It always feels like summer on Saipan, which makes the \u201csummer reading season\u201d seem like a hollow phrase. But still, it doesn\u2019t get more summer than July. Summertime is traditionally vacation time, and vacation time is a chance to catch up on some reading. It\u2019s been a topic of discussion among my peers as we\u2019ve compared notes on what\u2019s worth reading these days. None of us have found any new fare worth mentioning. So I\u2019ve reached for a few old favorites.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m therefore going to note three books that I\u2019ve mentioned in past years. These are, 1) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig; 2) Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb; and 3) Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, also by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. <\/p>\n
Various editions of these books are in print, so I\u2019ll skip page counts or pricing data. All three are easily available in paperback and they\u2019re all very inexpensive.<\/p>\n
If you enjoy slumming around my beach chair with me and my motley pals, then I think you\u2019d find these books of interest. <\/p>\n
All of these books enable us to think about things in ways that allow us to make better decisions.<\/p>\n
As for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, it\u2019s the grand old man of the bunch, having hit the stands in 1974. From what I\u2019ve seen, this book has been the most visible force in introducing some Eastern wisdom to a general American audience. <\/p>\n
The book uses the tale of a cross-country motorcycle ride to introduce some useful philosophical ideas. Hey, there\u2019s nothing more American than a road trip, so you know you\u2019re on solid ground right there. There\u2019s really no use in saying too much more about it, since the idea of a motorcycle-based inquiry into some Zen ideas either interests you or it doesn\u2019t interest you. <\/p>\n
But I will note that the book is a long-standing favorite with my pals who are professional pilots. And, in fact, when I worked as a flight instructor, I recommended it to my students because it presents an outlook that enhances clear thinking, proper preparation, and respect for the natural forces that are in play.<\/p>\n
When it comes to natural forces, one of the biggest of all, and one of the least understood, is randomness. Which, of course, brings me to the second title on my list, Fooled by Randomness.<\/p>\n
The title pretty much says it all; it\u2019s about the nature of randomness, and how people misread it. <\/p>\n
A great deal of this context is financial, concerning stocks, markets, and so on. Still, the book is simple, clear, and written for a general readership. And even if you have a rigorous background in probability and statistics, this book is still useful, since it articulates the types of mistakes that you see all the time, which gives you a better insight into how people remain so clueless about this realm. Anyone who doesn\u2019t think the world is laden with surprises, chance, and risks hasn\u2019t read a newspaper lately.<\/p>\n
Risk is a pretty heavy topic, and we\u2019re getting into more substantial fare here, which leads us to an extremely substantial book, Antifragile.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re someone who thinks in terms of risks, probabilities, outcomes, and strategy, then this is a compelling book. Well, it\u2019s more than compelling, it\u2019s one of the great books of recent decades. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to do a cut-and-paste job from the Amazon description: \u201cJust as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension…many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls \u2018antifragile\u2019 is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s true enough. But it\u2019s merely one slice of a far bigger pie. There\u2019s a lot worth heeding in this book. <\/p>\n
On a broader note, I am constantly paring down, not building up, my library. Furthermore, I rarely read just for the sake of reading. So I am not disappointed that my friends and I couldn\u2019t find any \u201cmust reads\u201d for the summer. To the contrary, it reinforces my appreciation of some old favorites. I hope that some of you will appreciate them, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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