Jonas

Well, this is a weird one. There is almost nothing in here that I don't agree with, and the way Chachra articulates some of these very important things is often simple and beautiful. She even opens with a quote from one of my all-time favorite books, Ursula Franklin's ‘The Real World Of Technology.' So, what's not to like? Well, the problem is that, while the contents are great, it's just not very good as a book. While the topic is endlessly interesting and complex, the book itself is very repetitive, to the point where I felt like I was reading the same sentences over and over again. And while multiple volumes could be filled with gripping details or thoughts about infrastructure and its role in our lives, Chachra instead decided to fill this particular book with the modern non-fiction blight that is scenic intros—semi-relevant stories from the author's life that she comes back to again and again.

The sad state of popular non-fiction writing makes it impossible for me to say if this is due to too much or too little editorial oversight. But these 320 pages could've easily been cut down to 100—if that. The strange thing is that, other than the thousands of self-help blog posts turned into bloated productivity books, this could've easily been a 2000-page tome without any fluff and still be interesting.

Loved some of the descriptions of the island—the weather, flora, even some of the topology—basically the sense of space Golding creates, as well as the logical progression of things, and the pacing of the finale. Hated most anything else.

Now I'm feeling bad about having listened to this at above 1x speed...

This was given to me as a gift, and originally I dropped out about halfway through. That was before Scott Adams was thoroughly and rightfully canceled for being a paranoid racist, though—an event that rekindled my interest in the book.

While it initially styles itself somewhat as an autobiography, it falls squarely in the self-help category. And in a sense, this is as good as self-help gets. It's written by someone with an interesting life who makes his money writing funny comic strips, so at the very least, it's a competent and entertaining read. And Adams actually presents a handful of useful mental models on life and success and shares some outrageous stories. But most of the chapters either give off major pick up artist vibes or boil down to “sleep well, exercise and eat your veggies.”

Seeing how Scott Adams' own life has turned out, it's safe to say that all the “tactics” and “systems” in here–the ones he literally wrote the book on–didn't really help him in the end. So, in a way, Adams' behavior has inadvertently and retroactively transformed this book into a profound take-down of the self-help genre, I guess?

On a side note, if you have read this and still were surprised to find out Adams is a douchebag, I ... don't think we've read the same book? He's really not hiding it.

Finally, since seeing one of his videos for the first time was one of the cringier experiences of my life, I'd like to quote Adams' complete YouTube channel description. Because it's really all you need to know about him and the tone of the book:

“Scott Adams (famous for creating Dilbert) is a trained hypnotist, and is widely recognized as an expert on persuasion. Adams has emerged as one of the most influential observers of politics in the United States. His bestselling book, “Win Bigly,” teaches persuasion, and his bestselling book “How to Lose Almost Every Time and Still Win Big” is widely considered the best book ever written on developing systems for success. His most recent book is Loserthink, which teaches you how to avoid it. If you enjoy learning how to be more effective in life while catching up with the interesting news, this is the channel for you.”

My favorite part is that he seems to get the title of his own book wrong? What a loser.

Truly, positively hated the Souweines and their PMC bullshit. Loved the builders though (even if I did feel a bit betrayed when they started warming up to Judith later on.)

Kidder did a great job not falling into the trap of sensationalising the subject. Just a very thorough, sometimes beautiful investigation of the everyday. Even I have to admit that it could sometimes be a bit tough motivating myself to pick it back up though.