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Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

aaronsw.com

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Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#111

"Reading the book, I felt as if my mind was rocked by explosions." If you've only had this experience from _one_ book, you aren't reading enough. "Questions that had puzzled me for years suddenly began making sense in this new world." If, on reading a book, you don't know of at least one other set of alternative answers, you aren't reading enough. No doubt Chomsky is a powerful and persuasive writer. But there are ma…

You really need to do some more research before you make statements like "you aren't reading enough". In fact, I don't think I've read or heard of a person more well-read than Aaron. For example, he read 130 books in 2009[1]. That's a book every 3 days.

[1]: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/books2009

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#112
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that's a new one: the evidence he cites is so voluminous and wide-ranging, there must be something wrong with him.

The problem is the amount, it's the fact that it's wide-spread (i.e. horizontal) but when you examine deeply any one piece you find it to be quite weak, i.e. shallow. It's a similar technique used by conspiracy theorists and Creationists.

The author is quite explicitly saying that the problem is the volume and variety of information. There is no mention of the 'shallowness' of any one particular reference.

The author justifies this by saying no reader can reasonably be expected to be "familiar with" the references Chomsky uses. So what? The references are all there and available for the reader to look up. Once looked up, the reader is familiar with it. No problem. Incredibly weak argument and one that can only be accepted if we accept lazy reading as a given.

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#113
post #53

I found the following review of the book interesting. I always like to read the "negative" reviews of something because I find it easier to make a decision whether to read something or buy something (books, software, food, etc...) based on whether I can identify with the negative comments or not. If someone has recommended something to me, and the negative comments are inconsequential to me (or absurd, etc...), I'm m…

I pretty much agree with this analysis, minus the dig against atheism. I haven't read Chomsky in detail, but this seems to be an accurate description of what he claims on the surface (e.g. in public interviews). It seems likely that hatemongerers like Chomsky were an influence in leading to Aaron Schwarz's eventual suicide. I apologize for the insensitivity towards Aaron here, but it seems worth saying.

>I haven't read Chomsky in detail

Did you stop to think that maybe this is why you agree with someone who is making overbroad generalizations about Chomsky's work? How can you agree with any analysis if you're ignorant of what it's analyzing?

The culture of "right to criticize without reading" in the US astounds me.

Further it is amusing to hear a self-proclaimed objectivist asserting that external forces played a role in causing a free agent's suicide.

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#114
post #111

"Reading the book, I felt as if my mind was rocked by explosions." If you've only had this experience from _one_ book, you aren't reading enough. "Questions that had puzzled me for years suddenly began making sense in this new world." If, on reading a book, you don't know of at least one other set of alternative answers, you aren't reading enough. No doubt Chomsky is a powerful and persuasive writer. But there are ma…

You really need to do some more research before you make statements like "you aren't reading enough". In fact, I don't think I've read or heard of a person more well-read than Aaron. For example, he read 130 books in 2009[1]. That's a book every 3 days. [1]: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/books2009

>I don't think I've read or heard of a person more well-read than Aaron

Mosey on over to your local University, flail your arms around until you hit a non-STEM grad student, and voila -- you've met someone who reads at least this much, probably much more.

Further it isn't difficult to read one light book every three days (looking at Aaron's list, the vast majority of titles are light reads). Retention and understanding are also dependent on how well you read, i.e. how deeply you focus and digest information. Plenty of people read hundreds of books each year, but read so quickly that nothing sticks. It's only when they read a title that feeds into some deep-rooted emotional issue or agrees with already-established biases that they claim "genuis! mind-shattering!" and so on. Could have been the case here, and I think that's the spirit behind saying "you aren't reading enough". It isn't always a question of volume, but rather whether or not you're actually reading.

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#115
post #111

"Reading the book, I felt as if my mind was rocked by explosions." If you've only had this experience from _one_ book, you aren't reading enough. "Questions that had puzzled me for years suddenly began making sense in this new world." If, on reading a book, you don't know of at least one other set of alternative answers, you aren't reading enough. No doubt Chomsky is a powerful and persuasive writer. But there are ma…

You really need to do some more research before you make statements like "you aren't reading enough". In fact, I don't think I've read or heard of a person more well-read than Aaron. For example, he read 130 books in 2009[1]. That's a book every 3 days. [1]: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/books2009

"Well-read" doesn't equate with "much read". It's a long list, but most of it is left of center contemporary analysis. The only notable right-wing book is "Seeing Like A State." But for a little Plato, there zero philosophy or political philosophy there. Had he gone on to read the entirety of "Republic", rather than Book One, he'd have seen an exercise in criticism, exploration of ultimate values, and theoretic construction -- if nothing else, a demonstration that Chomsky himself was following a model. There is no Rousseau, which might have hinted at where Chomsky started, and neither Locke nor Hobbes, which might have suggested an entirely different approach.

No Boethius, which later would have been a very apt touchstone for a person feeling the weight of persecution.

Nor is there much story on the list. No Shakespeare, no Milton, one Hemingway, no Faulkner. No poetry. Nothing about about what it is to be a man, to live in conflict with one's self and with others, or to live among contradictions.

Some of it is just a waste of time. "Secrets of the Temple" is at best a nothing book.

Perhaps he read more widely and deeply at some other time than 2009. But there is precious little on this to challenge a progressive-liberal viewpoint, or to provide a basis of fundamental criticism, or to suggest a perspective on politics generally. To read like this is neither healthy nor interesting. It certainly isn't "well read".

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#116

I found the following review of the book interesting. I always like to read the "negative" reviews of something because I find it easier to make a decision whether to read something or buy something (books, software, food, etc...) based on whether I can identify with the negative comments or not. If someone has recommended something to me, and the negative comments are inconsequential to me (or absurd, etc...), I'm m…

People who disagree with Chomsky usually characterize his views as this review does, as blind, wholesale demonization of the United States . Chomsky's views are in fact the ultimate form of patriotism. he expects more of our nation and isn't sentimentally attached to the kind of hero and "good guy" stories that so many people need in order to be able to sleep at night. Anyone who truly cares about America will read a…

Al Franken describes it best in Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them:

"They don't get it. We love America just as much as they do, but in a differenct way. You see, they love America the way a four-year-old loves her mommy. [We] love America like grown-ups. To a four-year-old everything mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes mommy is bad. Grown-up love means understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad, and helping your loved one grow."

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#117

I love Manufacturing Consent (the documentary) and it inspired me to read some of Chomsky's books on politics and see him live. It didn't change my life though. In general, I think the fundamental problem with Chomsky's compelling and very well buttressed description of The Way Things Work [in the US(1)] is that it really doesn't offer much hope. (This actually comes up towards the end of the movie, and his answer --…

I am unclear on how your "fundamental problem" is a problem. I was not aware that when making arguments that offering hope was a prerequisite for validity or truth. Because if that is not the case, then offering no hope is not a fundamental problem.

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#118
post #6

A life changing book in a similar vein is "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman: http://tinyurl.com/a26wscp . I found out about it via Alan Kay's excellent reading list ( http://tinyurl.com/c6fjhj )

If Postman strikes your fancy, another good one is "The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America" by Daniel Boorstin.

http://amzn.com/0679741801

Re: Aaron Swartz: The Book That Changed My Life

#119
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if someone is going to criticise Chomsky, they need more than strawman arguments to do so. Of course proper criticism would require proper analysis, and thus probably be a lot longer than a typical Amazon review. What do you find interesting about this review?

I have read some amount of Chomsky and do not find these to be strawman arguments. An "us vs them" attitude pervades his writing. One common pattern is overweening assumption backed by laser-guided cherry picking of examples. You can see the above pattern all throughout this thread, in fact. Broad assumptions that seem true enough at first, but are overwhelmingly applied in a toxic way. Meanwhile people are sick of t…

Chomsky does round up a lot of criticisms and put them in one place. I'm not sure what 'ideology' you are referring to, unless you view 'reason' as an 'ideology'. But perhaps I am missing some over arching agenda Chomsky has... ?

They ARE strawmen arguments because they present partially related items as reasons for chomsky being wrong. If Chomsky is cherry picking, then the way to respond is to bring ALL the information to light, and show that Chomsky is misrepresenting it... Not to cherry pick something else...

I don't really understand your "Good vs Ignorance" reference, who are you referring to? and why are they unable to self-examine? which ideology are we talking about?

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