Day 329 – November 25th – The Lucifer Effect

Philip Zimbardo is an American psychologist who is perhaps best known for conducting the Stanford Prison Study in 1971. In the experiment, Zimbardo looked at obedience and how people’s behaviour changed dependent on the authority that they were given in certain situations. For more information on the experiment, you can have a look at this blog post.

The experiment only lasted for six days out of a supposed fourteen due to it working almost too well. Based on his findings, Zimbardo wrote the book ‘The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil‘. He talks about the original experiement and how it raises ‘fundamental questions about the nature of good and evil‘, also noting its relevance to modern society.

What the experiment revealed was that, when ordinary people were given different roles in a scenario, their behaviour was caused mostly by the situation itself, rather than their individual personalities. For example, the people assigned as prison guards became sadistic and cruel, while those assigned as prisoners became pathological as they were degraded and humiliated by the guards. It demonstrates how being in a situation can affect your mentality, causing you to act differently to how you would usually.

‘The Lucifer Effect’, therefore, strikes me as an important book to read, due to the implications that the Stanford Prison Study has on society. The experiment revealed the darker side of human nature; what we are capable of doing, even if we ourselves are not aware of it. Although controversial at the time, Zimbardo’s work, I feel, was very important to highlight how easy it is for good people to turn ‘evil’, as it were.

Day 296 – October 23rd – The Fountainhead

I am currently reading ‘The Fountainhead‘ by Ayn Rand. Similar to ‘Atlas Shrugged‘, it is a novel that brings reference to Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. It’s a good novel: a deep and engrossing read, although it isn’t entirely inspirational.  What I mean by this is that it’s more realistic that an idealistic book full of hope. It’s split into four parts, each part focussing on and building up a specific character. The reason that I want to share it with you and recommend it to you is because of several important themes within the book that I want to bring reference to. These are things that you can take from the book and learn from:

• Not compromising or giving up on what you believe in – the protagonist – Howard Roark – is an architect who would rather struggle through life and be unheard of than compromise his work and vision. This, to me, is very important. You shouldn’t change who you are and what you do just to make things easier for yourself. Success is only success if you are happy with what you have done/produced.
• Happiness – the ‘heroine’ – Dominique Francon- spends most of the novel punishing herself because she believes that society will destroy her ideals and that the world as a whole is not worthy of her expression. It’s an interesting twist to the book and leads to some heavy character development, but in essence I think that the main thing to gain from this is that you should do what makes you happy, regardless of what other people think and do, or even if you don’t believe that it will last long. You shouldn’t spend your life being unhappy juse because you don’t think you’ll be able to be happy, or should even be happy.

Once again Rand manages to touch on so many interesting and controversial topics, and it’s something that gets you to think. I believe that a good book is one that has a good story, leaves you satisfied and sparks some thought. The Fountainhead does all of those things.

Day 213 – August 1st – Obedience to Authority

Stanley Milgram was an American social psychology, probably best known for conducting the Milgram Experiment in the 1960s. Influenced by the events of the Holocaust, Milgram conducted the study that looked at how people obeyed authority. For more information on the experiment, you can have a look at this blog post. Based on his results, Milgram wrote the book ‘Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View‘. He talked about the original experiment and the seventeen alterations that were carried out, recording the results and explaining why, in different circumstances, people are more or less likely to obey authority.

The results of the study are shocking, showing a degree of obedience higher than Milgram anticipated, yet somewhat explaining how people are able to commit deeds that are deemed ‘evil’, yet not feel guilty; not even consider their role in them. Obviously their is no absolute answer to the many questions that are raised, as each person is individual, but certain trends are seen in the results that show that, when being commanded by an authorative figure, many people don’t think twice about doing what they’re told, regardless of the consequences.

I think it’s an important book to read, as Stanley Milgram explores different aspects of obedience, making it a great insight into human behaviour. Perhaps more importantly, it gets you to think for yourself. Events like the Holocaust should never happen again, but to make sure of it we need to be educated regarding some of the reasons it occured. Only then can we take control and make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

Day 186 – July 5th – 50 Ideas You Really Need To Know

‘50 __ Ideas You Really Need To Know‘ are a series of books filled with facts about various topics. They are very much reference books, with individual ideas of each subject being given just a couple of pages, providing a quick outline and general, need-to-know information. They are very useful if you need to quickly look up any of the topics concerned, or indeed if you want to read into a subject, as they contain some of the more important, influential ideas of their respective fields.

In this series, I have books on Philosophy, Psychology, Mathematics and Physics, which give me a brilliant insight into the influential ideas and discoveries of recent years, and even further back in some cases. However, there are also books ranging on topics from Genetics to Architecture and Religion to Economics. They cover a wide range of topics, making them good as a series; a collection.

I’m not a great fan of reference books, but the way in which these are laid out makes them appealing and easy to ‘get into’. It’s the sort of thing you want for light reading, as these books aren’t designed to give you a deep insight of the ideas, but rather just an informative introduction.

Day 179 – June 28th – 50 Photographers You Should Know

The other day I went to the library to pick up some books on photography and came across the book ‘50 Photographers You Should Know‘ by Peter Stepan. Admittedly I was drawn to it because of my interest in the field, but actually looking through it, I found it appropriate to share with you. Photography, I feel, like many art forms, can be full of bold and brilliant statements – that is what the pioneers and the experts set out to – and successfully – achieve. It’s about capturing the attention of everybody and showing them something with a single image or a group of frames. Photography is short and to the point.

What this book does is introduce some of the greatest photographers in history – fifty, to be precise. It doesn’t talk about then in much depth of detail, with only a couple of pages dedicated to each, but it gets the point across. It allowes anybody – even someone with little knowledge of photography – to come along and learn about some great figures from the past and witness some examples of the best of their work. In essence, it is a collection of the very best of the art form. So much of the example work is documentary photography, but it also ranges from landscapes to portraits. There is a vast selection,both for somebody to be able to get into photography, and for somebody who already has a keen interest to be able to learn more about the history and to take inspiration from the pieces shown. There is some fantastic and compelling photography within the book.

Day 164 – June 13th – Atlas Shrugged

‘Atlas Shrugged‘ by Ayn Rand is a novel that I have spent the last couple of months reading. Published in 1957, Rand saw it as her magnum opus, expressing clearly and deeply her philosophy of ‘Objectivism’: ‘the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.‘

What I thought was so special about this book wasn’t the promotion of Rand’s philosophy, but more her pure ability to write, and the effect that it has. Atlas Shrugged is an extremely long book, but it managed to keep me captivated with an interesting and thought-provoking storyline. It is a dystopian novel about a man who stops the motor of the world; where the great innovators walk away, no longer willing to be exploited by society. A lot of people thought that the book was too pro-capitalism, but if you look past the context, Rand manages to raise some astonishing and scary issues that are all too realistic. It’s believable. It could happen. Chances are, it will happen.

At times it can be a bit ambiguous; I for one wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but I think that only makes you pay more attention to the words and what is to follow, because you want to know what it means. There is also a 60-page speech made by the character John Galt, giving a full and thorough explanation of the the philosophy of objectivism and how it fits into the novel as a central, core aspect. I must admit that it was the hardest part of the book to get through, but beyond it was an intense and fast-paced ending which tied up most of the story nicely, bringing everything to a climax.

I found it, overall, to be an extremely satisfying read, as well as quite educational. It made me think, which I always appreciate, opening up a world not too dissimilar to our own. Even if you do not agree with the concept of objectivism, the novel is a must read.

Day 88 – March 29th – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time‘ by Mark Haddon is quite a complicated book, but an excellent read. It is written from the perspective of the main character, Christopher, a 15 year old with Asperger syndrome. His condition greatly affects the way that the book is written, and it is often quite disjointed as a result. For example, the chapter numbers are all prime numbers, something that Christopher explains within the book itself.

The main plot of the story starts when Christopher finds his neighbour’s dog dead, deciding to investigate the crime. He treats the case very seriously, recording it as a ‘murder mystery novel’. However, along the way he unearths a lot of things that were best kept buried, finding out secrets best kept forgotten.

It is a thought-provoking and emotional story with a bold impact. The relationship that you as a reader have with Christopher is a compelling one, creating almost a first-hand account and understanding of autism. It is yet another book that teaches you an important lesson.

Day 87 – March 28th – Animal Farm

‘Animal Farm‘, written by George Orwell and published in 1945, is a novella in which a groups of animals on a farm rebel, taking control of the farm themselves. Orwell likened the book to the events surrounding Stalin’s era during World War II, with many of the main characters based upon important political figures, each representing an ideology.

In Animal Farm, the animals create a philosophy – ‘Animalism‘, a form of communism – which lays down the foundations for their new society. Along with it, seven commandments are made:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

However, the main focus of the story is how the rebellion goes wrong, and how, in turn, corruption, wickedness, ignorance and greed all flourish under the leadership of the pigs, who are seen as superior leaders, and begin to act more and more like humans. They slowly change the commandments, eventually replacing them altogether with just one: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.“

It’s an extremely influential book, stirring up quite a range of emotions within me. It is, of course, extremely saddening, as, in essence, it shows how ‘human nature’ destroys any possibility of a Utopia.

Day 79 – March 20th – All Rivers Flow to the Sea

‘All Rivers Flow to the Sea‘ by Alison McGhee is another interesting book that looks at mental health. In this case, it is about – and is written from the perspective of – a 17 year old girl called Rose, who is suffering from trauma and distress after she and her sister were in a car accident. While Rose keeps on reliving the crash, her sister, Ivy, is deep in a coma.

On the back, the book is described as ‘An uplifting story of love, loss and letting go.‘ I think that’s probably the best way to describe it, really. The ‘world’ created within the book is extremely encapsulating, especially in the way that the writing style seems to match the way that Rose’s mind is working. It is extremely fragmented in parts, especially with the repeated extracts of memories of the crash.

As well as being a great read, the book is always worthwhile reading just to better understand how people cope with trauma: how they are affected and how their perception of everything around them can change.

Day 68 – March 9th – The Philosopher and the Wolf

‘The Philosopher and the Wolf‘ by Mark Rowlands is truly inspirational book. It acts as an autobiography of sorts, recalling the time that Mark spent with a wolf, Brenin. It accounts their friendship over a decade, from when Mark bought Brenin as a wolf cub to when he passed away.

Detailed as ‘Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death and Happiness‘, it’s important to understand that this book actually covers so much more than that. Evil, time and religion are all themes that are also covered in the philosophy of the book. It gives a lot to think about and, as a book relating thoughts to events, the thought procedures and philosophy I find to be easy to understand and relate to. It isn’t a heavy read.

The book is often quite saddening, yet at the same time is extremely enlightening. It is a story to change the way you think; the way you view the world. The unique bond – friendship – that the philosopher and the wolf shared is described as “a fascinating examination of joy, strength, and the essential nature of the human animal”. It is a tale most definitely worth reading.