Richard Rathe's Reading Room

This important book helps explain the current state of our society, media, and education. Postman begins by contrasting the two great futurist novels, 1984 and Brave New World. He concludes that Huxley made the better prediction—no need for a police state when we have television!

His basic premise is that we have moved beyond the age of information-rich typography into a new world dominated by images and sound bites. The unit of discourse is the thirty second television commercial, which attempts to make an emotional connection with viewers rather than inform them. The result is a dumbing down of everything from the evening news to Powerpoint dominated classrooms. The one thing he clearly gets wrong is the importance of computers, very forgivable when you consider that computers were mostly used for text and numbers back then. See also these longer reviews (2) (3). Unfortunately Postman died in 2003, but his legacy lives on!

It is serendipitous that this book came out within a few months of my trip to South America. A history book that reads like a novel, it provided much needed context for what I'd seen. It begins and ends with Machu Picchu, from about 1400 to the present. The story really starts with Francisco Pizarro's "discovery" of the Incas, and kidnapping of the emperor Atahualpa. The author makes the important point that the Conquistadors were not military men, but "entrepreneurs with swords." They took over Cusco (the "navel" of the Inca world) and Saxawaman. They informed their captives of The Requirement that concludes by blaming the victims if they get hurt, "the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault." Many pages are devoted to the rebel Manco Inca and his progressive movement to Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and beyond in an attempt to evade the Spaniards. The book concludes with a summary of recent discoveries, intrigues and fraud.

I've recently returned from a trip to Bolivia and Peru that culminated with a visit to Machu Picchu. The "Lost City of the Incas" was never really lost. This is where Pachacuti and other Inca aristocracy came to relax back in the late 1400s CE. Surrounded on three sides by the Urubamba River, the view is truly spectacular with countless peaks receding into the sky. The site itself is dominated by Huayna Picchu, which rises a thousand feet and has ruins on top. The terraced agricultural district supplied food. The urban district provided accommodations for several hundred inhabitants, including a series of sixteen fountains, royal apartments and several religious areas (2) (3). The Inca even fashioned image rocks as a special tribute to certain sacred peaks.

Every Spring I look forward to the return of Swallow-Tailed Kites (Elanoides forficatus) from their South American sojourn. This year has been especially good, with at least ten sightings in the past six weeks. In the US this bird is almost unique to Florida, where it comes to breed. I can still remember the first time I saw one driving along a rural highway—I looked up and "Wow!" I was hooked. After giving it some thought I've concluded that in addition to the striking forked tail and elegance in the air, the white on black plumage creates a dazzle camouflage effect. The smaller white bird on a dark background looks dove-like or even angelic in the morning light. Always a remarkable sight!

These two books complement each other nicely. I recommend both! Freakonomics consists mainly of compelling case studies and counterintuitive explainations for puzzling social behavior. I like the authors' emphasis of the role of incentives in society. The role of Information Asymmetry is emphasized, including the asymmetry in the patient/physician relationship. Their conclusion that the declining crime rate during the 1990s was primarily due to legalized abortion (because future criminals were never born) certainly stirred things up. Their detailed analyses of the Klan, real estate industry and crack cocaine trade are also fascinating. They also have a blog .

The Undercover Economist does a better job of explaining economic principals and applying them to everyday life. The concept of Externality looms large throughout. Starting with price of coffee in a train station, he gives a very readable explanation of the forces behind traffic jams, auctions, and various other mysteries of the modern world. He recently changed his entire web site to a blogish format .

Just back from attending this short course by the master of "intelligent design" himself Edward Tufte. It was well worth the time and effort! I'd recommend it to anyone who prepares or presents information with a computer (ie, just about everyone!). His insights are numerous and often challenge conventional wisdom. His bottom line is to enhance communication by increasing the dimensionality and resolution of data. The course included copies of all four of his major books, highlighting the most recent, Beautiful Evidence. The photo shows his discussion of Powerpoint's role in the Columbia disaster, which I reviewed in 2005 and is included in Beautiful Evidence.

Tufte Quotations...

Here's a blast from my past! During college my friends and I discovered an obscure Canadian folk album called Fraser & DeBolt. It was quickly apparent that this music was like nothing we had ever heard before. It was stylisticly original, spontaneous, dissonent, and emotionally appealing on many levels. Released in 1971, it became one of the most important albums no one has ever heard of. [I hadn't made the connection until now, but it also anticipated another favorite of mine, The Trinity Session by the Cowboy Junkies (also Canadian BTW).]

By lucky accident I rediscovered this musical gem online, apparently re-released in digital form by Daisy DeBolt herself! [As an bonus, their seocnd album is included as well.] Read the reviews and liner notes to get the flavor, then sit back and listen!

Came across this thoughtful little book while searching for movies online. To my surprise most of the works cited are favorites of mine: The Lord of the Rings, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Momo, and Earthsea to name a few. (Notice the use of the word Daemon [an attendant or inspiring force] not Demon [devil, evil spirit].) Nice discussion of courage, presence, and attitudes concerning time.

I dubbed this year's trip Challenging the Elements for good reason. By pure chance this was the most difficult trip yet. We started by navigating in the dark on the first day. This was not as bad as it sounds and turned out to be rather pleasant. The next day started out warm and sunny, but the weather changed abruptly to rain, then cold rain with a headwind. We would fight the wind several more times before the end. At one point we were forced off a small bay and had to bushwack our way to the next river. All told it was quite the adventure!

Mirror neurons help explain why watching someone perform a task is almost as important as doing it yourself. The human brain responds to both doing and watching in the same way. Mirror neurons may also play an important role in social interaction and the development of empthy. Researchers recently proposed that their dysfunction may explain some of the symptoms of autism. And speaking of autism, what about a possible link to early television exposure?

While I was in Philadephia over the summer I was amazed by the number of folding bicycles. About half of all the bikes I saw were folders. Of course they make eminent sense for urban dewellers. I've always been interested in "packable" bicycles, and have a thirty year old three-speed folder gathering dust in my garage. The concept has come a long way since then! Over the holidays I bought two Dahon Speed D7 bikes for $299 each. They're an exquisite bit of engineering for the price. The principal flaw with the older design, a telescoping seat post, has been replaced by a single long piece. The 20 inch wheels are a nice compromise, the components are good, and the road feel is solid. Folding the bike takes less than a minute, and two of them will fit in the trunk of a small car! Go to this Buyer's Guide and site for more information on the various brands available.

This is a real breakthrough! Who would have thought that we could prevent cancer by vaccinating twelve year old girls? But that is exactly where we stand today with Gardasil®, the first in a series of new human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines approved by the FDA. The tetravalent vaccine could prevent up to 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. I strongly encourage all parents to consider having their daughters vaccinated. The only downside is that it is expensive, too expensive for a widely-used vaccine in my opinion.

A clarification in light of the recent lobbying scandal: I do not advocate a rush to manditory HPV vaccination of schoolchildren at this time. States should instead focus on educating parents and decreasing the cost.