There are certain goals that you can’t pursue directly. Trying harder in that situation not only doesn’t help, but hurts.
Edward Slingerland
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Success does not always come from thinking, trying or striving harder. The ancient Chinese philosophers believed that wu-wei – effortless action aligned with the natural order of things – was the answer. Edward Slingerland, author of Trying Not to Try: Ancient China, Modern Science and the Power of Spontaneity, presents Confucius’, Laozi’s, Mencius’, and Zhuangzi’s strategies to access wu-wei, as well as the cognitive science demonstrating its power.
Edward Slingerland
Edward Slingerland is a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, where he also holds adjunct appointments in Philosophy and Psychology. His research specialties and teaching interests include Warring States (5th-3rd c. B.C.E.) Chinese thought, religious studies, cognitive linguistics, ethics, and the relationship between the humanities and the natural sciences.
Topics
- Wu-wei, De, and the Way (5:50)
- Confucius, Laozi, Mencius and Zhuangzi’s strategies to enter wu-wei (23:15)
- Applying wu-wei to work and careers (33:20)
Show Notes
- Trying Not to Try: Ancient China, Modern Science and the Power of Spontaneity, Edward Slingerland
- Trying Not to Try – The Power of Spontaneity (TED Talk)
- Edward Slingerland Home Page and Social Media
- Edward’s Courses on EdX
- The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin
- The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac
- Lao Zi
- Zhuangzi
- Confucius
- Mencius
- Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant