inquiry_from_an_anti_library's reviews
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Many social changes were happening to the United States, France, and British during the 1780s-1790s.  Obtaining independence from a monarchy, to defending sovereignty, to economics, to social rights.  Each were forced to reconsider what they thought of liberty and freedom.  Each considered the rights and treatment of slaves, along with the penal system.  Methods were used to protect free speech, to prevent persecution for disagreement with those in power.  The privileges of the elite, the nobles were challenged.  Exploitation by those in power were to be resisted.  As power shifted to private entities, to the market system, those in power had their own exploitation methods which were challenged.  Developing a need for workers’ rights.  Technological development changed infrastructure. 

 

The book covers a range of topics, and therefore there is limited information on each topic.  More research would be needed to understand each society and event.  The history is represented using contemporary values, of the early 21st century.  Creating a narrative fallacy for what was right and wrong. 

Mass movements are a method for people to change society, a method for the individual to change themself.  Each movement might make different claims, but their methodology is the same.  Movements enable collective action, but at the cost of individual’s identity and sovereignty.  Each individual defers to the values and views of the group, rather than proclaim their own values.  Movements are perpetuated when members are willing to participate in collective action and self-sacrifice.

 

Movements enable change.  People who have accepted their conditions and are comfortable with their lives are not susceptible to a movement.  Those who want change are the dispossessed, the disillusioned, the discarded, the rejected, those who cannot find meaning in their lives.  Those who want change think that the future holds more value for them than the present.  They are willing to substitute their own lack of self-worth and meaning by seeking to change others and dedicate themselves to a cause.  Lack of self-worth enables the person to want to relegate the responsibility of choosing to others, to be free of freedom, to be free of one’s own individual failures and frustrations. 

 

Members of the group become willing to harm others, as their cause is perceived as righteous.  Persecution justifies more persecution as those acts validate the movements beliefs.  Movements have an enemy which must be vanquished for the better future to come about.  An enemy provides a common source of hatred, which unifies the members and reduces the opposition’s resistance.

 

The references to mass movements is of the totalitarian variety.  Not all movements are totalitarian, and various movements have factions that use different methods other than repression.  Not all change requires totalitarianism.  What this book provides is a way to identify totalitarian movements.  Explains how and why totalitarian movements develop.

Empire is a form of sovereign power that governs globalization.  The global economic and cultural exchanges.  The sovereignty of nation-states has declined due to an inability to govern economic and cultural exchanges.  The sovereignty of nation-states is being replaced by a sovereignty composed of national and supranational institutions.  Empire does not mean imperialism, and does not establish a territorial center of power.  Empire’s governance is decentralized. 

 

Empires seek to be inclusive to different values, to different people.  Creating methods for negotiating a perpetual and universal peace.  The empire’s justification for the use of force, is to use force in the service of resolving humanitarian problems, and imposing peace.  Empire is brought into being by the capacity to resolve conflicts.  Through empire, people have been overcoming repressive political and economic methods.  Through empire, people have been experimenting with alternative methods of liberty, while seeking international cohesion.  The power of empires comes from making people more productive. 

 

This book can be difficult to read.  Difficult because of the way the authors explain the ideas, using a myriad of philosophical and historic references.  The references are provided a short description, but read like jargon meant for those who already know the references.  References that could be interpreted differently based on what details have been added or left out.  

People have limited time and energy to accomplish what they want.  Individuals have to make trade-offs based on what they want to accomplish.  Those who try to accomplish everything, are dividing their attention, time, and energy across different activities, which leads to worse performance.  The basic value proposition of essentialism, is for individuals to stop trying to do everything, which enables individuals to focus on where their efforts can contribute most. 

 

Essentialists focus on doing few activities with high quality outcomes, rather than attempting many activities with low quality outcomes.  Essentialism focuses the individual on the appropriate activities, to make worthwhile trade-offs, not a justification to just do less activities.  What essentialists do is explore and evaluate what an opportunity is worth, eliminate the nonessential and trivial, and then design behaviors and habits to implement the intended activities.  Essentialists use the power of gracefully saying no to an activity, to prevent being distracted from what is essential. 

 

The ideas of the book are based on economics, that people have limited resources which cause people to make trade-offs on how they are used.  The ideas in the book are based on assumptions which economics has gone beyond, which can also create a contradiction.  In an effort to remove the trivial, the essentialist can make decisions using the claim ‘if it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no.’  Removing the trivial requires perfection, which means spending more limited time and energy on the potentially nonessential.  Economic ideas which contained methods of perfection, have transitioned into satisficing, a more realistic decision making framework. 

 

This book created a narrative fallacy for essentialism.  The examples and ideas that are used to support essentialism express how individuals can benefit from them.  What are not included are the examples of how essentialism can harm society.  How essentialism can harm society can be thought of as nonessential to this book.  Leadership is often the source for the direction of a group, but leadership can create strategic ignorance, to prevent information from reaching them.  Information for which the leaders would be liable for, as that could harm the leader’s ability to provide direction.  Preventing leadership from taking accountability, which would be nonessential.  For the author, it's essential to have time to discover and reflect on what decisions are essential.  But if leadership already took time to discover the priority of activities, then any alternative views can be considered as nonessential as those views would be wasting resources and time.  The methods used to decline the nonessential views, can be very ungraceful. 

Liberty is not given or granted.  Liberty is earned and fought for.  As France suffered various crises, economic and bad harvests, the people obtained political power.  The French Revolution was fought for liberty, equality, and fraternity.  To dismantlement the perceived causes of the crises which were the social hierarchy’s privileges, repressive methods, and bad decisions.  In the process the people went from being subjects, to citizens with political rights expressed through voting. 

 

Various ideas were expressed and factions formed to resolve the crises.  There was competition for political power.  Ideas involved what rights the commoners should have, the privileges of the nobles, and the monarchy’s power.  There were those who had a lot to gain from the social transition, and those who had a lot to lose. 

 

As the French Revolution was ongoing, the crisis escalated tensions, which led to various violent events.  The monarchy was forced into accepting the authority of the people, of an elected assembly.  Even commoners were becoming leaders of political movements rather than just nobles.  Deference to social hierarchy gradually declined.  By 1789, the political system and related institutions that came before were considered part of the old regime.  That the prior institutions were unjust, irrational, and needed to be replaced.  Religion was tied to the old regime, and were deemed in opposition to the people’s need of equality.  To pay for the liberation movements, the people expropriated church and noble property. 

 

Through the French Revolution, the people earned the right to vote, and many voted in the elections.  But as the Revolution progressed, violence was turned against the people.  Different political factions considered the others an enemy.  After votes were cast, those who did not vote in the same manner as those in power, were persecuted.  Reducing the people’s will to vote in forthcoming elections.  Violence that became seen as justified by those in power, to defend the public.  The Revolution ended gradually, as Napoleon, a general supported by the people, concentrated power and began changing the policies used during the Revolution.

 

This can be a difficult book to read, as the reader can get lost in the details.  The book contains a lot of details on events, and on the different competing ideas.  The explanation of the situation could have been improved through an account of the general trends, such as with chapter summaries. 

Details and sequences of events provide the contents of what happened, but the meaning of history comes from what can be learned from the contents.  Meaning is derived from understanding how to apply the lessons of history to one’s own experiences.  Lessons that come from a diverse set of history about the sovereignty of capitals. 

 

Lessons that include how cultures endure the passage of time better than political power.  While cultures share intergenerational knowledge with the community, the continuity of institutions depends on fostering an intergenerational loyalty of the people.  People prefer and are more loyal to the more local communities than the larger entities.  Should any political power want political legitimacy, want the support of the people, those in power will need to provide the people with more than just infrastructural conveniences. 

 

This is a short book that contains a diverse set of regional histories.  The details provided are meant to introduce the reader to the locations, and provide context about them.  To understand any specific region would require more research. 

 

The historic examples and the lessons have a contradiction.  One lesson is that experiences of history are singular, that individuals and neighboring regions can have different experiences within the same era.  This should make each lesson local and limited.  But the lessons themselves apply more broadly, as others shared variations of the experiences.  The examples give context to lessons derived from a larger sample set of histories.   

Humans are social animals, who want to belong.  Transgender people want safety, political and social acceptance, but the methods used to obtain the wants has consequences.  There have been many movements to support transgender people, and laws changed.  Society has changed to support transgender people, but misinformation harms society and transgender people.

 

Sex is biological while gender is social.  Transgender people are those who are transitioning their gender to a different gender.  Social aspects of a person can change more readily than sex differences.  The sex of members of the human species depends on gametes, which are facilities for production of sperm or eggs.  As humans mature, male and female bodies have various biological differences.  Differences such as skeletal structure and hormones.  Differences create different abilities in physical ability, that are not based on weight class. 

 

Testosterone is a growth hormone that males produce in higher quantities, which increases the strength and size of those born male.  When someone is thinking of transitioning at an early age, they can take puberty blockers to prevent the body from producing estrogen and testosterone.  Those who transition after puberty do not lose their testosterone produced differences even if they take hormonal medications.  Puberty blockers are a source of conflict for transgender due to the misinformation about them, for the side-effects of puberty blockers are not shared. 

 

Puberty blockers are presented as reversible, but they can affect the long-term health of an individual.  There are physical and mental health problems related to taking puberty blockers, which require a cascade of interventions, such as additional medications, to prevent the problems from exacerbating.  Detransitioners are those who transitioned, experienced the medication and surgeries involved, but later regretted their decision.  They have to live with health consequences of the interventions.   The physical, mental, and other wounds.   

 

To become transgender used require a major operation.  Being transgender has become based on self-identification.  A person can declare themselves to be whichever sex that they want, no matter their biology.  Gender self-identification requires others to validate the sex of the individual, to treat them for how they identify as.  While societies have been removing gender stereotypes for the harm they have caused, as no person represents any stereotype, and activities can be completed no matter the sex of the individual.  The transgender movement is taking a different approach with gender stereotypes, as someone who does not fit into a gender stereotype is thought of as transgender.

 

This is a book more about transactivists than the transgender.  Transactivists are a lobby group who outnumber the transgender people they claim to speak for. 

 

The methods transactivists use to obtain political and social support are based on persecution.  Any views not aligned with transactivist, are considered hate speech.  They silence anyone who does not affirm the transactivist beliefs, share the consequences of transitioning, or question those thinking about transition.  Transactivists silence even the transgender themselves. 

 

This leads people to self-censor their views, to prevent harassment.  This has the effect of people publicly agreeing with transgender policies, while privately disagreeing.  Societies can accommodate various belief systems even if they are contradictory, but societies have a conflict when a group attempts to impose their beliefs on everyone else.

 

There are people who changed their want to transition, they desist.  Medical professionals claim to be good at picking out those who persist, to go through with the transition.  Medical professionals who wanted caution or tried to make children comfortable in their own sex were harassed, resulting in a reduction of caution in the transitioning industry. 

 

Children can undergo surgery based on the advice of the medical professionals.  There are even regions that allow children to make their own claims on their medical treatment, overriding guardian’s consent and child-safeguarding rules. 

 

With self-identification, any sex can enter spaces devoted to another sex.  Such as men can enter women’s restrooms.  This creates physical and social risk.  Men in jail can self-identify as women for their own safety, but this risks the safety of the female inmates. 

 

States are facing lawsuits to allow male athletes to compete as women, and lawsuits to prevent male athletes to compete as women.  Those who transitioned do not have the same physical abilities as the sex they have transitioned into, creating unfair competition.  A more appropriate response would be to add an additional category in sports for transgender, which would make sports safe and fair for everyone.

 

The transgender movement effects women’s political rights.  When women were fighting for equality, women were considered oppressed and needed to challenge the oppression.  With the transgender movement, women that want equal rights can become men, while those who remain women are considered content with supporting roles.

 

The topic is socially and politically sensitive.  The author tries to error correct for various sources of misinformation.  This book focuses on the harmful consequences on the health of transgender and social reactions, as these views are perceived to be more difficult to share.  The author recognizes that there have been people who were improved through the transition process, but does not share those details.  Details which could have included ways and reasons that can make transition appropriate.  Along the missing details of those who appreciated the transition, are the missing references to transgender people who are being hurt through lack of inclusion and social support. 

 

The author shares various conflicts of including transgender people into various social functions.  What are missing are the alternative methods for safety and acceptance for transgender people which would not cause a conflict.

 

The author disapproves the methods that transactivists use to gain social and political support.  The problem is that the author sometimes uses the same harsh methods on the transactivists.  Alternative methods to explain ideas would have set a better precedent on how to handle the sensitive topic. 

 

The author tries to be scientific when approaching the topic of sex and gender.  The problem is that the author sometimes uses inappropriate scientific reasoning for lack of supporting scientific research.  In part, this is due to the lack of scientific research being done on the topics given the political sensitivity. 

A solution to European regional conflicts, which included a Christian power struggle, was a Crusade.  The 1st Crusade united the leaders through conflict and a noble cause, against Islam.  Muslims did not have the unity to withstand the Crusade.  Some wanted to use the Crusaders against their own Muslim opponents or appease the Crusaders.  Even years after the Crusade, Arabic communities preferred Frankish leaders to their own.  But Christian misbehavior, created a desire to unite Muslim communities.  The 2nd and 3rd Crusades were initiated in response to Muslims recapturing territory.  The leader against the 3rd Crusade, was Saladin. 

 

Saladin was a Muslim Sultan who united Muslims and successfully defended the realm against the Crusaders.  Decisions that Saladin made, turned Saladin into a hero to Muslims and Christians alike.  Saladin was generous, and facilitated policies that enabled a prosperous economy.  Saladin was an effective negotiator, and avoided needless conflicts such as those which would have turned rivals into enemies. 

 

Saladin showed mercy to many, even to opponents.  Other leaders would not have shown mercy.  Sparing many people was a decision criticized by Saladin’s allies, as the spared people were then able to defend regions against Saladin.  Saladin’s generosity and mercy is contrasted by the Crusaders, who slaughtered many indiscriminately.  Christians might have united under a banner to engage in the Crusades, but Christians began to support Saladin as Saladin was seen as divine punishment for Christian misbehavior. 

 

Religion and culture united the people, but violent conflicts existed.  Various Islamic kingdoms were wealthy, and used the wealth to fund research.  They sought knowledge, no matter the source.  They were tolerant of diversity, such as in art and science, for all creation reflected the glory of Allah. 

 

Islam was split between Shia and Sunni sects.  Each having their politically dominant regions.  During this time, changing allegiances was common.  People might have been opponents during conflict, but were willing to trade with each other quickly after the conflict.  The political world could quicky change enemies and rivals into trading partners and friends.

 

Saladin came from a politically influential family.  Earned favor and political power from an early successful campaign.  Earning governorship of two villages initially, and gaining Egypt by being recognized as candidate for succession after the death of the predecessor.  Power was gained mostly through luck of circumstance. 

 

As Saladin gained power, there was a conflict as to who Saladin was supposed to serve.  Which religious sect, which peoples, which more powerful leader.  With diverse interests, Saladin was under threat from rebellion and assassination.  As Saladin secured power, Saladin became more independent of Saladin’s political supporter, Nur al-Din.

 

Saladin also had to deal with the Nizari, who became known as Assassins.  The Nizari were culturally Shi’te Islam.  The Nizari almost killed Saladin twice. 

 

There is a lot of content provided on the politics and the world during the era.  Most of the content on Saladin, is about interactions with the Crusaders. 

Review for The Three-Body Problem, Book 1 

Is This An Overview? 

The world of science is being threatened.  During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, science became antagonistic to political favor.  Ye Wenjie is a scientist who survived the persecution by being politically cautious.  But events conspire to make Ye Wenjie a target of the politicians, only to find sanctuary in an isolated political radio base.  A base which was claimed to be used for military applications.  As scientists were in short supply, Ye Wenjie had the required skills that were needed to maintain, operate, and develop the technology.  

Decades later, with persecution of scientists through the Cultural Revolution a harsh but distant memory, science has advanced tremendously.  But science seems again to be under threat, as scientists are dying with an increase in crime against academia and research institutions.  There does not seem to be a political motivation for the acts.  What defines science is also under threat, for the methods of science are failing.  Science depends on replication, that the results of an event will be repeated given the same conditions.  But even with advanced technology of participle colliders, different results occur with the same conditions. 

Wang Miao is a scientist who is asked to participate in a group from which many of the dead scientists have been associated with.  Through the investigation, Wang Miao comes across a game that the scientists play, called 3 Body.  The game is extremely immersive, with the goal of predicting events.  Within the game, civilizations develop during Stable Eras and fall during Chaotic Eras.  The eras can change quickly, with the world undergoing seemingly random and extreme changes.  How are the events of the Cultural Revolution, the death of scientists decades later, and the 3 Body game related? 

Caveats? 

There is a plethora of science terminology in the book.  Written in a way that blends the science and science fiction which makes it difficult to separate when the science ends and the science fiction begins.  There are sections filled with science terminology, ideas, and people involved.  If a reader has a background in various science fields, the science references can add depth to understanding the situations being presented.  Without the science background, the sections can be difficult and confusing to read. 

Review for The Dark Forest, Book 2 

Is This An Overview? 

The Trisolarans are heading to Earth, with ill intent towards humankind.  Trisolaran technology is far advanced compared to what humans have, but during the time it would take the Trisolarans to reach Earth, humans have the potential to develop more advanced technology compared to what Trisolarans have.  A potential nullified by Trisolaran sophon technology, that is used to prevent humans from understanding physics, from gaining more knowledge about how reality works.  This limits human technology to developments using knowledge already possessed.  Sophons have another function, to inform the Trisolarans of everything that humans are doing and saying.  The threat posed by the Trisolarans changes human society.  Governments and economies change their priorities, people suffer from psychological turmoil.  Various methods are proposed to handle the threats.  

A limit to the sophons, is their inability to know what someone is thinking.  Humans create the Wallfacer Project to take advantage of the secrets people carry in their thoughts.  The Wallfacers are four individuals chosen to think of a plan without explaining to others what the plan is.  Nobody can know what the Wallfacers are actually thinking.  With minor limitations, whatever the Wallfacers want, others have to find a way to obtain what they want.  The Wallfacers come from different backgrounds and begin to think of methods to overcome the Trisolaran threat.  The Wallfacers are treated as saviors of humankind.  

While there are those wanting humans to overcome the Trisolaran threat, leading to support for the Wallfacer methods.  There are humans who have allied themselves to the Trisolarans, and want the Trisolarans to succeed.  The Trisolaran human allies find a Wallbreaker for each Wallfacer.  The Wallbreakers’ task is to expose the plan that the Wallfacers have in their thoughts.  Can the Wallfacers find a method to save humanity or will the Wallbreakers succeed in reading the Wallfacers thoughts? 

Caveats? 

This book not only requires readers to have some familiarity with science, but the reader also has to become an investigator.  The reader has to become a Wallbreaker, to continuously try to figure out the Wallfacers plan.  This book is filled with events that appear to have insignificant consequences, obvious consequences, or random behavior, which can have drastic consequences for the future of humanity, and have different reasons and outcomes than expected.  The variety of events can make it difficult to understand how they coalesce, and the variety of perspectives can be difficult to keep track of. 

Review for Death's End, Book 3 

Is This An Overview? 

The Dark Forest deterrence has changed human and Trisolaran societies.  Humans think that Trisolarans are no longer a threat.  Trisolaran eagerness to share knowledge, leads to a cultural exchange.  Humans learn to advance technologically from Trisolaran culture.  Trisolarans learn to be creative and organize their society based on human culture.  Each species shows respect to each other.  People are speaking of a universe of peace.  The Dark Forest deterrence is still needed as the Trisolarans are acknowledged to still be technologically superior.  Dark Forest deterrence depends on a single person, a Swordholder, to activate the system once defection has been detected.  Can deterrence last?  What makes for an effective Swordholder?  What do the Trisolarans want from Earth? 

Caveats? 

This book is still based on science, but is more science fiction.  The science fiction becomes increasingly more abstract.  Part of the science is the potential interaction with alien life, which shares how the universe, can be a tragic place. 

Cobalt is a rare resource used in electronic technologies to make devices hold more charge and operate safely for longer.  As societies are transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, cobalt is a resource needed to satisfy sustainability goals.  Cobalt is most abundant, in Congo.  Congo contains the largest concentration of accessible and high-grade cobalt.  Congo has cobalt and a variety of valuable resources, which are in demand by foreign powers.  An abundance of resources, which has been severely exploited. 

 

Cobalt is mined through coerced labor, which involves children.  The people work in hazardous conditions, using rudimentary tools.  Barely paid for the effort and risk taken.  The wealth from the resources partly goes to corrupt officials, but most of the wealth goes to foreign companies.  The wealth is not being used to improve the conditions of the people.  The miners do not have negotiating power to ask for appropriate wages, or working conditions.  The people do not want to speak against the practices, for fear of violent reprisals.  The use of sustainable electronic devices is powered by the human and environmental catastrophe in Congo. 

 

No company or government is taking responsibility for the negative consequences of mining.  No company wants the inappropriate practices.  They claim that they are committed to high standards in their supply chain, promote the responsible sourcing of resources, and uphold international human rights.  They claim to send support to prevent the terrible conditions, but no sufficient efforts have been made to ameliorate the conditions.

 

Through the independence movement in 1960, Congo democratically elected a prime minister, Patrice Lumumba.  Through Lumumba, the Congolese were going to gain sovereignty, to enable the resources to benefit the people rather than foreign powers.  Various foreign interests conspired to remove Lumumba, and install Joseph Mobutu.  Mobutu supported foreign power interests.  Foreign powers got resources, with Mobutu receiving the income.

 

China has been making infrastructure-for-resources agreements across the African continent.  Even though the infrastructure is low quality without social considerations to the location of the infrastructure, the Congo leaders such as Kabila have benefited financially from the agreements.  The cobalt is refined in China, because Congo does not have sufficient electricity capacity to refine cobalt.

 

As of 2021, the ownership of 15 of 19 mining companies are Chinese.  The mining sites have their own armed units, military contractors, and informal militias.  They keep minerals secure and prevent prying eyes.    

 

Although a short history of Congo and Congolese political situation is provided, the focus of the book is on the mining industry.  To understand the variety of conflicts in Congo, and life outside the mining industry would require more research.

 

Most of the book tries to capture the individual, human suffering.  As that information tends to be more emotional, which is often assumed to make people change their behavior.  As tragic as the human suffering is, the narrative can become repetitive.