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Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#151

Post by jiggawatts »

The Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley, which feels very much like he mashed together a couple of Alan Dean Foster books with an Iain M Banks Culture novel.

A key part of the story takes place on a planet-wide forest with giant trees and a Gaia-like sentience (Midworld), its maguffin is a galaxy-threatening superweapon (The Tar-Aiym Krang), and a significant character is a wise old floating robot/AI that uses fields to manipulate things (Culture drones).

This reminds me of Interstellar, where I recognised the books that the authors had taken their influences from, such as Rocheworld by Robert L. Forward, which also features helpful robots that fold up with arms that have smaller-and-smaller subunits.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#152

Post by specproc »

Lamad1234 wrote: post #59

"A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East". Started reading it before the current crisis, but it's only more relevant now. Kinda dense with too many "characters" and events.

That's the middle east. I've lived there and read a lot, but can remember very little of the history.

Line in the Sand is a good one.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#154

Post by Jedd »

padjo wrote: post #132
Scarblac wrote: post #129

_Regenesis_, by George Monbiot. About how we can realistically feed everyone on the planet long term, in a way that doesn't destroy nature, keeps soil healthy and more able to deal with climate change, and is also affordable. Very good. Very well sourced, sceptical of romantic ideas that just don't scale. Given that we currently use 60% of our agricultural land to feed livestock, that we then use to produce 12% of ou…

I really don’t understand how so many smart people don’t understand this and continue to consume animal products regularly.

Well, using land to produce feed to ship to CAFOs where animals experience almost nothing but suffering for their short lives is clearly reprehensible.

But George Monbiot quite famously adjusted his position[0] in response to - and since this is a thread about books - one of my favourite works on the subject, 'Meat, A Benign Extravagance' by Simon Fairlie (2010).

(My copy was signed by the author when I attended one of his scything weekends.)

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/sep/06/meat-p...

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#156

Post by padjo »

sigilis wrote: post #146
padjo wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don’t understand how so many smart people don’t understand this and continue to consume animal products regularly.

People still smoke cigarettes despite decades of clear evidence that they will lead to a horrible death in many cases. Society has built so many disincentives to doing so, and yet they persist. Animal products will continue to be consumed no matter how obvious it is that their production is morally repugnant and environmentally destructive. I am sorry to say that I am one of those consumers despite knowing better.

As a former smoker and meat eater I know smoking was far far harder to give up than meat since there is a physical addiction component. Meat eating is just habit and something you can easily enough wean yourself away from.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#157

Post by AlecSchueler »

sigilis wrote: post #146
padjo wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don’t understand how so many smart people don’t understand this and continue to consume animal products regularly.

People still smoke cigarettes despite decades of clear evidence that they will lead to a horrible death in many cases. Society has built so many disincentives to doing so, and yet they persist. Animal products will continue to be consumed no matter how obvious it is that their production is morally repugnant and environmentally destructive. I am sorry to say that I am one of those consumers despite knowing better.

Cigarette use is plummeting in the west.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#158

Post by padjo »

Jedd wrote: post #154
padjo wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don’t understand how so many smart people don’t understand this and continue to consume animal products regularly.

Well, using land to produce feed to ship to CAFOs where animals experience almost nothing but suffering for their short lives is clearly reprehensible. But George Monbiot quite famously adjusted his position[0] in response to - and since this is a thread about books - one of my favourite works on the subject, 'Meat, A Benign Extravagance' by Simon Fairlie (2010). (My copy was signed by the author when I attended one…

Based on reading that article I think his position is still that we should be eating far less meat than we currently are.

Re: Ask HN: What are you reading these days?

#160

Post by nicbou »

neontomo wrote: post #38

I struggle to stay interested in one book until the end because many books that are designed to teach you something have made their point in the first chapter and then spend the rest of the book hammering it in. Currently been reading Make It Stick for a year and I'm probably going to drop it because it's not that interesting. Also have these opened: - The Hobbit - A Philosophy of Software Design - Bhagavad Gita

This is why I prefer fiction, or anecdote-dense non-fiction.

I love Bill Bryson just geeking out about things, or Antony Beevor making world war two come to life.

I do not love a 150 page recap of a blog post.

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