientific data about a certain topic. I reckon books still have the lead when it comes to disseminating knowledge. Books take years to be completed (most of the time). Great books are a by-product of the author’s experiences and wisdom accumulated until the point of writing the book. All those years of experience are contained within a book. We learn through stories, especially if well-crafted.
Expanding your “pool of life possibilities” means that you may be oblivious to what life can offer if you did not read or expose yourself to outside ideas. The people and cultural characteristics surrounding us may be all we know if we do not expose ourselves to the outside world and the experiences of people who accomplished something of impact. There is also value in reading content that does not immediately resonate with you. Especially if contrary to one’s current beliefs, there is value in exposing yourself to ideas that are foreign to you. You can develop empathy and make up your mind in this way—really make up your mind, if you choose to. By exposing yourself to contrarian arguments, you may power up your ability to articulate why you believe something. Or you may incorporate some concepts you did not know existed into your worldview.
Ultimately, reading has the aim of helping you navigate and make sense of life. By learning through the eyes, experiences, ideas, biases of authors, you can unleash the potential that is in you and conduct a more examined life. An examined life is one where you have the lead, as opposed to existing hyperactively and under the influence of external circumstances. The way you think about and behave in seemingly unfavorable circumstances makes the difference. Reading can provide you with the tools to reshape your persona and outlook on life.
I have been reading regularly (every day—some periods less than that) for four/five years. I made it a habit, linked to other activities that precede and follow, and embedded in my morning routine. There have been some books that particularly stood out to me. I consider them remarkable books because they left a mark in my persona, transforming at least one dimension of the way I think, behave, comprehend. Here are three of the books I found most impactful and valuable. There are other books I reckon are outstanding, but I decided to pick three for this post.