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  16     <h1>The Printed Word Is Stronger Than Nuclear Arms</h1>
  17    <div class="contents">
  18 <dl>
  19 <dt>
  20 <a href="#sec1">Authors</a>
  21 </dt>
  22 <dd>
  23 <dl>
  24 <dt>
  25 <a href="#sec2">William Blake</a>
  26 </dt>
  27 <dt>
  28 <a href="#sec3">Kahlil Gibran</a>
  29 </dt>
  30 </dl>
  31 </dd>
  32 <dt>
  33 <a href="#sec4">Fiction</a>
  34 </dt>
  35 <dd>
  36 <dl>
  37 <dt>
  38 <a href="#sec5">General</a>
  39 </dt>
  40 <dd>
  41 <dl>
  42 <dt>
  43 <a href="#sec6">Luke Rhinehardt - The Dice Man</a>
  44 </dt>
  45 </dl>
  46 </dd>
  47 <dt>
  48 <a href="#sec7">Philosophical</a>
  49 </dt>
  50 <dt>
  51 <a href="#sec8">Sci-Fi</a>
  52 </dt>
  53 <dd>
  54 <dl>
  55 <dt>
  56 <a href="#sec9">Neal Stephenson</a>
  57 </dt>
  58 </dl>
  59 </dd>
  60 </dl>
  61 </dd>
  62 <dt>
  63 <a href="#sec10">Non-Fiction</a>
  64 </dt>
  65 <dd>
  66 <dl>
  67 <dt>
  68 <a href="#sec11">Education</a>
  69 </dt>
  70 <dd>
  71 <dl>
  72 <dt>
  73 <a href="#sec12">John Taylor Gatto - Underground History of American Education</a>
  74 </dt>
  75 </dl>
  76 </dd>
  77 <dt>
  78 <a href="#sec13">Philosophy</a>
  79 </dt>
  80 <dd>
  81 <dl>
  82 <dt>
  83 <a href="#sec14">Chinese</a>
  84 </dt>
  85 <dt>
  86 <a href="#sec15">Marcus Aurelius - Meditations</a>
  87 </dt>
  88 <dt>
  89 <a href="#sec16">Søren Kierkegaard - The Sickness Unto Death</a>
  90 </dt>
  91 </dl>
  92 </dd>
  93 <dt>
  94 <a href="#sec17">Politics</a>
  95 </dt>
  96 <dd>
  97 <dl>
  98 <dt>
  99 <a href="#sec18">Thomas More - Utopia</a>
 100 </dt>
 101 </dl>
 102 </dd>
 103 <dt>
 104 <a href="#sec19">Religion</a>
 105 </dt>
 106 <dd>
 107 <dl>
 108 <dt>
 109 <a href="#sec20">William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience</a>
 110 </dt>
 111 </dl>
 112 </dd>
 113 <dt>
 114 <a href="#sec21">Technical</a>
 115 </dt>
 116 <dd>
 117 <dl>
 118 <dt>
 119 <a href="#sec22">C J Date - Database in Depth</a>
 120 </dt>
 121 <dt>
 122 <a href="#sec23">Gregor Kiczales - The Art of the Metaobject Protocol</a>
 123 </dt>
 124 </dl>
 125 </dd>
 126 </dl>
 127 </dd>
 128 <dt>
 129 <a href="#sec24">Reports</a>
 130 </dt>
 131 <dd>
 132 <dl>
 133 <dt>
 134 <a href="#sec25">2003 National Assesement of Adult Literacy</a>
 135 </dt>
 136 </dl>
 137 </dd>
 138 <dt>
 139 <a href="#sec26">Books That I Cannot Find</a>
 140 </dt>
 141 <dt>
 142 <a href="#sec27">Essays</a>
 143 </dt>
 144 <dd>
 145 <dl>
 146 <dt>
 147 <a href="#sec28">Computing</a>
 148 </dt>
 149 <dd>
 150 <dl>
 151 <dt>
 152 <a href="#sec29">Design</a>
 153 </dt>
 154 </dl>
 155 </dd>
 156 </dl>
 157 </dd>
 158 </dl>
 159 </div>
 160
 161
 162 <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse begins here --><p>I enjoy classical literature and works of philosophy and politics with
 163 a side of cyberpunk novels for when my brain is tired. When I was in
 164 High School I read technical books for fun, but now I tend to find
 165 most of them useless (thank you Internet) excepting a few really well
 166 written ones (<em>L.i.s.p</em>, <em>TAOCP</em>, ...).</p>
 167
 168 <p>I spend most of my time reading. A full list of things I have read
 169 would be impossible to compile, but here I am collecting links and
 170 small summaries of things I have read and find interesting enough to
 171 mention, but not always recommend, to others.</p>
 172
 173 <h2><a name="sec1" id="sec1"></a>
 174 Authors</h2>
 175
 176 <h3><a name="sec2" id="sec2"></a>
 177 William Blake</h3>
 178
 179 <p class="first">His poetry is the result of spending too much time etching copper
 180 plates and breathing the fumes. Quite wonderful indeed.</p>
 181
 182
 183 <h3><a name="sec3" id="sec3"></a>
 184 Kahlil Gibran</h3>
 185
 186 <p class="first">Kahlil Gibran is fairly interesting; his earlier works do not agree
 187 with my æsthetic sense (blah blah), but <em>The Madman</em> onward are all
 188 rather nice. So far I've read <em>A Tear and a Smile</em> (not so good
 189 excepting the last poem), <em>The Madman</em>, <em>The Prophet</em> (both excellent),
 190 and <em>Sand and Foam</em> (an interesting little book of aphorisms). A few of
 191 his works are <a href="http://leb.net/~mira/">online</a>, but I recommend scouting used book stores for
 192 old hardcover editions. The (late 90s onward at least) <em>hardcover</em>
 193 versions from <em>Alfred A. Knopf</em> are in fact permabound paperbacks with a
 194 hardcasing, and are of seriously inferior quality to the editions from
 195 the 50s and 60s (and cost quite a bit more, naturally).</p>
 196
 197
 198
 199 <h2><a name="sec4" id="sec4"></a>
 200 Fiction</h2>
 201
 202 <h3><a name="sec5" id="sec5"></a>
 203 General</h3>
 204
 205 <h4><a name="sec6" id="sec6"></a>
 206 Luke Rhinehardt - The Dice Man</h4>
 207
 208 <blockquote>
 209 <p class="quoted">
 210 And it's his illusions about what
 211 constitutes the real world which are
 212 inhibiting him...
 213 His reality, his reason, his society
 214 ...these are what must be destroyed</p>
 215
 216 </blockquote>
 217
 218 <p>A quotation from one of my <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_of_the_Soul">favorite metal songs</a> inspired me to grab
 219 this book; at worst it would be a waste of time. Much reward was found
 220 in this random stab in the dark. The book is framed as an
 221 autobiography of the author as a psychoanalyst, and his progression
 222 through life as a Dice Man after deciding to live his life through
 223 random chance.</p>
 224
 225 <p>The style, plot, and content are equally neurotic; part comedy, part
 226 attack on psychoanalysis, and part deep philosophy. It was often
 227 difficult to put down, and was read in under a week of spare time.</p>
 228
 229
 230
 231 <h3><a name="sec7" id="sec7"></a>
 232 Philosophical</h3>
 233
 234
 235 <h3><a name="sec8" id="sec8"></a>
 236 Sci-Fi</h3>
 237
 238 <h4><a name="sec9" id="sec9"></a>
 239 Neal Stephenson</h4>
 240
 241 <h5>Cryptonomicon</h5>
 242
 243 <p>I read <em>Cryptonomicon</em> when it was new, and at the time I thought it was
 244 good. It could have lost a hundred or so pages without detracting from
 245 the plot, but it was easy reading and didn't take very long to
 246 finish. The story was enganging, and the continual switching between
 247 the 1940s and present day slowly unravelled the tale in a nice way.</p>
 248
 249 <p>I'd still have to recommend <em>Snow Crash</em> if one wished to read only one
 250 Stephenson novel.</p>
 251
 252
 253 <h5>Snow Crash</h5>
 254
 255 <p>As one must read the <em>Bible</em> to understand English literature, so one
 256 must read <em>Snow Crash</em> today to be a nerd. In the realm of modern pop
 257 fiction this is one of the better books I've read; it was devoured in
 258 a mere four nights. Neal Stepheson may not be Milton, but he does come
 259 up with enganging tales. <em>Snow Crash</em> has a nice undertone of (quite
 260 accurate) political and social commentary that makes it worth reading
 261 as more than mere cyberpunk fiction.</p>
 262
 263
 264
 265
 266
 267 <h2><a name="sec10" id="sec10"></a>
 268 Non-Fiction</h2>
 269
 270 <h3><a name="sec11" id="sec11"></a>
 271 Education</h3>
 272
 273 <h4><a name="sec12" id="sec12"></a>
 274 John Taylor Gatto - <a href="http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/toc1.htm">Underground History of American Education</a></h4>
 275
 276 <p class="first">Contained within this book (available online for free, but the printed
 277 copy sits wonderfully on a shelf) is a detailed and seemingly well
 278 researched history of American Education with a particular focus on
 279 the transformation that has occured before our eyes in the last
 280 century. I am unsure if Gatto is entirely correct and not exaggerating
 281 anything; I have failed to find any negative criticisms, but it is not
 282 clear to me if that is because he is entirely correct or if no one
 283 cares enough to write a counterargument. I am in the process of
 284 tracking down as many of his sources as possible (a good number of
 285 them are out of print and not in the public domain yet), and will make
 286 an attempt to verify his argument over the course of the next year
 287 (that being 2007).</p>
 288
 289 <p>If he is correct then every one of us has had the first eighteen years
 290 of our lives stolen from us, and we have collectively suffered massive
 291 intellectual damage. My intuitions tell me he is correct (which is why
 292 I am driven to verify; I cannot trust myself because I <em>want</em> to
 293 believe) for my individuality and intelligence were nearly stolen from
 294 me. The only reason I survived relatively unscathed is because I
 295 became completely socially withdrawn for the last half of elementary
 296 school until late in high school due to the abuse I received at the
 297 hands of my peers creating a deep fear of social interaction in
 298 me. The downside is that I had the confidence crushed from my soul,
 299 but now that I have begun to regain it (the good that bicycling
 300 enabling me to stand straight and gradual realization of my own worth
 301 as a human have done) I would never trade the ability to think freely
 302 for the social skills I lack.</p>
 303
 304
 305
 306 <h3><a name="sec13" id="sec13"></a>
 307 Philosophy</h3>
 308
 309 <h4><a name="sec14" id="sec14"></a>
 310 Chinese</h4>
 311
 312 <h5>Tao Te Ching</h5>
 313
 314
 315 <h5>Confucianism</h5>
 316
 317 <h5>The Analects</h5>
 318
 319
 320
 321
 322 <h4><a name="sec15" id="sec15"></a>
 323 Marcus Aurelius - Meditations</h4>
 324
 325 <p class="first">I enjoyed reading this collection of meditations on Stoic
 326 philosophy. It is a fairly quick read; I read each of the twelve books
 327 before sleeping over the course of two weeks. Toward the end of the
 328 collection things get a bit topically repetetive (e.g. acting
 329 according to the nature of man is reflected upon over and over), but
 330 each repetition looks at the topic in a slightly different light. A
 331 number of passages I found quite inspiring, and scratched them down in
 332 my notebook to ponder further.</p>
 333
 334
 335 <h4><a name="sec16" id="sec16"></a>
 336 Søren Kierkegaard - The Sickness Unto Death</h4>
 337
 338 <p class="first">I purchased this when I was looking through books at a store after
 339 being unable to find the book I really wanted, and I must say that it
 340 was better for me to have found this one.</p>
 341
 342 <p>Contained within is a beautiful analysis of despair in the context of
 343 Christianity (really theism in general). Even if the argument offends,
 344 the presentation cannot. The dialectical nature of despair is
 345 reflected in every aspect of the work, and the method of presentation
 346 forces reflection.</p>
 347
 348
 349
 350 <h3><a name="sec17" id="sec17"></a>
 351 Politics</h3>
 352
 353 <h4><a name="sec18" id="sec18"></a>
 354 Thomas More - Utopia</h4>
 355
 356 <p class="first">I read most of Utopia in high school with the TI-89 ebook reader, but
 357 the way the book was split up made it a bit difficult to grasp the
 358 overall structure. I found a copy at a used book store one day, and so
 359 I read it again, and found it much more comprehensible. It is a quick
 360 read, and decent piece of literature. The interesting social system
 361 espoused resembles resembles state communism (even if perhaps as a
 362 negative ideal), but with an strange blend of 14th century European
 363 social customs.</p>
 364
 365
 366
 367 <h3><a name="sec19" id="sec19"></a>
 368 Religion</h3>
 369
 370 <h4><a name="sec20" id="sec20"></a>
 371 <a href="William%20James%20-%20The%20Varieties%20of%20Religious%20Experience.html">William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience</a></h4>
 372
 373
 374
 375
 376 <h3><a name="sec21" id="sec21"></a>
 377 Technical</h3>
 378
 379 <h4><a name="sec22" id="sec22"></a>
 380 C J Date - Database in Depth</h4>
 381
 382 <p class="first">This was a complete waste of time. The author rants on for 180 pages
 383 and presents the information in a disorderly and shallow manner. It
 384 could be rewritten in about fifty pages and contain the same amount of
 385 information if it were organized properly and the off topic commentary
 386 were minimized.</p>
 387
 388
 389 <h4><a name="sec23" id="sec23"></a>
 390 Gregor Kiczales - The Art of the Metaobject Protocol</h4>
 391
 392 <p class="first">AMOP is useful as a reference to the CLOS MOP (although less so with
 393 the online MOP spec), but the true value of the book lies in the first
 394 half of the book. It presents the design of the CLOS MOP through a
 395 series of revisions that fix limitations of earlier implementations
 396 and gradually work toward a generic and well designed MOP for
 397 CLOS. Through that process one is made more aware of a few general
 398 object protocol design skills, and gains insight into how to cleanly
 399 make mapping decisions customizable.</p>
 400
 401
 402
 403
 404
 405 <h2><a name="sec24" id="sec24"></a>
 406 Reports</h2>
 407
 408 <h3><a name="sec25" id="sec25"></a>
 409 <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006483.pdf">2003 National Assesement of Adult Literacy</a></h3>
 410
 411 <p class="first">A depressing view of American literacy rates. Literacy skills
 412 decreased across almost every population segment in the US between
 413 1993 and 2003; a mere 31% of college graduates are considered
 414 proficient in quantitative literacy (defined as being able to do
 415 things as terribly complicated as comparing two editorials).</p>
 416
 417
 418
 419
 420 <h2><a name="sec26" id="sec26"></a>
 421 Books That I Cannot Find</h2>
 422
 423 <p class="first">If you know anyone who has copies I'd appreciate an email. I'm willing
 424 to buy books for a reasonable cost, and for ones that are more than 25
 425 years old and out of print I am not opposed to <em>piracy</em> (no one is
 426 making money from them, and I feel that long copyrights are unethical
 427 and therefore feel no pangs of moral guilt).</p>
 428
 429 <ul>
 430 <li><em>Crystallizing Public Opinion</em> by Edward Bernays
 431
 432 <ul>
 433 <li>A supposed classic in the field of public relations. Curiosity
 434 demands that I read the writings of the father of the field to
 435 better understand the way the international media works.</li>
 436 <li>Another example of out of print books clearly having a market,
 437 but no publisher due to copyright (used copies go for nearly a
 438 thousand dollars in poor condition and hit five thousand or so
 439 for ones in good shape).</li>
 440 </ul></li>
 441 </ul>
 442
 443
 444 <h2><a name="sec27" id="sec27"></a>
 445 Essays</h2>
 446
 447 <h3><a name="sec28" id="sec28"></a>
 448 Computing</h3>
 449
 450 <h4><a name="sec29" id="sec29"></a>
 451 Design</h4>
 452
 453 <h5><a href="http://deadhobosociety.com/index.php/Essays/ESSAY12">Confucianism and Technical Standards</a></h5>
 454
 455
 456
 457
 458
 459   <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse ends here -->
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 484
 485 <p class="cke-footer">unknownlamer: you cannot both me in the state of sin and grace
 486               simultaneously
 487 Tony: sure you can, sex while figure skating is pretty sinfully
 488       graceful
 489 </p>
 490 <p class="cke-timestamp">Last Modified:
 491     July 29, 2008</p>
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