Robert Jacoby's Blog

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I don't have writer's block. I have writer's tired.

Review of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Title: Wide-ranging if lopsided view of myopic (left-right dichotomy) behaviors and thinking

Haidt has an interesting model (moral foundations theory) and explains and expounds its rightness here. If you believe that all humans share only six moral foundations and that the world is divided pretty much into liberals and conservatives, then this model can work for you. If you believe morality is more nuanced (Has Haidt really never heard of The Political Compass? Does he really not know that Independents in the U.S. are the largest political voting block, outnumbering both Democrats and Republicans?), well... The left-right dichotomy is a tired trope, and the political spectrum is vastly more complicated than that in America. Does Haidt lump people into two polar opposite groups to better compare and contrast? Perhaps. Perhaps he's being purposefully provocative, too. The use of "good people" in the book title is never explained, so I'm still wondering who Haidt thinks are "good people." Like me, you might find yourself while reading this book often scratching your head with myriad "What about?"-isms.

A foundational (pun intended) problem with Haidt and the way he thinks is that he's a hardcore liberal. It's important that he doesn't hide who he is, and I'm grateful for that; he describes himself and fellow professors this way: "All five of us were politically liberal, yet we shared the same concern about the way our liberal field approached political psychology. The goal of so much research was to explain what was wrong with conservatives." (p. 185) This is important for readers to understand Haidt's biases in everything he writes. At best, Haidt's statement is an adolescent and malformed view of the world; at worst, you're using your limited and lopsided view of the world to poison minds and society. Unfortunately, it's who Haidt is, and it colors everything he writes about and interprets. Later on in the book he lets his guard down even more, and it's both funny and perverse, to me, because by the end of the book he still doesn't recognize his biases.

There's a ton of interesting tidbits to be picked up while reading the book:

Haidt on conservative out-group compassion: "It [conservative caring] is not universalist; it is more local, and blended with loyalty." (p. 158). This claim strikes me as false and actually misleading. Just take a look at any number of Christian outreach organizations worldwide doing outreach outside of their communities and states and countries. 

"Devout Chrisitans are often lampooned by secular liberals as uptight, pleasure-fearing prudes." (p. 176). Here and elsewhere Haidt seems to me to be the sneaky, devilsih kid with the stick poking at the lion's cage and tittering about it. And yet informed people understand: "Why Church Attendees have the Best Sex of Any Demographic in the U.S." (Peter Haas, Feb. 3, 2015, citing a population study by the Population Research Center at the University of Chicago)

In his research Haidt found that conservatives have a broader moral sense than liberals. In other words, conservatives have moral concerns that liberals do not recognize as moral concerns (p. 179). That explains a lot, particularly in life-and-death situations such as abortion and euthanasia. 

Republicans understand moral psychology; Democrats don't. (p. 181)

Increase similarity, not diversity (p. 277). I was shocked he suggested this.

Other interesting links to Haidt's research include:

Conservatives are less likely than liberals to compromise their morals (Laber-Warren, Unconscious Reactions Separate Liberals and Conservatives, Scientific American, Sept. 1, 2012)

Liberals are more likely than conservatives to exaggerate the differences between them (Graham, Nosek, Haidt. The Moral Stereotypes of Liberals and Conservatives: Exaggeration of Differences across the Political Spectrum, PLOS One, Dec. 12, 2012)

Religion is a team sport chapter. His take on suicide bombers fails to convince. His In Sum section grossly misrepresents: "You [taking a "belonging" and Darwinian approach] see that religious practices have been binding our ancestors into groups for tens of thousands of years. That binding usually involves some blinding--once any person, book, or principle is declared sacred, then devotees can no longer question it or think clearly about it" (p. 317). I hardly know what to make of this: What "religious practices" is he talking about that have been "binding our ancestors into groups for tens of thousands of years"? And how does "binding" lead to "blinding" exactly? If you're talking about Christianity, it's been splintered into a thousand pieces exactly *because* adherents were *not* blinded but seeking some "better" or "more exact" truth! Adherents were trying to un-blind themselves and in that process they were un-binding themselves.

"Genes contribute, somehow, to just about every aspect of our personalities [and not just IQ]" (p. 323). I was surprised Haidt even touched this third rail of research.

Later in the Haidt lets his guard down again and honestly shares: "As a life-long liberal, I had assumed that conservatism = orthodoxy = religion = faith = rejection of science. It followed, therefore, that as an atheist and a scientist, I was obligated to be a liberal." (p. 337) I don't think that Haidt still understands what he's saying here; he's confessing to his illiberalism, his closed-mindedness. 

A bit further Haidt quotes from liberal columnist Michael Feingold: "Republicans don't believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. ... Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don't give a hoot about human beings, either can't or won't. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm." (p. 335) What an appalling and detestable thing to write! But it's how many liberals think! Imagine now if a Republican or conservative or Independent or *anyone* other than a liberal called for the extermination of the Democrat party. If you can't imagine this, then you're likely a liberal (as found in Haidt's own research).

Most unfortunate is that by the end of the book as Haidt is wrapping everything up, he misses the boat entirely on what his own research shows. Clearly, his moral foundations theory shows that liberals are limited in their morality; liberals have a lopsided morality, hyperfocusing on two or three moral foundations and basically ignoring the other three (see Fig. 12.2 The Liberal Moral Matrix). A few pages later in Fig. 12.4 Haidt shows the findings for the Social Conservative Moral Matrix. Here we see a balanced and evenly distributed moral foundations across all six of Haidt's moral foundations. I'd say that counts as a "better approach" to life, don't you? Not according to Haidt. He ignores it. But he does say that both sides can "learn from" one another. It's stupefying.

To the end Haidt shows his bias: "the diversity and crowding of big cities makes them more creative and interesting places for many people..." (p. 340-41) But not for Thoreau, Thomas Muir, or Annie Dillard. 

All in all, this was a decent good book to read, and I can recommend it for those who've read widely across different fields and understand real-world complexities more than what's offered here. 

I liked it
3/5 Goodreads
4/5 Amazon

My New Article for The Good Men Project: At Bethany on the Jordan

The Good Men Project just published my article, "At Bethany on the Jordan," a short piece I wrote after encountering a monk at the Jordan river in the place where Jesus was baptized.

A Christian Arabic monk was praying for me beside the Jordan River near where John baptized Jesus while my Muslim friend was translating.

From the article: In the summer of 2006 I visited Jordan to give a 3-day workshop on “Writing for the Web” for local journalists, students, and writers. At the time, I was working for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs as a Web Content Manager; an affiliated program in Jordan was hosting the event at the Mövenpick Resort and Spa Dead Sea. On the final day, our visiting group had some free time, so we drove out to tour the Jordan river. The next day I wrote this e-mail to friends and family.

Visit The Good Men Project to read my article "At Bethany on the Jordan." Comment, share, enjoy!

Visit robert-jacoby.com for my original post (and photograph of the monk after our encounter).

Review of Hearing God by Dallas Willard

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Title: Powerful and insightful and sobering truths

It actually hurts to read a Dallas Willard book. It hurts to have this much light by way of wisdom and insight shining on your mind and on your soul and on your heart so brilliantly. This book is a rich, sumptuous, life-expanding experience. Every page, sometimes every sentence, gives something more to relish.

Dallas Willard, more than any other Christian author I have read, speaks powerful and insightful and sobering truths. Dallas Willard can convey more truth in one sentence than many writers do across pages of text, even entire books. Any Christian who wants to seriously deepen their walk with the Lord should read this book. And I do not say that lightly. It's a frightening proposition, because every page, nearly every sentence, gives you something to pause and wonder over how you're living your life. How you're *really* ... living.

Worthwhile passages fill every page. Here are just a few that impressed me enough to share them here:

"In seeking and receiving God's word to us, therefore, we must at the same time seek and receive the *grace of humility.* God will gladly give it to us if, trusting and waiting on him to act, we refrain from *pretending* we are what we know we are not, from *presuming* a favorable position for ourselves in any respect and from *pushing* or trying to override the will of others in our context." (p. 38)

"Those who wish to hear the word and know the truth are often not prompted by their desire to *do* it. The light that such people find frequently proves to be their own snare and condemnation." (p. 161)

"People left the presence of Jesus with heads and hearts full of thoughts and convictions that he had authored in them through the power of God's voice and word with which he spoke." (p. 176)

"Infallability, and especially infallability in discerning the mind of God, simply does not fit the human condition. It should not be desired, much less expected, from our relationship with God." (p. 183)

"You cannot believe a blur or a blank, and the blanks in our understanding can only be filled in by careful instruction and hard thinking. It will not be done on our behalf." (p. 193)

One more thing to like about Willard is how he weaves into his original work the best of previous Christian leaders, preachers, and teachers. The notes at the end of the book are filled with past masters of the Christian faith and will provide much additional reading material.No one can know everything, but looking at the bibliography of a Dallas Willard book, you think he comes pretty close.

If you want to be a disciple of Christ and learn how to deepen your relationship with God, read this book. 

I loved it/It was amazing
5/5 Goodreads
5/5 Amazon



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Review of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Title: Wonderfully moving "linked" stories in novel form

Rarely does fiction move me like this book, and rarely do I recommend a book of fiction so highly. I enjoyed this book on multiple levels: reader, writer, man, human being. Elizabeth Strout writes characters as few people can, and it's a testament to her craft and skill but also I think to her sensitivity to the human condition (and I'm not tossing that term out lightly). 

I particularly enjoyed the way in which she let each story develop naturally, as if simply watching people live their lives in real time. Once or twice during reading I did stop to pause and think, Oh, this is just too much. (The dramatic events occur are too interwoven, too closely knit.) Set that complaint aside, though. 

This book is a must-read for any fan of modern fiction.

(Now that we're mostly under stay at home orders, watch the HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge. Very nicely done. Very find interpretation of the book. That's rare, too.)

I loved it/It was amazing
5/5 Goodreads
5/5 Amazon



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New review of my second novel, Dusk and Ember

There's a new review out on my second novel, Dusk and Ember. It's by Brianne's Book Reviews, who also posts her reviews here on Goodreads. 4/5 stars, and she gets what I was trying to do with the story.

Her synopsis:

"My three-word description of Dusk and Ember by Robert Jacoby is complex, powerful, and dark."

Read the entire review on her Goodreads page.

Dusk and Ember

Review of Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger (translated by Hoffman)

Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Title: A warrior and poet goes to war

Few books I've read have driven me forward in narrative, style, and story quite like Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger (translated from the German by Michael Hofmann). This first-person narrative of Junger's time as a lieutenant in the German army on the Western front during World War I is raw, compelling, and riveting. 

I do wonder what reading the original German would be like. I'll never know. I am not a fan of reading books in translation because so much can be lost from one language to the next, but this book seems like an amazing exception. Hofmann gives us a nice introduction to the book and his translation work and how it's differed from what translations have come before, and why they've come short. (He provides several passages for comparison, and it's readily apparent why previous ones have not done justice to the strength and power of Junger's prose; some are even comical, or just comically embarrassing). Then we're let loose into the storm of Junger's experiences fighting trench warfare on the Western front in WWI. Prepare yourself. It's brutal. It's beyond what you can imagine. And, according to the Introduction, it's been toned down from its original release soon after the war. Toned down! 

Lyrical. Poignant. Horrific. Yes. Romantic? Perhaps. But to those who say Junger "celebrates" or "glorifies" war, I reply with a quote from the French poet Baudelaire: "There are but three beings worthy of respect: the priest, the warrior and the poet. To know, to kill and to create." Ernst Junger is in the rare position of being both poet and warrior. He's a warrior, and to not recognize this is to miss his essential being. He doesn't flinch at war; he embraces it. He needs it.

Our current culture is so flopping about, so squeamishly trying to pussyfoot around reconditioned notions of masculinity, that who Junger is as a warrior may come as a soul-rending shock to the sensibilities of many 21st-century readers. But it intrigued me, as a man, recognizing his descriptions of a deep inner desire for outward circumstances to test the mettle of the individual on behalf of some larger struggle. Men need and form a tribe to act as a conduit for their energies. Men have an innate desire to lose themselves in a greater struggle. On surveying one of the many battlefields in the aftermath of destruction Junger writes: "This wasn't war; it was ancient history." (p. 150) So Junger is a poet, too, and his lyricism shines through in every paragraph, often every sentence, as he brings images to life like few authors I've read. 

It's a somber treat, and a real responsibility, to be able to read Storm of Steel. 

I loved it/It was amazing
5/5 Goodreads
5/5 Amazon



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Guest Post and Book Giveaway

The Savvy Verse & Wit book blog, publishing out of Washington, D.C., just published a guest post by me and my co-author John Robinette. Our article covers the details of how our memoir came to be and what a long road it's been to publication. Check it out: https://savvyverseandwit.com/2019/12/...

After you read the article, leave a comment to enter the book giveaway!

Review of W.O.W. Writers on Writing by Jon Winokur

Writers on Writing by Jon Winokur

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are only a few books "on writing" that I'd ever recommend to the serious writer. This book is one of them. I bought it when it first came out in the early 1990s, and I can't recall now how I ever found such a gem in the pre-internet days. I think I simply stumbled across it in a bricks and mortar bookstore. Imagine leisure time spent in a bookstore! 

I cherished my little copy of it; I had the square little hardcover that measures 6 x 6.5 inches. I enjoyed flipping through the pages, landing on any page, and reading the writerly wisdom there. The book is divided into a couple of dozen sections, ranging across such topics as Advice to Young Writers, Art and the Artist, Characters, Ego, Good Writing, Novels and Novelists, Process, Style, and Work Habits. You get the idea. It's as complete a book of quotations as you're ever going to find by writers on what they do. But these aren't "just" quotations. There's real advice and wisdom here from such writers as Faulkner, Hemingway, Capote, Gore Vidal, Johnathan Swift, Robert Frost. The list goes on and on. If you're a writer, you'll find yourself in these pages, and you'll find immediate action items to put to use, too. It's equal parts entertaining *and* instructive.

Oh, so the kicker to my story is just this: I *lost* my copy of this book years ago. Don't know how, don't know when. I was dismayed! And moreso when I couldn't find it anywhere for sale online! I gave up, only to try searching again recently when I discovered it for sale on Amazon! 
If you're serious about writing, or serious about learning what writers have to say about every aspect of the craft, get this book. Now. 

I loved it/It was amazing
5/5 Goodreads
5/5 Amazon




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Pre-publication reviews praise my new book "Never Stop Dancing: A Memoir"

Co-authors John Robinette and Robert Jacoby present their new book Never Stop Dancing, a memoir in conversation.

Nine years ago, my good friend John’s wife Amy Polk was killed in a horrific pedestrian traffic accident on the streets of Washington, DC, leaving John alone to raise their two young sons. His world was shattered, and I was shattered seeing him grieve. I was at a loss as to what I could possibly do—what anyone could do—to help John in his miserable situation. Then the thought came to me: Just be with John; talk with him; listen to him. So I proposed an unusual idea: I would interview John over the course of the first year after Amy’s death. My hope was to meet John directly in his experience of sorrow, explore his grief with him, and discover what lessons might be learned.

Fortunately, he agreed to my proposal instead of trying to throttle me by the throat.

Now, nine years later, the book is born of those candid conversations.

Pre-publication reviews praise the book for its multi-layered themes and startling honesty:

"This book sings and will entrance, and inform you on many levels. Yes, it's a book about grief, but it is also a book about deep male friendships, communities, and much more. Its song reveals surprising connections between death and living, pain and Spirituality, and simply getting the most out of life. Extraordinary book." - Tom Golden, LCSW, author of Swallowed by a Snake

"...explores genuine friendship between two men as one supports the other on a wide-ranging journey from grief to transformation." - IndieReader (IR Approved 4.7 of 5)
Read full review

"It's a remarkable book. John and Robert's startling honesty and candor, holding nothing back, can't help but open our hearts and ease our own empty places." - B. Morrison, author
Read full review

To learn more about the book, read excerpts and a Q&A with John and Robert, and more, visit https://never-stop-dancing.com.