Hee hee. I immediately thought of a reading list of Hardy, Faulkner, and steinbeck; add in an audio accompaniment by Leonard Cohen and choice selections of Neil Young and Nick Drake, and all it needs is a recipe for a hemlock cocktail, or perhaps a warm bathtub and a supply of razor blades.
-Pete, who only feels safe reading Terry Pratchett On Sun, 26 Aug 2012, michael gurstein wrote: > > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Anjana Basu > Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2012 2:56 AM > Subject: [TriumphOfContent] Anxious? Depressed? Literate? Try Bibliotherapy > > > > > > > > > > > What's the Big Idea? > > One of the unfortunate early casualties of a data-driven world is anything > that can't easily be measured. The great promise of the recent push toward > the collection and analysis of "big data" is scientific reproducibility. If > we collect enormous data sets on how millions of people behave, we can more > consistently produce things they want and need. The illusion - created in > part by the marketing advance guard of the data-mining firms - is that we're > already there. > > But many valuable things remain unmeasurable, and though we may be eager to > transcend once and for all the dark ages of human superstition, we're > foolish and premature when we dismiss intuition entirely. As generations of > book lovers will tell you, literature transforms us. If pressed to say > exactly how, most of us will mutter something about perspective or the > experience of entering another person's consciousness. But all would agree > that our best-loved books have in some significant way changed us for the > better. > > Author <http://bigthink.com/users/alaindebotton> Alain de Botton ( > <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307379108/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d2_i2?pf_rd_ > m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0228QJP2S3KXV6BBZJVM&pf_rd_t=101&pf > _rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846> Religion for Atheists, > <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679779159/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d2_i3?pf_rd_ > m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0228QJP2S3KXV6BBZJVM&pf_rd_t=101&pf > _rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846> How Proust Can Change Your Life) and his > partners at the London-based <http://www.theschooloflife.com/> School of > Life have taken this intuition a step further. Their " > <http://www.theschooloflife.com/shop/couch/bibliotherapy/> bibliotherapy" > program matches individuals struggling in any aspect of their lives with a > list of books hand-selected to help them through tough times. You get your > reading list after an initial consultation with a bibliotherapist in which > you discuss your life, your reading history, and your problems. > > [VIDEO] Alain de Botton on Bibliotherapy > > > > No, there's no training program - the three bibliotherapists currently on > staff include a longtime small bookstore owner, an author and an artist. And > of course, they're all avid, lifelong readers. No there's no objective > measure of the results - all the (abundant) evidence of bibliotherapy's > efficacy is anecdotal. And no, bibliotherapy is probably not the best remedy > for schizophrenia. > > What it does offer is distance from and perspective on your troubles as you > view them through the lens of other people's lives. The people are mostly > fictional (though some non-fiction is also prescribed) but they're dealing > with issues just like yours and almost certainly approaching them > differently. > > Inflexible thinking is characteristic of both anxiety and depression, the > two most common psychological complaints. In their non-clinical forms, these > ailments are self-perpetuating because the sufferer is locked into > thought-patterns that reinforce them. While unproven, literature's rumored > power to reorient and rewire these patterns is certainly worthy of future > study. > > In the meantime, the "shelf-help" program has a growing fan-base among > Londoners who appreciate its relatively low-cost, non-medicalized approach > to the anxieties that are characteristic of modern life. And for those > dubious of literature's healing power, the School of Life also offers > walk-in talk therapy, a program which also treats a certain degree of > psychological suffering as a normal, everyday occurrence. > > [VIDEO] Alain de Botton on how Proust can change your life > > > > What's the Significance? > > What's remarkable about the School of Life's approach is that it flies in > the face of modern Western society's expectations of expertise and empirical > evidence for the efficacy of any service more serious than a manicure. It > offers alternative models for relieving our troubles at a time when > professional industries and drug companies have billions invested in the > notion that they, and only they are qualified to do so. > > But as Big Think blogger David Berreby > <http://bigthink.com/Mind-Matters/psychologists-assume-its-possible-to-know- > a-person-what-if-theyre-wrong> recently pointed out, psychology is one > science in which knowledge claims are particularly tough to verify, there > being so many variables involved in human thought and behavior. > > Bibliotherapy is a rare and refreshing acknowledgement, in this age of the > algorithm, that there's quite a lot we still don't understand, and that > we've got other options besides suffering in silence while waiting for the > science to catch up. > > > > Follow Jason Gots ( <https://twitter.com/#%21/jgots> @jgots) on Twitter > > Image credit: <http://shutterstock.com/> Shutterstock.com > > http://bigthink.com/think-tank/anxious-depressed-literate-try-bibliotherapy > > __._,_.___ > > Reply to > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20Anxious%3F%20Depressed%3F%20Liter > ate%3F%20Try%20Bibliotherapy> sender | Reply to > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20Anxious%3F%20Depres > sed%3F%20Literate%3F%20Try%20Bibliotherapy> group | Reply > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TriumphOfContent/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJyYzA3bGxiBF > 9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE3OTM4NjM5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2Mzk4NQRtc2dJZAMyNTk4OQ > RzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzEzNDU4NTYxNzI-?act=reply&messageNum=25989> > via web post | > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TriumphOfContent/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaGowZjdpBF > 9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE3OTM4NjM5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2Mzk4NQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsaw > NudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzNDU4NTYxNzI-> Start a New Topic > > Messages in this topic > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TriumphOfContent/message/25989;_ylc=X3oDMTM3Y > XByMDNnBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE3OTM4NjM5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2Mzk4NQRtc2dJZ > AMyNTk4OQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzNDU4NTYxNzIEdHBjSWQDMjU5ODk-> > (1) > > Recent Activity: > > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TriumphOfContent;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdTJsNTBlBF9TAzk > 3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE3OTM4NjM5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2Mzk4NQRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2h > wBHN0aW1lAzEzNDU4NTYxNzI-> Visit Your Group > > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZ2p0OTNjBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzE3O > TM4NjM5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2Mzk4NQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTM0NTg1NjE3M > g--> Yahoo! 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