Here you will find a chronicle of what I’m reading right now, the ideas that are shaping my ever-changing world view. Feel free to read along with me.
"The pseudoscience of planning seems almost neurotic in its determination to imitate emphatic failure and ignore empire success." - The Life and Death of American Cities Scale by Geoffrey West may not be the easiest read (it has a highly academic style, complete with lots of highly academic jabs at different academic fields - … Continue reading Scale
"Those two, in paradise were given a choice: happiness without freedom, or freedom without happiness. There was no alternative." - We I'm really enjoying retro-science fiction at the moment. The ideas imagined in science fiction of years past planted seeds in more practical minds who went on to shape the future that we live in … Continue reading We
Apparently Reason, Enlightenment, Science, and Human Progress are controversial again. (If the conversations I've been having on Twitter lately are anything to go by, ideas such as 1) absolute progress is better than relative progress, 2) that things are not all bad right now, in fact they have never been better for most people across … Continue reading Enlightenment Now (Yes, please, and thank you)
"What could possibly go wrong?" The more I read and learn about science and technology, the more often I think that we don't give enough attention to that question: What. Could. Go. Wrong. Most technology is dangerous in the wrong hands, and as technology becomes more powerful, the what could go wrong is only escalating. … Continue reading Cat’s Cradle
Nudge is a book about "Libertarian Paternalism" - in other words about manipulating people into making better choices that are in their best interests (according to some centralised authority anyway). Tautology aside, the book is a decent take on the more practical (or evil, depending on your point of view) applications of behavioural economics. The … Continue reading Nudge
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot, learn, unlearn and relearn”. - American Futurist, Alvin Toffler In a world where the half-life of skills is shrinking, we have to get comfortable with the idea of learning and re-learning, just like Alvin Toffler says … Continue reading On Writing
Ficciones is a collection of some of Jorge Louis Borges most compelling, philosophical (fictional) fantasies. The mind-expanding Library of Babble and the Garden of Forking Paths are among the outstanding short stories contained in the book. Borges's gift is to take complex concepts about subjects as obtuse as quantum physics, multiple futures, time travel, and … Continue reading Ficciones
Anyone interested in the future is (or should be) familiar with Yuval Noah Harari's work. He is one of the great philosopher-historians of our time and he poses the questions all of us should be asking ourselves and each other. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is his latest offering. It's not my favourite book … Continue reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
"A great company is a conspiracy to change the world." "Darwinism may be a fine theory in other contexts, but in startups, intelligent design works best." "Computers are compliments for humans, not substitutes. The most valuable businesses of coming decades will be built by entrepreneurs who seek to empower people rather than try to make … Continue reading Zero to One
Things are transformed one into another according to necessity, and render justice to one another according to the order of time. ~ Anaximander The Order of Time is a mind-expanding little book. Part physics, part philosophy, the book is packed with strange and wonderful ideas about how the very fabric of the universe works and … Continue reading The Order of Time
