Here is the weekly update as to what books are filling TAGTL’s head this week.
1. The Meme Machine by Susan Blackmore
I have been a fan of Susan Blackmore’s for a long time beginning with my interesting in ‘Out of Body Experiences’. She has a strong science background but isn’t afraid to explore alternative ideas. Although after a lot of exploring fields like OBE’s, psychic phenomena and the such, she has swung back to being a fairly rigid materialist and a big fan of Daniel Dennett. With ‘The Meme Machine’ she lays out the argument that replication of ‘memes’, or ideas (my translation), is as influential an evolutionary force as the biological evolution that occurs with the replication of our genes. Not exactly the same process, but just as powerful a result. I had no idea how profound her theories were until I dug into this book.
2. Nudge
Just picked this one up at the Point Reyes bookstore. It’s another one of those books in the Malcolm Gladwell lineage the analysis the bigger sociological patterns that are play in our lives that we tend not to see because we’re so focused on our little patch of mental ground. This quote was what got me:
The human brain is amazing, but it evolved for specific purposes, such as avoiding predators and finding food. Those purposes do not include choosing good credit card plans, reducing harmful pollution, avoiding fatty foods, and planning for a decade or so from now.
3. Saltwater Buddha
I am a surfer but I generally avoid books about surfing (unless they have lots of pictures in them). The exceptions to that rule have been Daniel Duane’s “Caught Inside” and Steven Kotler’s “West Of Jesus”. So when I spotted Jaimal Yogis book, “The Saltwater Buddha” the other day, I was intrigued because it shared the same spirit of these books, plus a dose of the “Surfing the Himalayas” (which I haven’t read). Writing about surfing and writing about spirituality are unique challenges because the ephemeral nature of the subjects. It’s the ‘tap dancing about architecture’ sort of deal. That being said, I go into this book with high hopes. If nothing else because I sure would like to travel the world surfing and getting my Buddha on, so reading about it may be the closest I can get.
*Remember, I link to Amazon in these posts for reference, but I always advise to go to your local bookstore first, or better yet, buy from the author.