This book speaks mostly in broad strokes about the current economic and ecological woes that humanity faces. I was hoping for more specific prescriptions for how to fix these problems, rather than mostly generalized arguments calling for change. If you already agree with the premise that indefinite economic growth is untenable, then there a ton of substance here. Some good points are made, but I have heard more convincing arguments about the economic and ecological side of the issues ([b:Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update|705418|Limits to Growth The 30-Year Update|Donella H. Meadows|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348889873s/705418.jpg|691700]) and have read better introductions to the social side as well ([b:The Gardens of Democracy: A New American Story of Citizenship, the Economy, and the Role of Government|13054162|The Gardens of Democracy A New American Story of Citizenship, the Economy, and the Role of Government|Eric Liu|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333580579s/13054162.jpg|18219189]).
This probably would have worked better as a 100 page book, tops. I agreed with most of what he said, but I feel like a good 50% of the book him repeating (and not even rephrasing) his central thesis over and over again. Much of his argument, and most of the stuff that I found interesting, was based on either [b:Myths America Lives By|168411|Myths America Lives By|Richard T. Hughes|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347690964s/168411.jpg|162633] or [b:The Politics of Jesus|19133|The Politics of Jesus|John Howard Yoder|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386923367s/19133.jpg|20430], as the footnotes will tell you. I have read better treatises of the kingdom of God, and his development and argument on the idea that America wasn't founded on Christian ideals was severely lacking.
A quite compelling case, and it got me very excited about the prospect of manned missions to Mars. Probably would have been better to read the updated version from 2012, but I only heard of it after finishing. Good to see that SpaceX is using this as a playbook of sorts (whether or not they'd admit it). The book itself err'd on the technical side, but seeing as I'm an engineer, that was alright. Definitely not for the faint of heart in that regard though.
A quick read. Learned a few things, but not much beyond what general common sense would tell you. Bananas aren't that bad because they are shipped on boats and not planes, and conversely, out of season lettuce is bad since it will go bad if shipped via boat. You can easily wipe out all of the small steps you take throughout your life with a single flight per year. Plastic bags aren't the devil, and food waste is bad.
Essentially, humans are bad at knowing what will make them happy in the future, and bad at remembering what made them happy in the past. We have 'flawed' memories and 'flawed' imaginations. The only real advice he gave was to only ask for advice from people currently in the situation you are considering that you think would make you happy, but even that presupposes the ability to accurately assess and relay ones current emotional state, and given that he sheds doubt on humans' abilities to do even that in the early chapters, I don't see how this book was terribly inspiring. Perhaps the knowledge that our brains don't see all ends when imagining the future is helpful, but not a very profound observation.
Interesting read. Not entirely what I expected, but I think that is a good thing. They focus on the bigger picture of how modern scholars tend to do history rather than nitpicking over specific passages in detail, which is both good and bed. It got a bit repetitive at times as they continually explain and re-explain the idea of the oral tradition. It is a good and powerful point, but it didn't need to be reiterated as often as it was.
I think that the title is a bit misleading. It really should be called something like "The Neurological Benefits of Meditation" or something similar. Part of the point of the book is that God can't be proven neurologically/scientifically, but they use this as an excuse to only treat the concept of God in the broadest of strokes. When they do talk about the specific "gods" of different religions, it is typically based on people's opinions from survey data. So, the chapters pertaining to God specifically were underwhelming from both an intellectual and spiritual standpoint.
I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to. I was worried it would be nothing but 80's references with no story and dull characters. And true be told, it kind of was exactly that, but for whatever reason, I feel like it worked. I could barely put it down. Many of the references were lost on me (I was only around for 2 years of the 80's, and those I don't remember), so at times it felt like he was making up this intricate mythology, when really he was probably just making obscure pop-culture references. Either way, I was pleasantly surprised. Recommended to anybody who would consider themselves a geek.