Finished "Following the First Star" by yours truly. This was a necessary re-reading because I had forgotten many of the details of the story, and I wanted to be able to talk with someone about them. I noticed that the longer the story went on, the skimpier I was on details, something that I definitely need to rectify.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
The Divine Matrix - reading
Finished "The Divine Matrix" by Gregg Braden.
I went into the book half skeptical and half open-minded. The introduction tipped that balance in favor of skeptic when it said, "...there are places where I've chosen to focus more on the radical and unexpected results of the quantum experiments, rather than getting bogged down with too many technical details of the experiments themselves." This sentence alone seems to imply mutual exclusivity to these two things, but I don't see a connection. Further, the first half that focuses on radical and unexpected results goes against my belief in what science is. At least for the second half the author promises references to the experiments themselves. I may have to look those up.
After referencing experiments, page 58 goes on to state, "Although we may not be able to prove scientifically why these things happen, we all know that they do." The author tries to inoculate against claims of pseudoscience, yet I am left to believe that is what it is.
Thus far it hasn't gone into the ethics of trying to make changes in ones world. Note also: prosperity preaching.... Okay, page 119 mentions getting permission, and that healing should be in a noninvasive and compassionate way.
When a group mediated for peace, it worked. When they stopped, violence came back worse than before. Is this some sort of evidence that violence is intelligent and patient? Also, the sample size here is very small, as many are in this book.
Page 154 talks about some universal feeling of abandonment demonstrated in the Lord's Prayer, then goes on to offer an alternate translation for the same that removes the abandonment sense in it. What's the point?
The third universal fear of surrender and trust - the author invokes the evening news, but doesn't mention the fact that the evening news skews the information about dangers in the world. This is almost sensationalism to make a point.
In the chapter about mirrors I am amused that the author shared a story about a cat and anthropomorphized the cat, which in itself is a kind of mirror. He considered the behavior of the cat as a mirror for other things going on in his life, but seemed to miss that ascribing human motivations to a cat is a kind of mirror, too.
All in all, I don't put much weight in the author's work here. Even with what I have seen first hand in my life, put me firmly in the "skeptic" column.
I went into the book half skeptical and half open-minded. The introduction tipped that balance in favor of skeptic when it said, "...there are places where I've chosen to focus more on the radical and unexpected results of the quantum experiments, rather than getting bogged down with too many technical details of the experiments themselves." This sentence alone seems to imply mutual exclusivity to these two things, but I don't see a connection. Further, the first half that focuses on radical and unexpected results goes against my belief in what science is. At least for the second half the author promises references to the experiments themselves. I may have to look those up.
After referencing experiments, page 58 goes on to state, "Although we may not be able to prove scientifically why these things happen, we all know that they do." The author tries to inoculate against claims of pseudoscience, yet I am left to believe that is what it is.
Thus far it hasn't gone into the ethics of trying to make changes in ones world. Note also: prosperity preaching.... Okay, page 119 mentions getting permission, and that healing should be in a noninvasive and compassionate way.
When a group mediated for peace, it worked. When they stopped, violence came back worse than before. Is this some sort of evidence that violence is intelligent and patient? Also, the sample size here is very small, as many are in this book.
Page 154 talks about some universal feeling of abandonment demonstrated in the Lord's Prayer, then goes on to offer an alternate translation for the same that removes the abandonment sense in it. What's the point?
The third universal fear of surrender and trust - the author invokes the evening news, but doesn't mention the fact that the evening news skews the information about dangers in the world. This is almost sensationalism to make a point.
In the chapter about mirrors I am amused that the author shared a story about a cat and anthropomorphized the cat, which in itself is a kind of mirror. He considered the behavior of the cat as a mirror for other things going on in his life, but seemed to miss that ascribing human motivations to a cat is a kind of mirror, too.
All in all, I don't put much weight in the author's work here. Even with what I have seen first hand in my life, put me firmly in the "skeptic" column.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Wave - reading
Finished "Wave" by Sonali Deraniyagala. This book is about a Sri Lankan woman who lost her family - her husband, her two young sons, and her parents - in the tsunami of December 26, 2004. In a single, random act of self-preservation as she floated along with the current flowing out to sea, she grabbed onto the branches of a tree and survived. Then she fell apart into drinking and self-destructive behavior.
Then she started listening to The Smiths.
There is no happy ending here. There's just the coping with loss and eventually coming to terms with the fact that everyone was dead to the point that she could say it and know it was true. And knowing it was true did not stop her memories from triggering at little things that reminded her of her former existence.
Then she started listening to The Smiths.
There is no happy ending here. There's just the coping with loss and eventually coming to terms with the fact that everyone was dead to the point that she could say it and know it was true. And knowing it was true did not stop her memories from triggering at little things that reminded her of her former existence.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Prince of Chaos - reading
Finished "Prince of Chaos" by Roger Zelazny. This is the last of the Amber series which ties up several of the story lines. I am amused that Frakir is a loose end (snicker) that was left hanging (snicker), as I would like to have known more of her fate.
Merlin is a character who probably has problems sleeping at night: when you have to worry about assassins from relatives and enemies, but also the "universe?" That could leave a mark.
It was a good end to a good series. I still think the first five books (about Corwin) are better overall than the second five (about Merlin), and that the end of the series could have spread into one more book.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Picture of Dorian Gray - reading
Finished "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. Who hasn't heard about this picture? But the specifics - the events - they went beyond what I expected. Also, when I started, I didn't realize it was such a bromance!
I can't say I really got into the writing style. People didn't have conversations, they endured soliloquies! Superficialities abounded, but that at least made sense in the context of the story. And the ending was pretty abrupt. Still an interesting read, though.
I can't say I really got into the writing style. People didn't have conversations, they endured soliloquies! Superficialities abounded, but that at least made sense in the context of the story. And the ending was pretty abrupt. Still an interesting read, though.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The Signal and the Noise - reading
Finished "The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't" by Nate Silver. "Stop and smell the data." If this book were turned into a textbook for a statistics or forecasting course I would have loved that course. As it was, though, I'm not a huge math geek, and there were interesting points and dull points. Like baseball? Investing? Weather? Gambling? Chess? These things are covered pretty nicely, and it often boils down to Bayesian analysis.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Knight of Shadows - reading
Finished "Knight of Shadows" by Roger Zelazny. It's nice to see the author tweaking the rules of his world to make things interesting! There are a lot of places where there is a wall of explanation disguised as the main character thinking back on what has happened to him, and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but things seem to be coalescing now. Good thing, too - one book left!
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