May 2nd 2026 - Reading Summary
The Hobbit
Landslide and the clearing
They continue their way up the mountain and come across a landslide that nearly takes them out. They manage to escape into the trees. They came upon a clearing and suddenly the sound of wolves howling grows closer.
Hundreds of eyes
They all scramble up into trees but Bilbo is too small to find a branch. Dorin tries to extend a hand but Bilbo is not able to grab it so Dorin steps down and allows Bilbo to climb on his back. This helps Bilbo get onto a branch just as hundreds on eyes appear in the clearing. The eyes belong to wolves who are now rushing Dorin as he manages to escape into the tree.
The Wargs
The wolves are known as Wargs and they station guards at the foot of Dorin and Bilbo's tree, sniffing for the others. Once they manage to find all the occupied trees they place guards there as well. Luckily, Wargs are not able to climb so, for the moment, the group is safe.
There is a great wolf among the creatures who begins speaking to them in their language.
The Eye of the World
The gleeman complains
The gleeman steps out of the inn complaining that he had a rough evening arriving at the end and was treated poorly up until this moment.
He complains that a small girl tried to hit him with a stick. Egwene says angrily that he's referring to the Wisdom and the gleeman is taken aback that such a young women would hold such a position.
The recruitment
The gleeman recruits Egwene to be his assistant for his show and also recruits Rand and Perrin to attempt to pick him up in the show but none will be able to he says.
A taste of the show
A crowd begins to gather and the gleeman says he'll give them a taste of the upcoming show. He somersaults in the air and begins to juggle some balls. He tells of all the tales he'll reveal when the time comes.
Atomic Habits
Chapter 8 - How to Make a Habit Irresistible
- Herring Gull chicks
A Dutch scientist named Niko Tinbergen ran an experiment where he would place cardboard beaks with red dots in front of herring gull chicks to see how they would react. Normally, the mother, who had these dots on her beak, would have it pecked by the chicks and she would feed them.
When the chicks saw the dots on the cardboard beak they did the same. Tinbergen added more dots and the chicks reacted even more enthusiastically.
- Geese
Something similar was tested among geese when their eggs would fall from its nest. Normally the geese would fly down and pick it up with its neck to place it back. When a white ball was placed nearby the geese repeated the behavior. The bigger the ball the bigger the effort the geese would put in.
- Supernomal stimuli
These exaggerated cues are called supernormal stimuli.
Foods with contrasting textures and flavors encourage us to eat more. If we eat simple foods our brains get bored and we feel full faster.
- Dopamine
Dopamine is the key to forming habits. Experiments have been done on rats where their brains were inhibited from releasing dopamine and they lost their will to eat, have sex, or even move. When they were fed sugar they still liked it but they didn't desire it because dopamine had been removed from the equation.
Dopamine is what causes us to act. Its released when you anticipate pleasure and experience pleasure. The expectation of pleasure is what causes us to act. The same reward center gets activated when you desire something and when you experience the attainment of it.