You get off watch, finish work on deck or climb out of the engine room. Next, you get a bite to eat and then? Very frequently, it’s time to plug in a movie and vegetate until it’s time to hit the rack or - quite possibly - you fall asleep in front of the flickering screen.
If you’re a little more awake and want to read a book, we’ve compiled a list (most of which will NOT put you to sleep like Bowditch) that you might find interesting. Take a look at them - created with input from merchant marine and U.S. Marine Corps leaders and linked to Amazon for quick download. Get entertained and challenge your mind!
[I]Captain Richard Madden is an actively sailing mariner with over 25 years of industry experience. He is focused on safe and secure operations throughout the maritime industry. Most recently, Captain Madden has gained extensive experience while operating in Southeast Asia and Oceania on container vessels in the feeder trade. All opinions expressed within this article are his and his alone.[/I]
[QUOTE=RichMadden;169445][I]Captain Richard Madden is an actively sailing mariner with over 25 years of industry experience. He is focused on safe and secure operations throughout the maritime industry. Most recently, Captain Madden has gained extensive experience while operating in Southeast Asia and Oceania on container vessels in the feeder trade. All opinions expressed within this article are his and his alone.[/I][/QUOTE]
WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL THIS NONSENSE? Are you some Captain Florian Maximo Turdburger wannabe? Nobody here has their own buttplug bio to tell us all what a sooperdooper mariner they are and we certainly don’t need yours!
[QUOTE=RichMadden;169445]You get off watch, finish work on deck or climb out of the engine room. Next, you get a bite to eat and then? Very frequently, it’s time to plug in a movie and vegetate until it’s time to hit the rack or - quite possibly - you fall asleep in front of the flickering screen. [/QUOTE]
GOOD LORD! Suddenly I am overflowing with visions all what a real mariner does after he climbs into his rack but before he goes to sleep with or without a video screen…however good taste and decorum prevents my describing these visions in graphic detail.
…but if you really want me to, I will gladly soil myself for everyone else’s pleasure!
Interesting list,[B] Thinking fast and slow[/B] is a must read. Like the author says however you can see other people making errors but it’s hard to tell when you’re making them. An example is confusing a plausible narrative for a likely one. Along the same lines and maybe an easier read is " Being Wrong" by Kathryn Schulz. - This book shows how being wrong not need be such a bad thing.
Sometimes I don’t feel like reading at the end of the day but too early to zone out with a movie, so for not work and not pleasure I sometimes take video courses from the Learning Company - 30 minute DVD lectures, they have about any topic, art, history, mathematics, etc. This one was good and work related, Art of Critical Decision Making Gave this one to the C/E to watch, he’s more critical of my thinking now.
I like that you have Malcolm Gladwell on there, Outliers is one of my favorites and is a very interesting read. Another good one along the same vein is Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel. Niall Ferguson Civilization is another interesting read I just finished, I tend to like books that challenge that status quo, even if I don’t agree with the opinions.
[QUOTE=c.captain;169460]WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL THIS NONSENSE? Are you some Captain Florian Maximo Turdburger wannabe? Nobody here has their own buttplug bio to tell us all what a sooperdooper mariner they are and we certainly don’t need yours![/QUOTE]
You need a disclaimer like that also. “c.captain, grumpy old man. All opinions expressed within this thread are his and his alone”
[QUOTE=Kraken;169471]You need a disclaimer like that also. “c.captain, grumpy old man. All opinions expressed within this thread are his and his alone”[/QUOTE]
The problem with this “soft” stuff is that it’s hard to tell if you’re on the right track on not. The reason is it’s difficult to tell if you’re doing it right or not is because of the nature and quality of the feedback.
Consider how much more difficult it is to learn to handle a boat then it is to drive a car. Learning to control a car is easier and takes less time because the car responds to the controls in a positive and repeatably way, the boat, not so much. With the car, the feedback is better.
When learning seamanship at low levels the quality of feedback is better then it is at the higher levels. The night I leaned to steer a big Coast Guard Cutter by compass, (confusing feedback), the bos’n stood right behind me and the first time I put the wheel over the wrong way he told me if I did it again he would put his boot up my ass. In that case just the threat of stong feedback was sufficent.
On the other hand on a large ship at the management level the thing you want, a well run ship, is difficult to measure, the signal to noise ratio of the feedback is low. It’s hard to know if you’re on the right track long-term.
For example it’s my view that one important topics for people making decisions at management level (senior ship’s officers) is cognitive baises yet you can see from this thread this sort of thing gets strong negitive feedback. That doesn’t mean it’s the wrong track.
[QUOTE=Kraken;169471]You need a disclaimer like that also. “c.captain, grumpy old man. All opinions expressed within this thread are his and his alone”[/QUOTE]
DAMNED STRAIGHT! But I need no disclaimer at all…I own ever word I ever write here and no puffery either!
I would have to add “The Voyage of the Rose City”, “Grey Seas Under”, “The Serpent’s Coil” and “In Peril”. All books that every modern seafarer should read before stepping on the deck of a ship. They all provide a little perspective and wisdom that I think all of us at sea need at one time or another.