(no subject)
So I've really been trying to get into reading more lately. I love reading. In fact, I make sure I read at least a few hours a day, which is easy when you have a job like mine. I read articles, blogs, my friends' journals, everything. The only wrinkle is that lately I've also been reading books.
I just finished Beyond Civilization, which is by Daniel Quinn who also wrote Ishmael, a book loved by me and my friends, loathed by many. Beyond Civilization was non-fiction; just a clear, concise description of his views and how to bring them about. It is explicitly about how to live a tribal lifestyle and how not to abuse nature for needless consumerism. I've decided that I agree with much of what he's saying, but not all. I don't believe humans will cause our own extinction any time soon, though I do believe we may radically alter our environment to the point where life will by necessity become very different. What I agree with him most strongly on, however, is that our society is not good for people's emotional health. We are designed to live in a society more like the one we evolved in, not like the one in which we live. Clogged cities, traffic, pollution (noise, water, and air), pressure to "succeed", living in close proximity to people who may or may not want to hurt you... all of these things are unnatural and may be leading to the increased incidence we see of a variety of mental health problems and stress-related diseases. That is the problem I'm most interested in solving and most motivated to solve as a result of reading his books. How can we reduce stress-related illness and other lifestyle problems like smoking, Type II diabetes, etc.?
If all of this is too heavy for you, the second book I recently finished is Moneyball, which is the story of the Oakland A's, one of the poorest teams in baseball, and how they managed to win year after year against far richer teams in the early part of this decade. Basically, they used data and statistics while everyone else in the league was using measurements that weren't well suited for actual baseball success, like RBIs, Batting Average, ERA and many others. It was interesting to see how people can use math to exploit inefficiencies in markets, which tickles me as a data analyst. But what I found far more interesting, as a psychologist, is that Billy Beane (the "genius" who figured all of this out) was so competitive and so needed the recognition for his brilliant ingenuity, that he agreed to be the subject of this book and thus completely give away his competitive advantage to the rest of the league. The book makes a big deal about how his head was never really the head of a winner. He out-thought himself and wound up losing because of it. How ironic, then, that he outthought himself again and let this book happen, effectively ending his ability to win. Basically... what a tool. A really good book, though, highly recommended.
I'm reading three new books right now. The first is Collapse, by Jared Diamond, who also wrote Guns, Germs & Steel. He's sort of the scientific, calm antitode to the hysterical philosophy of Daniel Quinn.
I'm also reading Second Wind, which is Bill Russell's memoir. For those who don't know, Bill Russell won 11 NBA Championships through the '60s and early '70s with the Boston Celtics and is regarded by many to be the greatest winner of all time. He also apparently is a student of the civil rights movement and has a ton of interesting things to say on the topic, which I'll get into after I finish reading it.
The third new book is Taken Hostage, which is about the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1980. I was watching a documentary about the 1980 Men's Hockey Team, the "Miracle on Ice", as its known, and they mentioned that this all occurred against the backdrop of the hostage crisis. It's almost impossible to believe, in our current climate, that this did not spark a war. I became very curious to find out why it didn't, so I'm reading that one as well. I'll let you know how those other three are when I finish them.
I just finished Beyond Civilization, which is by Daniel Quinn who also wrote Ishmael, a book loved by me and my friends, loathed by many. Beyond Civilization was non-fiction; just a clear, concise description of his views and how to bring them about. It is explicitly about how to live a tribal lifestyle and how not to abuse nature for needless consumerism. I've decided that I agree with much of what he's saying, but not all. I don't believe humans will cause our own extinction any time soon, though I do believe we may radically alter our environment to the point where life will by necessity become very different. What I agree with him most strongly on, however, is that our society is not good for people's emotional health. We are designed to live in a society more like the one we evolved in, not like the one in which we live. Clogged cities, traffic, pollution (noise, water, and air), pressure to "succeed", living in close proximity to people who may or may not want to hurt you... all of these things are unnatural and may be leading to the increased incidence we see of a variety of mental health problems and stress-related diseases. That is the problem I'm most interested in solving and most motivated to solve as a result of reading his books. How can we reduce stress-related illness and other lifestyle problems like smoking, Type II diabetes, etc.?
If all of this is too heavy for you, the second book I recently finished is Moneyball, which is the story of the Oakland A's, one of the poorest teams in baseball, and how they managed to win year after year against far richer teams in the early part of this decade. Basically, they used data and statistics while everyone else in the league was using measurements that weren't well suited for actual baseball success, like RBIs, Batting Average, ERA and many others. It was interesting to see how people can use math to exploit inefficiencies in markets, which tickles me as a data analyst. But what I found far more interesting, as a psychologist, is that Billy Beane (the "genius" who figured all of this out) was so competitive and so needed the recognition for his brilliant ingenuity, that he agreed to be the subject of this book and thus completely give away his competitive advantage to the rest of the league. The book makes a big deal about how his head was never really the head of a winner. He out-thought himself and wound up losing because of it. How ironic, then, that he outthought himself again and let this book happen, effectively ending his ability to win. Basically... what a tool. A really good book, though, highly recommended.
I'm reading three new books right now. The first is Collapse, by Jared Diamond, who also wrote Guns, Germs & Steel. He's sort of the scientific, calm antitode to the hysterical philosophy of Daniel Quinn.
I'm also reading Second Wind, which is Bill Russell's memoir. For those who don't know, Bill Russell won 11 NBA Championships through the '60s and early '70s with the Boston Celtics and is regarded by many to be the greatest winner of all time. He also apparently is a student of the civil rights movement and has a ton of interesting things to say on the topic, which I'll get into after I finish reading it.
The third new book is Taken Hostage, which is about the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1980. I was watching a documentary about the 1980 Men's Hockey Team, the "Miracle on Ice", as its known, and they mentioned that this all occurred against the backdrop of the hostage crisis. It's almost impossible to believe, in our current climate, that this did not spark a war. I became very curious to find out why it didn't, so I'm reading that one as well. I'll let you know how those other three are when I finish them.