Frans De Waal
Extended Book Review
De Waal does a marvelous take on the visible elements, leaving the roots the business of the likes of Darwin and Dawkins. Ed Wilson does a somewhat parallel study of import as far as he goes. What De Waal adds, is concrete observations of how conflict resolution works in nature, while giving due the
Selfish Gene of Dawkins. In the opinions of many, including us, the selfish gene not only gives rise to the selfish individuals, but to families and societies as well. In like manner, are not all behaviors genetic?
Posted by RoadToPeace on Monday, August 09, 2010.
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Misquoting Jesus
Extended Book Review
Bart Ehrman
An early and confirmed Christian, a born-again Christian, Ehrmam has lived the gamut of Christianity—and beyond, if that is the right word. As a naturally-curious and thinking boy becoming a man, Ehrman was, like most of us, reared to believe, which he did with fervor. In the tenth grade he joined Campus Life Youth for Christ club. Its leader was a eager and charismatic 20 something who held meetings off campus at various club-member homes. Ehrman got to know Bruce, the leader, and was awakened to a new experience of happiness and salvation only a believer could know. In due course he became a born-again Christian.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Sunday, May 30, 2010.
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A Groundbreaking Study of America’s Nonbelievers
Bruce Hunsberger and Bob Altemeyer
Book Review
Has organized religion (monotheism) really begun a terminal decline? This question reverberated in the backs of our heads as we got into this readable book on a subject that is still taboo in many quarters. Yet it is groundbreaking; indeed, it is eyeopening as well. What sets this book apart from those by other atheists is that it provides actual data and may be the first attempt we have seen that ties the need for, and expression of, religion to such traits as authoritariansm—Right Wing variety--but basically a genetic expression of society first codified by
Adorno et. al. and extended by
Milgram and
Altemeyer himself.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, May 29, 2010.
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From Stalingrad To The New Cold War.
Stephen Cohen
Extended Book Review
Until we met Cohen, his name was not
in our consciousness. That soon changed when we heard him address various contemporary social issues. Reading and reviewing his book became our first order of business.
Cohen's account of the Soviet period is easily the best we have read. Moreover, it is consilient with the model for violence apparent in and among modern societies. For that reason alone, Cohen is most credible. Moreover, his encyclopedic knowledge of Russia, its language, and the Cold War give him the edge over contemporary historians who accept too many myths about Eastern Europe and
the United States itself. British officials serving in both Moscow and Washington agree with his assessment that the Clinton and Bush administrations in particular pursued policies designed to alienate the Russians, by meddling in their internal affairs and encroaching on their legitimate sphere of influence.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, December 26, 2009.
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Edward O Wilson
Book Review with Commentary
Readable, accessible, dramatic, and profound, Wilson is at once a first-rank scientist and storyteller. He wrote a book we could not put down until we finished it. And then we felt like reading it again. We grew up believing that nothing could be more complex than Einstein's theory of gravity. We were wrong. The human brain is far more complex and difficult to predict than a mere apple falling from a tree! As Wilson patiently explains, human behaviors arise from the brain and are in fact multiples more complex than physical laws known to date. Furthermore, Wilson convincingly argues, human behavior (psychology and sociology) is a consilient branch of science, at least so far. He is not an absolutist. The only real axe he grinds is consilience itself, and his axe is finely honed. For example, he explains nicely how evolution itself gives rise to our humanistic as well as existential belief systems. Each is an epigenetic expression of our genes.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Tuesday, August 18, 2009.
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Malcom Gladwell
Extended Book Review
Gladwell stands many of our conceptions of success on their heads. Who are our ancestors; where we are born; when we are born, trends in society, and the march of technology all matter as much as our genes. These "accidents" conspire to thrust the "fortunate" forward while leaving out the rest. In other words, there is a Newton, Pasteur, Obama, and their like, born among us every year. If the times and tides are right, they have opportunity make it. If not, they don't. This is how evolution affects society as it evolves.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Tuesday, February 10, 2009.
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Michael Ruse
Extended Book Review
This well-crafted book considers Darwinism, from the “-ism” point of view–for “-ism” Darwin has become. This is the fault of modern society whose discontents are ”ism” followers and "ism" creators in their own right. The last thing Darwin had in mind was to create a quasi “cult.” He did not, of course. However, unlike most cults, Darwin’s detractors created Darwinism by labeling what they PROJECTED as a threat–-a threat to their sense of self, their self image, their salvation. This is not at all bad in-and-of-itself; we all have a right to protect our individuality. The problem comes from the collective result when sociopaths use anti-Darwinism to further their grips on the human mind in order to achieve their own ends. We strongly recommend this book. It is a well-balanced read.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Wednesday, February 04, 2009.
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Gene Sharp 1973
Book Review and Commentary
Another chink in the human edifice of peace is available in this book. Short it is, but loaded with key information it also is. A contemporary of
Stanley Milgram, Sharp illustrates how the findings of
Adorno and Milgram on the
Authoritarian Personality play out in society. All three predate
Altemeyer’s excellent study of Authoritarians in politics that
Dean was able to bring into the 21st Century in the philosophy of the
Neocons,
Posted by RoadToPeace on Wednesday, October 08, 2008.
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Uri Savir
Book Review
This book is an excellent companion to
"The Arab Center" by Marwan Muasher. Each is a voice of moderation, and each shows the power of the center when it organizes itself around a just cause.
Uri Savir, Israel's Chief Negotiator in the Oslo Process, recalls in his 1998 book
The Process:
"Over the years Israelis had cultivated a self-serving myth that ours was an 'enlightened occupation.' I knew this was a contradiction of terms, but I did not know and I think few other Israelis did how thoroughly we have invaded the lives of our Palestinian neighbors.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Tuesday, July 01, 2008.
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The Promise of Moderation
Marwan Muasher
Extended Book Review
This book should be read in conjunction with Uri Savir's great book on the Oslo Accords,
The Process. Both are examples of how
moderation can replace war. Each comes from highly placed authors from opposite sides of the Palestinian problem. And each illustrates how entrenched the war machines are on both sides of the great divide otherwise known as the Iron Wall separating the Zionists from Palestine, not to mention the rest of the world. Oddly enough, one of the founders of Zionism (Ze'ev Jabotinsky) predicted just this result if his compatriots did not mend their extreme ways.
Jabotinsky had a social insight as rare in his time as it is in ours. Muasher and Savir are modern-day examples with Jabotinsky's insights. They each tried to pick up the pieces of broken machines in the Middle East.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Tuesday, July 01, 2008.
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Or The Principle of Action
Essay Review.
The
Principle of Action is a more timely title for this essay of our times.
Voltaire was nothing if not an accomplished poet, philosopher, and satirist. Hence his title for this essay. He proposed just the opposite, for to take sides would damage not only the present, but the future as well. And his further point is that issues blow over, leaving those who took sides sidelined without a cause. History moves on; new issues arise; so why does it matter?
Voltaire is widely quoted, and we find many bits of wisdom that apply in our times.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, April 05, 2008.
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When Psychopaths go to work
Paul Babiak & Robert Hare
Extended Book Review
Being a psychopath is not illegal. But their behavior ought to be. In the fashion of a Greek tragedy, these authors dramatically weave several stories of how psychopaths destroy lives--this time the setting is the work place. Their descriptions resonate perfectly with Martha Stout's
"The Sociopath Next Door."
Posted by RoadToPeace on Monday, January 07, 2008.
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Since much of our factual information was generated by others publishing important books we list them all here for your convenience.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Tuesday, November 06, 2007.
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Sam Harris
Book Review With Commentary
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For those of us who feel depressed by this country's ever increasing unification of Church and state, this little book is a welcome hit of adrenaline." -- Marc Hauser, Harvard Univ, author of "Moral Minds" |
Posted by RoadToPeace on Friday, December 01, 2006.
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