Designing the Mind PDF Download Book

J. Carpenter “I wish I would have had read the blurb on the back cover before purchasing what is one of the several hundred books I have read (or partially read) in the genre of “self help”.

“This psycho-philosophical self-development book combines the ancient adage that true happiness comes from within… . It integrates the wisdom and insights of ancient mystics into a mindset and method for reprogramming your own psychological software.”

This “technology” is adroitly named “Psychitecture”.

The first red flag about this book is that its writing is attributed to Designing the Mind, LLC, “a self-development organization (that) “represents a new, modern way of viewing and iteratively improving your mind.”

The second red flag for me was the presumption by Designing the Mind, LLP, that this organization had reinvented the wheel. Is it “new”? Perhaps…but in the same way that one might take Gordon Ramsey’s recipe for roast beef with caramelized onion gravy and instead of using garlic and thyme, substituted shallots for garlic and marjoram for thyme.

If one wanted to synthesize a “psycho-philosophical” system based on the wisdom of Lao Tzu, Descartes, the Buddha, Marcus Aurelius, Nietzsche, Socrates, Epictetus, Aristotle, Spinoza, Seneca, Epicurus, and Jesus, there’s little doubt that one could write a book unlike any other ever written. That is not to say that when you look at the big picture the promised gains by employing the strategies would be any different than in thousands of books previously written for the purpose of “improving your mind.” There is little doubt that much more accessible books such as Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking”, Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, Napolean Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”, Maxwell Maltz’ “Psycho-Cybernetics”, and even Richard Bach’s “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”, have delivered to millions on their promises of personal transformation and still do more than 50 years after they were first published.

The greater problem by far of “Designing the Mind” is that for decades the brain as a computer has been the dominant metaphor in neuroscience. However, if we view the brain as a computer that passively responds to inputs and processes data because of its software, we ignore the fact that the brain is proactive and insinuates itself into the world, the model of “brain-as-computer” breaks down. Worse still (for this book’s major assumption) is that neuroscientists don’t really have a consensus view on what the brain actually is. And if they don’t know after decades of imaging, imagining that we can repurpose our nervous system to run different programs is little more than idle speculation. Clearly, there are hundreds of research papers that Designing the Mind, LLC could cherrypick to make its case but they do not reflect the most recent movement by neuroscientists away from ANY metaphors employed to understand the brain.

Matthew Cobb, writing in the Guardian added this,

“In 2015, the roboticist Rodney Brooks chose the computational metaphor of the brain as his pet hate in his contribution to a collection of essays entitled ‘This Idea Must Die’. Less dramatically, but drawing similar conclusions, two decades earlier the historian S Ryan Johansson argued that “endlessly debating the truth or falsity of a metaphor like ‘the brain is a computer’ is a waste of time.’

Neuroscientist Blake Richards summed it up in equally unambiguous terms in a N.Y. Time op.ed:

“The brain is not a computer… the brain doesn’t run any algorithms in reality, so our constant use of the words “algorithm” and “computer” when talking about the brain is misguided.”

It’s been very trendy the past 10 years for self-help gurus to erroneously apply quantum theory to establish credibility for their own ends. So, too, is the case with uncritically assuming our incomprehensible, 3-lb brains, with its 100 billion nerve cells each capable of connecting with 40,000 other neurons operates in just about the same away as your iPhone.

I find this just a bit discouraging. I much prefer Shakespeare’s take on it:

“What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty!
In form and moving how express and admirable!
In action how like an angel,
in apprehension how like a god!”

Consequently, this book is headed for a thrift shop.”

J.A. Clayton “Beautiful work. I would like to say first that I did not read this book, this book read me very well. Not only did it read me it sharpened my understanding of my philosophical basis right down to breaking down Aristotle and Nietzsche to a few understandable and realistic principles that are realistic and understandably workable to anyone who reads them, and if understand as well as practice the principles, that makes it a whole other level of reality.

So, I can only give this humbly ideal advice about the book: If you are a beginner, read the book and practice the ideas for a few months and see if your life does not improve (I have been doing this in some genuine form since I was about three or four years old in a disciplined way reading, honing and understanding my reality and doing what I need to do growth-wise).

If you are intermediate or advanced, see if this work does not harmonize fully with your understanding (it does for me).

Indeed, the mind is the most malleable, and growth worthy things if used and understood properly. Yet, when you use your mind properly, the only limit on reality is the structure of reality and its function as there are not any pedagogical or teaching infinities and mastery is always possible to those that genuinely want it and want to put in the effort to get it ultimately.

So, deeply, I recommend this work to anyone beginning, intermediate or advanced in the art of designing the mind or creating their own genuine mastery. Sure, I compare this to the works of G.I Gurdjieff, especially the second book: “Meetings With Remarkable Men” in scope. But it just gives good material like “Meetings With Remarkable Men”, not digests it for you like “Beelzebub’s Tales To His Grandson” (Gurdjieff’s first books) which uses obscure, “strange” and unusual terms to break up the continuum of boredom consciousness or “sleep” and fully awaken the mind before giving material that excites the mind.

Anyhow, this is a great work and I genuinely recommend it to all.”