Mitch Olson
I read this book when it first came out whenever that was; 10 years ago? I enjoyed it then. The most original part was her 4 tendencies profile tool that defines people by whether their expectations of themselves is external (ie. in other people's “should”) or internal. I think this book is primarily targeted at beginners to habit change with external expectations (I call this “projected authority”). Rubin wants to save the world from themselves and she knows how. I found her I know better than you attitude a bit tiring. I originally rated this as a 4 but I'm dropping it to a 3.
My rating, relative to the much higher average rating is a reflection of the obvious insight that an overall rating is the average of all of the subjective measures of how helpful individual readers found the book. This book was obviously appreciated by people different than me. I suspect most of these people were reading it as they had recently become disillusioned by productivity as a measure and were looking for another metric to measure their life by. The author is in the same boat, so for people who people who realised this long ago he is way behind you. This book tells you mostly what not to do but is short on suggesting what you might use instead. Disappointed
3.5/5.
Combines a story of a few people struggling with different diseases and how these relate to the immune system with an overview of how the immune system(s) work. Book was good. Immune system was amazing. Just wow. The idea that this is a product of random mutation stretches the credibility of Darwinism to breaking point from my perspective. My favourite insight was discovering that the immune system has a sense of identity; self and other. Just like we do at a psychological level.
A relatively simple and short story stretched into book length. Some interesting background on the pirate trade and its clash with state and and its proxy, the East India Company - one of the world's first corporations formed in 1600. But ultimately not enough story to make this into an engaging book.
Not the sort of book that I would normally read as although I am attracted to autobiographies I am just as repelled by celebrity. And although his ego is occasionally off-putting I am left with the sense that Will Smith is a talented and hard working guy who has created a life that together with the crafting of the story makes for an entertaining read.
This is like a book written by a wise visiting alien. Its uncomfortable to realise that the ugly world that Chomsky paints is the very one we live in. Definitely a red pill kind of book that has the tendency to leave one feeling rather powerless. Basically about how power is used by the “ruling class” (money & government) to serve their own needs and f**k yours over. Recommended reading for everyone; should be on the curriculum of every high school.
A very bare 4, only rescued from 3-dom by a good last quarter. Just a series of random thoughts on love based on interviews. Probably going to appeal more to the poet inside of you than the engineer. Didn't feed my brain in any way or leave me any wiser about the nature of love but slightly warmed my heart occasionally when one of the interviewees said something beyond the old cliches of love.
All book reviews say as much if not more about the reviewer than they say about the book. And this reviewer didn't get what he hoped for from this book. I hoped for greater insight into Whitehead's process philosophy but what the author delivered was targeted was not targeted at me. Philosophy seems to attract a very pedantic and other-philosophies-referent crowd. This book was a play by play defence against critics and would-be critics of Process philosophy which I found very boring.
I didn't expect to like this book and I was right so no surprises there :-). Sam Harris is the suicide bomber of atheists. So dogmatic and such a fundamentalist that his hyperbole and disrespect for others knows no bounds. The irony of this is he sees himself as the epitome of rationality. I think he obviously had a very troubled childhood as his vitriol for anyone different than him is truly a holy crusade for him. He doesn't stand for anything so much as he stands against anything he hasn't experienced in his own life or can't imagine. In short Sam Harris is a dick and this book is best left as material for him and his psychotherapist to sift through.
Not sure what the fuss is about this book. It's underlying philosophy is that life is cruel and meaningless and people are just passive impotent spectators. The only message I was able to perceive was awesome shit happens and there's nothing you can do about it. Not sure why he wrote. That's not a world I want to live in or affirm. Totally over-rated imo!