EMPERORS

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

From Yao to Mao (5000 Years of Chinese History)

By: Kenneth J. Hammond (Great Courses)

Lecturer-Professor Kenneth J. Hammond

Kenneth J. Hammond (Professor of History at New Mexico State University.)

In some ways, America’s 300 hundred years is a microcosm of Kenneth Hammond’s informative lectures on China’s 5,000-year history.  Not to carry this idea too far, America has no emperors and is a mere baby in the history of the world.  However, social struggles of China and America have striking similarities.

By SS – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62393600

The fabric of a nation’s society is woven by leaders and followers.  Hammond recounts long stretches of China’s history that demonstrate social and political changes that predate and foretell America’s history.  American presidents are unlikely to experience dynasty. However, there are similarities between American leaders and the reign of Chinese Emperors.

Yu the Great (2123 BC to 2025 BC–95 years of life.)

In 2070 BC, “Yu the Great” manages to organize China’s fragmented ethnic groups into a kingdom.  Yu makes the first written record of an attempt to control nature.  By introducing flood control, Yu improves the lives of millions of his followers in what becomes China’s Xia dynasty. This dynasty, with various emperors, lasts for over 400 years. 

Yu is characterized as an “upright moral character”. Though the Xia dynasty is a hundreds years longer than the United States, Yu reminds one of George Washington’s brief role in America. 

Both set the stage for all national leaders who have successes and failures in their journey through history.  National leaders strive to form one nation from people of many different ethnicities and beliefs.  Successful national leaders manage external and internal crises to unite disparate followers.

Hammond identifies 16 different China’ eras, from Yao to Mao.  China’s leaders are not uniformly successful which can be equally said of Presidents of the United States.  At times, leaders of nations are petty, greedy, self-righteous, and wrong but China became the most advanced, powerful, and rich country in the world at different times in their history. 

Religion and society play parts in both China and America’s rise in the world. 

Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam play parts in China’s successes, and failures.  Hammond notes how Confucius belief reinforces importance of family in the success of nationhood.  Buddhism, though imported from India, instills introspection, meditation, and abstinence into China’s leaders during tumultuous times.  At times, Christianity and a burgeoning Islam threaten China’s future.  Hammond recounts a claimed brother of Jesus who nearly overthrows a Chinese emperor but fails. 

The Uyghurs, a largely Muslim Chinese minority, join Genghis Khan to establish the Mongol Empire.  This empire rises at the end of the Song Dynasty that leads China for several generations.  The Islamic faith is adopted by descendants of Genghis.  It plays a role in China’s history.  Fundamental religious and societal conflicts are equally evident in America’s short history.

  • Genghis Khan (Died August 18, 1227)
  • Kublai Khan (Died February 18, 1294.)
  • Chagatai Khan (Died in 1242)

In Hammond’s last lecture, he reviews China’s pragmatist movement. Deng Xiao Ping, in modern China, introduces capitalism into Maoist communism. Private property (though restricted by government limits) encourages accumulation of private wealth.

Entrepreneurial vigor is unleashed in China. 

Hammond chooses not to mention Xi but conflicts between Maoist communism and Deng’s capitalist introduction are renewed. Xi reinforces the importance of the communist party at the expense of capitalism. One might argue Xi’s political moves are to combat the temptation of greed.

However, human nature ensures greed will play into communist party bureaucracy just as it does in capitalism.  Capitalism and communism have a common failing—the desire for power which comes from entrepreneurial wealth as well as bureaucratic privilege.

One gathers from Hammond’s history of China that there remains no perfect form of governance.  Every country’s leadership deals with the failings of human nature. 

All these conflicts are evident in America’s 300 years—they are played out in China’s history.  China has managed to remain a nation state for 5,000 years.  Presumably, America can do the same. 

There are no pat answers that can abate the rise and fall of China or America.  Rome is no longer Rome, but Italy is still Italy.  The same may be said of America if one uses China’s history as a guide.

FASCINATION

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Project Hail Mary

By: Andy Weir  

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Andrew Taylor Weir (American Novelist.)

In a bit of serendipity, “Project Hail Mary” reminds one of Jason Lanier’s memoir, “Dawn of the New Everything”.  Lanier commented on a fascination with exhibiting himself as a crustacean in virtual reality.  Andy Weir seems similarly captivated.

Andy Weir wrote the fictional novel “The Martian” about an astronaut being stranded on Mars. It became a block buster movie starring Matt Damon. 

As an astronaut, Damon overcomes many things that might go wrong when exploring Mars.  Weir vivifies and magnifies that danger by exploring the entire cosmos in “Project Hail Mary”.   

Like the hero of “The Martian”, Weir creates a character who understands the science of space. 

“Project Hail Mary” is the story of a brilliant Junior Highschool Science teacher who becomes a reluctant astronaut.  This teacher overcomes many of the mental and physical challenges of space exploration.  On his journey, he becomes the first human to contact an alien life.

A striking feature of Weir’s writing is the science he incorporates in his novels. As an only child, Weir is raised by a physicist father and electrical-engineer mother who may have had something to do with his interest in science. 

Whatever Weir’s influences, “Project Hail Mary” is a tour de force of science and space travel for non-scientists.  Whether Weir’s writing has scientific merit or not, “Project Hail Mary” is a great entertainment, narrated by Oliver Wyman, a master of the art of audio presentation.

Weir takes us on a journey to another solar system.  Weir manages to suspend one’s imagination with a tale about a threat to earth on the scale of global warming.  Ironically, global warming’s threat is subsumed by a greater threat–the growth of a fungus originating on Venus that absorbs the energy of the sun.  Without that energy, Earth is doomed.

As has happened many times in history, a common threat creates friends of former enemies.  Like the creation of a political alliance in WWII to defeat an enemy aggressor, a science alliance of independent countries is formed to defeat nature’s aggressor

In Wier’s story, a brilliant group of scientists from around the world assemble to assess the threat of a fungus that absorbs the energy of the sun. 

A common threat demands singular, decisive, and coordinated action.  Imminent threat requires focused leadership.

In Weir’s novel, that is Eva Straat.  She is not the heroine of the story, but she is a leader.  She is an historian who clearly understands the gravity of the threat—no energy from the sun, no life on earth. 

Weir’s hero is Ryand Grace, a scientist who chooses to abandon science research to teach Science at a junior high school.  Grace is a reluctant hero.  He is commandeered by Eva Straat because of a science paper, written by Grace as a parting shot to the science community.  The leading scientists of the day said no life exists without water.  Grace’s science paper claims life on earth is not necessarily true for all life in the galaxy.  Grace is convinced that water is not necessary for all forms of life.  He quits the science community that vilifies him for his contrary opinion.

Teachers are great managers that know how to control resources, whether human or material. Grace is a quintessential manager.

Weir’s story credibly develops a belief that life might exist without water and oxygen interactions with the other elements of the periodic table.  Grace eventually meets an alien he calls Rocky.  Rocky is an alien from another solar system whose home planet is facing the same energy consuming fungus.  This alien has no eyes but can see, no ears but can hear, no hydrogen or oxygen in his world, and looks like a crustacean with multiple appendages.

There are many story lines to follow in Wier’s imaginative novel.  Some common threads are teaching moments.  There is the thread of our world’s end if evolution is unable to keep pace with social and environmental change.  There are the principles of friendship, hardship, scientific understanding, teacher and science contribution to society, crises response by the few, the one, and the many, willingness to sacrifice one’s life, and moral choice. 

An overriding principle in “Project Hail Mary” is the story of evolution.  Life’s adaptation is the soul of the story. Only through evolution does sentient life have a chance to survive.

WORLDS OF IMAGINATION

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Dawn of the New Everything (A Memoir)

By: Jaron Lanier  

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

American computer philosopher, computer scientist, visual artist, and musician.

Both Da Vinci (as characterized by Walter Isaacson) and Jaron Lanier are self-effacing geniuses without formal education. Both manage to create worlds of imagination.

Lanier’s memoir illustrates how refinement of virtual reality is as groundbreaking as Da Vinci’s understanding of light.  History will not likely view Lanier as the Da Vinci of our era but there are interesting similarities. 

Not to carry the comparison too far, Lanier magnifies the value of imagination without limiting its potential for both human good and evil. 

Da Vinci designs weapons of war that purposely fed the ambitions of his era’s tyrants.

Lanier is one of the pioneers of facial recognition.  Facial recognition is a tool that can be used by humanities’ tyrants as well as benefactors.  In conjunction with digitizing the lives of everyone, facial recognition implies a “Brave New World” as eminently realizable. 

A visit to China reinforces potential loss of privacy and human volition with the advance of a digitized and monitored population.

One comes away from Lanier’s memoir with an appreciation for his candor about life and his unshaken belief in the value of technology.  He recognizes his personal imperfection while maintaining an optimistic view for the world’s rescue by AI as a tool rather than controller of human life.  There is some comfort in his opinion, but a listener reserves judgement based on the life Lanier has led.  He is undoubtedly a polymath but his memoir focuses more on pleasures than the reality of most people’s lives.

The principle of virtual reality lends itself to Lanier’s obsession with music and entertainment. 

Lanier is a musician, among many other talents.  He spends some of his time collecting and mastering abstruse musical instruments. 

One comes away from “Dawn of the New Everything” with the feeling that VR has greater potential for distraction than humanity’s betterment. There is respite from this perception with Lanier’s explanation of how VR is used for education and training. It is a virtual tool for medical and science education. 

On the other hand, VR is a tool for remote murder by a person guiding a drone.

B.F. Skinner, American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher.

Lanier also notes that VR has the potential of making life conform to other’s interest.

The “Dawn of Everything” gives a clearer picture of what it was and is like to become a part of the Silicon Valley.  He candidly recounts his rise as a tech mogul, failure, and gadfly. 

Facebook and Twitter addiction are influencers with WMD potential.

Lanier’s memoir is at once enlightening and disheartening.  He offers a virtual picture of modern life that is influencing, but not yet controlling. Lanier is optimistic.  Many listeners will leave his memoir skeptical.

SUPERMAN-SUPERWOMAN

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Hiking with Nietzsche (A Memoir)

By: John Kaag  

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg

John Kaag (Author, Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell)

Like Mary-Louise Parker’s memoir “Dear Mr. You”, “Hiking with Nietzsche” is nearly returned by this listener.  Both memoirs, as the word suggests, are personal. 

However, Parker’s memoir is burdened by Parker’s self-absorption. “Dear Mr. You” reminds this listener of an actress who chose not to appear at the stage-door in New York after a forgettable stage performance.  Parker is a good writer, but she needs a better subject.

“Hiking with Nietzsche” is not overly burdened by its writer’s self-absorption.  Kaag offers some clarity to Nietzschean philosophical belief.  However, clarity is only partially delivered.  Some details revealed by Kaag of Nietzsche’s life are helpful.

Freidrich Nietzsche (1844-1900, German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist)

Nietzsche’s father was a Lutheran minister.  He died when Nietzsche was only five years old. 

Wilhelm Wagner (1813-1883, German composer and conductor.)

As a young man, Kaag explains Nietzsche idolizes Wagner.  Wagner becomes a father figure to Nietzsche.

However, Wagner treats Nietzsche as a servant, an underling, burdened by sexual identity and a modicum of insight to the nature of life.  Nietzsche eventually breaks with Wagner, partly in recognition of Wagner’s anti-Semite sentiment, but also as a break from surrogate parental control.  Like a child/parent relationship, Nietzsche continues to love Wagner but not as a great human being.

Where Kaag fails is–in inadequately correlating his family life with Nietzschean philosophy.  Kaag notes that Nietzsche spent a great deal of time in the mountains that Kaag and his family are visiting.  He retraces some of Nietzsche’s peripatetic life in Basel and its surroundings.

Kaag explains Nietzsche abandons belief in God and suggests humankind has killed the idea of a Supreme Being which leaves man in charge. 

Nietzsche suggests humankind is on its own. 

Kaag notes Nietzsche argues–We humans can become the ideal man, the master of his/her life.  In that recognition, humans become potential supermen.  Right conduct is determined by individuals overcoming themselves. 

This oneself recognizes morality is based on action that supports life, encourages self-assertion, and has no guilt.  Nietzsche suggests life should come from a “Let it Be” mentality that repeats itself.   Kaag does not make these ideas any clearer in using his family life and his personal actions as a husband and father as exemplars of Nietzschean philosophy.

“Hiking with Nietzsche” is a disappointment but not a waste of time. 

There is something to pursue in philosophy whether one agrees with Nietzsche or not. If “God is Dead” can man be moral?  It seems doubtful based on world history.  On the other hand, all species continue to evolve and adapt.  Earth’s environment is no longer taken for granted.  Are there supermen and women in our future?

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Reporter (A Memoir)

By: Seymour M. Hersh  

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Semour M. Hersh (Author, investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner)

“Reporter” reveals why freedom of the press is both feared and revered.  Seymour Hersh is an investigative reporter.  After listening to “Reporter”, one realizes Hersh is among the best journalists of the 20th and 21st century. To many newspaper readers (embarrassingly including this reader) Hersh is not well known.  Hersh’s reporting uncovered the My Lai massacre early in his career and followed that with revelations about the clandestine bombing of Cambodia, CIA exposure of domestic spying, and a still controversial contention that Obama lied to the American people about the Abbottabad raid that leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.

Hersh’s reporting uncovered the My Lai massacre early in his career.

The tenor of “Reporter” is personal to Hersh as one suspects all his reporting has been throughout his career.  His tenacity in confirming facts before writing a story lets one know Hersh is relentless.  When one is interviewed by Hersh, one suspects there is fear of being misunderstood or misquoted.  “Reporter” alludes to that fear in anecdotes of his search for facts.

The NYT’s paper on 10.11.21 writes about a difference of opinion about how news should be covered.

Hersh shows no fear or favor but his pursuit of facts gives no value to reasons for misleading public perception of events.  This is not criticism of the duties of an investigative reporter, but facts do not always speak for themselves. 

One knows America’s government has mislead the public many times in its history.  Whether that misleading is justified or not is not the concern of reporters like Seymour Hersh.  To Hersh, all that matters is–facts speak for themselves.  Therein lies the fear of freedom of the press.

The problem with thinking that facts speak for themselves is that all the facts revealed are never all the facts. 

The many books that have been written about historic figures is ample evidence of the problem.  With the principle of facts speak for themselves there would be no revisionist history.  History is re-written in every generation. One wonders what the perception of Vladimir Putin will be after the events of his Ukranian war.

This is not to denigrate the great work reporters like Hersh provide to Americans.  Without freedom of the press America would not be America. 

Even though all the facts are never known, those that are known should be revealed in real time.  How else can freedom be preserved?  Hersh, like all good investigative reporters, is not always on the right side of history.  Not because his facts are wrong, but that they fail to tell the whole story. 

One presumes Russian historians will view Putin differently than western or Ukrainian historians. Hero or villain? –to most Ukrainians, one suspects the latter rather than the former. To Russia’s residents, Putin’s Ukrainian war may be either or both.

Every human being is trapped in their own world of experience and genetic predisposition. Facts are by nature pieced into our personal experience and predisposition. Facts do not change but they are influenced by one’s perception of reality.

Many consider Henry Kissinger to have been one of the most highly regarded Secretary of States in the 20th century.  Hersh uncovers facts which suggest that is wrong.  Hersh’s facts are compelling.  They show Kissinger lies and distorts the truth. 

Kissinger flatly denies spying on government employees while Hersh reveals facts that clearly show Kissinger lied. To Hersh, much of the secret opening of China to America happens as a result of an Arab go-between, not Kissinger’s diplomatic skill. 

The covert bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam war is a policy soundly supported, if not initiated, by Kissinger.  Hersh’s facts speak for themselves, but one doubts they tell the whole story.  The whole story is left to historians. Though it may seem a contradiction, investigative reporter’s revelations in real time are good for American government. Only with transparency, can government become better.

Secret American bombing of Cambodia.

A most interesting chapter of Hersh’s book is an episode to expose the bad deeds of Gulf and Western Oil in the 70s. 

His investigation is toned down and effectively stopped by his employer’s lawyers because of fear of its repercussion.  Hersh concludes it is imprudent to expose seamy activities of corporate America because of potential negative economic consequence to publishers.  Hersh does not back off from private industry investigations but he only refers to one other effort to expose corporate shenanigans. “Reporter” primarily focuses on government employee and policy miss-directions and lies.

Though Hersh is a Democrat, he shows no favor. Hersh notes that facts show President Obama distorted the truth in the hunt and killing of Osama bin Landen.

Hersh dutifully reveals evidence that strongly suggests Pakistan cooperated in the plot to capture or kill bin Laden. Facts suggest bin Laden was not buried at sea but his bullet-ridden remains were dropped from a helicopter into the sea. Those may be the facts but do they explain the whole truth?

“Reporter” is a memoir of a great newsman who is justifiably proud of his contribution to freedom of the press.  America needs driven reporters like Seymour Hersh even though print and media news can never reveal all the facts in real time. 

There is good reason to both fear and revere freedom of the press. Fear comes from truthful as well as false reporting of facts.  Freedom is dependent on good reporting by reputable reporters.

AMERICA’S 2nd REVOLUTION

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Quartet (Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789)

By: Joseph J. Ellis  

Narrated by Robertson Dean

Joseph J. Ellis (Author, American historian.)

Joseph Ellis explains why creation of a Constitution constitutes America’s second revolution.

“The Quartet” is a well-reasoned history that touches on the 1765-1783 revolution and the subsequent adoption of an American Constitution.   Ellis notes America’s fight for independence meant 13 individual colonies (not a nation-state) fought for freedom from government control by Great Britain.  It was a revolution of many governments against one. Ellis notes most Americans in those early years identified with their own colonies, their own governments, and their singular independence.

The revolutionary war exposes the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

Though formed to prosecute an American uprising against the British, a confederation of disparate colonies often failed to provide either pay, food, or clothing to its soldiers who were fighting for their colony’s independence.

Adopting a Constitution in 1787-1788 creates a national identity and a singular nation-state. Ellis implies the adoption of a Constitution is a forcible overthrow of 13 governments. The American Constitution creates a nation-state that complements, and in many ways supersedes, the authority of 13 colonial governments. It addresses many of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

There is an element of hyperbole in naming the Constitutional convention a revolution but it certainly is a revolution in political ideas. Arms to overthrow colonial governments were not taken up by the framers of the Constitution. However, Ellis reasons the force of four men’s intellects foment what he calls a second revolution.

The Constitution not only consolidates 13 disparate colonial governments but offers a democratic nation-state that could grow and compete with every country of the world. Reification of the maligned ideals of democratic government by the American Constitution may well be classified as a revolution.

Ellis argues a “…Quartet” orchestrates a second American revolution.  The preeminent member is George Washington.  Two are less well known, John Jay and James Madison.  The fourth, Alexander Hamilton is well known today, in part because of the New York rap musical, “Hamilton”. Hamilton is an important spoke in the wagon wheel of early American history.

  • James Madison (4th President of the United States)
  • John Jay (1st Chief Justice of the United States)
  • American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist
  • George Washington

The diminutive James Madison is identified by Ellis as the primary motive power behind the creation of the Constitution.  Ellis suggests, without Madison’s astute handling of arguments for union, the Constitution would have not been approved by the colonies. 

Ellis notes that Madison would not have been successful without the support of Washington, Hamilton, and Jay. It is clear from Ellis’s history that Madison could not have won his arguments for union without the stature and influence of George Washington.  Madison’s friendship with Thomas Jefferson and other revolutionaries enhanced his efforts.  However, Ellis explains Madison’s intellect and studious preparation for debate carried the weight for public acceptance of the Constitution. Madison effectively argues for and designs a Constitution that preserves a level of State sovereignty with a powerful Federal government that becomes acceptable to the colonies.  

A “…Quartet” forms a governing union of colonies to provide defense, health, education, and welfare for a singular nation. 

One of many interesting facts Ellis reveals is how Madison, though short in stature, towered over great orators like Patrick Henry.  Henry insisted on preservation of independence for the colonies.

Madison is shown as an intellect who is always fully prepared for debate.  His ability to draw on historical fact sways enough of the public to see through the voluble and seductive speeches of great orators like Henry.

Ellis notes there is a fundamental difference between Jefferson’s and Madison’s view of the need for a federal government.  Both believed in the importance of a federal government but Jefferson looked to a federal government as a light handed, nearly invisible form of influence on local States.  Madison viewed federal government as a more dominant and influential force on State governance. 

(Parenthetically, Ellis notes that Madison reverses course in his later years to become more in tune with Jefferson’s view.  Both men were Virginians.  Ellis speculates Madison’s change in belief is in his recognition of growing disadvantages southern states would have in a Federal government.)

In drafting the Constitution, Ellis notes Madison understood the importance of compromise in dealing with State prerogative.  The importance of having State representation and a mechanism for adjudicating disagreement were folded into a concept of Senate and House representation.  Every State, regardless of population, would have two senators.  However, the House would have representatives based on population.  The Senate and House would have different responsibilities but each would have to compromise with the other in order to pass legislation.  Though Madison may not have clearly appreciated the power of a Supreme Court, the idea of balance of power with three branches of Federal government garnered more support for union of the colonies.

The role of John Jay, except to historians, is not well known.  Jay became the first Chief Justice of the United States.

Before that position, John Jay plays a vital role in forming American independence.  He becomes the Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation and is a strong proponent of centralized government. He was chief negotiator of the Treaty of Paris, in which Britain recognizes American independence.  As co-author of the Federalist Papers (along with Hamilton and Madison) he supported a strong Federal government.

A fundamental point that Ellis emphasizes in “The Quartet” is that the Constitution is proposed by its founders to be a living document. Ellis strongly objects to political leaders that are classified as “Originalists”. In Ellis’s story of the second revolution, the framers did not want to be identified as divinely inspired. They recognized they were Americans of their time, not of all time. They did not believe they were so forward thinking that the Constitution would not be changed by interpretations that fit circumstances of changing times.

Ellis view of America’s formation as a nation-state appears to defy the odds. It seems there was a 2nd American revolution.

AMBITION

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

From the Corner of the Oval – A Memoir

By: Beck Dorey-Stein  

Narrated by Beck Dorey-Stein

Beck Dorey-Stein (Author)

The value of Dorey-Stein’s memoir is how a twenty something adult makes his/her way in America.  What Dorey-Stein reflects is not just for women.  It reveals much about every human’s ambition to make their way in the world.

“From the Corner of the Oval” is a subjective view of the power and prestige of an American President.  The President’s power is limited, and his prestige is largely manufactured by the media.  However, Dorey-Stein’s story of aides who serve an American President is a journey of extraordinary privilege.

What will draw some to Dorey-Stein’s book is curiosity about what it is like to be an aide in an American Presidential Administration.  Some of that curiosity is satisfied.  “From the Corner of the Oval” offers a view of Barack Obama from the perspective of a true believer.

The universality of Dorey-Stein’s memoir is a magnification of what it is to be in your twenties, on your way to a future.  Opportunity is presented to all people of the world, but few grasp its temporal significance.  Only in reflection is lived experience understood.  

In the beginning of adulthood, when one is on their own, they choose to do one thing or another to satisfy their need for fulfillment.  Fulfillment is a measure of three things—acquisition of money, power, and some measure of prestige.  Each of these measures are quantitatively and qualitatively different for every person. 

Some desire money more than power, power more than prestige, or prestige more than money.  It is a circle of insatiable desire.

Dorey-Stein writes of her experience as a woman in her twenties.  She has experienced employment, loss of employment, search for new employment, reemployment, the luck (both good and bad) of sex as a single person, and partner infidelity as a perpetrator and victim.  Many people in their twenties encounter these experiences.  Dorey-Stein works through these experiences in her well-written and interesting memoir.

The seemingly worst part of her experience is infidelity.  One concludes good and bad experiences are overcome by her position as aide in a Presidential administration, some close confidential friends, physical health, and her supportive parents. 

Fidelity is a nearly insuperable difficulty for Dorey-Stein, just as it is for many human beings. 

Sex is a biological necessity for continuation of any species.  From puberty to your twenties through death, sex is present in practice or thought.  Dorey-Stein shows the consequence of power and prestige mixed with a natural desire for sexual relationship. 

Many may be appalled by the role money, power, and position play in genuine affection and love, but that is life.  Along the way, Dorey-Stein gives her reader/listeners a seat in the oval office, Air Force One, and a tour of the world at government expense.

SMARTEST IN THE ROOM

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

How Not to Be Wrong

By: Jordan Ellenberg  

Narrated by Jordan Ellenberg

Jordan Ellenberg (Author, American mathematician, Professor of mathematics at University of Wisconsin-Madison).

Like listening to Brian Greene (a theoretical physicist), Jordan Ellenberg reminds one of what it must be like to be the smartest person in the room.  One feels better from the experience of listening to “How Not to Be Wrong”, but understanding will be a struggle for most non-mathematicians. A non-mathematician leaves Ellenberg’s book better informed, if not entirely enlightened.

A non-mathematician may be hesitant to take Ellenberg’s book in hand.  Ellenberg does not convince one that mathematics will always help one “…Not…Be Wrong”. However, Ellenberg convincingly argues mathematics will offer a better chance of being right.

Ellenberg is a professor of mathematics.  He capsulizes mathematics as the language of science.  He reveals how mathematics offers a qualified understanding of reality. 

It is impossible to deny the validity of Ellenberg’s claim that mathematics is the language of science.

It is difficult to conceive of truth without mathematics because it provides a basis for repeatable experimental results. However, we live in a world of probabilities according to quantum mechanics. That implies mathematics cannot be the sole determinate of truth.

Ellenberg shows how “right” is qualified by mathematical proof.  Like Brian Greene, Ellenberg shows how mathematics brings one closer to truth but only to the point of a “null hypothesis”.  A null hypothesis is a repeatable experiment where there is zero (null) difference in results.  Being right is dependent upon the same results from population samplings and relevant repeatable experiments.

What strikes at the heart of Ellenberg’s explanation of “How Not to Be Wrong” is human natures tendency to make events conform to plan.  Human beings can lie to themselves. 

Lying to oneself is the source of conspiracy theories based on the human strength and weakness of seeing patterns in nature.  Perceived patterns from observation may or may not meet the criteria of a “null hypothesis”.  Ellenberg suggests one should be skeptical of observed patterns that defy common sense.

What is disturbing about Ellenberg’s explanation of “How Not to Be Wrong” is that probability enters into the equation of truth. 

This is the same fundamental law noted by theoretical physicists like Brian Greene.  With the use of mathematics as the language of science, one can only expect a probability of truth: not certainty.

Ellenberg notes one must keep in mind–not being wrong is entirely different from being right.  Determination of whether one is right or wrong is two-edged where one edge offers a probability of being right while the other implies possibility of being wrong.  The uncertainty of probability is a lighted match that can burn down a forest of science.

That match is fanned into a flame by those who disparage all of science because of revised theories based on newly discovered facts. As an example–our recent experience with the former President of the United States who discredited the science of masking and distancing during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Ellenberg gives numerous examples of people who are misled by population sampling and the concept of correlation.  Human nature often misleads people to see patterns where cause is unrelated to effect.  Ellenberg argues that better understanding of mathematics can teach humans “How Not to Be Wrong”. 

Being right is always qualified by some level of probability.  Ellenberg explains repeatable experiment, with a level of consistency in mathematical proofs, is our way of not being wrong.  Good to know, but daunting to achieve when mathematics is the only avenue for understanding. 

Don’t we all want to know “How Not to Be Wrong”?  Is the language of mathematics the only avenue for understanding?  Therein lies the fear of realizing you are not the smartest person in the room.

LIVING LIFE

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Until the End of Time

By: Brian Greene  

Narrated by Brian Greene

Author, (American Theoretical Physicist)

There is a great deal to unpack in Brian Greene’s “Until the End of Time”.  As is true of many of Greene’s scientific observations, much of his self-effacing intelligence and science-based opinion is lost in the ignorance of his listeners, not to mention this listener.  However, where Greene’s beliefs intersect with one’s limited knowledge, his theory of the ending of time and life is immensely rewarding and enlightening.

Greene does not argue there is no God. However, he suggests modern science shows there is no reason for God to exist to create life. 

To Greene, there is more verifiable proof of life in science than verifiable proof of God in either science or religion.

In Greene’s thought, God and religion may have a great deal to do with sustaining human life, but in ways more sociological than religious.  Weather one is a believer, atheist, or agnostic makes no difference to Greene.  He carefully constructs an explanation of how science shows life may have come into existence, why stories of life may explain belief in God, and why humans are fundamentally different from other forms of life.  The fundamental point of “…the End of Time” has to do with human mortality.  Human mortality lies at the core of Greene’s view of time and life.

Greene suggests the laws of physics founded by luminaries like Newton, Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and Erwin Schrodinger offer evidence for the basis for life on earth, with or without God.  Greene explains the principle of thermodynamics, the fundamental science of energy that creates and sustains life. 

Greene explains–the physics of energy (thermodynamics) ensures eventual death.  All life is pre-determined by the fundamental law of entropy.  The fate of time and life began with a bang.  This singular event disbursed tightly organized atomistic particles into a continually less organized space.

Greene notes that all forms of life are subject to entropy, a gradual decline from order to disorder.  Greene argues that entropy acts at an atomistic level to determine the fate of all living things. Greene suggest laws of quantum mechanics determine the course of life for all “living” things.

To Greene, humankind is free to make choices.  However, he argues humankind does not have free will.  The physics of science show that all living things cannot choose to live forever.  Humans can choose how to live, what to think, who to love, who to hate but they cannot choose one Nano second longer than what is dictated by the fundamental law of entropy.

Greene notes the science of Darwinian evolution and genetic inheritance is a relevant reinforcement of his argument for the inevitable extinction of life.  The entropy accompanying human habitation is evident in pollution of the air we breath and the water we drink.    (Though Greene does not address advances in genetic inheritance through gene manipulation, genetic manipulation does not negate Greene’s overriding concept of entropy.)

Just as earth’s environment slowly degrades, genetic inheritance as a process will eventually lead to extinction.  Humans, just as dinosaur’s, sabre tooth tigers, and Dodo birds will disappear. All life adapts to change until the speed of environmental change becomes greater than the speed of evolutionary adaptation.

Greene agues humankind’s recognition of mortality shapes lives as consequentially as evolution. The significance of Greene’s argument is that religion is founded on acknowledgement of eventual death.  Knowing that one cannot live forever, creates the desire for something beyond death.  Greene elaborates by arguing that human lack of control over natural events compels creation of stories about a Supreme Being. *

The big picture in “Until the End of Time” is that the world and life is heading for an end.   Based on the science of physics, there is an “…End of Time” for humankind, based on the immutable and experimentally proven laws of thermodynamics.  Entropy is evident in the science of quantum mechanics (the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles), and the science of a continually expanding universe.

What does this mean to us?  Humans still make their own choices on how to live, love, and hate in their lifetimes.  The singer, Bobby McFerrin, suggests “Don’t Worry Be Happy”.  Others suggest the meaning of life is to live in the moment.  Brian Greene suggests it is up to you.  Our lives and death may be pre-determined, but we have freedom to choose how we live, love, and work.

In re-thinking Greene’s belief in the physics of entropy, one wonders about the concept of energy never being destroyed. Einstein’s formula of E=MC2 implies our corporal bodies may die but atoms transmogrify. What does that suggest about the entropy of human life?

* Greene acknowledges the slim possibility of Devine existence but considers it much less probable based on the discipline of science and the existence of entropy.  Greene does not discount the comfort religion offers humankind, including the rituals that help one cope with life and the passing of loved ones.

GNOSTICISM

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough
(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog
The Gnostic Gospels
By: Elaine Pagels
Narrated by Lorna Raver

Elaine Pagels is a Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She has a Ph.D. in religion from Harvard University. Modern Library calls Pagels’ book, “The Gnostic Gospels” one of the 100 most important books of the twentieth century.

Like the beginning of a story of adventure and mystery, Pagels recounts the discovery of a fifty-two text collection of papyrus sheets recounting the beginnings of the Christian church.

For all religious organizations and particularly the Christian church, “The Gnostic Gospels” shakes the foundation of institutional religion.

According to Pagels, the Coptic text of “The Gnostic Gospels” show that in the near-beginnings of the Christian religion there were questions about who Jesus was and what he was about.

  • Was Jesus simply a prophet or the Son of God?
  • Was he preaching for the creation of a religion ?
  • Were historical facts manipulated to create a religious hierarchal institution?
  • Was Mary Magdalene a conjugal companion or disciple?

Pagels’ interpretation of “The Gnostic Gospels” suggests Jesus was a prophet; that his life story was manipulated to create a religious hierarchal institution, and that Mary Magdalene was a disciple.

A fundamental theme of “The Gnostic Gospels” is that the “Kingdom of God” is present within every human being, then and now, and that self-knowledge is the source of admittance to grace.

If one believes this teaching, it does not mean one must abandon organized religion but it redefines the role of the church.

Pagels’ interpretation of the “Gnostic Gospels” implies the role of the church is not to ritualize admittance to the “Kingdom of God” by christening mankind or bludgeoning all who do not accept a church’s vision of religion.

It suggests the church’s role is to aid personal revelation. Maybe Dostoevsky’s parable of “The Grand Inquisitor” is more insight than imagination.

Doubt remains at the conclusion of “The Gnostic Gospels”, even after reading Pagels’ insightful interpretation. Gnostic documentation is distant from “witnesses to the truth”. “The Gnostic Gospels” were written 300 or 400 years after Jesus’s time.