Category Archives: Book

Johann Hari

Posted on by
4

Johann Hari is definitely a crank. I like him already! He wrote a book about drugs and addiction called Chasing the Scream, and there was a famous TED talk he did about that. I haven’t read Chasing the Scream, but this evening I am going to read Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again.

Note: the links to Amazon above are affiliate links. I recently signed up for an affiliate account with Amazon. Is that cool? Is that not cool at all? What sort of disclosures are appropriate when you use affiliate links? I have never used them before and am not expecting to make any significant amount of money with them, so maybe I should just not use affiliate links at all? I dunno. Would be happy to hear from you if you have an opinion.

Books by Kevin Kelly

Posted on by
Reply

Here is a list of books from Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of Wired. This is just notes for Future John. I’m planning to read the first two, and maybe the last one; the others are old and hard to find in ebook or audible forms.

The Problems of Philosophy, further reading

Posted on by
Reply

At the end of The Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell says:

The student who wishes to acquire an elementary knowledge of
philosophy will find it both easier and more profitable to read some
of the works of the great philosophers than to attempt to derive an
all-round view from handbooks. The following are specially
recommended:

Why AI Is So Dangerous & How It Could Destroy Humanity

Posted on by
Reply

Ah, click bait. Sign of the times! MEGATHREAT: Why AI Is So Dangerous & How It Could Destroy Humanity | Mo Gawdat.

Mo Gawdat is an Egyptian entrepreneur and writer. He is the former chief business officer for Google X and author of the books Solve for Happy and Scary Smart.

Mo says there are some things we shouldn’t waste time talking about because they are going to happen, inevitably. These are:

  1. There is no shutting down or reversing AI, we can’t stop it
  2. AI will be significantly smarter than humans
  3. Bad things will happen in the process of developing AI (the specifics to be determined)

…and the fourth inevitability? Utopia..?