⭐⭐⭐ On Liberty / Utilitarianism by Mill
| Full Title | On Liberty / Utilitarianism |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Stuart Mill |
| Year Published | 2008 |
| Date Read | September 04, 2020 |
| Rating | 3/5 stars |
The only proof capable of being given that an object is visible, is that people actually see it. The only proof that a sound is audible, is that people hear it: and so of the other sources of our experience. … [The] sole evidence it is possible to produce that anything is desirable, is that people do actually desire it. … No reason can be given why the general happiness is desirable, except that each person, so far as he believes it to be attainable, desires his own happiness.
But Mill also spends a decent chunk of time talking about why this or that portion of his philosophy has been unfairly interpreted or assailed; in these cases, I was reminded of some of the tone that [a:Nassim Nicholas Taleb|21559|Nassim Nicholas Taleb|
] uses, which is a style of writing I don’t personally enjoy.
Broadly, I found the book pretty hard to follow. This is probably due to a combination of the subject matter, the older language, and my decision to listen to it as an audiobook. Perhaps I’d be better served by a more accessible treatment of these ideas.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Irreversible Damage by Shrier
| Full Title | Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters |
|---|---|
| Authors | Abigail Shrier |
| Year Published | 2020 |
| Date Read | September 03, 2020 |
| Rating | 4/5 stars |
The central thesis of this book is that some proportion of adolescent women who trans identify is triggered not necessarily by gender dysphoria they are experiencing, but rather a fad that is only promoted by mental health issues (such as social anxiety or “not fitting in”) endemic particularly in late Gen Y / Gen Z teenagers. I don’t believe this should be an idea that is taboo to bring up, and I found the position reasonably-argued by the book. Three things stuck out to me as compelling:
* Trans identification is concentrated in friend groups.
* The rapid increase in the identification among girls, without a corresponding rise among boys.
* The significant increase in mental health issues, combined with a fall in sexual experience as well as general in-person socialization, for teenagers in recent years.
As a (hopeful) future father, it was very surprising to me to hear that children as early as kindergarten are being taught about how gender is a
continuum and shouldn’t just be thought of as binary male-female. I don’t have a problem with this idea in general, but I do think it is far too early to be introducing it to 5-year-olds — it feels akin to talking about sexual intercourse or viewing a horror movie. None of these topics are intrinsically bad, but to me are inappropriate things to be exposed to at that age.
On the education topic, the lengths to which colleges (& high schools!) would go to to hide a student’s trans identification from their parents made me extremely concerned. It made me wonder more generally about how good the relationship could be between parents & children in these households, if the interactions have gotten so bad that the women didn’t even feel comfortable to talk about something so core to their identity as gender. My perception is, the trans identification and the parents’ surprise and/or resistance was really a symptom of a problem that started much earlier and encompasses the
entirety of their familial relationship.
I think my ultimate takeaway from the book is to try to encourage positive habits among adolescents in order to avoid getting into this situation in the first place. Things like promoting independence of thought, of socialization among a wide group of people, of having experiences generally and not being afraid of making mistakes. The book provides a pretty strong argument to be wary of giving unfettered access to the entire Internet to adolescents, since it means they can fall into bubbles and start to act more as a cult member than just a consumer of information. I think this all basically falls into, how good is your relationship with your children? Are you consistently investing time and energy to make sure you’re there for them?
NB: I have a problem with the cover design of this book, which I believe is pretty deceiving. In an interview, the author dismisses this as “I obviously wasn’t involved with the design”, but in a
book that takes pains to differentiate teens/adolescents versus adults, it is quite surprising to use an image of a girl that looks a decade younger than the group of people Shrier actually writes about. It is unfortunate that this design was chosen, and I hope that it is changed in future editions.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Born a Crime by Noah
| Full Title | Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood |
|---|---|
| Authors | Trevor Noah |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Date Read | July 16, 2020 |
| Rating | 4/5 stars |
What a great listen. Born a Crime focuses primarily on Noah’s childhood (with some notes from early adulthood). I had no idea that Noah had such a lively upbringing and particularly enjoyed his description of his hustle to create streams of income as a kid — first as a middleman for lunch sales, then as a music pirate, and later as a DJ / pawn shop operator. I too liked the inclusion of his first dalliances with romance, as they come off as refreshingly honest and yet are delivered with a lightheartedness that communicates understanding of the role they play in Noah’s general collection of life experiences.
The book deals with tougher subjects as well, primarily those of racism & childhood abuse. The racism Noah deals with as a “colored kid” is quite different from what we normally hear about in the US and is unique even for South Africa. Noah utilizes examples from his own life to explain what impact government policies had on the people & culture around him, often
taking the chance to highlight their clear logical inconsistency. He’ll also add in jokes/comments to make this difficult subject matter easier to talk through, which I really appreciated.
Abuse of him & his mother by the step-father Abel hurts to read, particularly because of all the time the book spends on showing the bond Noah builds with his mom. The final few minutes of the book are pretty brutal and caused a strong emotional reaction in me, rare for any book but especially an autobiography.
Would recommend reading, especially to fans of Noah.
⭐⭐ Becoming by Obama
| Full Title | Becoming |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michelle Obama |
| Year Published | 2018 |
| Date Read | May 18, 2020 |
| Rating | 2/5 stars |
Listened to the first ~4 hours. Not a bad read, just never became a page-turner. I did find a few memorable quotes, particularly “failure is a feeling long before it is an actual result” and “a happy marriage can be a vexation, that it’s a contract best renewed and renewed again, even quietly and privately—even alone.”
⭐⭐ Hillbilly Elegy by Vance
| Full Title | Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis |
|---|---|
| Authors | J.D. Vance |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Date Read | March 12, 2020 |
| Rating | 2/5 stars |
Listened to 2 hours of this but just couldn’t get into it. Felt like a sterile description of a sequence of events, not a narrative woven for the reader.
⭐⭐⭐ Caffeine by Pollan
| Full Title | Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael Pollan |
| Year Published | 2020 |
| Date Read | February 17, 2020 |
| Rating | 3/5 stars |
Nice little story, though you can tell that it didn’t receive the full-book treatment.