I'm reading a book called Redirect by Timothy Wilson, given to me as a gift. The principal reason I'm writing about it is to help me integrate whatever useful ideas it offers into my own life and experience. Another is to share, perhaps, if there are any who wander this way, with others what I have distilled from my investment of time to read and think about it.
One thing I like about the book in general is that the author seems to have a rigorous bent about insisting that "what works" be based on experimental results or scientific evaluation. That is a strong departure from 98% of the "self help" literature out there, 99% of the religious indoctrination, and 50% of the "psychological" books and techniques. Perhaps it is an engineer's approach. We build bridges based on calculations and practical science that works rather than artistic intuition, theoretical reason, or even neat things like quantum mechanics theory.
One need only look at all the political "solutions" being offered in this season that contradict known facts to see the ianity and foolishness that we Americans tolerate as our basis of government. And those who attend most churches regularly insist their adopted "doctrine" is true, though it fails to change their life in any wholesome manner. "Faith" is mostly continuing to believe something is true, even when untested, even when contradicted by experience and facts.
That blind faith is a failure (often based on fear about what we'd find out) to reasonably ask that what we believe be subject to reality -- at least those things that can be tested. (Questions like "is there life after death?" or "Is there a God?" are not testable propositions.) Don't look at facts. Don't do tests. Don't measure results. Those are the general foundations of our political and religious faith.
This author at least tries not to make the mistake of faith in popular psychological or social science theories that don't have scientific evidence to support their truth or effectiveness. He limits himself to proposing what has been demonstrated and tested. One can argue about the efficacy of the testing, but any attempt at evaluation is ahead of blind "faith" by leaps and bounds.
The next part will look at Chapter 1 which is about tested methods of changing and re-writing our own narratives about ourselves.