Friday, May 4, 2018

The Big Book of Wisdom of Western Civilization | The Independent Whig

The Big Book of Wisdom of Western Civilization | The Independent Whig

The Independent Whig posts his choice of books that would comprise chapters of an overall book that tells "a comprehensive story of Western culture."
The title and table of contents of my book of books would look something like the following. The first chapter-book lays out a foundational premise that each subsequent chapter-book logically follows, builds upon and expands, such that in the end a comprehensive story of Western culture can be comprehended. The appendices expand further still on the concepts told in the main story.
I've provided the chapters but without the brief description why The Independent Whig chose each book. I'm posting this obviously because I agree with his choice of books. I've read four of them and own seven of the others, waiting to be read. That leaves just two books that I hadn't discovered prior to his post. I've added in brackets after each book whether I have read them or have them.
Chapter 1: The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, by Steven Pinker. [Have]  
Chapter 2: Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Differences, by John R. Hibbing, Kevin B. Smith, and John R. Alford. [Have]
Chapter 3: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt. [Read. One of my favorite books.]
Chapter 4: The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization, by Herman [Read. Found to be very enlightening.]
Chapter 5: A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles, by Sowell. [Have.] 
Chapter 6: Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy, by Goldberg. [Have]
Chapter 7: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, by Peterson. [Read. Also plan to read his Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief.]
Appendix 1: The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation, by Drew Weston. [Have]
Appendix 2: Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them, by Joshua Greene. [Read]
Appendix 3: American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, by Colin Woodard. 
Appendix 4: The Cousins’ Wars: Religion, Politics, Civil Warfare, And The Triumph Of Anglo-America, by Kevin Phillips 
Appendix 5: Pathological Altruism, by Barbara Oakley. [Have]
Appendix 6: Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion, by Paul Bloom. [Have]

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Why Can't People Hear What Jordan Peterson Is Actually Saying? - The Atlantic

Why Can't People Hear What Jordan Peterson Is Actually Saying? - The Atlantic

This article in The Atlantic does an admirable job dissecting an "interview" of Jordan Peterson, a University of Toronto clinical psychologist, by British journalist Cathy Newman. I put the word interview in quotes because it actually would be better to describe the exchange as a debate because it was clear that Newman had an agenda she wanted to push by persistently distorting what Peterson said. He handled this admirably! I admire his patience.

This interview runs about 30 minutes. Be sure to catch Newman's reaction at about the 23 minute mark when she tries to box Peterson with the question about whether people have the right not to be offended. Peterson's reply leaves her speechless, not because she was offended but because she couldn't think of a rebuttal.