To-Do List for $47/month?

• actually the base version is free.
• Feb'2014 update

http://zenhabits.net/the-showdown-simpleology-vs-gtd/

tied to book by Mark Joyner ISBN:0470095229 (see below)

good overview: http://www.simpleology5review.com/

May'2007: Leo Babauta compares it to Getting Things Done (and cheats by preferring his own Zen To Done approach). Seems a lot like a Worldview Based Living model.

resonates with Simplest Thing message

Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want - Mark Joyner

Partial Excerpts (antilibrary)

Copyright Page

2007

Before You Get Started

simple•ology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want is merely the companion to a multimedia learning experience and some life-changing software—all of which you can access for free

Introduction

Introduction: Getting What We Want

So What Do You Want?

So What Do You Want?

Is it possible to turn those thoughts into reality?   Actually it is. In fact, everything ever made by a person started out as a thought inside someone’s head.

Why did the notion of one person become one reality and the notions of others become another? And why did the notions of some not become reality at all?   This book shows you, quite clearly and simply, how this came to be so

The First Law of simple•ology: The Law of Straight Lines. That is, “the shortest path between any two points is a straight line.”

we can dig a little deeper into why people fall off the straight line path

BOOK I - The Asylum

BOOK I The Asylum

Chapter 1 - Insanity

CHAPTER 1 Insanity

In one sense, anything that we allow to pull us off the path to getting what we want is a type of insanity.

Chapter 2 - Science

CHAPTER 2 Science

The opposite of insanity is science

Science
Try it.
Pay attention.
If it works—great!
Now you know a little something.
If not, you can try something else.
Take notes.

Understanding the nature of science is powerful. Maybe the most powerful thing.   But there is something else science gives us: knowledge

Scientists have come and gone through the ages, but they have left for you (at least the good ones have) a record of what works and what doesn’t.

we can open up a book and say, “Hey, this guy tried this and he says it worked. Let me try it and see for myself.”

Some of the knowledge you gain will work. Some of it won’t. But it’s sure great that it’s there. Even better is your ability to find out for yourself if it’s true

If it’s so simple, then how come people are still doing crazy things?

Well, for starters, you live in an asylum and that asylum has invisible walls.

Chapter 3 - The Invisible Walls Around the Asylum

logical fallacy

how we think.

This particular tool is but one of many linguistic artifacts that bind our minds.

While argumentum ad hominem is invalid, it does have an effect on the listener.   It puts a little frame around the information, and frames affect perception

Sometimes when we do crazy things, we cook up language that will lock us into that pattern

More formally it is referred to as a: Double Bind (Definition #1)

Gregory Bateson: An unresolvable dilemma whereby two conflicting, or equally unsavory, options are presented by an authority figure to an unwitting victim

Many normal people, not just those on the path to schizophrenia, are affected by double binds every day. Probably most frequently

The proposition of two unsavory options—one painted in a favorable light in order to influence behavior

In both cases, it’s the inability of the victim to see through the double bind that causes problems.

many of the great works of literature are about people who live in the imaginary prison a double bind creates.

A great example of that is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig 1974). This very long but fascinating book is a chronicle of one extremely intelligent man’s struggle with a rather lofty double bind

Here’s another: mu.

it just goes to show that sanity has little to do with how intelligent you are.   It has much more to do with having a useful understanding of the world

Words are even more powerful than you may think

Intelligence Trap

Language has also been used to start wars, riots, and all sorts of mayhem all throughout history

But language isn’t all bad. The great clinical hypnotist Milton H. Erickson used linguistic tricks (even double binds) in a therapeutic setting to trick people into happiness and healthier behavior.

Language isn’t the only thing that binds us, and the Invisible Walls aren’t the only problem

Chapter 4 - Your Escape Route

But first there are two other things you need:

1. A meaningful way to think about the information you receive.
2. A navigation system to guide you on the path between your dreams and reality

A better understanding of the world would have helped

Book III

improving the accuracy with which you evaluate the information around you.

Book IV gives you a useful system for acting in the world that will greatly speed up the rate at which you get the things you want

Chapter 1 - Your Model of the World

There’s a movie playing in your head right now.

Chapter 1 - Logic

One of the laws of “classical logic” is the law of “bivalency.”   That is, something is either true or false.

What if the car was a collaborative effort of both Ford and Mitsubishi? Well, then it would be “true” but the law of bivalency no longer seems to hold up, does it?   Over time more complex forms of logic have been developed to describe exceptional relationships (“multivalued logic” and “fuzzy logic” for example).

All of these things are various types of languages and we agree to a set of rules that govern them. Sometimes the rules apply. Sometimes they don’t

Is Bivalence Dead Then?

The spare was either right or it wasn’t. There wasn’t any other key that would “sort of” work. It would either work or it wouldn’t. So, just because a model of the world is newer, and even more accurate or useful in certain cases, doesn’t mean we should chuck out the old one entirely.