by J.P. Beyor ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2016
While portions of this philosophical book deliver odd phrasings, the author’s message involving the questioning of authority...
This second installment of a series examines symbols, means of control, and what it truly means to be human.
Book one in this philosophical series explored a number of Beyor’s (Guarded Hearts: Genesis Sabotage, 2016, etc.) “axioms” regarding artificially constructed symbols and their impact on natural humans. (One such axiom states that “our agreed symbols will take the biological creature to the knees of insanity.”) Book two further develops these themes and encourages action. Have humans been conditioned their entire lives to worship symbols and icons? Are their legal and religious systems merely constructs of control? What about the natural state of their minds? Addressing such sentiments in a series of chapters (referred to in the text as “Journals”) that range from the simply titled “Communication” to the sci-fi-sounding “The Omega Strain,” the book hashes out ideas in dense, impassioned prose. Exploring topics such as the true intentions of Jesus and the shortcomings of the educational system (“children are not being taught to think only to obey and blame”), the volume discusses many tangents, though the focus remains clear: the author’s questioning of authority and the symbols it endorses. Many statements such as “video monitor destruction and drone deaths are the new headgame war fought by the lethal watchers confederacy” and “the whole working brain interdicts the topical single sense domination as illogical” require close scrutiny. While the author’s authenticity is without question, details can be lost in such convoluted phrasings. With many lines aimed directly at the reader (for example, “You must learn to read between the lines, not on the lines. Our feelings are very real and they guide us”), the work is likely to generate critical thinking. Is it true, as the author argues, that “laws make people lazy” and slothful? Whether or not readers agree, such questions provide an opportunity to look more closely at what is taken for granted in the modern world. After all, getting past what “all the profit-driven institutions” want humans to believe “can be done, but it takes work and taking back personal will.” Even if the finer points of the author’s arguments can be murky, such a devoted conviction remains inspiring.
While portions of this philosophical book deliver odd phrasings, the author’s message involving the questioning of authority should kindle new ideas for open-minded readers.Pub Date: June 2, 2016
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 317
Publisher: eBookIt.com
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Chris Gardner with Quincy Troupe ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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