Voices From Chernobyl

By Svetlana Alexievich

 

"We came home. I took off al the clothes that I'd word there and threw the down the trash chute. I gave my cap to my little son. He really wanted it. And he wore it all the time. Two years later they give him a diagnoses; a tumor in his brain… You can write the rest of this yourself. I don't wan to talk anymore."

 

With that, I set down the book. I didn't want to read any more. This is not a bad book. It is a tough book. No happy ending. Stories of people dying. Stores of people rebuilding their lives after Chernobyl.

The Age Of Entanglement

By Louisa Gilder

 

This book is a great history of the development of entanglement.  What is entanglement? I'm still not sure I understand that well enough to explain it.

 

The book is great at describing how science develops. Unless you are in the scientific community, what you see are just the end results – Einstein says that… Bell says that… The truth is that scientists are always proposing theories, writing them out and then having them shot down. Debate and discussion drag out for years, even decades. Then, every now and then, one theory survives the process.

 

Einstein didn't like Quantum Physics, entanglement in particular, though he called it "Spooky action at a distance" They way he attacked it though was very admirable.  He knew the material as well as any other quantum physicists. He used this knowledge to reveal some deeply strange concepts and thus set the direction for how quantum physics was to be investigated.

 

On Immunity-- An Inoculation

By Eula Biss

 

This book tackles a very difficult question—when and how can we trust science and modern medicine? What breaks this trust? How can we tell good science from bad? And of course, why do some people refuse to be vaccinated.

 

The book comes up with less an of answer and is more of a  tour through the history of vaccination and epidemics.

 

Biss talks us through some pervasive ways of thing…

 

First, "My body is my temple" The idea that my body is clean and special and that I must not let invaders in. That disease happens to bad people as punishment for not taking care of them selves. Because I'm a good person and because I'm raising my children right, vaccines are not right or needed for us.

 

This isn't necessarily bad thinking. Taking HIV and AIDS for example. Or HEP B. These diseases are transmitted largely by less than savory behavior. Frequently by needles.

 

Oh, and there are nurses who have reused the same needle on many patents.

 

Is a fear and needle born disease really that irrational? Misguided perhaps, but not groundless.

 

The metaphor that our immune system wages war against invaders also doesn't help. It builds up the idea that to be healthy, we just have to build up our immune system. Vaccines are a tool, but not necessary.

 

There are two faults with this way of thinking. One our immune system isn't a general purpose army. It's more like an endlessly evolving chess game. Second, sometimes the overly strong response of our immune system that kills us. Spanish flue, for example, killed the strong because their immune systems produced too much fluid In their lungs, thus drowning them. Those with weaker immune systems survived.

 

She digs more into the "Vaccines Cause Autism scare." Trying to figure out it's roots. Biss found many studies that  pointed to potential causes for autism—living conditions, proximity to free ways, illness during pregnancy. But the idea that vaccines could cause autism took off like wild fire.  Her Biss digs into the scientific process. And shows how it's not one study that shows us truth, but the accumulation of many studies that do so. If one small study shows a tendency for X, then your judgment should be suspended, but you should hope for more, larger studies to test X better.

 

In the end Biss concludes that our bodies are a wilderness. That health consists of balance between many things. Bacteria and virus must live in our system for us to be healthy, but there are limits. Vaccines are a powerful tool for establishing those limits.   

Possible Vacation Destinations...

Puerto Escondido

Ixtapa

The 4 Hour Chef

By Timothy Ferris.

 

I always enjoy reading Ferris, though sometimes he's frustrating and sometimes he comes across as a bit of a huckster or self promoter. Then again, he sells books about himself, what else should I expect?

 

This is a cookbook for people who don't know how to cook. Pats of the book are how to learn. Parts of the book are on how to apply your learning skills to learn how to cook, and then there are the recipes.

 

Lots of products are mentioned in the book. I can't tell if it's all product placement, or if Ferris actually loves the products he uses. It could be both. He may be a huckster, but he loves what he's doing and is passionate about it. How should you make great coffee? Use the Aero Press! What knives shuld you buy? What equipment should a beginner buy?

 

There is a lot of detail in the book. Little tips and tricks are everywhere. It started off being interesting, but it become too cluttered after a while.

 

Fun read.

 

 

 

How will you measure your life?

By James Allworth & Karen Dillon

 

Good book. Reread. How do I want to summarize it…

 

This book won't tell you what to think, but how to think…

 

Questions to ask…

 

Emergent v.s. deliberate strategy. How do we balance calculation & planning with serendipity and luck? Many of the best things in life are opportunities that we never planned on. Without a plan we can wander aimless. Our first plan is likely to be wrong We must continually learn and adapt.

 

How do you make sure you implement the plan you really want? Watch where your resources go.

 

What job are you there for? What does your spouse need you to do in your relationship? Your customers? Your Boss?

 

We grow by having new experiences and we grow by sticking with an experience, and digging into it deeply, learning it's inherent conflicts and compromises, and figuring out how to solve it's problems for ourselves. Real growth requires both. Coping with a unpleasant people is a valuable skill.

 

The trap of marginal thinking. This is the innovators dilemma. You  have to decide what you want to be great at and not allow those skills to be whittled away a bit at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

Why We Buy. The Science of Shopping

By Paco Underhill.

Why we buy things is deep and complicated. Sometimes it's because you saw an advertisement that pushed a button. Sometimes it's because there happened to be a basket near by so you didn't have to go out of our way to get that extra little thing.

Underhill spends lots of time on the latter-- the physics of shopping so to speak. We buy things because we physically are aware of the things we could buy. We buy things because we could spend the right amount of time evaluating those things and that they are suitable for us. And we buy things because we were physically capable of doing so.

.. We buy things because we physically are aware of the things we could buy… Advertising, marketing and display. Do you have good marketing? Are your customers exposed to your marketing materials at a time when they are open to it? A nice poster posted on the way into a bathroom is not useful since everyone has more important things to take care of.  But a nice poster visible on the way out….

…We buy things because we could spend the right amount of time evaluating those things and that they are suitable for us. You need time to evaluate what you want to buy. The amount of time differs by product. People want to spend a few minutes reading about vitamins and minerals before they buy. Put these products in an area with lots of hustle and bustle and their sales drop. Put them in an accessible quiet area and their sales climb. The type of environment every product needs to be sold is different.

…we buy things because we were physically capable of doing so. If lines are long, then people will walk a way. If a drug store makes shopping baskets available in the middle of the store, then their sales will grow because it's now easier for people to buy a little more. Making the purchasing experience as friction free as possible will only help sales.

What To Say When You Talk To Your Self #

A more useful summary would be….

When you talk to your self, tell your self the attitude that you want to have…

Zero To One

By Peter Theil.

 

The book is ostensibly about what it takes to create a billion dollar startup. The book covers much material in the process. There are some very deep concepts here and I must re-read this book at some point to ensure I understand them better

 

For example, Theil covers the concept of definite v.s. indefinite thinking and the way it shapes our choices...

 

For example definite optimism… The future will be better because it will have the following specific qualities…

Indefinite optimism… the future will get better but I don't know how.

 

Successful startups are built on definite optimism and unless you can think that way, you probably won't be able to build a successful startup. Indefinite optimism encourages you to invest your money in an index fund and let other people improve it.

 

Product pricing… It's hard to sell a product that's priced from ~$100.00 to $10,000.00 Products priced less than $100.00 are easier to sell with traditional advertising and marketing. Products priced more than $10,000.00 can be sold with a dedicated sales force. Products in-between the two don't sell enough to pay for a traditional sales team, but cost too much for them to easily succeed in stores.

 

This book covers many topics with similar depth

 

 

 

What To Say When You Talk To Your Self

By Shad Helmstetter.

 

We believe what we tell ourselves, even if it's just a little. If you repeatedly tell you self something simple and positive, then you will grow to believe it.

 

There is a focus on the simple and positive here. For those trying to quiet smoking, instead of saying "Don't Smoke!" Say "I take care of my lungs and my health."

 

Procrastination… "I do what is necessary with energy."

 

Problems getting out of bed… "I great each day with energy."

 

Instead of telling yourself negative things over and over again. Tell yourself the positive, with a focus on simple things that you can actually do.

 

Weddings. So many of them.

 

This past weekend Steven and I went to Yakima for a friends wedding. The wedding was at Gilbert Cellars. Very nice place.

 

Weekend before we flew to Denver for a wedding & a few days R&R.

 

The 20^th, we caught a concert at the Red Rock Amphitheater. The Piano Guys. They are a great band. I was initially surprised that I had never heard about them before. After all, they filled a ten thousand seat venue and they were clearly knew there stuff. Over the course of the evening though, I figured it out. They are Mormon, and they are very famous amongst Mormons. I'm just not in touch with the Mormon world.

 

Check them out on YouTube.

 

Friday we went to the Celestial Seasonings Tea factory for a tour. Yes, you heard that correct.

 

It was one of the most intense experiences I have been through. One of us got injured and had to leave. The peppermint room was an assault on the senses…. I exaggerate but only a little.

 

The tour was largely populated by middle aged women and their families. Oddly enough we were there at the urging of a female middle aged friend who wanted to see it.

 

One person on the tour did have to drop out. She was asthmatic and the tea dust made it hard for her to breath.

 

The peppermint room was intense. Celestial Seasonings has a separate warehouse room to store peppermint. When you walk into that room your eyes and nose start to run.

 

And then we sampled tea.

 

Saturday we went to an amusement park but left early because the threat of lightening shut down the big rides.

 

Saturday night was the frosting emergency. The mother of the bride had elected to make the wedding cake. But Saturday evening, for the Sunday Wedding, the cake was still not ready. In fact the first batch of frosting didn't turn out and the mother of the bride didn't have a car or kitchen available to her to make another batch. So, we drove across Denver Saturday evening to a friends with an available kitchen.

 

The frosting and the cake turned out very well.

 

On Sunday was the wedding. It was held at a barn at a botanical garden. It was very beautiful.

 

 

A Place of My Own

By Michael Pollan
 
There is a huge gap between dreams and reality.
 
This book covers the two years it took Pollan to build a small cabin behind his house. Much of the book covers the gap between the cabin's architect, and the contractor. The architect trying to make the cabin as nice as possible. The contractor dealing the expensive, and sometimes impractical reality of the architects choices.
 
There is a good amount of opinion in this book on modern architecture and it's challenges. I found these sections fascinating. Many modern architects are so driven by the art of the building that the functional requirements are an afterthought to the aesthetics. The consequences of this are buildings that look the best the day before the client moves in, that have leaky roofs, that age poorly.
 

Hyperbole and a Half

By Allie Brosh

Is this a graphic novel? It is a lovely set of short stories illustrated by Brosh's distinct drawings.

Brosh ultimately realizes that she is just sort of naturally shitter than what she wants to be, and she had to trick her self to keep herself from finding out and making her disappointed. This trickery is the cause of many weird and unfortunate behaviors behind many of Brosh's  hilarious stories.

Aren't we all.

Brosh's story about her depression is very deep and touching.

I read this book for a second time in May 2017. I close friend of mind had just told me that he just doesn't feel anymore. From our conversation I gathered that he was deeply depressed. He didn't use those words though. I thought of gifting this book to him, maybe to cheer him up. First I reread it to ensure it was as relevant as I had thought.

This is not a book to help depressed people. This is a book for friends of depressed people. I think I've realized that I can help him. Even worse, helping him may be counter productive. As the author said, "Telling a depressed person to cheer up is like telling an armless person to keep punching him self until his arms grow back-- That plan is just fundamentally wrong."

Instead I can keep in touch with him as he goes through this journey and perhaps double check that his decisions to go off into the weeds.

The Upside of Irrationality

By Dan Ariely

We are irrational far more often than we'd like. We are often unaware of than this because e don't fully understand our behavior. Irrationality isn't all bad. It can give us meaning and purpose, so it's not all bad.

To protect your self, make decisions based on testable experiments.

The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty.

By Dan Ariely

We all are dishonest, just a little. But not so much so that we think we are bad people.

Honest goes way up when in situations where people think you can double check on them. So, if you want more honesty around you, then politely do so. Trust but verify.

A Random Walk down Wall Street

By Burton G. Malkiel.

Buy and hold low expense index funds. Everything else in this book tells you why. Malkiel asserts (and I agree with him) that no investment expert can consistently beat the market in he long run. Especially when you consider expenses and tax.

Many investment strategies eat themselves up. Take the dogs of the Dow for example, the idea that you invest in the highest yield Dow stocks and regularly adjust your portfolio accordingly. If you think about it, if enough people doe this this, then low yield stocks never drop price enough (which boots yield) to make the strategy work.

Diversifying according to the market size (which an index fund accomplishes) is self reinforcing. It doesn't fail because many people do so.

But that's not the only reason to invest in low expense index funds. Read the book if you want all the details.

The Player of Games

By Ian M. Banks.

I enjoy the world Banks has created-- the world of the Culture-- an intergalactic society advanced and powerful. All basic human needs can easily be met. All the work, including most of the thinking is done by machines and computers.

I don't so much like his lead characters. This book is far better than the last though.

I will definitely read the next.

The Gluten Lie

And other myths about what you eat. By Alan Levinovitz, PHD

How do you tell good science from bad? I've thought over that question many times. It's tough to answer. Bad science often offers clarity, hope and a compelling story… if you eat the good nutrients and stay away from the bad, then your diseases will go away. Here are the studies to back it up.

Good science is more nuanced… Yes some nutrients are helpful, and too much of others can be harmful, but there is no promise that eating more of one and less of the other will ride you of your disease. Here are a bunch of contradictory studies. The science isn't settled yet.

Levinovitz spends the bulk of the book telling the history of four modern diet fads-- gluten free diets, sugar as a toxin, low salt diets and super foods. Each fad follows a familiar trajectory. In our natural past we didn't eat that thing. We were healthy and happy then. Then we became modern and started eating that thing. We got sick and obese. I returned to the natural diet of our past and stopped eating that thing. Now I am healthy and happy. That thing is evil.

That narrative goes way back. The sugar-is-a-toxin fad comes and goes a few times a century.

For most people, gluten, sugar, fat, salt are not bad. Eat them in reasonable quantities and you'll be OK.

When a disease has the same symptoms as panic or anxiety disorder, then you should suspend judgment on the causes of that disease.

Any dietary discipline is better than no dietary discipline. When you are careful with what you eat (perhaps in a misguided attempt to avoid a particular bad nutrient) then of course you will loose weight.

The book includes a bonus fake fad diet-- the unpacked diet, which the author goes over pointing out all the fallacies in. It's a fun read, but kind of unnecessary. I suspect it's only there because the auther needed to pad out the length of the book.

For most people, Polon's food rules are still our best guide… "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants."

the life-changing magic of tidying up.

The Japanese art of decluttering and organizing.

I didn't know that decluttering is not a word. Yet as I write this, I see a little red squiggly under it. The suggested alternatives are cluttering and uncluttering.

As a society are we currently so obsessed with tidying up that we now need a new word  to describe it?

Anyways-- "the life-changing magic of tidying up" is a nice little book…

1. Discard things first. Only keep things that spark joy in you.
2. Tidy up by category, not by location.
3. Tidy up as a special event, not every day.
4. Storage space should be assigned to make things easy to put away, no to get things out.
5. Store things vertically, not in piles.
6. Put photos and mementos in albums and display cases. Throw them out if you cannot do so.

The book who is also a little bombastic. As much as I like a clean room, anyone who suggests that tidying up is life changing magic, may need to get out of the house a little more often.

Discarding is always hard.  I have a large collection of things packed away, for years, that I keep for no good reason. Every now and then, as luck would have it, a situation will pop up where I need one of those thingamabobs. I'm sure that if I did a cost benefit analysis of all the thingamabobs in storage, that throwing them away would be the right thing to do. But I will need one of them just often enough to make the decision tough.

The Measure of Reality. Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600

By Alfred W. Crosby

This is a history of how western society incorporated quantification into it's daily life. Numbers went from being magical things in and of themselves to being quantities that measured something else.

Out go Roman Numerals. In come Indo-Arabic digits.

The clock, the ruler and algebra dramatically changed our lives. And not without controversy. Some questioned the necessity of clocks and calendars-- "My serfs know when it's morning, noon & night, spring & fall."

Visualization, Music, Painting, Book Keeping all underwent dramatic changes once they were learnt in terms of quantification.

Brainwashed. The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience.

Neuroscience just isn't ready to be a trusted day to day technology for lie deduction, product marketing and the like.

Remember the amygdala and the amygdala hijack that supposedly occurs when rage takes over your brain? Well, the amygdala is responsible for much more than processing anger. It also processes novel experiences. So what emotion does a lite up amygdala indicate?

If I say "Pin, syringe, thread, haystack, prick. ' and then ask you if you head the world 'needle' Your brain scan will indicate you are telling the truth if you said 'yes' 

Melancholia

Why do movies like Melancholia get made? Not that it's a bad movie. But it is an art movie with little hope of ever being profitable. This is a movie about unhappy people at the end of the world. Not a sci-fi spectacular. But a well-acted drama.

Does art need to be profitable. Of course not. But let's digress into the money. This picture had a budget of over $7,000,000.00 of someone else's (Not the Director's) money. It was played in theaters world wide and is also available on for-profit streaming services. So we are well into the realm of commerce.

I didn't hate Melancholia. In fact I had a certain fascination with it. I've wanted to watch it for a long time. But every time I put it on, I could only take 15 or 20 minutes of it. I didn't care deeply for the well acted characters in their well directed situation. So I'd pause it and watch a little more the next night.

Hmmm. Don't know what to conclude here.

Two days later I realize that I keep thinking about Melancholia. I went back to YouTube to watch the opening scene again. I didn't realize how beautiful and haunting it was. The first time I watched the move, without knowing the plot or characters, the opening scene was confusing. Now that I know a little more about the movie I could pay attention to the images and music without trying to figure it out.

As art, It's successful.

 

Man's Search for Meaning

Victor Frankl

I've read this multiple times.

"Live your life as if this is the second time, and you have already behaved as wrongly as you are about to do now."

Freedom without responsibility becomes random and meaningless.

Frankly survived the concentration camps of WWII. Half of this book covers that story. It's very compelling.

The second half covers Logo-therapy… the psycho therapy of finding meaning. Basically, you have to find your own meaning in life, in how you approach challenges, in how you make choices and especially in your attitude. Everyone's destiny and situation is different. Don't expect God or the Universe to tell you how to live. Since you are free, than is your choice.

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battled that Defined a Generation.

by Blake J Harris.

This is the story of console video games in the early 90's focusing on Sega Genesis & Nintendo's SNES. I think the author had a lot of access to Tom Kalinske, the CEO of Sega of America as the book largely focuses on his story.

It's fascinating how Kalinske lead the Genesis a  huge success, but failed to lead Sega to create a strong next gen console. Clearly internal politics paid a huge part in this. Sega of Japan was never interested in following Kalinske's lead even though Kalinske had huge ideas and great foresight. He wanted to partner with Sony. When that partnership failed (Due to SOJ's cold response) Sony took the core tech and went on to create the Play Station. He wanted to partner with SGI. When that partnership failed (again due to SOJ), SGI took their core tech and went on to partner with Nintendo on the N64.

The book never really gets to the bottom of Sega of Japan's cold relationship with Kalinske and Sega of America. I think that says as much about Kalinske as it does about the book. Kalinske's failure as a leader was that he could never establish a relationship with SOJ. The employees their are largely faceless and unknown where as Sega of America is described in great detail. Perhaps if Kalinske had delegated or fostered the Sony and SGI relationships through SOJ, rather than trying to make them his own successes, then the Sega & Sony story would be very different.

This is a very readable book.