We Are Not Saved

• Inner Excellence - The Fine Line Between Cliche and Coaching

  It's another self help book. Is this the one that will finally put you over the top, or another in a long line of endeavors that look like progress, but are really procrastination? Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life By: Jim Murphy Published: 2020 360 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? As you have already gathered, this is a self-help book. One of thousands (millions?) so the point is what sets this one apart from all those other books? I'm sure it hasn't avoided all overlap, but the book does have a focus on character, and getting rid of self-centeredness that was refreshing. What's the author's angle? Jim Murphy played baseball in the minor leagues, and he was obsessed with winning. Then vision problems derailed his career, so he gave away most of his possessions and moved to the desert. Over the next five years he did nothing sports psychology, in an attempt to figure out how to compete in a way that produced calm regardless of the outcome. Something he had previously lacked. He draws explicit parallels to Thoreau: I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. He went to the desert, but the idea was similar. Of course, not everyone has the wherewithal to retreat to the desert to spend five years thinking. But potentially, if one did, it would bring some very valuable insights. Who should read this book? It's once again time to do the self-help math...

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• Damnable Tales - Spooky Stories for Long Nights

  Thomas Hardy wrote horror? Damnable Tales: A Folk Horror Anthology By: Various, Edited by Richard Wells Published: 2021 479 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? A collection of 22 older scary stories, presented in chronological order. The oldest story is from 1875, while the newest was written in 1965. But the majority are clustered in the late-victorian period 1880-1910. It includes stories from a few authors you might not expect like Thomas Hardy and Robert Louis Stevenson.  Who should read this book? Anyone who has enjoyed an HP Lovecraft story will probably enjoy this book. Though I will say that you should view most of the stories as inspiration for Lovecraft, rather than similarly situated. Specific thoughts: A nice way to create a Halloween atmosphere.

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• Game Wizards - Epic Rap Battles of History Gygax v. Arneson

  Gary Gygax (Grognard 13/Writer 10/Businessman 2) vs. Dave Arneson (Plaintiff 14/Storyteller 9/Writer 1) Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons By: Jon Peterson Published: 2021 400 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? The history of Dungeons and Dragons, TSR's meteoric rise, the fights that inevitably happen when something becomes enormously successful, and the catastrophes that follow when people are in way over their head. What's the author's angle? Peterson is the man when it comes to the history of RPGs and D&D in particular. He's basically a historian, and he has no dog in any of the fights.  Who should read this book? I really liked this book, and I really liked everything I've read by Peterson. That said, I might recommend the podcast When We Were Wizards, as an easier entry point for people interested in the story. And of course if you have no interest in the battle between Arneson and Gygax or the crazy initial years of D&D, I would not recommend either.  Specific thoughts: Gygax was a jerk, and he was dumb, but he also deserves 90% of the credit for D&D.

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• Progressive Myths - Some of the Things You've Been Told Are Wrong

  It's possible that in our pursuit of justice and equity that a few things might have been exaggerated.  Progressive Myths By: Michael Huemer Published: 2024 277 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? A wide-ranging debunking of most of the myths that flourished during the recent peak of social justice activism. Some myths concern specific incidents like those around Michael Brown and Kyle Rittenhouse. Others are ideological myths like the gender pay gap, or the efficiency of masks at preventing the spread of COVID. In total he covers twenty different myths. What's the author's angle? Huemer comes at things from a strong classically liberal approach. He is very wary of activism in all its forms. He's also clearly not worried about annoying people. Though he is very worried about people trying to "read between the lines". Do not "read between the lines" to infer what I "must be implying". If you think of some ridiculous or horrible political view that you think I'm implying, that is almost certainly just in your imagination. I am not the sort of writer who likes to imply his point. Who should read this book? If you consider yourself to be a good progressive I would definitely read this book. I suspect that such people won't, but honestly, if you're looking for the best steelman of the opposing arguments this is it. If you're on the opposite side of the fence you still might find some things that surprise you (Also Huemer makes a point of also covering a few things that aren't myths. Incidents progressives were correct about.) Many people speak very highly of Huemer's books, and I'll probably eventually read all of them.  What does the book have to say about the future? Huemer has many recommendations for how to proceed, but they mostly boil down to having better epistemology. One of the great sins he identifies is motivated reasoning, which obscures facts, and beyond that leads to broad conclusions which are entirely unsupported by reality. And we seem to be getting more of such reasoning. Specific thoughts: How do we fix epistemology? 

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• The Bushido of Bitcoin - How Chivalry and Sound Money Will Save Us

  I expected to see a katana plunged into the heart of crypto. Instead I got a piece of wall art, where the two ideas were placed in near proximity, but without any contact. The Bushido of Bitcoin By: Aleksandar Svetski Published: 2024 529 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? Bitcoin will be the thing that saves the world from the fiat money created, debt fueled dystopia we're already descending into. As part of this salvation it will require people to adopt ancient (though also somewhat apocryphal) warrior virtues. Specifically: righteousness, courage, compassion, honor, honesty, responsibility, excellence, respect, duty, and restraint.  What's the author's angle? As you may have already gathered, Svetski is a Bitcoin hyper-maximalist. Bitcoin isn't just our financial salvation, it's our spiritual salvation as well.  Who should read this book? As a "return to virtue" tome it was pretty good, though long-winded, and a retread of books I'd already read. (Like Ryan Holiday's stoic stuff, if you're familiar with that.) On top of that it adds quite a bit of culture war stuff, which annoyed many of the reviewers on Goodreads and Amazon. It feels like a book without a natural audience. It's strident enough that you would already have to be convinced to enjoy it, but if you're already convinced then you probably know everything Svetski is going to say. What does the book have to say about the future? The book lays out two paths, we can double-down on the fiat-future which, at best, leads to dependence, and at worst disaster. Or we can adopt the more muscular, responsible, and sovereign path of Bitcoin. As usual with such books it skips over the messy middle.  Specific thoughts: We need a new civic religion, but I'm not sure this is it

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