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Summer Reading List

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Re: Summer Reading List

#201

Post by mtalantikite »

malandrew wrote: post #192
Mz wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://jezebel.com/homme-de-plume-what-i-learned-sending-my-... I have posted it twice to HN, and it was essentially ignored, but it provides good evidence that women writers have a much harder time getting published simply because they are female.

I don't disagree that this is a problem that should be solved, but it doesn't answer my question. Why should I, as a reader, just try to find quality interesting content care about the identity of the author. Authors are just individuals to me. Unless their experience by virtue of their identity is relevant to the subject matter at hand, why should use identity in deciding what to read instead of just relying on subj…

Because when you become aware that an injustice exists you should consciously try to do something about it? One of the easiest ways to do something about it is by buying and supporting work by female authors.

And of course a writer's identity will play a role in the work that they produce. No one is writing Toni Morrison besides Toni Morrison, and a Fanon essay is a Fanon essay because he experienced being black in France and Algeria.

Re: Summer Reading List

#202

Post by afarrell »

filiwickers wrote: post #137

If you struggle to get diverse voices inside your field, maybe you should read from diverse voices outside your field. I understand it is hard and I also gravitate towards comfortable reading, usually meaning from people that look like me. This is the problem. Start being accountable to yourself about it. 2 of 19 the books in the list are by female authors (both recommended by women). Looking for some good books from…

Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman if you are interested in WWI.

Re: Summer Reading List

#203

Post by tgb »

ThomPete wrote: post #151
harigov wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What other books do you consider as important fundamentals?

Obviously these lists are subjective but a couple of examples would be: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (Evolution) MindStorms by Seymore Papert (Education) Structure of Scientific Revolution by Thomas Kuhn (Scientific Method/ Philosophy) Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter (Formal Systems) The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (Entrepreneurship) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Peter F Druckert (…

I took a philosophy of science course in college and still never got what it was that Kuhn was saying. My memory is the professor spent many lectures telling us what he was not saying, but I never figured out what he was saying beyond a "science goes through fads" simplistic interpretation. Is there a good short overview of it?

Re: Summer Reading List

#204

Post by [deleted] »

to_bpr wrote: post #178
engi_nerd wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...Or they just asked a number of people to recommend a favored book, and this is the list that they got. Why does everything have to be about diversity?

Perhaps because virtue signalling has never been more popular? In an industry where we all earn well, have similar qualities of life, similar careers, etc. virtue signalling (often wherever possible) appears to have become the perceived fertile soil for differentiating yourself, and "elevating" yourself.

[deleted]

Re: Summer Reading List

#205

Post by malandrew »

mtalantikite wrote: post #201
malandrew wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree that this is a problem that should be solved, but it doesn't answer my question. Why should I, as a reader, just try to find quality interesting content care about the identity of the author. Authors are just individuals to me. Unless their experience by virtue of their identity is relevant to the subject matter at hand, why should use identity in deciding what to read instead of just relying on subj…

Because when you become aware that an injustice exists you should consciously try to do something about it? One of the easiest ways to do something about it is by buying and supporting work by female authors. And of course a writer's identity will play a role in the work that they produce. No one is writing Toni Morrison besides Toni Morrison, and a Fanon essay is a Fanon essay because he experienced being black in F…

I'm sorry, I don't buy books to solve injustice. I buy them to be informed or entertained.

Why stop at choosing books by gender? If it's irrelevant to the subject matter being written on, should I buy books based on someone's nationality? Their religion? Their race? Their sexual orientation?

Citing examples of authors where the subject matter is relevant to their identity is not a counter-argument to the point I'm making. I'm in agreement that only Toni Morrison can write about Toni Morrison's identity-related experiences and only Fanon can write about Fanon's identity-related experiences. However, if Fanon and Toni were to both write a book on something like the 2008 banking crisis, I would expect the their lived identity-related experiences to be largely irrelevant to the final product each produces.

This reduction of individuals to their identity is dehumanizing.

Re: Summer Reading List

#206

Post by bduerst »

to_bpr wrote: post #178
engi_nerd wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...Or they just asked a number of people to recommend a favored book, and this is the list that they got. Why does everything have to be about diversity?

Perhaps because virtue signalling has never been more popular? In an industry where we all earn well, have similar qualities of life, similar careers, etc. virtue signalling (often wherever possible) appears to have become the perceived fertile soil for differentiating yourself, and "elevating" yourself.

I think it's more a sign of the times.

I mean, when the President broadcasts to the world that transgender people can no longer serve in the U.S. armed forces, it only deepens the systemic bias. Why is it then selfish to showcase that they are able to write good books too?

Re: Summer Reading List

#207

Post by cuddlybacon »

baldfat wrote: post #30

So I really like the description of "The Righteous Mind" WHY is it $2.50 more to get the Kindle version then to have a paperback book shipped to my home! Kindle Version - $11.99 Paperback (Prime) - $9.32 https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-Relig...

I got this book on Audible. It was narrated by the author, who did the best job of narrating a non-fiction book of the books I've listened to.

Re: Summer Reading List

#208

Post by axplusb »

GuiA wrote: post #173
orthoganol wrote: post #67

Sapiens is a very preachy, low-on-citations work... the Goodreads reviews are interestingly divided ("Dude it changed my whole world!" to "This is not a serious work."), but the early sections on pre historical humans are still interesting to read, and seemed mostly correct from what I remember from my college anthropology class.

Any recommendations for a book about the same subject matter, but more on the academic side?

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond offers an interesting and academically quite solid perspective.

Re: Summer Reading List

#209

Post by malandrew »

Mz wrote: post #194
malandrew wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree that this is a problem that should be solved, but it doesn't answer my question. Why should I, as a reader, just try to find quality interesting content care about the identity of the author. Authors are just individuals to me. Unless their experience by virtue of their identity is relevant to the subject matter at hand, why should use identity in deciding what to read instead of just relying on subj…

Why should I, as a reader, just try to find quality interesting content care about the identity of the author. Sorry, it seems really obvious to me and I have heard it said before, so didn't feel I needed to spell it out: Female authors must be better than most to have any shot at getting published. So, women authors who do get published tend to be better authors than most male authors. You aren't required to care. W…

> Female authors must be better than most to have any shot at getting published. So, women authors who do get published tend to be better authors than most male authors.

That's one hypothesis. Another equally valid hypothesis is that those that were published were just lucky enough to send their manuscripts to agents and publishers that don't have a bias.

A corollary to your hypothesis is that there are publishers and agents out there with the same "correct injustice" mindset that are publishing women just because they are women. How do I know this isn't the case?

Unless you have some objective measure of quality to measure books, you're just spouting bullshit conclusions that conform to your beliefs. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Might I suggest that you try the null hypothesis?

https://byrslf.co/the-null-hypothesis-loves-you-and-wants-yo...

FWIW, the essay I linked to was written by a woman. By your logic, you're morally obligated to read it.

Re: Summer Reading List

#210

Post by markdog12 »

gradys wrote: post #187
GuiA wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any recommendations for a book about the same subject matter, but more on the academic side?

Why the West Rules for Now - broad coverage of human history, starting with pre-human hominids. Loosely guided by looking for an account of why in 20th century so much power was concentrated in the West compared to the East, but that guiding question only comes up occasionally. It's mostly a plain history book. I've also heard Our Kind recommended for this kind of thing, but I haven't read it myself.

I read Our Kind over a decade ago, and thought it was a very good book at the time, but its central thesis, that culture dominates biology, is overstated. I haven't read Why the West Rules for Now, but just looking at its wiki page, it looks to be a complete rehash of Guns, Germs and Steel? The title made me think of The West and the Rest, excellent book: https://www.amazon.ca/Civilization-West-Rest-Niall-Ferguson/...
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