Psychology

'Of Boys and Men:Why the Modern Male, is Struggling, why it matters, and what to do about it' is a clarion call, maybe plea, to have concern about men amid the generally applauded 'rise of women'.

I admit before reading this book I was only vaguely aware of these recent trials of men, although aware of the increasing proportion of women in universities. (For every 100 bachelor's degrees awarded to women 74 are gong to men)

'The Wisdom of the Bullfrog' is a catchy title. 'Bullfrog' is a military nickname given the author and it means the longest serving 'U.S. navy seal'. For those who have not watched enough U.S. military movies, “seals” are the elite of the navy with the unique feature of operating in the marine situations.

The bullfrog is retired admiral William McCraven and he has written four other books all based on his military experience of more than 30 years.

Review

I was drawn to 'The Pattern Seekers:A New Theory of Human Invention' through a CBC 'Quirks and Quarks' radio interview with the author, Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert on autism.

And while not as immersed in the subject of autism as I expected, it is integrated into a more general analysis of brain skills and types, some of which are correlated with autism.

But the author seems to be using the book to suggest his own theory on a way the brain can be parsed to explain certain skills.

Review

The author of 'Melting Pot or Civil War?', a son of immigrants, argues against open borders. Reihan Salam, at first blush, may seem to be making the traditional conservative case of limiting immigration. But that is not actually where he is coming from.

The Liberal immigration philosophy seems to be that none should be restricted, at least not based on race, ethnicity, origin or poverty.

Forgetting, or at least the pathological kind, is one of the great fears of this senior generation. So worrisome that the half serious epithet “if that happens to me, just shoot me” can be heard with respect to dementia. Few are likely to ask for such an out for any other disease.

This book is more developmental psychology than philosophy, but it certainly offers thinking points. At the age of 10, author Alison Gopnik was reading Plato and questioning his thought. So it may be no surprise that as an adult, while giving answers, she is asking questions from various perspectives. Through this book I have come to quite like the author and the way she combines thought, ideas, science and personal observations.