After some delays, here it is, the last two chapters of Autopilot. And gosh if they aren’t disappointing. Let’s start from the top. Chapter 8: Six Stigma as Seizure I don’t even have any notes on this chapter besides, “Still not really on topic and the analogy is largely vacuous and suspect in general.” but…
Have you ever heard the phrase, “too much of a good thing”? You probably have and Smart probably has too, but that doesn’t mean he kept it in mind all of the time. The tidbits about neuroscience when they matched up with the benefits of slacking were interesting and well said. Likewise, Smart’s interest in…
Nick’s Notes: Sorry about the lack of posts lately! I’ve just been absolutely exhausted from pet sitting and needed to take the last few days (or so) off from writing. I meant to write this yesterday, but I left Autopilot at the pet sitting place. So I’m posting this today instead! Revolution or Suicide Chapter…
Chapter 5: You are a self-organizing system As far as I can tell from my notes, this chapter starts off really interesting but then falls flat after that. The reason why it starts off so interesting is because Smart quotes Peter Kropotkin. Kropotkin, for those who don’t know, is a notable anarchist communist thinker who…
Chapter 3 Up until now I’ve only had some minor complaints about Smart’s attempt to scientifically justify laziness. The biggest being that he’s not giving us any citations and almost never gives references to the studies that would help prove his point. Even when he mentions certain studies he doesn’t go into their methodology, sample…
This chapter focuses on noise and its benefits to the brain as well as returning to the resting brain. And as far as the resting brain goes, it’s pretty interesting: When you activate your default mode network by doing nothing, it becomes robust and coherent. So, somehow our brains seem to violate the second law…
Chapter 1: That Loathsome Monster Idleness The previous chapter set the stage for the rest of the book in a fairly interesting and engaging way, let’s look at how Smart follows up on that effort. First, Smart talks about the history of our attitudes towards idleness all around the world. From the attitudes stemming from…
Introduction I got this book at the New York Anarchist Book Fair a year or so ago. At the time I wasn’t doing terribly well on finances and I went back and forth on what looked like a really good book. The seller was offering it for a decent price (between $10-15, I can’t remember…
Here we are, the last chapter, it’s all been building(?) up to this, let’s see where Levison is left after so many failed attempts at being a working stiff. Um, apparently pretty damn depressed is where Levison is left, not that I can blame him, of course. But take a look at this: There’s no dream…
When Levison returns to Seattle the world has changed in the time has been gone. The internet (remember that still being a tiny thing, kids?) has now led to people being able to do their own businesses and get a lot of money without doing as much work to make that money. Sounds like a…