War Room book thread

[Possum Jenkins]

I read Economics: A User's Guide by Ha-Joon Chang and I quite liked it.

Nice. I read his Bad Samaritans prior and loved it. May have to complete the trio and get that one.

The dude's awesome, I suspect his heavy accent is what keeps him from being better known.

 

[Prutfis]

Just arrived in the mail today.. Ohhhh yeah.

 

[mon]

I'm finishing up the Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker. It's a great read for those interested in understanding violence and how to interpret our own fear/emotions and use them for safety. Meditations on Violence is an excellent read too which also studies criminals and their behavior and how to react in those situations, how to manage the chemical dump during an attack, etc.. Obviously I am interested in studying violence in a scientific and rational way and also a huge fan of martial arts. I'm not sure it's WR related but certainly in line with a martial arts forum.

Next up on the docket is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Also thinking about reading Trumptocracy by David Frum, although I suspect that won't be a fun read if not informative.

The gift of fear should be essential reading for all young women entering adulthood.

Combine it with the book working with monsters

 

[irish_thug]

Just arrived in the mail today.. Ohhhh yeah.

I actually got into a bar fight at a place called zaphod beeblebrox

 

[Prutfis]

I actually got into a bar fight at a place called zapped beeblebrox

Did they serve pangalactic gargleblasters?

 

[irish_thug]

Did they serve pangalactic gargleblasters?

Their signature drink.

 

[sangreporsangre]

I can't really take anyone serious who thinks that Trump didn't want to win the election. If that were his intention, it would have been very easy to accomplish.

Regarding books, I just read Alan Friedman's biography of Berlusconi. It was a big pile of meh, but I guess I knew that going in because it's an authorized biography. It's not a total puff piece, he will lay out Berlusconi's BS version of events and then detail the other side of the story somewhat, but it was still overwhelmingly biased. Still you can't deny that the guy has lead an interesting life, and he's basically the proto-Trump. I'm looking to see if the library has any better books on him.

Currently I'm reading Caribbean Time Bomb by Robert Coram. It's a book from 1993 that details the ridiculous level of corruption in the island of Antigua and the complicity of the US State Department in same. It's interesting because I've learned a lot about this subject from my fiancee and her family, I was just down there last week actually and that's where we bought this book. One thing about it is that while the country had made a lot of advances in the 90s and 00s, it has been backsliding hard under the current administration, which is the same political party responsible for the putrid level of corruption detailed in this book. I just started it but it seems pretty good. My fiancee actually emailed the author, he's pretty old now I guess, but she wants to talk to him about the current issues facing that country.

 

[salamander]

That really sounds interesting.

 

[salamander]

Wow, this thread makes me feel like a fat chick in a cheesecake factory.

 

[Devout Pessimist]

quasi-political but definitely in the WR wheelhouse:

Neil Postman has some excellent books. In addition to the two Postman books you have pictured I would also recommend The Disappearance of Childhood and Amusing Ourselves to Death.

 

[InternetHero]

I read Economics: A User's Guide by Ha-Joon Chang and I quite liked it.

I really need to update my knowledge on economics. It would be wise to upgrade my understanding from "hopefully competent" to "well rounded."

However, while so important to the world, I find economics to be a bore compared to my mainstays of culture, history, sociology, and religion.

It's like number 287 on my to do list.

 

[Devout Pessimist]

 

[InternetHero]

we're all biased.

you may not agree with zinn's slant, but hes far from a moron. they dont just hand out PhD's in history.

Certainly, then again, I could find a few things of value in almost any book. The question is always "why is this worth my time?"

Books like "Sapeins: A Brief History of Humankind" sounded intriguing, but ended up not making it out of reading the cliff notes. Do I really want to read John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism, or would I be better served knowing the basics?

Probably the basics in these type of situations.

Time is just incredibly finite.

 

[Islam Imamate]

I really need to update my knowledge on economics. It would be wise to upgrade my understanding from "hopefully competent" to "well rounded."

However, while so important to the world, I find economics to be a bore compared to my mainstays of culture, history, sociology, and religion.

It's like number 287 on my to do list.

Yeah same here, I feel that economics is something where I could stand to learn more.

Philosophy is another field and its a weak point that's somewhat embarrassing at times. Of the two I think I have a more solid grasp on economics.

 

[VivaRevolution]

we're all biased.

you may not agree with zinn's slant, but hes far from a moron. they dont just hand out PhD's in history.

Also, he is completely up front with his bias. That is actually the point of the book. To write from a under represented bias point of view.

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

That really sounds interesting.

Here is a link to the author's profile at Stanford. Prior to this, I read several of his books and they are all outstanding. He has several of his lectures from Stanford up for free on youtube, and wow what a teacher! Guy is really funny too, which you don't expect from someone who authors journal articles titled "Anti-apoptotic therapy with a Tat fusion protein protects against excitotoxic insults in vitro and in vivo"

https://profiles.stanford.edu/robert-sapolsky

 

[forum poster]

Written by a former speech writer for George W Bush. For those that think vegetarianism and animal rights is just some wimpy lefty fad.

 

[Prutfis]

Their signature drink.

I hope it´s not as potent as the one in the books.

The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is an alcoholic beverage invented by ex-President of the Universe Zaphod Beeblebrox, considered by the Guide to be the "Best Drink in Existence"[1]. Its effects are similar to "having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick".

Beeblebrox advised that you should "never drink more than two Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters unless you are a thirty ton mega elephant with bronchial pneumonia"

 

[kpt018]

The gift of fear should be essential reading for all young women entering adulthood.

Combine it with the book working with monsters

I couldn't agree more and intend on teaching my daughter many of the lessons in those books. I'll have to check that book out!

 

[Metusalemi]

It's been interesting reading this book as a Finn. We are going through things that other European countries have been going through years ago. Same mistakes (to some extent), same discussions, same rhetoric...

He was recently on Joe Rogan podcast.