Author: adrunkenman

Book 28 for 2016: The First

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Book 28 for 2016: The First
Last week’s read, The Vital Question by Nick Lane, was the hardest book to get through this year (with Superintelligence a close second). Now that doesn’t mean this is a bad book, or a book I regret reading. It was simply a hard read. The book is so far from what my strengths are, and so technical, that I really had to take time trying to understand the concepts at play.
But boy am I glad I did.
The ultimate aim of the book is such a lofty one (the explanation of why life is how it is, and how it got that way), that I am really glad that I managed to get through it. I have a better understanding now not only of how life functions, but the fascinating way that scientists are slowly beginning to understand how life can arise out of non-life.
All that being said however, I am glad to get a break from talk of adenosine triphosphate, ribosomes, and proton gradients. That’s why this week’s is a simple Kindle book, pulled from the daily sales emailed mercilessly to me constantly by the good people of Amazon.
Not sure what it will be like, but sounds like a nice mindless read.
#2016inBooks #GentleReadToHelpMeBackToEarth #ItsASuperpowersStoryIThink from Instagram: http://ift.tt/2bO5dra

Brown soup, weird dogs, and why my wife is the best

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When you are looking for that right person in life, you don’t always know exactly what properties they should have. Sure you have an idea; you want a caring person perhaps, or someone who appreciates the same things that you do. But then further down the line there are other things that you find in your partner, that you never really knew you wanted, but that you will be forever grateful for.

One thing I love about my wife is that she is willing to go out of her way to humour me in some of the strange challenges I occasionally set for her.

Take for instance last night’s soup:

Now, tasty though it was, it isn’t really the best looking soup out there. But believe it or not, that’s kind of the point.

Over the past few months Lizzie has converted me into a soup lover. In the past, soup for me was either vegetable, creamy chicken, or else something relegated to other peoples menu items. It almost definitely came out of a can; needless to say, I wasn’t a soup guy.

Then my wife started making these wonderful concoctions, and things began to change:

Corn Soup; tasty as

Cauliflower and Walnut Soup; for the win!

Suddenly I couldn’t get enough soup. I was taking it to work for days afterwards; I am now a soup guy.

So after all these wonderful, colourful, flavourful meals I gave her a challenge; “Your next soup has to be a black or brown mess!” And thus was the origin of last nights scrumptious french onion soup. #OPDelivers

I knew she would be up for the challenge. After all this is the same woman who, after I informed her that I wanted my next dog to be a weird little thing, managed to find this creature who, is now a loving member of our little family:

So yeah, my wife is pretty awesome.
MM

Book 27 for 2016: The Vital Question

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Another book suggestion from Bill Gates, but this time it is a science book, rather than a rom-com (The Rosie Project). I had noticed this title come up a few times in lists of the best science books of 2015, so when I spotted it at the local book shop I couldn’t help myself.
This is one of those books that has got me excited to read, not because it is based on a subject I know a lot about, but because it is based on a subject I feel I don’t now enough about; and that has me excited.
Seriously, I can’t wait to learn not only the scientific mysteries that it describes (why is life the way it is?), but also the answers it proposes to them (apparently it is all down to the way life can extract energy). Looks like a pretty technical read though, so I guess I had better stop typing, and get reading!#2016inBooks #BillGatesKnowsWhereItsAt #TimeToGetMyScienceOn from Instagram: http://ift.tt/2aBg6Km

Gods Danm you Autocro3ect!!1!

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AutoCorrect, you have saved me in the past from so many mistakes. Over the past twenty years, hours upon hours of proof-reading have been simplified through your ingenious algorithm.

But sometimes AutoCorrect; sometimes you really frustrate me.

Take the above for instance; I missed the double ‘t’ in better. So what do you offer me? What common word must I have meant when I wrote ‘beter’? What slip of the finger could have produced this lexicographical anomaly?

No, I didn’t mean ‘biter’. Fan of beer that I am, this isn’t what I had in mind. Stretching the likelihood when you suggest ‘beater’ and ‘beret’. But it is your suggestion of ‘bitter’ that really bugs me. You know why? Because there is a bloody double ‘t’ in there. So you can clearly extrapolate and know that double ‘t’s exist as a thing to correct towards. There is a double ‘t’, but also an ‘i’ instead of an ‘e’! Give me credit where it is due AutoCorrect, and don’t take away one of my correct letters.

Seriously, ‘better’ is a common word, and I missed one letter.

You should know better AutoCorrect, both literally and figuratively.

Work rant complete.

MM

Book 25 for 2016: Waking Up

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I am an ardent atheist, and have spent a lot of time over the years engaging with religious people online. Though I think I have a pretty good handle on a lot of the arguments presented for religions, I always stumble when people start talking about spirituality.

What the hell do people mean when they say they have a spiritual experience, or that they are spiritual people? It has always seemed like some extraneous addition to the human condition, something that I can easily do without; akin to astrology, or having a favourite AFL team.

To me it has always seemed that those struggling to explain spiritual experiences are simply in need of a good thesaurus.

Recently however some other ideas connected with this have been showing up on my radar with increasing frequency. Constant posts on the web extol the virtues of meditation as confirmed by science, I read a great article the other day about how Buddhist thought can be applied to modern psychology theories, and one of my old university friends appears to have embraced the spiritual side of life with a bizarre  fervour.

So when Sam Harris’ book appeared in an Amazon Kindle sale, I couldn’t help but click buy. I have had some great success this past couple of years with realigning my thinking on topics by finding the right book on the subject. Whether it be The Compassionate Carnivore helping me to square the circle that is my taste for meat, but distaste for killing animals, or The Better Angels of Our Nature giving me a new optimistic view of humanity’s moral progress through history; I have learnt never to doubt the transformative powers of a well written bunch of words.

And while I don’t expect to become spiritual myself, I am hoping that by understanding this phenomenon in other people, it will give me a better understanding of how a thing like this fits into their lives.

#2016inbooks #spiritualshmiritual