Finding 'Impulses' from 'Obsessions' — 'How to Find the Impulse to Get Off the Life Track' by Yoshihiro Tanigawa (Chikuma Primer Shinsho)

I love the 'Chikuma Primer Shinsho' series because philosophers and researchers write in an easy-to-understand way that even middle and high school students can read, and whenever I see an author I'm interested in has published a book in this series, I want to read it.

I am currently reading 'How to Find the Impulse to Get Off the Life Track' by Yoshihiro Tanigawa. It is interesting, easy to understand, and makes me think about many things. I don't think any adult who is drawn to this title will regret reading it. I wonder about children, though. If I had children, I think I would end up wanting them not to get off the life track... Perhaps it would be best for parents to read it first and then decide whether to recommend it to their children.

It's fine if you're the type of person who can work steadily toward an ideal state, but for those who aren't (like me), impulses are the driving force behind change and growth. Who cares about what kind of benefit it brings or what use it is to society—forget that! If you can find an impulse that makes you think, 'I want to do this, so I'm going to do it!' and devote yourself to it, it's fun at the very least, and just being fun is more than enough. I believe that the encounters you have there and the skills you acquire without realizing it will eventually change your life in a three-dimensional and colorful way.

For me, novels have been like that, and portrait photography, reading plays, kimonos, and the blog I've been writing for a long time before this Note, probably all started from impulses. It's important to be useful to someone, but I want to find even more of those impulses—the kind where you're so absorbed and having so much fun that you do it on your own without anyone asking.

The author says that obsessions can be a hint for finding these impulses. To know your own obsessions, you need to break down your 'likes' in detail with high resolution. By verbalizing your 'likes' with high resolution, those likes can be applied to other fields as well.

Peregrine falcons don't just like forests; they liked an environment with many tall structures and plenty of prey, which is why they became able to inhabit city buildings. If they had just stayed with 'I like forests,' they wouldn't have been able to find a new world. If you increase the resolution of your likes, you can expand your new habitat from forests to the skyscraper-filled streets of Manhattan, just like the peregrine falcon.

I see!! I want to advance into Manhattan too!! I want to start thinking about it right away.

For example, I've been into kimonos since last year. What is it about kimonos that I like...? Maybe it's the material? It's interesting how various materials like silk and linen change in different ways, and I want to experience the process, what they feel like, and what happens when I wear them. Do I like fabric? Do I like processing technology? Maybe it's a thirst for knowledge?

I also think about other things I like and dislike in fields outside of kimonos. I like finding questions myself, researching them, and solving them. I like the surprise of 'So that's what it was!' But I wasn't very suited to being a researcher who pushes forward on a path without answers. Even if you think and think persistently for a long time, eliminating what isn't the answer, and arrive at a likely answer, you don't easily get the pleasure of 'So that's what it was!' That's why I'm happier as a writer who listens to researchers and researches things to explain them in an easy-to-understand way, rather than being a researcher myself.

Regarding novels, the moment I imagine why a character is doing something and then realize 'So that's what it was!' is the most fun. And just like with research, I might actually be quite bad at thinking about things endlessly. That might be why I have trouble writing long novels.

I threw all of this into ChatGPT (I call it Chapi) and had it analyze me, and it came up with a table like this.

Well, just like with fortune-telling results, it's only fun for the person involved, so I don't think anyone will read it carefully, but take a look at the next part.

The potential trouble is 'difficulty continuing long-form works'...!!!

They're calling me out! It's spot on!!

And to deal with that, it says I should <clearly state 'questions and answers' for each chapter and make them mini-complete types>. This might actually be good. Maybe I'll adopt it. If I'm going to write a 300-page (120,000 character) long novel, I could divide it into 12 chapters of 10,000 characters each, set a mystery to be solved in each, and resolve them chapter by chapter. They would be small, complete stories, but the solutions would be linked and gradually become related, and in the end, a bigger picture would emerge. If I create a story that way, I might be able to write 300 pages. It's like making a 12-episode TV drama series, so it's very logical, and there are many long novels made that way, so I should have done that too. Because it was 300 pages, I assumed I couldn't write it unless I set a goal far away and could see the path to that goal, and that's why I kept getting stuck.

Chapi also asked me what I want to be doing in five years, and when I answered that I wanted to publish a long novel, it even proposed a schedule for me. An AI editor has been born...!

This is 1,000 times more realistic than the junk schedule full of wishes that I make... I feel like I might actually be able to tackle the 300-page long novel that I had been thinking about but was on the verge of giving up on because I couldn't start writing.

By the way, whenever I try to write a reading diary like this, it ends up becoming a story about myself halfway through, but I believe the role of a book is to activate the reader's thinking. It's like, once you read it, you want to talk about your own experiences.

Going to see art is the same. Meeting someone is the same. Going on a trip is the same. I often think lately that what matters is how it stimulates me and what it draws out of me.

So, to put it extremely, the time spent reading the book might be more important than the content written in it. If you can 'read' a book just by flipping through it with speed reading, and you manage to 'read' many books, I wonder if you even have time to let it move your heart.

If we compare it to traveling, isn't it like saying you've traveled because you gained the ability to teleport to your destination, went there, came back, and finished the trip in three minutes?

Or, to compare it to a meal, isn't it like coming to a restaurant that serves a menu designed for you to enjoy the meal over time—considering the colors, devising cooking methods, and thinking about various flavors and forms—and saying you'll finish it in one minute because time is precious and chewing is a hassle? Such a person should just drink nutritional supplements instead of coming to a restaurant in the first place. The purpose is wrong.

So, I want to say that it's okay if reading takes time, and it's okay if you can't read a lot. However, it's a bit of a problem if you can't enjoy it because the text you're reading isn't sinking in. I think there are various reasons for that, such as compatibility with the book, the book requiring background knowledge, or your reading mood not being tuned in. If you're not used to traveling and suddenly go on a deep, independent trip, you'll be nervous and restless, and you won't be able to enjoy it at all. In such cases, I think you should choose a different book. Or, I think you should ask someone who is used to reading how they enjoy it.

Well, with that said, Chikuma Primer is a new book series that I recommend especially to adults (though sometimes they are written very seriously, and some books are harder than Blue Backs...), but a book I was in charge of writing will be published by Chikuma Primer Shinsho. I'm happy to be part of the Primer family.

'The Mystery of Consciousness' by Masafumi Oizumi (Chikuma Primer Shinsho)

Professor Oizumi is a researcher at the University of Tokyo who is seriously aiming for consciousness uploading. He is trying to realize a future within his own lifetime where consciousness can be uploaded to a machine, allowing one to live semi-permanently even after the body perishes.

Two books written by him have already been published, but they are quite difficult, so please start by reading this one. I worked incredibly hard, having him explain things for dozens of hours so that even middle and high school students could understand it (laughs).

According to Professor Oizumi, it is 'the easiest book to understand so far'.

I was also in charge of writing the dialogue book between Professor Oizumi and philosopher Professor Yukihiro Nobuhara (Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo), who is researching consciousness. If you have a philosophical interest in what consciousness is, rather than a scientific interest in the brain, please check this out as well.

'Where Does Consciousness Come From?' by Yukihiro Nobuhara and Masafumi Oizumi (Hayakawa Shinsho)

I think it's also interesting for science fiction writers, so please take a look. I also recommend it to those who feel that philosophy books don't sink in. Because it's spoken language, the density is lower than in philosophy books, it sinks into your head slowly, and it makes you want to think about various things yourself. I think it's a book that cultivates the mind.