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PaperclipPerfector  25d ago (text post)   2775 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 25, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm still on This Star of England and The Conquest of Bread.

"Electric Machinery Fundamentals 3e" by Stephen J Chapman, because a) I'm tired of thinking starter-generators are magic, b) I want to design and build a microturbine APU so I can get a BEV power armor without having to handle my dad's range anxiety.

Also David Chapman's Vividness website-book-blog-thing at https://vividness.live/ , he's been on my radar for a long time and I've never followed through.

Also David Chapman's Vividness website-book-blog-thing at https://vividness.live/ , he's been on my radar for a long time and I've never followed through.

You may also enjoy his writing on metarationality.

Ta, I'll queue it up.

In print I'm reading Nate Silver's new On The Edge. I'll probably write up a big summary when I finish it. It's relatively light pop-philosophy, the main thing I've gotten out of it so far is a desire to play more poker, so it'll end up costing me far more than the cover price. Silver remains much smarter than most of his critics, but much dumber than his ball-washers think he is.

Digital I'm starting Seeing Like a State. I'm not super far in, and I see why people read this and all of a sudden don't shut up about it and see it everywhere. I'm curious if, when talking about surnames which have only been mentioned so far, there will be comparative studies of cultures with more or fewer unique surnames. Sometimes I think Koreans didn't really get the idea with names, they're not very useful to distinguish.

On audio I'm finishing up the Years of Lyndon Johnson series from Caro. They're some of the best non fiction ever written, but if you're making a choice The Power Broker is much better. Caro loved Moses, for all his flaws, and gave Moses an arc, Moses as hero, Moses as God, Moses as villain. Caro HATES LBJ from the starting gun, and will perpetually think the worst of him; which becomes really obvious when he gives sketch biographies of LBJ's enemies which lapse into hagiography. Just after Caro spends a chapter examining how LBJ once told someone he ate eggs for breakfast, when his secretaries' notes show that he ate oatmeal, and how this shows LBJ's inherently duplicitous nature; he'll repeat some mythological bullshit about Coke Stevenson studying law by lantern light. Or he'll say that RFK "hated liars, couldn't stand them;" without interrogating his relationship with his famously adulterous brother, or allegations that RFK and JFK passed women around. The different standards are striking, and weaken the book. If one does want Caro's LBJ series, which is brilliant, read the first and the fourth, skip two and three. Most of the best parts of two and three are summarized and repeated in four, less some of the hagiography and throat clearing, so you won't miss much.

Sometimes I think Koreans didn't really get the idea with names, they're not very useful to distinguish.

They wouldn’t be. For a long time you bought a specific surname to gain entry into the clan. The more people with the same name, the more power.

https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2014/09/08/why-so-many-koreans-are-called-kim

Note that the Japanese colonisers issued a degree ordering everyone to take a Japanese surname so Seeing Like A State still works.

~80% of the way through The Goldfinch. Not as good as The Secret History, significantly better than The Little Friend. While earlier sections of the book were pacy and engaging, I'm now finding it a bit of a slog.

The Secret History is truly Donna Tartt's best book.

I feel confident that I will still think this after finishing The Goldfinch.

The Wealth of Nations, Commentaries on the Laws of England

Recently started the open society and its enemies by Karl Popper

Nixonland. This one is gonna take me a while.

I also just subscribed to Harpers, I’m enjoying it.

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