Which book should we talk about next? A poll and hello from the Shenandoah Valley
Where the Internet is as slow as the corn grows
Folks, I’m writing this week from western virginia at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains near the “Quiet Zone” of West Virginia, where the government blocks out all the Internet and cell signals. No, really. A great place to chill, but my bandwidth is very limited. So, as I keep having to reload this page and pause to even write this, grrrrrr, today’s transmission will just be a poll to ask you which essay you’d like to read next.
The choices are below. They relate to technology, language, books, and culture.
I would love for you to cast your vote! A bit more info on each headline below the poll. Then I will share whichever topic wins when I’m back in better connectivity late next week.
Computer language needs rewilding: The physical office metaphors tethered to the semantics of computing are keeping us in a labor prison and we need to break free, as inspired by the book Hyperobjects, by Timothy Morton.
Reading baby boomer summer blockbusters: I read two of the “biggest” bestsellers of the summer so far, both written by blockbuster baby boomers and I will share my thoughts on the two books and what their underlying anxieties say about our current culture. The books are You Like it Darker, by Stephen King, and Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson.
Hillbilly Elegy + Tiger Mom, let’s discuss: The author of the book Hillbilly Elegy, JD Vance, was recently chosen to be the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican party. This book is actually a longtime favorite memoir of mine, so it’s wild for me to see this turn of events. I’m guessing you may have also read it, so I’d like to revisit it and explain why, despite a lot of blowback, I loved the book. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a fan. I even used it as a comp for my own memoir when I was querying, and I tried unsuccessfully to get JD Vance’s former literary agent to represent me. This is all related to the book Tiger Mom, by Amy Chua, which I also loved when I read it, which is a seed that germinated the root of JD Vance’s current success.
Solving for the complex: Inspired by Ray Kurzweil’s new book, The Singularity is Nearer When We Merge With AI, I’m running down the history of financial investment and human investment into creating an AI and questioning if there is an approximate investment figure that can solve any complex problem.
Hot Words Rising: Like last summer’s 25 Words You Need Right Now, I’ve been collecting new words emerging from the culture, and I’d like to share them with you, words like BSODden, P(doom), Beige Mom, and Fedposters.
That’s all! Hope you’re staying cool and dry! Goodness gracious, climate change really feels like it’s finally upon us.
XXXOOO
Charlotte Dune
P.S. — This is where I grew up and it hasn’t changed very much in 40 years, aside from probably way more ticks, and, as of this year, we got our first sit-down restaurant! However, it’s the worst Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to in my life, sigh, but c’est la vie when you’re out here in the wild green yonder! What we give up in dining options, we gain in serenity and beautiful, clean mountain air.
Like you, I was a big fan of Hillbilly Elegy when it was published. I think I read it in 2017 or 18, as well as several other books that started delving into understanding who it was that voted for Trump. The movie was also excellent - talk about the triumph of an underdog! Why did you get blowback for liking it and who gave you shit about it?
I don't quite understand the Tiger Mom connection, so I look forward to your thoughts. I never read that book, but heard several Amy Chua interviews, and can't say I particularly liked her a whole lot. Let me make a potentially controversial observation. Is JD Vance's wife, Usha, a Tiger Mom? If she and JD met at Yale, you can almost be sure she was raised by a Tiger Mom. But now that they've "made it" is the pressure as high for their kids?
And a bit off topic, sort of. Do you ever read spiritual books (Bible not included)? I just finished a book that rather blew my mind and I've spent years studying Buddhist philosophy and canon, as well as newer more contemporary spiritual books from Ekhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson and Byron Katie. The book is from the most unexpected of authors, Scott Adams. The book is called, God's Debris, and while I just finished it today, I'm still processing it.
I think I remember you posting some books you're reading about AI, and this is similar, but eventually delves into Simulation Theory (or hypothesis). I have The Simulation Hypothesis, by Rizwan Virk, in my To Read list on GoodReads, so I'll have to see how it compares with Scott's. It would be fascinating to be able to discuss this topic with others.