Okay, maybe it’s not so shiny and not even very new, but the backgrounds section now looks slightly better than it used to look. It’s a bit easier to maintain as well. Let me know if something doesn’t seem to work like it should.
I’ve been reading all sorts of things lately. Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, for example. I like his idea that our state of mind largely depends on our ability to give structure to our thoughts and experiences without depending too much on external impulses. In this sense you really need to be creative to be happy. And to be creative you don’t need incredible talent or formal education in whatever your art is. Philosophy has for a number of years been my primary way of structuring my experience, but Csikszentmihalyi’s ideas make me think if I should start dabbling in poetry, for example. We’ll see.
For a few years now on my shelf there has been a copy of Henri Bergson’s book on Laughter. When I first casually read it, it seemed like a well written little work, but nothing particularly impressive. I returned to it again after a couple of years, but forgot about it again.
A few months ago, and with a clearer idea of my philosophical ambition, I decided to open the book once more. I wrote a brief summary of it. I think the book could also be seen as an example of a different way of doing philosophy: focus on the small, the immediately relevant, and the common, and write about it in a simple and understandable style. On top of this, Bergson’s skill in writing shows through on every page. This man won the Nobel. You like to laugh. Why not read the book?