Mitch Olson
A great introduction to Kegan's Constructive Developmental Theory, an important and useful model of adult development. Mostly targeted at the domain of work so predominantly oriented to development from a “being” perspective rather than my own interest in a personal “becoming” perspective. Recommended if you want to get your head around CDT
The plot of this book is a short story and it would have been much more successful in that form. As a novel it is cumbersome and inelegant. Appreciated the imagination of the author in telling the story of an intelligent species quite different to humans. Appreciated the wrap up of the plot. I would rate 3.5 stars if I could but it's definitely not 4 so settled for 3.
A really disappointing book. Holiday totally oversteps himself in trying to write something original (albeit borrowed from a million sources) but the deeper he steps into profoundity the more he reveals his inauthenticity. I was prepared to initially write it off and something that might be useful (as a triumph-of-marketing-over-useful-information) for younger people but ultimately I am left just thinking that this is the worst that popular philosophy writers have to contribute. A bunch of words that are no better than your average political campaign; sounds good to the unsophisticated ear but in reality is just the words of a commissioned speech writer. Yes a good story teller and writer but empty and inauthentic and useless and not nourishing for humanity.
I have 2 things to say about this book. Firstly JC is a good writer. Engaging stories and a framework that he has refined over the years makes for easy reading. Secondly, it's a pity that the psychological fundations are 80 years old from the relative dark ages of psychological science. Operant conditioning from old BF Skinner is for training animals and naughty children from Charles Dickinson stories.
But overall a helpful book
It's not really appropriate to rate this book as it as summary of Bennett's massive 4 volume Magnum opus. There is so much in his writings that is beyond my comprehension. But I doubt there is anyone who has made a more comprehensive and analytical approach to trying to understand and document the deepest mysteries of life.
Brilliant. Amazing how much wisdom can be succinctly compressed into less than an hour's reading.
This video youtu.be/dFs9WO2B8uI gives somewhat of a summary of the essay-book.
The basic proposition is that
* the RHS of the brain is about discerning context and meaning
* the LHS is largely about utility; how to realise (manifest) the meaning
* our culture gives almost all of its authority to the left and very little to the right
* a left-oriented world is about power without purpose
* a right-oriented world is about purpose without power
* we need to give both sides of the brain equal authority
Strickler pitches is on the need for society to adopt an approach to valuing and decision making that takes into account the broader context of “who” and “when”. In other words we are all invisibly embedded in the largely invisible context of time and community and when we fail to take these into account we limit the intelligence of our actions. His Bento box model is a simple tool to help with this. Easy to read
I have a whole family of feelings about this book. I guess overall my rating of a 4 suggests mostly satisfaction. My 5th form English teacher Mrs Brown used to wear a tee shirt that read “I may not be perfect but parts of me are excellent”. This book is a bit like that, although Mrs Brown was a 5 stars. Lots of great ideas but missing the finesse to make them all sing together, and yet mostly satisfying but not completely. I think the thing the author does best is imagine a 5,000 year future that feels real and he tells a story that makes it mostly come alive. Thanks for the recommendation Jonah.
