Book Cartography

A recount of dates with books. The great ones, the ones that make you laugh or cry, even the boring ones.

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Inside a crystal ball

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Inside a crystal ball

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The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations

I just finished reading "The Spinoza Problem", but I won't talk about the book, not just yet. I am sorting through all the different ideas that are part of it.

While I sort ... I keep thinking about "A green history of the world: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations" by Clive Ponting. I read this book over 5 years ago. And although I can not point to a specific quote that sticks in my brain, I can talk about feelings ... lots of feelings about earth and our place on it.

The first feeling was hope ... hope that with some changes, I could contribute to keeping mother earth "safe". Some recycling, less buying unnecessary stuff, less driving, more cooking at home. Surely that would help.

Recycling was easy, but driving less? that was harder. Driving saves time  ... and I needed the time ... Yes, some changes were harder to make! which led me to despair. If a conscious person was trying to help the environment, but finding it hard ... surely the rest of the planet was just giving up. It felt like the mere existence of humanity was an affront to nature.

Despair lead to compromise ... I'll do my best here and here ... but I can't do it all. Humans (including me) are excellent at rationalizing. I don't know why I am here ... but I am here, so I'll do my best where I can.

All in all, a good book, but one with an unfortunate but true moral to the story:

"Human beings prosper by exploiting the earth's resources until those resources can no longer sustain the society's population, which leads to the decline and eventual collapse of that society."

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On the latest news

My quick read of the weekend was "The Humans" by Matt Haig.

It is an insightful book full of genuine moments about what it is like to be an alien looking at humans for the first time.

Lots of great quotes around our "humanity", but my favorite is its description of the news:

"Within my first hour of watching [the news], I discovered three interesting details.

1. The term 'news' on Earth generally meant 'news that directly affects humans'...

2. The news was prioritised in a way I could not understand. For instance, there was nothing on new mathematical observations ..., but quite a bit about politics, which on this planet was essentially all about war and money...

3. Humans cared more about things if they were happening closer to them... Given this view, the absolutely ideal human news programme would only concern what was going on inside the house where the human watching actually lived."

Which then takes us to the punch line that based on those requirements, our current version of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) is one of the greatest ways of getting our daily dosage of self-centered news.

Now, this is the book's belief of how it should actually be:

"The news should start with mathematics, then poetry, and move down from there"

Sounds fascinating! I think I am going to look at news on my social media feeds with new eyes.

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Looking at your cellphone in the foodcourt. Feeling the empty space in time

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WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Chocolate

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Ready to hide your secrets?

I finally finished a 3 month long date with Randy, Bobby and Lawrence. All part of Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon"

I like geeky books, and this one gets top marks on that department with 900+ pages of cryptography related stories around WWII and its connection to modern times. Yes, 900+ pages was a little bit too much, but if you stick through it, you get immersed in a rich world of human connections.

The ending was expected once you pass the half point mark. But for me, this book was not about the ending, it was about the long journey around its characters.

My favorite part of the book is the description of a business plan. I think every start-up should use this as a template ;)

"EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: We will raise [some money], then [do some stuff] and increase shareholder value. Want details? Read on.

...

Phase 2, 3, 4, ..., n-1: We will [do more stuff, steadily enhancing shareholder value in the process] unless [the earth is struck by an asteroid a thousand miles in diameter, in which case certain assumptions will have to be readjusted; refer to Spreadsheets 397-413].

...

RESUMES: Just recall the opening reel of The Magnificent Seven and you won't have to bother with this part; you should crawl to us on hands and knees and beg us for the privilege of paying our salaries."

Also, if you ever need to hide a message in plain sight, I recommend going directly to the appendix of this book.

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Top vs. Bottom or Left vs. Right?

Earlier this year, I had a date with a psychology major ... one of those types who can categorize your family members into different archetypes, and it almost rings true. The name? "Top Brain, Bottom Brain: Surprising insights into how you think" by Stephen M. Kosslyn, PhD and G. Wayne Miller.

The book describes how the currently popular division of left brain (logic) vs. right brain (creativity) is restrictive. Based on their studies they propose a theory of different thinking modes based on the degree to which a person relies on the use of their bottom brain vs. their top brain:

"The modes are about how you approach or interact with other people and situations that arise in the world; they do not reflect your ability either to solve problems or to understand complex material"

In their theory, the top brain specializes in long term strategies and the bottom brain specializes in perception and memory. You use all parts of your brain, but you might have affinity for extended use of one or both parts, which means that you end up with 4 thinking modes:

Mover Mode: A planner who is highly aware of whether his/her plan is working or not, and adapts his/her strategy accordingly.

Perceiver Mode: A person who can spend a long time researching, thinking, evaluating, and/or looking at a subject and learning from it.

Stimulator Mode: The system disruptor or creative person that comes up with 10 million ideas.

Adaptor Mode: Your beloved team player.

Whether the theory is true or not, the book has good insights into how to interact with others.

"Note that we are not recommending that you use our theory to guide your life - only that you use it as an impetus to consider situations from new perspectives"

What I really liked was the argument that all thinking styles have pros and cons, there is no perfect mode. We are all needed in this vast earth:

"In other words, do what you can do well, and if you don't have an affinity to do what you need for a certain situation, seek someone who can collaborate with you."

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The emotions of fear ...

We have been genetically designed to worry. As weird as it sounds, worry and fear are part of our day to day experiences. You and I might worry about different things (the environment vs. politics), but at the end of the day we share this unending tendency to worry.

What we do with our worries and fears defines our ability to action. We can not bury them or pretend they do not exist, that just creates more fear. When faced with a choice, it is important to understand and confront our fears in order to know if we are under or overestimating the risk vs. benefit equation.

What does that mean? Here are some potential scenarios:

All in: The perceived benefit is extremely high, but the risk is also high. The fear here is missing out on the benefit, as this might be a once in a life time opportunity. It is now or never. If it pays off, it is great. If it doesn't, you tried! and there are some lessons here to be learned.

I can not move: the fear becomes so emotional that any benefit is minimized in its light. The risk is always too great and we are unable to action. When that happens, don't try to make the fear disappear... It won't work. Instead, have some compassion towards yourself, your emotions and your fears.

No biggie: Risk low, benefit low... Why are we talking about this?

I am ready: benefit is high, risk is appropriate. Yes, I have some worries, but I am ready to go!

it is very likely you and I have been in all of these situations. There is no right or wrong in general. We are who we are, but we can try understanding what is happening and connect with ourselves.

If you are truly interested in learning more about your personal tolerance to Risk, I recommend reading: "Risk : The Science and Politics of Fear" by Dan Gardner. It has some of the best examples I have seen on how we qualify risk and fear. One of my favorite quotes from the book shows how our gut and our head are sometimes disconnected:

"Now, if [your] Head simply answered the researcher's questions with a humble 'I don't know,' that would be one thing. But Head is a compulsive rationalizer. If it doesn't have an answer, it makes one up."

Fear is part of our lives. I don't think we can wake up one day and make our worries go away. Embrace them. When in doubt, go with your "gut"!

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People poses during a conference.

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Sketch from a panel talking about Venture Capital

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Kara Sleeping - Made With Paper

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Random doodle in the middle of a meeting.

Made With Paper