Computers perform a lot of tasks that we used to do manually and continue to take over more of the things we do every day. We use computers to perform basic arithmetic operations for us. They check and even auto-correct our spelling mistakes (not always as intended). Google reads maps for us, gives us directions, and even tells us when we’ll arrive based on traffic conditions. Computers can fly planes. They can drive cars. They can even perform many simple, and even some complex medical operations.

In the book The Glass Cage: How Our Computers Are Changing Us, Nicholas Carr examines the role computers play in our lives and asks an important question: What are the impacts and consequences of the growing levels of automation on our behaviors, learning, and overall development as humans?

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I started playing golf when I was in high school. For years, I believed the key to going low was having the perfect swing, mastering different shots, and practicing endlessly. I spent time at the driving range pounding balls just because, on the putting green batting balls around aimlessly, and even around the pitching green thinking it might help. I watched the golf channel and read Golf magazine to pick up tips to perfect my swing. On the course, I’d focus on keeping my head down, eye on the ball, left arm straight, and all that jazz. What did I have to show for my efforts?

Nothing.

OK. Maybe that’s being a little dramatic. It probably helped some, but even after all that time and effort, I still struggled to consistently break 100. On a good day, I might break 90. I didn’t make major improvements in my game until I realized it wasn’t the physical part of the game that was holding me back. It was the mental side. As the great Arnold Palmer once said, “Golf is a game of inches. The most important are the six inches between your ears.”

So if this is indeed the case, and who am I to argue with Arnie, what does one do? Well, if you’re like me, you search out material (i.e. books) to help you study and learn how to control and improve your mental approach to the game. It’s one of the reasons why I decided to read Mind Over Golf by Dr. Richard Coop. The book was mentioned in Maxwell Maltz’s classic work Psycho-Cybernetics, which is a personal favorite of mine, as a great way to improve your mental approach to the game, as well as life in general. With a recommendation that strong, I had to add it to my reading list.

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How would you respond if someone asked you what you believe in? What if they asked you why you believe it? If they questioned your answers, how far would you be willing to go to defend your beliefs? Would you give up your freedom? If you were persecuted, tortured, or sentenced to death, would you maintain or abandon your faith?

These are the questions that author Shusaku Endo explores in Silence. He portrays the lives of two Portuguese Jesuit priests who travel to Japan in the 17th century during the height of Japan’s persecution of Christians. They go there in search of their former mentor, who they fear has apostacized, or renounced his belief in the Christian faith.

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