Philosophy Books - Page 2

The Numerati

Baker, Stephen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Be Afraid, Be Vey Afraid 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

In this informative book we are introduced to a new breed of mathematicians, "the numerati", who are responsible for gathering loads of private information individuals provide when they use a credit card, donate to a cause, surf the Internet, or even make a phone call.

The book's chapters include:

1. Intro
2. The Worker
3. The Shopper
4. The Voter
5. The Blogger
6. The Terrorist
7. The Patient
8. The Lover
9. Conclusion

This book is so so interesting. I especially enjoyed the chapters on Shoppers and Bloggers. One firm in New York analyzes data from web searches, and gathers some 20 billion behavioral clues on internet users each day. I also learned about an interesting Blog search engine, how political consultants target particular voters, and so much more. This non fiction book is highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

An urgent look at how a global math elite is predicting and altering our behaviorat work, at the mall, and in bed.

Wild at Heart

John Eldredge

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 607 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Wild at Heart 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book. Really helps a man know why he behaves the way he does. Helps us men understand God.

Wild at Heart 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I wish I had read this book as a young man. It is truly life changing and I've purchased multiple copies to give to open minded friends.

Very Good Book! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I think this book along with John & Stasi's Captivating are must reads for anyone wanting to understand how men and women think. I would also suggest Men Are From Mars/Women Are From Venus. All 3 are WONDERFUL books and have a lot to teach!!!

Editorial Review:

God designed men to be dangerous, says John Eldredge. Simply look at the dreams and desires written in the heart of every boy: To be a hero, to be a warrior, to live a life of adventure and risk. Sadly, most men abandon those dreams and desires-aided by a Christianity that feels like nothing more than pressure to be a 'nice guy.' It is no wonder that many men avoid church, and those who go are often passive and bored to death. In this provocative book, Eldredge gives women a look inside the true heart of a man and gives men permission to be what God designed them to be-dangerous, passionate, alive, and free.

The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule

Thomas Frank

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In his previous book, Thomas Frank explained why working America votes for politicians who reserve their favors for the rich. Now, in Wrecking Crew, Frank examines the Washington those politicians have given us, showing why, no matter what happens in November 2008, we’re stuck with it for the foreseeable future.   

    Casting back to the early days of the conservative revolution, Frank describes the rise of a ruling coalition dedicated to dismantling government. But rather than cutting down the big government they claim to hate, conservatives have simply sold it off, deregulating some industries, defunding others, but always turning public policy into a private-sector bidding war. Washington itself has been remade into a golden landscape of super-wealthy suburbs and gleaming lobbyist headquarters. And though arch-lobbyist Jack Abramoff has crashed and burned, the government-by-entrepreneurship he pioneered so outrageously has become the law of the land.

    It is no coincidence, Frank argues, that the same politicians who guffaw at the idea of effective government have installed a regime in which incompetence is the rule. Nor will the country easily shake off the consequences of deliberate misgovernment through the usual election remedies. Obsessed with achieving a lasting victory, conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state.

    Stamped with Frank’s audacity, analytic brilliance, and wit, Wrecking Crewis his most revelatory work yet—and his most important.

Captivating: unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 302 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Bestselling author John Eldredge and his wife and co-author, Stasi, unveil the beauty and mystery of the feminine soul by showing readers the three core desires of every woman’s heart. Every little girl has dreams of being swept up into a great adventure, of being the beautiful princess. Sadly, when women grow up, they are often swept up into a life filled merely with duty and demands. Many Christian women are tired, struggling under the weight of the pressure to be a "good servant," a nurturing caregiver, or a capable home manager. What Wild at Heart did for men, Captivating can do for women. This groundbreaking book shows readers the glorious design of women before the fall, describes how the feminine heart can be restored, and casts a vision for the power, freedom, and beauty of a woman released to be all she was meant to be. By revealing the core desires every woman shares—to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a grand adventure, and to unveil beauty— John and Stasi Eldredge invite women to recover their feminine hearts, created in the image of an intimate and passionate God. Further, they encourage men to discover the secret of a woman’s soul and to delight in the beauty and strength women were created to offer.

Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning

Jonah Goldberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 342 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Book for the Intellectually Honest Seeking Truth About American History 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

It is very unfortunate that people use the review process to attack a book which they are very unlikely to have read. It is always fascinating that the very same people who so often lecture to all of us about "tolerance" are the least so. It is particularly bothersome that Amazon chose to use one short, positive review and one very lengthy negative review. Despite some of the reviews, Mr. Goldberg's book is fair. Kool-aid drinkers from both sides of the aisle need not bother because neither side would much like what they are reading unless they are interested in truth. Whoever you are, whatever your notions, if you are opened minded, you will likely realize some of those notions require re-examination. This book is particularly helpful if you have been trying to educate yourself as much as possible about American history, have done much other reading, and are sincerely interested in seeking the truth. If you've been asking yourself: Just when did this country start to "go off the rails", you will find a lot of answers. Other well-written books about the history of Progressives, socialists, and Marxists support the documented information in this book. A couple of others I have read, and I have no idea from what political persuasion these gentlemen come, would be the very well documented book by Ronald J. Pestritto, Professor at the University of Dallas Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism (American Intellectual Culture)and another, by Richard Pipes, A Concise History of the Russian Revolution. Again, despite all of the partisan reviews, if you read at minimum, the three books noted, you will see the dots connecting. Mr. Goldberg is not about finger pointing or name calling, he's about laying out, step by step, point A to point B, etc. Michael Mann's review, in itself, is to be disregarded because he accuses Goldberg of leaving out labeling so-called "Conservatives" as the "f-word", like Richard Nixon. Mr. Mann has revealed his own lack of knowledge of historical facts or that he didn't read the book closely, or well. A number of so-called "conservatives" are mentioned, including Pres. George W. Bush. Many aspects of Pres. Bush's policies, do have, in fact, elements of the "f-word", as Mr. Mann calls it. It is a fallacy of the left or perhaps a lack of much contemplation, that every individual with an "R" behind their title in elected office are automatically conservative. Richard Nixon was not conservative, he was a "liberal" Republican. Pres. Bush's fiscal policies and "compassionate conservatism" alone disqualify him from being considered truly conservative. In order to make that assessment, as a conservative, I did much reading, but didn't arrive at my conclusions until I read this book. Until or unless people are willing to start "calling out" the wrong they see in their leadership, regardless to which political party they belong, it's hard to imagine how much, if anything, will come about to change the high amount of dissatisfaction and distrust most Americans feel about their government. To fully get one's mind around the definition of fascism, how it has weaved its way through history, and most importantly, what it means for freedom, this book is vital.

Editorial Review:

In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics.

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Jared Diamond

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Total reviews: 1073 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race.

Until around 11,000 b.c., all peoples were still Stone Age hunter/gatherers. At that point, a great divide occurred in the rates that human societies evolved. In Eurasia, parts of the Americas, and Africa, farming became the prevailing mode of existence when indigenous wild plants and animals were domesticated by prehistoric planters and herders. As Jared Diamond vividly reveals, the very people who gained a head start in producing food would collide with preliterate cultures, shaping the modern world through conquest, displacement, and genocide.

The paths that lead from scattered centers of food to broad bands of settlement had a great deal to do with climate and geography. But how did differences in societies arise? Why weren't native Australians, Americans, or Africans the ones to colonize Europe? Diamond dismantles pernicious racial theories tracing societal differences to biological differences.

He assembles convincing evidence linking germs to domestication of animals, germs that Eurasians then spread in epidemic proportions in their voyages of discovery. In its sweep, Guns, Germs and Steel encompasses the rise of agriculture, technology, writing, government, and religion, providing a unifying theory of human history as intriguing as the histories of dinosaurs and glaciers.

Jared Diamond, professor of physiology at the UCLA Medical School, is the author of The Third Chimpanzee, awarded the 1992 Los Angeles Times Science Book Award. He is a regular contributor to Natural History and Discover magazines and lives in Los Angeles.

The 48 Laws of Power

Robert Greene

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 508 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

My Former Bible 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Only two types of people have been and will be attracted to reading this book: those who hope it's about one thing and those who know it's about the other. The former belong to the timid, powerless, low-self esteem majority looking for the ultimate guide to gaining respect and admiration from their peers. The latter belong to the unscrupulous, dare I say sociopathic ever-growing minority whose end goal is to win at everything against everyone by any means. Once the book has been read and fully digested, one of two conclusions will be reached. The first is a sudden awareness of what a perfectly outstanding tool they hold in their hands and the limitless rewards it can afford them. The second is an absolute disgust and horror at what a dangerous volume this is and the malicious behavior it outright encourages. Interestingly, the timid are not always the ones repulsed and the ruthless are not always the ones aroused. The wave can break either way.

Shortly after this book was published, I happened upon it in a bookstore and knew I had to have it. A blaze of energy electrified my body and pounded through the deepest recesses of my mind. I was on fire, I couldn't put it down and yet I knew I could never share it with anyone, the way a child might hide away their favorite toy. In truth I became obsessed. I had to learn and then master every element of every law and take supreme authority over every aspect of my life. Indeed, this book, The 48 Laws of Power, became my bible, the most passionate conquest I had ever sought to undertake.

Within its pages I met with the reflection of every gruesome bully and every merry manipulator I had ever known. Their power was uncanny and yet so mysterious, mostly because I could never fathom how such apparently absent minds could lay so cool yet strike with such venom. It was awe-inspiring, and I had to come to terms with their secrets. The secrets that earned them respect from their enemies and fear from their admirers. The secrets that won them the most buxom women, who always appeared so entranced by even their rudest and most audacious displays. "How could they get away with everything so smoothly?!" I had wondered. "How could they be so desirable?!" I had thought. "HOW?!"

Well...here is how. It is simple.

Some people are given to a heredity and/or an upbringing that nourishes what is commonly considered 'bad' behavior. Certain genes as well as certain parenting styles perpetuate an attitude of unruliness which leads in its purest variety to utter contempt for anyone else's thoughts, feelings, or needs. Their minds develop without a balanced set of experiences, leading them to deduce that the information they received must indeed be correct. This is also applicable to those who suffer violence in their youth, even if that violence is not carried out physically. The fact remains that whatever world with which one is presented is accepted as unmitigated truth. 'Bad' behavior is usually viewed by such a person as normal. Thus selfishness, cruelty, and manipulation are seen as strengths, while compassion, kindness and humility are seen as weaknesses.

Surely there are a bevy of other factors that cannot go without mention. High intelligence, a pleasing appearance, a particular talent, et cetra can all act as lauchpads for immorality if similar virtues in others go unrecognized as being equal. This sense of equality is what it all comes down to, in fact. The very idea of power assumes that another cannot or should not be in a position to where the perspectives of both can be viewed as equally valid. On the one end is the person who is possessed by their own image, on the other is the person who believes that they have no intrinsic worth at all. The two feed off of each other in a sadistic/masochistic symbiotic relationship. The point then comes to bear that a person who believes himself powerful only remains so long as the other believes the same thing. Put two people who both see power as the ultimate attainment and you have the setting for nearly every meeting in the business world. From here, only two things can happen. One party will cave, allowing the other to dominate, or neither party will cave, effectively precipitating resentment and rage in both. The former leads to a continuation of the cycle while the latter leads to war.

This book is extremely well-researched and exquisitely written, which is why I still give it three stars. But I warn you now to be aware of your true intentions. Buy this book if you don't care about anyone but yourself, and it pleases you to see another man crumble. Do not buy this book if you have even the slightest interest in saving yourself from years of unnecessary struggle. Remember that the wave does break both ways, and you do not know who you may become if you toss your ethics in the wastebasket. Needless to say, I was the timid one who was sick of being overlooked, but in the end, it was this book that I tossed into the wastebasket. Your call.

Editorial Review:

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills three thousand years of the history of power in to forty-eight well explicated laws. As attention--grabbing in its design as it is in its content, this bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers. Some laws teach the need for prudence ("Law 1: Never Outshine the Master"), the virtue of stealth ("Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions"), and many demand the total absence of mercy ("Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally"), but like it or not, all have applications in real life. Illustrated through the tactics of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, P. T. Barnum, and other famous figures who have wielded--or been victimized by--power, these laws will fascinate any reader interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.

The World Without Us

Alan Weisman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 241 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth
 
In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity’s impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.

In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe.

The World Without Us reveals how, just days after humans disappear, floods in New York’s subways would start eroding the city’s foundations, and how, as the world’s cities crumble, asphalt jungles would give way to real ones. It describes the distinct ways that organic and chemically treated farms would revert to wild, how billions more birds would flourish, and how cockroaches in unheated cities would perish without us. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dali Lama, and paleontologists---who describe a prehuman world inhabited by megafauna like giant sloths that stood taller than mammoths---Weisman illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us.

From places already devoid of humans (a last fragment of primeval European forest; the Korean DMZ; Chernobyl), Weisman reveals Earth’s tremendous capacity for self-healing. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman’s narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that needn't depend on our demise. It is narrative nonfiction at its finest, and in posing an irresistible concept with both gravity and a highly readable touch, it looks deeply at our effects on the planet in a way that no other book has.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 632 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Decent overview of the sciences 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a good overview of the fundamentals of science. It meanders through astronomy, chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and paleontology and is very well written. Through Bryson's style, you can tell that he enjoys the subject matter. The "History" part of the title refers to both history in the sense of the universe, but also the history of the bright individuals and their insights that have allowed us to know that history.

What makes this book distinct is that Bryson was not too long ago in the reader's position (i.e. learning the basics of the sciences) and thereby rarely omits something pertinent to understanding, and his enthusiasm is still fresh and obvious; both of which are a welcomed change from classical science writing. Unfortunately, his lack of expertise leads to the occasional oversimplification, exaggeration, and falsehood- but understandably (and forgiveably) so.

In the regrettable trade off between expertise and comprehensibility, this settles on the "comprehensible" side of the spectrum. If that's what you're looking for, you'll find it here.

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

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Total reviews: 2112 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague.  Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder.  Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?

Mitch Albom had that second chance.  He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life.  Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college.  Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.


From the Hardcover edition.