The Young Urban Unprofessional (YoungandUrban)

The Young Urban Unprofessional is now friends with Chris Dangremond

The Young Urban Unprofessional is currently reading

Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age is Revolutionizing Life, Business, and Society
by Jeff Jarvis

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Young Urban Unprofessional wants to read

Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending
by Elizabeth Dunn

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Young Urban Unprofessional rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Mere Christianity
by C.S. Lewis

read in April, 2013

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

As a young 20-something who is constantly questioning Christianity in the modern world, I got a lot of value from reading this book. I wish the clergy were as articulate and open minded as C.S. Lewis, alas most priests I've met (with one exception) a...more As a young 20-something who is constantly questioning Christianity in the modern world, I got a lot of value from reading this book. I wish the clergy were as articulate and open minded as C.S. Lewis, alas most priests I've met (with one exception) are not. The book covers what it means to be Christian at a high level without getting into the differences between the dozens of different denominations (the holiness of Mary, the existence of purgatory, etc). He argues that to even have these debates and form an opinion on them you need to already be well-versed in theology. His goal of this book is not to make you a Christian but rather to help you understand what aspects of Christianity are common to all. If this makes sense to you then you can make the decision on where you'd like to go from there.

He describes the book as bringing you into a room that has many doors. The room itself is Christianity and each door represents a particular interpretation of Christianity (unfortunately there are some 30,000 interpretations around the world). His goal was to help you understand that room and why that room believes what it believes. I respect his approach because he was an athiest who became Christian late in life. So I think he was an ideal candidate to approach this topic of entering the "room" of Christianity.

There are many great analogies throughout the book but one that stuck with me was when he compared marriage to visiting a foreign country. At first you are enamored with it. It is beautiful and fun every day. However, when you move to that country and live there full time, the magic will likely go away and you'll lose sight of the wonder of it all. If you no longer love the country you could move away but you will likely find yourself in the same situation again. The same goes with marriage. To eventually become more complacent than your honeymoon phase is normal but one must realize it and then actively engage in appreciating its goodness.

I thought the book was great until the very last chapter. He spent the entire book avoiding opinions and extrapolation which I LOVED. He simply explained why Christians believe what they believe and provided clear, simple analogies. However, he got onto this rant about evolution and how he believes that eventually the human race won't even need to have sex anymore because it will be more advanced. The rest of his arguments on evolution are equally opinionated and off-base to both Christianity and to Science. I'm really disappointed because the book would have been a homerun if had just stuck to the nonobjective arguments he used in the other 90% of the book.

In summary, this book is a must-read for Christians and non-Christians alike. Easy to read, easy to understand, and regardless of what faith you practice, the book will constructively help you reflect on your own morality and approach to life.(less)

The Young Urban Unprofessional added

Viral Spiral: How the Commoners Built a Digital Republic of Their Own
by David Bollier

read in April, 2013

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Young Urban Unprofessional liked a quote

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” — Fred Rogers

like

The Young Urban Unprofessional rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
by Bill McKibben

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

I've never hated a book so much that's written on a topic that I love (local communities and eco-friendly living). You should only read this book for the following reasons:

1.) If you're really into pontification and ranting.
2.) If you don't understan...more

The Young Urban Unprofessional rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
by Don Tapscott

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

If you came of age during the internet revolution (i.e. born after the mid 1980's) then this book likely isn't worth reading. However, regardless of when you were born, answering these five questions could help you decide if you wanted to read this b...more If you came of age during the internet revolution (i.e. born after the mid 1980's) then this book likely isn't worth reading. However, regardless of when you were born, answering these five questions could help you decide if you wanted to read this book or not:

1.) Have you ever used Wikipedia?
2.) Do you own an iPhone (or other smartphone)?
3.) Have you ever heard of an API (bonus points if you know what the acronym stands for)?
4.) Do you understand the concept of open-source at a high level?
5.) Do you know what online affiliate marketing is?

If you answered yes to most of these questions then you probably won't get much value out of this book. I'm sure for it's time (circa 2005) it was visionary, but the world has come a long way since then and as a result the book is very antiquated. The author references Youtube as "the latest in a string of internet TV offerings" and what the future of the iPod could be (read: iPhone not released until 2007).

The book is also 290 pages when it could have easily been 150-200 if it left out the egregious amount of business-speak:

"Leveraging both internal and external competencies through partnerships and alliances."
"Move rapidly into latent markets is allowed through organizational agility."
"Staying at the forefront of innovation by leveraging external resources."

Woof. Business-douche to the max. The antiquated nature of this book combined with fluffy business jargon was enough to make me almost put it down before finishing it. However, I'm really into punishing myself by finishing books that I don't enjoy just for the emotional benefit of finishing something that I start.

There were some useful tidbits though (although not worth reading the whole book in order to find).

1.) The founder of Wikipedia had a first startup called Nupedia that was for user-submitted articles. The company did poorly, folded, and later he started Wikipedia based off the lessons learned from Nupedia. So the lesson here for me is that your first startup likely won't be your blockbuster, it could be the 2nd your 3rd, you never know where opportunity will take you and what your failures will teach you.

2.) The Reverse of Coase's Law - firms should shrink until the cost of performing a transaction internally no longer exceeds the cost of performing it externally (interesting point of view that I tend to agree with although not in all cases).(less)

The Young Urban Unprofessional wants to read

Share or Die: Voices of the Get Lost Generation in the Age of Crisis
by Malcolm Harris

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Young Urban Unprofessional’s Profile

The Young Urban Unprofessional’s Bookshelves

The Young Urban Unprofessional is Currently Reading

rss
The Young Urban Unprofessional's Recent Updates

Quotes The Young Urban Unprofessional Likes

The Young Urban Unprof...’s Friends (55)

People The Young Ur... is Following

The Young Urban Unprofessional’s Favorite Authors

The Young Urban Unprofessional is now friends with Chris Dangremond
20 hours, 57 min ago · like
The Young Urban Unprofessional is currently reading Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age is Revolutionizing Life, Business, and Society by Jeff Jarvis	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 20, 2013 09:53am
The Young Urban Unprofessional wants to read Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending by Elizabeth Dunn	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 20, 2013 08:50am
The Young Urban Unprofessional rated a book 4 of 5 stars Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As a young 20-something who is constantly questioning Christianity in the modern world, I got a lot of value from reading this book. I wish the clergy were as articulate and open minded as C.S. Lewis, alas most priests I've met (with one exception) a...more
Apr 26, 2013 07:45am · see review
The Young Urban Unprofessional added Viral Spiral: How the Commoners Built a Digital Republic of Their Own by David Bollier read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 26, 2013 07:21am
The Young Urban Unprofessional liked a quote “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” — Fred Rogers like
Apr 16, 2013 10:44am · more quotes by Fred Rogers
The Young Urban Unprofessional rated a book 2 of 5 stars Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I've never hated a book so much that's written on a topic that I love (local communities and eco-friendly living). You should only read this book for the following reasons: 1.) If you're really into pontification and ranting. 2.) If you don't understan...more
Apr 12, 2013 07:46am · see review
The Young Urban Unprofessional rated a book 3 of 5 stars Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
If you came of age during the internet revolution (i.e. born after the mid 1980's) then this book likely isn't worth reading. However, regardless of when you were born, answering these five questions could help you decide if you wanted to read this b...more
Apr 12, 2013 07:35am · see review
The Young Urban Unprofessional wants to read Share or Die: Voices of the Get Lost Generation in the Age of Crisis by Malcolm Harris	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 05, 2013 07:57am

The Young Urban Unprofessional’s Profile

The Young Urban Unprofessional’s Bookshelves

The Young Urban Unprofessional is Currently Reading

rssThe Young Urban Unprofessional's Recent Updates

Quotes The Young Urban Unprofessional Likes

The Young Urban Unprof...’s Friends (55)

People The Young Ur... is Following

The Young Urban Unprofessional’s Favorite Authors

rss
The Young Urban Unprofessional's Recent Updates