We Are Not Saved

We have a lot of nice things. We're really good at making nice things. We should preserve these nice things. But also nothing lasts forever? The Origins of Efficiency By: Brian Potter Published: 2025 384 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? The clever and incremental ways we've vastly increased humanity's ability to make stuff. We're constantly finding ways to build stuff cheaper, faster, and with fewer resources. What's the author's angle? Potter is probably best known for his Substack Construction Physics, which covers infrastructure, manufacturing, and building stuff in general. He also works at the Institute for Progress. Put those two together and you've got someone who's a big fan of material progress, or what is sometimes referred to as a techno-optimist.  Who should read this book? If you want some amazing stories of how processes have improved, and a stirring defense of the modern world and all its wonders this is a great book. If you're looking for higher level reflection on what it all means, particularly any sort of caution around progress and efficiency, then this is not the book for you. Potter is definitely an "onward and upward!" kind of guy. He does note that efficiency can't be applied everywhere, and that it's often constrained by other goals, like safety, but he still treats it as being inherently good.  What does the book have to say about the future? The book does point out that efficiency has become a "sociotechnical" issue. Particularly in the West, we often make choices to constrain efficiency as part of some broader societal goal. Potter doesn't talk very much about China, but one could imagine that their drive for efficiency is not constrained in the same way and, going forward, this could give them the edge in our ongoing competition.  Specific thoughts: Fantastic, awesome, hopeful, and scary

Everything you wanted to know about 1st Century Palestine, but were afraid to ask… The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians By: N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird Published: 2019 992 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? An deep dive on the New Testament covering (as the subtitle suggests) the history: Second Temple Judaism against a Greco-Roman background; the literature: the New Testament's genesis, structure, authors and audience; and theology: the religious claims of the book, the doctrine, miracles, and contentions. What's the author's angle? Despite me saying that this is a deep dive, it is also something of a sampler for Wright's other, even more expansive books. Also it's important to note that Wright is very much a believing Christian and while the book is exceptionally scholarly, it's also backgrounded by the idea that Jesus Christ is the Messiah who died for the sins of the world and was gloriously resurrected.  Who should read this book? This is a long book, and I ended up deciding to read it, rather than listen to it. As such, it honestly took me several months to get through, so you should certainly take that into account. This should not be construed as saying the book is difficult. It's very accessible, and reads easily. I will say that I learned a lot, but I'm not sure that will be true for everyone. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) don't generally focus on straight down the line Bible scholarship. To the extent that we do deep scholarship in this area it's in search of parallels between early Christianity and LDS Christianity. (For example in 1 Corinthians 15:29 when Paul mentions baptisms for the dead. Something no major denomination does, other than us.) This is all to say that I think LDS individuals might find this book particularly enjoyable, as being somewhat outside of our normal wheelhouse. Specific thoughts: It's both shocking how much New Testament we have and how little we have of everything else

Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart By: Nicholas Carr Published: 2025 272 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? On its surface, this is a fairly typical anti-social media book, though Carr does have some interesting things to say about weaknesses inherent to the medium: content collapse, algorithmic engineering, and hostility generation. All things I'll get to in a bit. What's the author's angle? Carr comes from the Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman school of media criticism. Media have inherent properties that lead to different sorts of communication, and different strengths and weaknesses. Carr, like many, thinks that social media has some particularly salient weaknesses.  Who should read this book? When considering whether to read a non-fiction book, one has to consider where it fits with one's various interests. If you're really interested in the negative effects of social media, then I would definitely read this book. If it's one of many interests, but not in your top 5-10, then you can probably skip it.  What does the book have to say about the future?

A story of one Palestinian's fight against brutality, bureaucracy, and bishops.  We Belong to the Land: The Story of a Palestinian Israeli Who Lives for Peace and Reconciliation By: Elias Chacour and Mary E. Jensen Published: 1990 212 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? An autobiographical account of Chacour's struggles as a Palestinian Christian working to build up his community in Galilee (Ibillin) while under continual pushback from Israeli bureaucracy and internal church politics. What's the author's angle? At the time the book was written Chacour was a Melkite Greek Catholic Priest in the town of Ibillin. (He was later appointed to be the Archbishop of Haifa.) He has worked tirelessly to resolve the Palestinian problem using nonviolent means that emphasize reconciliation and the common background of both people. He pushes for Palestinians to be treated with dignity, but also for them to create dignified institutions. These institutions, particularly the school he founded, take up most of his energy. Who should read this book? As part of my post on Israel and Hamas I asked for books making the pro-Palestinian case. One of my readers recommended this book. It was a good book, but to the extent that it illuminated the problem it did so very obliquely. This is the story of a non-violent Palestinian Christian written over 30 years ago. Certainly it helped my understanding at maybe a 30,000 foot level?  But it didn't shed much light on the current crisis.  However, if you want the story of someone who took a really "bad hand" and did something truly extraordinary with it, then this is your book. Specific thoughts: If every Palestinian and every Israeli resembled Chacour and his congregation then the problem would be solved.

Asterios Polyp by: David Mazzucchelli The Last Equation of Isaac Severy: A Novel in Clues by: Nova Jacobs The Impossible Fortune: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by: Richard Osman The Moviegoer by: Walker Percy Academy of Outcasts by: Larry Correia