Andrew Benesh > Recent Status Updates

The elves.... so many bad puns. I'm thoroughly enjoying the inversion of standard tropes, and the dedication to cheese jokes. This is delightful.

"Her mental prose was as purple as a very purple thing."

This was a good choice. It's silly, witty, and undeniably crude in just the right measures. It feels very Monty Python and Douglas Adams, with a modern spin. Gustave and Staph are the best. Well, Bestley was the best, but that didn't work out so good.

Done! The final chapter was bizarre; the author essentially acknowledges that Rwanda accomplishes all the tasks she complains about other states doing, and does so through effective government, then dismisses it because of Kagame's personal issues. The Liberian examples if dual justice seemed telling - women and ethnic minorities preferring formal courts suggests that information courts might just perpetuate abuse.

The author just commented young people texting, watching music videos, and districting elders to becoming suicide bombers. Apparently "disrespecting political hierarchy and civic culture", AKA not being your parents, leads to terrorism.

The technology and "nature" chapters seem to invert the message of the family chapter. Suddenly the solution is large banks and corporations acting in arbitrary benevolence to the people, contrary to market indicators. It's like the author can see the need for regulation, social safety nets, and infrastructure development but can't let it come from government because of the ever expanding kanju idea.

The technology map chapter rushed through a lot of neat apps, but doesn't take their limitations seriously. Treating predatory gig-based solutions as sustainable substitutes for insured services is shortsighted at best. The author seems oddly blind to the failures of these services - for example her pill verification app clearly did not prevent her parents, who are doctors, from buying fake meds.

The chapter on the family map is peculiar. The author clearly recognizes the importance of relational systems (both with and without the presence of government), but then fails to suggest true systemic interventions. Her solutions are strangely insular given her critique of foreign aid, and don't address fundamental problems that lead to problems. It's classic first order thinking.

Jesus. The author just discussed how prevention strategy that discouraged young women from trading sexual favors to older men for money was effective at reducing HIV rates, then suggested that it's better to maintain the system of sexual exploitation and focus on reducing men's infections instead. The author also suggested that work addressing violence towards women should be stopped in favor of men's health services

The chapter on aid is frustrating. The author rightly challenges novelty aid & contingent aid, and recognized the need for local development and aid design. But then they present several major systemic aid programs that do this (MDGs, Gates Foundation) as failures of the approach, focusing on local implementation problems and downplaying robust evidence of effectiveness.

The author seems to be conflating survival / subsistence strategies with stable and secure economic patterns, laying to a sort of libertarian idealism that doesn't really make sense. The examples are plentiful but haphazard and incomplete. For example, it's great (?) that young people have learned to do email scams and operate unlicensed taxis, but these aren't reliable out safe occupations!

I like the orientation chapter's focus on community and informal development resources rather than reliance on formal government structures. I'm excited to see where this goes.

Done! You know a book is good when you read the second half in one sitting. I really like how the complexity didn't let up, and the maturity with which ethical and human issues were addressed. The final battle was somewhat predicable, but still engaging and easy to track. The way the threads of the story all came together was excellent!

Yana is really shining in this one. I'm also really looking Carina's character, and her immense practically. I'm bothered by the unusual actions from Diocletia.

The potential multipirate comfort is interesting, as is the new covert angle. I suspect young Tycho is in over his head. Perhaps Yana will blast them to safety.

I'm really enjoying the attention to detail here. It's the little things - atmosphere issues, kids never experiencing rain, etc. - that really make this feel grounded. The characters are starting to let their personalities shine more now that the conflict is set up - Yana chomping at the bit, Carlo showing off, Tycho trying to perform, Mavry enjoying the show, Diocletia policing the action, and Huff being, well, Huff

A somber opening to Book 2, but you can see how relationships have held. Already several interesting plot lines are opening up. I'm eager to see where we go!

Done! The final chapters are somewhat bittersweet; their optimism about life and parenthood contestations strongly with the uncertainty of the future and the costs of pursuing science. The reflections on Bill are particularly challenging. The end materials are actually pretty good in their own right.

The pregnancy chapters are intense. I do wish we learned a little more about Clint. Bill worries me; the more I read the more I wonder about his own psychiatric health. It's reassuring that despite their challenges, thru consistently find a way to survive and move forward.

I'll admit I'm amazed that she got to Hopkins after the Atlanta debacle. I think the road trip exemplifies something many young academics experience, and appreciate the attention to the tensions of performance and survival.

Chapter 9 is one of the best descriptions of the experience mania that I've ever read. I imagine it took a lot of courage to write it. Bravo.

I find her relationship with Bill fascinating. The move to GA is providing some fun geographical references, though I must wonder about the reality of taking undergrads for a weeklong trip in our current environment. The recognition of indirect cost and the barriers to funding Bill are all too familiar. Vines are really neat.

I really like the structure of the storytelling - emphasizing parallels in the authors experience with the growth and development of a tree. The science is hidden in the corners, but it is there; but right now the author's experiences are the forefront. I find myself more curious about academic development than botany right now.

I really liked the opening 3 chapters; they child the narrator and her family well without getting sidetracked, and captures the realities of working in science. The two sections on trees and seeds were poignant.

Done! The last three chapters make a lot of statements that aren't well sorted, or that reflect common misconceptions; they really should be more careful here. The argument advanced in the end still doesn't flow logically from the evidence provided, it rather it fails to be the only reasonable interpretation. I wish the authors were a little more rigorous.

The chapter on postcoital sexual selection strategies definitely hits on stuff but covered in most people's sex ed. I feel like I'm going to need to do some fact checking later.

I had but anticipated that much discussion of the adaptations of genitalia and sperm production capabilities in modern privates, but here we are.

The chapters on tribal practices are interesting, though some of the deductions from them are a stretch. The critique of Malthus and Darwin seems to challenge assertions that are never clearly made by either writer, which is a bit strange. But the critique of agricultural society is not without some merit.

The detailed discussion of chimpanzee & bonobo reproductive and social systems was good. The argument that they must represent early hominid patterns send more tenuous. I wish they'd address other writer's research rather than their popular texts. The tribal group examples seem to support their "not hardwired" argument, but definitely their "not socially malleable" argument.

Huh. I've seen this recommended in professional circles, but I'm finding the book concerning. There's some good information here, but I think the authors interpretations seem to be exercising the same fallacies they challenge in others. And the writing style is giving me whiplash - one minute it's scientific, the next the author is making dick jokes. I worry this may be a MRA fantasy dressed up in Evo Psych.

Done. That was a brutal ending, executed with remarkable nuance. I really enjoyed how attention to detail paid off in navigating the rules and ambiguities of the universe. And the atmosphere is brilliant.