Paul Mullen

readable, helpful, imperfect, still worth it

Revisado: 09-03-22

Other readers have noted that Rutherford strays out of his expertise into theology in an unhelpful way. This happens for sure, but it is not even slightly a major thread of the book. If, like me, you have both strongly held religious beliefs and profound religious questions, and a modicum of social skills, this feature will not bother you. No book is perfect. No echo chamber should be untested.

Another reviewer recommended this book for high school students. I agree, but allow me to provide some reasons:

- The book covers biology, genetics, statistics, history, sociology, anthropology and so on. To understand how they interact would be a good paper for a high school senior to tackle.

- The book contains unsupported opinion and supported opinions. To develop a skill for detecting the difference would be useful as a life skill.

- The book shows of the author's argument's strengths and exposes some weaknesses. Identifying and discussing them can build community and teach the value of earnest and honest pursuit of truth even with obvious imperfections.

- The author makes use of multiple styles of writing: Didactic, humorous, idiom, quotation, illustration, and so on. For students to be able to understand and eventually use all of those forms will make them better readers and better citizens.

This imperfect book teaches a lot, and provides a foil for so many more conversations.

Paul

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A survey of the presence of Carbon

Revisado: 07-26-22

this is a decent overview of many of the ways in which carbon interacts with our life and our planet. it's not a particularly engaging story but it does seem to be comprehensive in its scope. some have complained about the unimpressive narration, but I think this is more of a production issue then it is really the quality of the narrator.

this isn't at the top of my recommended list, but it is part of the fund of knowledge which keeps us up to date.

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A call for intellectual integrity

Revisado: 06-14-21

John Walton has a perspective to help those of us who hold both the scientific process and the authority of scripture in high regard. He sees the narrative of Genesis as recounting of the act of creating the functions of the components of creation more than the act of creation of matter. He argues that the creation of matter is a subject of commonly understood background information that needed no explanation to the early readers, much like we now take for granted our heliocentric view of the solar system. But God's purposes – or has he calls it, the teleological view – are of such great importance that the Biblical account needed to be told and differentiated from the viewpoints of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Mesopotamians.

He offers a critique of the irreducible complexity argument suggesting that if taken to its logical extreme, it becomes a “God of the Gaps” argument that necessarily only regards unexplained things as in the realm of God. Consequently the regard we will hold for God will diminish as our scientific discovery continues to expand its boundaries.

He offers critiques of other viewpoints as well. One he dubs the “concordance” view is the one in which we try to find parallels between Genesis’s account and scientific discovery. And so on.

What he insists, is that we cannot be satisfied with a point of view that causes discoveries in the Biblical account to be necessarily in conflict with the discoveries in the scientific account, forcing thoughtful people to choose. Rather, we need to insist on a perspective that seriously respects both approaches, holding them helpfully together even as each line of discovery still retains its individual integrity.

I love the intellectual honesty of this approach and exploring this notion has occupied my metaphysical moments recently.

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A GE Middle Manager Enraged to Learn These Things

Revisado: 08-18-20

I found myself unexplainably stressed out in the week that I was listening to this book. Then it occurred to me, I was listening to the story of what I had considered to be my home exposed as something quite different than what it really was.

in almost four decades at the company I have lived through the events described in this book. some of them ring true as events I remember. but most of it is stuff I didn't even know was going on. If the story is even 50% true it is infuriating.

I remember one time somebody telling me, "whatever you have heard about China is true, somewhere in China." Perhaps that can be rephrased to be, "whatever you've heard about GE is true somewhere in GE." the stories you won't hear in this book are the remarkable stories of imagination at work. The authors make fun of this corporate theme, but it is certainly true in my little corner of the company.

Regardless, the book is so compelling that it led me to a physical and emotional response. That tells you of the quality of its writing, and the importance of its content.

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Don't understand the complaints about the narrator

Revisado: 05-23-10

I don't understand the complaints others have posted about the narrator and the production. The narrator is fabulous and his diction and rhythm are perfect for the story.

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Self absorbed wanderings

Revisado: 01-04-09

I just finished "The Namesake", just barely making my way through its rather depressing lack of a story line. I read the wonderful reviews of "Netherland" thinking that this would be different. In fact, it is same thing. I couldn't make it through. I usually finish books as a matter of principle, in case I was missing something, but after 8 hours, I couldn't go on.

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Good Leadership Lessons

Revisado: 12-28-08

Another reviewer commented that this story was the Apollo 13 of its time. That is a perfect description. Beyond that, there are lots of leadership lessons one can take from "watching" Ernest Shackleton lead a group through a prolonged and difficult time. As the story is told, he maintained leadership and vision in extraordinary times.

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A collection of essays

Revisado: 12-23-08

Less a lecture as much as a collection of essays. They're all worth the time, but none of them are "wow, I never thought of that" kinds of concepts.

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typical spythriller

Revisado: 12-19-08

Typical spythriller. Fun read, but not much to chew on after you're done.

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some things to learn, but...

Revisado: 12-16-08

Well, I'm pretty sure that this is the kind of book, when turned into a movie, will result me falling asleep on the couch. It is all about relationships and culture of an American-born Indian who lives between the eastern India Bengali heritage of his parents and the Americo-European heritage of the US eastern seaboard. The story doesn't really end, the author just stops telling it. I think I learned a few things about being a 3rd culture kid, but there are more efficient ways to learn. This one doesn't go on my recommendations list.

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