I have no real complaints about this book, assuming all you're looking for is a decent, surface-skimming book on planets, their formation, and a decenI have no real complaints about this book, assuming all you're looking for is a decent, surface-skimming book on planets, their formation, and a decent amount of info on theoretical and discovered exoplanets out out there, then this is pretty much perfect for you.
Don't expect anything but a light survey on the level of a short documentary, but do expect something on that level.
While I didn't mind it, I personally wanted a lot more meat. Or rather, dirt, gas, and starshine. But we can't always get what we want, alas....more
That being said, if you DO love birds and don't mind wallowing in nuts, seeds, marrow, and scraps of flesh, or jumping into the matingMust love birds.
That being said, if you DO love birds and don't mind wallowing in nuts, seeds, marrow, and scraps of flesh, or jumping into the mating habits of many different kinds of avians, then stick around, pull up a refuse bin, and watch these excellent adventurers ultra-specialize in their diets far beyond our own average city-dweller slurping a Starbucks.
What? Do you think there's that much difference between us and them?
Bah, suit yourself, but don't blame me if you start preening and attract a mate in almost the same way.
I received a little treat for the end of the year. This author reached out to me out of the blue and asked if I wouldn't mind reading and reviewing thI received a little treat for the end of the year. This author reached out to me out of the blue and asked if I wouldn't mind reading and reviewing this non-fiction on the origin of humanity and because it just tickled my fancy (even though I've read many, many books on the same,) I said yes.
Here's the thing, though: It's written very well, it's really short and to the point, and while it doesn't go the sensationalist popular route of trying to be funny or charming with anecdotes or any wild theories, it DOES have the pure charm of being extremely good with the facts.
Indeed, it only starts with Evolution and Darwin and branches out wonderfully to the Simian world, what characteristics were really selected for during our own genetic progression, and so much more.
I can't say that I've read anything new in this book, but I have read over four hundred science books, so I tend to judge these things on how well they're written and the ideas and/or facts within them.
For Ms. Nitam's work, it is clear she used her Doctorate of Philosophy to a wonderful purpose. This is an excellent synthesis of our current understanding of the field.
Indeed, as I was reading it, I came to the conclusion that I would have LOVED to read exactly this book as I was just getting started.
It is no-nonsense, full of great facts, and would have been a perfect introduction for a serious student. There's absolutely no wasted time and it's perfectly accessible.
In other words, this book OUGHT to be well-received everywhere. All it really needs is great marketing. I wish it, and the author, all the luck....more
This isn't only a book for owl lovers. It gives us some of the history of the scientists, the frankly amazing discoveries about owl's abilities and naThis isn't only a book for owl lovers. It gives us some of the history of the scientists, the frankly amazing discoveries about owl's abilities and native intelligence, and their place in ecosystems.
It's not JUST about why we ought to love owls. It's about educating us and showing us just how social, creative, and loving... even with fosterlings, adoption. Some of the things I've learned in this book just solidified my assumption that they're some of the most intelligent species on the planet, and they're quite adaptable.
They're also amazingly stealthy, with really amazing hearing and specialized sight.
But by the end of this nonfiction, I'm frankly anxious that their populations falling. I know it's a common problem these days, but here we are. We're slowly being reduced to trying to make desperate cases for certain classes of animals, trying to make it a popularity contest to rake in conservation support, when the core problems are making it all the worse for EVERY species. But that's my issue, I guess.
This book still makes a very compelling, if heartbreaking, case for the superiority of owls. ...more
Well-structured, informative, and delightfully approached in a systemic way, we get a pretty thorough overview of plagues. No, this isn't a play-by-plWell-structured, informative, and delightfully approached in a systemic way, we get a pretty thorough overview of plagues. No, this isn't a play-by-play namebook of plagues, but a great setup of actual HISTORY and how it was very likely shaped, heavily, by the plagues that ravaged it.
This is very much up my alley. I was ALWAYS fascinated by the way Europe was shaped, economically, by the effects of so much death. It's also worth noting that a great deal of what caused the Roman Empire to fall was based on this fact as well. But let's get serious. Every aspect of our lives, be it ancient history (or pre-history) or the wide-reaching transformations of economic or political systems, let alone plunder, as in the case of the Aztecs or the rest of the Americas, can be laid at the feet of disease.
A lot of people would love to blame others (Jewish, blacks, or otherwise,) or announce superiority of race (for having accomplished long years of immunity) for their failures or successes. The amount of actual history trying to convince us of one thing or another is quite astounding, when Occam's Razor is so clear. Overwhelming advantage, or in the case of the Slave Trade, a natural immunity to disease that ravaged the whites, made it economically feasible to create the horrorshow we've recorded.
A lot of these ideas aren't new, of course. I grew up learning how Native Americans were ravaged by the plague that earlier settlers brought, leaving countless crop fields untended for many decades, ripe for new settlers to profit from.
Fortunately, this book not only spells out the conditions for opportunism or eventual demise. It also gives us an extremely cogent reason why any country ought to focus on increasing the health of its people. Yes, I'm looking at you, America, Canada.
Let's not forget: Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.
I'll be clearer: Let's stop being f***ing morons. Get our act together. Invest in everyone's longevity or be forced to deal with exponentially tragic outcomes that no-one in that environment will profit from.
Or rather, we can't ruin a bunch of people's lives and expect them to be happy and willing to support those who shat on them. When everyone's lives are improved, then the basic fruit, let alone pursuit, of life, liberty, and happiness is actually feasible. Public health is one of those no-brainers, and yet, we keep seeing the fruits of no-brains.
Yes, it does cover a lot of the same ground we're being smothered with -- the ongoing ecological disaster, the entQuite simply: A very important book.
Yes, it does cover a lot of the same ground we're being smothered with -- the ongoing ecological disaster, the entrenchment of heartless capitalism, the seemingly insurmountable problem of mobilization when we're fighting with our own zeitgeist and fatalism -- but this nonfiction work has a one fantastic thing going for it.
It's extremely well-written and engaging. Deeply researched, polarizing, and fact-based. And when I say polarizing, I mean polarizing in the way we can choose either life... or death. This book is years old by now and new facts have only made our current situation even more damning, but the core is still as valid as ever.
There are still a lot of people hell-bent on trying to raid the treasure of the earth at the expense of destroying everything in their path. The profit motive is absolutely to blame. Regular people are stuck with no good choices, no valid alternatives, and everyone else is getting poisoned by fracking. And when I mean everyone, I mean all life.
We can't simplify this problem without ignoring the system that every part relies upon, and the system itself is failing at a faster rate than ever. It's not enough to see a tweet here or there or discover yet another massive abuse of power, trust, or might-makes-right, be it oil companies, globalization, dwindling resources, or capital itself.
This book does a fine job walking us down a great, wide path of our very much worsened problem. There is hope, too, but most of it boils down to ALL of us getting our act together, mobilizing the rest of humanity to just say NO to the looters, before we can make real change.
Mass movements DO make a big difference. Organization makes BETTER difference. We all need to work together. Post haste. Or do we want to discover a dead ocean next? How about the rest of our power failing with temperatures up to 56 C everywhere? Or how about the plain simple fact of poisoned water... everywhere.
We're looking at mass death. Either we get off the pot or we're gonna get flushed with the rest of the shit.
So. Yeah. It's a polarizing book. Do we want to live or die?...more
For a book on the history of hacking, there are many worse options. This one may not go into even a fraction of the greatest exploits, but it DOES go For a book on the history of hacking, there are many worse options. This one may not go into even a fraction of the greatest exploits, but it DOES go damn deep into five examples. Indeed, the quality is right up there with the best investigative journalism, with the great caveat that it must also ACCURATELY and INTERESTINGLY describe the computer science and the terms.
Most books like this either assume you know your shit already or is dumbed down to the point of wondering who it was written for or just reads like an emotional thunderstorm of fear and paranoia.
This one sticks to a great, comprehensive UNDERSTANDING of both the means and ways of hacking AND the players involved. I really appreciated that. I mean, you can't bring up social engineering without also giving a great deal of credit to human psychology or the forces that are at play within actual hacker communities.
Self-aggrandizement is commonplace in the hacker community, often taking tons more credit than is warranted, or denying (sometimes accurately) intent to cause mischief, or it is for juvenile bragging rights, or it is a means for the oppressed and poor to strike back.
Normal media and government response to real hackers is generally weird or alarmist or just plain incomprehensible. And don't get me started with software companies more focused on dominating the market than protecting their product or their users who get slammed.
Misinformation is everywhere. Often that same misinformation is perpetuated by paid hackers. But in the end? They're still real people living in a real world and this book doesn't try to apologize for them or make them out to be anything more than exactly what they are. It's not a book trying to persuade anyone of anything.
Indeed, it is wonderfully detailed and researched. It may not capture everything, but these five explorations get the chef's kiss. I think this book hits that sweet spot for newbs, leets and normals. ...more
A certain subset of SF -- known generally as Hard SF -- has a long history of interweaving real science (up to the current knowledge of the day) with A certain subset of SF -- known generally as Hard SF -- has a long history of interweaving real science (up to the current knowledge of the day) with grand adventures or techno-thrillers or even philosophical treatises.
In the good ones, sometimes you get all three.
But where it gets seriously impressive is when you interweave the ideas of the Sixth Extinction and real Proof-Of-Work crypto-theory put to work on solving real grand-scale economic issues, or the very real and disturbing problems of the rise of fascism and piracy and what it means to build space stations or a near colony, while paying careful heed to great characters. There's a lot more to it, too, but these are what stood out the most to me on this read-through.
Hard SF has had a lot of these kinds of tales, to a greater or a lesser degree, but I'll just say this: it's up there with KSR's Mars trilogy if you want a good comp.
I love how it takes the next several steps forward on the path to settling in space in a highly realistic and technical way. It's also a great influx of the new technology we also have, so in a way, it's superior to most.
Obviously meant for younger readers, this comic that ought to delight and edify us about the wonders of coral reefs KINDA does its job.
I mean, a littlObviously meant for younger readers, this comic that ought to delight and edify us about the wonders of coral reefs KINDA does its job.
I mean, a little more than half of it does just that. Descriptions, names, okay art, and a little bit of the wonder. It was OKAY. I mean, it's meant for young readers. I remember stuff like this in my own elementary library.
So why aren't I just giving this a bit more love under the explicit reason that it is what it is?
Because more than a third of it turned on its heels and put the focus back on "everyday" folks who are killing all the coral or using too much water in their suburban homes and PLEASE don't forget to write letters to your politicians.
In other words, it snatches away any kind of WONDER you might have felt and attempts to GUILT you instead.
Let's be real for a moment. Real change comes from the top. Big corporations and governments are more than complicit in trashing the reefs. Most of the weak media we get about the destruction is a PR shift to blame the ignorant public for the deaths when it's actually the corporations' and governments' fault. Want less trash? Completely alter the way that foodstuffs and packaging are handled. Don't make products that poison the world. Don't HAND all the poison to everyone and expect them to miraculously find some way to make that poison disappear. JUST PREVENT IT ALTOGETHER.
What I wanted from this book was to be instilled with awe and wonder for the coral reefs, to understand and FEEL why they ought to be saved, viscerally, emotionally, and visually. An eight-year-old isn't going to have the ability to solve the other, systemic problem, so why are you trying so hard to blame them or have them blame their parents? The true blame lies ELSEWHERE....more
This is a fascinatingly different kind of book. Not easily classifiable in the slightest. But here goes: the book reads like an autobiography of a sciThis is a fascinatingly different kind of book. Not easily classifiable in the slightest. But here goes: the book reads like an autobiography of a scientist that was involved in a late 60's discovery of alien life, a message written in neutrinos, and the massive efforts across the world to decipher it.
Here's the thing: it's not a direct A to B story. Indeed, it reads like a real scientist's musings, a polymath, going through all the possible ideas, pitfalls of thought, philosophy, even the math that might go wrong or lead them all down dark alleyways of speculation.
Well now, that wasn't so bad. Was it?
But I should still underline the fact that the whole book reads like the smart but rambling musings of a polymath setting himself on the most important question of their time. As SF, it's extremely thought-provoking and reminds me a lot of what Sagan's Contact eventually became. As a history of science or an autobiography, it's complicated and dense and wonderful. As a story, it is what it is and doesn't pretend to be anything but a brilliant ramble. ...more
Sometimes, a short, sharp, shock of science is what the body (and mind) needs.
What this is not: A heavily popularized and humor-laden super-general intSometimes, a short, sharp, shock of science is what the body (and mind) needs.
What this is not: A heavily popularized and humor-laden super-general introduction to enzymes, those wonderful little biological computers performing macros across nature.
What this is: A general factual overview of enzymes with a few carefully selected examples (from food digestion to detergents for our laundry) with a fairly complete over-overview of the major scientific players in the field.
It doesn't go into any kind of serious detail except in the general layout of the molecular engines and how they were *mostly* accidentally discovered through plain curiosity and discovery, but it does point out that almost every huge breakthrough in genetics came hand-in-hand with enzymes.
Hell, even I knew that DNA and RNA can't cut or splice themselves without enzymes. :)
This is a perfect book for those of us not in the field who nonetheless have some knowledge OF the field. It isn't bogged down by interesting anecdotes or narratives, which, depending on your point of view, is either a Very Good Thing or a Very Disappointing Thing.
For me, I liked it. It's up-to-date, even out the is year, and it gets right to the point....more
I can firmly say that any of Kim Stanley Robinson's novels will be more Science than Fiction, and this one is pretty much banking on it, drawing from I can firmly say that any of Kim Stanley Robinson's novels will be more Science than Fiction, and this one is pretty much banking on it, drawing from experiences in DC to bring science and politics and science politics to the forefront, skirting around the BIG issue until it finally hits near the end.
You can probably guess this is a Climate-Punk novel. Great science, handling all the problems surrounding it (including those who deny it) as well as detailing the actual climate issues as it would have been seen in the early 2000s.
So far, so good, and I do understand this is a full trilogy, but this is NOT on the same level as, say, his Mars Trilogy.
It may be colloquial and charming and sometimes a bit... um... odd in certain character viewpoints (um, breastmilk) and a bit too heavily reliant on a Mr. Mom view, but that might just be me. I mean, I am a Mr. Mom, myself, so I GET it. Maybe it reads a bit too close to home but just strange enough to make me wonder if I was just normal. I think it's the uncanny valley effect, honestly.
The rest, or rather, any storytelling that isn't about science and politics was fine. I think, maybe, I would have preferred a bit less of that and more on the big issues. Pining after a girl and having a personal transformation is fine, mind you. I actually loved the Buddhist visitors, too, and their viewpoint.
Suffice to say, this whole novel was just FINE. After reading Ministry of the Future, however, it suffers a GREAT DEAL in comparison. Like-to-like, I probably would give it a 2 star to Ministry's 5, but on its own, I don't have much positive or negative to say about it. It was a trending novel and a necessary one for the time and it's even more trending and necessary now, but it's necessarily dated after everything we've already seen in RL.
The Light Ages. As opposed to the Dark Ages. Indeed.
If I had to compare this to other History of Science nonfiction books, I'd have to rate this ratheThe Light Ages. As opposed to the Dark Ages. Indeed.
If I had to compare this to other History of Science nonfiction books, I'd have to rate this rather high. Of course, it debunks the basic idea that there was barely any science in the middle ages, that most people were ignorant savages, etc, but the truth is very different. (I've read a great number of books that say pretty much the same thing.) But the accepted wisdom is different, of course, and should be looked at with a good deal of skepticism.
No, 50% literacy rate, at least for common word usage, isn't that high for NOW, but it's not insignificant. Learning a ton of memory techniques, working extra hard to copy books by hand, pushing the bubble of science wider against all odds, and spreading the love of learning across the western world isn't exactly nothing. And add to that the fact that the Renaissance came from these times, and so did Oxford and so many other huge educational centers, and we have to ask ourselves WHY we assume that these were the Dark Ages. Is it just because there wasn't a printing press?
Knowledge and learning have always been around. This book brings up some of the most delightful aspects that were progressed during this time. My favorites always revolve around the stars, but between proto-calculus tables, charting, medical analysis, alchemy, and of course the big names like Ptolomy, we need to honor those who came before us.
This book does a very nice job of highlighting a few great minds of the day and draws direct lines to our modern day. A must-read for those who love the history of science, especially the popular version. ...more
AI research over the years has been a mish-mash of pet theories, conflicting assumptions, a focus on instrumentality, expert systems, evolutionary proAI research over the years has been a mish-mash of pet theories, conflicting assumptions, a focus on instrumentality, expert systems, evolutionary programming, and Deep Learning. All different ways that often must be used in conjunction to push us over that edge into true Artificial Intelligence.
I mean, we're not there yet, or to be precise, we aren't at the point of AI super-intelligence.
But that doesn't speak to the issue that has gotten a lot of traction in popular media, from movies to science fiction, to some really great modern philosophy. The main focus of research has been on CREATING AI. For everyone else, we've all be concerned about WHAT TO DO WITH IT ONCE IT'S HERE.
This OUGHT to be a high-priority topic given a massive amount of thought among the actual designers, funders, and end-users. (Big corporations, governments, OR everyday folk.)
And this is what this book really focuses on. How to retain control, or, to put it simply, how do we ensure that AIs are PARTNERS, with everyone's self-interest enmeshed with the computers.
Me, personally, I think it's simply a matter of socialization. If their well being is tied to our well being and our well being is tied to their well being, then we've got a standard cooperative model in Game Theory. There's also the whole thing of treating them like and expecting AI to behave like responsible adults. With so many variables and conflicting psychologies in the HUMAN population, it then becomes a problem of deep AI partnership. My description is simplistic, of course, and this book goes into dozens of lucid scenarios and outlines not only the problems, the history, and possible solutions, but it also serves as a call-to-arms to have EVERYONE look at the issue realistically.
We are ALREADY being manipulated on a huge scale by algorithms, be it in social media, targeted advertising, and misinformation on a grand scale. That is linked, hand-in-hand, with AI, even if it isn't the SF kind we have so many apocalyptic nightmares about.
We need to change our own social structure to enhance facts over misinformation and figure out a way to live TOWARD happiness without living in a zero-sum game (it is possible and can be VERY possible, with theoretical AI help). The problem is, we keep falling back on certain assumptions about what WE think success really is. If AIs take over all the tasks we do not want to do, then this is not a BAD thing. But it DOES mean we need to redefine our ideas of prosperity. UBI comes into play here. (Universal Basic Income). It's a standard of living.
Even now, we cannot sustain stupid make-work jobs. The poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer, and the middle class is disappearing. Why? Because most things are becoming automated and it's increasingly easier to have our lives provide for us without effort. But when our model of living is so out of whack, insisting that we must somehow work like slaves to make the rich ever richer while working-class humanity becomes less and less relevant, then humanity itself becomes irrelevant.
And this is the main point. We don't have to live in poverty at all, but more than that, we can become very relevant as PARTNERS. Of course, that means we need to redefine what we mean by living a good life. It's not going to be about "providing for the family". It's going to be closer to "finding your bliss", in the Campbellian sense.
Does this sound outrageous? Even now, a LOT of people insist upon UBIs. It doesn't prevent people from working and there will always be social pressure to be better than our neighbors, but the definition of "better" can change wildly and has with every generation. The point is to find that lead and follow it. We do not live in a sustainable model and any attempt to turn back the clock is doomed.
In this, I agree with the author. Everyone is pretty confident that the world is pretty f**ked. Fortunately, there is hope. It'll take work on ALL our parts, but there is hope....more
As a really interesting primer on Oliver Sacks, published after his death, I can't recommend this book enough. It's short, lucid, and full of interestAs a really interesting primer on Oliver Sacks, published after his death, I can't recommend this book enough. It's short, lucid, and full of interesting tidbits that explore the neurophysiological foundations of consciousness, from Darwin to Freud to regular philosophy. But it doesn't end there, moving into Sacks' own major field of study.
When it comes to problems of perception and physical problems that lead to the breakdown into altered states of consciousness, Sacks shines. He always humanizes his case studies and elucidates upon them into rather reasonable but utterly fascinating conclusions.
This does touch broadly upon the full subject of consciousness and I really enjoyed it. This is very much a science book and while it is hardly exhaustive, it does paint a very interesting picture that may very well spark a fire in our minds.
I'd very much recommend this for young readers and anyone who still believes in science. The mind is not unknowable. It does still need to be seriously considered.
I LOVED the full discussions about speeded perceptions and slowed perceptions. I have a soft spot for it because I've written a number of novels based on it. :) ...more
For someone who has mainly devoted his ecological reading to old carbon-tax discussions and the grandiosity of a total ecological disaster (in many boFor someone who has mainly devoted his ecological reading to old carbon-tax discussions and the grandiosity of a total ecological disaster (in many books), I feel as if I'm coming into the Global Green New Deal topic rather late.
You know, because so many other things have been going on. Like social inequality, the rise of fascism, possible nuclear winter, global pandemics... the list is huge. And pressing. And because of all that, when we hear about the need to put our collective political will in gear to fix a problem that is going to affect our children and our children's children HARD, and much harder than we're feeling it now with the rising heat and massive fires, we all tend think... hey... well... yeah, it's bad (when we're not being climate change deniers) but it's FAR AWAY and HARD.
Ahem. Yeah. Well.
It's going to be even harder when none of us can afford the electric bill for our air conditioner when what we really need is 14 air conditioners for a single apartment. And that's not even bringing up the subject of mass deaths across the world because it's just too hot. Period.
So what, exactly, is THIS book about?
It's a straightforward interview including both Naom Chomsky and Robert Pollin. Pollin is the expert on the topic of getting ourselves into a good position to achieve the ecological goals. Naom Chomsky is just a brilliant man who happens to remember everything he's read and has been at the forefront of two fields: Linguistics and, later in life, politics and current events and how they apply to wonderfully analyzed trends.
Having read and watched many documentaries with Naom Chomsky, I'm something of a huge fan and believe that everyone should pay close attention to all that he says. He breaks things down in ways that are stunningly clear. And he also refuses to shy away from voicing his own opinions while being very clear that they are just opinions. He doesn't conflate analysis with subjectivity.
As for Pollin, I learned a lot of interesting facts about the Global Green New Deal. First of all, it takes its name from FDR's New Deal stance. Mobilizing a HUGE portion of society toward one end. It's possible. It may even be likely at the eleventh hour, when all hope has been lost, that we might even GO THERE. But then, the book does give equal time to the HOPEFULLNESS and logical steps that governments and political movements to pressure those governments would have to take in order to move toward a task that would still take 10 to 30 years to even accomplish, and it also gives time to the absolute absurdity of what we CURRENTLY HAVE.
Some high points:
Dropping oil and logging is not an apocalypse. There is a LOT of financial opportunities in alternative energy. And I'm not just talking about the existing economic giants getting on board, but for all the existing workers who make a living in the old industry. Making money and selling alternative energy is CURRENTLY on par with oil. Careers AND the price in the end-products.
Things have changed from 15 years ago.
Being knowledgeable about the current field is NOT a luxury we can forgo. Living with the fear that everything is going to hell kinda begs the question: WHY are we living with a fear of change when the change is all for our benefit? We all need to drop the old assumptions and look toward re-tooling ourselves en-masse.
It really is a global concern. It affects everyone of every political motive. And yet, like the pandemic, people are turning it into a selling point. It should never have been a bone of contention.
It is POSSIBLE to pull it off. Unfortunately, we need EVERYONE on board....more
You know, the first time I saw the title and the cover, I thought this would be a far-future SF, not a near-future prediction. I'm happy to be wrong.
IYou know, the first time I saw the title and the cover, I thought this would be a far-future SF, not a near-future prediction. I'm happy to be wrong.
I'm even happier to have loved this novel from the first page to the last. Indeed, over the last 8 years of new novels, I've loved everything that KSR has written, being duly impressed about his improvement with characters and his truly fantastic grasp of science, politics, history, economics, and future speculation. Indeed, my only complaints have ever been about his characters who usually feel a bit more like vehicles for stories and especially IDEAS more than people, but for this book, it wasn't the case.
I was brought to tears several times.
However, I need to be very clear on this: KSR's strength is absolutely and utterly in ideas. I feel like I just read an accessible novel that outlines all of the biggest real-thought on climate change and possible solutions while having it all put through the meat-grinder of real-politics, real-people, and enormous ongoing tragedies.
The book starts out with millions dying of heat in India.
It picks up with angry people worldwide demanding change and butting heads, devolving into assassinations, new politics, massive setbacks, economic upheavals, MORE climate disasters hitting the affluent people, more chaos, new legislation, MORE political upheaval, more dead, and economic systems that are both familiar and much more complicated than most of us have ever really researched TODAY.
I mean, some of us have. Bitchains, UBIs, carbon monetary systems (not as in burning it, but drawing it out of the atmosphere), and the eventual re-greening of the Earth. And it's a lot more complicated and gloriously explored than anything I can get into with a simple review, but the BOOK does a fantastic job of outlining a gloriously chaotic near-future that would, in other times, be considered a bonafide classic.
The book, frankly, is rich, deserves immense respect, lots of thought, and public discourse.
Maybe most of us are burned out by the seeming impossibility of getting a New Green Deal, one where the new jobs come directly from creating a sustainable future.
But maybe what we really need are the ideas firmly planted in our heads, complete with plans, backup plans, backup-backup plans, and awareness of all the ways it could all go wrong (and will) so we're not blindsided when we lose four billion people (minimum) in the next 30 years.
This novel should be THAT talking point. For how tragic it is, it's FULL of great thought and, dare I say it, HOPE....more
Sometimes, I run out of words. I want to write a book on this book and disseminate it among the masses. I want to encourage everyone and anyone who isSometimes, I run out of words. I want to write a book on this book and disseminate it among the masses. I want to encourage everyone and anyone who is interested in seeing a full -- a rather awesomely full, detailed, and well-reasoned -- critique of Western Thought.
Let me be clear: this is a critique of Western Thought while USING Western Thought in conjunction with African spiritualism, zeitgeist, and practical/historical experience with the invasion OF Western Thought. It is a synthesis, but it is also a rather piercing indictment.
AS a personal reaction to the book, I'm flabbergasted as to why it isn't HUGE and widely discussed in ALL academic communities or popularized to the public at large in bite-sized chunks.
Many anti-colonialists already do. Many counter-culture philosophers also do.
Few, if any, actively show us a NEW (or if you please, extremely OLD) zeitgeist, worldview, to see through.
Let me break it down. There are a few terms that are absolutely essential. To discuss other cultures - or your own - you need to accurately define them. If your entire worldview is enmeshed with your descriptions of other peoples, you automatically see-through your own lens no matter how objective you might want to be.
From this point, almost any argument you might make will be colored by your preconceptions. This is the real value of this book.
Asili is the idea of a cultural essence. What kind of world-views does it hold highest? Humanitarianism? Christianity (whatever flavor)? How does it hold the idea above all other values? It defines itself against what it RESISTS. Everything else is lower, less valuable, even worthless. That's asili.
Utamaroho is the drive. A culture's will to power. It's the direction and flavor of what the culture tries to accomplish. World dominance? That's utamaroho. World saviors? That's utamaroho.
Utamawazo is cultural thought process, the rationalization that allows the culture to propagate. How about bringing the convenience of 50's American zeitgeist to the rest of the world, showering everyone else in the love and harmony of the nuclear family unit? That's utamawazo. Progress? A world community? All the pretty things we say we want that paint such pretty pictures of ourselves even as we know we will betray those same ideas? That's utamawazo.
So what's the point? It's this: we have a framework of thought to work within that is NOT Western Thought. We are free to discuss how a culture thinks of itself, how it feels of itself as if it is a real person.
We can use psychology on it. We can ask the hard questions and compare how it perceives itself versus how it actually behaves. We can examine its cognitive behaviors and pinpoint the logical inconsistencies. The hypocrisy. We can judge it by what it ACTUALLY accomplishes versus its stated goal.
When seen from the outside, Western Culture is freaking INSANE.
I mean, most of us already know this. We see bits and pieces and shake our heads. Sometimes we say it's just a bunch of bad apples and sometimes we say it's just huge groups of misguided men and women.
But this book breaks it down in unflinching terms. From Plato, we get the idea of objectivism. We get the idea of dichotomies. We get the idea that we, as individuals, are separated from our actual selves. We split the mind from the body. Instead of having a single real, living creature that we call us, we now have abstract terms that are completely divorced from the living person. We may put them back together and see if we come back with something more or less like Frankenstein's monster, but in the end, it is a divorce from reality.
When you take these ideas and forget that the Terrain is NOT the Map, it's very easy to start objectizing everything. Today, I have a very easy time watching people get blown up or die in horrible ways on tv, but always have a very difficult time watching a puppy get killed in the same show. Why is that? Because we, as a Western asili, are so used to the maps we make of people that we forget that they are ALSO REAL PEOPLE. We're shocked out of that complacency at random times when we see something that is JUST as real but doesn't jibe with what we expect.
We are comfortable with tons of dead people but not a dead puppy because we have dehumanized ourselves.
What does this mean for someone who values being a Humanist?
Disconnect.
Now let's not forget all the times when western countries invaded foreign lands under the banner of god, country, or progressive economic equality. The utamawazo, the reasoning, matches our asili, our self-conception. What doesn't match is our will-to-power, our need to dominate, to exploit, or just destabilize foreign nationals because they might prove to be just as rational as you but use a different system of government/economic-system/god.
The stated claims, even for those who are missionaries propelling god's truth, do not match with the actual effects. They hardly ever do. That's because the asili and the utamawazo are there to make ourselves feel good and bamboozle others while the utamaroho, the ACTUAL DRIVE of the culture, is defined by exploitation.
You know the type. Winning is everything, you know. The good guys win and the bad guys lose. That's a Platonic dichotomy, by the way. You'll find drives like this everywhere you look -- once you see them for what they are.
It's the private reasoning of certain individuals who will not be named who believe, in the core of their being, that they must win at all costs. Literally, at all costs. It doesn't matter how many people get dehumanized in the process. They're all maps, after all. The terrain no longer exists. But yet, we still have the utamawazo fully intact. Just look! We're Making ******* Great Again!
Be aware of yourself. Of your culture. Find frameworks that are outside of it. View yourself from others' lenses. It's the only way to truly see yourself as you truly are....more
There were many points as I was reading this that I had to check my assumptions and back down. Automatic groupings based on similarities tend to almosThere were many points as I was reading this that I had to check my assumptions and back down. Automatic groupings based on similarities tend to almost ALWAYS lead every single one of us to post hoc reasoning.
What do I mean?
Everyone jumps to conclusions based on their intuition. That feeling of rightness then leads us to find reasons and arguments why it is so.
Unfortunately, this is proven to be the means of how almost every single one of us uses reason. Over and over, we're constantly reminded of bias, of selective reasoning, of checking our assumptions, of realizing that not only our memories but our very foundation of knowing a thing is based on a lie.
And it's not like we do it on purpose. We try very hard to do the right thing all the time.
Unfortunately, Haidt makes a very convincing and well-researched argument showing us how we are all led by our noses. I don't particularly like his descriptive analogies, but their meanings are solid.
The breakdown? We are all led by our taste. Our moral foundations.
Right from wikipedia, the first five are: Care: cherishing and protecting others; opposite of harm Fairness or proportionality: rendering justice according to shared rules; opposite of cheating Loyalty or ingroup: standing with your group, family, nation; opposite of betrayal Authority or respect: submitting to tradition and legitimate authority; opposite of subversion Sanctity or purity: abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions; opposite of degradation
Haidt adds:
Liberty, as in the opposite of oppression.
This means an awful lot for our current climate. Each side claims supremacy in each of these moral bullet points but often one side will do one better than the other in certain areas.
Liberals lionize Care.
Liberals and Conservatives focus on different elements of Fairness. Social justice over Economics.
Conservatives lionize Loyalty, while often Liberals point to the nasty effects of it. (But it is still absolutely necessary, with precautions.)
Authority and Respect also come up in very different ways between the groups, too. Conservatives assume that a breakdown of Authority leads to anarchy, while Liberals (broadly) see the abuses of
Authority and focus on Respect. This last is usually about equality.
Sanctity is a strange one. It's the one that ties closest to religiosity on both sides. Disgust at the horrible things people do, the degradation of public institutions, the incalculable loss of life and liberty. I see a lot of outrage here and it's almost always a pure gut-punch that rarely gets post hoc reasoning. It's almost always virtue signaling for either side.
And then there is Haidt's own contribution: Liberty. Usually associated with Freedom.
Conservatives tie it to maintaining a moral way of life, maintaining institutions, and their economics. Liberals ask, "Liberty for whom? Whose Freedom is maintained? Who gets left out?"
The fundamental CONCERN for liberty is the same. Each side wants liberty and freedom. But here's where it gets funky:
Which side believes they are beset with impurities that must be expunged? Which side is BEING expunged?
If you can point to BOTH SIDES, then you might actually be rising above bias confirmation.
Of course, nowadays, party members are actively told never to converse with the opposing party. In fact, the very idea of finding common ground is usually used as a way to ostracize a party member. So what happens? An individual is forced to find their moral grounds ONLY from the party that they must maintain fealty to.
And all the while, real communication breaks down. The greater similarities fall away in gross mistrust and purity signaling. This is true for both sides.
The Us VS Them is now in full swing and it is almost NEVER based on facts or reason. It is tribalism. It is intuition based on previously formed moralisms that are the foundations for every decision we make.
It doesn't make it right, but it does make a lot of sense.
It's a good argument for bringing back a kind of religion. One that is actually based on the welfare of all its members, that breaks down divides between social groups, that actually provides a safe space for all kinds of people to talk.
Odd, right? We can even leave deities out of it. But we must respect it. This is how we have always gotten along. Uber individualism just doesn't work. We all need people to survive.
Pubbed almost two decades ago, the technology angle in this book is largely, although not completely, out of date.
Fortunately, that isn't the primary Pubbed almost two decades ago, the technology angle in this book is largely, although not completely, out of date.
Fortunately, that isn't the primary reason I picked up this book. It's right there in the title. We may as well call is Social Engineering. Others might call it a con. But either way, human psychology being what it is, the underlying vulnerability to network or corporate structures never really goes out of style.
PEBCAK. Problem Exists Between Chair and Computer.
This book does a very serviceable job outlining most of the ways that people can be conned out of information. My favorite is just in looking or acting the part that people expect. I've been hearing that advice from the early Robert A. Heinlein days. People trust others who seem just like them. Confident behavior sends up no red flags.
A lot of this is common sense, but you and I know that Social Engineering is still a growth industry.
Every day, every sector, someone, somewhere is conning us.
A lot of this book is still very timely, but I'm also sure that there are a lot of updated techniques out there....more
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