How Many Licks?: Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything by Aaron Santos
It looked much more interesting when I saw his talk at Authors@Google. However, I found it rather monotonic. Some of the ideas were interesting, but got boring fast.
Tag Archives: Books
Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett
I’ve always been interested in learning languages. That’s why I was interested in this Dr. Everett‘s book when I saw his talk on FORA.tv. The linguistic details on this obscure Amazonian language was a bit too much for me, but … Continue reading
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen
Another book I was made aware of through “Authors@Google” talks… This book gives a pretty good idea of what was wrong about the initial approach of the U.S. in Iraq and how and why the “Surge” worked. I think it … Continue reading
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
No wonder this book as been a best-seller for a long time. The book has a very good combination of academic and personal essay styles. Very easy to read and very convincing. Dr. Robert Cialdini explains, out of curiosity from … Continue reading
Honest Signals: How They Shape Our World by Alex (Sandy) Pentland
Reading this book was more like reading a Ph.D paper. Besides, the idea seems interesting, but the arguments and evidence weren’t there to me. Quite disappointing.
The Numerati by Stephen Baker
I thought the organization of the chapters were interesting. Some stories were interesting. However, ultimately, this book by Stephen Baker felt too light on details for me.
The Parents We Mean To Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children’s Moral and Emotional Development by Richard Weissbourd
I liked the fact that the book by Richard Weissbourd had a strong emphasis on the morality (as compared to the happiness). It’s something that I also feel that is lacking in the fast-paced, low-birth-rate world of today. The book … Continue reading
Inventing the Movies: Hollywood’s Epic Battle Between Innovation and the Status Quo, from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs by Scott Kirsner
As a person who enjoys movie and technologies in audio-video entertainment, I really enjoyed this historical overview by Scott Kirsner. The main thread of his storytelling is the struggles between the innovators and the “preservationists” (or “status quo”), and mostly … Continue reading
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
Another pickup from Fresh Air and TED. Also, Dan Ariely sometimes does guest appearance on Marketplace. This book has some similarities to Freakonomics, but it was more about the social experiments that he and his colleagues have done. They are … Continue reading
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker
I get a lot of book references from Fresh Air and TED and I heard about Steven Pinker on both. This book is about the recent developments in social science on human nature (“nature” vs. “nurture” is a very controversial … Continue reading