Official Poll: March, April & May 2011 NON-FICTION Book Discussion

Chris OConnor · Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:29 am

OFFICIAL POLL: March, April & May 2011 Non-Fiction Book

This is the official poll for deciding which non-fiction book we will read and discuss as a group during the months of March & April 2011.

READ THESE RULES BEFORE VOTING PLEASE

Poll Starts: Monday, February 14, 2011
Poll Ends: The poll ends when we have a clear winner. You can count on the poll being up for at least 7 full days.

• You MUST have 25 forum posts to vote.

• You can cast 3 votes and distribute your 3 votes however you like. If you don't assign all 3 votes it will be assumed that you wished to assign all 3 of your votes to the one book you selected.

Example:

2 votes for Book #1
1 vote for Book #2

• You can try to convince other people to vote for your book choice by explaining why you're voting the way you're voting. You are doing BookTalk.org a huge service by explaining a little about why you picked whatever book you picked, although this extra step is not required. People do read comments and you do stand to influence them if you make a passionate plea for your book, and the whole goal of our book selection process is to find a book that will stimulate discussion. So don't be shy about attempting to sell us on your book choice.

• Vote today! Please don't wait till you see other people voting because they're waiting for YOU to vote.

Now, on to our book choices...

Chris OConnor · Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:02 am

Book 1
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
By Joseph Campbell

Amazon.com Review
Originally written by Campbell in the '40s-- in his pre-Bill Moyers days -- and famous as George Lucas' inspiration for "Star Wars," this book will likewise inspire any writer or reader in its well considered assertion that while all stories have already been told, this is *not* a bad thing, since the *retelling* is still necessary. And while our own life's journey must always be ended alone, the travel is undertaken in the company not only of immediate loved ones and primal passion, but of the heroes and heroines -- and myth-cycles -- that have preceded us.

Product Description
Since its release in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced millions of readers by combining the insights of modern psychology with Joseph Campbell’s revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In these pages, Campbell outlines the Hero’s Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world’s mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.

As part of the Joseph Campbell Foundation’s Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, this third edition features expanded illustrations, a comprehensive bibliography, and more accessible sidebars.

As relevant today as when it was first published, The Hero with a Thousand Faces continues to find new audiences in fields ranging from religion and anthropology to literature and film studies. The book has also profoundly influenced creative artists—including authors, songwriters, game designers, and filmmakers—and continues to inspire all those interested in the inherent human need to tell stories.

Chris OConnor · Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:05 am

Book 2
Secular Philosophy and the Religious Temperament: Essays 2002-2008
By Thomas Nagel

Product Description
This volume collects recent essays and reviews by Thomas Nagel in three subject areas. The first section, including the title essay, is concerned with religious belief and some of the philosophical questions connected with it, such as the relation between religion and evolutionary theory, the question of why there is something rather than nothing, and the significance for human life of our place in the cosmos. It includes a defense of the relevance of religion to science education. The second section concerns the interpretation of liberal political theory, especially in an international context. A substantial essay argues that the principles of distributive justice that apply within individual nation-states do not apply to the world as a whole. The third section discusses the distinctive contributions of four philosophers to our understanding of what it is to be human--the form of human consciousness and the source of human values.

Chris OConnor · Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:08 am

Book 3
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
By Matt Ridley

From Publishers Weekly
Ideas have sex, in Ridley's schema; they follow a process of natural selection of their own, and as long as they continue to do so, there is reason to retire apocalyptic pessimism about the future of our species. Erstwhile zoologist, conservationist, and journalist, Ridley (The Red Queen) posits that as long as civilization engages in exchange and specialization, we will be able to reinvent ourselves and responsibly use earthly resources ad infinitum. Humanity's collective intelligence will save the day, just as it has over the centuries. Ridley puts current perceptions about violence, wealth, and the environment into historical perspective, reaching back thousands of years to advocate global free trade, smaller government, and the use of fossil fuels. He confidently takes on the experts, from modern sociologists who fret over the current level of violence in the world to environmentalists who disdain genetically modified crops. An ambitious and sunny paean to human ingenuity, this is an argument for why ambitious optimism is morally mandatory.

From Booklist
Science journalist Ridley believes there is a reason to be optimistic about the human race, and he defies the unprecedented economic pessimism he observes. His book is about the rapid and continuous change that human society experiences, unlike any other animal group. Ideas needed to meet and mate for culture to turn cumulative, and “there was a point in human pre-history when big-brained, cultural, learning people for the first time began to exchange things with each other and that once they started doing so, culture suddenly became cumulative, and the great headlong experiment of human economic ‘progress’ began.” Participants in the exchanges improved their lives by trading food and tools. Ridley believes it is probable that humanity will be better off in the next century than it is today, and so will the ecology of our planet. He dares the human race to embrace change, be rationally optimistic, and strive for an improved life for all people.

Chris OConnor · Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:08 am

Those are our 3 book choices for this poll. Let the voting begin!

Dexter · Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:32 am

3 for Ridley.

Here's a little video explaining his point about specialization and trade:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOQGiveUxf8

oblivion · Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:36 am

2 for Campbell, 1 for Nagel

lindad_amato · Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:09 am

3 votes for Book 1......Campbell

Robert Tulip · Tue Feb 15, 2011 9:19 pm

I greatly enjoyed reading Nagel's book, which I have just finished. It has superb short essays on topics ranging from Dawkins and atheism, response to intelligent design and the nature of justice, all of which are very debatable. Even so, I think Campbell would prompt better discussion and I have been meaning to read it for ages.

Two votes to The Hero with a Thousand Faces
One vote to Secular Philosophy and the Religious Temperament.