Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a novel about what unfolds when morality submits to rationality. Raskolnikov was an ambitious and intelligent student who wanted to become a professor and has already published his first article at the age of 23, but his depraved financial condition has led him to depression. To make things … Read more
The premise of Games People Play by Eric Berne is that human beings as children are imbued with certain rituals, needs, desires, and thoughts by their parents and by their society. As they become adults, they do not fully transition from child to adult. Their relationships with others, characterized by the scripts they are willing … Read more
Free Will by Sam Harris is a book devoted to the philosophical debate about what agency is. His argument is that free will is nothing more than illusion. The reason why this is important is that if he is correct, we would need to think of reality and people very differently. If the scientific community … Read more
The Technological Society was written in 1954 by French philosopher Jacques Ellul. The book traces humanity’s historical discovery of technology, and how technique has come to dominate every aspect of our lives. Ellul writes in an academic style that is not always very accessible, but often presents his arguments in a wonderfully lucid way. Ellul’s … Read more
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is a book about pragmatism. Greene doesn’t attempt to indoctrinate his readers into believing a fixed philosophy, in fact, he does the opposite. At the end of each chapter, he includes a “reversal” section where he attempts to criticize the validity of his laws. Sometimes, there are … Read more
Law 30: Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless To become a master at anything, you need to invest considerable time and effort. But don’t tell others about your tricks, and how hard you had to toil – create an air of nonchalance and effortlessness. Be careful of teaching others too many of your secrets for they … Read more
Summary The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche is a collection of masterfully written musings about art, religion, God, literature, human psychology, the difference between the sexes, thinking, the illusion of the contemplative minds, free will, actors, and morality. Nietzsche despises systematic thinking, he rejects the British philosophical tradition and the German tradition. The urge to … Read more
Law 47: Do Not Go Past The Mark You Aimed For; In Victory, Learn When To Stop There is wisdom in knowing when to stop. After you have achieved victory, don’t tempt fate. In 559 B.C, Cyrus defeated his grandfather Astyages, king of the Medes. He created the Persian Empire. After that, Cyrus achieved consecutive … Read more
The Law of Accelerating Returns The Singularity is near is a documentary that features Ray Kurzweil. It tells us about a future that is post biological – when human beings transcend their natural limitations and merge with AI. Kurzweil believes that this will happen approximately around the year 2045. Kurzweil has grown his credibility over … Read more
Law 45: Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform Too Much at Once Change is necessary, but if you want to implement it, in must be gradual. If you change the status quo too quickly, people will revolt. Whether you are a politician or introducing a new product to the market, don’t deviate too … Read more