Lessig lays out in unequivocal detail how the U.S. Congress has become soaked in corruption. Not the standard quid pro quo type (which is illegal), b...moreLessig lays out in unequivocal detail how the U.S. Congress has become soaked in corruption. Not the standard quid pro quo type (which is illegal), but rather something he refers to as "dependence corruption", where the dependency is on money, the money that drives campaigns and legislative behavior. Lessig uses the analogy of a "gift economy" to get at the concept of how this type of corruption differs from direct deal making, but leaves no stone unturned in detailing how it is just as real, and just as destructive.
Lessig goes further, describing how eradicating this corruption is fundamental to making any significant problems in the larger problems facing our nation (such as health care and education).
Lessig is a would-be Messiah. He concludes the book with four strategies for how we might address this important problem, the last calling for a constitutional convention to adopt a citizen-led Constitutional Amendment.
I have to say, I am inspired. Before reading this, I of course knew there were problems in Washington, but after reading this, I have a solid foundation on which to understand these problems, some hope that a solution is possible, and a reason to get behind a national movement for election reform.(less)
Readable introduction to political philosophy. Abramson does an admirable job of distilling the fundamental concepts along with their development thr...moreReadable introduction to political philosophy. Abramson does an admirable job of distilling the fundamental concepts along with their development through the historical "canon". Some attempt is made to make the work more current through numerous examples of how certain topics are received by students he has taught the subject to over the years. I found these less compelling but not really distracting. After years of teaching the subject he almost comes across as apologetic as to whether or not these ideas and their historic development have real relevance to the modern practice of politics. I would likely have been somewhat disillusioned if that had been my goal here.
Abramson admits to having Rousseau as a favorite, and these chapters certainly comes across as a highlight. There is an interesting description of how Rousseau reinterpreted the initial development of the "social contract", whereby landowners perpetrated possibly the greatest trick ever played on the underclass. The concept being that before the popularization of so-called property rights, landowners were compelled to defend their land themselves. The social contract instilled the defense of property rights as a fundamental human right, and now the government, with support of the underclass, could defend the land for them. This slight of hand has a modern parallel with the recurrent question of how middle class Republicans in the U.S. appear to vote against their best interests in voting against tax increases for the wealthy.(less)
A tour de force against the string theory establishment. For thirty years string theory has been the leading contender for uniting general relativity...moreA tour de force against the string theory establishment. For thirty years string theory has been the leading contender for uniting general relativity and quantum mechanics. Woit spells out in detail how string theory has failed to provide a single testable hypothesis (a fundamental requirement of the scientific method), and further how this fact seems unlikely to change at least in the foreseeable future.
Woit goes on to argue convincingly how the dynamics of modern-day academia work to continue this program, both retaining the best minds in theoretical physics and to draw top young graduate students to the topic, long after rational consideration would otherwise dictate. (less)
So far so good. I'm glad Yau is not using this as a vehicle to defend string theory, leaving that up to the physicists. Great insight into the world...moreSo far so good. I'm glad Yau is not using this as a vehicle to defend string theory, leaving that up to the physicists. Great insight into the world of research mathematics as a profession.
This is Doig's best work. If he has taken some liberties in romanticizing the Smith River Valley, a part of rural Montana that serves as the landscap...moreThis is Doig's best work. If he has taken some liberties in romanticizing the Smith River Valley, a part of rural Montana that serves as the landscape for this book of fiction, then he does so with only the finest intentions. He has created something magical here. By drawing on the simple, elemental aspects of a rough, rural American life, he manages to approach something fundamental about ourselves, why we are here, and what it means to not be alone in our search for understanding. As if the rural landscape were a kind of metaphor for building a foundation in this process and perhaps what we have lost or are forever losing as we drift away from this foundation. (less)
Armstrong makes a compelling argument against what has been called the "new atheism". Debunking the use of a literal interpretation of the ...moreArmstrong makes a compelling argument against what has been called the "new atheism". Debunking the use of a literal interpretation of the Bible as something wholly modern and something that would be completely surprising and foreign to followers of the Christian faith up until at least the Enlightenment, she argues that instead religion is not an intellectual concept or dogma, but rather it is something you do. That without an active involvement, religion loses its essential value.
I find this to be a striking counter-attack to the rather tired arguments made by the new atheists, and one I'm not entirely clear how to address. From a second perspective the argument may be made this way: the act of devoting oneself actively to the pursuit of a particular religious faith, through things like prayer, meditation, and the willful act of separating oneself from a purely rational approach to understanding this world we find ourselves in may in fact have the potential of exposing us (in a mental sense) to something that we could not otherwise approach through purely rational thought. In my mind this is an argument not easily reckoned with or pushed aside.(less)
Russell lays out in concise, unemotional fashion how organized religion and Christianity in particular is not only entirely irrational but also hugely...moreRussell lays out in concise, unemotional fashion how organized religion and Christianity in particular is not only entirely irrational but also hugely destructive. This work could easily serve as the foundation of the "new atheism" movement, and is superior to works such as "The God Delusion" by Dawkins and "God is not Great" by Hitchens for its clarity of thought and lack of distracting vitriol.
This question of the value (and necessity?) of organized religion to society is both complex and fascinating. In general I believe that the approach taken by the Dawkins/Hitchens crowd of employing a literal interpretation to the Bible as a means of undermining or rather invalidating two thousand years of theology is ultimately ineffective. In this work Russell also employs this as a critical part of his argument but is also more broad in his approach and I would argue more careful in his use of this tactic. I have found that "The Case for God" by Karen Armstrong is relevant to this discussion.(less)
Look Homeward, Angel was one of those books that changed my life. I read it maybe 20 years ago, and my memory of it now is that it was simply perfect...moreLook Homeward, Angel was one of those books that changed my life. I read it maybe 20 years ago, and my memory of it now is that it was simply perfect. Wolfe was someone who's work was beyond question for me, accepting that if something in the book was written a certain way, well I was sure he had a reason and if I thought something was out of place or could be improved I was probably not thinking about it hard enough.
In any case, I picked up "O Lost" to see if there was something I had missed through excessive editing. I did like some of the background material from the first part of the book but by and large it did not add (or detract) from my existing impression of the work. I would say worth reading if you are focused on the details.(less)
Mostly disappointed. I've read two other books by Marquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor) and liked both. This...moreMostly disappointed. I've read two other books by Marquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor) and liked both. This story rambled, with lot's of unnecessary details. I felt there was no central theme to the book or central aspect of Bolivar's life that he was trying to bring out.
One thing in particular that I found frustrating. As the story went along Marquez would introduce new characters, provide detailed background, involve them briefly and then drop them. I get that this is historic fiction, but this seemed extreme to the point of laziness.(less)
What can I say? I never laughed so hard. Period. One summer week while vacationing with my family on the Delaware shore my Mother, two brothers and...moreWhat can I say? I never laughed so hard. Period. One summer week while vacationing with my family on the Delaware shore my Mother, two brothers and I all read it, one after the other. We laughed until our stomachs hurt.(less)
Sarah: You know what's good for him? Burt: To win. Sarah: For whom and for what? Burt: What makes the world go round? For money and f...moreSarah: You know what's good for him? Burt: To win. Sarah: For whom and for what? Burt: What makes the world go round? For money and for glory. Sarah: For whom? Burt: Today for me. Tomorrow for himself. Sarah: You own all the tomorrows because you buy them today, and you buy cheap. - The Hustler
"Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light." - The Fountainhead
Rand is the champion of the prime mover. The Fountainhead drives a stake into the heart of collectivism. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need", how beautifully egalitarian, what could possibly go wrong? But hidden beneath this would-be nirvana lies a dark underbelly. Nothing less than the systematic stripping away of our fundamental human nature. Our nature to think, to reason, to create and to move mankind forward. Rand shines a bright light onto this dark underbelly of collectivism. (less)
Often compared to (and in some cases described as a poor imitation of) Thoreau's Walden, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is a brave, raw investigation of our ...moreOften compared to (and in some cases described as a poor imitation of) Thoreau's Walden, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is a brave, raw investigation of our place in the universe. Proving the maxim that one needn't travel far to see the world, Dillard uses a small corner of rural Virginia and the varied, intricate ecological environment she finds there, as a backdrop to her philosophical and sometimes spiritual narrative.
At heart, Dillard has a singular, important goal here. That is, to break us out of our Western tradition of letting science, and its reductionist limitations, define not only our understanding of these fundamental questions, but even framing the questions themselves, and what is or is not fair game for consideration. No small task.
Dillard has a creative way of using striking ecological observations to help break us out of a perspective that is to the point of being narcissistic in its fascination with and dependence on the artificial, unnatural society of modern man. The following quote is telling:
I would like to learn, or remember, how to live. I come to Hollins Pond not so much to learn how to live as, frankly, to forget about it. That is, I don't think I can learn from a wild animal how to live in particular...but I might learn something of mindlessness, something of the purity of living in the physical senses and the dignity of living without bias or motive.(less)
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