complexity - Book Reviews

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

“Goddamn airplane is made out of balonium.” Fighter pilot John Boyd had an extremely low tolerance for bullshit. In a remarkable three decade career of military service, Boyd exhibited near-mythical talent, range, and insight. As a tragic genius, he has few parallels in American history. He began as an unbeatable

5-stars

The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium

Gurri explains how the internet and social media make the failures of government policies overwhelming apparent and are eroding the legitimacy of our ruling institutions and elites, opening our society up to a nihilist death spiral.

4-stars

Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Taleb strikes again with "Skin in the Game". This incendiary book is the source of his notorious "Intellectual Yet Idiot" essay, as well as several other fiery gems, such as "How to Legally Own Another Person."

3-stars

Rationality: From AI to Zombies

Internet rationality celebrity Eliezer Yudkowsky drags us through an epic logical journey to the land of the "Bayesian Conspiracy" and the idea that real rationality is about "winning."

3-stars

Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes

"Warnings" asks the most important question of our time: "when it comes to predicting disasters, who should we trust?" Unfortunately, Clarke and Eddy's answer is vague and untenable. One of their four key recommendations is to build a system to "sift the credible from the

4-stars

On Bullshit

"On Bullshit" is a delightful little 80 page book of common sense. And published by an Ivy League philosophy professor - maybe there's hope after all! In our modern "post-truth" world, Frankfurt's book is a breath of fresh air. Originally published as a philosophy paper in

5-stars

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

I read "The Black Swan" seven years ago and I still think of it at least once a month. It humbled me and completely changed how I saw the world. I started college in the middle of the 2008 financial meltdown and Taleb offered a coherent intellectual framework

4-stars

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

"Poor Charlie's Almanack" got on my list because Drew Houston of Dropbox said it was one of the best books he had ever read. After blasting through it... I can understand why he said so, but I’m not sure I agree with him. This is a book

complexity

The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World

David Deutsch's "The Beginning of Infinity" is one of the more thought-provoking books I've read in the past few years. Its scope is incredibly broad - from epistemology and quantum fungibility to environmental ethics and societal evolution. Deutsch is a physicist (of self-admittedly fringe beliefs in regards to

3-stars

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

"Team of Teams" was not bad for a celebrity business book. McChrystal effectively managed a remote workforce of thousands through his daily Operations & Intelligence meetings - I'm going to try to implement some of his ideas in SilviaTerra's weekly meeting. But really, the most interesting (and controversial)

3-stars

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

3 stars. A great overview of some of the research and political/existential issues around the creation of a superintelligent system. He describes various paths to potentially creating an superintelligence, including some surprising ones like whole brain emulation and eugenics.