The top 5 books I'd recommend, in order...

Of all the books that I've gotten through in fifty-plus years, I'd recommend the following five, in the order given, to everyone and anyone. This is not a ranking but a logical sequence of the best books, in my opinion, on their topic areas to build a rounded understanding of our world and ourselves.

Each one introduces us to lots of additional layers of discussion for those who want to dig deeper. Many of the references given are to other works I have also had the chance to read or listen to and would recommend folk loop back and follow their own interests after the big picture is explored.

There is perhaps a sixth encompassing work which remains to be listed at this level - that of the future and our place in it. To my mind such a work would recognise that in many ways social structures have become more influential than the individuals that make them up, as entities that sustain themselves, and occasionally wither away or produce offspring in the shape of new alliances or corporations.

1. A Short History of Nearly Everything. Takes us from the origins of space and time up to the present day. It really is a foundational work covering all manner of topics about the physical world in a very accessible way. It's all about what survives, how and why.

2. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Continues the human story and outlines our rise to dominate this planet, and introduces the social structures that have emerged on top of us too. Being sociable is an essential trait balanced with free thinking.

3. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Explains how our modern economies really work and the price inflicted on the populations in the process. Understanding it all is the only way to make informed political choices.

4. The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Describes how only a science toolkit can help us really understand the universe clearly. Acquiring knowledge and making rational decisions is our duty to ourselves.

5. The God Delusion. Addresses the persistence of religion and how to we can be free of it through better educational processes and thinking methods. Be sociable, and don't worry too much, is my key take away.

They are all available as unabridged audiobooks, free if you use a library service on-line or in-person. Audio is my preferred way of consuming books these days as I can speed things up a bit when I feel the need. If you have suggestions for a candidate sixth work on the future please let me know and I'll check it out :-)

PS. I've now listened to Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow and it does feel like the sixth book I had been wondering about, though I think I need to listen to it again to be sure. I'm also listening to 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by the same author, which may be part of this as a seventh book, ie for practical action.

Update Aug '23 - I've listened to the above books twice now. For background I also recommend listening to The Selfish Gene, A Brief History of Time, Freakonomics, Guns, Germs and Steel, and I Am a Strange Loop.

Illusions: AI, Machine Learning, and Consciousness

In the news today - someone says a system may have feelings. Sounds impressive right? The trouble is folk have been making AI (and/or machine learning) claims for as long as I can remember, and it's all been snake oil in my opinion. 

To me AI is just sufficiently complicated programming that may start to appear somewhat intelligent. But there's no actual intelligence. Machine learning is just bigger datasets being processed by better algorithms. But there's no conscious learning.

Unfortunately I think these fancy sounding terms are mostly used to justify academic technology expenditures and to make business CVs look way better than they should.

However, for me, this topic raises an important question about ourselves instead. Is our sense of self not an illusion too? Is it not really a sufficiently complicated set of parallel feedback processes interacting with a large memory containing our backstory, logic principles and linguistic constructs? With enough monitoring of our internal processes and stored experiences a sense of self begins to emerge.

Our senses tell us a lot about the world, but they're never perfect. Nor are our mental models of the world ideal, hence we make many mistakes. In reality we're made up of lots of overlapping pains and pleasures, sharp and soft, as well as fuzzy facts and yes, it feels like, erm, feelings....

The baby plum / grape tomato diet

During the pandemic, and resultant lockdowns, with a shift to mostly homeworking for me, I put on quite a bit of weight. Recently I thought I really needed to find something low in fat and calories to fill me up. But what?

Then it occurred to me - baby plum (aka grape) tomatoes. High in vitamin A and C they have a great mouthfeel when eaten at room temperature and kill hunger pangs fast. 

I now eat three packs a day instead of almost all other snacks. I still have a light lunch and a good dinner, mostly vegetarian dishes these days, but snack on the wee gems in between.

Previously I'd tried the popcorn diet but it was too much of a faff to make each batch, and I quickly got tired of eating so much dry stuff, but the little sweet tomatoes are cheap, readily available, and easy to store, rinse and eat. 

They are more like a fruit than a savoury. I just wish I could buy them without all the plastic packaging. Currently snacking on Moroccan Sweetelle from Morrisons, but I also get a regular delivery from Tesco each week, and sometimes buy them in the Coop too. When you look into it they are a surprisingly new thing.

So far I've been losing about 1 kilo a week. That's 2.2 lbs in old money. Hopefully this will continue until I reach my desired weight. At this rate that will be the winter! If you don't like them then I suggest you find something that fits the bill instead. Happy low fat, low calorie eating that fills you up :-)

P.S. Some folk have asked what else I'm eating apart from the light lunch & good dinner. Quite often lunch is homemade vegetarian soup. I think that probably helps! I do also allow myself some cornflakes with milk, and a wee supper of pickled herring and hard bread...  

P.P.S. Tesco changed supply mid-July to a UK Caramelo variant, which are too thin-skinned and mushy for my taste, so I've switched to Asda who are selling a UK variant similar to the Moroccan Angelle.