Book Description
"One of the few world intellectuals on whom we may rely to make sense out of our existential confusion."—Nadine Gordimer
In this sweeping philosophical work, Amartya Sen proposes that the murderous violence that has riven our society is driven as much by confusion as by inescapable hatred. Challenging the reductionist division of people by race, religion, and class, Sen presents an inspiring vision of a world that can be made to move toward peace as firmly as it has spiraled in recent years toward brutality and war.
Customer Reviews:
A prayer for freedom of identity.......2007-09-26
Sen is so eloquent it's overkill. To a global but divided world he speaks of identity as a multi-layered matter of personal choice: "The same person can, for example, be a British citizen, of Malaysian origen, with Chinese racial characteristics, a stock broker, a non-vegitarian, an asthmatic, a linguist, a bodybuilder, a poet, an opponent of abortion, a bird-watcher, an astrologer, and one who believes that God invented Darwin to test the gullible." (p. 24)
Sen notes several popular ways of dealing with identity. One he calls "identity disregard", and another is "singular affiliation".
In "identity disregard" we dismiss all shared identity, and treat each person as an economic self-interest group of one. As some proponents of this view argue, "If it's not in your interest, why have you chosen to do as you did?". Sen notes that this assumption, "makes huge idiots out of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela, and rather smaller idiots out of the rest of us." (p. 21)
"Singular affiliation" on the other hand, defines people by their membership in one (only one) of their many social circles. This can be an externally imposed label, as in stereotypes of what Westerners are, or in can be self-imposed general conformity -- as when Oscar Wilde said, "Most people are other people. ... Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation".
Feeling both social and an individual, Sen launches his excellent exporation of identity in the modern world. He visits the great "West VS Non-West" divide, where he dispenses with the usual hoopla:
"... in disputing the gross and natsy generalization that members of the Islamic civilization have a belligerant culture, it is common enough to argue that they actually share a culture of peace and goodwill. But this simply replaces one stereotype with another, and furthermore, it involves accepting an implicit presumption that people who happen to be Muslim by religion would be similar in other ways as well." (p. 42)
In many corners of the world Sen shows the subtle handicaps which delimited identy can impose. He mentions South African doctor and anti-apartheid activist Mamphela Ramphele, who describes the impact of polarized identity on the AIDS crisis: The "mistrust of science that has traditionally been controlled by white people" hampers medical efforts; open discussion of the problem is often suppressed by "the fear of acknowledging an epidemic that could easily be used to fan the worst racial stereotyping". (p. 92)
Always sounding magisterial, Sen wades into the home-town issues of British multiculturalism, political correctitude, and the struggles of "globalism vs anti-globalism". He distinguishes between the desire for ethnic groups to leave one another alone, and the desire for a freedom to choose among many cultural options. To those who urge funding schools for each religion he is blunt: "It is unfair to children who have not yet had much opportunity of reasoning and choice to be put into rigid boxes guided by one specific criterion of categorization, and to be told: 'That is your identity and this is all you are going to get'." (p. 118)
To people who believe their identity is more a fate than a choice, Sen affirms we can do better: "We have to make sure, above all, that our mind is not halved by a horizon". The book's opening dedication sounds almost like a Buddhist vow to seek enlightenment: "To Antara, Nandana, Indrani, and Kabir with the hope of a world less imprisoned by illusion".
The Illusion of Great Intellect?.......2007-07-06
Mr. Sen's great contribution to the ongoing debate about our response to terrorism is to add to the confusion.
This book makes a simple point: a cat is not a cat because it is also a mother/ father, a baby, a hunter, a prey, a mammal, a quadruped, and various other things. If we consider it only as a cat, we tend to oversimplify things, which is a great tragedy from an intellectual point of view.
Mr. Sen makes this point across many pages, using facts and information selectively, performing marvelous feats of intellectual contortion, and using his argumentative powers with terrific verbosity. Gradually you start getting tired of trying to understand the argument, and take refuge in his intellectual reputation. If Mr. Sen says so, then it must be so.
Unfortunately, it is not so. Mr. Sen himself has used categories and grouped identities repeatedly in his works. An identity is of course a construct, a definition, which helps us work with an idea. If we abandon these, it will become very difficult to handle complex ideas - we will be reduced to monkeys who are great at dealing with percepts, but not with concepts.
What is the point of this book, one may ask? The book may merely be an attempt to deflect attention from radical forms of Islam, which often lead to terrorism. In this apologist work, Mr. Sen does not bother to ask the Muslims as to how do they see themselves, what do they see as their defining identity.
However, Mr. Sen has no love lost for traditional forms of Islam, if practiced in the West, as he carefully spears the multi-culturalists to death with his eyes carefully trained on the Western audience. For instance, according to him, cultural diversity can be enhanced if individuals are 'encouraged' to live as they value living. It is clear to him, however, that young Muslim women are unlikely to value living behind a veil freely, as that would merely constitute 'an automatic endorsement of past traditions'. Mr. Sen fails to see that following traditions may itself be an implicit and integral value in a particular culture.
It is also difficult for Mr. Sen to see that what is considered 'sexual freedom' by a particular society, may be considered as 'sexual perversity' in another society. Indeed in the same society, people would have differing views. In such a situation, who are we to arbiter what is right for a group of people in their personal lives?
He also makes various vacuous arguments. For instance, both Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh were Muslims. Aurangzeb was 'rather intolerant', whereas Dara Shikoh was interested in Hindu Upanishads. Aurangzeb killed Dara Shikoh (in a fight over the throne). Aurangzeb's great-grandfather was also a tolerant Muslim. Therefore, there is great diversity among Muslims. Therefore, it is wrong to treat all Muslims as belonging to the same mindset.
No one would argue against that. However, after making this kind of obvious arguments endlessly, Mr. Sen slyly insinuates that we should not link hundreds of terrorist incidents (where Muslims were directly involved) with radical Muslims, as Muslims have multiple identities, which he has already proved!
It is really quite a pity. One would wish that Mr. Sen could put his great intellect to more worthwhile use, such as helping us understand why people group together in monolithic blocks or get radicalized enough to want to kill others who do not subscribe to their views.
A hardcover edition of this book has also been published by Penguin India under the banner 'Allen Lane'. While the binding of the Penguin edition is good, the typeface is a little difficult to read. Also the paper is almost like newsprint, and tends to absorb ink (if you like making notes in the margins). The book is a slim volume, easy to carry.
Buy this book if you would like to argue it out with Mr. Sen. Or if you want to appear to be politically correct, never mind the cost to your intellect.
Identity and Violence.......2007-05-17
I felt this book was overly self aggrandizing in a way that academic writing often is. It takes the obvious, couches it in lofty rehtoric and tries to sell the ideas as original and pressing. They may be the latter, but are fairly self evident. I know this man is an intellectual who is well respected so it is surprising to me that in this book he kind of 'dumbs up' a set of premises that could be perhaps more influential were they 'dumbed down' for a different audience.
good ideas, clear thinking, but a bit repetitive.......2007-04-15
The book makes two main arguments. First it argues that identities are rational constructions where group allegiances of all sorts play a part. Second it argues that globalization, though an unqualified good in principle, is in practice often merely a way for some group in a globablizing nation to reap most of the benefits while others suffer most of ill consdquences. Both arguments work together in Sen's view of how one might best understand the phenomena of *opposition to the west*. We (G8 nations) have fallen into the habit of seeing nations as wholes characterized by specific identities. Sen suggests that we'd understand phenomena like saudi-born terror groups or mass disaffection with the G8 by the citizens of latin america, by learning to see the world in a less reductionist fashion: namely intersections of various groups overlapping in persons and populations.
Sen's prose is quite clear, and I find his claims rather convincing. The books style is a bit grating though. It's very repetitive. The same ideas resurface again and again along with the same examples. I suspect the book is really a compilation of speeches Sen has given. Repetition is necessary in speaking because the audience doesn't have time to step back and make the connections themselves. But in a book like this, already quite short, it's a waste of the reader's time.
Also Sen is not very careful with his historical examples. One recurring story he cites is how my Maimonides fled Christian Europe for Saladin's Egypt. Not true. Maimonides fled Almohad (and thus islamic) Andaluz for Saladin's Egypt. This was an easy fact to check, and you'd think an author of Sen's stature whould take the time to make sure an example he will use four or five times is correct.
The book is definitely worth reading. I only wish the author had spent just a bit more time tightening it up and doing a bit more fact checking.
identity need not mean violent destiny.......2007-01-18
Amartya Sen, Harvard professor and winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics, still remembers the day sixty-three years ago when a Muslim day laborer named Kader Mia stumbled through the gate into his family's yard in Dhaka, bleeding from knife wounds and begging for help. His father rushed him to the hospital where he eventually died. Kader was a Muslim who was murdered by a Hindu thug, and was but one of the thousands of people who died in Muslim-Hindu riots that erupted in British India in the 1940's. Although most of the rioters shared an economic class identity as poor people, partisans demonized each other with a lethal, singularist "identity of violence," in this instance a diminution of their humanity to religious ethnicity: "The illusion of a uniquely confrontational reality had thoroughly reduced human beings and eclipsed the protagonists' freedom to think." Sen's book is an exploration of this memory of his as a bewildered eleven-year-old boy.
Far too much violence in the world today is fomented by the illusion that people are destined to a "sectarian singularity." Stereotyping people with a singular identity leads to fatalism, resignation, and a sense of inevitability about violence. It partitions people and civilizations into binary oppositions, it ignores the plural ways that people understand themselves, and obscures what Sen calls our "diverse diversities." In particular, he objects to the "clash of civilizations" thesis made popular by Samuel Huntington. Along the way he explores the implications of his thesis for multiculturalism, public policy, globalization, terrorism, anti-Western rage, democracy, and theories of culture.
Sen argues against identity violence caused by the illusion of destiny in three ways. First, he appeals to our common humanity; everyone laughs at weddings, cries at funerals, and worries about their children. More important than any of our external differences, even though these are powerful and important, is our shared humanity. Second, he makes the obvious point that all people enjoy plural identities. To understand a person one must consider factors of civilization, religion, nationality, class, community, culture, gender, profession, language, politics, morals, family of origin, skin color, and a multitude of other markers. Plus, these diverse differences within a single individual depend on one's social context, whether the trait is durable over time, relevant, a factor of constraint or free choice, and so on. Finally, Sen urges us to transcend the illusion of destiny and identity violence by what he calls "reasoned choice." Instead of living as if some irrational fate destines people to confrontation with others who are different, a person needs to make a rational choice about what relative importance to attach to any single trait. Although Sen never explains why rational people succumb to the irrational violence of identity instead of choosing enlightened self-interest, economic incentives, and geo-political peace, this readable book by one of our most brilliant thinkers conveys an important reminder: "We can do better."
Book Description
The United States will confront a series of fundamental challenges through the middle of the twenty-first century. Using a theory of economic systems to gauge present and future global conflicts, Steven Rosefielde and D. Quinn Mills see the challenges as posed sequentially by terrorism, Russia, China, and the European Union. In the cases of terrorism, Russia, and China, Western leaders appreciate aspects of these perils, but they are crafting unduly soft policies to deal with the challenges. The authors believe that â€~globalists’ notwithstanding, such views are myopic in an era where nuclear proliferation has invalidated the concept of mutually assured destruction. What America requires is a new security concept that the authors call â€~strategic independence’ to enable keeping the peace in dangerous times and foster new generations of leaders capable of acting sanely despite a current public culture addicted to wishful thinking.
Customer Reviews:
A rigid, narrow vision.......2007-09-03
The title refers to two illusions that the authors claim are embedded in America's "public culture." One illusion is the notion that people and nations are generally well-intentioned and fair-minded, so that conflicts must result from misunderstanding. The other is that all economic and political systems are converging on Western-style capitalist democracy. Certainly some Americans believe these things, but are these beliefs as pervasive and strongly held as the authors claim? Central to the book is the claim that these illusions have the American mind in a tight grip. Are the authors right? You don't need to read the book to judge for yourself. If you think (as I do) that the authors have oversimplified American attitudes, one major thesis of their book collapses. There is a deeper problem with the book. The authors claim to see the world clearly, without illusion. Yet never, ever, do they display any uncertainty (or sense of humor) about anything. The future, especially the long-term future, is too uncertain for anyone to have confidence about how things will play out. The authors do not seem to recognize any possibility they could be wrong--for example, about the permanent superiority of the US economic system. Yet their own table on page 176 (intended to show the inferiority of Soviet economic performance) shows that Japan did better than the US in growth of per capita GDP for 1973-2001, and West Europe did just as well. Who knows what the statistics for 2002-2030 will show? Furthermore, they have tunnel vision: they see only threats of a military or quasi-military nature. Their four key threats are (1) terrorism, (2) Russia, (3) China and (4) Europe. To meet those threats they espouse a concept of "strategic independence." They are overconfident about the ability of the US to cope with such threats all by itself. Never, ever, do they see a need for a Plan "B." And it does not seem to occur to them that other sorts of threats might turn out to be more important. They are blind to the possible necessity of long-term allies and treaties to face non-military threats. For example, a pandemic may well kill far more Americans in the next fifty years than terrorists armed with a few nukes could possibly kill. Dealing with possible pandemics requires good international cooperation (as does dealing with terrorism). Pandemics are just one example; any reader can easily imagine other such examples. Finally, people who claim to be free of illusions had better get their facts right. The authors often get facts wrong. For example, they claim that unemployment in the US "is lower than in any of the other developed great powers." (p 138) According to the CIA Factbook, unemployment in the US in 2006 was 4.8%, whereas in Japan it was 4.1%. They show faulty judgment on other issues. On page 289 they take seriously the idea that Saddam had WMDs just before the war but moved them to Syria. This is of course theoretically possible; it's also theoretically possible that Dick Cheney machinated the US into war with Iraq so as to enrich Halliburton. Only committed ideologues would entertain either theory. I could give more examples of the authors' errors and misjudgments, but this review is already too long. The book does set forth provocative opinions that are worth thinking about, some of which might turn out to be right, which is why I give it more than one star.
Average customer rating:
- Who Controls the Internet
- Understand the complexity of the Internet
- Will the internet change China or will China change the internet?
- A great recounting of the history of the Internet and the future of its legal ramifications.
- must read
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Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World
Jack Goldsmith , and
Tim Wu
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Book Description
Is the Internet erasing national borders? Will the future of the Net be set by Internet engineers, rogue programmers, the United Nations, or powerful countries? Who's really in control of what's happening on the Net? In this provocative new book, Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu tell the fascinating story of the Internet's challenge to governmental rule in the 1990s, and the ensuing battles with governments around the world. It's a book about the fate of one idea--that the Internet might liberate us forever from government, borders, and even our physical selves. We learn of Google's struggles with the French government and Yahoo's capitulation to the Chinese regime; of how the European Union sets privacy standards on the Net for the entire world; and of eBay's struggles with fraud and how it slowly learned to trust the FBI. In a decade of events the original vision is uprooted, as governments time and time again assert their power to direct the future of the Internet. The destiny of the Internet over the next decades, argue Goldsmith and Wu, will reflect the interests of powerful nations and the conflicts within and between them. While acknowledging the many attractions of the earliest visions of the Internet, the authors describe the new order, and speaking to both its surprising virtues and unavoidable vices. Far from destroying the Internet, the experience of the last decade has lead to a quiet rediscovery of some of the oldest functions and justifications for territorial government. While territorial governments have unavoidable problems, it has proven hard to replace what legitimacy governments have, and harder yet to replace the system of rule of law that controls the unchecked evils of anarchy. While the Net will change some of the ways that territorial states govern, it will not diminish the oldest and most fundamental roles of government and challenges of governance. Well written and filled with fascinating examples, including colorful portraits of many key players in Internet history, this is a work that is bound to stir heated debate in the cyberspace community.
Customer Reviews:
Who Controls the Internet.......2007-09-08
Despite what most people assume and many more wish the Internet has become regulated. The Internet is controled within a countries borders resulting in many conflicting laws. That's a problem for Internet companies who have assets across many borders. Can they get away with just following their countries laws? Time and time again the authors evince the answer being no. Companies like yahoo, google, mircrosoft, ebay, the Dow Jones, obsequiously follow foreign laws but not necessarily sacrifice their own.
Some of these companies have no qualms either assisting the Chinese filter pro-democracy websites, in short because they feel they have to. As I right this Yahoo is being sued by the World Organization for Human Rights for giving the Chinese government I.P. addresses of Chinese citizens who will then jailed and tortured for subversion. Yahoo asserts they were simply following the law.
And that is the problem facing these companies especially with China. They really have no other choice to or get out.
The book was well writen, fair and balanced.
Understand the complexity of the Internet.......2007-01-15
Jack and Tim made one thing dramatically clear: The Internet is no lawless enclave in our world. Their journey from the very beginning to the modern Internet is full of clear examples and anecdotes describing the "rude awakening" of idealists and patient people who participated in the development of the globe-consuming web.
When I read that the authors come from the dry plains of law science I was sceptical if the book would be worth to read. I imagined that their approach would be as dry as the 1000 ft law books in the libraries.
But, when I opened it and started reading I first put it down after page 186, the very last page of the remarkable work. Their writing is so gripping, so light to read, that even a none-English person like me could easily understand and enjoy it.
After working with the Internet since the beginnings of the 80's I thought I knew a lot about it and how it is screwed together, but I got surprised. Their view from a complete different angle, threw light on hidden aspects I honestly never thought about. In a modern world full of economical interests and its enforcement all makes absolute sense and even dramatic events like the Napster case fall into their logical place in this big puzzle.
Every part of the book is filled with cross-references and hints to further readings. All cases and examples are deep researched and very neutral presented.
Buy it, read it and give it to a dear one.
Will the internet change China or will China change the internet?.......2006-12-02
The title about China and other pointed questions in this excellent book are addressed with a perception rarely achieved. The thought processes that go into policy decisions effecting governments and individuals, a collectivism vs. individualism. The reader is easily made to understand complex technologies and issues, not only at their core but as they expand outward into the real world. From the internets architecture, bandwith, internet borders, copyright laws, crime and criminal law, domain names, eBay, economy and commerce on the internet,filesharing, globalization, and much more. Or questions such as, "How can it be harder to notice that information has become more difficult to find? It is hard, in other words, to know what you don't know." CENSORSHIP. Pick up this book. When you finally put it down, you be the one of the ones hitting their fast/curve balls out of the park.
A great recounting of the history of the Internet and the future of its legal ramifications........2006-11-04
This book was required reading for a law school course on the Internet's legal issues. Aside from being one of the least expensive books I've ever been required to read, it is a great book that accurately addresses many of the relevant legal theories. One should note that while the authors do not claim to present a de facto statement of what the law is, there are significant factions of legal scholars who disagree with many of this book's conclusions, of whom my professor is one.
All in all, this is an excellent book for anyone wishing to better understand the way the Internet affects (or does not affect) legal rights without wading through 15 years of case law. Furthermore, the authors have written this book in a manner that makes easy to read and enjoy for the technically adept and the technically challenged (i.e. lawyers) alike.
must read.......2006-10-16
This book is the best complete statement of the second wave of internet scholarship. If you ever thought that the net destroyed the significance of geography, or that cyberspace should be thought of as a real place, you owe it to yourself to see how things are really turning out.
Book Description
In his first book ever, the father of string theory reinvents our concept of the known universe and mans unique place within it. The beginning of the 21st century is a watershed in modern science, a time that will forever change our understanding of the universe, Leonard Susskind contends. Several decades ago, Susskind introduced the revolutionary concept of string theory to the world of physical science. In doing so, he inspired a generation of physicists who believed that the theory would uniquely predict the properties of our universe. Now, in his first book ever, Susskind argues that the very idea of such an elegant theory no longer suits our understanding of the universe, and that our narrow 20th-century view of a unique universe will have to give way to the much broader concept of a gigantic cosmic landscapea megaverse, pregnant with new possibilities. His other contributions to physics are too numerous to mention, but his recent victory in an argument with Stephen Hawking over the nature of black holes made headlines everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
The Problem With Math.......2007-09-26
Susskind, along with many other, such as Randall Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions makes a serious mistake in leaping to the conclusion that reality corresponds to his mathematical models. Along with other string theorists, they assume that if the math they use to build their models contains some number of additional dimensions, then the real world must contain those dimensions. I see this in much of the literature, including, for example Woit Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law who debunks string theory, but nevertheless seems to accept the idea that if the math contains extra dimensions, reality must also contain those extra dimensions. Susskind really goes off the deep end with this.
A mathematical model is just that - a model. It is the best math we can construct at this point in time to describe the reality we are trying to model. It is not the reality itself. If the string theorists are successful in constructing a model that includes six or seven tiny dimensions, that does not mean that those dimensions actually exist. All it means is that the best model we can currently construct has to include those dimensions in the math. We must remember that much more math will come along. Someday, we may have a math that describes the same reality without the additional dimensions.
That said, if the string theorists can make a prediction that absolutely, positively depends upon those extra dimensions and if that prediction is confirmed by experimental results, then they may have a case. So far, the string theorists have failed utterly to make such a prediction. Even here, a different math may come along. The night is young.
As good as it gets!.......2007-08-27
TCL is popular science writing of the first order: a fascinating, informative, and highly entertaining tour of what rate as some of the most abstruse theories ever conceived. In Susskind's own words (p. 348):
"My main purpose in wiriting this book is not primarily to convince the reader of my own point of view; scientific arguments are best fought on the pages of technical journals and the blackboards of seminar rooms. My purpose is to explain the struggle of ideas that is about to take front-and-center place in the mainstream of science so that ordinary readers can follow the ideas as they unfold and experience the drama and excitement that I feel."
I can heap no greater praise on Susskind than to say that TCL brilliantly achieves his purpose. It is one of the finest pieces of popular science writing that I have ever read. Somewhere in this book Susskind alludes to another book he hopes to write one day. Here's very much hoping he directs that (and other) future efforts to a non-specialist readership. It is very much to the benefit of science and the public when scientists translate their work for the edification of non-scientists. Kudos to Susskind for joining the ranks of the most able popularizers!
Plain English, finally!.......2007-05-07
Choice book, great theorist writes in plain English..I have read 3 times, always something new!
Why is there Something rather than Nothing?.......2007-01-30
Very illuminative book in understanding the present state of the relevant physics and cosmology.
Really, we have no need of intelligent design theory if progress in science goes on.
Although the book is full of analogies and slogans instead of formulas, it provides a good overview of physics and cosmology.
The book is written in a lively way and thought provoking with challenging concepts.
Not Convincing .......2007-01-21
I'm not a physicist, but I could say that my interest in science stemmed from my background as an Engineer in electronics. And no need to go over the scientific aspects mentioned in the book since others have done a good job. Yet, I was surprised at a scientist, or rather the father of the String Theory, and quite knowledgeable in Quantum Mechanics, would treat man as a separate being from the universe. When we say that the universe is fine tuned to suite us, who is "us"? Aren't we a part of this universe in quantum physics perspective? And although I liked his scientific analogy a great deal and I learned a lot, not to say that I completely understood it, but his Anthropic views and conclusions threw me off balance. I'm sure that he has much more explaining to do before he could come to this conclusion. But generally speaking; if you are interested in science of quantum physics, it is a page-turner and the writer's ability to bring the complexities of this field to a layman's lever was amazing. And one more thing; the title was misleading when the writer used the word "illusion" in juxtaposition with"intelligent design"
Book Description
This favorite of both instructors and students is a "behind-the-scenes" tour of news in American politics. The core question explored in this book is: How well does the news, as the core of the national political information system, serve the needs of democracy? In investigating this question, the book examines how various political actorsâfrom presidents and members of Congress, to interest organizations and citizen-activistsâtry to get their messages into the news.
Customer Reviews:
Educated Ignorance.......2006-09-26
Such a terrible mis-directed perversion of Mind. Well educated Ignorance. A true weaver of Stalinist theory. What a malignant waste of thought.
Necessary Reading.......2006-05-20
This Chomsky book, while tough to get through at points (have a dictionary on hand), is an absolute must if you are interested in learning how to "read" the mainstream news.
Facts are given and cited. And Chomsky, as always, asks readers to draw their own conclusions. I drew mine. This was the first book of his I read, but it wasn't the last.
The Obligation of Silence, Containing The Enemy, & Awaiting The Hidden Hand.......2006-01-08
"They who have put out the people's eyes, reproach them of their blindness." ~ John Milton
This was released in 89', the end of the Reagan/Bush era, and offers an insightful outline of then-versus-now contrast. Many similar behind the scene names and fear-based strategies. The specifics have changed, yet the song unfortunately remains the same. Chomsky demonstrates our democracy's historical need of "containment of the enemy" [a populace in which free voices have the capacity to resound] through imposed and vested interests, and through a pervasive media propaganda model, which, as adjuncts of government, manipulate a collective turning of an onus blind eye from the crimes, atrocities, familar ideologies, preferences and prefabricated belief structures of the favored state.
As usual, the unyielding Chomsky wields an elementary punch of fact-packed, deep-impressioned, miles-back swing. It's quite astonishing to read such blatantly anti-democratic {compared to the widely adhered to definitions and perceptions of democracy} quotations from prominent historical political figures who formulate policies designed to advance and serve oligarchic interests through deceiving the people, and diminishing their capacity for involvement and of having a direct hand in the shaping of public policy.
"Necessary Illusions" is an essential read in the canon of what Chomsky refers to as necessary "intellectual self-defense courses" to counter Power's perilous necessary illusions which menace our representative form of government, human rights here and abroad, and, realistically, the fate of our species and the planet.
I love it. If Only I Could Read It!.......2002-12-04
I am influenced by Chomsky more than any other political philosopher (although he seems to encompass much more than a mere career categorization). I've studied him on and off for the past five years, and I find it harder and harder to rely on mass media (TV, radio, movies, increasingly more of the internet) for any information. It's like lost innocence. One can never look at these things the same after reading Chomsky.
In this book, he tackles these themes, but concentrates a great deal on U.S. international relations. The equation is basically this: corporations control the government and own the media. U.S. international relations are directly affected and influenced by the whims of multinationals; namely the desire for [inexpensive] production and [inexpensive] resources, exploiting civilians and foreign lands to achieve these means. The government is in the pocket of the corporations.
The ordinary American has little say. We may vote; but we vote for one party; solely representing the interests of the rich, and the huge corporations.
That's a bit of Chomsky in a nutshell. This book supports these arguments with EXHAUSTIVE research. I admit, I found it exhausting to read, but not from lack of interest. He is detailed; which makes his arguments valid. He uses countless examples, all supported by the contradictory historical actions and propaganda of U.S. foreign relations; where the government lies to the public via the media. There are so many quotes and supportive examples that the bibliography could be 40 pages long!
So, I love Chomsky. However I really don't like reading him; but I try. I find the easiest way to get the big picture of Chomsky's views is by watching the documentary, Manufacturing Consent, reading Z Magazine, and also "The Real Story" series of transcribed interviews with Chomsky.
Perhaps I'm just a lazy reader. However I think this book legitimizes many of Chomsky's views, in a dense, detailed, way. But without these supporting examples and quotes, his views couldn't be seen as valid.
Eyeopener for newcomers, disappointment for Chomskyites.......2000-07-25
On the whole, this book is disappointing and greatly inferior to Chomsky's similarly theme-ed Manufacturing Consent. Necessary Illusions amounts to little more than an updating of media duplicity in mainstream coverage of Central America and Israel. From the title, I expected a more systematic analysis of methods, mechanics, and reasons that operate behind media coverage. Instead, Chomsky offers a loose model of journalistic propaganda and a few methods for detecting its presence, viz. the Comparison Method. However, the model is neither detailed nor a really very useful one. Thus at a time when tv's propaganda function, for one, is becoming clearer to the public, Necessary Illusions fails to deliver much beyond the usual case studies familiar to Chomskyites. Important as this empirical work may be, especially for newcomers to Chomsky, what is needed is a more thorough-going model of how raw news gets processed into self-serving policy reinforcement. In short, a better model of the communication industry's ideological function.
It's surprising that someone as skilled at theorizing as Chomsky appears to shy away from this next logical step to his many invaluable case studies. Americans by and large recognise that despite being "free", the popular media is not to be trusted. Now we need be persuaded why this is so. Perhaps Chomsky doesn't want to risk credibility by pursuing more abstract formulations where researchable fact is less immediate. Whatever the reason, in this book he has clearly debunked some of America's most prestigious and self-serving institutions, which is always a worthwhile read.
Book Description
Albert Einstein’s celebrated remark that â€~God does not play dice’ was his response to a set of new scientific ideas now known as quantum physics. These theories threatened the ordered determinism of the Newtonian universe, presenting the radical challenge of an unstable world disturbed by our very attempts to measure or observe it. One of the prime fascinations of quantum physics is precisely the great conceptual leap it requires us to make from our conventional ways of thinking about the physical world. It introduces instead the alarming possibilities that the observer’s mind is the only reality, or that there may be parallel universes. Alternatively, its very contradictions may suggest that despite its manifest successes, quantum physics still leaves us in need of a further revolution in thought and the final complete theory of the physical universe. Alastair Rae’s introductory exploration has been hailed as â€~a masterpiece of clarity’, and offers an engaging guide to the theories on offer.
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Albert Einstein's celebrated remark that "God does not play dice" was his response to a set of new scientific ideas now known as quantum physics. These theories threatened the ordered determinism of the Newtonian universe, presenting the radical challenge of an unstable world disturbed by our very attempts to measure or observe it. Quantum physics introduces the alarming possibilities that the observer's mind is the only reality, or that there may be parallel universes. Alternatively, its contradictions may suggest that despite its manifest successes, quantum physics still leaves us in need of a further revolution in thought and the final complete theory of the physical universe. Alastair Rae's introductory exploration has been hailed as "a masterpiece of clarity," and offers an engaging guide to the theories offered.
Customer Reviews:
For those with a little background a great book.......2007-01-16
Be warned, this book assumes you know a little about quantum physics to begin with. It's not going to walk you through all the basics of the field. But for those who've had an introduction to the concepts of quantum physics, it's a great examination of the conceptual problems of quantum physics. Don't be fooled by its short length -- this is a book to be read slowly, re-read, an digested. The discussion of the EPR paradox and Bell's Theory is especially good, because it's more technical and mathematical than those in other intro books, and while therefore more difficult, it's also more rewarding.
Don't tell God what to do.......2004-05-31
A. Rae struggles with the conceptual and philosophical implications of quantum physics (qf).
His book contains excellent explanations of the destruction of determinism, because uncertainty and indeteterminism are built into qf's very foundations. He also rejects the 'hidden variables' solution to solve qf's apparent contradictions. He shows also the fundamental opposition between Einstein and Bohr.
Unfortunately, this book contains a comment on the out-of-date Popper-Eccles discussion on the body/mind problem and their statement that the mind is not subject to the laws of physics. This problem has been resolved (see V. Ramachandran's linguistic solution in 'Phantoms in the brain', or G. Edelman's 'A universe of consciousness').
But I found certain flaws in the author's reasoning due mainly to the choice of bad examples.
Firstly, let me state one fundamental specification: reality is a process, not a fact (L. Smolin).
That is the reason why his ultimate question 'If reality is only what is observed ...' is not a good one.
A qf measurement does not create the 'only' reality. Protons, electrons, dead or alive cats, DNA mutations exist, even if they are not observed. A qf measurement is part of the universal process. In qf we only measure complementarities (properties) as Bohr stated.
Secondly, A. Rae states that macroscopic processes are irreversible (the second law of thermodynamics) and microscopic ones reversible.
For reversibility he chooses as example the collision of two molecules. I doubt firmly that in our universe after the collision the molecules can (without an exterior intervention) go back to their initial states. Those interactions are 'theoretically' reversible.
On the other hand, the life or death of a cat is a macroscopic event. The cat example is a good 'figure' to explain the qf theory, but it is a bad one to build a conceptual or philosophical theory on it. Nobody will calculate the outcome of a certain event based on a dead/alive scenario if a simple look at the cat's condition can eliminate 50% of the possibilities. The same goes for the DNA mutations.
The theory of I. Prigogyne (his books are difficult) is certainly a step in the good direction. As reality is a process, indeterminism should also be the fundamental cornerstone for classical physics, but naturally not in our daily Euclidian life.
In the case of the 'many worlds' question, I prefer Rudolf Peierls's solution where he proposes to speak of many world 'possibilities' (see P. Davies' 'The ghost in the atom').
This is a thought-provoking book. Not to be missed.
Long review for a good short book.......2002-03-31
Since the formulation of quantum theory in the 1920s the Copenhagen Interpretation of reality has been the mainstream view among physicists. But this interpretation has been uncomfortable for many, because it raises a number of paradoxes. The lack of cause and effect, (indeterminism), the so called "observer effect (quantum measurement problem), and non-locality, are among them.
Waisting no time in this 118 page book, Alastair Rae grabs the reader in the very first sentence of the book by quoting Albert Einstein's famous pronouncement: "Does God play dice [with the universe]?"
Using impeccable logic and only a bit of mathematical jargon, which can be circumvented by the reader, Rae sets out to solve many of these paradoxes. Citing experiments with polarized photons of light, he asks: What exactly constitutes a measurement? Does a measurement occur when a record is made? Or does it take consciousness to collapse the wave into a definitive particle? Is there a resolution to the Schrodinger's Cat paradox? How can we explain nonlocality?
Rae systematically entertains and rebuts in a convincing and objective way many different philosophies put forward to make sense of quantum reality. Some have claimed, most notably Niels Bohr, that it's the interaction of the partilce with a macor-measuring device that instigates the collapse. Others believe that it takes a consciousness to create reality. Still others, looking for a way to save determinism, and circumvent the measurement problem latch on to Hugh Everett's many-world interpetation.
Ironically as Rae points out most scientists claim to be "positivists", believing that it is meaningless to speculate on unobservable quantities. yet, they apparently have no problem believing in a myriad of unobservable and unmeasureable universes, completely and irreversibly cut off from our own.
In the final two chapters Rae objectively entertains what he believes is the most likely resolution of the quantum measurement problem. His idea was first proposed by Ilya Prigonine who won the Nobel Prize for his work in the field of irreversible chemical thermodynamics. The classical idea put forward by Prigonine states that there is an irreversible arrow of time and the second law of thermodynamics is never violated. Citing Prigonine's work, Rae explains: If no measurement is made of a quantum system no impression has been made on the universe, and the information which could have been obtained can be reversed and destroyed. If, however, a measurement is made, a change of some sort has occurred, either in the measuring device or our brain. The measurement has impacted the universe in some manner, and as a result the macro system must now follow the second law of thermodynamics, which has and arrow of time and hence is irreversible.
Rae states that "if we follow Prigogine's approach, indeterminism becomes an implicit part of classical physics.
Has Alastair Rae accomplished what he set out to do in this Book? Not quite. At the beginning of the book he states that he will tackle the problem of indeterminism, yet he spends most of his time attempting to explain the quantum measurement problem which is something quite different. And when he does address determinsim it falls short on several points.
First, a Prigogine macro system is indeed unpredictable, but it is not indeterminate as Rae seems to imply. Rather, it is a determinate and irreversible system having and arrow of time and an initial cause, no matter how subtle.
Secondly, he fails to address the process of nuclear decay, and the jump of the electron from one orbit to another--both of which are "real" and indeterminate.
Finally, in regard to the quantum measurement problem. Rae does not take into account recent experiments done with photons as cited in Scientific American (November 1991). In this particular experimental set-up at the Universtity of Rochester, researchers demonstrated that "The mere possibility that the paths can be distinguished is enough to wipe out the interference pattern." There is no measurement made, no record made, and no interaction with a macro system. Yet, the collapse of the wave happens without interacting with a macro sytem. Therefore, it seems that Ray's explanation of a resolution to the problem by creating a record in a classical Prigogine system is invalid.
This is still a very well written, concise, and provacative book and I would recommend it for those who want to understand the basic principles and paradoxes of quantum reality. This review written by: Quantum Reality1, author of "Quantum Reality: A New Philosophical Perspective."
Thank you, Alastair Rae.......2001-04-13
It has only been once in a great while that a thin little tome has taught me so much, and been so much fun. Before Quantum Physics by Alastair Rae, the last one I remember was Richard Feynmann's QED. I now feel like I have at least a near understanding of Bell's Theorem, EPR, SQUIDS, and an assortment of things and concepts that were tantalizing but vague until now. Thank you, Alastair, you're a good teacher. And, the little surprise at the end, Prigogine's possible answer. I'd always found him intriguing. Now I know why.
Quantum Physics.......2000-05-21
I'm not a math physics person, but I enjoy learning what I can about them, which is why I purchased this book. I almost put it aside as I felt some of the first few pages were over my head, but I decided to look upon it as stretching exercises for the mind, and managed to reach a tolerable comprehension of the material. Thereafter the book was both understandable and thoroughly readible. I found intriguing the philosophical implications of quantum physics. Particularly interesting was the author's discussion of Popper and Eccles's concepts of the 3 worlds of reality: the world of objects, of the human mind and of the products of the human mind. The implication of human consciousness in cetain physical interactions and the possiblity that consciousness actually creates reality itself was the topic of several pages. The author also briefly touches upon artificial intelligence, multiple-world hypothesis, the effect of size on expected theoretical outcomes, and time and its direction. It was a thoroughly enjoyable book.
Customer Reviews:
I Want to Take You Higher..........2007-03-16
This is Leary at his most prolific, this is an awe-inspiring book that will change the way you think about Life, Death, and LSD. This book is cleverly used to ease the apprehension of one of life's most fearful moments, the moment of death. Comparing an LSD trip to Tibetan death rituals, Leary shows us how enlightenment can be gained at all stages of life, even the final.
Leary's Confusion.......2006-07-15
The so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead (which is literally translated "Liberation Through Hearing In-Between" - apparently first given the Book of the Dead nickname to associate it with the Egyptian Book of the Dead) is said to give 3 opportunities to gain liberation at death - if it doesn't occur with awareness of the Clear Light, then hopefully with the appearence of the 100 wrathful & peaceful deities, or finally at the very least pulling off a decent human rebirth.
Leary correctly saw the correlation of this root text with acid's stages - but linked the acid trip with the process of dying without liberation - i.e. the dead listener in the root text was not supposed to go through all 3 stages if possible. This is only Leary's first confusion in suggesting acid and the liberation mentioned in the root text are similar, as has been critiqued much later by teachers like Chogyam Trungpa.
Just a small correction.......2006-06-20
"The Void" WAS the original working title for what became "Tomorrow Never Knows" - and was in fact the first song recorded during the Revolver sessions
LIFE.......2006-01-01
First, to -oo0(GoldTrader)0oo-, I'd like to make a few corrections; The Beatles never did a song called 'The Void', the one you're talking about is 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. And The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, especially, were pretty big stars even before they were introduced to this (a ton of US #1 singles, fx....)
Anyway, this is a great book, & a must-have for anyone interested in the concept of LIFE (and I still don't get people who aren't). sometimes it's a bit too 'technical' (do this, do that), and Huxley's 'The Doors Of Perception' is far better in any way. But this book is still essential, and I would recommend anybody that they buy it...
A Few Corrections.......2005-10-05
First a few corrections to ooo(Gold Trader)ooo's review just so people don't get confused with misinformation.
first-- the Beatles' song Gold Trader refers to is "Tomorrow Never Knows" on Revolver, and yes, it was obviously inspired by this book. Lennon claimed it was his only song which was actually about LSD. (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was about his son Julian's school drawing, according to Lennon)
second-- the Beatles were HUGE before they were ever exposed to LSD or Leary's manual, The book was written in 1964, the year Beatlemania swept the USA after being huge in Britain for over a year. That year they tried marijuana with Bob Dylan, but Lennon, who wrote "tomorrow never knows" didn't try LSD until 1965, (by accident) and sometime between then and when he wrote the song in 1966 (tomorrow never knows) is when he god clued into this book.
Another complete error already mentioned by other reviewers is about "Be Here Now" which was published in 1971, seven years after "the Psychedelic Experience." In fact, in "Be Here Now" Ram Dass talks about when Leary was writing "The Psychedelic Experience."
The internet has so many factual errors all over it, might as well correct these ones for a start.
As far as the book itself, it is quite interesting and may be of use in guiding one's experience with psychedelics. You should remember the context of this book and the times, though-- at the other pole, reacting against this extremely prescribed method of tripping was Ken Kesey with the Acid Tests, which you can read all about in Tom Wolfe's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test"
However, Leary's "manual" as this was, for tripping, did have a huge influence. I'd say, read this and the "Acid Test", and Ram Dass's "Be Here Now" which will let you know about some of the pros and cons of psychedelics from a very experienced tripper, then allow them all to influence your experience.
One last thing you can't forget with this "guide" is that it was written before LSD was illegal and by psychologists usuing pharmaceutical grade drugs-- not by people getting illegal drugs which they didn't know the quality or strength of. As Leary later says in the preface to "Politics of Ecstasy", the "Psychedelic Experience" and the "Psychedelic Reader" were written for a mature audience of intellectuals, not the masses of kids who would eventually try to use it.
Average customer rating:
- Effects of severe trauma are real, not imagined
- In reponse to my intemperate fellow Bostonian
- E puor si muove
- Is there a doctor in the house?
|
The Harmony of Illusions
Allan Young
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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ASIN: 0691033528 |
Book Description
As far back as we know, there have been individuals incapacitated by memories that have filled them with sadness and remorse, fright and horror, or a sense of irreparable loss. Only recently, however, have people tormented with such recollections been diagnosed as suffering from "post-traumatic stress disorder." Here Allan Young traces this malady, particularly as it is suffered by Vietnam veterans, to its beginnings in the emergence of ideas about the unconscious mind and to earlier manifestations of traumatic memory like shell shock or traumatic hysteria. In Young's view, PTSD is not a timeless or universal phenomenon newly discovered. Rather, it is a "harmony of illusions," a cultural product gradually put together by the practices, technologies, and narratives with which it is diagnosed, studied, and treated and by the various interests, institutions, and moral arguments mobilizing these efforts.
This book is part history and part ethnography, and it includes a detailed account of everyday life in the treatment of Vietnam veterans with PTSD. To illustrate his points, Young presents a number of fascinating transcripts of the group therapy and diagnostic sessions that he observed firsthand over a period of two years. Through his comments and the transcripts themselves, the reader becomes familiar with the individual hospital personnel and clients and their struggle to make sense of life after a tragic war. One observes that everyone on the unit is heavily invested in the PTSD diagnosis: boundaries between therapist and patient are as unclear as were the distinctions between victim and victimizer in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
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As far back as we know, there have been individuals incapacitated by memories that have filled them with sadness and remorse, fright and horror, or a sense of irreparable loss. Only recently, however, have people tormented with such recollections been diagnosed as suffering from "post-traumatic stress disorder." Here Allan Young traces this malady, particularly as it is suffered by Vietnam veterans, to its beginnings in the emergence of ideas about the unconscious mind and to earlier manifestations of traumatic memory like shell shock or traumatic hysteria. In Young's view, PTSD is not a timeless or universal phenomenon newly discovered. Rather, it is a "harmony of illusions," a cultural product gradually put together by the practices, technologies, and narratives with which it is diagnosed, studied, and treated and by the various interests, institutions, and moral arguments mobilizing these efforts. This book is part history and part ethnography, and it includes a detailed account of everyday life in the treatment of Vietnam veterans with PTSD. To illustrate his points, Young presents a number of fascinating transcripts of the group therapy and diagnostic sessions that he observed firsthand over a period of two years. Through his comments and the transcripts themselves, the reader becomes familiar with the individual hospital personnel and clients and their struggle to make sense of life after a tragic war. One observes that everyone on the unit is heavily invested in the PTSD diagnosis: boundaries between therapist and patient are as unclear as were the distinctions between victim and victimizer in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
Customer Reviews:
Effects of severe trauma are real, not imagined.......2005-02-26
Anyone who refuses to understand the horrible effects of being severely traumatized cannot possibly know how to treat the problem he does not believe exists. Thankfully, it appears Mr. Young has not been a soldier who has witnessed the death and mayhem of others around him, a soldier who has been a prisoner of war, a witness to the Twin Towers falling on 9/11/01 or a child growing up in a home where domestic violence, rape and incest are an everyday problem. Thankfully, Mr. Young was probably not one of the children or school staff who witnessed the Columbine shootings. Thankfully, he was probably not a Floridian who suffered through four hurricanes in the summer of 2004. Mr. Young believes PTSD sufferers blame their psychological problems on their abuser or abusers. Yes, if the trauma causing the effects of PTSD were the result of an abuser, we do blame the abuser. If an animal is beaten since birth, whose fault is it the animal cowers? Unless the animal is taken from that environment and placed in a loving home, the animal cannot heal. PTSD sufferers do not want to suffer. We want healing. We need understanding eyes, not judgmental pointing fingers. I do not believe every person who suffers trauma experiences PTSD. Yet, there are those of us who do suffer from trauma. PTSD is a name for very real psychological problems. PTSD is not a label mental health professionals casually diagnose. Anyone who espouses to Mr. Young's kind of thinking is simply ignorant of others suffering. In his bio at Amazon, he credits living with African Americans as an eye-opening experience. Why did he have to live with African Americans before he could understand their culture? Did he not have a single African American contact before his Portland experience? If he could not understand African Americans before living with them, he certainly cannot understand the plight of a PTSD sufferer with an open-mind to their severe pain. Readers of this review, please do not read Mr. Young's unprofessional ideas in this book without talking to PTSD sufferers yourself. The real data is from the PTSD sufferer.
In reponse to my intemperate fellow Bostonian.......2000-08-28
This is a groundbreaking study of a "condition" whose popularity has grown way out of proportion to the limited evidence for its validity as a clinical entity. PTSD fits a profession's need for a "serious" mental disorder that requires psychotherapy as its primary mode of treatment, at a time when medications have come to be seen as the primary treatment from most Axis I psychiatric disorders. Just as importantly it meets the needs of patients who need a "reason" (or perhaps a "culprit") to account for their misery other than the mere fact of being ill. However, close study of the condition itself reveals that there is nothing intrinsic which distinguishes it from garden variety depression with prominent anxiety and intrusive rumination. It has been known since time immemorial that such conditions will arise independently of the issues which may occupy the minds of their sufferers. But now, as a consequence of the socio-historical milieu into which PTSD was born, it has become the favored diagnosis for those who see their emotional troubles as the responsibility of someone else. In this book the nature of that historical milieu is well described. Professor Young has broken a powerful taboo in opening this topic up for discussion, and his remarkable work of scholarship deserves the highest praise.
E puor si muove.......2000-08-28
Young ideas' are not new. Many psychologists and psychiatrists working with persons in extreme situations have arrived to the same point: PTSD is an ethnocultural invention of Euro American Psychiatry. The so-called "PTSD-symptoms" are frequent. The syndrome is a construct. Allan Young collects evidence in passionate but scientific way. This book is a must for all students of mental health science that want to give to their profession a wider scope than just what one can get from a cookbook of euroamerican diagnosis that blinds more than helps as DSM-IV. Life is much more than DSM-IV and this book contributes to seeing that in an excellent manner.
Is there a doctor in the house?.......2000-06-29
Sir, When you get yourself a degree then maybe just maybe I may think about buying this trash. Until that time from my readings PTSD has been tracked for over a century and a half ...so whats your problem? Get rich quick scams....only in America.
Book Description
Seeing is not always believing.
Optical Illusions is an intriguing collection of baffling images and shapes that change before your eyes: hidden figures, incredible designs and dazzling graphic patterns. The book includes such well-known optical illusions as Shepard's Tabletop, Wade's Spiral, the Floating Finger illusion, Ames Room, and Rubin's Face/Vase illusion. There are more than 275 illusions in all, with explanations of each image and notes about the science of visual perception.
Every type of optical illusion is here, among them:
- Figure/ground illusions, in which one shape switches into another and back again
- Ambiguous figures
- Impossible objects
- Trompe l'oeil
- Stereo illusions.
With illusions rendered in photography, artwork and computer imaging, and its huge variety of themes and effects,
Optical Illusions dazzles both the mind and the eye.
Customer Reviews:
Nice book, very misleading title........2006-10-30
One of the most beautiful and wonderful books I own is Al Seckel's "Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali & the Artists of Optical Illusions" (2004). Unlike most other books on illusions, the book itself is a creative tour de force. And Seckel supplements his creation with visually striking and important media at his website. I think I've already given away as many as ten copies of that book to family and friends since its release.
Another of Seckel's books that I refer to frequently "Incredible Visual Illusions: You won't believe your eyes" (2003). That book has twenty chapters, each containing a different class of illusion. As a sensory scientist who teaches courses on sensation, perception and cognition, I find this book useful because it organizes a nice collection of illusions into meaningful categories that are relevant to me. In this work, as in Seckel's many others, the author acknowledges many renowned vision scientists. I imagine that the book's organization benefited from Seckel's association with these people.
Seckel's new book is "Optical Illusions: The Science of Visual Illusions." This is a fine book, with 281 optical illusions (one per page). The book begins with a four page essay on illusions. This is followed 281 pages of illusions, each printed to fill one page. Many of the illusions have been published by Seckel and others previously. A few of the illusions are new. The illustration section is followed by 24 pages containing BRIEF explanations of each illusion. Each explanation is, on average, seven or eight sentences.
I have one major criticism of the new book. The title is highly misleading. The book title suggested to me a book that would delve into science, in a scholarly way, at least at the level of a Sensation and Perception undergraduate textbook. I was hoping for something of a sequel to Masters of Deception (e.g., "The Science of Deception"?). However, this book is not about the science of visual perception or of illusions. It is not even about "optical" illusions, as most illusions are explainable in terms of perceptual and cognitive processes beyond simple optics. Sure there are 24 pages of explanation at the very end of the book, but these are generally not deep, satisfying explanations. And there is no reference list that would allow the casual reader to track down important scientific articles.
One superb, beautiful resource on the science of visual illusions is Michael Bach's website, "Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena". Bach's dynamic site is visually striking, presenting some great illusions. The explanation of each illusion is accessible to the novice, but detailed enough to satisfy and impress other perceptual scientists. Bach generously acknowledges the artists and scientists associated with each illusion, providing scholarly references in each case. Bach lists and explains scientific controversies regarding many of the illusions. I should add that Bach is a first-rate sensory scientist from the University of Freiburg. His electophysiological and psychophysical research is highly-regarded, important, and of high quality. When I have spoken to him in the past (at conferences and at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco), I have always been impressed by his knowledge and intellectual passion. Bach and his website are the real deal.
There are plenty of other excellent scientific sources on illusions. Richard Gregory, for instance, has written and spoken about many illusions, and he is the prime mover, director, and creator of London's Explororey. Another great innovator and scientist is Christopher Tyler, a vision scientist at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. Among sensory scientists, Tyler is widely regarded as a genius and computational/theoretical wizard. He's the guy who invented the autostereogram (aka "The Magic Eye"), and who makes unique observations about art and symmetry. He contributed considerably to San Francisco's Exploratorium. He presents a variety of interesting things at his S-K website. The Exploratorium has a wonderful website on illusions and their explanations that is definitely worth a look. Project Lite and Viperlib are two other impressive, important sites related to the science of illusions.
Seckel mentions at his website that he has even more books on illusions that are coming soon. The one that got my attention is the following:
"Your Mind's Eye: A Comprehensive Scientific Examination of Visual and Sensory Illusions. Boston: The MIT Press." Seckel writes, "This will have a dual platform (Mac and PC CD Rom) featuring hundreds of interactive illusions, and very rigorous scientific explanations. University level." I hope that this book lives up to its billing. There's no doubt that Seckel's work, combined with a healthy dose of good science, would be an important contribution. I'd love to see Seckel promote scientists and their explanations with the same enthusiasm that he promotes their illusions. Moreover, I feel confident that Seckel has important insights into illusions, and that his ideas have scientific importance. I'm not sure that Seckel has succeeded in expressing these ideas... yet.
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The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity
The Ethics of Identity
Development as Freedom
Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership (The Tanner Lectures on Human Values)
