Freedom and Flourishing

Tim Gallwey established his reputation as a pioneer of sports psychology with The Inner Game of Tennis, which was published in 1975. After that, he demonstrated in other books how greater success in any activity is possible with some mastery of the  "inner game".  My objective in preparing this podcast is to make more people aware of Tim Gallwey's "inner game" approach to living. In the podcast, I discuss how Tim discovered the "inner game", and how I came to regard him as my guru, before identifying what I consider to be the central ideas involved in the "inner game" approach. Books referred to: Gallwey, W. Timothy. (1975). The Inner Game of Tennis, Random House.  Gallwey, W. Timothy. (1981). The Inner Game of Golf, Random House.  Gallwey, W. Timothy. (1999). The Inner Game of Work, Random House.  Gallwey, W. Timothy. (2009). The Inner Game of Stress: Outsmart Life's Challenges, Fulfill Your Potential, Enjoy Yourself,  Random House. Bates, Winton Russell. (2021). Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing, Hamilton Books. More information about Tim Gallwey: https://theinnergame.com/about-tim-gallwey/ Music: Clumsy Dance by Roa Music  https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

In this episode I interview Leah Goldrick, a person who endeavors  to apply Stoic philosophy in her daily life. Leah was recently an editor of a book of readings entitled, Stoicism Today. I met Leah through her blog, Common Sense Ethics which discusses ancient Stoic philosophy and a range of ethical issues that are relevant to life in the modern world. We begin by discussing the relationship of Stoic philosophy to the meaning of stoicism in common usage, what Leah sees as the unifying theme of Stoic philosophy, and the practical usefulness of Stoic philosophy to people experiencing hard times. We then move on to a discussion of fear, Leah's personal experience when she became infected with COVID-19  in 2020, and the role of the fear of mortality in the responses that many people have had toward issues associated with the virus The music used in this podcast is Pure by Roa Music https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Like just about everyone else in the world, I feel comforted by information that echoes and reinforces my existing beliefs. However, I think  it would be good to be more open-minded about some issues. In this episode I discuss the problem that echo chambers pose for modern societies, and approaches that individuals can adopt to become more open-minded. Books referred to in the episode are: Brian Caplan, "The Myth of the Rational Voter", 2007. Julia Galef, "Scout Mindset", 2021. Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, "Immunity to Change", 2009. Cass Sunstein, "Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media", 2017. Winton Bates, "Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing", 2021. The music used in this podcast is Pure by Roa Music https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

This episode may help you to think more deeply about who you are. I begin with the uncontroversial observation that personal information about you provides only superficial knowledge. Much of the discussion is about whether it is appropriate to think of our selves as fixed entities. The main theme of the discussion is that it makes sense to identify with your natural self, which embodies instinct and emotion as well as reason.  The discussion draws on insights of psychologists, neurologists, and philosophers. The following books are referred to in this episode: Bates, Winton, Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing, Hamilton Books, 2021. Campbell, Richard, The Metaphysics of Emergence, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Gallwey, Timothy, The Inner Game of Tennis, Pan Books, 1975. Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis, Basic Books, 2006.  Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking Fast and Slow, Penguin, 2011.   Whitman, Walt, Complete Works of Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Book III ‘Song of Myself’. (The poem, ‘Song of Myself’, was first published in the collection Leaves of Grass, in 1855.) The music used in this podcast is Pure by Roa Music https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

This podcast tells the story of how I gained fluency after many years of stuttering and blocking. I discuss the cognitive and behavioral approaches that helped me within a framework I find useful to my own understanding.  The framework for transformational change involves five elements: Challenging the hidden assumption Avoiding self-interference Coping with self-doubt Accepting whatever happens as a learning experience Practice.  There are three segments in the podcast: My story about stuttering and blocking Transformation (beginning about 14 minutes into the podcast) Toastmasters and personal development (beginning about 39 minutes into the podcast). The following books are referred to in the podcast: Bates, Winton Russell, Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing, Hamilton Books, 2021. Bodenhamer, Bob G Mastering Blocking and Stuttering, A cognitive approach to fluency, Crown House Publishing, 2004. Gallwey, W Timothy, The Inner Game of Golf, Pan Books,1981. Gallwey, W Timothy, The Inner Game of Tennis, Pan Books, 1975. Gallwey, W Timothy, The Inner Game of Work, Texere, 2000. Hall, L Michael, Movie Mind, Neuro-Semantics, 2002. Harrison, John, Redefining Stuttering, What the struggle to speak is really about, 2002, How to conquer your fears of speaking before people, Words that Work, 2011. (An online version is freely available.) Kegan, Robert, and Lisa Laskow Lahey, Immunity to Change, Harvard Business Press, 2009.   The music  used in the podcast is Clumsy Dance by Roa Music | https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

Would you like to hear me talk about "Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing"? If you are not sure, listening to the first segment, which lasts about 6 minutes, will help you to make up your mind.  The first segment discusses the meaning of human flourishing and provides an overview of what the book is about. My main aim in preparing the podcast has been to summarize the main themes in each chapter in order to encourage more people to read my book. The podcast may also serve as a reading guide for people who have already purchased the book. My book can be purchased  from the publisher, Hamilton Books,  or from several other booksellers including Amazon.  For a brief description of the book, please see my blog Freedom and Flourishing.