Craving for Deep Work

 In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport puts forth neurological, psychological, and philosophical arguments for deep work.

Ric Furrer is the torch bearer for the neurological case for deep work.  Ric has set up shop in aaWisconsin where he crafts swords with his two hands.  Newport narrates that the steel ingots are initially about as thick as three smart phones.

Patiently, Ric uses hammer blows to produce his work of art.  He finishes the work by quenching it in oil.  Ric derives immense pleasure from crafting swords he never gets to use.

Citing the god father of flow - Mihayli Csikszentmihayli - Cal convinces us z that deep work can contribute to flow. Flow is an optimal state where we completely yield ourselves to the present.  Flow is accepted as a source of eudiamonia.

Finally Newport introduces a work by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly to forward his philosophical argument for deep work.  Dreyfus and Kelly argue that the autonomous individual that thEnlifhrtenment sculpted can end up living a dull and unlivable life.

The duo champion craftsmanship as an antidote to this modern nihilism.  They us an account of a master wheel right to buttress their point.

Fascinating read.  Feels like playing with Russian dolls.  The chapter indeed is a craftily layered prose!!