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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
Always willing to discuss a book I already own! Haidt offers a good way to understand political division. He presents original research in the context of his own evolution from liberal to I guess political agnostic.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
DWill wrote:
Always willing to discuss a book I already own! Haidt offers a good way to understand political division. He presents original research in the context of his own evolution from liberal to I guess political agnostic.
I vote for Righteous Mind.
We haven't already discussed Righteous Mind? If not, count me in as well.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
It seemed to me, too, that we had talked about the book. But I don't see it on the big list of books, so I think a few of us must have read it on the side. I wouldn't be against re-visits, anyway, in some instances.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
The Haidt book was discussed back in 2012. I think the fact that some of us do not or barely remember the discussion would be reason enough to revisit such an important book
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
LevV wrote:
The Haidt book was discussed back in 2012. I think the fact that some of us do not or barely remember the discussion would be reason enough to revisit such an important book
I've read Haidt's The Happiness Hypothesis but not The Righteous Mind, his more famous book. As LevV says, there's a lot of discussion and online material related to Haidt's Moral Foundations theory. That theory now includes a sixth parameter, Liberty/Oppression, which probably relates well with American Character by Colin Woodard. With the 2020 election rapidly approaching, the time seems right to discuss Haidt's book.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
This 2018 book was suggested by DWill last month in a Booktalk discussion on climate change. It encapsulates some of the big themes we have been debating, with DWill suggesting he is in the Prophet corner while I support the Wizards.
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World, January 23, 2018 by Charles C. Mann 4.5 out of 5 stars 83 ratings Kindle $10.28; Hardcover $16.19; Paperback $10.49
Amazon Summary wrote:
From the best-selling, award-winning author of 1491 and 1493--an incisive portrait of the two little-known twentieth-century scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt, whose diametrically opposed views shaped our ideas about the environment, laying the groundwork for how people in the twenty-first century will choose to live in tomorrow's world.
In forty years, Earth's population will reach ten billion. Can our world support that? What kind of world will it be? Those answering these questions generally fall into two deeply divided groups--Wizards and Prophets, as Charles Mann calls them in this balanced, authoritative, nonpolemical new book. The Prophets, he explains, follow William Vogt, a founding environmentalist who believed that in using more than our planet has to give, our prosperity will lead us to ruin. Cut back! was his mantra. Otherwise everyone will lose! The Wizards are the heirs of Norman Borlaug, whose research, in effect, wrangled the world in service to our species to produce modern high-yield crops that then saved millions from starvation. Innovate! was Borlaug's cry. Only in that way can everyone win! Mann delves into these diverging viewpoints to assess the four great challenges humanity faces--food, water, energy, climate change--grounding each in historical context and weighing the options for the future. With our civilization on the line, the author's insightful analysis is an essential addition to the urgent conversation about how our children will fare on an increasingly crowded Earth.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
Thanks for bringing up this book, Robert. I didn't think about suggesting it, but indeed it would be a good selection. I would favor it over Haidt's book.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
I’m in for “Wizard and the Prophet” . Charles C Mann is on the front lines of confrontation with the right-wing denialist who have entrenched themselves in governments around the globe.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
Is reviving an old discussion an option? Like Haidt's book?
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
Hello everyone,
Yes, we can definitely read and discuss a book twice. We did it for Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot. I just checked and in 2012 we did indeed read and discuss The Righteous Mind but that's 7 years ago and as of right now I see more members indicating an interest in this book than any other book suggested by far.
I think we should just go with The Righteous Mind based on the numbers I see.
7 people are for The Righteous Mind 3 people are for The Wizard 2 people are for We Do Things Differently
There isn't a need for a poll. When the numbers are even remotely tied we do a poll but with more than twice as many people interested in one book as the next favorite book I feel comfortable with skipping the poll.
I'm going to get th archived forum back to the main forum page right now. We can use the existing threads and add to them.
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Re: What NON-FICTION book should we discuss Dec. 2019 through Feb.2020?
Though I have said I'd like to discuss The Righteous Mind (and would still like to discuss it at some point), I'd be in favor of Wizards and Prophets for our next book. Overpopulation is intrinsically tied to climate change and a subject that is perhaps far more urgent than we can imagine. I believe DWill also favors this one over Haidt's.
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