Trump’s effort to make peace is important. Putin will gain a pyrrhic victory, and many Ukrainians will suffer the same consequence as the Baltic citizens who were victimized by Stalin. It is likely that the price of peace is going to be the lives of Ukrainians who come under Putin’s rule. The only solace is that Putin, like Stalin, is near the end of his rule.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (A History of Nazi Germany)
By: William L. Shirer
Narrated By: Grover Gardener
In thinking about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it seems prudent to revisit William Shirer’s studied history of Nazi Germany and the beginnings of WWII.
DostoevskyTolstoyGoetheFRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE (1844-1900 DIED AT AGE 55)
Reviewing the literature and history of Russia and Germany, one wonders if there are parallels between Hitler’s invasion of Poland and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Literature suggests few cultural parallels. Having read Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, one can hardly compare their themes of societal suffering and redemption to Kant and Nietzsche’s themes of individualism or Mein Kamph’s iteration of survival of the fittest. In the history of the Czars of Russia, society and class were of the greatest importance while in Germany, Goethe’s Faust and Hesse’s Siddhartha–the focus was on individualism–not the general condition of society.
It seems Putin is not like Hitler in his aim to acquire other countries. Putin is interested in expanding Russia’s territory to return to a Stalinist style of communism. Both Hitler and Putin are deluded but in different ways. William Shirer characterizes Hitler as ambitious, and fanatic but focused on gaining personal power through German conquest of other countries. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is to return Russia to a Stalinist U.S.S.R., a nationalist power. Both are set on invading other countries, but Shirer shows Hitler’s desire is for personal power while Putin is more interested in nation-state power.
One must ask oneself, if there is a motivational difference, so what? The consequences to countries being invaded is the same.
Yes, the consequence to an invaded country is the same regardless of the motivation of the invader. Hearing the atrocity of Russian oppression is as though it happened yesterday when one visits the Baltic countries and talks to people who survived Stalin’s control of their countries. There is a palpable fear one hears from Baltic citizens when the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is discussed. The fear is in the possibility of the Baltics being next.
President Trump is attempting to quell the war between Russia and Ukraine, but the cost of peace looks like it will require appeasement at the expense of Ukrainian citizens.
The question is–will appeasement stop further encroachment by Russia on other former U.S.S.R. countries? Putin is 72 years old. Hitler was 45 years old when he became the Führer of Germany. It seems unlikely that the next leader of Russia will follow Putin’s lead in view of Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine and the history of former citizens, like those of the Baltics in Stalin’s U.S.S.R.
The invasion of Ukraine is not like Hitler’s invasion of Poland except in the tragedy of death of innocents.
There is little reason to believe Ukraine is a domino, as was the mistaken American belief in Vietnam by the Kennedy Administration. As all who have read this blog, I am not a fan of Donald Trump. However, in this realpolitik world, Trump’s effort to make peace is important. Putin will gain a pyrrhic victory, and many Ukrainians will suffer the same consequence as the Baltic citizens who were victimized by Stalin. It is likely that the price of peace is going to be the lives of Ukrainians who come under Putin’s rule. The only solace is that Putin, like Stalin, is near the end of his rule.
Listening to the examples of Professor Greenberg’s views on music make this audiobook an immense pleasure. It is a long audiobook but one who takes long walks will be highly entertained by the Professor’s insight to music of the world.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.
Great Courses-How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition (A Cultural History)
By: Robert Greenberg
Narrated By: Professor Greenberg
Robert Greenberg (Great Courses Professor, historian, composer, pianist, speaker, and author.)
This is a history of Great Music by a remarkable professor who fully utilizes the value of audiobooks in his teaching. Though this is a long audiobook, every lecture is a pleasure for a listener who knows little about the history or styles of music. Professor Greenberg’s enthusiasm and pointed opinions about music and its evolution are informative, clearly explained, and fabulously entertaining, particularly for non-musicians.
The professor’s storytelling is highly entertaining. He reviews the history of music anecdotally, interspersed with musical examples (some of which are his own piano playing) and precise definitions of words used in music that offer clarity and entertainment to his audience.
The span of history which Greenberg covers is from ancient music traditions to the progressive development of Western music. He helps one understand what to listen for when attending musical presentations. He spans Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th-century music. From Bach’s Baroque musical production to Shostakovich’s politically tinged symphonies, one learns how music is exemplified and amplified by history.
Greenberg begins with ancient Greek and Roman music.
He explains the role of music in Greek tragedies and offers examples of Gregorian chant and medieval polyphony (two or more independent melodies that are interconnected). He notes Bach’s fugues as polyphonic hallmarks of Western classical music that rose in the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750, German composer and musician of the late Baroque period.)
Greenberg provides examples of a fugue and concerto. A fugue is a musical composition with a theme that is interwoven with overlapping voices. He offers the example of Bach’s music.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741. Italian composer, virtuoso violinist of Baroque music.)
In contrast, concerto is a solo instrument (or a group of soloists) offering an orchestral presentation infused with dialogue. The Four Seasons by Vivaldi would be an example but the fascinating point is that the dialogue is in music, i.e. no words, but a clear representation of the seasons in an abstract way. You hear the sounds of spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Greenberg offers definitions of musical terms.
Greenberg also defines a number of musical concepts and terms:
Melody: A sequence of musical notes that are perceived as a single entity, often referred to as the “tune.”
Harmony: The combination of different musical notes played or sung simultaneously to produce a pleasing sound.
Polyphony: Multiple independent melodies played or sung simultaneously, creating a complex and interwoven texture.
Sonata Form: A musical structure commonly used in the first movements of symphonies and sonatas, typically consisting of an exposition, development, and recapitulation.
The Professor notes the fundamental difference between German and Italian classical music.
The Italians created opera to illustrate the emotions of life through operatic story telling. Germans highlight intellectual depth and structural complexity. Greenberg notes Italians celebrate the melodic beauty and operatic flair of music. This difference is exemplified by the Catholic church’s sale of indulgences.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Greenberg recounts the history of the Reformation. He notes the impact of Martin Luther (1483-1546), the key German figure in the Protestant Reformation who posted the 95 Thesis that criticizes the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences for sinners to get into heaven. The 95 Thesis was a direct challenge to the authority of the Pope to use indulgences to raise money for the Catholic Chruch. Luther believed only faith, an emotionally grounded intellectual belief, could pave one’s way to heaven.
German OperaItalian Opera
Rather than an Italian Rossini or Puccini opera, German operas have complex narratives with composers like Wagner and Straus who are exploring ideas like destiny, heroism, and the human condition. Both German and Italian operas engage emotions, but German operas tend to explore philosophical, mythological, or psychological themes while Italians focus on heart-wrenching human emotions.
Listening to the examples of Professor Greenberg’s views on music make this audiobook an immense pleasure. It is a long audiobook but one who takes long walks will be highly entertained by the Professor’s insight to music of the world.
From Fukuyama’s intellectual musing to our eyes and ears, one hopes he is correct about America’s future in the technological age.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
The Great Disruption (Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order)
By: Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama (Author, political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar.)
Francis Fukuyama argues America is at the threshold of a social reconstitution. Fukuyama believes we are at Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” that is changing social norms and rebuilding America’s social order. He argues the innovation of technology, like the industrial revolution, is deconstructing social relationships and economics while reconstructing capitalist democracy.
The immense power of big technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook have outsized influence on American society. They change the tone of social interaction through their ability to disseminate both accurate and misleading information. They erode privacy and create algorithms tailored to disparate interest groups that polarize society. The media giant’s objective is to increase clicks on their platforms to attract more advertisers who pay for public exposure of their service, merchandise, and brand.
To reduce outsize influence of big tech companies, Fukuyama suggests more technology has an answer.
There should be more antitrust measures instituted by the government to break monopolistic practices and encourage competition with large technology companies. Algorithms created by oversight government organizations can ensure transparency and reduce harmful content to reduce big tech companies influence on society. (One doubts expansion of government agencies is a likely scenario in today’s government.)
On the one hand, technology has improved convenience, communication, and a wider distribution of information.
On the other, technology has flooded society with misinformation, invaded privacy, and polarized society. Technology has created new jobs while increasing loss of traditional industry jobs with automation. Trying to return to past labor-intensive manufacturing companies is a fool’s errand in the age of technology.
Luddites during the Industrial Revolution.
Like the industrial revolution, the tech revolution’s social impact is mixed with a potential for greater social isolation, and job displacement with the addition of wide distribution of misinformation. The positives of new technology are improvements in healthcare product and services, renewable energy, and climate understanding with potential for improved control.
Face-to-face interactions become less and less necessary. Children’s access to technology impacts parental supervision and relationship. Fukuyama suggests setting boundaries for technology use needs to be a priority in American families. Technology can open the door to better education, but it also becomes a source of misinformation that can come from the internet of things. Employers have the opportunity to help with work-life balance by encouraging flexible hours and remote work. (Oddly, that suggestion is being undermined by the current government administration and many American companies.)
Economic growth, access to information, and global connectivity have been positively impacted by technology. However, the concentration of power, misinformation, and surveillance of social media has diminished privacy and eroded individual freedom. There are concerns about technology and how it is good and bad for democratic capitalism.
The good lies in increased efficiency, innovation and creation of new markets, through globalization. However, today’s American government shows how tariffs are a destroyer of globalization. Fukuyama implies A.I. and automation is displacing workers and aggravating economic inequality because it is being misunderstood for its true potential and also being misused. Personal data is used to manipulate consumers in ways that challenge the balance between corporations and consumers.
Fukuyama argues private parties will grow in America to create software that will filter and customize online services.
With that effort control of the influence of big tech companies will be diminished. With decentralization of big tech power and influence, society will theoretically become less polarized and more consensus oriented. The capitalist opportunity for tech savvy startups that diminish influence of big tech companies will re-create diversification like that which the matured industrial revolution gave to new manufacturers. Like Standard Oil and other conglomerates of the industrial revolution, businesses like Amazon, Google, and Facebook will have competition that diminishes their power and influence.
American Government will grow to regulate the internet of things just as it has grown to regulate banks, industries, and social services.
Josephine Baker passed away in 1975 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Baker shows herself to have been an entertainment phenom, a war hero, a civil rights activist, and a believer in the equality of all human beings.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
Fearless and Free: A Memoir
By: Josephine Baker
Translation by Anam Zafar with a Forword by Ljeoma Oluo
Narrated By: Anam Zafar, Sophie R. Lewis, Ljeoma Oluo, Jade Wheeler, Quentin Bruno.
Josephine Baker’s real name was Freda Josephine McDonald, born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. She died at the age of 68 in 1975.
“Fearless and Free” is a vignette of an incredibly brave and beautiful American woman who became a world-renowned performer, humanitarian, and spy for France during WWII. At the age of 19, Baker sailed to France on her own. She was looking for freedom and opportunities that were unavailable in racially segregated America. She was hired as a dancer for La Revue Negre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. She became famous in France for her provocative dance movements and growth as a singer and versatile entertainer.
Baker became famous as a result of wearing a skirt made of artificial bananas in a dance that had elements of jazz and African-inspired movements.
Baker’s memoir shows what “force of nature” means when referring to a human being. Willingness to travel alone to another country for any person at age 19, with no understanding of the language and no job prospects, is an act of incredible fearlessness. Baker’s memoir is a lesson to every person who feels trapped and wishes to become more than what their current circumstance in life offers.
Baker was a French secret agent and entertainer during WWII. She smuggled information written in invisible ink on her sheet music.
Baker is alleged to have had affairs with both men and women. She was married four times and is alleged to have had affairs with two famous women, i.e., Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist, and Sidonie-Gabrille Colette, a French novelist.
Frida Kahlo with BakerSidonie-Gabrille Colette
Baker’s life shows how adaptive humans can be in changing environments. Baker spoke no French when she left America but became fluent in her adopted countries language. When Paris is occupied by the Nazis, Baker is recruited by the French secret service because of her fame and travel around the world despite the war. She secreted messages to anti-Nazi agents in her travels and received the Croix de Guerre, the Rosette of the Resistance, and one of France’s highest distinctions, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
Amazingly, Baker earned a pilot’s license in 1935, one of the few women to have a pilot’s license at that time. She is said to have transported supplies for the Red Cross during WWII.
Baker adopted 12 children from different racial and cultural backgrounds calling them her “Rainbow Tribe” to show the unity of all peoples of the world. She advocated for civil rights and refused to perform in segregated events. She supported the American civil rights movement and was the only woman to speak at the 1963 “March on Washington” alongside Martin Luther King in 1963.
Akio – From Japan.
Jarry – From Finland.
Luis – From Colombia.
Jean-Claude – From Canada.
Moïse – From Israel.
Brahim – From Algeria.
Marianne – From France.
Noël – From Belgium.
Koffi – From Côte d’Ivoire.
Mara – From Venezuela.
Stellina – From Morocco.
Janot – From Korea.
Baker, with her 4th husband Jo Bouillion (a musician and conductor), adopted the twelve when they were in their 40s. Stellina was the youngest at 11 years of age when Baker died. Baker marries Bouillion at the end of WWII. They are a French contingent in Germany that entertains the troops in 1945. The destruction of German cities is noted by Baker as horrendous. She reinforces the feelings of most Americans after the reveal of the Holocaust’ slaughter and the economic damage of war.
Baker was an advocate for unity of all peoples of the world.
Baker revisited America after the war. The last chapter of her book shows how little had changed in regard to Black and ethnic discrimination in America. She visited Harlem to find Jewish landlords and property owners who victimized Black Americans who were as badly discriminated against as they were in the south. She and her white husband were ejected from New York hotels because of the color of her skin. She visited her family in the south to find nothing had changed. Her fame and success in France made her more French than American. It is a truly despicable picture she paints of how little progress in equal rights had been made in America when many Black, Jewish, and white Americans had died for the right to be free of repression.
Josephine Baker passed away in 1975 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Jo Bouillion died in 1984. Baker shows herself to have been an entertainment phenom, a war hero, a civil rights activist, and a believer in the equality of all human beings.
Emily Witt illustrates how undesirable sexual inequality is for the future of American society. Witt explains events in her life that have led her to become a successful author. Witt’s life experiences are like the events in every human’s life but without the unfair burden of sexual inequality.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
Health and Safety (A Breakdown)
By: Emily Witt
Narrated By: Emily Witt
Emily Witt (Author, investigative journalist based in Brooklyn, worked as a staff writer for The New Yorker.)
Emily Witt is born two generations after this reviewer’s youth. It is a refreshing look at the great changes and similarities between my generation and Ms. Witt’s. The big difference is Ms. Witt is an attractive woman, not a man. Her life, in many ways, is unlike women of past generations but similar to men of my generation. She writes of her life, of experimenting with drugs, being in and out of serious and not-so-serious sexual relationships and striving for success in today’s America.
Witt is representative of societal change in America.
On the one hand she shows the independence and growing equality of the sexes. Liberated from the stereotypes of women as bearers of children and keepers of home and hearth, Witt’s story is like what American men’s lives were two generations ago. Her life today reminds one of a man’s life in the 1960s. She shows an understanding of the difference between love and sex but seems neither consumed nor controlled by either sex or love’s existence. She chooses her own path in life. There is strength and weakness in her character just as there is in all human beings.
The other side of her story is the consequence of sexual equality and its impact on culture.
In women’s liberation something is gained and lost. The gain is in women’s opportunity. It is time for men to step up and take equal responsibility for family comity, stability, and growth. One who did not come from an Ozzie and Harriet family but from a single parent family sees the strength of liberation of women but wonders what is lost by children raised by single parents in America. Do children become more or less dependent on others as a result of being raised by a single parent? In some ways they become more independent but in others they become socially isolated and culturally inept. That social isolation and ineptness has future consequences for children of single parent homes. Women are rightfully liberated from being the sole responsible parent for children’s care, but fathers are failing to pick up the slack.
Though juvenile delinquency is shown to have decreased in America, the education and success of children begins at home. More responsibility must be taken by fathers for teaching societal values and behavior to children. By taking equal responsibility, fathers will reinvigorate American society. Without a reorientation of men’s lives in American families, i.e., acceptance of family responsibility and women’s equality, American democracy’s economic and social success will be diminished.
The current political environment in America is trying to return the economy and society to the twentieth century, a fool’s errand.
Witt illustrates how undesirable sexual inequality is for the future of American society. Witt explains events in her life that have led her to become a successful author. Witt’s life experiences are like the events in every human’s life but without the unfair burden of sexual inequality.
Addendum: The most troubling part of Witt’s story is the feeling that her generation is failing American society by withdrawing into themselves with drugs to avoid dealing with the problems of the 21st century. Experimenting with drugs is one thing but using them to escape America’s problems is a disappointment to this aged survivor of the baby boom generation.
Today, some look at the American government with concern. Are we at a tipping point in America?
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.
Revenge of the Tipping Point (Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering)
By: Malcolm Gladwell
Narrated By: Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell (Canadian Author, journalist, public speaker, staff writer for The New Yorker.)
Malcolm Gladwell returns to the subject of “…Tipping Point” that originally explored how small actions or events can trigger significant changes in society. “Revenge of the Tipping Point” provides several stories of tipping points that have had vengeful consequences for society.
One of the most consequential tipping point stories is about America’s attempt to engineer social equality.
America is struggling with social diversity. Gladwell infers social diversity is a great strength in American society. However, our government and domestic leaders have legislated discrimination, fought wars, murdered innocents, and promoted ethnic separation throughout its history as a nation. Despite our most famous statement of American value, i.e. “E pluribus unum” (Out of many, one), America has failed.
The value of social diversity is it allows Americans to achieve great things despite inequality that exists in America.
Gladwell tells the story of a community in Florida that prides itself on being an exemplar of American society because of its strong educational values, cultural pride, community support, and economic mobility. The people who live in this community focus on preserving and celebrating their ethnic heritage, traditions, and identity. They assemble an island of cultural sameness that overtly and covertly resists change. Those who are not of the right ethnic heritage or race who may have the same drive for high educational achievement, community participation, and relative wealth are not welcome. The tipping point revenge Gladwell notes is in the stress this community places on its children to excel academically and conform to expectation. Gladwell notes student suicides are disproportionately high because of the social pressure children feel to conform. The social pressure for conformity and educational expectation overwhelms some who live in the community. Some parents choose to send their children outside the community school system to allay the social pressure they feel.
Gladwell notes the 2023 Supreme Court rejection of college acceptance based on diversity. The Court denies the right of colleges to recruit students based on ethnicity or race.
On the face of it, that seems an unfair decision but Gladwell notes that the schools being challenged on their diversity policies refuse to explain how they determine who should be admitted based on a percentage figure of fair representation. Gladwell notes the primary criteria for college selection has little to do with a drive for diversity but are based on revenue producing university sports programs and donor money. Minority preference admissions are based on income potential for the university, not social diversity.
The Supreme Court ruling does not preclude consideration of an applicant’s personal life experience, but Gladwell notes it nevertheless has nothing to do with a drive for equality or diversity.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court decision may cause a reevaluation of outreach to minorities who have been denied equal opportunity for personal success. Gladwell’s ironic point is that American diversity in the pre-Supreme Court decision was never based on creating diversity but on raising money for university foundations.
Gladwell explains the drug crises is more of an American problem than for most other nations of the world.
One asks oneself, what makes America the center of opioid addiction and death.
From the greed of drug dealers, medicine manufacturers and doctors who prescribe opioids, America has the highest opioid deaths in the world. Though Estonia has the highest opioid death’s per capita because of its smaller population, the manufacturers and doctor-prescribed synthetic opioids have greatly increased American’s deaths. Purdue Pharma aggressively marketed OxyContin with the owners, the Sackler family, reaching a multibillion-dollar settlement. Many doctors like Dr. Hsiu-Ying Tseng and Dr. Nelson Onaro have been prosecuted for overprescribing opioids or running “pill mills” that provided opioids to the public.
Gladwell suggests it is the superspreaders, worldwide legal and illegal manufacturers and sellers of opioids, and incompetent/greedy medical prescribers as tipping point causes of America’s addiction crises. However, he argues there are environmental and systemic societal factors that create a receptive user base in America. Economic stability is unattainable for many Americans because of economic, racial, and ethnic differences. He argues small actions and decisions lead to widespread consequences. Every human being has a tipping point based on their experience in the world. The ideals of America conflict with its reality. The pain of that realization leads some to relief through drugs, a step-by-step addiction that can lead to death.
Berlin Memorial to the Holocaust.
There are other tipping points Gladwell explains. One that resonates with my life experience is the ignorance many have of the history of the world. Some would argue, Americans became aware of the Holocaust after the end of the war in 1945. However, Gladwell argues most Americans remained ignorant of its reality until 1978 following the release of the NBC miniseries “Holocaust”. Until then, Gladwell argues there was little broad cultural understanding of its atrocity. Having graduated from high school in 1965, much of what Gladwell notes about ignorance of the Holocaust rings loudly and clearly.
I doubt that many were completely ignorant of the Holocaust, but its brutal reality was not taught in the high school I attended in the 60s. Having visited Auschwitz and viewed its gas chamber, piles of discarded shoes and clothes, and pictures of murdered human beings, the truth and guilt that one feels for being a part of humanity is overwhelming.
We have an FBI director that wants to have men and women of the agency coordinate training with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), headquartered in Las Vegas. We have a President who publicly chastises Ukraine’s President and suggests they caused Russia’s invasion of their country. We have a President that insists America is being taken advantage of by lower cost production of product of other countries and that tariffs are a way to balance the American budget. We have a Palestinian protester at Columbia University who is arrested for social disruption. The head of the Department of Health Services orders lie detector tests for employees to find any leaks about the current Administration’s actions.
Tariffs have historically been found to damage America’s economy. Is the FBI a military force that needs to be schooled in hand-to-hand combat? One need only read Adam Smith about free trade to understand the fallacy of Tariffs. Have we forgotten the invasions of Austria and Poland by Germany at the beginnings of WWII? Is free speech a crime because of tents that disrupt college life? Should we use lie detector tests to determine the loyalty of employees?
Are these incidents a tipping point for American Democracy to turn into something different and demonstrably less than the founding principles of American government?
Ideally, public good and ethics will be taught in advance of the melding of technology and government, i.e., not after mistakes are made. However, history suggests humans will blunder down the road of experience with A.I., making mistakes, and trying to correct them after they occur.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.
The Technological Republic (Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West)
By: Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska
Narrated By: Nicholas W. Zamiska
Alex Karp (Founder of software firm Palantir Technologies)Nicholas Zamiska (CEO Palantir Technolgies
The authors are the founder and operations manager of the American software company, Palantir Technolgies. Palantir has been hired by the U. S. Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, agencies of NATO countries, and Western corporations to provide analytic platforms for defense analysis, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.
They believe artificial intelligence research and development has lost its way.
They argue Silicon Valley has lost focus on what is important for survival of society and Western values. They suggest A.I. should be focusing on serving humanity in ways that responsibly regulate nuclear weapons and protect society from existential risks like climate change, pandemics, asteroid collisions, etc., that threaten human extinction. The authors provide a powerful criticism of technology and its national purpose.
Karp and Zamiska argue that technology is focusing on consumerism rather nuclear annihilation or existential risk.
By focusing on convenience and entertainment for financial success, fundamental problems like the threat of nuclear war, homelessness, inequality, and climate change are ignored or relegated to the trash heap of history. (“Trash heap of history” is the belief that what happens, happens and society can do nothing about it.) The west has become complacent with short-term focus on profit and consumer demand. The authors argue that the greater good is no longer thought of as an important societal goal. The primary goal is making money that enriches creators and company owners by making purchases more convenient to and for consumers.
Aldous Huxley (English writer and philosopher, 1894-1963, author of “Brave New World”.)
Their argument is there should be more collaboration between tech and government. Historically, government is only as good as the information it has to make societal decisions. A computer program can be programmed with false information like the error of weapons of mass destruction that led to an invasion of Iraq that was a bad decision. The domino theory input that led to the Vietnam war; so, on and so on. There is also the threat of an elected President that uses the power of technology to do the wrong thing because of his/her incompetence. There is the risk of government gathering personal information and using it to cross the line into a “Brave New World” where innovation, free thought, and independent action are discouraged or legislated against so people can be sent to jail for breaking the law?
Possibly, melding technology with government is an answer, but it is a chicken and egg concern. Education about public good and ethical practices should begin as soon as the egg cracks, not after hatchlings are already old enough to work. Phrases that come to mind are “What’s done is done” or “The die is cast”.
The authors argue the West needs to up-its-game if it wishes to create a peaceful and prosperous future for a society that is founded on the ideal of human freedom.
Without future generations creating policies based on ethical purpose for the public good, one infers western culture will spiral into individual isolation and self-interest that diminishes western culture and ideals.
Ideally, public good and ethics will be taught in advance of the melding of technology and government, i.e., not after mistakes are made. However, history suggests humans will blunder down the road of experience with A.I., making mistakes, and trying to correct them after they occur.
The primary interest for the author of this blog is to explore a personal interest and understanding of the world in which we live. The following reviews are cataloged to offer readers a list of the most commented upon reviews.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.
Blog Response Inventory (Those reviews that had higher response comments from readers.)
Stanislas Dehaene’s research on the subconscious mind seems to reveal more about human weakness than strength. His research indirectly points to the danger of scientific discovery introducing subconscious human processing to machine learning.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.
Consciousness and the Brain (Deciphering how the brain codes our thoughts)
By: Stanislas Dehaene
Narrated By: David Drummond
Stanislas Dehaene (French author and cognitive neuroscientist.)
This is the second review of Dehaene’s book. It was reviewed in 2017 with an essay titled “Consciousness”. A second look is informative because it is a complicated subject implying brain function might one day be replicated by machine learning. He suggested machine learning is a long way into the future but with quantum technology that future seems less distant.
To recall information and report meaning is a definition of what Dehaene calls consciousness.
The complicating part of that definition is the subconscious and its role in conscious awareness. Dehaene argues the subconscious is outside of our conscious awareness but is an integral part of decisions and human behavior. He implies if the brain can be precisely mapped, it can be translated to machine learning that will make the subconscious an explicitly known influence on thought and action.
The ramifications of what is subconsciously understood being a part of conscious decision making and action is both positive and negative.
Theoretically decisions and actions will be more accurate and routine tasks and habits can be more efficiently executed. Unconscious bias could be eliminated. On the other hand, the mental shortcuts of the unconscious in a machine-mind may cause stereotyping or overconfidence that elicits inappropriate or harmful thoughts and actions.
Replicating the conscious and unconscious mind by mapping the brain and transferring those human functions to machine learning seems like a Trojan horse that offers a pyric victory. Dehaene’s research on the subconscious mind seems to reveal more about human weakness than strength. His research indirectly points to the danger of scientific discovery introducing subconscious human processing to machine learning.
In planning a trip to Japan this year, it seems prudent to learn more about the history of Japan.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.
Great Courses-Understanding Japan (A Cultural History)
By: Mark J. Ravina
Narrated By: Mark J. Ravina
Mark Ravina (Scholar of Japanese history at the University of Texas at Austin)
Professor Ravina’s lectures are a little too heavy on Japan’s ancient history but offers some interesting opinion about the rise of the Samurai, the evolution of women’s roles in Japan, Emperor Hirohito and his role in WWII, the democratization of Japan after WWII, and the cause of Japan’s current economic stagnation.
As is well known, the Samurai were a warrior class in Japan. Their role in Japanese history grows between 794 and 1185.
They began as private armies for noble families with estates in Japan. They became a force in Japanese politics and have had an enduring effect on Japanese society. They evolved after 1185 into a ruling military government called shogun that exhibited political influence through 1333, emphasizing Bushido or what is defined as a strict code of loyalty, honor, and discipline. That discipline extended to ritual suicide in defeat or disgrace to preserve one’s honor. Zen Buddhism entered into the Samuria culture, exhibiting a time of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate that lasted until 1868. After 1868, the Samurai era came to an end, but its cultural influence remains in a modernized military that adheres to qualities of discipline, honor, and resilience.
Traditional Japanese Woman.
The role of women in Japan has evolved from great influence and freedom for the well-to-do to a life of restricted domesticity.
During the Samurai era, the influence of women declined and became more restricted. The rise of Confucian ideals emphasized male dominance with women being relegated to domestic duty. Women turned to art, calligraphy, and religion as their societal influence decreased. In the Meiji Era (1868-1912) women’s education somewhat improved and they began to participate in political movements like voting and equal rights. Finally, after WWII, a new constitution granted women equal rights like the right to vote and enter the workforce. However, like America, traditional gender roles persisted. In today’s Japan, like most of the world, equal rights remain a battle for women.
Hirohito is the 124th Emperor of Japan.
He reigned from 1926 to 1989. Professor Ravina notes that a question is raised about whether the emperor was a follower or leader in Japan’s role in WWII. Ravina argues history showed Hirohito’s role was as a leader. In defeat, Hirohito renounced his divine status to become a constitutional monarch under U.S. occupation. Hirohito, as the crown prince of Japan, strengthened Japan’s diplomatic ties on the world stage. He was instrumental in scientific research in marine biology. He emphasized Japan’s drive to become an industrial nation and player in international trade. He militarized Japan in preparation for war and territorial expansion. He authorized invasion of Manchuria in 1931 to establish it as a puppet of Japan. Hirohito aids the American occupation, after WWII, to de-militarize and re-industrialize Japan.
With creation of a new constitution for Japan in 1947, Japan became a constitutional monarchy that made the emperor a symbolic figurehead, and guaranteed freedom of speech, religion, and assembly.
The constitution formally denounced war as a means of settling disputes. Land reform redistributed agricultural production to tenant farmers that reduced the power of wealthy landlords and promoted economic equality in rural Japan. Women’s rights were codified to allow voting and participation in politics. The constitution guaranteed equality but, like the rest of the world, culture trumped reality. Japan’s military was reorganized as a defensive force for national security. War crimes trials convicted Hideki Tojo, Iwane Matsui, Hei taro Kimura, Kenji Doihara, and Koki Hirota and sentenced them to death. In total 17 leaders were executed, and 16 others were imprisoned.
Free-market economy.
The democratization of Japan entailed economic reforms that broke up large industrial conglomerates to promote a free-market economy and reduce economic monopolies. However, the culture of Japan replaced the industrial conglomerates with networks of interlinked companies that operated cooperatively in ways that reduced competition in pursuit of financial stability. The education system was reformed to promote democratic values, and equal access to education for all citizens.
A free press was encouraged to foster transparency and accountability.
The results allowed Japan to rapidly improve their industrial productivity. That productivity was defined and improved by the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, a statistician and quality-control expert in the 1950s. His contributions led to the Deming Prize in 1951, an annual award recognizing excellence in quality management. (This is a reminder of Peter Drucker and his monumental contribution to business practices in the United States.)
In Ravina’s final lectures, he addresses the economic stagnation that has overtaken modern society in Japan.
It began in the 1990s. A sharp decline in asset prices wiped out wealth and triggered a banking crisis. Banks had made too many bad loans that became non-performing. Deflation ensued with falling prices that discouraged spending and slowed economic growth. Company profits declined. The demographics of Japan reduced the size of the work force because of an aging population and declining births. One suspects this demographic change is further burdened by ethnic identity that mitigates against immigration.
Japan’s consumption tax increases in 1997 impeded recovery.
The close ties between government, banks, and corporations resist reforms. And, as is true in America, global competition from other countries with lower cost labor eroded international trade.
REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE 
