Nonfiction book club (frustration)

[SeniorBen]

I agree with everyone else about that book. One I hold in equal esteem though very different in not depending so much on history is The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, a 2012 social psychology book by Jonathan Haidt.

I'm not a big fan of Haidt. He's one of those "both sides are the same" people when facts show that one side definitely is more belligerent and dishonest, and largely responsible for the extreme polarization that exists in our country today.

Of course, that would make it a good book to discuss at a book club.

 

[SeniorBen]

Thank you, @sch404 . So far, we have been getting our books on gutenberg.org . There certainly is a lot on there, if we want to stick with public domain works. I'm thinking Darwin next.

The other book club members are in their 30s and maybe 20s. One of them expressed a preference for hard copy, and I'd prefer it too.

For one thing, I don't have a computer or tablet; I do all my online reading on my smartphone. Also, I find that I see things better on paper. As long as the type is not too small, the paper not too yellowed, etc. Hmm.

Sometimes you can find e-books online of popular books. Most of the time they're PDFs, but sometimes you can find MOBI or EPUB versions, which are easier to read on a smartphone since the text wraps.

 

[Happy Heart]

Some Friends of the Library will send you books. When I worked at one in the Silicon Valley it was heart breaking to see them fill dumpsters with unwanted books, many of us would rather see them donated to places without such resources.

 

[MarkD]

not a big fan of Haidt. He's one of those "both sides are the same" people

I don’t believe that is true. The book is about understanding how people who may otherwise strike us as reasonable May nonetheless disagree strongly over matters of religion and politics. It certainly isn’t about who is correct regarding any particular issue. It is about how we and they can feel so strongly we are right and the other is wrong. That doesn’t mean nothing is wrong or even evil. It’s about psychology and social context.

 

[MarkD]

I also like E O Wilson's work. Particularly his book "The Creation" Wilson, a famous evolutionary biologist, tries to find common ground with Christians who do not believe in evolution. A good read.

Edward O. Wilson, Bridging Science and Religion
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5788810

E. O. Wilson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._O._Wilson

I’d like to read that one! Thanks for putting it on radar. I’ve still got more than a thousand pages of The Matter With Things before I can take on other nonfiction though.

 

[SeniorBen]

I don’t believe that is true. The book is about understanding how people who may otherwise strike us as reasonable May nonetheless disagree strongly over matters of religion and politics. It certainly isn’t about who is correct regarding any particular issue. It is about how we and they can feel so strongly we are right and the other is wrong. That doesn’t mean nothing is wrong or even evil. It’s about psychology and social context.

That's what makes it a good book for a discussion group!

 

[Alligatorob]

I’d like to read that one! Thanks for putting it on radar. I’ve still got more than a thousand pages of The Matter With Things before I can take on other nonfiction though.

E O Wilson was an interesting guy.

Born and raised in the deep south he understood the fundamentalist Christian anti-science folks well, he was once one of them. He spent his career on the Harvard faculty and did a lot of ground breaking work. I think he saw the need to try and bridge the worlds he knew.

I was lucky enough to hear him speak once, and meet him afterwards. A very down to earth guy, who really enjoyed talking about his experiences growing up in southern Alabama. He retained a nice Alabama drawl throughout his life. Probably one of very few at Harvard.

 

[MarkD]

E O Wilson was an interesting guy.

Born and raised in the deep south he understood the fundamentalist Christian anti-science folks well, he was once one of them. He spent his career on the Harvard faculty and did a lot of ground breaking work. I think he saw the need to try and bridge the worlds he knew.

I was lucky enough to hear him speak once, and meet him afterwards. A very down to earth guy, who really enjoyed talking about his experiences growing up in southern Alabama. He retained a nice Alabama drawl throughout his life. Probably one of very few at Harvard.

The science/faith issue is front and center at the BioLogos website forums I've become involved in. I'm not interested in the details of Christianity per se but find the whole phenomenon of God belief and the role it may have played in our becoming as we are which we refer to as our humanity. Obviously I don't think any particular belief system is key but Christianity is the one I almost grew up in and so many in my family still are. I think everyone has faith in something even if that is just the view that the cosmos is an indifferent, deterministic system*. But what you believe probably sets you use to be open to other things and so access more of that humanity.

*PS that is not my belief nor the source of my faith.