Tonight being the last Thursday… of a month that’s divisible by 2… with the moon’s phase being waxing gibbous… it can only mean one thing:
It’s time for the bimonthly bonfire meeting in the middle of a dark pine forest, also known as the Insights & More Book Club call.
I’ve been running this book club since the start of the year. So far, the other Insights & More members and I have read three books:
1. A cranky philosopher’s 100-year-old prediction of how the world will evolve (prediction turned out pretty much spot on)
2. A biography of a showman, packed full of practical how-to advice
3. A cultural history that attempts to explain all the world’s civilizations as a quest for one thing, which I won’t trouble you with here
Those three books might all sound very different from each other. But in some ways, they are also quite similar. For example, they all non-fiction books, written in the past 100 years, by men.
To change that somewhat, the fourth book of the Insights & More book club will be a novel, written by a woman.
And that’s my point for you for today:
Computer genius Alan Kay famously said that a change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
The whole point of the Insights & More Book Club is to read things that can give you that change in perspective.
But the change in perspective won’t come on its own, or at least not often enough. It’s something you have to force and press and cultivate consciously.
So if you’ve been reading just nonfiction books, read some fiction. If you’ve been reading only books published since 2020, read something old. If you find you only read books by men, read something by a woman.
Or just come and join the Insights & More Book Club, and have me do the worrying work of book selection for you.
I only open the doors to the Insights & More Book Club every two months, as we finish one book and start another. It doesn’t make sense to have people join midway.
The doors are currently open. They will close this Sunday July 2, at 12 midnight PST.
In case you’re curious about this club, you will have to be on my email list first. Click here to sign up for that.