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A GUIDE TO SELECTING

Unusual
Self-Development
Books

Paradigm Shifting Books for when Growth is Stagnant

When we have a clear idea about where we like to go, it’s much easier to select a book than when we’re stuck in an area of life and don’t know why.

There’s a saying that if you can’t find a solution to a problem, you’re probably addressing it with an assumption that is incorrect. When you find it and discard it, an entire house of cards might fall apart, which is something we subconsciously try to avoid as it can be very uncomfortable at first.

To give an extreme example: when you’re looking to find a diet that makes you feel better, you assume that food is a necessity. However, there are books that challenge this assumption. And, so, after trying many diets without success, you might try challenging your entire paradigm and read about this absurd idea of living without food.

Your mind will tell you it’s a waste of time, but some books argue that your mind will do that with anything outside the paradigm.

Here’s a selection of unusual books that could be the solution to your unusual quest for more happiness:
 

book cover on being certain robert burton.jpg

"On Being Certain"

This book argues that we often feel absolutely sure about something even when we're objectively wrong to help us make quick decisions, reduce anxiety, and maintain coherence in our perception of the world. Changing your (or someone’s) mind requires not only facts, but also a disrupting of the feeling of being right. If you learn to appreciate doubt and dare to look for counter-evidence for your truths, this bias will dissipate.

book cover Thomas Cowan – Human Heart, Cosmic Heart.avif

"Human Heart, Cosmic Heart"

Thomas Cowan, a medical doctor, investigated the idea that the heart is not a pump but a vortex machine and that blood flows by itself once the heart created a vortex motion. This idea was introduced by Rudolph Steiner in the 19th century. If you accept the arguments, it will change many of your ideas about health and science.

book cover Mortimer J. Adler – How to Read a Book.jpg

"How to Read a Book"

What if you already read the book that contains the answers to your questions, but you missed it? This all time classic explains how to read books properly. We’ve seen the ideas from this book make a difference for many clients and wrote our own summary with examples from the self-development genre.

book cover the antidote oliver burkeman.jpg

"The Antidote – Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking"

This book by Oliver Burkeman introduces the counter-intuitive idea that the harder we try something, the less likely we are to succeed. For example, when we try to float we sink, but if we let the floating happen, we float. Similarly, the harder we try to relax, the more tensed we become. The escape to this paradox is to obtain a state of non-conceptual awareness like when in a flow state.

book cover James Carse – Finite and Infinite Games.jpg

"Finite and Infinite Games"

The philosophical framework of this book by James Cars is that life can be seen as a set of games. Some of these games are played to win, which also ends the game. Other games are meant to be perpetual, like a dance. The book essentially suggest to develop an infinite mindset by learning to view life as an ongoing, evolving process rather than a series of competitions. You can still play games to win, but preferably by making it part of the dance. It's a call to reframe what you're already doing.

book cover James Hillman – We’ve had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy – And the World’s Ge

"We’ve had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy – And the World’s Getting Worse"

This book argues that if you want to feel at home in our modern dysfunctional society you must be mad. It’s not the most focused book every written, but this simple premise can already make you feel very different about a struggle to find your place in society.

book cover Neil Strauss – The Game.jpg

"The Game"

Those who struggle with dating or relationships and never looked into the dynamics, might be shocked to learn that the interplay between men and women has always been following certain patterns. Journalist Neil Strauss witness first-hand how these patterns were being decoded and turned young men with zero attention from women into desired playboys. We might feel attraction is something magical or intrinsic, but a bunch of (sometimes creepy) nerds proved otherwise. Which makes you wonder: How many of our other interactions follow (decoded) patterns?

book cover _Spiritual Enlightenment, the Damnest Thing_ Jed Mckenna.jpg

"Spiritual Enlightenment, the Damnedest Thing"

If you struggle with your spiritual growth, despite much devotion, this book could be a game changer. It’s considered to be the most provocative book about ego awakening, but in the fictional anecdotes many spiritual concepts are flipped upside down from what most people took them for. The question isn't if it will make you aware of some blind spots in your spiritual framework, but rather if you want to confront those blind spots by an arrogant, anonymous word-guru.

book cover Michael Newton – Life Between Lives.jpg

"Life Between Lives"

While using hypnosis for regressive clinical work, doctor Michael Newton encountered clients who described a place in between two lives. As it turned out, this had to do with the depth of the hypnosis. Since then, Newton did many case studies, which you can read in this book. Some argue that his questions have been leading clients to the description Newton was looking for. However, you can decide for yourself, since he’s be training therapist for decades to bring people back to their lives between lives. Anyone can book a session.

book cover _Can you catch a cold_ Daniel Roytas.jpg

"Can You Catch a Cold?"

People get the flu, there’s no doubt about it. But how do they get it? It seems common knowledge that viruses, like the flu, are contagious. It certainly seems to spread from person-to-person though coughing and shaking hands. However, few people know that scientists haven’t been able to replicate this contagiousness process. This book provides a clear overview of the research. It also lists some of the controversies around the work of Pasteur, who’s considered the father of the model that contagious viruses lead to flu and other illnesses. It then posits various alternative explanations, enabling readers to answer the question in the title of this book for themselves. Your answer to the question will make your decisions regarding your health easier and possibly more effective.

book cover George Carey - God-Man.jpg

"God-Man"

This book by George Cary interprets many passages of the bible as a cryptic map for what in other traditions might be called the Kundalini awakening or rising. It even includes the tradition of Santa Claus, who’s consider to come down through the chimney, bring presents and go up the chimney again. Just like how cerebral spinal fluid is considered to move at an awakening. This book might change your perception of the bible.

representing the topic _deconstructing and simplifying self-development_, fresco, positive

Challenging your entire idea of the universe, history and society

This suggestion is a combination of three controversial books that might challenge your entire idea about what's true and what's not:

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  • Knight & Butler – Who Built the Moon?

  • David Icke – The Dream

  • Anatoly Fomenko – History: Fiction or Science?

 

In Who Built the Moon? you read how mathematically unlikely it is that a planet has a moon with the perfect size to distance ratio for solar eclipses.  Furthermore, the moon’s orbit is also precisely synchronized with Earth’s rotation. What are the odds? Earth’s moon is also different from other moons in several ways. The authors therefore claim that the moon was designed. This ties in with David Icke’s claim in The Dream that the moon is an artificial artifact that emits frequencies that keep humanity in a hypnotic state. Responsible are the elite, who cooperate with interdimensional beings, so he theorizes. This elite lies about everything in the world history. A claim that, for example, Fomenko provides arguments for in his book History: fiction or science?. A central idea is that carbon dating is incorrect, an idea that changes all timelines at once.

 

Such rabbit holes might be out of your comfort zone, but it could be fun to see if you could play the devil’s advocate by immersing yourself in the arguments for unconventional theories. But, of course, at the risk of becoming convinced by some of the ideas. In that case, some tension might drop away like when someone discovers their true sexual orientation. An inconvenient truth can sometimes be very rewarding.

About Bukuru

The core philosophy of Bukuru is that each person should test their own beliefs. The project started as a quest to categorize self-development books in such a way that it would become easier to find books that match your beliefs. However, along the way we concluded that the essence of most books can be captured in a few sentences – if the idea is original at all. Instead of helping people buy books, we now help people not buying books.

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