5 Books That Explain Why It Seems the World Is So Fucked
▻https://markmanson.net/5-books-that-explain-why-it-seems-the-world-is-so-fucked
1. Democracy for Realists – Christopher Achens & Larry Bartels
“an eye-opening and sober look at the data on democracy and what makes it effective/ineffective. Hint: people are stupid. Or as my favorite Winston Churchill quotes goes: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
2. The Coddling of the American Mind – Jonathan Haidt & Gregory Lukianoff
“The kids aren’t alright. No, really—I know every generation says that, but this time it’s true. Kids who grew up with smartphones (and have begun to enter the university system) are emotionally stunted, overly fragile, and exhibiting mental health issues at alarming rates.”
3. Who owns the Future – Jaron Lanier
“Lanier, one of the internet’s earliest engineers, argues with passion and seemingly endless wit that pretty much all of our problems boil down to one thing: for some reason, at some point, we all decided that information should be free.”
4. The Death of Expertise – Tom Nichols
“Speaking of the value of information, Nichols goes on a rampage in The Death of Expertise, ripping apart the growing anti-intellectualism. But whereas Lanier focused on information technology, Nichols takes aim at our culture.”
5. Bowling Alone – Robert Putnam
“The title refers to the fact that more Americans bowl than in the past. Yet, there are fewer bowling leagues than ever before. Meaning: more and more, people are spending time alone.”
(all quite US-centric though…)