1---
2authors: Neil Postman
3isbn: 0-679-75166-1
4pages: "176"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: childhood
7date_started: 2017-11-18
8date_finished: 2017-11-27
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2017-11-27
11---
12
13# The Disappearance of Childhood
14
15Great book on history of childhood in general and how the notion of children changes with the environment.

1---
2authors: The School of Life
3isbn: 978-0-9957535-9-4
4pages: "278"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: dictionary
7date_started: 2018-04-01
8date_finished: 2018-05-13
9locations: Kyiv, Lviv, Berlin, San Francisco
10date: 2018-05-13
11---
12
13# The School of Life Dictionary
14
15I want to see more of books like this.  Modern definition for words that are important in our everyday lives.

1---
2authors: Edward Bernays
3isbn: "9780970312594"
4pages: "168"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2019-03-01
7date_finished: 2019-11-02
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2019-11-02
10---
11
12# Propaganda
13
14Year ago I watched amazing documentary by Adam Curtis called [The Century of Self](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self). Nephew of Sigmund Freud - Edward Bernays - was a villain in that documentary. I've got chills when I saw him talking about propaganda and marketing.
15
16This year I decided to read Bernays' book and I must say that I was very surprised. After reading his own words - he doesn't seem to be this evil person who "made women smoke."
17
18He seemed smart, ahead of his time, had concerns about misuse of propaganda/PR/marketing.  But he said that there is no guarantee against misuse. And it makes sense to me as technologist. It is exactly the same with technology - can be used for good or for bad.

1---
2authors: Václav Havel
3isbn: 978-0-307-38845-2
4pages: "383"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2017-02-25
7date_finished: 2017-03-09
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2017-03-09
10---
11
12# To the Castle and Back
13
14Havel is a role model. He shows us what a public figure, a politician and a citizen can be. He is definitely not afraid to think deeper and to express himself. He is not afraid to formulate unpopular opinions. He tries to understand pluses and minuses of each system. E.x. he is for continuous political integration, but he thinks globalization is a problem. He recognized the pitfalls of both Soviet regime and consumerism society that both causes normalization and standardization of people.
15
16It was interesting for me to read his book for several reasons:
17
18to learn his story
19
20to learn about his thoughts
21
22to take a look at his diary
23
24The diary of the President was an interesting read on itself. It contained his agenda for a lot of days and it showed him as a real simple very likable human, which is quite opposite of the politicians of the day.
25
26Havel wanted to be a role model. He wanted to remind his fellow citizens of better and bigger ideals, he wanted to inspire them to improve. Politicians of today mostly move in opposite direction. They just represent the worst parts of our society and our people. If society is corrupt, politicians are corrupt. If society is uneducated, politicians are profane.
27
28—
29
30… the injunctions not to steal or kill apply everywhere, and everywhere the moral order is in some way related to the idea of eternity.
31
32In any case, it's been shown time and again that without that relationship to eternity, any moral order will always necessary collapse.
33
34[#eternity](/tags/eternity) [#morality](/tags/morality)
35
36—
37
38Uncritical respect is always punished, but it is the object of that respect who is punished, not those who counter it.
39
40[#respect](/tags/respect)
41
42—
43
44... almost no one has attempted to analyze either the reasons for the mood of antiglobalization or the errors of the INPEG, or the source of the aggressiveness of the aggressors, or the rather sad role played by media in all this.
45
46[#media](/tags/media) [#globalization](/tags/globalization) [#aggresion](/tags/aggresion)
47
48—
49
50Only a fool could believe that the nation, or the whole humanity for that matter, would change overnight and that everyone would start to behave wisely, unselfishly, altruistically, ready to make sacrifices for a good cause.
51
52[#idealism](/tags/idealism) [#nations](/tags/nations) [#politics](/tags/politics) [#history](/tags/history) [#changes](/tags/changes)
53
54—
55
56Perhaps we might all be reassured by the known fact that today's sensation will be completely forgotten by the day after tomorrow and that everyone is already looking forward to the day after tomorrow's sensations.
57
58[#media](/tags/media)
59
60—
61
62In principle ... I believe that there are cases when it is possible and proper to go to the aid of innocent people, even at the cost of violating state sovereignty.  In one of the speeches I said: a state is the work of humans, a human being is the work of God. What I meant was that defending human beings is a higher responsibility than respecting the inviolability of a state.
63
64[#god](/tags/god) [#war](/tags/war) [#violence](/tags/violence) [#state](/tags/state) [#sovereignty](/tags/sovereignty) [#human](/tags/human)
65
66—
67
68The absence of standards creates unease even among the most notorious violators. I experienced that in prison. Even the worst criminals would have been very upset if the head of the state were to clearly approve of something criminal. Everyone has to play his own role: it's up to the president to say you shouldn't steal, and it's up to the thief to steal.
69
70[#politics](/tags/politics) [#president](/tags/president) [#standard](/tags/standard)
71
72—
73
74I think that the moral order stands above the legal, political, and economic orders, and that these latter orders should derive from the former, and not be techniques for getting around its imperatives. And I believe that this moral order has a metaphysical authority in the infinite and the eternal.
75
76[#morality](/tags/morality)
77
78—
79
80Sometimes I have the impression that the main ideal of our state is to exploit and disfigure our country to the hilt in the interest of a somewhat problematic consumer paradise for the present generation and to slap the face or kick the shins of anyone who resists this.
81
82[#politics](/tags/politics) [#consumerism](/tags/consumerism)
83
84—
85
86... we will need a revolution of "heads and hearts," as Masaryk called it, a kind of general awakening, an emphasis on seeking an alternative to the established and shopworn and very technocratic political parties...
87
88[#technocracy](/tags/technocracy) [#revolution](/tags/revolution)
89
90—
91
92… everything that exists has its own purpose and system. We just don't know, and we never will know, how to understand it. But there's probably a reason for that too.
93
94[#purpose](/tags/purpose)
95
96—
97
98.. I genuinely believe that the absolutely fundamental difference between the European tradition and other cultures lies in the different notions of time and that it is fundamental source of the European idea of development and progress.  Other cultures, on the contrary, honor the status quo, quietude, leaving things in place, etc., etc.
99
100[#West](/tags/West) [#Europe](/tags/Europe) [#time](/tags/time) [#progress](/tags/progress)
101
102—
103
104Yesterday was the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War...  It seems that Putin is treating this anniversary as somewhat of a celebration of himself and his way of governing, which understandably causes some awkwardness.
105
106[#putin](/tags/putin) [#ideology](/tags/ideology)
107
108—
109
110... I'm convinced that my existence - like everything that has ever happened - has ruffed the surface of Being, and that after my little ripple, however marginal, insignificant, and ephemeral it may have been, Being is and always will be different from what it was before. All my life I have simply believed that what is once done can never be undone and that, in fact, everything remains forever. In short, Being has a memory. And thus even my insignificance - as a bourgeois child, a laboratory assistant, a soldier, a stagehand, a playwright, a dissident, a prisoner, a president, a pensioner, a public phenomenon, and a hermit, an alleged hero but secretly a bundle of nerves - will remain here forever, or rather not here, but somewhere. But not, however, elsewhere. Somewhere here.
111
112[#life](/tags/life) [#existence](/tags/existence) [#Being](/tags/Being)
113
114—
115
116... man will carry the complete truth about himself to the grave, though someone, in the end, will know that truth after all: if not the Lord God, then at least the great memory of Being.
117
118[#god](/tags/god) [#truth](/tags/truth) [#life](/tags/life) [#death](/tags/death) [#Being](/tags/Being)
119
120—
121
122Under normalization, no one believed in any ideal any longer, and the most successful were simply the most cynical.
123
124[#normalization](/tags/normalization) [#ideals](/tags/ideals) [#cynicism](/tags/cynicism)
125
126—
127
128We live in a world of intermediaries, and intermediaries for intermediaries, in a world of lobbyists, consultants, PR agents. People are paid by others to introduce someone to someone else, who will advise them how to make money on something that someone else has created. How is it possible that our population remains constant and yet we have more and more intermediaries.
129
130[#intermediaries](/tags/intermediaries) [#modernity](/tags/modernity) [#intermediation](/tags/intermediation)
131
132—
133
134People told me exactly what I would later often say to others when trying to draw them into politics: you can't spend your whole life criticizing something and then, when you have the chance to do it better, refuse to go near it.
135
136[#politics](/tags/politics)
137
138—
139
140The beauty of language is that it can never capture precisely what it wants. Language is disconnected, hard, digital as it were, ..., it can never completely capture something as connected as reality, experience, or our souls.
141
142[#language](/tags/language) [#soul](/tags/soul)
143
144—
145
146I would like to touch upon three matters: a) the proposed new relationship of the Church to Hus as an act of confessional reconciliation; b) the related idea of the ecumenical future of the world as a way of saving civilization; c) the meaning of the Christmas holidays and the Christmas tree.
147
148[#church](/tags/church)
149
150—
151
152One simple electrician with his heart in the right place can influence the history of his nation.
153
154[#impact](/tags/impact) [#history](/tags/history)
155
156—
157
158I gave a speech in Paris for the representatives of the largest multinational corporations, the actual rules of our current global world. I wrote a pointed speech that was highly critical of the behavior of global corporations, of their unscrupulousness, of the growing uniformity of the world, of the omnipresent dictatorship of advertisements, of profit, and so on.
159
160[#postmodernity](/tags/postmodernity)
161
162—
163
164...in democratic conditions ... it's important that politics be more than just a technology of power, but that it provides a genuine service to citizens, a service that is as disinterested as possible, based on certain ideals, a service that follows the moral order that stands above us, that takes into account the long-term interest of human race and not just what appeals to the public at any given moment ... That doesn't mean that politics must surrender all its ideals, deny its "heart", and become a mere self-propelled, technocratic process...
165
166[#politics](/tags/politics) [#humanity](/tags/humanity) [#morality](/tags/morality) [#technocracy](/tags/technocracy)
167
168—
169
170Mainly, though, despite all the things that so upset us today, conditions now are incomparably better than they were under communism. Moreover, the country is part of such a solid system of international relationships and guarantees that any form of subjugation coming from outside now seems virtually out of the questions. I think that we have never in our entire dramatic history, enjoyed this kind of certainty before.
171
172[#communism](/tags/communism)
173
174—
175
176When I said that we would no longer be a satellite but a partner, Gorbachev had an interesting reaction. He said that "satellite" was a very strong and inaccurate word, but that he would forgive me for using such a colorful expression because I was a literary man. And I said to myself, so this is how history is made.
177
178[#history](/tags/history) [#politics](/tags/politics) [#USSR](/tags/USSR)
179
180—
181
182I think that it's a sad thing that the parties, rather than thinking about which system is best for the country, always think first of all which system is best for them at a particular time. Consequently their positions on referenda, the direct election of the president, the electoral system, and similar themes are constantly changing, or rather, being passed from party to party like a relay baton.
183
184[#systems](/tags/systems)  [#long-term](/tags/long-term)
185
186—
187
188What bothered me most, however, was the fact that I found a lack of conceptual vision, not only in the economy, but in our very understanding of what the state should be. "The invisible hand of the market" was supposed to take care of everything, but there are things it simply can't take care of, and I would even say that this glorious "invisible hand" is occasionally capable of committing highly visible crimes.
189
190[#market](/tags/market) [#capitalism](/tags/capitalism) [#concepts](/tags/concepts)
191
192—
193
194In subtle ways, the economic power links up with political power and the power of the media to create something once called Mafia-democracy.
195
196[#power](/tags/power)
197
198—
199
200... modern media often lives from one day to the next, from one flashy headline to the next, so it's no surprise that they can be so mesmerized by today that they forget about yesterday. I would even go so far as to say that the media often behave like a willfull little girl; for instance, as I write this, the Czech Republic has a prime minister whom a media turned into the most popular man in the country by far for quite a while, and then recently, in a matter of days, they turned him into the most hated. Neither view had much to do with his real qualities, good or bad.
201
202[#media](/tags/media) [#headlines](/tags/headlines)
203
204—
205
206But America is a rather odd country. It's very religious, and at the same time it allows the broadcast of the pope's funeral t be interrupted by advertisements, many of which were the direct  embodiment of what he had criticized fir his entire life. I found it truly hard to understand, and it made me more and more uncomfortable, until I finally switched the television off.
207
208[#television](/tags/television) [#America](/tags/America)
209
210—
211
212... I think that the creation of a new political world order requires that special attention to be paid to the problem of borders between individual spheres of civilization, a problem that can be solved only if the spheres that are momentarily wealthier cease to consider themselves superior to those that are momentarily poorer.
213
214[#long-term](/tags/long-term) [#politics](/tags/politics) [#order](/tags/order)
215
216—
217
218I think that politicians in office have a duty to work for peace and for a better and more just world; you might say that's what they're paid for and so it's better that the prize go to someone who works for good cause voluntarily, and possibly at great risk.
219
220[#politics](/tags/politics) [#volunteering](/tags/volunteering) [#awards](/tags/awards)
221
222—
223
224It was a black congregation. There was a tremendous sense of community. They sang magnificently and, in a kind of ecstasy, communicated not only with their Cristian God, but through him perhaps with all the deities that humankind has ever had. The atmosphere of friendship, mutual respect, and solidarity was fascinating.
225
226[#America](/tags/America) [#god](/tags/god) [#community](/tags/community)
227
228—
229
230How wonderful it is, by comparison, to be a writer! You write something in a couple of weeks, and it's here for ages. What will remain when presidents and prime ministers are gone? Some references to them in textbooks, most likely inaccurate.
231
232[#writing](/tags/writing)
233
234—
235
236I am secure in my independence and therefore feel no need to demonstrate it.
237
238[#independence](/tags/independence) [#safety](/tags/safety) [#confidence](/tags/confidence)
239
240—
241
242Life is beautiful because, among other things, it is unpredictable and you can never be completely prepared for what comes along.
243
244[#life](/tags/life)
245
246—
247
248A country that finds itself at a historical crossroads must have an idea of what it is, of its possibilities, of what it wishes to be, of what role it wants to play, of what it will put its money on, and, on the contrary, what it will try to avoid. This view must be partly the outcome of the very broad and practical discussion that draws on a variety of expert analyses, and it must reach beyond the limits of individual political programs or electoral mandates.
249
250[#history](/tags/history) [#elections](/tags/elections) [#state](/tags/state) [#nations](/tags/nations) [#vision](/tags/vision)
251
252—
253
254I would develop the idea that it is we ourselves who are undermining our own identity - by the terrible way we speak, the appaling architecture we put up, our lack of respect for the landscape and historical buildings, our dubious urbanization, the way we've given up on the plurality of trades and small businesses, the depopulation of the countryside, the construction of ever greater monuments to consumption without increasing the productivity and efficiency of our own industries or making a sophisticated attempts to market our own products... We are becoming just another globalized country.
255
256[#identity](/tags/identity) [#globalization](/tags/globalization) [#taste](/tags/taste) [#consumption](/tags/consumption)
257
258—
259
260I could well image crowds of populists, demagogues, nationalists, and post-communists who would exploit every delay to argue, with increasing urgency, that the arrogant, consumerist, and selfish West neither recognized us nor wanted us, and therefore we must go our own way.  Let us understand what that way would have entailed: it would have meant authoritarian governments flying, instead of abandoned red flag, the flag of nationalism, beneath which it would hide its own Mafia-like practices, and privatization of everything into its own hands. And reawakened nationalism would necessary lead to a new danger of confrontation. Nationalists may well be as alike as two peas in a pod, but this doesn't necessary lead to brotherhood; on the contrary: nationalist ideologies are essentially confrontational.
261
262[#communism](/tags/communism) [#populism](/tags/populism) [#nationalism](/tags/nationalism) [#demagogue](/tags/demagogue)
263
264—
265
266It seems to me that Europe is in danger of losing its spiritual dimension in a flood of trivial concerns, such as what kind of tariffs ought to be imposed. It's as though some fundamental discourse about the direction of the world today were lacking, a discourse about the dangers inherent in that direction, and the role that this unique community of nations can play against this planetary background.
267
268[#Europe](/tags/Europe)
269
270—
271
272... European Union today is letting itself be dragged, with no resistance, in the same general direction as the rest of global civilization; it's driven by the idea of  growth, the creation of profit at any price, development and prosperity, although unfortunately utterly one-dimensional... Europe could be an inspiration, an example of how to try to think not only of quantity but also of quality, how not to think merely about momentary short-term material success but also about qualitative, indirect, long-term success, to revive the tradition of responsibility for the world that its culture once helped to articulate.
273
274[#profit](/tags/profit) [#Europe](/tags/Europe) [#growth](/tags/growth) [#short-term](/tags/short-term)
275
276—
277
278... at moments it's almost impossible to know whether you're in an airport in Tokyo, a hotel lobby in Los Angeles, or a hypermarket on the outskirts of Prague. The pressure towards soulless uniformity that is perceptible everywhere today - despite the seemingly endless array of choices among a seemingly infinite array of products pretending to be different from one another - poses a great threat to all forms of uniqueness. Without even being aware of it we are subtly made more alike...
279
280[#globalization](/tags/globalization) [#sameness](/tags/sameness) [#normalization](/tags/normalization) [#uniformity](/tags/uniformity)
281
282—
283
284I am an opponent of every obsession, because I consider obsessions the most dangerous of social phenomena. Thus I am also an opponent of market fundamentalism and dogmatism... But the law of profit does not guarantee anything meaningful in itself. I mention it here because market dogmatism is the part of ideology of "standardness"... I really don't know why I should, on the basis of injunction from on high, choose a standard wife, a standard flat, amass money and material goods in the standard way, and think in a standard fashion.
285
286[#obsession](/tags/obsession) [#market](/tags/market) [#normalization](/tags/normalization) [#dogmatism](/tags/dogmatism) [#money](/tags/money)

1---
2authors: Nigel Warburton
3isbn: 978-0-300-15208-1
4pages: "252"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2018-01-16
7date_finished: 2018-01-18
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2018-01-18
10---
11
12# A Little History of Philosophy
13
14Great book as intro into philosophy. I think these types of books work for me very well.

1---
2authors: Italo Calvino
3isbn: 978-0156572040
4pages: "121"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2018-12-02
7date_finished: 2018-12-13
8locations: Buenos Aires
9date: 2018-12-13
10---
11
12# Marcovaldo
13
14Nice book of short stories.  I've lost this book in Buenos Aires.

1---
2authors: Karl Ove Knausgård
3isbn: "9780300221510"
4pages: "104"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2020-02-17
7date_finished: 2020-02-19
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2020-02-19
10---
11
12# Inadvertent
13
14Way better book than I expected.
15
16Lots of references to other writers: Kundera, Proust etc.
17
18References to authors personal emotional struggles: fear of death, insecurities in career, desire to be seen etc. Seemed very honest and open and I love that.

11 unmodified lines
12            "type": "leaf",
13            "state": {
14              "type": "markdown",
15              "state": {
16                "file": "README.md",
16                "file": "readings/12 Rules for Life.md",
17                "mode": "source",
18                "source": false
19              },
20              "icon": "lucide-file",
21              "title": "README"
21              "title": "12 Rules for Life"
22            }
23          }
24        ]
25      }
156 unmodified lines
182      "command-palette:Open command palette": false,
183      "bases:Create new base": false
184    }
185  },
186  "active": "43902c0af99cae50",
186  "active": "030b655a2e20d170",
187  "lastOpenFiles": [
188    "README.md",
189    "readings/All About Love.md",
190    "readings/The Drama of the Gifted Child.md",
191    "readings/How Charts Lie.md",
192    "readings/Leading.md",
17 unmodified lines
210    "readings/Сентиментальна історія.md",
211    "readings/The Great Mental Models.md",
212    "readings/A World of Three Zeros.md",
213    "readings/Black Skin, White Masks.md",
213    "readings/The Emotionally Intelligent Office.md",
214    "readings",
215    "Untitled.base",
216    "writings"
217  ]
1 unmodified line

1---
2authors: Neil Postman
3isbn: "9780679430063"
4pages: "197"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: education, schools
7date_started: 2019-06-01
8date_finished: 2019-06-15
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2019-06-15
11---
12
13# The End of Education
14
15Back to reading Postman after some pause.  I always found a lot of optimism in his ideas and his style of communication.  He is modern thinker with a lot of ideas and he is not afraid to start discussing them.

1---
2authors: Lee Kuan Yew
3isbn: "9789814385572"
4pages: "168"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2020-02-08
7date_finished: 2020-02-14
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2020-02-14
10---
11
12# The Wit and Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew
13
14I love this book.
15
16It's just a collection of quotes from Lee Kuan Yew on different topics from 1950s till his death. It's interesting to trace how his views changed during the lifetime.
17
18Seems like he has not a good reputation in the West. But in developing countries like Ukraine he is modern role model, because of all the things Singapore achieved in very short span of time.

1---
2authors: Taras Prokhasko
3isbn: 978-617-7646-15-9
4pages: "184"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2019-05-06
7date_finished: 2019-05-31
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2019-05-31
10---
11
12# Непрості
13
14Very unusual book. I think author tried to write in the style of magical realism.  Very close to *One Hundred Years of Solitude* same side topics: magic, incest, multi generational plot lines, some real historical events and real places. So when I was reading it I didn't have a feeling of something novel. Rather it felt like a copy of someone else style.
15
16But I like the production: very nice paper, nice illustrations. Very unusual book from the Ukrainian author for the Ukrainian market.
17
18I read it just after [Ловець Океану](/readings/lovets_okeanu) and I don't know if it's coincidence or something bigger but the focus on sexual fantasies from both authors made me think a bit. I don't see this topic appear that much in the English novels I read.

1---
2authors: Rob  Fitzpatrick
3isbn: B01H4G2J1U
4pages: "134"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2022-01-24
7date_finished: 2022-01-30
8locations: New York
9date: 2022-01-30
10---
11
12# The Mom Test
13
14The best book that I've read about stages of building product that you want someone to use.
15
16Very short book and to the point. Shows real examples of the conversations you need to have and real examples of red flags and common issues one might face.
17
18[The Mom Test How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you - Notebook.html](readings/051faf4b-e60e-44b2-9f6c-1053dbd57b9a.html)

1---
2authors: Richard Feynman
3isbn: 9-789936-678040
4pages: "278"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2022-07-10
7date_finished: 2022-08-14
8locations: New York
9date: 2022-08-14
10---
11
12# What Do You Care What Other People Think?
13
14Loved this. It’s been a few years since I’ve read “Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!” which I loved a lot.
15
16I really like many qualities from Feynman. No bullshit, curiosity, optimism, very little levels of hypocrisy, desire to work and learn and improve stuff, sense of humor, playfulness and humility. Humility is the big one.
17
18This book is important that there are tons of cool qualities a person might have and it takes a lifetime to nurture or develop or uncover or protect them.

1---
2authors: Andrew Chen
3isbn: "9780060932145"
4pages: "386"
5rating: ★ ★
6date_started: 2021-12-10
7date_finished: 2022-01-24
8locations: Rio, Tulum, New York
9date: 2022-01-24
10---
11
12# The Cold Start Problem
13
14Not the best book. Can be way better. Too much focus on tech bro culture.
15
16All I want is short, dry analyses and playbook for building networked products.
17
18I don't care about parties things, "inspirational" talks from Travis, meetings in Hayes Valley.

1---
2authors: Meik Wiking
3isbn: "9780241283912"
4pages: "289"
5rating: ★ ★
6date_started: 2017-04-13
7date_finished: 2017-04-21
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2017-04-21
10---
11
12# The Little Book of Hygge
13
14Not much to say about this one. Too simple.

1---
2authors: Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson
3isbn: 978-0-19-049599-2
4pages: "396"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: brain
7date_started: 2018-02-19
8date_finished: 2018-02-25
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2018-02-25
11---
12
13# The Elephant in the Brain
14
15Book covers very popular topic nowadays. It's an easy enjoyable read. However again, one year later I don't remember anything from it.

1---
2authors: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3isbn: B00L0F01NK
4pages: "65"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: feminism
7date_started: 2019-12-31
8date_finished: 2019-12-31
9locations: Buenos Aires
10date: 2019-12-31
11---
12
13# We Should All Be Feminists
14
15Great, short book. Doesn't go super deep into the details, but contains some personal stories and simple explanations of the issues.

1---
2authors: Charles Duhigg
3isbn: B0055PGUYU
4pages: "402"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6tags: habit
7date_started: 2016-09-10
8date_finished: 2016-09-14
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2016-09-14
11---
12
13# The Power Of Habit
14
15Book describes habits of individuals, organizations and societies.
16
17It was interesting to read, but at the end I didn't get many insights that would remain with me for a long time.
18
19The book easily could have been shorter.

1---
2authors: Valerian Pidmohylny
3isbn: "9781101974520"
4pages: "272"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2020-03-20
7date_finished: 2020-04-02
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2020-04-02
10---
11
12# Місто
13
14The good part that this book surprised me again. In Feb 2020 I've read book by Mykola Khvylovy. This one was similar - same generation of Ukrainian authors during the early days of Soviet Union.
15
16Topic was modern, language was modern.
17
18What I didn't like was the main character. I don't even understand if author likes him or not. He confused me.
19
20Maybe that is the whole point? Are all of us unlikable? No, proper heroes and characters in real life. Just random creatures, with random feelings and decisions and actions.

1---
2authors: Erich Fromm
3isbn: 978-0-06-112973-5
4pages: "124"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: love, relationships, parents
7date_started: 2017-05-09
8date_finished: 2017-05-13
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2017-05-13
11---
12
13# The Art of Loving
14
15Fromm explains different types of love in easy to understand language.
16
17I loved this book when I've read it. So small but very dense.

1---
2authors: Frantz Fanon
3isbn: "9780802150844"
4pages: "240"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2020-05-03
7date_finished: 2021-05-08
8locations: New York
9date: 2021-05-08
10---
11
12# Black Skin, White Masks
13
14Great book, one of the most profound I’ve read in the last few years. Cannot write detailed analysis because of the times we live in. But I loved it a lot. Personal stories were the best for me.
15
16Had a lot of reflections.

1---
2authors: Antonio García Martínez
3isbn: 978-0-06-245819-3
4pages: "533"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6tags: startups, Silicon Valley
7date_started: 2016-08-01
8date_finished: 2016-08-21
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2016-08-21
11---
12
13# Chaos Monkeys
14
15Good read if you want to have some insights about life of startup founder, product manager/engineer in the Silicon Valley. Book has a lot of pretty intimate details and a lot of humor (but not the type I like).
16
17The book itself is too long. Easily can be done in 10 blog posts or shorter stories.

1---
2authors: Truman Capote
3isbn: 978-0-679-75182-3
4pages: "150"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2018-02-10
7date_finished: 2018-02-15
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2018-02-15
10---
11
12# Answered Prayers
13
14I used to love Capote a lot. I've read a lot of him in my early twenties.
15
16It's nice to find something from him that I haven't read.

1---
2authors: Honoré de Balzac
3isbn: 978-1-939663-38-2
4pages: "80"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6tags: coffee, addictions
7date_started: 2019-02-10
8date_finished: 2019-03-03
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2019-03-03
11---
12
13# Treatise on Modern Stimulants
14
15Very short and simple book. Didn't find a lot of interesting things when read. However, I think it's an interesting book to be written at 1839. Also the topic is as relevant as always and insights are true and common knowledge now.

1---
2authors: Alice Miller
3isbn: 978-0-465-01690-7
4pages: "130"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: therapy, childhood, psychology
7date_started: 2018-05-22
8date_finished: 2018-05-26
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2018-05-26
11---
12
13# The Drama of the Gifted Child
14
15Recommended by my therapist. Needed to read it and I feel that it was good, but as very common with some types of books one year later I can't tell anything about this one.

1---
2authors: Jordan B. Peterson
3isbn: 978-0-345-81602-3
4pages: "408"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2018-01-23
7date_finished: 2018-03-20
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2018-03-20
10---
11
12# 12 Rules for Life
13
14Jordan B. Peterson has a bad reputation these days. I'm not sure I like him as a person, but I found it interesting to listen to his lectures or read this book.  Book is too long however, can be two times shorter.

1---
2authors: Marshall McLuhan, Quentin Fiore
3isbn: 978-1-58423-070-0
4pages: "159"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: media
7date_started: 2017-03-16
8date_finished: 2017-03-18
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2017-03-18
11---
12
13# The Medium is the Massage
14
15Tiny book which is basically collection of quotes and small passages about mediums. Some insights are quite good, but majority are very difficult to decompress and unbundle.

1---
2authors: Thomas Mann
3isbn: 978-0-15-601219-5
4pages: "86"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: adulthood, life
7date_started: 2017-05-13
8date_finished: 2017-05-13
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2017-05-13
11---
12
13# The Little Prince
14
15One of the most beautiful and simple books about life, love, death; about being a child and being an adult; about friendship, people and happiness.
16
17When I was in 10th grade at school, I remember the teacher of literature was very enthusiastic about this book. She was telling us about it all the time. I didn't find it interesting back then. I didn't understand the story about little prince, talking foxes, flowers and snakes. Form didn't appeal to me and I probably had nothing to learn from it at that time. This time was different. I would recommend this book to everyone. It's a pure beauty. Just in few pages it shows what is important in life and what is not.

1---
2authors: Woody Allen
3isbn: "9781951627348"
4pages: "392"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2020-10-21
7date_finished: 2020-11-19
8locations: New York
9date: 2020-11-19
10---
11
12# Apropos of Nothing
13
14Autobiography from my one of my favorite director. Very honest. Also stating this publicly in America in 2021 is a challenge in itself.

1---
2authors: Sophie Calle
3isbn: "9782330093037"
4pages: "112"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2020-03-09
7date_finished: 2020-03-09
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2020-03-09
10---
11
12# True Stories
13
14Never heard of Sophie Calle. Read this tiny book in 1 hour. Simple style, some stories are funny. I think every person should have book like that. Collection of small stories and memories.

1---
2authors: Peter Frase
3isbn: "9781781688137"
4pages: "150"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2017-06-14
7date_finished: 2017-06-18
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2017-06-18
10---
11
12# Four Futures
13
14Surprisingly good book. Clever idea to outline several possible future scenarios.
15
16Mad Max one was the one I didn't like for sure. This book made me watch the movie.

1---
2authors: Serhii Plokhy
3isbn: 978-1324051190
4pages: "400"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2024-05-16
7date_finished: 2024-05-22
8locations: Sarajevo
9date: 2024-05-22
10---
11
12# The Russo-Ukrainian War
13
14Good book on the history of the war started by russia.
15
16Some things that I didn't like.
17
18It's written in the modern Western logical way: describing facts and chronology of the events.
19
20It creates perception that there are rational actors taking logical and calculated steps.
21
22I do not believe that is the case with russian state. I don't really want a book that says that US did this and russia did that and then Germany did that and putin did that. It makes sense during normal times. But it doesn't work with russia. Because russia already uses the same tool to show that its war is legitimate. It was the tool that russian media and establishment used for several decades - says that all they did was the reaction to the "bad actions of the West".
23
24I honestly believe that factual and chronological way to talk about history is good, but shouldn't be used talking about russia. We should use other elements: ridicule, harassment, embarrassment and humiliation.
25
26Film The Death of Stalin is a good model how to talk about russian state and the culture - making fun of them.

1---
2authors: Kurt Vonnegut
3isbn: 978-0-8129-7736-3
4pages: "142"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2018-07-15
7date_finished: 2018-07-15
8locations: San Francisco, Los Angeles
9date: 2018-07-15
10---
11
12# A Man Without a Country
13
14My first book from Vonnegut. I might read more of his novels now. I like the style.

1---
2authors: The School of Life
3isbn: "9780995753587"
4pages: "192"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2019-11-02
7date_finished: 2019-11-04
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2019-11-04
10---
11
12# The Emotionally Intelligent Office
13
14Another great book from The School of Life. As always there was a lot of repetition from other books, but I think that is the point. Reading books from The SoL has soothing effect on me. Calms me down, gives perspective, reduces anxiety.

1---
2authors: bell hooks
3isbn: "9780688168445"
4pages: "240"
5rating: ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2019-06-16
7date_finished: 2020-02-16
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2020-02-16
10---
11
12# All About Love
13
14I've read 60% of the book in June 2019, and the rest in Feb 2020.
15
16I think the book is interesting. But I don't think I learned anything groundbreaking.
17
18I found Erich Fromm book on love to be way better.
19
20This one had several problems:
21
22it was messy and entangled multiple topics: feminism, love, American society, death, religion etc.
23
24I felt that author described too much of her personal experiences and I felt that she wasn't over a lot of them
25
26So those two problems made this book not that good. It didn't feel fully objective, because a lot of points were connected to personal stories with not fully processed emotions. Connection between feminism/machismo and love was not clear.
27
28I was just reading a bunch of random ideas combined together. I found a lot of stereotypes described to be far from true in my personal life experience.
29
30Also, I'm writing this review in 2020. I think it's a first time I'm afraid to be truly open about parts I didn't like, even if there were a lot of parts I liked in the book.

1---
2authors: Milan Kundera
3isbn: 0-14-009694-9
4pages: "209"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6tags: novel
7date_started: 2019-10-20
8date_finished: 2019-10-30
9locations: San Francisco
10date: 2019-10-30
11---
12
13# The Farewell Party
14
15My second novel from Milan Kundera. Plot is engaging.
16
17Also was interesting to read an old book that discussed abortion.  Abortion is an important topic today in the US.  Book reminded me that in the Eastern Europe abortion problem was and still is very different.

1---
2authors: Charlie Munger
3isbn: 978-1-953953-24-7
4pages: "394"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2024-05-23
7date_finished: 2024-06-25
8locations: Sarajevo & Stuttgart
9date: 2024-06-25
10---
11
12# Poor Charlie’s Almanack
13
14Around 2018 I got this book from the library in San Francisco. It is a very popular and famous book in that part of the world. You actually need to wait some weeks in order to get this book from the library.
15
16This was 6 years ago, but I didn't read it at the time. Physical design of the book was weird. It was huge with some cartoons.
17
18This time I got book and finally was able to read it on my kindle.
19
20Book is great. The bad part - editing is not good. For some reason editor inserted himself into the book and wrote bunch of non important words that distract from the thoughts of Munger.
21
22It should have been a book of just talks from Charlie. Nothing else. Especially I didn't enjoy reading editor's commentary before each talk selling it to me and promising to make me a better person.
23
24Those talks are great. They are written in an old school American way I like. It reminder me of Neil Postman style - educated, respected with many references to the knowledge from the past.
25
26> 
27
28> I think you learn economics better if you make Adam Smith your friend. That sounds funny, making friends among the “eminent dead,” but if you go through life making friends with the eminent dead who had the right ideas, I think it will work better for you in life and work better in education. It’s way better than just giving the basic concepts.
29
30> 
31
32Love this idea. Similar to what Neil Postman wanted to convey in most of his books.
33
34> 
35
36> Charlie detests placer mining, the process of sifting through piles of sand for specks of gold. Instead, he applies his “big ideas from the big disciplines” to find the large, unrecognized nuggets of gold that sometimes lie in plain sight on the ground.
37
38> 
39
40I like this. Curiosity towards different disciplines always makes sense to me.
41
42> 
43
44> How many insights do you need? Well, I’d argue that you don’t need many in a lifetime. If you look at Berkshire Hathaway and all of its accumulated billions, the top 10 insights account for most of it.
45
46> 
47
48This one reminds me of simple idea I have. People have 2-3 "profound" ideas/insights per life (those ideas that are independently discovered by few people) and around 10 important but regular insights (those are the ones that are independently discovered by many other people).
49
50> 
51
52> When Warren lectures at business schools, he says, “I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only 20 slots in it so that you had 20 punches, representing all the investments that you got to make in a lifetime. And once you’d punched through the card, you couldn’t make any more investments at all.” He says, “Under those rules, you’d really think carefully about what you did, and you’d be forced to load up on what you’d really thought about. So you’d do so much better.”
53
54> 
55
56This is a great point about making only few good bets in your life. And measuring them carefully. Very interesting because nowadays we talk a lot about "numbers game", diversification and making tons of small bets.
57
58> 
59
60> I think the reason why we got into such idiocy in investment management is best illustrated by a story that I tell about the guy who sold fishing tackle. I asked him, “My god, they’re purple and green. Do fish really take these lures?” And he said, “Mister, I don’t sell to fish.”
61
62> 
63
64Love this story. It's idiotic ofc but shows how many things we buy because they are shiny.
65
66> 
67
68> Life and its various passages can be hard, brutally hard. The three things I have found helpful in coping with its challenges are: 1. Have low expectations. 2. Have a sense of humor.  3. Surround yourself with the love of friends and family.
69
70> Above all, live with change and adapt to it. If the world didn’t change, I’d still have a 12 handicap.
71
72> 
73
74I definitely believe in low expectations and humor and the idea of constant change.
75
76> 
77
78> Psychology, to me, as currently organized, is like electromagnetism after [Michael] Faraday but before Maxwell—a lot has been discovered, but no one mind has put it all together in proper form. And it should be done because it wouldn’t be that hard to do—and it’s enormously important.
79
80> Just open a psychology text, turn to the index, and look up envy. Well, envy made it into one or two or three of the Ten Commandments. Moses knew all about envy. The old Jews, when they were herding sheep, knew all about envy. It’s just that psychology professors don’t know about envy. Books that thick are teaching a psychology course without envy? And with no simple psychological denial? And no incentive-caused bias?
81
82> 
83
84Excellent point on what is missing from the modern psychology.
85
86> 
87
88> It can’t be emphasized too much that issues of morality are deeply entwined with worldly wisdom considerations involving psychology. For example, take the issue of stealing. A very significant fraction of the people in the world will steal if a) it’s very easy to do and b) there’s practically no chance of being caught. And once they start stealing, the consistency principle—which is a big part of human psychology—will soon combine with operant conditioning to make stealing habitual. So if you run a business where it’s easy to steal because of your methods, you’re working a great moral injury on the people who work for you. Again, that’s obvious. It’s very, very important to create human systems that are hard to cheat. Otherwise, you’re ruining your civilization, because these big incentives will create incentive-caused bias and people will rationalize that bad behavior is okay. Then, if somebody else does it, now you’ve got at least two psychological principles: incentive-caused bias plus social proof. Not only that but you get Serpico effects: If enough people are profiting in a general social climate of doing wrong, then they’ll turn on you and become dangerous enemies if you try and blow the whistle. It’s very dangerous to ignore these principles and let slop creep in. Powerful psychological forces are at work for evil.
89
90> 
91
92Love this mix between explaining stealing from the business, morality and psychology.

1---
2authors: James Baldwin
3isbn: "9780807006429"
4pages: "104"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2021-05-11
7date_finished: 2021-05-16
8locations: New York
9date: 2021-05-16
10---
11
12# Nothing Personal
13
14Very short. I like it when I've read it. But forgot everything by the time I started writing this review 3 months later.

1---
2authors: Andrii Bondar
3isbn: "9786176795872"
4pages: "120"
5rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
6date_started: 2020-03-12
7date_finished: 2020-03-19
8locations: San Francisco
9date: 2020-03-19
10---
11
12# Церебро
13
14Easy, entertaining read. Some stories were extremely  funny.  But I will not remember anything about this book in few weeks. It’s a collection of very short life stories.