Full title: More Money than Brains - Why School Sucks, College is Crap and Idiots Think They're Right
A great, albeit depressing, read. One of those books that hits the nail smack on the head. She has done the scholarly research on many of the social and institutional shifts that I shake my head over and discuss when I can find someone else who is interested.
One of the great things about the book is that it cuts across partisan political lines. She talks about how both the left and the right, both the new media and the old, both the young and the not so young, both industry and your average Joe Blow have all contributed to create the new Idiocracy, as she calls it.
This book ties in with the message in the documentaries by Adam Curtis that I have been watching: All Watched Over by Loving Machines, and others.
Lots of great quotes.
Some great creative names for social trends and deformed social institutions.
Her writing style is also quite witty in general.
Tellingly, she offers no solution, no grand way out.
A book you should own.
Also a great source for further reading.
Reread January 2019
Friday 27 December 2013
Mediterranean Waltz - Buket Uzuner
Story of a small group of families in Istanbul from the mid 20th C approx. to modern day. Very popular in Turkey, but I did not find it such a great read. Especially the ending chapter, which seems very slapdash to me.
I imagine it was popular in Turkey because of several of the themes:
- the destruction of the beautiful Istanbul of old, and nostalgia for that city
- the fragmentation of Turkish society based on money, and nostalgia for "the good old days"
- the politics and political extremes of recent decades
- a background of a seemingly ongoing military coup
- some challenging of sexual norms and gender roles
I imagine it was popular in Turkey because of several of the themes:
- the destruction of the beautiful Istanbul of old, and nostalgia for that city
- the fragmentation of Turkish society based on money, and nostalgia for "the good old days"
- the politics and political extremes of recent decades
- a background of a seemingly ongoing military coup
- some challenging of sexual norms and gender roles
Poor People - William T. Vollman
Like his other book, Europe Central, a vast wandering book full of reflections, questions, observations, stories.
I find the central premise of the book brilliant. You want to know about poverty, the causes and effects of poverty, go talk to poor people - around the world. Rather than treating the whole issue as an abstract, detached problem or issue. It also brings home the idea of how complicated human social issues are - ideologists simply things, create generic stereotypes, plan simplified solutions, and fail completely. (see other book on the elimination of poverty)
The other thing that Vollmann does is, not only turn his eye and critical mind on poor people, but also on our comfortable middle-class ideas and perceptions of the issue.
He touches on issues of aid, causes of poverty, the failure of top down change, the defining characteristics of poverty which have less to do with actual financial resources, and more to do with how life is experienced or viewed.
He brings humanity to the book and to the issue - which of course makes everything hugely complex, subtle and varied. There is no "the poor", any more than there is "the solution to poverty".
Vollmann definitely has balls - he gets out there and immerses himself up close and intimate. Face to face and personal. At the back of the book, there is a collection of photos he has taken of many of the subjects mentioned in the book.
I wonder how he has so much time and energy to produce these huge, rambling books that he pumps out. The guy must never sleep.
I find the central premise of the book brilliant. You want to know about poverty, the causes and effects of poverty, go talk to poor people - around the world. Rather than treating the whole issue as an abstract, detached problem or issue. It also brings home the idea of how complicated human social issues are - ideologists simply things, create generic stereotypes, plan simplified solutions, and fail completely. (see other book on the elimination of poverty)
The other thing that Vollmann does is, not only turn his eye and critical mind on poor people, but also on our comfortable middle-class ideas and perceptions of the issue.
He touches on issues of aid, causes of poverty, the failure of top down change, the defining characteristics of poverty which have less to do with actual financial resources, and more to do with how life is experienced or viewed.
He brings humanity to the book and to the issue - which of course makes everything hugely complex, subtle and varied. There is no "the poor", any more than there is "the solution to poverty".
Vollmann definitely has balls - he gets out there and immerses himself up close and intimate. Face to face and personal. At the back of the book, there is a collection of photos he has taken of many of the subjects mentioned in the book.
I wonder how he has so much time and energy to produce these huge, rambling books that he pumps out. The guy must never sleep.
Here Is Where We Meet - John Berger
A collection of short stories, largely a conversation or remembrance of the dead. Seven of the eight stories are framed as conversations with his dead mother in various cities around Europe. The last is an extended memoir focused around a Polish friend.
I like the device of conversing with the dead as form of internal dialogue. It is an interesting way to frame our relationship to the past.
I like the device of conversing with the dead as form of internal dialogue. It is an interesting way to frame our relationship to the past.
Friday 20 December 2013
A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing - Lawrence M. Krauss
A fascinating account of the gradual emergence of modern cosmology and theories of the origins of the universe. Makes a great story - reading it at the same time as reading The Science Delusion by Curtis White - see my entry on that book regarding science and storytelling. It's all language after all, and words are not the thing in itself.
After having looked at White's book, I am much more aware of the arrogance, prejudices and stereotypes at play in Krauss' book - so much for the objective delusion. Rather like the Ayn Rand revealed in Part 1 of All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Tenderness, these hardcore materialists with their notion of reason and objective truth are not what they seem to be, nor who they see themselves to be.
It is so easy to see, and portray this obsession with scientific truth, reason and objectivity as a new form of religion, a new all-encompassing system, a new Answer - especially when you see what a mess, what wackjobs many of the leading modern figures have been.
The ideas themselves are intriguing and entertaining.
After having looked at White's book, I am much more aware of the arrogance, prejudices and stereotypes at play in Krauss' book - so much for the objective delusion. Rather like the Ayn Rand revealed in Part 1 of All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Tenderness, these hardcore materialists with their notion of reason and objective truth are not what they seem to be, nor who they see themselves to be.
It is so easy to see, and portray this obsession with scientific truth, reason and objectivity as a new form of religion, a new all-encompassing system, a new Answer - especially when you see what a mess, what wackjobs many of the leading modern figures have been.
The ideas themselves are intriguing and entertaining.
Sunday 1 December 2013
The Science Delusion - Curtis White
Interesting read. An attack on scientific materialism. I don't relate that much to Curtis' indignation, but then again I don't have to put up with the arrogance of scientists on a regular basis, not working at a university. I am currently reading one of the books he criticizes so sharply - Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing: A Universe from Nothing. I have realized I don't see scientific cosmology as a threat in itself (how it is used by politics and Big Business is another matter). To me, current research and theories on cosmology, the nature and origin of the universe, life, etc. are fascinating stories (which is a bit of an insight in itself RE me and my attitudes...) Other stories from other domaines can be just as fascinating - I am reminded of Italo Calvino's Cosmicomiche.
What this books has, though, is an amazing set of references to writers on ontological perspectives and speculators on the nature of reality. A real mine to be explored.
What this books has, though, is an amazing set of references to writers on ontological perspectives and speculators on the nature of reality. A real mine to be explored.
The Orenda - Joseph Boyden
A fictional account of the first contact between Jesuits and Huron, and the destruction of the Huron tribe by disease and the Iroquois. Boyden's main focus is to bring out the differences in ways of seeing life, the world, the Other and all aspects of being human between the European clergy and the Huron. Opposite the figure of the main priest stand Bird, the warrior figure, and Gosling, the shaman.
The dance of ideas and feelings between these two camps is the heart of the novel.
Boyden also spins off many other themes. reflections and questions. Some of the things that struck me:
The structure of Huron society with it's closed, close tribal group where sharing is the main ethos, and yet it's violence and sadism towards the other. Reminiscent of the society build by Goebbels and Hitler in the mid-30s as discussed in a recent documentary I was watching, The Century of the Self, Part 1, by Adam Curtis. In a larger sense, the question of the relationship to the Other, which is part of religion and philosophy. What is interesting though, is that this relationship of cruelty and inflicted pain is ritualized as a contest of spirit between torturer and tortured, and the respect that is awarded those who suffer with strength.
I try to imagine a world where violence, killing, murder and sex are not overlaid with the moral taboo that comes with being part of a Christians society. Not that Christian societies are without violence, murder and sex. I suppose more that you might live with these parts of yourself without hypocrisy... Innocence in a Rousseau sense? Child-like level of development? Recognizing the need to express frustrations and repressions that come with living in a cohesive group where the group good always trumps the individual?
There is a point where Bird's adopted daughter cuts off his finger while he is sleeping as an act of revenge. How is it seen? As a sign of courage and strength in the girl, as an indication of her strong spirit. What a different attitude towards children - our society primarily values compliance and see rebellion as something to be crushed.
I am also intrigued by Gosling and her shamanic powers. I would like to read some accounts of people who have witnessed, or participated in, these experiences. It is a persistent theme around native societies. What is it about? Not that far from the Catholic churches still current practice of exorcism, in certain ways.
Boyden also skillfully and light-handedly weaves in other themes around native-European history: the disruptive role the fur trade played in intertribal relations; the role of disease in destroying their tribes and culture; the history of St. Marie Amongst the Huron; the history of French English rivalry in North America and how the native tribes got caught up in, and burned by, this conflict; the early and repeated relationship of broken promises and exploitation; the double-edged sword of contact and trade with the Europeans - threats to health and culture, but at the same time a source of unimaginably valuable technologies (which is also a larger theme within all societies on the planet - the wondrous but disruptive seductions of technology - do benefits and advantages outweigh negative effects? 'Progress' at what price?)
The dance of ideas and feelings between these two camps is the heart of the novel.
Boyden also spins off many other themes. reflections and questions. Some of the things that struck me:
The structure of Huron society with it's closed, close tribal group where sharing is the main ethos, and yet it's violence and sadism towards the other. Reminiscent of the society build by Goebbels and Hitler in the mid-30s as discussed in a recent documentary I was watching, The Century of the Self, Part 1, by Adam Curtis. In a larger sense, the question of the relationship to the Other, which is part of religion and philosophy. What is interesting though, is that this relationship of cruelty and inflicted pain is ritualized as a contest of spirit between torturer and tortured, and the respect that is awarded those who suffer with strength.
I try to imagine a world where violence, killing, murder and sex are not overlaid with the moral taboo that comes with being part of a Christians society. Not that Christian societies are without violence, murder and sex. I suppose more that you might live with these parts of yourself without hypocrisy... Innocence in a Rousseau sense? Child-like level of development? Recognizing the need to express frustrations and repressions that come with living in a cohesive group where the group good always trumps the individual?
There is a point where Bird's adopted daughter cuts off his finger while he is sleeping as an act of revenge. How is it seen? As a sign of courage and strength in the girl, as an indication of her strong spirit. What a different attitude towards children - our society primarily values compliance and see rebellion as something to be crushed.
I am also intrigued by Gosling and her shamanic powers. I would like to read some accounts of people who have witnessed, or participated in, these experiences. It is a persistent theme around native societies. What is it about? Not that far from the Catholic churches still current practice of exorcism, in certain ways.
Boyden also skillfully and light-handedly weaves in other themes around native-European history: the disruptive role the fur trade played in intertribal relations; the role of disease in destroying their tribes and culture; the history of St. Marie Amongst the Huron; the history of French English rivalry in North America and how the native tribes got caught up in, and burned by, this conflict; the early and repeated relationship of broken promises and exploitation; the double-edged sword of contact and trade with the Europeans - threats to health and culture, but at the same time a source of unimaginably valuable technologies (which is also a larger theme within all societies on the planet - the wondrous but disruptive seductions of technology - do benefits and advantages outweigh negative effects? 'Progress' at what price?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)