“Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the 'transcendent' and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.” - Christopher Hitchens
Book Reviews
Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill
This fairly short book has struck me with how John Stuart Mill absurdly contradicts himself every step of the way. Perhaps that sounds harsh, but I honestly expected more than what the contents provided given how lauded this philosophy is and how celebrated John Stuart Mill is in history. This work was suppose to be … Continue reading Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill
Intellectual Cowardice: Western Indology is Promoting Genocide Denial Of India’s Past
I feel this is an important issue to highlight, because Western Academia seems poised to just ignore painful truths of history, even if it means genocide denial for the sake of treating all religions as equal. After learning more about the issues within Islam, I had to re-evaluate what I thought was true from US … Continue reading Intellectual Cowardice: Western Indology is Promoting Genocide Denial Of India’s Past
Thus Spake Zarathustra Review
Nietzsche's philosophical novel was an amazing read. At the time I began to read it, I hadn't really been captivated by a novel since the Harry Potter series (which I love) and I found most fantasy stories to be really boring. I didn't expect much at the time, it was mostly curiosity in relation to the game. I suspected that I'd find it boring. To my surprise, it was initially quite a laughable read.
Why There Is No God by Armin Navabi
This book is an excellent introductory for theists, agnostics, and atheists unsure of their atheism on the basic arguments that atheists have against the belief in a God or Gods.
Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
Annie Duke goes into the principles of Truthseeking; Think of your decision-making on future possibilities as bets for your future with the different choices that you make as alternative bets for alternative futures.
Intelligence: All That Matters by Stuart Ritchie
This book is useful in clearing away misconceptions about intelligence research that have been popularized in Social Media and Liberal-leaning media outlets. One of the most shocking facts presented in this book is Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences has no basis in scientific research; at best, Musical Intelligence may be different from General Intelligence (G-Factor) but … Continue reading Intelligence: All That Matters by Stuart Ritchie
Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
I began reading this book out of curiosity on what insights Dr. Esther Perel, a psychotherapist whose work and counseling focuses on sexual relationships, could offer in the subject matter of married sex lives. I had found her speaking events to be quite educational and useful for understanding people's sexual inhibitions and preferences. Seeing her … Continue reading Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
Review of Unifying Hinduism by Andrew Nicholson: Errors in Reasoning
Although I'd like to praise this work, as I largely liked Nicholson's analyses and enjoyed reading some of them, I'm compelled by my own academic standards to give Unifying Hinduism a negative review. First, let me just say that for the average reader that this book will possibly satisfy interest in examining interesting parts about … Continue reading Review of Unifying Hinduism by Andrew Nicholson: Errors in Reasoning
The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Self-refuting and unsubstantiated Please note: I'm not giving a negative review on the basis of the thesis of the argument. I'm giving a negative review because of how bafflingly self-refuting the author's arguments were. Reading this book, I held no real opinions on the matter. I was, to the best of my knowledge, impartial to … Continue reading The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance This book, by Psychologist Angela Duckworth, was very illuminating. I had heard of this book before thanks to having read Carol Dweck and Heidi Grant Halvorson's books, but I wish I had read this one before them because I feel that it provides the foundational basis for those … Continue reading Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Discover Your Genius by Gerald Sindell
This 11-step guidebook is a complete disappointment. I had foolishly considered the notion that perhaps a book that didn't use statistical evidence or clinical psychological trials might hold some kernel of wisdom. After all, philosophers and Eastern religious texts offer interesting insights that I find worth consideration. To off-set the chance of disappointment, I had … Continue reading Discover Your Genius by Gerald Sindell
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
10/10 This book is definitely worthy of its praise. Harvard Psychologist Daniel Gilbert provides some of the most incredible insights on how we misjudge our own behavior in the future and even go as far as to misinterpret the past. There's more depth in so many of these psychology books that I read that one … Continue reading Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
Review of Winner-Take-All Politics by Hacker and Pierson
Link to Amazon website for the book: Winner-Take-All Politics Review of Winner-Take-All Politics by Hacker and Pierson Must Read: for those who care about economic inequality and feel disillusioned or depressed by the inaction in Washington. This is one of the most eye-opening books about modern political policy, political history of how the Super-rich took … Continue reading Review of Winner-Take-All Politics by Hacker and Pierson
Lying by Sam Harris
This book is, by far, one of the silliest that I've ever read. Sam Harris makes bold claims about how lying is always morally wrong and goes so far as to argue that a college lesson by a professor influenced him into realizing that lying is always wrong. Harris actually claims that even in the … Continue reading Lying by Sam Harris
Persuasive Writing: The 80/20 Solution
I cannot fathom why anyone would spend their own money to market this book for $2.99. Seriously? The author has no understanding of marketing and competition. You can finish this book in five minutes of reading and all this author does is make utterly worthless suggestions on how to frame each paragraph to connect them. … Continue reading Persuasive Writing: The 80/20 Solution
I Hero: The Beginning by Jason Zandri
The main character is a Gary Stu. After a fairly interesting prologue, the story devolves into ridiculously obvious cliches, the author portrays a "Middle Eastern" side character with some weird mix of Israeli and Pakistani name origins. Assuming the author was trying to portray a typical person from the Middle East then he failed to … Continue reading I Hero: The Beginning by Jason Zandri
Dating and interviewing: How improving one skill improves others by Aadi Reddy
This book suffers from a myriad of run-on sentences, awkward wording that often times makes little sense within the context of the sentence, and it reads like an unedited diatribe of whatever was on the author’s mind. The title seems misleading; the author offers a scant few hypothetical examples that rely on the author’s obvious … Continue reading Dating and interviewing: How improving one skill improves others by Aadi Reddy
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
By far, one of the greatest books I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Daniel Kahneman goes into such details for biases in availability, to substitution of hard questions to how we feel about such difficult questions, and how we try to find causes where there are none. There is a plethora of riveting, academic, and … Continue reading Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Schopenhauer’s book “The Wisdom of Life”
Schopenhauer’s book “The Wisdom of Life” is pretentious garbage. Nietzsche’s assessment of Schopenhauer, which seemed altogether extreme, turned out to be correct. Schopenhauer was a nihilist of the most lamentable sort – you read that right: Schopenhauer was a nihilist that was more lamentable than traditional nihilism. The framework of Schopenhauer’s “The Wisdom of Life” … Continue reading Schopenhauer’s book “The Wisdom of Life”