What people recommend, in their own words, with the receipt.
Research Fellow at the Astera Institute, writes on existential risk, metascience and tools for thought
6 things
How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible OthersBook Tanya M. Luhrmann
So how do people come to believe? Tanya M. Luhrmann has written a beautiful book exploring this question, "How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others".
Working notes on Luhrmann's book, written as background for a creative project
michaelnotebook.com ↗·2026-05-08Wrong?
How Buildings LearnBook Stewart Brand
One of my favourite examples is this image of Stewart Brand inside the shipping container where he wrote his marvellous book "How Buildings Learn":
Discussing real-making in creative work, in his notes on Luhrmann's book
michaelnotebook.com ↗·2026-05-08Wrong?
DominionBook Tom Holland
A nice example: Tom Holland's book "Dominion" about the way the Gospels' valorization of kindness-toward-the-other transformed how people thought of success and the good life.
Essay on the sacrifices we choose to make, discussing religion and shared stories
michaelnotebook.com ↗·2025-07-13Wrong?
The Transparent SocietyBook David Brin
David Brin has written an insightful book about "The Transparent Society".
Essay on being a wise optimist about science and technology, discussing surveillance and liberal values
michaelnotebook.com ↗·2024-12-01Wrong?
The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of HumanityBook Toby Ord
A good introduction to the topic may be found in Toby Ord's book "The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity" (2020).
Footnote defining existential risk in his essay on being a wise optimist
michaelnotebook.com ↗·2024-12-01Wrong?
What Technology WantsBook Kevin Kelly
This viewpoint has been explored by many; a nice exploration is Kevin Kelly's book "What Technology Wants".
Discussing techno-determinism in his essay on being a wise optimist
michaelnotebook.com ↗·2024-12-01Wrong?
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
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The small bar beside a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The bar shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Full and green is recent. It drains, and turns amber and then grey, as the post gets older.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The bar is empty after about:
A striped bar means the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no bar.