Custodians of Wonder by Eliot Stein
Eliot Stein travels the world interviewing people who are some of the last people keeping a custom or tradition alive. He explores 10 traditions - everything from how they began, the cultural significance, and the person who's currently still keeping that tradition alive. It's everything from a very unique musical instrument, a sacred pasta recipe, to the mailman who delivers mail to a tree in the German woods and beekeepers who continue to practice of "telling the bees." As some reviews I read mentioned, Stein often gives a LOT of background or history. While some history is necessary, I do think it could have been cut down more and the reader still gotten the gist. Overall, I did really like the book - some traditions more than others. I also found myself googling some of the traditions to see what exactly these things looked like. I think a few pictures could have helped too. Stein does a good job of exploring the concept of tradition and why some traditions are worth keeping despite advances in technology. A unique and interesting book.
Some quotes I liked:
"According to modern tests conducted by MIT professor and structural engineer Dr. John Ochsendorf, the Q'eswachaka's four base cables can support 9,388 kilograms - or roughly 110 men spaced evenly apart. And unlike the arched stone bridges of Europe, the Inca's grass-woven creations could quickly be cut as a defensive measure to avoid advancing armies, and then rebuilt. In some cases, the very sight of these engineering wonders was enough to force foreign clans to surrender...They stitched cotton and alpaca wool between layers of leather to make armored helmets and body suits that were lighter and nearly as strong, pound for pound, as Spanish steel. These quilted garments were so effective at stopping fired arrows that conquistadors adopted them during the conquest and reported leaving battles with so many projectiles lodged into them that they looked like porcupines...The Inca even communicated in fiber, relying on a sophisticated system of colored-and-spun knotted cords called quipus to store information. These intricate necklace-looking webs could hold hundreds of strings and record decimals up to 10,000. In the absence of a written language, the Inca used quipus for everything from documenting family genealogy and sending military orders to measuring state taxes and taking the census." (p. 73-74)
"'Sardinia is one of the richest grain cultures in the world, and each of its 377 villages and towns has their own unique type,' said Michelin-starred Sardinian chef Roberto Petza, who has dedicated his career to spreading awareness of Sardinian ingredients and documenting the island's rural pasta traditions. 'There are roughly 700 types of pasta in all of Italy. In Sardinia alone, there are 500, and that is a direct result of our history of invasions and mixing those influences with our own recipes.'" (p. 109)
"Scientists have found that the way individual bees work together in the hive is similar to how individual neurons function in the human brain, and the colony's collective decision-making has all the hallmarks of our most harmonious societies." (p. 186)
"Over the next 14 years, Gonzalez Martinez would go on to write 18 more novels in notebooks and stationary, just so she could read them aloud to the factory's 130 workers. None of them are published. Instead, after cooking dinner, cleaning the house, and putting her daughter to bed, the reader would get to work writing in longhand until 2:00 a.m. and then recite each chapter to her audience later that day before she's finished writing the book. 'Based on their reactions as I read it, I'd change the plot to surprise them or create an ending I thought they'd really like,' she said. 'In a way, the workers became like my editors.'...Then in 2003, after 14 years of only sharing her writing with her colleagues at the leaf-stripping factory, the lector learned that one of her books was finally going to be published...Gonzalez Martinez has since gone on to publish nine children's books in Cuba, winning four national awards for her work." (p. 212-13)
Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
I really liked Newport's previous book, Digital Minimalism, so I was interested to check out this one. While I like the premise of getting away from pseudo-productivity (tons of meetings, emails, phone calls, etc.) to more well-done Slow Productivity, this book is not geared towards everyone's career. I'm a public librarian and while I do spend a decent amount of time in front of a computer, I'm also expected to work a public service desk and present in person programs. Newport acknowledges that this is more for "knowledge work" but I do think some of the principles could still apply to other fields. My main complaint is that most of his examples are of people who were able to take months of time off to focus on their art/writing/whatever or freelance/self-employed people who have MUCH more control over their work time than the average person. But I do think he makes some interesting points and really what I think it boils down to is whether you're willing to go against the mainstream flow and make your own way (even in a more traditional career path). If you ARE self-employed or have more control of your own schedule, then I would highly recommend this one as it probably applies to you more than me.
Some quotes I liked:
"As Michael Pollan summarizes in an insightful 2003 article about Slow Food, by the 1980s Carlo Petrini had become 'dismayed by the hangdog dourness of his comrades on the left.' There's a personal satisfaction in grimly pointing out the flaws in a system, but sustainable change, Petini came to believe, requires providing people with an enjoyable and life-affirming alternative. Petrini didn't simply write a sharply worded op-ed about the corruptive forces of McDonald's, he instead promoted an appealing new relationship with food that would make fast food seem self-evidently vulgar. 'Those who suffer for others do more damage to humanity than those who enjoy themselves,' Petrini explained." (p. 33)
"As previously argued, for most of recorded human history, the working lives of the vast majority of people on earth were intertwined with agriculture, a (literally) seasonal activity. To work without change or rest all year would have seemed unusual to most of our ancestors. Seasonality was deeply integrated into the human existence." (p. 139)
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
I had heard so much about this book that I decided to read it even though I don't have children. In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt looks at why Gen Z and younger are struggling so much with mental health, anxiety, failure to launch, etc. From the research that he sites there seems to be a direct correlation between smartphones/social media and the increase in anxiety and mental health issues with kids who had what he calls a "phone-based childhood" instead of a "play-based childhood." A lot of what he says makes a lot of sense. Since the 1990's kids have been much more scheduled - tons of after school activities, sports, tutoring, etc. instead of just downtime and free play. But there are other factors beyond just smartphone use - society has changed. People don't know their neighbors so they're not as comfortable letting their kids free range and play outside. People are much more litigious so schools/counties/etc. make sure playgrounds are super safe so kids can't get hurt and people are afraid to discipline or intervene with stranger's children so there's not as much of a sense of community anymore. There is no easy answer for any of these issues. But Haidt has some good suggestions - his main 4 are: 1) no smartphones before high school, 2) no social media before 16, 3) phone-free schools, and 4) more unsupervised play and childhood independence.
There were a LOT of mixed reviews about this book. Again, I'm not a parent but I grew up in the 1980's and spent most of my free time outside and in the woods with other kids. I'm SO thankful to have NOT grown up with social media and smartphones. While you may not agree with everything Haidt says or how he used research for this book, I don't think many people could really argue against his 4 suggestions. He mentioned very little about pornography but that's the area I'm most worried about. Young kids having access to/being exposed to hardcore pornography is going to change things in devastating ways - but that could be another whole book. Overall, I liked the book and I thought his main suggestions seem reasonable and good. Even if you're not a parent, a worthwhile read.
Some quotes I liked:
"As soon as Gen Z arrived on campus, college counseling centers were overwhelmed. The previously exuberant culture of millennial students in discover mode gave way to a more anxious culture of Gen Z students in defense mode. Books, words, speakers, and ideas that caused little or no controversy in 2010 were, by 2015, said to be harmful, dangerous, or traumatizing. America's residential universities are not perfect, but they are among the safest, most welcoming and inclusive environments ever created for young adults. Yet campus culture changed around 2015, not just in the United States but also at British and Canadian universities." (p. 71-72)
"One of the most widely noted traits of Gen Z is that they are not doing as much of the bad stuff that teenagers used to do. They drink less alcohol, have fewer car accidents, and get fewer speeding tickets. They have far fewer physical fights or unplanned pregnancies. These are, of course, wonderful trends - nobody wants more car accidents. But because the rate of change for so many risky behaviors has been so rapid, I also look at these trends with concern. What if these changes came about not because Gen Z is getting wiser, but because they are withdrawing from the physical world? What if they are engaging in less risk-taking overall - healthy as well as unhealthy - and therefore learning less about how to manage risks in the real world?" (p. 181-82)
[Louisiana mandated a law in 2023 that would require age verification for access to pornography websites] "The law required sites whose content is more than one-third pornography to verify its visitors were over 18, using the state's digital wallet app to present their Louisiana driver's license. Of course, few visitors to a porn site would be willing to give the site their legal name, let alone an image of their driver's license. In response, Pornhub simply blocked access to its site from residents who appear to be in Louisiana." (p. 237) [In my opinion, Louisiana has some CRAZY laws and stuff going on in their state but this one I can support!]
[A school in South Carolina started offering longer recesses, opening the school playground half an hour before school started, and a "play club" open access to the playground or gym after school and the benefits to the students was remarkable.] "Compared with the previous year, truancy cases went from a total of 54 down to 30, and school bus violation incidents dropped from 85 to 31. 'In any given school year we used to have around 225 office referrals,' Kevin [Stinehart] reported. 'But now that we've added so much play we only have around 45.'" (p. 253)
How the World Eats by Julian Baggini
I picked this book up because I read a lot about food and farming. At first I was liking it but then he kind of seemed to lose to plot (for me at least). I agree with his premise that, "A food system needs to be underpinned with principles, and if we are not clear what they are, they will often default to values we may not hold to be the highest, such as economic efficiency, convenience and productivity." (p. 41) The book is divided into 4 categories - land, people, other animals, and technology. In each, Baggini looks at how people have eaten both historically and today and what we can learn from these food cultures in order to attempt to shape a global food philosophy. Still sounds great, but in my opinion it was a little all over the place. I also felt like he didn't show much in the way of farmers/cultures doing things well - more of don't do this or the ones that he highlighted as doing well were things that couldn't be reproduced (like Native Inuit or Hadza hunter/gatherers). In the end his seven principles of a global food philosophy won't stand up to actual implementation because of one thing - money. Corporations will NEVER do better if it means they make less money and for the most part our current food system in most of the world is a business for making money. Overall, there were some parts I liked, some I had to drag myself through. I'm not a philosopher or into philosophy so maybe I'm not the intended reader. But I am VERY into food, farming, and humane meat so this should appeal to someone like me.
Some quotes that stood out to me:
Quotes I liked:
"But it should at least give pause for thought: is disgust at meat eating really a sign of a more civilised society or simply a mark of one that has become detached from the realities of life and death?" (p. 15)
"The right goal is for people to have enough money to eat, not for food to be made so cheap that even the destitute can afford to eat it and only the desperate are willing to produce it." (p. 116)
Quotes I disagree with:
"Now, for the first time, we have the option of a vegan future. If we do not take it, our continued use of livestock and the methods we use to rear them will both stand in need of justification." (p. 258) [NOT everyone who eats meat, eats industrial, CAFO meat - I will NOT become vegan and I will continue to support local farmers doing things in regenerative ways.]
"If you are regularly working with glyphosate, concerns about the health risks of your exposure are legitimate, but as someone who eats food made from glyphosate-treated GM crops, there is no good evidence that your health is at risk." (p. 269) [I vehemently disagree with this. We have NO idea what this stuff is doing over time, to children, etc. Glyphosate and Monsanto don't need to be ANY part of any food system.]
