There are a whole bookshelf full of books from this past year
which explain or interpret or apply the findings from a variety of related disciplines: cognitive science, neuroscience,
evolutionary biology and a bunch of others whose names would take too long to
include in a short review. Suffice it to say, that the truth about truth is out.
Or outed. From Trivers' book to Ariely’s The Power of Habit, the data and science is in: we deceive
ourselves as often and more effectively than we deceive others. I pick Trivers’
book, because he is not one of the guys who is as well known among the NPR
crowd or lots of other places either. He is an outsider and purposely so, but
his ideas have inspired people who are now the big names, and he has been doing
this for more than two decades. This book is another stick of dynamite. It
addresses the way humans are wired for deceit and that deceit of self and
others is a trait that helps us thrive in evolutionary terms. Trivers takes
himself to task in the course of the book too. He does not pull punches and
goes for the gut. If you read this book, and believe what he says, you will
never trust yourself in quite the same way again. The scientists have all the
data to back him up, but he is the leader who at the same time sits on the
sidelines and coaches others to follow up his insights. Brilliant, provocative,
and dare I say true?
When Can You Trust the Experts: How To Tell Good Science From Bad In Education, Daniel T. Willingham. Like The Folly of Fools, this book has lots of company-- a great many others are writing related texts. The Half Life of Facts is
good on giving the lie to the facticity of facts, scientific and otherwise.
Science Left Behind takes on, from a conservative point of view, the way
progressives bypass scientific data to put forward an agenda. These authors can
be accused of doing the same thing from their point of view, but the issue is
that perhaps the idea of truth, as the great philosopher Richard Rorty used to
say, is no longer useful. I highlight Willingham’s book because it takes on a
part of the educational establishment that is firmly entrenched against data or
even the scientific method. Instead, much of what happens in education is based
on incomplete, incompetent, or simply opinion-based hearsay more than anything
else. Selective use of data is as old as human beings are, but the way
institutions, from colleges to political parties to media outlets purport to
use ‘science’ when they know they are being misleading is a huge problem for
students, educators and the country at large. This book addresses some of these
issues.
Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace, D.T. Max. DFW has the aura that Pynchon did for a
previous generation of readers (and some are still acolytes to his shrine).
This Biography tells the tale of a troubled genius. He does it with heart
rather than wielding a blade, but he still opens some wounds for those who hold
DFW as an icon instead of a writer with words and sentences that will not
likely be surpassed, but with mental issues and life decisions that left some
damage to others. His suicide is a sad affair, a man driven and lost and without
the right meds. Or perhaps the right mind. The book humanizes Wallace and for
that I am grateful. If is work is to inspire others I think it is better to be
done from the ground instead of looking up toward the heavens where he has
ascended. I fear that Wallace may be the next Bolano, whose every scrap and
note will be published in some form or other in subsequent years. Bolano too
had his genius moments but he also wrote some duds. The effort on the part of
publishers to have the last last last interview or the last or unpublished or
lost words will continue but the best of the words are already out. Those looking
for PHD theses might benefit from the rest but requiem in pasquet.
Portrait of A Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece This text (and I use this abstract term purposely), is what I would call a wonderful example of creative non-fiction. It attempts
to reach inside the head of the master who, as was once said of him, went from
room to room weaving an endless sentence. James’s life has often been told as
if he were one of his sheltered and closed characters. This book about a book
about a relationship and about a woman and about the process of creating are
worth the work of reading this multi-leveled narrative. But make no mistake; it is not after certain facts. For example: "With
Time, Constance Fennimore Woolson became one face of all James knew he had
missed” p. 187. This sentence could apply to the novel in question, be in the novel
in question, and be a question addressed the novelist and to Gorra too. How do
you/me/he know what this sentence intimates? And that is the point of interpretation and creative thinking: he
moves into the world none of us have access to, the dead head of James. But he
does it interestingly. And that then is the point. Barnes’ Flaubert’s Parrot,
though categorized as a novel, is the true precursor of this book. It is ninety
percent biography and supposition about Flaubert. Genres continue to cross
borders and as facts and truth become increasingly a question rather than answer
this is probably a move that we will see much more of.
Bring Up The Bodies, Hilary Mantel. The first time I encountered
this book I was not nearly as impressed with it as I was with Wolf Hall, the
first book in this trilogy. Wolf Hall recreated the world of Henry VIII and, more
importantly, the life of his master of the dark arts, so to speak, Thomas Cromwell.
The historical novel has rarely been so well done (see comments above on
Portrait of a Novel on Barnes’ Flaubert’s Parrot). Bring Up the Bodies covers a nine-month
span so perhaps that is why I was not impressed initially. I tend to look
for the epic reach rather than the microscopic and detailed close-up. However,
after all the awards and positive comments I gave it another try, this time on
audible.com. And I have to say, I was wrong. First off, the writing is
beautiful. The opening scene of blood soaked talons on the hawks is poetic and
accurate (from what I know). Mantel has spent many years researching the topic
and may safely to be said to know as much about the court, Henry, and
especially Cromwell as anyone living and perhaps anyone dead, including
Cromwell himself. The movement of the destruction of Anne Boleyn is done in a
way that reminds me a bit of Othello. There are clues, planted or real, that we
in this age will never know are ‘true” and that is the greatness of the book.
We are left knowing more, in beautiful prose, but at the same time we are left
with unanswered questions. So great books should be, as facts (see above) have
a shelf life and are subject to change for all kinds of reasons. The real, as
Jacques Lacan was so fond of saying, is the impossible. Instead we have words
that create a world. Maybe that is a better goal for writers of all stripes. An interview with Mantel is a good introduction to the methodology and scope she employs.
How To Be Black, Baratunde Thurston. What should a reader expect
of a guy who went to Sidwell, then Harvard? A Barrack clone? Far from it. This
book is partly composed of writing that one would find in the best of the work
in The Onion and, at the same time, pragmatic advice for those hoping to
understand the cultural moment of what it means to be black. Political
correctness crowd need not apply to this book, as he is so far ahead of this
outmoded paradigm that he is toxic to their platitudes and attitudes:
Samples of two of the many voices Thurston uses:
"Vice Chair For Diversity Outreach: Elaine Chu, Diversity Officer
Elaine joined Optimus Research Group because she has a passion
for diversity. With a doctorate in Diversity Arts from Diversity University,
Elaine brings a sophisticated and forward-thinking perspective on diversity
matters. Elaine Chu is Asian." P.160
"Are you keeping up? We’ve got experimental blackness abounding
at this point. But how do we make it stick? How do we replace the overwhelming
media images of limited blackness with a more expansive concept? It’s already
happening. You’ve got the Afro-punk movement and Black Geeks and the black
people who love nature, and more." P.222
Thurston celebrates the ‘real’ diversity that is opening up in
what it means to be black at the same time that he skewers the monolithic
approach that corporations and colleges take to what THEY define as black (or,
as the latter group would say, African-American). He is allowed to say this stuff and it needs to be said. This should be required reading for all students entering
colleges and all those about to hit the workforce. Funny, biting, and useful. Those
who do not see the satire in the description of Elaine Chu, however, should
probably avoid this book at all costs.
Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It's Intended to Help, and WhyUniversities Won't Admit It, Richard Sander and Stuart Taylor Jr. Like the book
Trust Me, I’m Lying cited in part 1 of the best books, this book contains
information that most in the world would rather not know. Actually, I am
incorrect. Most who sit in positions of power at selective colleges and
universities know exactly what these authors are saying and backing up with
what I think is conclusive data, but they are too invested in the current
politics of race to change what they are doing to help the very students they
say they are fighting for. Thurston (see above) understands the damage
well-meaning people can do because they are stuck in an outdated paradigm. The
people carrying out affirmative action in colleges and universities are not
following the law. The laws states race should be used as a tiebreaker. The
data in the book shows that race is actually, in many cases, but certainly not
all, the determinative factor in selecting some students. And then they show
what happens to the students. Those with high aspirations but qualifications
well below their peers at the top schools often end up dejected and no longer
in pursuit of graduate school or other opportunities that might have come their
way if they were allowed to compete on an even playing field. If I were put in
with a bunch of neuroscientists or astrophysicists to defend a few of my picks
on this list I would get my butt kicked. I have enough information to have
formed an opinion, but not enough expertise to respond in adequate detail. So
too, with students who come in in some cases years behind in math and science
compared to many of their fellow students who want to pursue medical school or
law school. The data one of the authors has is from his won law school, and it
shows that bringing in students far below the academic mean dooms their chances
of moving forward. The topic has been all but dropped in virtually every major
educational publication in the US. It is too toxic. It would mean changing
educational policy. It would mean a lot of this, but what the books seems to
demonstrate is that it would help the students. The book should be read
and discussed instead of buried and ignored. I have posted my highlights and extensive notes on this book on the Kindle site.
The One World Schoolhouse, Salman Khan. Anyone at the top of the heap in the world
of business and education is aware of how big a mess access to high quality
education currently is. Sort of. As readers of both Lacan and Zizek know, a
leitmotif that runs through their understanding of the irrational behavior of
human beings runs as follows: "Je said que bien, mais…” which translates
to “I know very well, but…” There is no end of the sentence except the
ellipsis. I know very well I should not get completely drunk for New Years and
then have to nurse myself back to health for a week but I am going to do it anyway.
These permutations are endless. So too with those who are in charge on most
things having to do with education. “I know very well that we are headed toward
a fiscal cliff in education, say many college presidents, but I still need to
build my US News Rankings and increase tuition significantly.” Or, I know that
taking under-represented students who are significantly less qualified that most of the other
students will actually hurt their ability to reach their long term goals, but I
have to try to show everyone how much I support diversity by enrolling a
significant percentage of minority students. Or, ”I know very well that most
colleges and universities are going to have to change just about everything
about what we think a college education should be, but I am not going to start
thinking of ways I could be a part of the revolution in education”. The last statement
is the one that applies most importantly to what Khan is doing, and which will,
unless the status quo can hold him and other visionaries back, will happen over
the next generation. In fact what Khan is outlining, is how to revolutionize
education, has already happened. He and some others did it. What is ‘it’? Khan
created on-lone learning for his cousins I India. Being a genius level guy the
homegrown tutorials are now used worldwide. This started his journey in
gathering forces to make education, by the best and brightest teachers in the
world, open and free to all.
He
announces his project on the first page:
“I
am writing this book because I believe the way we teach and learn is at a
once-a- millennium turning point.”
If
he is correct, then this book and the ideas inside it should have the
significance of Newton’s Principia. And yet I have not seen any of the usual
suspect end of year best books include this one. I know many people claim
radical changes ahead, yet seldom do they happen. The reason I believe Khan is
that the revolution, while not televised, as already taken hold of the web.
Schools like Stanford and Yale and some others are offering their courses
on-line for free. And this will trickle down, since if those guys do it, then
all other colleges and universities think they should follow suit. I think this
is great, but what many schools may not realize is that they are sowing the
seeds of their own destruction. As the end of the year creeps up, here is my prediction.
Kahn will win against the naysayers at some point. And when this happens the vast
majority of colleges and universities in the US and perhaps around the world,
will either no longer exist as we know them or will have shut down entirely. If
the best professors in the world are giving away their knowledge for free, why
should student take on massive debt to go to some schools that do not have the
best teachers in the world and are certainly not free? Schools that specialize
in STEM educations will thrive, but many of those who focus mostly on other
fields will face a consumer revolution. If not, the economy may well create the
revolution for them. The student debt crisis is a fiscal cliff largely left out
of discussion. But not for much longer. If there is a free fall in the economy
then the on-line revolution will have take place soon. My moral dilemma is that
I almost wish this would happen, as it would force change. As Khan knows
bureaucracies are very slow moving creatures and change is antithetical to much
of what they want:
But
instead of acting people just keep talking about incremental changes. Either
for lack of imagination or fear of rocking the boat, the conversation generally
stops well short of the kind of fundamental questioning that our educational
malaise demands, focusing instead on a handful of familiar but misplaced obsessions
like test scores and graduation rates. Those are by no means trivial concerns. Still,
what really matters is whether the world will have an empowered, productive,
fulfilled population in the generations to come, one that fully taps into its
potential, and can meaningfully uphold the responsibilities of real democracy.
Kahn’s
book, then, is a declaration of independence, a revolutionary document. Like
that document, it was written when the skirmishes had outright fights had
already begun. But the question is whether the likes of Bill Gates and others
are strong enough to defeat the redcoats of the educational bureaucracy. Their
ranks are huge (see the Wall street Journal this week for one example), they
have proven resistant to many useful changes, and they control the seas and
skies by bringing in troops from around the world to swell their somewhat
economically depleted citizenry. The question then is whether the people are
willing to fight for the side that empowers them, saves them money, and will
give them the best education in the history of humankind. I hope to live long
enough to see the victory that I feel is inevitable. But it will be bitter and
there will be valley forges and all sorts of efforts to undermine hose who wish
to give every man woman and child a great education—for free.
There
will be one more installment of Best Books 2012. We live in wonderful times
when great writers of all types are saying things that change minds and lives.
As this list today shows there are connections between these books (at least
for me). I hope to turn the last list into a guide to more revolutionary texts,
but also as a way of putting forward my own Ars Poetica.
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