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I've finished reading @ruskin147's 'ALWAYS ON: Hope and fear in the social smartphone era and it's an absolute delight. #armandminibookreview to follow.
First thing to note is that this book does many things. Part memoir, part modern history, part socio-political thesis.
First thing to note is that this book does many things. Part memoir, part modern history, part socio-political thesis.
...this variety makes it richer, not poorer, as Rory's typically crisp and engaging writing style makes complex issues clear and paints a picture of the rapid change we've seen in the last 15-20 years that's worth reflecting on.
As a memoir, it's interesting to chart Rory's journey from excited technophile to (somewhat cynical) technophile as the star of 'big tech' has shone brightly & then dimmed due to a variety of things, from murk in corners of the crypto world to misinformation and trolls on social.
Midway through, Bill Gates captions a picture of himself, grinning from ear to ear in a fertiliser factory in Tanzania. He says "I'm having even more fun than it looks."
This simply joy at knowledge is why I've always liked him, and makes this book such a delight.
This simply joy at knowledge is why I've always liked him, and makes this book such a delight.
Gates does what you'd expect; he maps out the different challenges we face due to climate change (across five categories - how we plug in, make things, grow things, get around, keep cool and stay warm), and looks to the innovations we have and need to overcome them.
This in itself was worth documenting, but what he does around this is even better; he talks about adapting to the realities of climate change, the role of policy, the practical steps on the road to zero and the opportunities for personal engagement in tackling the problem.
I read @Baddiel #jewsdontcount this weekend. It's a quick read, but not light reading. David takes a whistlestop tour through the many, many occasions where - largely people from the progressive left, often people like me who champion anti-racism, downplay anti-semitism.
It's depressing that anyone could discount any form of discrimination. "Because they're white" and "because they're rich" are unacceptable (often false) reasons to consider that anti-semitism is in any way less intolerable than any other form of racism. David makes this case well
Most of all, if we learned any lesson from the last year and BLM, it's that the lived experience of a person - any person - has value. If they feel it is discrimination, it is discrimination. If a Jew tells you they find the Y-word offensive, who is anyone to say they shouldn't?
I finished reading @TimHarford's 'HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD ADD UP' this week and wanted to post an #armandminibookreview (hashtagging so I can find this later and repost to book review sites).
tl;dr, it's an awesome book. Everyone should read it. Slightly longer assessment...
tl;dr, it's an awesome book. Everyone should read it. Slightly longer assessment...
Tim elegantly captures some of the core principles needed to assess statistics when they are presented to you, in the news on social and elsewhere.
He gives ten practical tools for you to use - few of which require actually applying statistics, more credulity and consideration - to make sense of things.
