What are you reading right now?
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René - Administrator
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Brenden » 20 April 2019, 13:59
Started The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World and The Better Angels of Our Nature.
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Capt._Trips » 21 April 2019, 18:04
I ordered the pete burns autobiography. He was the singer of the band dead or alive. Their biggest hit was you spin me ( like a record).
Im not a big fan but he is a very interesting character to say the least.
Ill start reading that once it gets here in a couple days.
Im not a big fan but he is a very interesting character to say the least.
Ill start reading that once it gets here in a couple days.
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"Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the earth" Archimedes
Edna St. Vincent Millay — 'My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—It gives a lovely light!'
"Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the earth" Archimedes
Edna St. Vincent Millay — 'My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—It gives a lovely light!'
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Prince_G_24 » 21 April 2019, 21:34
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.
Haven’t gotten too far into it just yet but so far I’ve been enjoying it.
Haven’t gotten too far into it just yet but so far I’ve been enjoying it.
A life that lives without doing anything is the same as a slow death.
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- Code Geass
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Shaved-Nudist » 21 April 2019, 23:13
"Our Bones are Scattered" by Andrew Ward
The Cawnpore massacre during the Indian Mutiny 1857
The Cawnpore massacre during the Indian Mutiny 1857
Try living nude!
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Magic J » 28 April 2019, 17:22
Brenden wrote:Started... The Better Angels of Our Nature.
What are you thinking of it? I've never read anything by Pinker, all I know is that pessimist-in-chief John Gray (of Straw Dogs fame) has been throwing some serious shade at the guy.
I'm reading After Virtue by Alisdair MacIntyre. He's just casually demolished the core underlying principle of utilitarianism (maximise happiness) in a single paragraph.
Consider: if we are to maximise happiness, we must know what happiness consists of (at the phenomenal level, neuroscience, your EEG scans are powerless here). Many things make me happy, for example 1) drinking wine (pleasure), and 2) not feeling like absolute death the next morning (health). How can I reconcile these two sources of happiness? By not drinking wine in excessive quantity? Impossible. They are clearly incommensurable, and I steadfastly put my faith in wine.
Mad wi' it
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Brenden » 28 April 2019, 17:56
Magic J wrote:Brenden wrote:Started... The Better Angels of Our Nature.
What are you thinking of it? I've never read anything by Pinker, all I know is that pessimist-in-chief John Gray (of Straw Dogs fame) has been throwing some serious shade at the guy.
From what I'd seen of him before (mainly interviews around the release of Enlightenment Now) I feel he's overly optimistic in his worldview generally, but so far Better Angels has been pretty solid in its arguments.
I don't know much about Grey but a cursory look over his Wikipedia article indicates his worldview is closer to mine than Pinker's. I'll have to read some of his work.
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Derek » 28 April 2019, 18:04
You know, I get why people are annoyed by Pinker, but nothing he writes is actually objectionable. It's just that his message has no power or meaning for the kind of people who want to really change things.
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Brenden » 28 April 2019, 18:14
Derek wrote:You know, I get why people are annoyed by Pinker, but nothing he writes is actually objectionable. It's just that his message has no power or meaning for the kind of people who want to really change things.
I think his message does great harm by lulling people into sleepy optimism at a time when change is needed most to avert existential risk. The door is shut and the window is closing and there is no god, divine or technological, to open another one.
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Derek » 28 April 2019, 18:27
Pinker would argue that addressing the problems of today depends on understanding our history as a species, and the constant refrain that we're living in a dystopian hellscape that can and should be burned to the ground is the product of an ahistorical perspective which could veer our efforts to better our society off-course.
But no, you're right. Enlightment Now has the exact same energy as a hyopthetical 2020 Hillary rally whose campaign has adopted the slogan "America is already great!"
But no, you're right. Enlightment Now has the exact same energy as a hyopthetical 2020 Hillary rally whose campaign has adopted the slogan "America is already great!"
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Brenden » 28 April 2019, 18:39
He does a great job of showing how high we've climbed and wow look at that view from up here but seems to miss how precarious our footing is and what the inverse of all that climbing entails.
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Shaved-Nudist » 3 May 2019, 13:03
To Face the Daring Maoris by Michael Barthorp
The New Zealand war in 1845-47
The New Zealand war in 1845-47
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Jryski » 9 May 2019, 15:31
Im reading some questionaire some dude posted about sti testing. It's multiple choice like the tests we took in highschool. Oooh I hope I passed and get a good grade for once!
#FreeSteve
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by René » 9 May 2019, 18:52
Jryski wrote:Im reading some questionaire some dude posted about sti testing.
It was actually a dudette
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René - Administrator
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Jryski » 9 May 2019, 19:27
René wrote:Jryski wrote:Im reading some questionaire some dude posted about sti testing.
It was actually a dudette
My bad! I meant, dudette!
#FreeSteve
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Marmaduke » 9 May 2019, 19:36
Jryski wrote:René wrote:Jryski wrote:Im reading some questionaire some dude posted about sti testing.
It was actually a dudette
My bad! I meant, dudette!
How dare you two, with your presumptive gender binary labelings! For shame!
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Re: What are you reading right now?
by Severelius » 9 May 2019, 19:54
The Naked Sun, 2nd book of Isaac Asimov's Robot series.
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