Lance

Ray Dalio's ferocious fidelity to thought

Revisado: 11-09-17

In these days of social media we seem to have become pack creatures.

Someone pushes back, embarrasses you, just defriend them, circle yourself with people who understand you and you understand them. Or maybe you just pretend to because the social cost of disagreement is too high.

Ray Dalio describes a soul with ferocious fidelity to progressive thought, perhaps his or Bridgewater's collective version of the truth. A fidelity that has brought him scorn, ridicule, and ultimately undreamt of unhoped for success and attendant wealth. Bravo Mr. Dalio we should all take such care of something so seemingly small. Perhaps if we did the world would be a much better place.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

An excellent overview of Hitler linking WW1 to WW2

Revisado: 01-26-17

Just a novice history fan, but have read books on WW1, WW2, and the German hyperinflation. Somehow my background readings were too focused and never really synched the inter-war period together for me. This is a high level intro to that time period, but it really stitched my prior readings together.

By high level it is only 12 lectures 30 mins give or take a piece. The sixth lecture (lecture titles can be found on great courses website) is Hitler's Assumption of Power. It then covers through WWII resolution at a high level.

If you're a history novice like me or just lacking in knowledge about he interwar period, this is a great start to answering a lot of questions you may have and fueling the fire for further exploration. I highly recommend it.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Absurdly good! Topical, interesting, important.

Revisado: 06-01-16

And the profession is passionate about his topic.

Many courses I am ready to be done. With this course I could have listened to more. I am likely to re-listen to this one.

Some say privacy is this generation's liberty. A right the US has trampled in both the commercial and private spheres. Whether this is true or not, it is important that informed citizens begin to educate themselves about the issues and begin to discuss and dissect relevant arguments.

The inevitability of dronage, the ability of foreign governments to identify, track and target groups of domestic citizens, the ability of domestic governments to do the same, the inevitability of "smart" computer algorithms to do the same, etc.,etc. There is so much here to absorb and discuss. One of the most worthwhile audiobooks I have purchased. Excellent presentation. Excellent discussion. Highly recommended.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Very relevant to today's geopolitical environment

Revisado: 12-05-15

Highly recommended.

I generally think of these types of books as smut for men and usually don't acknowledge reading them except to guys who like to read this type of smut. Now that I am outed, I have to admit I really enjoyed this book. Realistic military tech, geopolitics along with man pandering was a great recipe for Clancy especially his early books and I felt that recipe worked very well in this book. I used to know the military tech much better than I do now. I found some of the military tech implications to be highly troubling and this will probably spur some research during my spare time. The geopolitical and energy piece of this I am better acquainted with and found the scenarios to be very relevant today and very interesting. The man pandering stuff has changed and I can say even though I am certainly older school and probably somewhere between Jack Jr and Clark, I like the Jack Jr character and look forward to seeing what the next books bring.

Geopolitics, military tech, and man smut. Great formula that worked well for me in this book. That I actually will do some research on real issues as a result of reading it a big bonus and probably why I outed myself and wrote the review.

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esto le resultó útil a 15 personas

Highly recommended story of German hyperinflation

Revisado: 09-21-15

I have also read and recommended "When Money Dies" by Alex Fergusson, but this one provides more context about the political and social happenings at the time of the hyperinflation. When Money Dies really brings home the bewilderment of an average German, while this book takes a broader view. I recommend both of them, although I would say they each have their pros and cons with readers looking for an account of an average German better off with “When Money Dies” and those looking for a broader political and sociological accounting better off with this book.

Be aware that both books have a lot of information much of it somewhat repetitive without delving into the realm of economics to put much needed context to the story. I don't know why the authors didn't delve into economic theory/analysis, but would guess the data is not available and/or hard to estimate. Another valid reason for not delving into the economics is focus. Personally if I had to change the scope of this book I would have liked to hear more linkages between the hyperinflation and rise of the Hitler. The author touches on these broader issues towards the end of the book, but it is a bit of a stretch to say the topic was “covered” to any extent. After that I would say I would want more economic context.

But don’t be scared off. The book is very interesting and I learned much that I did not understand after reading “When Money Dies”. I would say this is foundational reading to anyone looking to understand, analyze, and begin to understand what lessons the German hyperinflation may hold for our times (if any). If you’re into German history, hyperinflation, socialism/capitalism/democracy issues, and/or post world war structural analyses, I’d say this is required reading for building an actionable base of knowledge. Hope you enjoy it as I did.

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esto le resultó útil a 10 personas

Builds appreciation of classical in novices!

Revisado: 09-01-15

I have collected quite a few classical music "must haves" over the years, but never really build up an appreciation of the music or the composers. I have purchased over the years some of these "classical music overviews" and they never seemed to stick. For me, Professor Greenburg introduces and builds depth required to appreciate classical music at a deeper level. There is some "technical music" stuff discussed and it is a little out of my depth. I can clearly hear how the techniques fit within the larger context of the work, but I 'll have to work a bit to develop a more technical understanding of music. The background on the composers, their life stories and discussion of where the work fit within their life stories, and the classical music genre really worked for me. I appreciated his narrative as he always seemed to pick out the right word with just the right enunciation. At the same time, he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, at times being just a little "cornball" (excuse the technical term). Overall I found it to be a great introduction for novices who like classical music, but haven't developed a deep appreciation for the genre. If that is you, this selection is recommended without reservation.

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Telling the unbelievable yet worth a look!

Revisado: 08-20-15

In these socially driven media days, it takes a bit of social unconsciousness to admit to reading certain books. Yes, normally I'd probably not admit this one in a cocktail party, facebook, twitter, etc. But Mr. Moss goes above and beyond to build a case for the "suppression" of Laetrile at Sloan Kettering. And that is the first warning I would give about this book. There is an unbelievable amount of detail that could only be delivered by an insider with a literary bent. I did not find this to be easy listening, and almost gave up. But Mr. Moss was not writing a book as much as he was building credibility / building a case for his suppression claim. Does he make good on his suppression claim? I think the question would almost certainly make for good debate. On one hand organizations are thought to behave as individuals with a collective self interest. The behavior described by Mr. Moss could be described as a benign form of neglect, but the detail he brings to the story makes a strong claim against it. And yet I find the charge of "suppression" to be a claim I'd have to think harder about before signing up for.

If it was suppression, then certainly many other researchers inside and outside Sloan Kettering were aware and capable of intervening. And I think that is the real reason to read the book. To understand how collective self interest and risk aversion in the scientific research community could potentially "suppress" / "not do the right thing" / "harm" the broader community that research is supposed to help. This is a deep claim against an important segment of our society's intellectual leaders, and Ralph Moss did a strong job of building credibility with this book. Not sure I'm on board with all of Mr. Moss's claims, but I also don't know that our current medical systems are orchestrated to consider in a rational way technologies/chemicals/etc. such as Laetrile. Highly recommended book, but beware if you are bored easily by detail and/or have a hard time with conspiracy tales. I had difficulties on both accounts, but felt rewarded as I made it through.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Context for Cancer

Revisado: 04-08-15

Really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to technically literate folks who want background on cancer. However I feel that the scope of the book and a sporadic job by the editor led to inevitable conflicts which if resolved could have made the book better. By focusing more on the practitioner experiences/perspectives, this book would have provided more value to caregivers / friends to those with cancer. As it is, the book comes off as a slightly technically naive history of cancer with a very rushed exit to a final scene where all is coming up rosy despite a lack of convincing rationale for such an optimistic state of affairs. It was probably too difficult to determine target readers and enforce corresponding scope rules on such a broad and technical topic. By focusing more on the technical logic within the historical analysis this book would have had more credibility to the technically literate (but probably would have been considerably longer). By focusing more on the practitioner experience, many of us who are friends / caregivers might have developed relevant insights to help us help friends with cancer. But for me anyway, the book meandered with purposes too broad leaving me happy I read the book, but not believing the seemingly unjustified optimism of the final chapters while wondering how such a thoughtful writer and practitioner wouldn't have more personal insights and recommendations relevant to caregiving in such difficult situations.

Highly recommend the book. Just thought a more disciplined scope could have made it better. If you have no technical background in biology or interest in such matters, not sure this is the book for you. If you have no background and are motivated, I think you should be able to get through this and probably be very happy you took on the challenge.

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Awesome overview of the British Empire

Revisado: 12-09-14

I am a bit of a history amateur. I've read plenty of history books, but as far as the history of the British Empire, the closest I had come was schoolboy textbooks and a few Winston books. So I was a little wary about whether I really wanted to indulge in 36 or so lectures about the subject.

But I was wrong. I found this subject to be very fascinating. To gain an appreciation for the other side of the US revolution, gave me a better appreciation for the uniqueness of the British and American empires. Seeing how the spheres collided time and time again, finally leading to the passing of the torch is interesting in that it never really needed to be this way. Not that I've become a Tory or that the book lectures the British in a positive light, its just that seen through the prism of time and global influence, the English speaking peoples had much more in common than they had differences. Of course most serious historians have been repeating that for decades, but these lectures really drove the point home. It was also refreshing to see the history from the eyes other than a Churchill biographer. Churchill had a profound impact upon the world, but was a rare and unique breed of person that said little about the British leaders themselves. People and their aspirations perhaps, but even then the record is mixed.

It also struck me that the US from the time of WWI argued through WW's principles that imperialism had run its course and by the end of WWII, the British themselves agreed they no longer wanted to be responsible for running an imperialist system either from an economic or moral perspective. There is quote about opportunities for freedom bringing forth the best in the nature of man, the opportunities to allocate the governance once that freedom has been won bringing forth the worst in that same man. And so it began as the British Empire dissolves, myriad immature systems elevate their men to the pedestal... nationalism, socialism, fabianism, democracy ... the book touches upon how these and other systems compete for power as men and women across the Empire are given their "freedom".

For me a good book whets the appetite, and this series will certainly inspire many more book choices for me. There is much more in the lecture series to recommend. Recommend going to the great courses website to see the titles of the lectures. This covers the major territories of the British Empire, including India, South Africa, US, Australia and discussed their formation, operating modes and events, and dissolution from the empire. It also touches upon social and political changes over the years and shows how they had a very large impact upon public opinion and subsequent British desires to stop the imperialist system. Highly recommended lecture series. Seemed to be fair and balanced to me, but I am a bit of a history noob. I may have called this lecture series a book, but there is no book that I could find. Just 36 lectures.

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esto le resultó útil a 17 personas

Great book for kids

Revisado: 11-07-14

Middle schooler read this for his class. Great book. Gets into many issues this generation of kids will have to wrestle with. What is human what is not. What is the proper use of human beings regarding organ transplantation, etc.,etc. So many books that our generation read the kids just don't get into. But this book really engages them.

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