Best books read in 2021 and random musings on reading.
Top Book Recommendations of 2021:
Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All by Michael Shellenberger: what’s behind apocalyptic environmentalism; why climate change (though real) is not the end of the world; details where we are ignorant of basic facts despite the decades of media attention
“On the other hand, apocalyptic environmentalism is a kind of new Judeo-Christian religion, one that has replaced God with nature. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, human problems stem from our failure to adjust ourselves to God. In the apocalyptic environmental tradition, human problems stem from our failure to adjust ourselves to nature.”
“The trouble with dogmatic vegetarianism is the same as with dogmatic environmentalism. It ends up alienating the very people needed for improving conditions for animals and reducing the environmental impact of farming.”
Unsettled by Steven E. Koonin: comprehensive account of what is known and unknown about climate science
“Much of the public portrayal of climate science suffers from Feynman’s Wesson Oil problem — in an effort to persuade rather than inform, the information presented withholds either essential context or what doesn’t “fit.” (And coincidentally, as with cooking oil, it’s mostly a matter of temperature.)”
- The Wesson Oil problem is failing to provide all of the information that helps one make a judgment. In other words, information is presented in such a way that leads itself to a particular conclusion. It’s taken from Feynman and based on an advertisement that claimed Wesson Oil does not soak through food. While not dishonest, it fails to mention that no oils will soak through food at a certain temperature.
Important note on the climate books: these are not written by climate deniers. Both have green backgrounds. Their analysis does not come across as a hammer looking for the proverbial nail. They provided an even-handed, different side of the news cycle with information that will allow us to make better judgments. Apocalypse Never was an easy read for me. Unsettled was a challenge at times given its detailed analysis of climate reports.
- Dr. Koonin served as Undersecretary for Science in the US Department of Energy under President Obama, where his portfolio included the climate research program and energy technology strategy. He was the lead author of the US Department of Energy’s Strategic Plan (2011) and the inaugural Department of Energy Quadrennial Technology Review (2011).
- Mr. Shellenberger is a Time magazine “Hero of the Environment”; the winner of the 2008 Green Book Award; and the founder and president of Environmental Progress.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor: how breath is essential to our species yet we have lost the ability to breathe correctly, leading to a motley of issues; what went wrong and how to fix it
“It’s much more common, especially in the modern world, to never experience full-blown, life-threatening stress, but to never fully relax either…During these times, the organs throughout the body won’t be “shut down,” but will instead be half supported in a state of suspended animation…Our bodies can persist like this for a while; they can keep us alive, but they can’t keep us healthy…To some researchers, it’s no coincidence that eight of the ten most common cancers affect organs cut off from normal blood flow during extended states of stress…Breathing is an autonomic function we can consciously control….Willing ourselves to breathe slowly will open up communication along the vagal network and relax us into a parasympathetic state.”
Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding by Daniel Lieberman: on exercise as a recent phenomenon; helps one to better frame “a philosophy for how to use one’s body [that] is just as useful as a philosophy for how to live one’s life”
“Adapted from the Latin verb exerceo (to work, train, or practice), the English word “exercise” was first used in the Middle Ages to connote arduous labor like plowing a field. While the word has long been used to denote practicing or training to improve skills or health, to be “exercised” also means to be harassed, vexed, or worried about something. Like the modern concept of exercising for the sake of health, treadmills are recent inventions whose origins had nothing to do with health and fitness. Treadmill-like devices were first used by the Romans to turn winches and lift heavy objects, and then modified in 1818 by the Victorian inventor William Cubitt to punish prisoners and prevent idleness. For more than a century, English convicts (among them Oscar Wilde) were condemned to trudge for hours a day on enormous steplike treadmills.”
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb: therapist undergoes a crisis of her own and what she learns about herself along with learnings taken from her patients; provides good insight into human behavior while avoiding dry textbook territory
“An interesting paradox of the therapy process: In order to do their job, therapists try to see patients as they really are, which means noticing their vulnerabilities and entrenched patterns and struggles. Patients, of course, want to be helped, but they also want to be liked and admired.”
Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices by Frank Viola and George Barna: most of what Christians do in present-day church is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the apostles’ deaths
“The first-century Christians were opposed to the world’s systems and avoided any contact with paganism. This all changed during the fourth century when the church emerged as a public institution in the world and began to ‘absorb and Christianize pagan religious ideas and practices.’”
“There were three historical periods when a bevy of changes were made in common Christian practices: the era of Constantine, the decades surrounding the Protestant Reformation, and the Revivalist period of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries…these changes were the result of passionate, though often ill-informed followers of Christ.”
It’s hard to overstate how much Constantine’s reign impacted Christianity:
- Decreed that Sunday would be a day of rest — a legal holiday. Intention was to honor the sun god Mithras.
- Ordered the construction of church buildings to promote the popularity and acceptance of Christianity. Aim was to legitimize Christian religion as pagans and Jews had sacred buildings. In actuality, Christianity was the first non-temple-based religion.
- Borrowed from pagans that objects and places were sacred. (We know these objects as relics.)
- Introduced candles and the burning of incense as part of the church service. This was a custom of the Roman emperors to have lights and a basin of fired filled with aromatic spices whenever they appeared in public.
- Clergy began dressing in special garments
Personal note: I grew up Southern Baptist and went to a small Church of Christ school from grades 3–12. This book validates misgivings I have had since childhood with certain church practices. It isn’t to say that current church practices are evil or should not be continued. Instead, it provides a wider information set with which we can make better-informed decisions, rather than doing things because this is supposedly tradition.
Recommendations with the disclaimer that I skimmed a fair amount (typically towards the end):
- Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
- The Fish That Ate a Whale by Rich Cohen
- The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations by Larry Tye
Recommended with the caveat of being too long (i.e. could have been a series of blog posts although I’m happy to support the authors by buying):
- The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan
- The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal
- The Molecule of More by Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long; I discuss the subject of this book — dopamine — in my October 2021 blog post
- Personality Isn’t Permanent: Break Free from Self-Limiting Beliefs and Rewrite Your Story by Benjamin Hardy
Book I Made Myself Slog Through:
- A History Of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
Random thoughts about reading:
I’m now a firm believer that it not be uncommon for one to quit or skim books. This year, I didn’t finish 20–25% of the books I started. Sometimes I have put down a book and later in my life it clicks and becomes a great read.
It has taken me years to reach this conclusion, as I would feel like a quitter or that I was cheating myself in my pursuit of knowledge. What I failed to realize is that each book comes with different learning objectives. We are too eager to categorize items into neat boxes of right and wrong.
For example, I loved the first half of The Father of Spin. My goal was to learn more about Edward Bernays’ PR strategies. While it was additive, I wasn’t as interested in his life as his marketing ploys.
Further, I’ve elevated book reading to be pleasurable rather than another task to check off. If I’m not enjoying a book, I am not going to gut it up and finish it. There’s something to be said for grinding through, though this is now the exception rather than the rule. I see it as akin to exercise — if you hate running, why are you making yourself do it often? Why not find something that you enjoy? Walking, weight lifting, yoga all have health benefits. There’s enough in life that utilizes our finite willpower. Let’s lubricate the other stuff instead of adding friction to the system. These types of little wins add to momentum that compounds over time. There is a time and a place to finish a book at all costs — my argument is we high-achievers are too focused on completion, which can actually bring the whole process to a halt.
A solution to the problem is reading several books at a time. Rather than having multiple books on one subject, I like spreading out my reading across different areas. It’s a natural selection of sorts in that those you are enjoying you’ll churn through, while the remainder fall to the wayside.
If there is a book I need to slog through, I establish habit patterns to cue that it’s time to read. For Russell’s Western Philosophy tome, I headed to a local coffee shop and read at least one chapter. On planes before turning on a movie I’ll do the same. I have practiced this enough that it feels odd if I don’t engage in the habit that is cued.
Many nonfiction books could be half as long and condensed into blog posts. I thought this may be part of a general trend, so it surprised me to discover that the length of nonfiction books has decreased in recent years.
In my experience, lower confidence in my assumptions and/or attempting to cover all bases instead of the few key stock price drivers had a direct correlation to longer equity research pieces. As I grew comfortable in my rationale, I would punt a lot of this to my personal notes (for future reference if needed) instead of subjecting clients to every last detail. I have wondered at times if women nonfiction writers tend follow the same logic I did to show support for their conclusions. It could very well simply be my mistake based on an insufficient sample size.
