Stockton’s Comments (group member since Jun 30, 2017)

Stockton’s comments from the A Very Short Reading Group group.

A relatively new VSI but some very good reviews so far. Hopefully a highlight form the series.

An interesting discussion this week, possibly to be expected as soon as religion is put on the table. With regard to the book itself most people felt that it focused on the history of the processes and procedures of Anglicanism rather than getting into the nitty gritty of what and why Anglicans believe and worship. It’s difficult and possibly not necessary to limit the discussion to these parameters when the big questions soon arise – the nature of evil, the paradoxes and inconsistencies of the bible, the God of the old and new testaments, the future of religion. All of which proved more engaging than the anglo-catholic dressing-up and architecture club.

To link back to a previous VSI, the various machinations of managing State and Church powers seemed very similar to the struggle to produce the American Constitution. How to balance the conflicting powers and methods of control and governance, with centuries of arcane regulations still having repercussions in the present day.

"A very complicated history made readable" or "enough to put anyone off for good"... Post your thoughts here.

Another great discussion with many a tangent at the monthly meet up. I was a bit unsure we’d be able to get a good hour’s talk out of this title, but the topic raises many issues beyond the facts and figures presented. Some found the book itself a bit on the dry side, missing that “wonder of space” effect that some other more popular(ist?) titles have. A few more (and more eye catching) illustrations could have helped. But in general the book did the job in terms of introducing the subject.

We soon headed off into those tangential areas. What is the actual point of space exploration? The expansion of pure knowledge, an ingrained need to explore and push at the limits of human experience, a scramble for extra-terrestrial territory, a way to intimidate the Russians….? Then there were the implications of space exploration to consider, such as the merits of spending billions of dollars, euros and yuan on space programmes while millions live in poverty on earth. Could those billions help people or is the amount of money irrelevant if political and social structures aren’t in place to spend it well? From a more philosophical perspective, are there two types of reality at play here? One where we go to work, worry about house prices, pensions, backstops and tariffs. And other where crater strewn rocky planets with molten iron cores bash into one another and form moons and life is sustained by a thin and vulnerable atmosphere. How are the two reconciled? And, as the book concluded, the old favourite of is there life out there or are we it? Big questions from a small book!

Nice article about Pluto-gate, "during which passions ran high"...

https://www.wired.com/2017/03/pluto-t...

Along those lines, I thought this was a fascinating article:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/b...

Glad you enjoyed it! Always good to get a range of responses / opinions about a book. As with some of the previous short introductions I might have been looking for a discussion that the book wasn't really about - the animal behaviour and human development stuff mentioned above - so may have got more out of it starting off with a different mindset.

Lots of positive reviews for this one. Hopefully we're in for an enlightening introduction.

A clear majority that this one was a bit of a stinker. A lifeless collection of references without any overall structure to the argument and, worst of all, managing to make a book about comedy laugh free. The group discussion was tremendous fun though. The origins of comedy in human evolution is a fascinating topic – how and why have we evolved this strange capacity and turned it into a fiendishly complex aspect of social interaction, one that can both unite strangers and ostracize individuals. Following on from this is the equally intriguing concept of whether or not animals have a sense of humour. There is brief mention in the book about chimp behaviour but the lack of any further detail was disappointing. Changing comedic tastes, what was acceptable and now isn’t, the contrast of male and female comedians, slapstick, swearing and Stan and Ollie – a great discussion but sadly no one felt enlightened or amused by the book. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next month!

Happy new year to you, Nigel. A bit of a slow start to the year. I'm about halfway through Comedy and have to agree. Some interesting points in there - boozy festivals as the beginnings of comedy, comedy a reflection on how we see the self/body. But a few more jokes would definitely liven things up. The group meets on the 29th so we'll see if it tickles anyone's funny bone by then.

Linguistics was a bit of a trial for a lot of people, but this one seemed much more readable. We're having a Christmas break (oddly no one seemed keen to come into Stockton Library on Christmas Day...) so Comedy will be our book to the end of January.

Post your thoughts, opinions, punchlines here...

Another very interesting evening in good company at Stockton Reference Library. The book did an excellent job of condensing the major issues and details of the war while providing a depth of understanding of the conflict. It also provided an excellent starting off point for discussion. Viewed from the distance of one hundred years the “why” becomes even more of a conundrum. The modern day reader has to constantly place her/himself in the context of the nationalistic cultural identity of 1914, with centuries of imperialist conflict behind it. And also consider the role of media and culture in creating the circumstances of global conflict. With perhaps only one or two newspapers as the source of information the contrast with our information saturated era is great. Is an apparently cynical and mistrustful mindset progress from simplistic nationalism that leads to imperialism, conflict and war? And how would today’s generation of young people react to conscription?

From the book Germany appeared the most obvious aggressor – militaristic, expansive and ultimately violating Belgium neutrality and invading France. Yet the counter narrative of a Germany threatened by aggressive forces to the West and East in France and Russia is an interesting thought experiment. Especially in the context of other imperial powers wanting to maintain their wealth, status and territories.

With regard to the 100th anniversary the line between commemoration and sentimental militarism was discussed. It would be unlikely that any senior politician or establishment figure would last long turning up at the cenotaph on a pacifist platform calling for the military to be disbanded, for example. It will be interesting to see how commemorations take shape 20 years from now.

Finally got around to listening to the RadioLab podcast. Absolutely fascinating - the use of the commerce clause in civil rights legislation was an eye opener. The legal machinations in fighting one loophole with another, and the power that can inadvertently give, shows how difficult a coherent and workable constitution is to achieve.

10 interpretations of who started WW1 -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-2...

Some interesting viewpoints from a few years ago. Germany and Austria-Hungary taking the majority of criticism.

Another interesting group discussion with many a tangent explored. While the subject had definite appeal it was a general thumbs down for the execution. The consensus was that the minutiae that the author explored bogged down the the bigger picture that most people were more interested in - how language affects brain and behaviour (and vice versa), more on the origins of language and it's development across cultures. While these areas were touched on the phonetic intricacies explored did turn people off the book.

Nevertheless we did head down some interesting avenues. A diversion into the teaching of children with dyslexia, and how different languages present different challenges. How meditation can empty the mind of language and pause the almost constant flow of words. And if this flow is paused what then is the self? Can it exist without language to create it? Also the global reach of English and its dominance via computers, phones and tablets surely presents a new and unique set of circumstances for human language. How does the malleableness of language alter when huge numbers of people are now writing on machines with all the rules programmed in. Then again, my computer doesn't like "malleableness" and I'm going to use it anyway...

It seemed apt to pick this title for November, 100 years since the end of the First World War. Howard's introduction gets a lot of positive reviews for balancing scope and brevity. Post your initial thoughts here.

A bit of light relief for December is fine by me - Comedy it is. The "real life" group is meeting up this evening so we'll see what they made of linguistics.

We've just received the paper copy of that in stock. A good topic for a future group discussion.

Interesting what you say about Latin and the worship process in terms of how the brain interprets meaning and uses language. I remember hearing someone talk about comedy and how the linguistic rhythm of joke telling can often get a laugh just through the structure that the audience expects, rather than a joke being particularly funny for its actual content. I'll have to give Comedy: A Very Short Introduction a read next...