Finished reading: The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian is a fascinating and very well written overview of the current state of AI research. I was particularly struck by how much of the challenge with safe AI is based on our poor understanding of our own intelligence 📚
book
Finished reading: The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom is a compelling, brief story about faith and redemption 📚
Finished reading: This seems to be the consensus, so I won’t belabour the point: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman is a powerful book. If you feel overwhelmed by busyness or slightly adrift, it is well worth a read. There are some tough messages in it, though, that require contemplation 📚
Wednesday, December 29, 2021 →
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin is a really interesting story about two different worlds and a physicist that tries to bring them back together. As with most good science fiction, the story is about the people, rather than the science, but the sci-fi setting accentuates the morals of the story 📚
I’m slowly making my way through Pragmatism, and Other Essays by William James and was amused to see:
I offered this as a conciliatory olive-branch to my enemies. But they, as is only too common with such offerings, trampled the gift under foot and turned and rent the giver. I had counted too much on their good will.
Some things haven’t changed since 1909 📚
Bowl of Heaven by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven is quite expansive in scope and imagination. A fun, easy read with some big ideas 📚
I picked up Artifact by Gregory Benford at my local used bookstore on a whim. I’m glad I did. It is a fun mix of archaeology, theoretical physics, and espionage 📚
I enjoyed Revenant Gun: Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee. A fitting end to the trilogy📚
Although A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine isn’t as remarkable as A Memory Called Empire, I still really enjoyed it. Some of the enjoyment was momentum from the first book. I also liked the mystery of the aliens and the exploration of shared memories and awareness 📚
Fathoms by Rebecca Giggs is about so much more than whales. Beautifully written, Giggs uses whales to talk through society, culture, environmentalism, evolution, and history, along with lots of good natural history on whales📚
Currently reading: Fathoms: the world in the whale by 📚
Currently reading: A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, 2) by Arkady Martine 📚
I really enjoyed Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton (book 1 of the Salvation Sequence trilogy). A fun blend of sci-fi, detective novel, and alien invasion with a cliffhanger ending📚
This book caught my eye at the local used bookstore: Pragmatism and Other Essays by William James 📚
Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors is an interesting mix of reflections on solitude, the importance of conservation, and American history 📚
Currently reading: Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors 📚
Excession by Iain M. Banks is a great read with a fun mix of space opera, humour, morality, and mystery 📚
Currently reading: Excession by Iain M. Banks 📚
Currently reading: The Little Drummer Girl: A Novel by John le Carre 📚
Finished reading: Matter (Culture) by Iain M. Banks. This was a straightforwardly entertaining read 📚
Finished reading: The Strategy Paradox: Why Committing to Success Leads to Failure (And What to do About It) by Michael E. Raynor 📚
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson is a good second book in the Mars trilogy. So much great detail, you really get a strong sense of Mars as a place that is distinct from Earth 📚
Currently reading: Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson 📚
Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman takes a conversational approach to math, saying as much about how mathematicians think as it does about the math. Removing numbers helps focus on the concepts and the delightful illustrations are just whimsical enough to match the prose📚
I’m looking forward to starting Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman 📚
Currently reading: Limitless by Jim Kwik 📚
Currently reading: Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday 📚
Humble Pi by Matt Parker is a very entertaining book about math errors. His irreverent personality really comes through and the stories make the important point about how essential math is to our everyday lives. 📚
Currently reading: Humble Pi by Matt Parker 📚
The Light of All That Falls by James Islington is a great end to The Licanius Trilogy. I was in the mood for an immersive fantasy series and these delivered, each book weighing in at close to a thousand pages. Interesting mix of fantasy, politics, time travel & free will 📚