The Optimist: De Chinese begrippen wu-wei 無為 en de 德

“In Boek op woensdag besteedt The Optimist aandacht aan een mooi, inspirerend, interessant of indrukwekkend boek. Deze week een interview met Edward Slingerland, hoogleraar Aziatische Wetenschappen en auteur van het boek Proberen niet te proberen. Proberen niet te proberen De Chinese begrippen wu-wei 無為 en de 德 kunnen ons helpen spontaner en ongedwongen in het leven te staan. Kun je je best doen om ergens niet je best op te doen?”

— The Optimist

“Boek op woensdag: de paradox van wu-wei,” The Optimist, July 9th 2014.

Der Standard: die praktische Umsetzung chinesischer Weisheit

““Verflixt und verdammt” - so entsteht keine Höchstleistung. Edward Slingerland, Professor für Asienstudien, zeigt die praktische Umsetzung chinesischer Weisheit”

— Der Standard

“Bleib geschmeidig! Wie sich Ziele leichter erreichen lassen,” Der Standard, June 1st 2014.

De Kennis Van Nu: handelen door niet te handelen

“Wat hebben een 11.500 jaar oude tempel en het uitschakelen van je bewuste brein met elkaar te maken? Over de paradox van wu wei.

Gecultiveerde gedachteloosheid. Onbewuste spontaniteit. Being in the zone. In zijn nieuwste boek Proberen niet te proberen belicht de Canadese filosoof, psycholoog en taalkundige Edward Slingerland het Chinese begrip wu wei, of wel ‘handelen door niet te handelen’. Een paradox die hij in zijn boek onder meer verheldert door gebruik te maken van de nieuwste inzichten uit de cognitiewetenschappen.”

— De Kennis Van Nu

“Spontaniteit als bron van beschaving,” De Kennis Van Nu, April 29th 2014.

The Vancouver Sun: modern china and ancient chinese philosophy

“Choking pollution. Grim competition. Education by rote. Authoritarian rule. Untrustworthy bureaucracy. Business cronyism. Rampant consumerism.

Mainland China — largely in light of waves of negative articles in the Western media — does not have the greatest international image.

But many people in the East and West believe ancient Chinese philosophy has the potential to lift not only the world’s most populous country, but the planet, out of a downward spiral.”

— Douglas Todd, The Vancouver Sun

Douglas Todd, “China Searches for its Ecological Soul,” The Vancouver Sun, April 12th 2014.

Brain Pickings: at once disconcerting and comforting

““The best way to get approval is not to need it,” Hugh MacLeod memorably counseled. We now know that perfectionism kills creativity and excessive goal-setting limits our success rather than begetting it — all different manifestations of the same deeper paradox of the human condition, at once disconcerting and comforting, which Edward Slingerland, professor of Asian Studies and Embodied Cognition at the University of British Columbia and a renowned scholar of Chinese thought, explores in Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity.”

— Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

Maria Popova, “Trying Not to Try: How to Cultivate the Paradoxical Art of Spontaneity Through the Chinese Concept of Wu-Wei,” Brain Pickings, April 1st 2014.

Le Temps: Entre Confucius, taoïsme et neurosciences, le philosophe Edward Slingerland trace un chemin

“Un état de grâce dans lequel l’action s’accomplit par enchantement, sans le concours de la volonté: tout le monde l’a vécu, personne ne sait y retourner… Entre Confucius, taoïsme et neurosciences, le philosophe Edward Slingerland trace un chemin.”

— Nic Ulmi, Le Temps

Nic Ulmi, “<<Wu wei>>, l’art de réussir sans essayer,” Le Temps, April 1st 2014.

The Atlantic: moving through the world at once effortlessly and effectively

“Trying hasn’t gone out of style. It was never in style. Cool is in style, and cool means moving through the world at once effortlessly and effectively.

Woven into most of our natures is a cumbersome desire to be accepted and liked. At odds with that is the equally natural tendency to be turned off by people who wear that desire on their sleeves. If you, like me, essentially reek of effort in all that you do, such that people can sense it blocks away, and it makes you unattractive socially and intellectually, and it makes babies cry, can you practice and learn to cultivate a genuinely spontaneous approach to life? Is it possible to be deliberately less deliberate?”

— James Hamblin, The Atlantic

James Hamblin, “How Not to Try,” The Atlantic, March 21st 2014.

Financial Times: you cannot reduce anything truly worthwhile to a technique

“Ultimately, however, none of these provides a satisfactory answer because it is indeed a genuine paradox, an irresolvable contradiction at the heart of human existence. The best we can do, suggests Slingerland, is “to not push too hard when trying is bad, and not think too much when reflection is the enemy”. If we do that, “the flow of life is always there, eager to pull us along in its wake.””

— Julian Baggini, Financial Times

Julian Baggini, “Templates for gaining wisdom,” Financial Times, March 7th 2014.

The Huffington Post: jaunty and refreshing good humor

“With sometimes jaunty and refreshing good humor, a good number of insights drawn from personal experience and, given the complexity of the philosophical concepts he explores, mercifully readable prose, Slingerland walks us through four phases of early Chinese thought: Confucianism, which preaches “carving and polishing”—the long, painstaking work of cultivating manners (for the gentleman) or craft (for the artist), until perfection can be achieved with spontaneous ease; the Daoism of Laozi (Lao-Tzu), favoring the “uncarved block” or, as the author puts it in a succinct appendix summary, “stop trying immediately, go home”; Mencian Confucianism, “try, but don’t force it”; and the Daoism of Zuangzi, “try to forget all about trying or not trying, just go with the flow.” ”

— Peter Clothier, The Huffington Post

Peter Clothier, “Just Do It,” The Huffington Post, February 24th 2014.

The National Post: scientific ideas to “retire”

“Unlike rock stars, scientific ideas do not usually burn out. They fade away and outlast their usefulness.

This is what motivated a new survey of 166 scientists and intellectuals, asking which ideas ought to be “retired” from science, not quite because they are wrong, but because they are old and ineffective, like nature versus nurture, left-brain versus right-brain, or carbon footprints.”

— Joseph Brean, The National Post

Joesph Brean, “IQ, Big Bang, evolution on list of incomplete or outdated ideas scientists suggest are ready to be ‘retired’,” The National Post, January 14th 2014.