#663 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday May 18)

Good morning,

People love to talk about their favorite books and what they’re reading today. People ask me what I’m reading. My reading taste is pretty eclectic and my reading habit is somewhat quirky. Usually I’m reading a couple of books at a time, with a number of books on the side table by my bed, sort of like planes circling for a landing. As opposed to writing about books after I complete reading them, I thought it would be interesting to share what I think of them at this juncture. Here are some current ones:

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Just finished this one. Great prose. I’m writing about this in another Musing. Post-apocalyptic America and a father and son trying to traverse the continent and stay alive amidst a very bleak landscape (both physical and human). And did I mention that it’s bleak?

Adriatic, by Robert D. Kaplan. He wrote Balkan Ghosts, among other great histories. Half way through. I like it but not enough to power through. A fascinating history, told through a clockwise travelogue of the Adriatic. Trieste, which I’ve only visited once, so far is the gem. Despite being a part of Italy, it protrudes into Slovenia along the coast to the east, not really belonging in either country. It looks and feels like a Hapsburg city, more reminiscent of Vienna than of Milan. Sometimes the tangents into literature can be tedious but the historic “pearls” Kaplan shares are worth the journey. Should be done with this soon.

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, by New Yorker journalist Chris Grann. This is the story of The Wager, a British ship lost in the mid-18^th century, all of its crew presumed dead. But after several months and nearly 3,000 miles in a make-shift vessel, 30 starving men found land. Six months later, a smaller complement found shore in current Chile. Then the real battle—of truth about a mutiny, began. I’m about a quarter of the way through and like the “inside view” naval life, from the competition of officers for captaincy, the nature of the accommodations and ship life, and the impressment of mariners against their will. I think the best is still to come. Grann wrote Killings of the Flower Moon, the story of the Osage nation murders, economic abuse of Native Americans, and the rise of the FBI. That book remains one of my favorite historical stories that, while in a narrative form, feels like a novel. As “they” say, it is soon to be a major motion picture.

New Jack: Guarding Sing Sing, by Ted Conover. A journalist can’t seem to get interviews or visits to Sing Sing to do an investigative report on the prison system. Rather than give up, this reporter actually applies for a job as a prison guard and writes about his experience in one of the many decrepit prisons in our American gulag of incarceration. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. I’m about half way through. This is a fascinating view of a broken system, from the perspective of a rookie prison guard. A view of the culture of the inmates and correctional officers and the bizarre interrelationship of the various people who populate the penitentiary culture.

The Red Balcony, by Jonathan Wilson. This is a gift from Tom Masenga, who is still trying to make up for a spate of historical tracts he has given me over the years that are even too obtuse for my eclectic taste. By way of example, how about a tome on the biography of Shaka Zulu? This one professes to be about romance, intrigue and a murder in British mandate Palestine. This is in the on-deck circle and I’m optimistic.

Get Trump, by Alan Dershowitz. This is a gift from a conservative friend. He is trying to convince me (I think) that Trump’s crimes are not, in the scheme of things, worthy of prosecution and/or that we should not prosecute former presidents (at least for this particular former president’s crimes), because this will lead inexorably to political trials after each presidency in a tit-for-tat. I’ve read a review and agree with the dangers of going after leaders in a constant game of political indictment badminton. But sometimes the person and the crimes are so heinous and so numerous, and the danger to the nation is so great, that something must be done. This is in the on-deck circle.

Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac. I bought this at Book Soup on a lark. They have books in wrapping paper, with no identifying marks. One can purchase a book that they recommend without knowing what it is. Since I’m not really a Kerouac fan and was vaguely disappointed, Lauren summed up the experience, “Well, that was pretty stupid. Who would do that?” I always get honesty from her. The answer, of course, is “this idiot; that’s who.” I still plan on reading this.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER BUT WISDOM IS PROGRESS

We have in our hands (literally and figuratively) massive amounts of information—uncollated and without context. Some of it can teach us important lessons, providing us knowledge. It is often said that knowledge is power. Knowledge, of course, comes from reviewing the available data.

But knowledge really only becomes powerful and helpful if it provides us with enlightenment that can govern our future interactions and decisions. Knowledge without analysis and thought—without pulling something meaningful from that knowledge, is only part of the journey. Knowledge should lead to wisdom. Wisdom—the ability to analyze, learn from, and empower one’s actions through the application of knowledge—is another thing entirely.

We live in a world where information is gathered constantly, often without regard for its utility. We are inundated with information. What we often lose in the accumulation and distribution of that information is the wisdom to understand it, including all its potential benefits and risks, and to utilize the knowledge wisely.

An example of information and knowledge run rampant, with wisdom only catching up from behind, might be artificial intelligence (AI). There is no limit to the future expansion of AI. Hopefully those in positions to develop AI and use it also will have the wisdom to shape its use and control its abuse. Knowledge requires work and can define the world today. Wisdom requites thought and can take us places in the future.

T.S. Eliot summarized these distinctions nicely:

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”

Information is easy. Knowledge is harder. Wisdom is harder still.

Have a great day,

Glenn