BransonBow: SENSEational Sex, It’s about your sense of smell and sex with a good section on aromatherapy
That sounds potentially fascinating. I’ve recently become interested in the sense of smell. I think it definitely plays some interesting roles in our psychology. How was the book?
I did find a copy of Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Nozick but seeing as how he rejected his libertarian views later on (no that little snippit interview doesn’t change a thing) I decided it’s best left in the trash bin along with Hayek and Boortz.
<= Not sure why you would conclude this.
First of all: ASU, despite it’s flaws, is a very challenging and good book of good political philosophy. (If you don’t trust me, trust David Gordon’s endorsement.)
Secondly; there is no actual Nozick-Scholar who actually thinks that Nozick ‘rejected’ his libertarian views. I am not talking about the interview; I am talking about his last book where he gives his theory of ethics and states that this is completely consistent with what he wrote in ASU. Furthermore; even the so called ‘he rejected libertarian’-quote is not that ‘anti-libertarian’, if one actually grasps half of his brain and tries to understand what Nozick said. But even if Nozick rejected his libertarian views - an interpretation that does not withstand actual analysis of Nozick’s academic writings - it does not follow that his book wouldn’t be a good read, of course.
How the heck can you place Hayek and Boortz in the same category? Are we talking about the same Boortz? Neal Boortz?
Currently I’m reading Markets, Not Capitalism edited by Gary Chartier and Charles Johnson. It’s actually pretty refreshing and contains lots of great information and food for thought.
I’m about halfway through it, but it has several articles written by earlier anarcho-socialists. It’s interesting to read people like Tucker and have them sound very similar to modern “right-libertarians” with the exception of one point: The labor theory of value. Once you drop that, then they end up falling right in line. Individualist Socialists are closer to right-libertarians than they know.
There’s also some good information and references about how big business/corporations were a large force for centralization and regulation in the Progressive era, and a good peice about how Mises’s calculation arguement can be applied to large heirarchical institutions like large corporations, and that the trend in freed markets would be towards smaller buisiness, and not “Wal-Marts and no government”.
It’s a great book to get your head out of the “Mises.org Bubble” if you ever feel like you’re stuck in it.
That sounds potentially fascinating. I’ve recently become interested in the sense of smell. I think it definitely plays some interesting roles in our psychology. How was the book?
@Fool on The Hill
I really enjoyed it . It’s an older book, 14 years, so I have to do some follow up research as far as pheromones. I’d like to see what new evidence/ advances have been made in this area. The part I disliked was using animal studies as evidence for human behavior but the other information overshadwed that part. I thought it was interesting to see the science behind why certain perfumes turn me on.
The most interesting part was a section on disfunctional relationships. The author proposed that one of the reasons people stay in bad relationships is due to the overwhelming effect of the partners pheromones, kind of like a chemical addiction to the others scent. The funniest part was on alcohol. The author discussed how alcohol numbs your sense of smell and says something like “So men, don’t be flattered if you pick a girl up at the bar. It could be that her sense of smell is off and she’s willing to go home with anyone”…drunk women will go home with anyone, thanks Dr. Obvious. The book also contains studies on what smells increase/decrease blood flow to the vagina/penis and lists traditional romantic smells and offers suggestions on how to utilize them.
Edit: The section on the alpha-female and menstration cycles was cool too.
I’ve been reading;
Bertrand Russell: The Problems of Philosophy
and an essay published in Philosophy and Public Affairs called “Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs”
Moby Dick
Guns, Germs, and Steel
A River Runs Through It
I’m currently re-reading Nineteen Eighty-Four. The only other time I read it, was for high school years ago. Now I’m reading it for pleasure instead.
1984 is one of my favorite fiction novels. It’s one of the few novels I actually own!
What I’ve been reading over the past week, apart from Steve Keen’s Debunking Economics: a few articles relevant to Hayek v. Keynes.
I finished reading “Good Money” (by George Selgin) a while ago. Too bad, I think my english is not good enough, and I have no time enough to write a complete review. But at least, I made this post (I was thinking to post some photos of the illustrations and drawings in the book; maybe I’ll edit my post later). I highly recommend this book (very well written !).
I’ve been reading Man, Economy, and State since March or so (currently struggling through Ch. 8), and yesterday I finally began to read Brzezinski’s “The Grand Chessboard” bookmarded a year ago.
Jonathan, here are the mistakes I found (note, too, that your blog also gobbled up one of my posts by making me sign in; sigh, gobbled up twice):
Hayek’s well-known “knowledge problem.
Needs an end-quote.
Keynes’ theory made in The Class of Economic Ideas
Should be “Clash”
As such, it also unfortunate detracts
Should be “unfortunately”.
The mistakes do not detract from the reading, but I hope this helps.
Right now I’m focusing on “The Government and Politics of the Middle East”, finishing up “Market and Power”, skimming through “Human Action” again, and I’m thinking of taking back up the second volume of “The Great Political Theories”
Thanks Wheylous; and about the problem with the blog, I’ve heard that from someone else too. No idea what the problem is, since it’s impossible to sign in on my blog.
BransonBow: I really enjoyed it . It’s an older book, 14 years, so I have to do some follow up research as far as pheromones. I’d like to see what new evidence/ advances have been made in this area. The part I disliked was using animal studies as evidence for human behavior but the other information overshadwed that part. I thought it was interesting to see the science behind why certain perfumes turn me on.
The most interesting part was a section on disfunctional relationships. The author proposed that one of the reasons people stay in bad relationships is due to the overwhelming effect of the partners pheromones, kind of like a chemical addiction to the others scent. The funniest part was on alcohol. The author discussed how alcohol numbs your sense of smell and says something like “So men, don’t be flattered if you pick a girl up at the bar. It could be that her sense of smell is off and she’s willing to go home with anyone”…drunk women will go home with anyone, thanks Dr. Obvious. The book also contains studies on what smells increase/decrease blood flow to the vagina/penis and lists traditional romantic smells and offers suggestions on how to utilize them.
I might check that book out. I was also looking at this book, which looks kind of similar. I read a piece by the author at this site, which was pretty interesting.
Anyway, I recently became interested in this stuff because I discovered that I could improve my sense of smell through mediation/breath control. I’ve found this to have a positive impact on my sense of well being. Interestingly, in Eastern spiritual traditions the root chakra, which is the first to be “open” during meditation, is connected to the sense of smell and feelings of security. Given the sense’s direct connection to the amygdala and memory, I can see how it could be associated with “rootedness.”
@Fool On The Hill
I’ll get you the name of the author. What you’re saying about the Chakra makes sense biologically. One of the things the book discusses is how your sense of smell is the only sense with out a ‘middle man’ ie sight goes through your cornea, hearing through the ear drums. But smell has a direct link to the brain and this area of the brain also controls emotion, sex drive, etc. (as noted in the first link). This would be the first root to open as smell is processed first and directly by the brain.
Currently reading Man vs. the Welfare State by Hazlitt. Has some interesting stuff and some questionable arguments I will post about later.
@ FOTH
The author is Alan Hirsch
I read a lot simultaneously because I’ve always got dozens of questions I’m looking into all at once, plus things I’m just wanting to read for fun. The current list:
NRSV bible (I never read the bible before. Suddenly I realized that’s stupid)
Annotated Alice -I’m enjoying Gardner’s annotations. I’m concurrently reading The Philosopher’s Alice, and finding most of the notes more or less uninteresting.
The Story of the Stone aka Dream of the Red Chamber
The Odyssey, Lattimore translation. I’m listening to an audiobook of the Iliad in the car, too. I like Lattimore mostly. Some of his sentences work out a little oddly, though. Vagarities of translation I guess.
Basic Materials in Music Theory, a Programmed Course-brilliant, and just what I needed as I’m returning to playing classical piano
All One Wicca, the basic beginner text for the religious tradition of which I’m an outer court member. I’m a longtime solitary practitioner, but re-reading material always opens up new avenues of research to me.
And finally, For a New Liberty. The history sections in the beginning are as far as I’ve gone. I like and dislike reading Rothbard. A lot of his conclusions re: historical trends would sit better with me if they were better supported in the text. Of course, it reads like a manifesto. That WAS the objective. It just comes across as a pretty narrow view.