Saturday, February 21, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Book Review: Influence, the psychology of persuation by Robert B. Cialdini, ISBN 9780061241895
- 6 principles that direct human behavior:
- Consistency
- Reciprocation
- Social proof
- Authority
- Liking
- Scarcity
Book Review: Beyond the university, why liberal education matters by Michael S. Roth, ISBN 9780300175516
John Dewey: The world in which most of us live is a world in which everyone has a calling and occupation, something to do. Some are managers and others are subordinates. But the great thing for one as for the other is that each shall have had the education which enables him to see within his daily work all there is in it of large and human significance.
John Dewey: The problem of securing to the liberal arts college its due function in democratic society is that of seeing to it that the technical subjects which are now socially necessary acquire a humane direction. There is nothing in them which is 'inherently' exclusive; but they cannot be liberating if they are cut off from there humane sources and inspiration. On the other hand, books which are cut off from vital relations with the needs and issues of contemporary life themselves become ultra-technical.
Richard Rorty: The point of non-vocational higher education is, instead, to help students realize that they can reshape themselves-that they can rework the self-image foisted on them by their past, the self-image that makes them competent citizens, into a new self-image that they themselves have helped to create.
In the end, the author answers the question: why liberal education matters? The liberal education should teach students to liberate (liberate students from self-imposed immaturity), animate (unleash the creativity to animate the world), cooperate (connect the studying of great questions of our time to the interests and activities of society), and instigate (question the authority, non-conformity). "Liberal education matters because by challenging the forces of conformity it promises to be relevant to our professional, personal and political lives. That relevance isn't just about landing one's first job; it emerges over the course of one's working life. The free inquiry and experimentation of a reflexive, pragmatic education helps us to think for ourselves, take responsibility for our beliefs and actions, and become better acquainted with own desires, our own hopes. Liberal education matters far beyond the university because it increases our capacity to understand the world, contribute to it, and reshape ourselves. When it works, it never ends."
Book Review: A troublesome inheritance, genes, race and human history by Nicholas Wade, ISBN 9781594204463
The main point: Human evolution has been recent, copious and regional.
To support the point, the author heavily cites the new development in physical anthropology development and some of the major sources include:
- Francis Fukuyama
- Reverend Thomas Malthus
- Gregory Clark
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Book Review: Clouds of glory, the life and legend of Robert E.Lee By Michael Korda, ISBN 9780062116291
An audio book of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his principal subodinates: "Stonewall" Jackson, Longstreet and J.E.B.Stuart.
The author seems to draw comparison of Lee with his military idol Napolean and cited Napolean throughout the book. Maybe due to author's European based education background.
Book Review: The scorpion's sting, Antislavery and the coming of the civil war by James Oakes ISBN 9780393239935
Surrounded by a ring of fire, the scorpion stings itself to death. The image, widespread among antislavery leaders before the Civil War,captures long-standing strategy for peaceful abolition: they would surround the slave states with a cordon of freedom.
I picked up the book after reading Washington Post review and it certainly offered a closer look at Civil War from a new persepctive. 
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