Consider a book-Books worth reading

  The book in a nutshell is captured by the subheading "why good people are divided by politics and religion". The book can be roughly divided into thirds. The first half of the book is about the origins of morality. Where did it come from? Haidt touches on some philosophical works and debates and ultimately concludes that morality provides evolutionary advantages, and it supersedes reason. He uses an elephant and a rider analogy, morality, roughly equated to emotion, is the elephant. He also uses a president and press secretary metaphor, which I found helpful, reason's primary function is to rationalize the conclusions of the subconscious. I'm not sure this story fully explains morality. I think it could explain some of it, and it provides some satisfying guidance but tas far as I can tell it does not obviate the need for extra-human deliberate construction of morality. Second, he outlines what morality is and isn't. He rejects utilitarianism and deontology as to

  Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave was an interesting read, my relationship with it is complex. My introduction to Douglass comes from his landmark speech, "what to the slave is the 4th of July?" in which Douglass makes several compelling, sobering, and inspiring arguments. As much as I would like it to be, this book is not as good. To me, the book is at its strongest when describing the transition from being a slave to being a free man. Douglass was born, neigh, bread into slavery and his path out of it is worth telling and retelling. This is a transition that is still very much part of modern America and of every individual's life. The fight to be free is at the heart of the American dream. The essence of the journey can be described by this spliced snippet of conversation overheard from master Hughes to Mrs. Hughes “If he learns to read the Bible it will forever unfit him to be a slave. He should know nothing but the will of his master, an

  This book falls squarely next to Carol Dweck's Mindset , which is funny since Duckworth specifically references Dweck towards the end of the book. In a nutshell, Duckworth shows how hard work and determination are paramount for success. None of this should be new, conscientiousness, a trait from the Big5 is extraordinarily well researched, but in many academic circles, the idea is apparently somewhat novel and marginally taboo. Still, the research she's done, clearly demonstrating the value of hard work, framing it as will power rather than merely an inherited personality trait, adds a useful lens to the discussion. Specifically, I could see this research rebutting claims overemphasizing other success resources such as IQ or socioeconomic background. For me, there were a handful of points worth remembering. First, lots of people and programs don't really consider grit to be as important as it clearly is. She uses data and anecdotes to illustrate this including phrases suc

  Prior to a trip to Oahu, I was looking for a book that would make a visit to pearl harbor more meaningful. I picked this book out after reading a WSJ review . The book served its purpose. Looking into the twisted metal gun turret of the Arizona and across the water at Ford Island, I could nearly hear the angry humming of low flying Zeroes and rapid chopping of strafing rounds chewing rescue craft to pieces. I could see hundreds of white sailor hats floating on the burning water and I could feel the pain of 79 brothers agonizing about the fate of their siblings across the ship. Details like Admiral Kidd's Annapolis class ring welded to a bulkhead, or a jar of pickles saved for 20 years for a sailor who would never come home, really bring the story to life. Besides being vivid as hell, the book is extremely well researched.  Borneman approaches pearl harbor with an interesting lens, the lives of siblings serving on the same ship. He delves into their duties on the ship, their perso

Conversely. “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”   — M. Russell Ballard Introduction There's no shortage of well-intentioned folks setting new years resolutions. Similarly, there are plenty of naysayers laughing on the sidelines. The truth is, the naysayers have a point, resolutions don't do much for most people; still what President Ballard says is undeniably true. The question then is how do we " learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals ".  One of my endeavors over the last 7 years has been to learn how to set goals. While I have yet much to learn, I offer this method as a small

  Why did I read this? It was on Jordan Peterson's reading list and I've liked most of them on his list. Why didn't I like it? Maybe because I accidentally got the dramatized (for radio) version. In a nutshell, I found the protagonist competent (something to admire) but also brash (something to repel). What's the difference? In novels brash people succeed through luck, competent people succeed through, skill, grit, cunning, etc. Moreover, he seemed entirely bereft of a moral compass. Other than that, I'm not sure what moral lesson I could take away. Overall I found the production moderately entertaining, not thought-provoking, and generally uninspiring. I'll give it a few months, find the novel, give it a listen, and update accordingly.

  This is one of Steinbeck's classics, I think partially because its about a 2-hour read, compared to east of Eden or grapes of wrath (~15),. It's not all that hard to get through or even make a movie about. There are several themes in this book worth exploring, as well as plenty of allusions that will keep you on your toes. Just as a teaser, the opening sean is of Lenny and George drinking water from a pond. Lenny slurps it from the water, George scoops with his hands, sound familiar? (Judges 7:6) The first theme, that I found deeply compelling was heaven. Throughout the story Steinbeck describes a kind of heaven , the details vary, but it's generally owning your own parcel of land and working it with loved ones. (compare to Candide conclusions). This vision does motivate them, but it also makes the present bearable, it's an idea of hope, something to daydream about and distract from the loneliness and pain of the moment. I really enjoyed this theme in the book. The ot

  I'm developing quite a love of Russian authors. This one was a deeply interesting story, though, in classic fashion, it drags on longer than I feel is necessary. Refreshingly, the title describes the subject matter of the book quite well. It's a novel that explores the dynamics of crime and punishment. In many ways, it's the inverse of Victor Hugo's tale of Jean Valjean and Javert. Dostoevsky explores the mind of the criminal, the motivation in crime, the state of suffering humanity, the impact of social ties, and the relentless hand of conscience. It's not a straightforward tale at all. Half of the quotes that could be drawn from the book are deeply cynical, reflecting stopping points on the way to greater understanding. In trying to understand how to commit a crime, the protagonist utters “When reason fails, the devil helps!” and he means it until he finishes unraveling the thought 100 pages later. I've taken the liberty of stitching together a few quotes th

  This is a short story. I believe the total run time is about 1.5 hours depending on your speed. It's not the best book I've ever read, but word for word, it's one of the most efficient injections of inspiration and thought-provoking material I've read this year. I won't bore you with a summary (which couldn't do it justice) nor will I pontificate with my analysis. But let me just highlight my three favorite points from the book. Grit. This is essentially a story about Grit. The Old Man (you never do learn his name) is a persistent fighter. You feel his pain, feel what he had to overcome the sweetness of victory and the exhaustion and meaning of defeat, but most of all the love of the fight. “But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” The hunter's relationship. This one sounds weird on paper, but the book does a good job describing the relationship between the hunted and the hunter. It's something I

  I didn't know who the author was when I selected this piece, and I think that helped me approach it more objectively. Sasse is a US republican senator, but breaks party lines and criticizes trump (for my Utah audience) in a Romneyesque fashion. The book isn't political, but its message seeks to address, what seems to me, the core of the division in the country. the first three chapters of the book explain the problem, American young adults lack Virtu (My word, not his, something like roman manliness, but more just adultiness). Sasse outlines evidence of the problem and briefly highlights the impact of the problem and briefly touches on a failed solution to the problem, schools.  The next six chapters deal with proposed solutions to the problems; There were three that really jumped out to me.  1. Consume less —“...there is almost nothing more important we can do for our young than convince them that production is more satisfying than consumption.” The idea isn't new, of co

I listened to Cain speak on my undergraduate campus as a freshman. All the self-proclaimed introverts on campus were thrilled about a chance to be highlighted as tortured geniuses. I was unsure if I fit in this category but if asked would have identified as introverted. I think if you were to have taken a poll, 95% of us would have identified as introverts immediately post forum. Her ideas were intriguing partially because of the intellectual dissonance that hummed through conversation circles after her departure. With 20/20 hindsight, I can now say that the allure she offered was essentially Gladwellian (my readers will by now be familiar with my thoughts on Malcolm Gladwell ). In a nutshell, she presents interesting research combined with more interesting anecdotes and then draws extraordinarily shaky conclusions. To be fair, I think Cain is both well-intentioned and exceptionally bright. I could go on about how badly she mischaracterizes Dale Carnegie or how she ignores all evidence

Of all the new authors I've read this year, Zweig might be my favorite. Not because he's convincing or even because I agree with him on controversial issues, but because he offers a completely new way of looking at the world.  The world of yesterday is an artistic memoir that made me want to weep. In many ways, he's the flip side contemporary to famous world war authors like Lewis and Frankle . He offers the artist's balm to the horror of the order-obsessed third riech. He rubbed shoulders with Sigmund Freud, Theodor Herzl (Author of the Jewish state), and Richard Strauss. He's able to comment on the 20th-century transition of Europe in a way few can.  His perspective on the cultural, artistic and moral revolutions/devolutions is particularly worthwhile, but his most endearing trait is his ability to see worthwhile truth all around. When describing one minor author he wrote "when he was wrong, he was wrong in the most interesting ways". This is precisely h

  This is weird. I know mark twain for his classics, huck fin, tom sawer, and a lot of really good western shorts, a bit like 19th century Saturday night live. This isn't anything like his other books. Today it would be considered historical fiction, but as far as I can tell it's more history than fiction. It's reminiscent of G.A. Henty's works, only more complete. It was interesting to hear about context and background for The Maid of Orléans as well as highlight her exploits and get a feel for who she was, but the most interesting thing was to hear her story, often latched onto by feminists, from the mouth of a 19th-century western writer. The narrative of the oppressed women by the hands of the patriarchy takes a serious blow from someone who had no intention of debunking it (we can be sure because the narrative had not yet been proposed).  Not to say the twain was free of "Sexism" he definitely sees a difference between men and women. Sometimes he makes ar

  Disappointed might be the best way to describe my feelings about this book. I love Brandon Sanderson's writing and have praised him as a master of meaningful fiction comparable to Tolkein, but this book, while good, and certainly worth the read, falls short of what it promised to be. Let me start with the good. Sanderson did a characteristically good job with world-building. The internal logic is tight; cause and effect are connectable and the broken/created rules are extraordinarily explicit in a way that allows your mind to sleuth the fictional world of Roshare as if it were real. The characters are well written as personalities, and it makes switching between them a refreshing change of pace. Similarly, the plot arch is paced reasonably well, it's easy to get sucked into. Finally, Sanderson's signature "magic science" is thoroughly developed in this book, if you like imagining a new set of the laws of physics, this will work well for you. My complaints: The o

  This is a tough one for me because I agree with many of Levin's conclusions but the evidence he presents for them is meandering at best. Essentially Levin is arguing that America has ceased to be a democratic republic and is instead some variation of a dystopian society. The approach is refreshing. Many dystopian novels (1984, Fahrenheit 451, etc.) focus on what life  could be like given a set of political and social structures. Those structures are rarely given much attention. Levin, on the other hand, focuses on what those structures are and argues that The United States of America has solidly embraced the most fundamental of them already, thus placing the USA on a path inevitably leading to the dystopian world other authors describe. Levin's reading of Locke and Montesquieu is accurate and concise. Having read both of them in some degree of completeness I can say with some certainty that their viewpoints are well represented in the first half of Ameritopia. I especially en

I've tried reading this one a few times, but in the past, I've always started on with the paper version. Something about paper and a book about learning/memory just seemed to mesh in my mind. However, per my classic fault, I never finished the paper version, I had to get the audiobook. I loved that the book was thoroughly grounded in good empirical research, it was also formatted in an intriguing way. The takeaways from the book can be boiled down into two categories: myths of learning and tools for learning The corrected myths are these: 1."wrote memory" is absolutely necessary for both problem solving and creativity. While some skepticism is due for the middle age practice of memorizing names and dates free of context, it is also true that one cannot analyze data without data in one's mind. Similarly, you can't creatively synthesize novelty without a base of mental material. Knowing subject matter is fundamental to competently working within it. 2.Repetitio

John Cleese is best known for his roles in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Besides his appearance as Lancelot, The Black Knight, Tim, and the French Taunter, Cleese was perhaps the key writer to the beloved film.  So Anyway  is his autobiography and it falls right along the lines of his most famous work; it's irreverent, zany, and hilarious. When I decided to read this book, I was most interested in an analysis of monte python humor. Was the peasant's monologue about the origin of political power in  The Holly Grail  that is used in university law classes poetic coincidence or intentional genius? Was the opening cheese shop sketch monologue a deliberate lesson on vernacular or merely humor with a fortuitous vein of applicability? In many ways, I wasn't disappointed.  To me, the most important power of humor is the power it has to make us take ourselves less seriously. Cleese delves into his academic background as well as the background of the other pythons and engages

  I picked this up just prior to the taper phase before a marathon. My basic idea was that since i couldn't train my body anymore for the big event, I could at least discover some ways to push my mind. If this were a self-help book (it shares some characteristics) it would fall squarely in the inspirational-not informational quadrant. The "science" of the book can be reduced to an extremely useful mental model in the form of an equation. P=E*C where E is a value between 0 and 1. P= Performance, E=Effort, C= Capacity. The variable of focus for the book is effort, what does it take for people to "fire walk" their way to better performance? What gives you the ability to suffer? The implicit answer is wanting it bad enough. He spent a lot of time trying to complicate that equation but I didn't find that helpful or compelling.  There were some interesting bits about the specific impacts and origins of mental toughness. For example, for women, there is a causal li

  In part, this is a review of the material in the Decisive Battles of World History, in part, it's a review of The great courses. Specifically, it's not a book; It's explicitly a "lecture series". It's clearly segmented into 40  30-minute lectures. Typically, a traditional book has chapters deeply interconnected with one another, built on a plot or theme that gives the volume a sense of continuity. In this course, each lecture covers a single battle with relatively little connecting it to other lectures.This means that listening can be more spaced out (you don't need fresh details in your mind) but it also means that the content doesn't sink in as well (much less interleaved retrieval). The content was interesting but not very impactful. The most interesting part was the argument for the importance of each battle relative to other battles in history. The idea is that each battle in the series had an uncertain outcome with significant cultural, religio