Wayfinding Part 3: Hot & Cold

Wayfinding #3

by Hugh Howey

Much of our thinking happens in what is colloquially referred to as our "Lizard Brain." But what does this mean? How do lizards see the world? How do they think?

Answering these questions is a crucial step toward understanding how we think, making better decisions, and Wayfinding toward happiness and emotional growth. Join me as we continue this story of self-exploration, and as I take you back to the first sailboat I ever climbed aboard, and how it nearly killed me.

Genres: Nonfiction

26 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 5, 2015

About the author

I'm the author of WOOL, a top 5 science fiction book on Amazon. I also wrote the Molly Fyde saga, a tale of a teenager from the 25th century who is repeatedly told that girls can't do certain things -- and then does them anyway.

A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified as science fiction, since they often take place in the future, but if you love great stories and memorable characters, you'll dig what you find here. I promise.

Reviews

[Jeff Koeppen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third installment builds of the first two which covered handling our environment and free will. He addresses emotional growth and addiction in this one and relates it to how lizards think. He relates all this to his own personal experiences. He ends up by telling the harrowing story of his first sailing mishap which he almost drowned.

Good advice and interesting stories from a master storyteller. I'll keep chugging along with Wayfinding.

[Carin Camen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hugh Howey's Wayfinding series isn't his highest seller, which in my opinion is a loss to every reader who enjoys this author. It is in this series that you get to know the author on a deeper level. Hugh shares his innermost thoughts of his introspective journey as he sails around the world. I recommend that you read the entire series.

We often look at what Hugh shares online and think it's all fun and games. The Wayfinding series, shares the reality of sailing and the daily struggles one goes through physically and emotionally. It is in his journey around the world, that Hugh gives you access to his fears, insecurities and struggles. He is known for showing the world who he is, Wayfinding takes that concept and expands introspectively.

Some of his philosophies may challenge you to think about your own. Whether you agree with him or not, isn't what's important. It's all about embracing the journey that he invites you to participate in.

Wayfinding Part 1: Rats and Rafts
Wayfinding Part 2: Hell and Heaven
Wayfinding Part 3: Hot & Cold
Wayfinding Part 4: Old World & New
Wayfinding Part 5: Consciousness and Subconsciousness
Wayfinding Part 6: Highs and Lows
Wayfinding Part 7: In-Grouping and Out-Grouping
Wayfinding - Food and Fitness

Thank you Hugh for letting us be a part of your travels around the world. Your willingness to share personal insight and struggles in your Wayfinding journey helps to give hope in overcoming the storms of life, when the waves comes crashing down around you.

While I enjoyed reading this series, I would thoroughly enjoy having this series undergo a rewrite with retrospective thoughts as you conclude your travels.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm...hot and cold and the lizard changing locations from one to the other representing happiness and sadness in Hugh's theory. Unhappiness is caused by confusion. Just not getting there that is a fully vetted theory for him or anyone else. Lots of reasons for unhappiness. Cognitive dissonance. We all rationalize things we do that we know we should not do. Yep, we do that...some more frequently than others. Train our brains not to rationalize the bad stuff. Ok, I get that. Not my favorite of his Wayfinding novellas but let's see where he goes with the next in the series. Hoping he isn't running out of steam.

[Kenneth Buff · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this chapter Hugh discusses how our brain works (and by doing so supports his statements in part 2 that we have much less free will than we would like to admit) and goes on to say how we can use the information we know about the brain to make whatever improvements in our life we're shooting for. It's a great chapter in the series, and I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment is mostly memoir, but it's all interesting. The information on the function of the brain is not new, but is certainly more readable than other articles I've seen on the subject. Hugh does a great job of explaining things in plain English and with a minimum of words.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

not quite as interesting as the first two parts

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Wayfinding series is Hugh Howey's foray into non-fiction via brief expositions on the human experience and Wayfinding or, as Howey defines it for human behavior rather than sailing, "being aware of our environment and our responses to outside stimuli."

He writes in a way that is clear and accessible to many, beginning each (thus far) part of the Wayfinding Series with discussions on human behavior and Psychological research and phenomena. He works his way from there into stories of his own life and his own struggles with / understanding these phenomena. Howey's writing is well researched, thought out, and thought provoking.

In Part 3, Howey focuses on our basic instincts from the oldest parts of our brain (our lizard brain) and how these instincts influence our decision making without us thinking about it. Because much of our decision making is not conscious and cognitive dissonance can occur based on our thoughts vs our actions or competing thoughts, our brain then rationalizes (makes up stories about) how we got to these decisions. These baser instincts are why we find it so difficult to break addictions and steer ourselves away from immediately pleasurable stimuli in favor of longer term happiness. Howey discusses his own video game and porn addictions throughout this discussion and then finds himself moving into a story from his childhood in chapter 4 that I can barely see any segue into.

I rated this book a bit lower than the previous 2 because of the story from his childhood in the last chapter of the book. It seemed to lack a connection with the rest of the book and also barely kept my interest. I kept hoping for it to be over long before it was... and this is a short book. I also wasn't entirely happy with the discussion on cognitive dissonance.