The reading collection
Psychology, geopolitics, philosophy—and everything in between.
2,048 readings · 361–372
People excuse their moral shortcomings by doing good things that are trivial, observed Slavoj Zizek. “It is okay that there is injustice in the world, because I recycle” or when it comes to politics, “I did not vote…
Microsoft’s attempt to capture the internet. If anyone had made a fortune by cornering the market for nuts and bolts and sticking to it, it was Microsoft.
Neil Postman was an American author, educator, media theorist, and cultural critic, who is best known for his work in the field of communications and technology. Postman’s most famous book, [Amusing Ourselves to…
Zizek and Hegel Zizek is famously a Hegelian. His interpretation of Hegel’s dialectic is that the negation (or antithesis) does not just heal the break created, but removes the frame within which the antithesis…
The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson is the story of how money developed throughout history- and how the world was shaped and reshaped by the many financial innovations that accompanied our dependence on money.
Choose Yourself* is a book about making tough decisions, and about knowing what to focus on, in the new age of information. Entrepreneurship (Golden Handcuffs) Don’t stay at a job for safe salary increases over time.
How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed* by Ray Kurzweil is a book about artificial intelligence. The book tells the story of how the human brain works and how this knowledge can help scientists…
In “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man,” communication theorist Marshall McLuhan explores the effects of various media on human perceptions and society.
In our modern age, a question haunts both scientists and dreamers alike: can a machine ever truly be conscious? This isn’t merely about how computers process data or solve puzzles—it’s about the rich inner life we…
In The Art of Seduction*, Greene demystifies seduction down to its component parts.
The Circadian Code is about Sleep. Germ theory—and its related breakthroughs of sanitation, vaccination, and antibiotics—was the groundbreaking health development of the past century.
The Divided Self* by R. D Laing is a landmark book in psychology that managed to point out the moral failings that underpinned the emerging field of psychiatry.