What are you reading II?

General Discussion
1

Swapping back and forth between fiction and non-fiction. Although I’m leaning more heavily towards the fiction at this time.
For fiction, I’m reading Dead Man’s Hand, a collection of ‘weird west’ tales. Some very creative and interesting stories. (I did manage to squeeze in Master of Devils, a fantasy romp. :wink: )
As to the non-fiction, it’s The Monuments Men. I’m not too deep into it yet… But it is intriguing. (And refreshing to learn that people value such things as cultural treasures!)
Take care,
Derek

2

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett. Very interesting book set on a very interesting world.

3

Breaking the spell: Religion as a natural phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennitt
Fascinating and very accessible reading for a philosophy novice like myself.

4

Just finished Law’s Believing Bullshit, an excellent read explaining how people can be self deceptive and believe the unbelievable. I just downloaded Bill Nye’s new book on evolution Undeniable. . .. I’m also reading historical fiction, nautical that is, fun stuff indeed.
Cap’t Jack

5

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I’m about halfway through it and it’s incredible to view Islam from the inside and from a female point of view.

6

Hope audio books are OK
Nonsense On Stilts, by Massimo Piglucci - Lots to digest in this book that looks at the demarcation between science and pseudo-science. Finishing my second run through and could see me doing another rerun.
Forecast, Stephen Faris - interesting, but uneven, at times sticking to describing the scientific knowledge, at other times weaving in imagined narrative that detracts. Will make myself listen to it again, but imagine I’ll skip some chapters here and there. Not recommended for the depressed, since it puts the state of our world’s climate and it’s impact on society into a realistic light.

7
Just finished Law's Believing Bullshit, an excellent read explaining how people can be self deceptive and believe the unbelievable. I just downloaded Bill Nye's new book on evolution Undeniable. . .. I'm also reading historical fiction, nautical that is, fun stuff indeed. Cap't Jack
I am half way through "Undeniable" which was inspired by his debate with Ken Ham. Its interesting but he goes off topic frequently to discuss subjects that are only loosely related to evolution such as Global Warming and GMO's. I'm interested to see what you think
8

I’m about a third of the way through it Mac and was interested in his take on the debate. I was hoping he wouldn’t give that clown a venue but now I see his reasoning even though it probably didn’t change many closed minds, especially those who cheered Hamm every time he mentioned “the book”. He does seem to swan around a bit with the topics but I’ll wait to the end to offer a critique.
Cap’t Jack

9
Breaking the spell: Religion as a natural phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennitt Fascinating and very accessible reading for a philosophy novice like myself.
Excellent book; one of my favorites.
10
Breaking the spell: Religion as a natural phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennitt Fascinating and very accessible reading for a philosophy novice like myself.
Sounds nice! Where can I find it?
11
Breaking the spell: Religion as a natural phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennitt Fascinating and very accessible reading for a philosophy novice like myself.
Sounds nice! Where can I find it? Amazon?
12

Exploring the Roots of Religion by John R Hale; one of the Great Courses.

13

The Self Illusion: How The Social Brain Creates Identity. By Bruce Hood
It is so humbling to realize that I, myself am an illusion my brain creates. Fascinating stuff.

14

I just finished reading Unbreakable. This is the book that the upcoming movie is based on about an American bombardier who’s plane crashes in the Pacific in WWII. What he had to go through is unbelievable but i learned a lot about the Pacific theater of WWII that I wasn;t aware of.

15
The Self Illusion: How The Social Brain Creates Identity. By Bruce Hood It is so humbling to realize that I, myself am an illusion my brain creates. Fascinating stuff.
Sounds like a book worth reading. Also it lead me to think of a quote of Somni-451's, in the fictional future of the book/movie "Cloud Atlas": "To be is to be perceived. And so to know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other. The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds that go on apportioning themselves throughout all time. Our lives are not our own; from womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness we birth our future."
16
I just finished reading Unbreakable. This is the book that the upcoming movie is based on about an American bombardier who's plane crashes in the Pacific in WWII. What he had to go through is unbelievable but i learned a lot about the Pacific theater of WWII that I wasn;t aware of.
I really want to see the movie. The guy seems to have been quite extraordinary, based on the previews. I imagine that you will see the movie. If so perhaps you would post on how the movie compares to the book?
17
I just finished reading Unbreakable. This is the book that the upcoming movie is based on about an American bombardier who's plane crashes in the Pacific in WWII. What he had to go through is unbelievable but i learned a lot about the Pacific theater of WWII that I wasn;t aware of.
I really want to see the movie. The guy seems to have been quite extraordinary, based on the previews. I imagine that you will see the movie. If so perhaps you would post on how the movie compares to the book? I will certainly see the movie although I may have to wait until its out on Amazon. The thing that hits you most when you read this book is how cruel the Japanese were. The inhumanity is staggering. According to the epilogue prisoners of German POW camps had a 1% mortality rate while those in Japanese camps had a mortality rate of about 30% and American POW's in Japanese camps died at even higher rates. Its easy to condemn the Japanese but I couldn't help reading about what was done to our service men and thinking how much this sounds like the same things we have been doing in Guantanamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In some ways we have become them. The perpetrators always think their actions are justified to protect their homeland but you can justify almost anything with that reasoning.
18

When you read this story you also can’t help but think that any hand wringing over the dropping of the two atomic bombs is a bit of armchair naivete. I think every academic who questions that choice would change their mind after a single day on one of those camps.

19
When you read this story you also can’t help but think that any hand wringing over the dropping of the two atomic bombs is a bit of armchair naivete. I think every academic who questions that choice would change their mind after a single day on one of those camps.
Anyone who "believes" that we shouldn't have used the Atomic bombs couldn't refer to themselves as an academic; even a tertiary examination of the facts would prove that contention false. Without the destruction caused by those bombs the Emperor wouldn't have had the leverage to compel the military leaders to stand down, and millions of more lives would have been lost. To think otherwise is naive. And the prison camps were hell holes of the worst kind. I've interviewed survivors and my father was a combat Marine on Okinawa who witnessed their fanaticism. If you're interested read Hidden Horrors:Japanese War Crimes in World War II. Cap't Jack
20
When you read this story you also can’t help but think that any hand wringing over the dropping of the two atomic bombs is a bit of armchair naivete. I think every academic who questions that choice would change their mind after a single day on one of those camps.
Anyone who "believes" that we shouldn't have used the Atomic bombs couldn't refer to themselves as an academic; even a tertiary examination of the facts would prove that contention false. Without the destruction caused by those bombs the Emperor wouldn't have had the leverage to compel the military leaders to stand down, and millions of more lives would have been lost. To think otherwise is naive. And the prison camps were hell holes of the worst kind. I've interviewed survivors and my father was a combat Marine on Okinawa who witnessed their fanaticism. If you're interested read Hidden Horrors:Japanese War Crimes in World War II. Cap't Jack
I was going to talk about books, but I have to respond to this. What evidence do you have that no one else does? There was a guy who advised the president who made this argument about saving millions of lives, but not many agreed with him. The Japanese were ready to surrender and it was only a matter of negotiating terms. The mistake Truman made as to be vague about when and where they could use the bomb. Once they did it, he quickly corrected that and created the system of codes and lockouts that we have now.