|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
my rating |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110845299X
| 9781108452991
| 110845299X
| 4.01
| 1,003
| May 30, 2018
| May 31, 2018
|
liked it
|
We spend too much time on our electronic devices. And, what we do is mostly controlled by the way we are subtly and overly manipulated. The book makes
We spend too much time on our electronic devices. And, what we do is mostly controlled by the way we are subtly and overly manipulated. The book makes excellent points on how pernicious the impacts of such activities are individually as well as for society. The points are not new, but the discussions are forceful and convincing. With over three-quarters of the work focussing on how the online providers are hammering our all-important cognitive attentions, the arguments quickly turn repetitive. That said, this is a short book. Despite many pedantic arguments, the author looks at the whole issue beyond their visible manifestations. A human, or any living organism, is always moved by her environment. Some may claim life as nothing but a struggle of the free-will - to the extent it exists - against environmental forces. These beyond-an-individual's-control factors could be natural or human-made. Some of them are worse than others. There is nothing wrong with lamenting them or calling for an action to change them. However, it is still important to remember that a human is always within an environment, and with gazillions of influencers. In the internet age, the influencer forms are different but not effects. If earlier I was waylaid by an unanticipated gust of wind, not it could be the lack of wifi. My knowledge and opinions depended on the headlines and content my newspaper editor decided to publish then and now by the social media algorithms. In another era, the game addict in me might have spent hours playing the street-side backgammon, and now it is Tetris. Most would disagree that we have less choice now compared to before. Once again, the author is not wrong in demanding more freedom and less subtle manipulations. However, he is too dismissive of the role that has to be played by self-discipline. If all of us are constantly made aware of the pernicious influencers around us - through works like this book and just the way we are warned against phishing, for instance - the responsibility first and foremost has to be at the individual level. Tetris, for example, was not developed by a group of most intelligent behavioral manipulators. It was built by kids looking for pure fun on a new gadget and still created addicts, like the author himself. The author's other solutions in the last part of the book also fall short as he tries to pin all the blames and responsibilities on no individual entity but the overall milieu. The solutions effectively rely on good samaritans within the technology sector to almost voluntarily reduce the focus on advertising revenues, take the developer auth to do only the right thing, and forsake profits. This is despite the author arguing earlier in the book that almost all individuals working for all the tech companies have little intention to do any evil. Still, somehow, the corporate setup makes them do these things without realizing or without the ability to withdraw. The author - who favors users to opt-in for advertisements rather than opt-out in settings - never realizes that such processes will create prohibitive cost increases for simplest of activities on Google, messaging platforms, Facebook, or even Twitter. Ideal solutions perhaps require strict government regulations on the usage time for specific user groups or activities, higher taxation on excessive use/profits, and even monitoring regulators/agencies in the same vein as movie censor boards. Market-based solutions have begun to appear already with a plethora of ever-improving tools measuring the usage times and issuing warnings. A rising din of voices on the topic, like this book, are also raising public awareness with many self-driven initiatives - akin to people voluntarily picking up exercising with more health awareness. At least for this reviewer, the solutions are going to be less driven by tech companies and more by outsiders. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 08, 2020
|
Feb 10, 2020
|
Feb 13, 2020
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1635579988
| 9781635579987
| 1635579988
| 4.21
| 15,686
| Sep 17, 2019
| Sep 17, 2019
|
really liked it
|
Madness addresses highly relevant issues quite boldly. It should be commended to venture into the untouchable territories. Discussing gender, race, and Madness addresses highly relevant issues quite boldly. It should be commended to venture into the untouchable territories. Discussing gender, race, and sexuality is fraught with risks all of a sudden. A wrong phrase or supposed innuendo, and the speaker could be brandished for life. The author provides numerous examples to make the point that we do not have entirely acceptable platforms that encompass all the new categorizations. More importantly, we have become intolerant of human errors apart from any biases. The bias point could have been covered with more balance, though. There are so many categorizations along sex, gender, race, and class (not covered in the book) lines that most of us are a minority in some form or the other. Various groups' quest for justice against historic travesties (real or revisionists) or clarion calls for more equal opportunities are generally right, but certainly not always. Every conceivable utopia will also have almost a majority feeling mistreated. If every such person blames not being in the top 1% (which by definition would disadvantage 99%), say, in everything they desire to whatever minority clubs they belong to, we will only have strife. The author does not cover why the disadvantaged in any walk of life are able to join hands with similar others in our social media-driven world. The elites are more hapless than ever, even if the inequalities in conventionally measured ways are high and rising. A rising level of minimum basic rights, income, opportunities, mutual respect, or privileges are unable to stem the growing frustrations all around. The book also has no solutions besides providing a mirror to some of the absurdities caused by our drives to remove all biases, inherent or not. Let's be clear: many of us are disadvantaged on account of things beyond our control. We are mistreated by those around who have unpardonable biases. Minorities have a right to rise against injustices inflicted on them vociferously. In their zeal, they might be turning unfair on the rest in turn, but in most cases, such unfairness pales in comparison to what they endure. Without a doubt, the author makes many new solid points and imparts good information on some of the terms in tow. Here is a book that will make you think, and frequently uncomfortably. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 06, 2020
|
Jan 09, 2020
|
Jan 14, 2020
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0345816021
| 9780345816023
| 0345816021
| 3.92
| 233,205
| Jan 16, 2018
| Jan 23, 2018
|
liked it
|
12 Rules is like a religious book: mellifluent in prose, almost hypnotic at times. Absolute in its message: its rules are commandments that are to be
12 Rules is like a religious book: mellifluent in prose, almost hypnotic at times. Absolute in its message: its rules are commandments that are to be followed irrespective of the context. Its logic, to the extent any book needs one for the coherence within, is self-serving. For any remotely liberal-minded, there is a lot to loathe in everything that the author constitutes as the pretexts before he avers each rule. More often than not, the plethora of anecdotes plus the declarative statements and lessons from the allegories have little to do with the rules that title the chapters. In a way, the guidebook has 1200 rules and not 12. The author drops additional commandments of how we should live and behave with every thought-break. His style is one of a messiah. The way he states them, his suggestions supposedly have precisions of mathematical equations. They are rules that need to be obeyed by everyone irrespective of time, place, and circumstances. Like any book of the kind humanity has seen over millennia, its most boisterous fans will sound like zealots, and the author himself. They are unlikely to entertain any thoughts that the book could be completely wrong in parts, partially wrong in others, too simplistic or mundane somewhere while brilliant elsewhere. The book is exactly that: it has sections that will make one think. Its declarative style is a breath of fresh air (until one gets tired of it over the book-length) in the world where most self-help books are too vague. Through its narratives, selective quotes of great minds or from good books, and at times rather primitive views/biases, the author is likely to get under any thoughtful reader's skin but not always to a destructive end. There are rules within the list (and not just the headline 12) which are good and worth being taught or reminded of. It's a book that has some to offer to the reader ready to apply own filters and without getting agitated by the dredge left behind. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Oct 22, 2019
not set
|
Oct 25, 2019
not set
|
Oct 25, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0316478520
| 9780316478526
| 0316478520
| 4.00
| 307,142
| Sep 10, 2019
| Sep 10, 2019
|
it was amazing
|
This is a deeply uncomfortable book. It tackles subjects we do not want addressed. There are no out's at the end, except highly generalized suggestion
This is a deeply uncomfortable book. It tackles subjects we do not want addressed. There are no out's at the end, except highly generalized suggestions. And that’s why it is a book worth reading. Mr. Gladwell continues with his case-study based approach. Once again, he is able to select interesting stories, although far more known ones in this book compared to the mostly unknown previously. As always, the way he narrates and insights he draws make the book highly engaging. But this is where the similarities with the past works end. Most of the stories selected are depressing, with sad outcomes. They are about the relatively ordinary people getting accidentally entangled in unfortunate situations arising out of good intentions or while some vile are committing their hideous acts. The author wants to address why the good folks often fail in stopping the harmful acts when logically they should have. We - the constituents of the rest of the society - harshly castigate these characters who should/could have changed the course and prevented a lot of harm when all comes out at a later date. With the force of many compelling arguments, the author proves that most of us would not have been able to behave much more charitably in their places. At first, the author explains that we live in a society built on trust. We are programmed not to doubt anyone needlessly. This results in many crimes going undetected or uncontested. The people in the vicinity are compelled to provide the benefit of the doubt that proves inconsistent with the weight of the evidence. The author takes the readers to the other extreme to discuss tragedies where certain samaritans were trained to doubt more. If these policemen’s attendant actions resulted in a reduction in overall crime, they also led to other highly distressful situations. Mr. Gladwell takes high-profile cases and asks many bold questions while being in the shoes of those blamed as accessories, negligent, cowards, and worse. He uses audio recordings - sometimes real and other times enacted - competently to describe the settings in the audio version. The author attempts to provide some positive answers towards the end, and that’s possibly the book’s weakest part. It is as difficult to conclude that we should hesitate in providing moral judgments as it is not to blame those involved in preventing grievous damage. It is even worse to walk away claiming tough luck. So the book has no answers, but it makes us empathise for those we want to cast away and teaches us some valuable lessons. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Sep 12, 2019
|
Sep 14, 2019
|
Sep 13, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0865478112
| 9780865478114
| 0865478112
| 3.80
| 2,440
| Jul 18, 2017
| Jul 18, 2017
|
really liked it
|
There is a lot to understand and learn from this unusual family biography. And not all of it is what the author intends. While discussing the plight an There is a lot to understand and learn from this unusual family biography. And not all of it is what the author intends. While discussing the plight and the rise of her family, the author sketches a detailed portrayal of a part of post-independence Indian history that is rarely known to those not intimately connected with these subjects. The book explains the forces that gave rise to the formation of Andhra Pradesh. The reader gets a glimpse of how different communist parties came into being. Most importantly, the author's vivid descriptions of the plight of the untouchables explain many oft-avoided topics of mainstream India: from the factors that lead to the religious conversions of many Hindus to the drivers of the movements like Naxalism. That said, the author presents a highly biased and somewhat misleading view of many of the events. Biographies are not supposed to be fair and balanced, almost by definition. The problem here starts from the author's persistent efforts to evoke the reader sympathy for her favorites through her (highly imagined) viewpoints and gloomy text. The author does not realize that the poverty-stricken 1950-80s India had few real elephants. Between pervasive casteism, feudalism, corruption, misogyny, and a handful of other hierarchies, and behavioral tendencies that fostered servitude, submission, physical violence, verbal savagery, almost nobody was truly an elephant. The society described had everyone trying to repress who they could on any of the numerous available scales. Surely, there were some who were the most repressed. At least some of the author's relatives gained their upper hand by amassing the political weights. Their political power was not absolute, but it was enough to make the family rise over time. In her continuous efforts to present her sides as the perpetual underdogs, the author fails to recognize the hierarchy her family trumped. More importantly, the author completely refuses to see the countless their political associations repressed in their activities. All poverty-affected societies from the time immemorial have countless heart-rending stories. Scarcities cause its members to turn against each other on any of the excuses with the caste being the primary factor in the narrative here. Without a doubt, the author's family did well in beating some of the odds with the author being the shining example of one successful outshoot of their ordeal. The book could have either recorded the family's successes with more cheerfulness or recognized those who suffer because of the Naxalite activities and likely misguided long-term visions. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Sep 2019
|
Sep 05, 2019
|
Sep 08, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1492685852
| 9781492685852
| 1492685852
| 4.09
| 16,246
| Apr 11, 2019
| Aug 13, 2019
|
really liked it
|
Crime-solving must transform with every significant change in technologies. Yet, it does not because crime-solving institutions do not. Their inertia
Crime-solving must transform with every significant change in technologies. Yet, it does not because crime-solving institutions do not. Their inertia results from a plethora of factors beyond anyone’s control. What Billy Jensen shows is how the rest of the society can still be of tremendous help, particularly in our age and time. It helps that the author can provide an unflinchingly honest account of such an involvement. His ability to bare all is a result of his and his cohorts‘ pure devotion to a good cause. The examples used are diverse and with varying results - some with uplifting successes and many with heartbreaking crimes and frustratingly failed results. Through all this, the author can explain the methods he uses in his attempts using new technologies. Anyone with some technical expertise, a small budget and a lot of time could deploy these methods. While they cannot assure the results, the processes discussed will aid any crime investigations almost anywhere in the world. These methods, deployed by also sticking to the guidelines enunciated at the end, are bound to be legal anywhere apart from being highly useful. Notwithstanding the noble and novel theme, the author’s focus on explaining the processes is what makes the book useful and a joy to read. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jul 14, 2019
|
Jul 18, 2019
|
Jul 20, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1538761416
| 9781538761410
| 1538761416
| 4.21
| 53,734
| Apr 16, 2019
| Apr 16, 2019
|
really liked it
|
Redemption has a perfect combination of action, pace, suspense, intrigue, and plot credibility for a book of this genre. The story has enough complexi
Redemption has a perfect combination of action, pace, suspense, intrigue, and plot credibility for a book of this genre. The story has enough complexity not only to keep the readers guessing but also to provide enough support to the side-stories. For a change, the book length is of the right size with the story neither needlessly stretched nor curtailed. A good quick read for readers who enjoy mystery thrillers.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jun 07, 2019
|
Jun 09, 2019
|
Jun 12, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0316409138
| 3.90
| 10,495
| May 07, 2019
| May 07, 2019
|
liked it
|
Upheaval has grand historical narratives but a weak framework. The book’s most vulnerable parts are where the author discusses current affairs (which
Upheaval has grand historical narratives but a weak framework. The book’s most vulnerable parts are where the author discusses current affairs (which is nearly half of the book). They appear like any regular person’s views on what is ailing the world with a bunch of broad recommendations without any basis. The remedies offered are not only unoriginal but also without much connections to the lessons drawn in the previous sections. The book’s best parts are the chapters narrating the tumultuous times in Finland, Chile, Indonesia, and Australia. Each of these is fascinating and absorbing sagas that are hardly ever even mentioned in popular history books. Jared Diamond has a knack of explaining the most complicated real-life events in a storytelling way. One would be hard-pressed to find better eloquent summaries of these countries’ defining events anywhere else. Japan’s Meiji reformation is also beautifully explained, although the facts are unlikely to be as new as in other sections for most readers. Germany and US chapters contain even fewer novelties. The author freely admits that his framework is too broad and commonsensical towards the end. The admission does not make the shortcoming disappear though. Unlike in Mr. Diamond’s other works, the insights from the supposedly new theory are extremely few and light. My rating for the book is an attempt to average out the good and the not. That said, there is a lot here, which is exceptional if one can tolerate the less inspiring sections. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
May 14, 2019
|
May 17, 2019
|
May 17, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||||
| 0374146705
| 9780374146702
| 0374146705
| 4.04
| 2,295
| May 15, 2018
| May 15, 2018
|
really liked it
|
The book is a collection of essays. Or rather, it is a collection of three collections of essays. The Math collection is excellent. The physics one is
The book is a collection of essays. Or rather, it is a collection of three collections of essays. The Math collection is excellent. The physics one is prosaic. The philosophy is indulgent and whimsical. The book lacks a common theme despite the author’s best attempt to connect all his musings to two of the greatest minds. The excursions are stand-alone discussions, which is not necessarily negative. Almost all the discussions are newspaper article length, and as a result, many of them suffer from inadequate treatment. This is more an issue once the Math related discussions get over around the half-way point. In fact, the math essays are amazing. The way the articles are written with a smattering of tales involving the key persons behind the issues, the article length and a quick jaunt to definitive conclusions all help to create a series of great articles on different math topics. The same characteristics turn into a liability once the commentaries move to certain parts of quantum physics and relativity. The discussions contain little new for anyone who has read about the topics and/or their inventors in any popular books. It turns much worse when the author briefly expounds on a highly specific branch of philosophy. The sections appear incongruous with everything else in the book and are most difficult to understand even as standalone articles. Overall, a five-star book if one ends reading it once the Math sections are over. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Apr 17, 2019
|
Apr 21, 2019
|
Apr 21, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0525558314
| 9780525558316
| 0525558314
| 3.84
| 1,102
| 2019
| Feb 26, 2019
|
liked it
|
The Third Pillar is a well-written book that makes you think. Yet, its framework is relatively weak and the solutions are impractical. I think the boo
The Third Pillar is a well-written book that makes you think. Yet, its framework is relatively weak and the solutions are impractical. I think the book’s thesis will be repeatedly quoted in the academic circles for coming decades. With Dr Rajan as the champion, the theory could even turn mainstream in economic classes in the best case. That said, let me focus on the issues I have with the book, the framework and their conclusions. Dr Rajan is a celebrity economist, a renowned central bank governor, a powerful speaker and a great writer. This highly respected scholar, and a likely future Nobel Laureate, creates a framework to explain many of today’s economic ills, which is simple in its structure and highly attractive on the first read. There is a lot of literature discussing the friction or balance between the powers of the state versus those of the markets. Dr Rajan’s three-pronged framework pitting the state versus markets versus the community creates unique viewpoints for many problems afflicting modern societies. This viewer’s first level problems are with the way the book is written. The author spends enormous amounts of time describing economic events from past centuries and a handful of today’s economies. These fast-moving sections form more than half of the book. The selected episodes are not only random and disjointed, but most of the descriptions are far from the state versus the markets versus the community theory. The author would try to explain those economic successes and failures through the lens of the pillars now and then but rarely throw any new lights. Rather, most times, the analysis would reveal the author’s preformed views and biases (most exemplified in the discussions of the states of the US, China and India economies at present) rather than anything radically different. Equally weak are the final five chapters on “solutions”. The main argument is that technology, economic and political forces have caused one of the three pillars, the community, to become excessively weak compared to markets and the State in recent decades in many developed economies. To reduce the widespread angst pervading these societies, Dr Rajan wants everyone to work towards strengthening the community. Dr Rajan’s assertion - based on highly broad-based examples from past and present - is that many of today’s ills are automatically mitigated, if not cured, if markets are weakened, and also the State powers are diminished along with the rising powers with the community. Beyond the definitive conclusions, the author would skip from one topic to the next, issuing highly specific directives and corrective actions in dozens to the entire world on whatever problems that catch the attention while occasionally trying to fit the discussions at hand in the Pillars framework. The directives could be on topics as specialized as the teaching methods in schools to the raison d’être of corporate existence. In one paragraph, the author could be talking about the length of IP protection in the US while soon the discussion could be about immigration or AI or healthcare. This leads me to the main problem of the book: the framework or the theory. The author plays fast and loose with the definition of the community right from the start. And, as a result, the problem only compounds when he tries to use it for anything practical. A. What is Community? The book begins with a strong point that every society, or nation-state, should allow its members to belong to whatever communities they prefer. If I am a citizen of one country, and a resident of another, I should not be stopped - as per the author - to identify myself in the place where I live with a community of my countrymen or another of my religion, and that of my ethnicity, or profession or gender or age group, etc. The author feels that all these communities are legit and should be given more powers as a lot that would truly enrich my life is because of the interactions with these fellow community members. However, as the book progresses, the author’s Community becomes a highly specific proximity based entity. The author’s arguments in the second half are almost only about enhancing the power of the local governments (next point for problems on this). The author misses the point that a large part of the world, and particularly the aspirationally mobile younger generations, see themselves far stronger members of other communities than the one based on where they live. B. Why three pillars? Three forces pitted against each other are better than two in a theoretical construct, but there is a far stronger case of a four-pillar framework including the families if not a five-pillared one also including the global community. Between the demands of the communities one is a part of, the powers of the state and the uncontrollable massive economic/market realities, the individual identity is perhaps most enfeebled, which some other theoretician may use as the sixth pillar! Facetious arguments aside, where does one draw lines on proximity-based communities in our fast-changing world? One is never clear whether the author is talking about a neighbourhood society, a city council, a provincial government or larger regional state machineries while talking about proximity-based communities. In fact, at different times, he ends up talking about almost each one. Proximity-based communities of the modern world differ greatly from administration setups designed decades ago when maps were different. C. Conflicts? Through repeated assertions of various kinds, the author finds escape routes to completely avoid any discussions on conflicts between a strengthened community and enfeebled other forces. The author would acknowledge that problems would arise, but would immediately find something else to discuss rather than address the most critical of subjects. As explained above, there is a multitude of communities of all kind in the modern age. Even proximity-based communities come in many embedded forms, like the Russian Dolls. It is likely that a weakened State with strong communities could rupture like many unsuccessful nation states in so many parts of the world, rather than solve any major economic issues. There could be equally large issues of inter-community strifes as well if community powers are massively enhanced and communities compete for similar goals/resources. If Three Pillar becomes a successful theory, expect dozens of books on the perils of strong communities for any nation-state. This reviewer’s last big problem is the way the author offers solutions in the last part of the book. Effectively, the author wishes a world with a different set of rules, regulations, processes etc. The statements are almost of the form that my next statement assumes: “I want a world where everyone should have the same opportunities, income, wealth, happiness, longevity etc etc”. Rather than providing any practical guidelines on how one should strengthen the community, however ill-defined, the author draws his Utopia. In conclusion, the framework is unique. Dr Rajan’s insights will spark new debates. The book is an easy read with many great examples and ideas. This reviewer has problems as discussed above, but the same discussions are also a result of what the author made him think. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Mar 15, 2019
|
Mar 18, 2019
|
Mar 18, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1476776628
| 9781476776620
| 1476776628
| 3.98
| 4,295
| Aug 14, 2018
| Aug 14, 2018
|
it was amazing
|
The Tangled Tree is a well-written book on a complex, important and unexplored topic. Darwinian evolution through mutations and natural selection is ta The Tangled Tree is a well-written book on a complex, important and unexplored topic. Darwinian evolution through mutations and natural selection is taken as the standard and complete theory, in the same vein as Newtonian mechanics in the 19th century. The evolutionary reality is not only far more complex but also different as the author patiently and comprehensively sets to prove in this book. The issues involved are complex. The claims need be revealed only after bringing readers up to date on the minimum required knowledge, and the author is a master at setting such a base before he thrusts topics like Endosymbiosis, Horizontal Gene Transfer, Horizontal Transposon Transfer, Endogenous Retroviruses etc. Genetic science discoveries are upending almost every tenet of the phylogeny or phylogenetic tree that scientists believed in for a century post-Darwin. With the tales of prominent personalities involved in the field, the author keeps the subject light and digestible for readers new to the concepts. The chronological back and forth is jarring at times, but the writing style and the narrative arc help simplify many extremely complex topics. The book is a great read to understand that evolution as we have known is just not what truly happened. In fact, horizontal gene transfer dominated a large part of the evolution of life in the early stages rather than the natural selection. And, HGT is likely not only playing an important role in natural spheres but critical for the medicinal sciences. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Mar 10, 2019
|
Mar 14, 2019
|
Mar 14, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| B07KBGJKV8
| 3.05
| 1,964
| Jan 29, 2019
| Jan 29, 2019
|
liked it
|
This book has one of the lowest average reader ratings that I have seen for any reasonably popular book. It is easy to see why. While the title may att This book has one of the lowest average reader ratings that I have seen for any reasonably popular book. It is easy to see why. While the title may attract many Trump detractors, the author will disappoint them quickly given his nearly unilateral positive views of the President. And the supporters too are likely to walk away equally unhappy given Sims’ criticism of most of the other things in the administration. Yet, the book is perhaps more balanced and unbiased than anything on offer on the administration. The author highlights many of the President’s positive traits and the damages inflicted by the media that refuses to see anything positive. As obsequious as some of his remarks may appear at times, the author provides good details on a host of things going wrong in this administration as well. The inside view of most major events of the first two Trump years is as unbiased and informed as one is ever likely to get. All that said, the book’s failure is in its inability to provide anything remarkably new. This is not the author’s fault, given the comprehensive coverage of every facet of Trump’s White House in the last two years. The net result is that here is a book that is unlikely to change the already-formed opinions of any and it won’t help reinforce them either. The book may have more historic value for a future day academician but not the present day layman. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Mar 07, 2019
|
Mar 09, 2019
|
Mar 11, 2019
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1501121464
| 9781501121463
| 1501121464
| 4.20
| 97,951
| Jul 09, 2015
| Oct 27, 2015
|
it was ok
| Prisoners provides simplistic and elementary views of geopolitics in some parts of the world. Such a book has a use for many who are unfamiliar with t Prisoners provides simplistic and elementary views of geopolitics in some parts of the world. Such a book has a use for many who are unfamiliar with the territories far away. The problem with the book, however, is its highly biased, completely US-centric treatment of almost everything. At the root are the author’s beliefs that the US - the way it was when the book was published - is destined to stay as one nation and a leader of the world from here to almost forever. The author blithely ignores how fluid the US boundaries have been even in the nineteenth century and how recent its global political domination is. Everyone else is shown as suffering from all sort of geographical fissures, doomed to fail, regardless of some of theirs’ domination for centuries in ages past. Geography is repeatedly used to assert everything the author already believes in with no shades of doubts or measured analysis. The problem with “geo-determinists” is that they use select features of the geographical landscape to explain away whatever historic events or outcomes they chose to and equally predict whatever they wish for. This book represents one of the worst forms of such geo-determinism. There are some decent nuggets of information in every section of the book, but almost always surrounded by highly questionable interpretations and views. The point of view is American: it starts from the inherent assumptions that anyone who might want to compete with the US (like China) has to be evil. It would take forms of outrageous assertions like no survival without US consumption (and similar for everyone and not just China). ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Mar 05, 2019
|
Mar 06, 2019
|
Mar 07, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1610395697
| 9781610395694
| 1610395697
| 4.06
| 11,665
| Oct 04, 2018
| Jan 15, 2019
|
did not like it
|
Data privacy or unauthorised (and wrongly allowed) usage of an individual’s private data by someone else are critically important topics. However, thi
Data privacy or unauthorised (and wrongly allowed) usage of an individual’s private data by someone else are critically important topics. However, this comprehensively one-sided book does not even scratch the surface of the issues at hand. The whole book is a repeated polemic on almost any data gathering, analytics and companies that have successful businesses running on them. The highly coloured and simplistic view of the evils of Google and Facebook (it is largely about these two and a bit about Microsoft) in such a long book ensures that the author never even gets started on discussing the real problem, let alone any solutions beyond calling for all of us to say “No”. The author - who yearns for the pre-digital era utopia of almost anytime in history including as late as the 1980s - is a twenty-first century, Rousseau-like romantic. She happens to be a critic of our era modernity but if she was from some other era, she might have hated television or automobiles or combustible engines with equal gusto. In this book, she comes out as someone who hates collection of almost any data, and analysis based on them, even though if approached with these charges, she will flat deny them. The author never understands that there is no turning back from the current point, that the digital era has some enormous positives along with many negatives, that most negatives cannot be wished away, that many of the negatives are structural intricately joined to the massive positives, that authorities cannot fight or even understand many evils that are transforming continuously, etc etc Let’s build slowly to see how complicated the issues of data ownership are before we even look at the commercial aspects: - There is that age-old question: if a tree falls in a jungle with no “one” to observe, does it make a sound or does it “count”? If you twist this question in the digital contexts, how do you define the “one” doing the measurement? Is my privacy invaded if my “personal” data - however defined - are “seen” by programs? - The author will say a resounding yes to the question posed above based on what one reads in the book. Here, if I have a program living on my machine analyzing the private data to give me some results on what I am looking for - like a friend’s contact details - is my privacy invaded? - what if some incoming data - say a barrage of ten billion ads or news articles - are sorted by some program on my machine to filter out the likely unimportant ones for me based on my past habits as stored on my device - is this an invasion? - if not, how is the same an invasion if the same things are stored or processed on hardware located millions of miles away? - how does anyone explain complex analytical tools to me? Need my apps to analyze only to the extent I/humans understand? If yes, how will we ever progress in fields of quantum physics, genetics or other behavioural sciences? One can go on and on. The point is that issues of what is private data or understandable analysis are complex: the author seems to hate any analysis of “my” data for almost any commercial use. However, the same author would despise - if search and many other similar functions were charged and were so expensive due to the lack of scale that only the elite of the world benefited from them - Or if my lack of data-sharing did not solve her health or traffic or many similar solutions - Or somebody prevented smart analysis of “my” data that might have helped me find the right education, right connections, right entertainment, right news amongst a plethora of choices out there. - Or if the companies forced not to “nudge” offered no choice architecture (like no search) which is far worse than some choice, or offered the same “choice” without customisation to all - Or if lack of free storage of my data - like health over decades - did not offer me the same health or financial advantages as somebody who could afford such storage The author does not see how free/cheap access to information, analysis, storage, health, entertainment, etc has benefitted the underprivileged of the world since the onset of the digital revolution. Is the surplus enjoyed by the digital elite at the cost of the rest? Or is there a win-win, where we may charge them of keeping a disproportionate amount, but not accuse them of plunder? The new era technologies have many negatives that need to be discussed and solved. Most of them are not what this author talks about in this book. The book is written by someone who yearns to be a digital hermit and feels she cannot. She is rightly frustrated by this viewpoint; it is nigh impossible to completely go dark as it is no longer just about devices under my control with the surveillance of millions of other varieties. That said, there are likely to be extremely few who could truly go back to such isolation for long now. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Mar 02, 2019
|
Mar 05, 2019
|
Mar 06, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0141007540
| 9780141007540
| B009OGC2D4
| 3.93
| 9,044
| 2003
| 2004
|
liked it
|
All governing systems until the end of World War II, and many afterwards were reprehensible and exploitative by the modern liberal standards. Any hist
All governing systems until the end of World War II, and many afterwards were reprehensible and exploitative by the modern liberal standards. Any historian that tries to defend hierarchical monarchies, feudal societies, societies controlled by priests, or even colonialists is taking on a project that will rightly win him few friends. He inflicts more pain on those he is supposedly helping by linking nationals of any modern nation or society as inheritors of the systems consigned to the dustbin of history. The author never got to the most fundamental point: the Empire was just a system of a kind that existed, and the modern UK/Britain have nothing much to do with its worst, and its best. It is just like we cannot ask modern Mongols to atone for any sins that might have been committed by Genghis Khan’s band of global marauders. Or, descendants of any ex-royals anywhere for the crimes committed by their forefathers. Human history is nothing but a saga of people of one kind repressing people of another. Some modern societies use the same tags as some oppressors/oppressed in history books, but that does not mean much in nations or races claiming acts of revenge or penalties from each other now. If some modern societies that are too intricately linked to atrocities of relatively recent condemnable episodes, like Germans with Nazism, the best method is not to say “it was not so bad” or “there were positives too” but accept, apologise and move on. Yes, there will be thorny issues of the compensation or the genuineness of the remorse, but this will be far less than meek efforts at justifying the unjustifiable. The Empire is unjustifiable based on our current values. Let’s start with what the book gets right: the world needs good books on colonial history. The British Empire had such a massive influence on the entire humanity for such a long time that all future societies need to study it more than almost any other empire discussed in standard history books. The world would not have been exactly what it is today, including with the forces of humanitarian values, various individual rights, democracies, the power of technologies/sciences, without the Empire. This does not mean that democratic values or scientific progress could not have spread - as the author perhaps implies - without the colonialism, but the path would have been different. This review would not have been in English! And, one does not know whether the other route would have taken humanity to the same point so quickly or not. The author makes another important point multiple times: there were numerous excellent people within Great Britain who stood up against the worst aspects of the colonial rule. Some of these folks were extraordinarily brave in enduring many hardships, prejudices and even hostilities of the people they were trying to help to work on their causes. These were the unsung heroes of the time whose efforts led to more enlightenment of various kind than many anti-Empire, conservative leaders of most colonies. There are many versions of the Empire, and colonial history worldwide. Most take local flavours - the Indian history will focus on what happened in India, and Singapore one will discuss Singapore or the US will have its version. The British version, as provided in the book, is perhaps most all-encompassing. It identifies many trends that engulfed countries from Africa to Australia to Canada and everywhere else. The scale provided by the vast Empire helped propel the world’s industrial revolution. The desire to conquer faraway territories funded ventures and technologies that resulted in many positives throughout. The world became smaller with the Empire, and societies learnt numerous beneficial habits from each other. The author is right in almost all his basic analysis: the Empire era put the world on a path it is today, and this point is far better than the pre-Empire point for most of the humankind. We must also commend the author for holding back no punches in criticising the worst atrocities inflicted by the colonialists. And yet, the author must still be criticised for three major points: a. The intent of those running the Empire was anything but “altruistic”. Almost all at the top had highly despicable, racist views. Those in power from the UK had almost the same basic drivers for centuries: to benefit the self and most people back home disproportionately and at any cost to the locals. The locals were exploited throughout in the plunder, and any “win-win”s that emerged had most gains captured by the rulers. There were incidences where the Empire’s policies drove out egregious local practices/abuses, but it is too far-fetched to say the biggest imperials had much regard for the individual lives of the natives. The cases where dozens of locals were butchered for the damage to a handful of the British are countless while the reverse is almost unheard of. If the British and other colonial rules caused some positives, it could be said they were despite the imperialists rather than because of them. b. The author makes a strong case that the British Empire was the mildest, and it helped prevent far worse imperial rules by the Germans, the Japanese and other Europeans in territories it ruled. The way the author presents the narrative helps him make a strong case for the British use of all resources available to it (particularly the labour and infantry forces from all colonies, most importantly India) not just for its own benefit but also for the benefits of people in these colonies. Let’s forget the corollary of the first point that the British were not intentionally trying to save the colony folks from worse rulers. The author misses the far bigger point: the world wars happened; the world had to bear Hitlers and likes because everyone else who saw itself as powerful wanted to emulate the Empire and “colonies”. The Empire created a global power race where those who saw themselves as amongst the top few most powerful felt the need to go out and grab/hold colonies. The colonialists were not like monarchs trying to win the far-away lands, but far worse. The all-encompassing and enduring domination they aspired (in economic terms in particular), including those from the British Empire, was perhaps worse than the worst rulers the world had known before. Even if one agreed that the Empire had more lenient policies compared to other colonial rulers of the twentieth century, the Empire caused everyone else walking this path. c. The author tries to prove that those ruled by the British are far better off in various economic and social terms than those who were not. This is a dubious claim at best. For every Singapore and Canada, there are multiple societies in the subcontinent, Africa and the Middle East who are still far behind. The development of many never ruled by the British, in East Asia and continental Europe, is exemplary as well. The book is worth reading for the subject covered. The author is more right than wrong most of the way. Yet, it is difficult to overlook the views on some big points mentioned above. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 08, 2019
|
Feb 09, 2019
|
Feb 10, 2019
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062802232
| 9780062802231
| 0062802232
| 4.25
| 18,935
| Apr 10, 2018
| Apr 10, 2018
|
it was ok
|
To me, Fascism fails for the single reason that no two fascist leaders are alike. Learning about one or a few, in a highly cursory fashion like in thi
To me, Fascism fails for the single reason that no two fascist leaders are alike. Learning about one or a few, in a highly cursory fashion like in this book or in great detail, is unlikely to provide one with any answers on how to prevent the rise of another or fend against some such. And, as much as we are witnessing the rise of numerous democratic or quasi-democratic “strongmen” around the world in global politics, it is difficult to brand any of them as fascist in the orthodox sense. As the author writes at the outset, it is difficult to separate a fascist from a tyrant or a dictator. A fascist is a majoritarian who rouses a large group under some national, racial or similar flag with rallying cries demanding suppression or exculcation of those excluded from this group. A typical fascist leader loves her yes-men and hates those who disagree: she does not mind using violence to suppress dissidents. A fascist has no qualms using propaganda to popularize the agreeable “facts” and theories while debunking the inconvenient as lies. What is not discussed explicitly in the book are perhaps some positive traits that separate fascists from other types of tyrants: fascists are rarely lazy, stupid or prone to doing things for only personal gains. They differ from the benevolent dictators for their record of using heavy oppression against their dissidents. Fascists, like all dictators, change rules to suit themselves, take control of state organizations to exercise total control and use “our class is the greatest” and “kick others“ to fuel their programs. Despite such a detailed list, each fascist is different from each other. There is little that even Ms Albright’s fascists - from Mussolini and Hitler to Stalin to the Kims to Chavez or Erdogan - have in common. In fact, most of the opponents of some of these dictators/leaders would calll them by many other choice words but not fascists. The circumstances that gave rise to these leaders were highly different and so were their rules, methods and achievements. The point, once again, is that none of the strongmen leaders around the world could be easily categorized as fascists. Or even if they do, assigning them with such a tag and learning about some other such leaders is unlikely to help. The history discussed in the book is interesting but disjointed, perfunctory and simplistic. Ms Albright’s selection is also debatable. Strong leaders who suppress those they deem as opponents have wreaked immense harms and are a threat to all civil societies. They come in more shades and colours than terms we have in our vocabulary (dictators, tyrants, fascists, despots, autocrats etc). A study of such tyrant is needed for anyone with any interest in history politics, or societal well-being. Despite Ms Albright’s phenomenal knowledge, experience, credentials, personal history and intentions, this book is perhaps not the best place to objectively learn much about the risks from the type of things some current leaders are doing or deeming as right. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 02, 2019
|
Feb 03, 2019
|
Feb 03, 2019
|
ebook
| ||||||||||||||
| 1400069831
| 9781400069835
| 1400069831
| 3.78
| 5,674
| Sep 11, 2012
| Sep 11, 2012
|
liked it
|
Geography for global geopolitics is like what a canvas is for paintings. Canvas is critical if one is trying to analyze an artist’s work, but one cann
Geography for global geopolitics is like what a canvas is for paintings. Canvas is critical if one is trying to analyze an artist’s work, but one cannot truly predict the final work simply by vexing eloquent on the underlying material. Mr Kaplan is right in claiming the important of geography in geopolitics, but as he himself declares obliquely multiple times, it is difficult to use geography to predict where the world could be headed except in the shortest of timeframes. Geography can be used to explain a lot of history, but historical geographical patterns are as useful to the modern society as perhaps Newtonian mechanics is to our age’s satellite communication . This is where the author makes his most controversial base case: his perpetual quoting of pre-nation state equations between societies, tribes and monarchies for the purpose of understanding many of present day interrelations might be valid somewhat but far less than made out to be in the book. The book covers dozens of topics sweepingly, with unapologetically US-centric view and many inherent biases. There is a lot of useful information in between, as are many strands of geographical theories that non-experts will find difficult to fully appreciate. If the author is to be commended for not making massive forecasts, the downside is a lack of objective or unifying theme in most parts of the book. Not even the brightest individuals are capable of understanding geographical nuances even somewhat well - a likely conclusion most people with knowledge of any of the local societies discussed here would likely reach. If all that one is left with are prejudices based on over-generalized readings, one wonders how useful “geography” is in that case. The author is right in at least claiming how not thinking about it is not an option. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 28, 2019
|
Jan 29, 2019
|
Jan 29, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062673041
| 9780062673046
| 0062673041
| 4.21
| 603
| May 29, 2018
| May 29, 2018
|
really liked it
|
The book is a quick and easy read on how Google Maps came about and then evolved. Its anecdotal style allows the stringing of many divergent tales. H
The book is a quick and easy read on how Google Maps came about and then evolved. Its anecdotal style allows the stringing of many divergent tales. However, there are few surprises for anyone who has lived through the release of Google technologies, including maps, in the last decade or so. Also, despite the author’s best attempts, the Map does not have any major “underdog” or “against expectation” angles. The book is extremely light on technical details too. In sum, this is a gentle story of enormous success - without thrills, and frills! ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 27, 2019
|
Jan 28, 2019
|
Jan 28, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1400067960
| 9781400067961
| 1400067960
| 4.24
| 6,710
| 2016
| Jan 24, 2017
|
liked it
|
It is difficult to praise one’s own self and talk about the achievements in witty, interesting and factual ways without appearing arrogant, exaggerati
It is difficult to praise one’s own self and talk about the achievements in witty, interesting and factual ways without appearing arrogant, exaggerating or biased. Ed Thorp may do thousands of other things better than almost anyone else, but certainly not that. The author is an extraordinarily talented and successful person. He is a brilliant theoretician who can justifiably lay claim to a handful of good mathematical theories. He is also a good investor. He has led an interesting life, particularly when he was taking on the casinos. The author has a life story that needs to be recorded for the rest of us. Yet, the way he describes it makes it unbearably one-sided and as if coming from a person too much in love with himself. These traits are visible right from the start. The lengthy descriptions on his own mathematical skills reveal an author who is completely unaware that as good as his analytical abilities are, they are not one in a billion or possibly even one in a million varieties. This trait of glorifying the marginally superior traits/events/investments/ideas hurts the book throughout. This also creates the impression of a person ignorant of his basic flaws and incapable of providing a balanced view of the failures. To a degree, the author’s habit to share credit with only the known greats like Shannon or Buffet creates the image of a person that might have failed to mention numerous others who might have had a bigger influence in his achievements. The best sections are when the author discusses the casino ventures. He was a true pioneer in providing the new logic/methods in playing some games. The same is not true about almost anything he has done in markets. He is a highly successful investor. He has great methods, but none of his methods - including those in the pricing of warrants/derivative instruments - are indisputably original. Just like the Madoff claims (that he realized Madoff was a fraudster as early as 1991), many other claims around the originality of Black-Scholes like pricing etc are throwaway, theoretically inadequate, practically unhelpful to almost all around and unprovable. The author’s habit to damn the damned only adds to the impression of a person unlikely to stand up for anyone in need of help or support. So even assuming that here is a tale of a man who has lived some amazing ventures, it needed a different author. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 21, 2019
|
Jan 23, 2019
|
Jan 27, 2019
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 132854639X
| 9781328546395
| 132854639X
| 4.10
| 15,362
| Sep 25, 2018
| Sep 25, 2018
|
it was amazing
|
In the Trade War era, most discuss the Chinese vulnerabilities and the impact on the rest of the world using impressions and assumptions that are date
In the Trade War era, most discuss the Chinese vulnerabilities and the impact on the rest of the world using impressions and assumptions that are dated. Even if some things discussed in this book are overly generous about China’s innovation capabilities, the author is far more on the money than the average crowd spelling the doom for the global or ex-US international economy. The author’s aim is not to discuss the trade wars. But, the implications are clear: the US supremacy in intellectual property is remotely not where we are made to believe. And whatever advantage it has in numerous fields, the gap is narrowing rapidly at least when compared against China’s. For a host of reasons - some caused by deliberate policy actions and some others are coincidental - China’s ability to innovate is suddenly about the best in the world. The author shows this to be the case in Artificial Intelligence, and one could easily draw the parallels for other fields like robotics, nanotech, biotech, automated driving, solar, etc China’s policymakers are deliberate in supporting innovation spaces like AI. This is well known and scoffed at by most critics. What critics do not realize are many other advantages as discussed in this book: - Enormous private/venture capital supporting innovation (Silicon Valley may still have the lead, but China is not much behind in its ability to create companies that turn into unicorns). - “Practical” rules: For a variety of reasons, moral, ethical and at times pedantic debates on old ideas hamper developments in fields like data sharing, biotech, robotics, driverless cars etc in the West. This is not the case in China. Many in the West may want to cry shame at China’s approach, but this does not stop them from galloping ahead in areas where others are stalled. - Population and home market size advantage: At some point, China (like Japan in the fifties) needed the global consumer to keep its workers working. This is no longer needed in the same way. Rather, the domestic market size not only allows China to break free from the trade dependence in the worst case but also helps through the gargantuan volume of data creation critical in the innovation. - The absence of “Microsoft syndrome” (my phrase): Microsoft was self-stifled in the 2000s when the need to make every new operating system backward compatible - so that its massive user base could continue using the old machines and software - allowed others to conceive and innovate what it could not. The US as a system suffers from the same syndrome in multiple fields - for example, it could not move to WeChat like frictionless payment because of the dominance of credit card usage and companies. - The “supply chains” or industry environment supporting various innovation fields - Profits and wealth available - Etc The book succeeds in vividly and unapologetically describing the other side of China, through the field of AI. What the author does not explicitly say is that China might even go past the US in overall IP in the coming decade despite being behind now. If the trade war results in an IP creation race between China and the US, it is not given that the fallout will be disastrous for China or even the rest of the world. The later chapters also provide a good read on what could be the impact of AI on employment and societies with some positive and personal discussions. The points are not as new as many made upfront, but well made. The author is an extraordinarily clear thinker and can describe too. This helps him succinctly cover many complex points, and as said before, without reservation or qualms that afflict most mainstream writers discussing these topics. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 23, 2019
|
Jan 27, 2019
|
Jan 27, 2019
|
Hardcover
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
my rating |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 4.01
|
liked it
|
Feb 10, 2020
|
Feb 13, 2020
|
|||
|
| 4.21
|
really liked it
|
Jan 09, 2020
|
Jan 14, 2020
|
|||
|
| 3.92
|
liked it
|
Oct 25, 2019
not set
|
Oct 25, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.00
|
it was amazing
|
Sep 14, 2019
|
Sep 13, 2019
|
|||
|
| 3.80
|
really liked it
|
Sep 05, 2019
|
Sep 08, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.09
|
really liked it
|
Jul 18, 2019
|
Jul 20, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.21
|
really liked it
|
Jun 09, 2019
|
Jun 12, 2019
|
|||
|
| 3.90
|
liked it
|
May 17, 2019
|
May 17, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.04
|
really liked it
|
Apr 21, 2019
|
Apr 21, 2019
|
|||
|
| 3.84
|
liked it
|
Mar 18, 2019
|
Mar 18, 2019
|
|||
|
| 3.98
|
it was amazing
|
Mar 14, 2019
|
Mar 14, 2019
|
|||
|
| 3.05
|
liked it
|
Mar 09, 2019
|
Mar 11, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.20
|
it was ok
|
Mar 06, 2019
|
Mar 07, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.06
|
did not like it
|
Mar 05, 2019
|
Mar 06, 2019
|
|||
|
| 3.93
|
liked it
|
Feb 09, 2019
|
Feb 10, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.25
|
it was ok
|
Feb 03, 2019
|
Feb 03, 2019
|
|||
|
| 3.78
|
liked it
|
Jan 29, 2019
|
Jan 29, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.21
|
really liked it
|
Jan 28, 2019
|
Jan 28, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.24
|
liked it
|
Jan 23, 2019
|
Jan 27, 2019
|
|||
|
| 4.10
|
it was amazing
|
Jan 27, 2019
|
Jan 27, 2019
|
Loading...