Consciousness & Social IQ – Page 3 – Public Intelligence Blog

2009/11/012009/11/01

Review: The Genius of the Beast–A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism

6 Star Top 10%, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Change & Innovation, Complexity & Catastrophe, Complexity & Resilience, Consciousness & Social IQ, Cosmos & Destiny, Culture, Research, Economics, Environment (Problems), Environment (Solutions), History, Intelligence (Collective & Quantum), Intelligence (Wealth of Networks), Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Philosophy, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Religion & Politics of Religion, Science & Politics of Science, Survival & Sustainment, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

Deep Look at Soul of Man, Society, and Capitalism

November 1, 2009

Howard Bloom

I received this book in pre-publication form so as to offer a blurb for the jacket. Below is my take on this book.This book will simultaneously tease your brain, arouse your emotions, and motivate you as it probes deeply into the soul of man, society, and capitalism as the engine of Western civilization.

The author gifts us with a counter-culture manifesto that resurrects the goodness of capitalism while also connecting to the roots of humanity, of the human soul as a microcosm of the soul of society.

Be patient, the first third of this book will amuse, enlighten, & provoke, at which point it will grab you by the throat and shake your fundamental perceptions of life. The author is compelling in both a scientific sense, weaving psychology, biology, economics, and sociology together; and in an artistic sense, delivering theater of the mind, new visions, poetic turns of phrase page after page, and a massive amount of purpose-laden provocative minutia, all of which culminates in blinding flashes of insight that explain the mind-expanding role of circuses, the failure of religion, and the natural cycles of fission and fusion, splintering apart and coming together.

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2009/10/312009/10/31

Review: Business Stripped Bare–Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur

5 Star, Banks, Fed, Money, & Concentrated Wealth, Best Practices in Management, Biography & Memoirs, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Change & Innovation, Complexity & Resilience, Consciousness & Social IQ, Disease & Health, Economics, Education (General), Environment (Solutions), Leadership, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Philosophy, Priorities, Survival & Sustainment, Technology (Bio-Mimicry, Clean), Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution, Water, Energy, Oil, Scarcity

Inspirational and Practical as Well

October 31, 2009

Richard Branson

I picked this up half-price at Copenhagen airport, and I liked it so much I have ordered Screw It, Let's Do It (Expanded Edition): 14 Lessons on Making It to the Top While Having Fun & Staying Green.

I must note that normally I would reduce one star–Virgin Books evidently has no clue–or no interest–in using the many Amazon tools provided to publishers (I am one) and therefore we are not seeing so little as a Table of Contents and the Index (always huge for me in evaluating a non-fiction book for possible purchase) or even better, “Look Inside the Book,” which is no harder than uploading the book pdf via Amazon Advantage. Bad dog.

Here are my fly-leaf notes.

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2009/10/232009/10/23

Review: Ecological Intelligence–Rediscovering Ourselves in Nature

3 Star, Consciousness & Social IQ, Environment (Solutions), Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

Badly documented and therefore suspect

October 23, 2009

Ian McCallum

Of the two reviews, the second more critical review is more helpful.

I am not buying this book, which has a very engaging title, for three reasons:

1. The second review provides clear warning of a light-weight schoolkid apporach to the material.

2. The publisher has failed to provide adequate documentation which combined with the page count leads me to suspect, as a very heavy reader and frequent reviewer, that this is a lite work.

3) The other books tend to confirm this book does not fall into serious non-fiction.

Instead, see Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything which is much closer to the “true cost” non-fiction meme that I have been pursuing.

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2009/10/222009/10/22

Review: Hidden Truth–Forbidden Knowledge

5 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Censorship & Denial of Access, Consciousness & Social IQ, Intelligence (Extra-Terrestrial), Misinformation & Propaganda, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)

Has Warts But On Balance, Best Available Overview

October 22, 2009

Steven M. Greer

I elevated this book from four to five stars in part because I know some of the people to whom the author refers (e.g. Admiral Mike Cramer, referred to by name; and John Petersen, author of Out of the blue: Wild cards and other big future surprises : how to anticipate and respond to profound change, who is not named but described in obvious terms), and because it is the best available review for the public.

This book will seriously annoy those who consider themselves scientific rationalists (e.g. Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West and those who tend to look askance, as I do, and the kum-ba-ya hand-holding crowd BUT–and this is a big but–I absolutely consider this author and this book to be totally credible, and as annoying as the inner spirituality conversations at the beginning and the cosmic spirituality conversations at the end are, this book is a MUST READ for any serious person who cares about the future of humanity and the Earth. I take some of this with a grain of salt, but I want to meet this person, learn more, and believe he is on a righteous path of truth for the good of the larger group, humanity.

Here are my fly-leaf notes:

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2009/10/222009/10/22

Review: Disclosure–Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History

4 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Censorship & Denial of Access, Consciousness & Social IQ, Intelligence (Extra-Terrestrial), Misinformation & Propaganda, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)

Available Free Online, Better in Hard-Copy

October 22, 2009

Steven M. Greer

I read this book online, where it can be found for free, and in retrospect, now that I have read Hidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge, regret not buying it to have my notes and the physical book in my library.

The bottom line on this book is that it is a less than perfect but still incredibly valuable and serious effort to place before the public the testimony of individuals who have been involved in the government and contractror programs to both conceal from the public what we do know about extra-terrestial beings, vehicles, weapons, communications, and energy systems; and to impose on the public a fear of extra-terrestials that is completely unfounded and simply another “Big Lie” intended to perpetuate the military-industrial complex.

I strongly recommend the Disclosure Project, and especially its meetings when offered, such as the 24-26 October 2009 meeting in Arizona.

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2009/10/182009/10/18

Review: 75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make A Difference

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Censorship & Denial of Access, Change & Innovation, Complexity & Resilience, Consciousness & Social IQ, Culture, Research, Economics, Environment (Solutions), Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

Phenomenal Overview, Reference, Exceeded Expectations

October 18, 2009

Glenn Croston

I bought and read this book along with Green Intelligence: Creating Environments That Protect Human Health and Careers in Renewable Energy: Get a Green Energy Job.

This book is everything I could have wanted and more–it exceeded expecations. For each of 75 “opportunities” sorted within eleven chapters it provides a summary table (Market Need, Mission, Knowledge to Start, Capital Rquired, Timing to Start, and Special Challenges, along with a multi-page discussion and a variety of “sidebar” elements that vary but generally address Related Trends, In the Long Run, Green Leader, Industry Information, Information Resource, Eco-Tip, or Eco-Issue.

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2009/10/182009/10/18

Review: Careers in Renewable Energy–Get a Green Energy Job

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Change & Innovation, Consciousness & Social IQ, Culture, Research, Economics, Environment (Solutions)

Formula Book Well Executed, Superb But “Lite”

October 18, 2009

Gregory McNamee

I read in multiples. See my reviews of 75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make A Difference as well as Green Intelligence: Creating Environments That Protect Human Health for the snap-shot on this round, and at Phi Beta Iota, the Public Intelligence Blogs, use the Reviews menu to access my 49 reviews on Environment (Problems) and my 57 reviews on Environment (Solutions), all with links back to the Amazon page for each book.

This is a 4 in comparison with many other books, and was disappointingly generic and “lite” in the resource sections, BUT this is BEYOND 6 STARS if you do not have a college education and wither will not get one (see chapters on Solar, Wind, and Geothermal) or are just going into college (see chapters on Bioenergy, Hydro, Buildings, and Energy Management)….so I give it a solid 5 over-all. This book is NOT for “mid-career” folks with degrees looking to switch tracks.

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