Alec

R.I.P. Wittgenstein, you would have loved Baba Is You

Possibly the most important political text of the 21st century and it funnily enough would not even sit in the politics aisle in a book store. Sapolsky closes all of the gaps into which free will was in the past shoved into and goes toe-to-toe with a swathe of philosophers to prove it. And the derived policies are radical...ly leftist (as all good policy is). Punishment is irrational and so is reward for "exceptional merit".

Be glad for all the ways you got lucky, work towards compensating the misfortune of others with the power you possess, "quarantine" those who pose a threat to others and try to help their re-entry into society. That's all that you really need to take away, but if everyone did, the world would be an unrecognizable utopia.

The book could definitely be shorter overall, Sapolsky still loves his tangents as much as during those lectures on early YouTube. Due to the earth-shattering scientific clarity with which free will is debunked and its implications for society, I would want a shortened ~100 page version to recommend to people to get the gist, but alas that does not seem to be in the cards.

The audiobook version was fine, but I really was disappointed that it was not Sapolsky voicing it. You can "hear" his voice in the text still, so it is uncanny in parts.

This could have been an essay.

The title says it all. Economic independence and a generally egalitarian superstructure makes sex less coercive and commodified.

I did pog though when she mentioned my GOAT Mark Fisher

This book came to me at the right time in my life, and it came through a random, recent interview of Mr. Fugelsang by Richard Wolff. I loved his way of speaking and the message he brought, so I gave it a chance.

In my childhood I went through Catholic religious studies by random chance. My mom who was Orthodox, asked me if I want to go to Protestant or Catholic classes in school. I picked Catholic, because I thought it sounded cooler. That's literally it.

At around 12, I became an atheist. The story of the Abrahamic all-knowing and yet vengeful God made no sense to me, and it still does not. I loved arguing with people about it and watching skeptic content on YouTube. A few things have made me soften a little on the subject however, like the album Geogaddi, Stalker (1979) and most recently "Wake Up, Dead Man" by Rian Johnson, with the last one on the list flooring me with a strange wash of emotions and thoughts before I went to bed. I (think I) believe now, but what I believe in is the power of the idea of Christ, a good shepherd trying to reach those who have lost the way, a kind and merciful figure who helps without expecting anything back.

And so, reading this was quite cathartic, very close to tears multiple times. Seeing the unrecognizable shape of hatred and power-lust that has insisted on itself being Christianity, be disentangled and returned to its basic form, the teachings of a compassionate advocate of human decency and social justice: I did not not know I needed, but wow, I really did.

Being a comedian while still showing warmth and kindness is a hard tight-rope to walk, but Mr. Fugelsang does it easily. I like Carlin, but I wouldn't have wanted to grab a beer with him, but the author here just seems like a super level-headed and well-read guy. I loved listening to him in the audiobook form and can recommend it as a way of experiencing the book.

Self-orientalizing, meandering travel brochure framed by the thinnest veneer of a self-help message

I don't have all of the book mentally present, because my Spotify audio hours were used up last month before I could finish it in one go, but it's just a masturbatory tour de farce of Japanese cultural anecdotes that frames mundane human phenomena out as profound because they are being done by Japanese people.

Does Japan have a unique cultural history? Sure, absolutely. The confluence of feudalism, animism in the form of Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism and the material limitations of living on a moderately sized archipelago have created some unique traditions and social emphases, but "ikigai" is not one of them. Finding personal meaning and its opposite – alienation – are one of the most universal human experiences you can think of, and nothing about the ostensible prerequisites argued by this text to be highly integrated in Japanese life are novel. Yes, mindfulness enriches life satisfaction, yes, taking your interests seriously and making regular time and effort to engage with them is good for the mind. Many cultures have come to this conclusion and just as many have come up with an equivalent of ikigai – joie de vivre, carpe diem, Lebenssinn, eudaimonia, and so on.

The most unconscionable part of the book is the deafening silence on how Japanese cultural structures led to the Meiji regime and the atrocities committed during World War 2, or something more recent like the Fukushima disaster. If you want to analyse how Japanese culture influences the experience of modernity and postmodernity in that country, so be it, but then don't duck out of the uncomfortable parts. The contemporary abominable work culture in the country also only gets a passing mention.