Prey by Michael Crichton
Nano and biological computing have always been fascinating concepts to me. They may become reality soon and microprocessors will seem as foreign to us as floppy disks. Although this is fiction (for now), it’s eye-opening to hear another account of what could happen when technology runs amok. In this case, nanobots eating humans. Nothing too dramatic. Stories like these make me crave a tech detox. But on the other side of my brain, it’s interesting as a software developer to think about how you’d go about writing code to mimick behaviors of the natural world such as birds flocking, insects swarming, ants foraging, and of course, a predator stalking its prey. Any job openings, Xymos?
We are one of only three species on our planet that can claim to be self-aware, yet self-delusion may be a more significant characteristic of our kind.
Superhuman By Habit by Tynan
I always enjoy books by Tynan because they’re short and to the point—usually readable in a single day. This one was just as enjoyable and informative as his previous books. My habits could use some attention, in some areas more than others, and I’m looking forward to breaking some bad ones and creating better ones this year.
The overall point of the book is something we all know but struggle to act on: habits are formed by routines and triggers. If you want to get into a good habit, you have to repeat it over and over again at the same time each day. You also have to establish smaller habits to “trigger” your mind into doing the bigger ones—like drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up as a trigger for brushing your teeth, or placing some drum sticks on your path to the bathroom as a trigger for throwing down a quick groove when you come back.
Routine is where I struggle the most. My schedule tends to be all over the place and I don’t like to stop working when I’m in the zone (resulting in some late nights). This usually throws my entire routine off and makes it difficult to establish habits. I’ll do better this year.
Not happy? Assume that it is your fault. Not in shape? Assume that it is your fault. Not as wealthy as you’d like to be? Assume that it is your fault. Don’t have as many friends as you’d like, get sick frequently, or live in a messy house? All your fault.
Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton
“Hello. I’m the founder, inventor, president, CEO, emperor, lord, and king of Maur & Co. Who the hell are you?” This is how I’m going to start introducing myself at networking events from now on. I suggest you do the same no matter what your job title is. Embellish it as much as possible.
That seemed to be the theme of this book. A group of grown men acting like a pack of teenage girls, squabbling about who gets to be the leader of the cheerleading squad. The entire story made me cringe. Their product idea was so simple—something a seasoned engineer could build in a week—yet after a massive wave of luck and being lauded as some of the most influential people of our time, they squandered their newfound fame and wealth in the pursuit of fancy titles.
Can’t people just build cool products, do solid work, make vast sums of money, and go home to live their lives in peace rather than waste time being drama queens? Our world could be such a better place if everyone would set their fragile egos aside. People are so obsessed with money, power, and titles (even those that are already mega-millionaires) and it makes me sick. It’s why the world is in the state that it’s in. Take your money and do something constructive in the world rather than build up your own image.
When people ask Biz about his wealth, he tells them that money rarely changes people; it often just magnifies who they really are.
A year after Ev officially left Twitter, thinking of what had taken place behind his back, he sat down with Sara and they asked each other the following questions: How can we raise our children to never act this way? How can we raise them to be honest and caring?
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I’ve read this book several times in school throughout the years, but this was the first time reading it of my own volition. It struck a different chord as an adult. It’s eerie how accurately Ray Bradbury portrayed our modern world way back in the 50’s. When was the last time you walked down the street of a busy city? Most people have headphones on and their heads down. “Seashells” stuffed in their ears, as Ray put it. How many countless hours are spent watching Netflix, YouTube, or other streaming services? My man Ray calls it “spending time in the parlor”.
The creepy, distopian future portrayed in this book isn’t far off from our current world. We’re fed generous helpings of misinformation daily by the media, loved ones, and even our own governments, and not many people have the desire to think for themselves anymore. It’s easier to just pick a side and let someone else do the thinking for you. We’re all too busy spending time in the parlor (a.k.a. mindless entertainment) to question if everything going on in our world is healthy. Meanwhile, the powerful entities in the world are capitalizing on the distractions with hidden agendas. That should terrify you.
Faber turned the pages, stopping here and there to read. “It’s as good as I remember. Lord, how they’ve changed it in our ‘parlors’ these days. Christ is one of the ‘family’ now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we’ve dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He’s a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn’t making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshiper absolutely needs.”
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Another book that’s often read at a younger age in school, but this was my first time through. Overall, it was an interesting mix of fantasy and science fiction with religious undertones. Good vs. evil. Lightness vs. darkness if you’re into that sort of thing.
I personally think it’s important to acknowledge the existence of evil in the world and make an effort to fight against it with everything you’ve got. I really don’t know if evil is the default human setting or if it comes from an external influence (like IT), maybe it’s both, but it needs to be kept in check either way.
“Do you think things always have an explanation?”
“Yes. I believe that they do. But I think that with our human limitations we’re not always able to understand the explanations. But you see, Meg, just because we don’t understand doesn’t mean that the explanation doesn’t exist.”
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
We make decisions every day that ultimately direct the course of our lives. Stop and think about where you are in life at this very moment—what decisions led you to this point? If you believe in the multiverse, you believe that each time a decision is made which alters the course of your life (which is every decision regardless of size), a new parallel world is created where everything is exactly the same except for that one decision. A branched world where an alternate decision was made that leads to an alternate life.
It kind of gives you a headache to think about. Let me add to your headache—think about the versions of you living their lives in the parallel worlds, who are also making more decisions leading to additional parallel universes being created. Infinite worlds.
There’s a world where I became a famous musician. There’s a world where Elon Musk and I are best friends. There are worlds where I married my old girlfriends. There’s a world where I died in a car crash years ago. There’s a world where everything is exactly the same, but I decided to not write this blog post. Who knows how it will affect my life in the years to come…
Thinking this way can give you decision paralysis, so don’t let it get in your head. We all have regrets in life, but our decisions made us who we are today. If you could go back in time and make a different decision at a critical moment, it’s possible that it would result in a better life. But it’s also possible that it would result in a worse life—maybe much worse. If you’re alive, breathing, relatively healthy, the sun is still shining, and the birds are still singing, you’ve won the multiverse lottery.
Read this book if the idea of the multiverse fascinates you. It has a lot of great twists and explores the possible consequences of traveling to parallel universes. One funny moment is when the main character strikes out while trying to get a date with his wife in a parallel universe. Makes me feel better about striking out with girls, knowing there’s an alternate universe where I succeeded. Good job, Jason#56.