@beecycling@eddeeMN@bookstodon I'd rather use one of the two sites that I recommended than Goodreads. It's hard to change some erroneous book data via Goodreads. It's easy via The StoryGraph (most often requires moderation via the company) and instantaneous via most Bookwyrm instances.
'Sarah Bakewell’s “Humanly Possible” gives you the sense that when it comes to humans, anything is possible — for good or for ill, which is part of what gives this book its undeniable charm. Bakewell, who has also written books about existentialism and Montaigne, is so generous and resolutely open-minded. That she is able to corral seven centuries of humanist thought into a brisk and readable narrative is a real achievement, even if this new book is more diffuse than her previous work. She is honest about the limitations of humanists, who can sometimes prize thinking above action — constantly seeing both sides of a question, even when one side is promoting a cruel fanaticism.
But “Humanly Possible” is full of funny stories, too. We are limited creatures, despite our pretensions to the contrary. Bakewell discusses “On Good Manners for Boys,” in which Erasmus addressed such pressing issues as how to pass gas in polite company. The most fruitful strains of humanism recognize what we share with nonhuman animals. After Bertrand Russell was in a seaplane accident, a journalist asked what his brush with death had made him think about — mysticism, maybe? No, Russell said. “I thought the water was cold.”'
@Jennifer@bookstodon it's a remarkable and outstanding book. Sarah is my favourite living author and she can explain the most complicated subjects in ways to make them clear for anyone.
I must also recommend her radiant books on Michel de Montaigne and existentialism, both truly mind-blowing.
@radiophobicsherkpop@bookstodon To me, non-acceptance of ideas that don't suit your current worldview is basically the problem: if you're not open to anything new, you're basically a xenophobe.
This (as with most things to us humans) quickly leads us from psychology to philosophy...
If we can't open up to others, we'll shut the door on empathy. That type of behaviour will, ultimately, set one aside from most of humanity. I think anarchy and empathy are two of the most basic human tendencies, while we flock together in need of each other.
I think most people who float away into their own delusions, slight or all-encompassing as they may be, will be surrounded by fewer people over time, and simply go away from the public eye. Naturally, there are exceptions...
@bookstodon 'During the first two decades of this century, five megafirms—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman—divided $2.1 trillion in U.S. military contracts. For fiscal year 2020 alone, the Pentagon provided them with prime contracts totaling upwards of $166 billion. In just that one year, as compensation, the CEOs of those five companies received a total of $105.4 million. The individual and corporate incentives to maintain and gun the war machine are boundless.'
@Jennifer@bookstodon The book is a sobering trip, the author has dug down and been in quite a few countries. His recollections of meeting Afghan families are really interesting and breathtakingly sad to read, and sobering.
As drones do the bombing, media reports less, even though drone operators are traumatized; this is, of course, nothing in comparison with people who are bombed, maimed, etc.
As for your anecdote, I'm sorry to hear that, but I think a lot of people who profit from war tend to shut down certain basic human emotions as they rarely meet their victims...