The Power of Not Thinking: How to Stop Overthinking and Reduce Stress | Self-Help Book for Mental Wellness | Perfect for Meditation & Mindfulness Practices

I was immediately struck by the irony that in a book called “The Power of Not Thinking”, the opening paragraph starts right in with Mr. I-think-therefore-I-am Descartes. If there’s a villain in the book, it’s Descartes; and if there’s a hero, it’s the author, Simon Roberts. Taking us from Descartes to business executives doing laundry in someone else’s house -- the book itself embodies the thesis that we learn not only through cognition, erstwhile, rational, logical thought, but also – integrally through observation, practice, improvisation, empathy and retention *with our whole bodies*. With. Our. Whole. Bodies. I was aware of much (but not all) of the philosophy and science, and many (but not all) of the practical examples – but it was their juxtaposition through narrative that struck the right chords. The payoff is when he applies all of this is to today’s world of business, policy, politics, etc. that one recognizes the gift of transcendent comprehension. To me, in tone and style,, this book might be placed alongside Freakonomics, as it too sought to join the disembodied mathematics of economics with the messy reality of lived experience; conversely, the book stands as a counterpoint – not an argument against – but a counterpoint to books like Geoffrey West’s, Scale, that seek single, unifying laws for otherwise complex phenomena. Dr Roberts makes the very practical case that to build our increasingly technological society through government, business, institutions, invention and innovation – we must learn to participate and engage fully – head and heart, intellect and emotion, mind and body – not as two sides of the same coin, but as an integrated whole.