RECOMMENDED READING

An eclectic grouping today. Feel badly that I have not posted much lately but I've been working on some short pieces for other venues, a couple of large projects at work and (today) getting my application papers together for a doctoral program ( hopefully, a joint degree if two departments will sign off. We'll see. I've learned to suspect the breezy assertions of university bureaucrats). Without further ado.

Top Billing! The Man Who is Thursday -"The Creative and the Critical, or Taste and Genius"

This link was left by an anonymous commenter. It's good fodder for discussion and probably deserves a post of it's own in response, by me or Dan of tdaxp. Like me, Dan's pretty busy these days so, we'll see if anyone gets to it. LOL! In any event, worth your time to read.

Robert Satloff in WaPo - "How to Win The War Of Ideas"

One thought that arises reading Satloff, is that we need to distinguish the degree to which non-Salafist or secular Muslims are intimidated by takfiri death threats; to scenarios where they lack the resources to speak out effectively; and finally, the extent to which we are simply unaware of the intra-Muslim dialogue because it is entirely off of our radar.

Pundita -"Speaking your truth vs fighting the ideas of others"

Pundita critiques Satloff and argues that we are not very well suited to try an orchestrate other society's political debates over the fine points of Islamic theology and that investing deeply in promoting democratic or liberal governance, something we understand, is a wiser investment of scarce resources.

Thomas P.M. Barnett - "Barnett: Build better fairy dust, suffer fewer bad actors"

Rule-sets and transparency go hand in hand with connectivity and intersectional convergence. Tom jumps on the The Medici Effect bandwagon. I'm waiting for him to read Wikinomics and see the congruency of the two books.

Swedish Meatballs Confidential - "Sinuous Sunday - The Sharp End of Altruism" and "CATCH-ALL - Suck it Up - All of It"

The first is interesting. The second is important.

Opposed System Design - "Game Theorizing with Bueno de Mesquita"

"Another study evaluating Bueno de Mesquita’s real-time forecasts of 21 policy decisions in the European community concluded that “the probability that the predicted outcome was what indeed occurred was an astounding 97 percent.”

Hmmm .... amazing ....but predicated on the existence of a particular cultural-epistemological basis of rationality ? Will this work with assessing mountain tribesmen in New Guinea or Vietnamese Politburo members ?

That's it!

Labels: recommended reading

  ¶ 8:21 AM