Reviews and Comments

You have to love that this book exists. At the same time, this book is full of The Wildest Of Wild Ass Guessing, to the point where it becomes clear that the writer is seeing connections using his own constructed name classification scheme.

The really strange thing is that while this book goes into huge efforts to figure out who characters really are, it tries very hard to collapse characters into each other. Paeon, for example -- this is a bit character mentioned by the last Autarch in passing. There's no great reason he has to be Father Inire in disguise, when he could just be, well, Father Inire.

Worth reading as an exercise, but if anything I'd say this book has taught me the limits of reading Wolfe -- it's simply to ambiguous to tell what happens after a certain point, and what Wolfe tells us is that memory is fallible, we are easy confused, our narrators could be lying to us, and it's all just a story anyway.

I will summarize this book with several quotes:

"One day I was in Sainsbury's, and I suddenly realized that if I stayed in London, I'd be in exactly the same place in ten or twenty years."

"There's an English thing -- and maybe a London thing -- about never living up to promises."

"I mean, if you're striving for success, you end up with something like America, and nobody wants to be like America, really."

This book is a collection of interviews with Londoners, done by a reporter who tried to get a cross-section of humanity. It's trying to be Studs Terkel's "Working". It's about as depressing, although I have such a personal and visceral reaction to the book that it's hard to be objective (hence the three stars, when I really want to give it negative five).

I grew up in London. I recognize the city. I recognize the people as well. I couldn't wait to get away from these people. There are security guards, manicurists, interpreters, bankers and barristers. London makes use of these people. They talk about their jobs. They talk about how they get by, from day to day. They talk about trying to survive.

Almost no-one in this book has joy, or hopes and dreams, unless the dream is "leave Afghanistan or Iran for some place more tolerant." And there's no sense of change, either. Everything is as it was, just as I left it. People complaining about change in the book... have always complained about change.

But there is very little sense of the future in this book. Everything I take love and try not to take for granted about San Francisco is absent here: no programmers, no aerospace engineers, no people making robots or 3d printers or massive fire breathing sculptures in the desert.

I will never read this book again.

Helen Keller is a surprisingly good writer. The interesting thing is that she is of her time -- she does not write like a modern writer would. She says things that no modern writer would say, or says things in a way that take a while to unpack. There is a section where she talks of her disabilities and her mental facilities, and it takes a while to realize that she's saying that she'd rather be blind and deaf than stupid. And then starts talking about people who don't get the kind hint to stop asking her.

At the same time, there are fascinating questions about the "no-mind" that she experienced as a child without access to language. Did she really have no apprehension or planning at all? What about empathy -- did she know if her mother was in pain, and try to fix it? Her knowledge of herself here is vague, and part of it is that she absorbed language (and the mental imagery surrounding language, involving sight and sound) to such an extent that she can't put it aside and see herself as she was.

It's a short book, really a series of essays, and free on Amazon Kindle. Recommended.

Depressing, but necessary. This book really answers the question "Why are there no black people in CS? Even in the Bay Area?" And the answer is: even once you get past the terrible schools, broken computers, lack of teachers qualified to teach computer science, non-working computers and all the rest of it... no-one expects black kids to succeed. No-one IMAGINES black kids can succeed. And because of No Child Left Behind, everyone is aiming to the test, and to the bottom line.

This book should be required reading for every person who's ever mentioned meritocracy and meant it. It is frankly damning, and I had to wonder at the teachers who willingly walk into this situation with their eyes wide open.

Quotes! (Over 54 highlights, so I'll pick out the good ones):

"Just as swimming is a “white sport” with a severe underrepresentation of swimmers of color, computer science is a world that is associated with a narrow stratum of our population: at any technology fair, those in attendance, hovering around the latest gadgets or crowding around the newest video games, are likely to be white and Asian males. It is also a world riddled with assumptions and explanations about who does well: “boy wonders” who have gravitated toward computing since they were young, magnetically attracted to machines all through adolescence, brimming over with the “natural” talent that makes them “whiz” kids, part of “the best and the brightest” (Margolis and Fisher 2002).12 And because computers are presumed to be omnipresent—so anyone with an inclination would naturally be pursuing the field—people then conclude that the absence of African Americans, Latinos, and females within the field is a matter of “choice,” interest, or talent."

“You could have a really smart person who doesn’t have any money, or who has the potential to be really smart and all that, but because of lack of money they can’t get up to the same level as somebody else with the same IQ or whatever, just living in a richer neighborhood.”

"Even though the programming course at Canyon was significantly more developed than the course at East River, the curriculum was still textbook based, narrowly focused on syntax and following directions, and consisted of students reading a textbook about programming along with assignments that were based on copying programs outlined in the book."

"Carter, who later told us that she was worried about how the class would affect Janet’s overall GPA, pulled her aside and in a quiet but public conversation during class, suggested to Janet that she drop AP computer science, adding that she should not feel bad because some people just do not have “the aptitude” for this kind of study."

"The decision to enroll in these courses, when no other students of color are enrolled, requires an enormous amount of psychological risk."

"The story of the girls’ posse in AP computer science is particularly compelling because it points to the key role of social networks, and eventually critical mass, in shifting the dynamics of classroom environments and allowing all students to access a full range of resources as well as advantages as they prepare for their futures."

"Too often—particularly in subjects that are thought to be objective, like computer science—classroom practices can be disconnected from students’ lives, seemingly devoid of real-life relevance. Not only is it important for computer science teachers to show that there are computer scientists who “look like” their students, it is also vital that they communicate the fact that computer science is relevant. But computer science teachers have typically not had assistance or support in developing these types of approaches—approaches that allow them to demonstrate the significance of the subject matter to students and their communities—especially at the high school level, and this needs to change."

"But Ramirez’s critique of schooling conditions went far beyond the computer lab, as he described to us the existing challenges of providing quality core mathematics courses at his school. A glance at the state test results reveals a horrifying statistic: on the California standards test, only 1 percent of students scored at or above proficiency in mathematics at this school. With four mathematics courses and only one AP computer science course on his schedule, Ramirez felt unable to maintain the effort required to teach this AP computer science class in addition to his other teaching responsibilities. Given this, after much consideration he decided to commit his efforts toward overhauling and streamlining the mathematics course sequence at his school."

"Black and Hispanic children are being handed a stripped-down, debased curriculum. They are being trained to provide predictable answers and that provides a terrible danger for a democratic society. Principals, so terrified of No Child Left Behind and determined to pump up the scores, are restricting students’ learning to mechanistic skills in a narrow range of subjects. This does not equate to learning. And we see that, for all the obsessive drilling, any gains that supporters of No Child Left Behind claim are there are not being sustained."

"The implication was clear: the best and the brightest was largely incongruous with balanced representation among racial groups. In response to this admission, an African American computer science professor, who is both a highly regarded computer scientist and a mentor to many students of color, jumped to his feet to respond. In remarks that were heartfelt and angry, he asserted, “All this talk about ‘the best and the brightest’ makes me sick.”"

"In fact, this descriptor (or any other company-specific nomenclature that means the same thing) is one of those assumptions and part of the way that Silicon Valley, and almost every academic department or employer, wants to see itself. And this professor was quick to acknowledge that this is the case, saying that he himself wants to find the best students for his own department. But he noted that over and over again, he has seen how the measuring stick most commonly used to determine who is the best and the brightest is faulty, based on biased, imperfect measures; in his view, tests like the SAT are self-fulfilling instruments created by the very “types” of people who will benefit from them. By following his own students’ careers, he has witnessed how SAT test scores and other standardized testing, the normal standards of merit, do not accurately measure who will excel as a student or on the job."

"After you have watched the presentation, it is hard to get out of your mind the plaintive voice of a Black male from the city school as he talks about wanting to enroll in an honors algebra class and twice being closed out because of limited space. His comment is positioned alongside that of a suburban White student who, in her privileged environment, rattles off quickly—as if to suggest that so much is available that she might miss something if she goes slowly—the range and diversity of course offerings, in addition to numerous honors and AP classes in virtually all content areas."

"Over the years, I have developed an extreme dislike for the expression “the best and the brightest,” so the authors’ discussion of it in the concluding chapter particularly resonated with me. I have seen extremely talented and creative underrepresented minority undergraduate students aggressively excluded from this distinction. In high school I was one of the “best and the brightest,” but my teachers, counselors, and administrators never recognized it. I did not fit their idea of the model student, and being of Mexican descent certainly did not help. But I maintain that I am not that unusual, and there are many underrepresented minorities out there with similar or more creativity who could follow the same path if given the opportunities."

I'm not sure how it was done, but this book made desire boring. Each chapter is an interview with a different researcher or scientist, and every chapter almost immediately veers off from the science to a discussion about the scientist's personal fears and interests, and a long and totally uninteresting description of a Woman Who Wishes To Have Desire But Does Not, framed in flowery language and with a totally unnecessary personal background. And he talks about the existence of female lust, simply to say that yes, it does exist. And then it goes nowhere.

The real unforgivable sin here is that the most fascinating result -- when women approached men, they felt desire more keenly -- is buried at the end, with no thought of the implications. And that the desire for women to have rape fantasies and feel desire is all about feeling the man's desire for them. And he goes to great lengths to explain how it's not "really" a rape fantasy.

So I'm going to veer off here and stop doing a review, because frankly what the trope of rape fantasy says to me is that women want agency in sex, but can't even conceive of having that agency directly. That force of desire is their own, but they don't own it -- it's a "fantasy man" that wants them and who they are helpless before. Women, in the sexual world, are at each and every point told that the man makes the first move, the man feels lust, and their role is to accept and yield. But even when writing about bonobos, rhesus monkeys and rats who clearly like and seek out sex, the massive and overwhelming role of cultural programming doesn't get center stage. Instead we get stories about unsatisfied housewives and a single couple that decides to try swinging.

And I'm not saying my theory is "right." It's a half-assed theory from reading a pop science book. The point is that there is no theory in this book -- the author has not done the work to have a point of view about what he's seen. Dan Savage may have had this guy as a guest speaker, but it's stunning just how vacuous this book is compared to Dan Savage's work, who clearly thinks and loves what he does. Reading this book, you get the feeling that the author will never return to the subject, and would be just as happy writing about income tax reform.

Free Kindle book!

"You already are where you need to be, and already have what you need - because you already are the person you have always wished you could be."

“That’s because you want the map to show you where to go, but that’s not what maps do. What they do is show you where you are.”

"The law of karma is this: every action has a consequence. The action itself is called karma; the consequence of the action is called vipaka."

"As you go through your day, get in the habit of observing the interior with the same detachment with which you observe the exterior. When your boss or your co-worker is doing or saying something, you don’t identify with what they’re doing or saying, because you know they’re not you. In the same way, notice whatever reactions, thoughts, emotions you’re having, but don’t identify with them. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re you. Just see it, see what’s going on, without holding on and making a self-centered story out of it."

"The truth is, when you do let go of self-centered view, when you stop attaching to outcomes, when you stop making things about yourself, it can drive other people absolutely crazy. Misery really does love company. And when you refuse to get caught up in your own dramas anymore, or in other people’s dramas, it can make other people crazy, because we find comfort in our drama."

"If you examine what you think of as the most angry and dramatic behavior of your life, you’ll realize, when you look at it carefully, that you liked it."

"Most arguments seem to have less to do with solving a problem than with trying to be right."

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every interstellar colony in search of good fortune must be in need of a banker."

And this book is all about banking, economics, and fraud. In this particular book, for example, interstellar trade is only possible through Bitcoin, and faster than light travel is impossible. There were some sections in the book which made me wonder how on earth civilizations persisted for the duration necessary to make physical travel worth it -- but then again, it's got humanoid robots and a distinctly human appetite for entertainment and distraction, so how realistic can it be?

The bigger story always comes about through the world building, and in this sense it's like Bank's Culture -- a theoretically honest and clean technologically advanced world that quickly shows the dirt, corruption and deal haggling that goes on underneath.

The ending is abrupt, but that's not why I read Stross. There is clearly more work put into it than has gone into the Merchant Princes, and it's intriguing on its merits. I can't tell you if I'll remember anything about the plot.

Quotes!

Once a year on my stabbiversary, I remind myself that this is still my bonus life, a round on the house.

I’ve demonstrated an impressive resilience in the face of valuable life lessons, and the main thing I seem to have learned from this one is that I am capable of learning nothing from almost any experience, no matter how profound.

The goal of a life is not to provide material for good stories.

Anytime I hear about another one of us gone berserk, shooting up his ex’s office or drowning her kids to free herself up for her Internet boyfriend, the question I always ask is not, like every other tongue-clucking pundit in the country, how could this have happened? but why doesn’t this happen every day?

I have loved women who were saner and kinder than me , for whom I became the best version of myself. But it’s also a relief to be with someone who’s not better than you, who’s just as bad and likes it. With these women , I didn’t have to impersonate a better person than myself; we were complicit, accomplices.

I don’t feel middle-aged— I just feel like I’ve been young a lot longer than most people.

Eventually a day comes when the lined, puffy, sagging face you see the mirror when you’re hung over does not go away, and you realize that it is now your actual face.

What someone’s lies reveal about them (aspirations to being an accomplished writer, fantasies of an exotic history and a cosmopolitan family ) are always sadder than the fact of the lies themselves.

The Soul Toupee is that thing about ourselves we are most deeply embarrassed by and like to think we have cunningly concealed from the world, but which is, in fact, pitifully obvious to everybody who knows us.

Most people are just too self-absorbed, well -meaning, and lazy to bother orchestrating Machiavellian plans to slight or insult us.

But outrage is like a lot of other things that feel good but, over time, devour us from the inside out.

We prefer to think of it as a disagreeable but fundamentally healthy reaction to negative stimuli, like pain or nausea, rather than admit that it’s a shameful kick we eagerly indulge again and again, like compulsive masturbation.

What dooms our best efforts to cultivate empathy and compassion is always, of course, other people.

America is, after all, the most powerful military empire in the history of the planet; we spend the equivalent of most countries ’ GNP each year maintaining an armada of battleships the size of cities, a fleet of radar-invisible supersonic bombers, and enough nuclear weapons to denude the entire biosphere of the earth, and still we need to root for ourselves?

I was starting to remember the whole problem now: I hate these fucking people.

The truth is, there are not two kinds of people. There’s only one: the kind that loves to divide up into gangs who hate each other’s guts.

The obvious impossibility of this plan illuminates something about the nature of friendship and its limits; after sixth grade, you simply aren’t allowed to ask questions like, “Okay, Harlan, how come don’t you like me no more?”

he said, “Aw, you’re gonna find happiness, and I’ll be left Ironing the Pants of Despair.” I was touched by how openly he admitted that he didn’t want me to be happy.

The biggest oil reserves on earth have been tapped; no significant new ones are being discovered. The most accessible and chilling analogy I’ve heard is that the situation is like being at a party where there’s only one six-pack, we’ve already drunk four of the six beers, and it’s after closing time.

The last and saddest lesson I learned from him is that most of us are motivated not by reason or even self-interest, but something more like middle school politics. In making up my own mind on the issue of peak oil, the most relevant question turned out to be not Does the evidence support this theory? or even Is Ken trustworthy? but Would I rather live in the peak-oil compound with Ken or die in the food riots with Harold? Harold and I have made our choice, if only by default; we’ve cast our fate with the doomed. He and I have agreed that, while our fellow Americans are looting Costco and we’re barricaded in our favorite Baltimore bar, we’re going to call Ken up and demand: Why didn’t you warn us? It ought to be worth one last laugh. Maybe the vindication of apocalypse will have put him in a mellow and generous enough mood that even Ken will see the funny side.

My policy has always been, when someone asks you if you will travel to Wisconsin to nurse them through sex change surgery, to say yes.

The longer you live, the more involuted and unique all your friendships become, until each is as exotic and alien from the others as creatures on widely divergent evolutionary branches, bearing as much resemblance to one another as a lightning whelk and a gnu.

It’s as if, if we all had to stand still and shut up and turn off our machines for one minute, we’d hear the time passing and just start screaming.