Cat in a box IN A BOX #inception twitter.com/bnnt/status/1511957040654028805/photo/…
The Trolley Problem
The Trolley Problem is a famous ethical dilemma asking whether we should cause something bad to happen in order to prevent something worse. If a runaway trolley is about to run over 5 people, is it morally right to divert … Continue reading
The Gift of the Gab – David Crystal
This is a pretty good guide to effective public speaking – its centrepiece is a very detailed analysis of Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech from 2008. Actually I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would – … Continue reading
War and Peace — Leo Tolstoy
The War is Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, which disrupts the Peace of Russian high society in Moscow, Petersburg and various country estates. We follow several aristocratic families as the war begins, gets worse, turns around and finally ends. … Continue reading
The Anomaly – Hervé Le Tellier
This speculative fiction is set in the present day just as we know it now. One day, an inexplicable and apparently impossible event happens; this novel is about how this affects the people involved, but also governments, media and everyone … Continue reading
The Situation is Hopeless, But Not Serious – Paul Watzlawick
The situation is hopeless – but not serious. I just love this phrase. It does seem true to me that it applies to many situations in life, big and small. Sometimes yes, the situation you are faced with is hopeless. … Continue reading
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How Free Are You? — Ted Honderich
Science tells us that determinism (or near-determinism) is very likely to be true. Yet we feel as if we have free will. How can these be reconciled? Continue reading
How to Lie with Statistics – Darrell Huff
This book explains the many ways that people can misuse statistics to mislead you. Maybe a more descriptive title would be, “How to Tell When People are Lying to You with Statistics”. It’s a bit like being shown how a … Continue reading
Making Money – Terry Pratchett
Brilliant. This book took me some time to finish: many times I found myself re-reading sentences just because they were so clever and funny. I had several chuckles on each page, to the amusement of my family. Continue reading