The Empathic Civilization by Jeremy Rifkin

Jeremy Rifkin is one of the most renowned intellectuals of our time and an intuitive futurist. Not only is he a graduate of Wharton, but is also currently instructing CEOs and corporate management at Wharton, spreading his philosophy of Third Industrialization and collaborative movement toward sustainability. For many years, every single one of his controversial publication has encouraged heated debates, but I never had a chance to read any of them. This summer, I was very excited to finally read his most recent publication, 'The Empathic Civilization.'

Although the theme of this book is "empathy," Rifkin's discussion of empathy transcends various areas of study, ranging from psychology to history. The opening of this book coincides with the beginning of a human life, infancy, and he talks about how empathy is an inherent nature in humans, as proven by multiple psychological studies. Naturally, our conscious awareness of empathy too has evolved along with our own selves. In order to illustrate this, Rifkin takes the reader on a journey through different eras in human history, demonstrating the effects of cultural movement on our perception and expression of empathy. For example, during the Renaissance and the Romantic period, people began to perceive marital relationships with increased affection, as opposed to a mere social contract. Therefore, more focus was endowed upon compassion and empathy, leading to more compassionate nurturing and treatment of children. Our way of raising children has evolved a lot since then, as we can tell by the famous appellation, 'Generation X.'

Humans have experienced two Industrial Revolutions, during which efficiency and was high encouraged, whereas human empathy was temporarily neglected. Rifkin calls the approaching era 'Third Industrial Revolution,' which is a period of long-term economic sustainability, when nations address challenges of the global economic crisis, energy security and climate change. In order to solve these global issues, he argues for collaboration in the form of "distributed capitalism." He looks to the examples of collaborative system such as Linux, in order to illustrate how collaboration can be more efficient than competition, completely overthrowing the conventional market-oriented thinking.

I was absolutely amazed by the breadth of knowledge covered in this book, which further add potency to Rifkin's philosophy. Moreover, the constructive directions he offers future leaders are clearly indicative of Rifkin's passionate devotion to the betterment of the human race and concerns for our posterity. Empathy has always been inherently practiced through the course of our evolutionary progress. We are truly an empathic civilization and the need for us to exercise this empathy is direr now than ever.

Inventing Temperature by Hasok Chang

I have never taken interest in Physics and it always has been a foreign area to me. So it was quite enlightening for me to learn about the history and philosophy of science through this book, an area previously unknown to me.

The book opens with the discussion of how reliable our senses are as the prime instrument of observation. The most commonly used example that physicists and philosophers use is the colored lenses. If we were looking though a red lens, the world would look red to us, and through a blue lens, blue. According to this logic, our senses (especially the visual sense) are not the most reliable tool when it comes to making an absolute scientific observation. Since we cannot determine the verity of a phenomena using our senses, we make a justification based on our logic. While trying to digest this, "justification" seemed very complex all of a sudden and I began to wonder how people began verbalizing this epistemological concept. Chang states that because we cannot determine absolute truth for certain, the initial justification is made, and upon that justification we link various empirical observations in order to arrive at a scientific theory. There is an interplay of concretization - operationalization - conceptualization behind theorizing in science - especially Physics. It makes clear sense because Physics was originally an area of Philosophy and almost all of the early scientists were philosophers.

The key idea that Chang discusses in this book is thermometry: heat measurement. When the human kind first conceived of different degrees of heat (i.e. the water here is warmer than the water there), the initial standard of measurement of course was our tactile senses. Then setting a universal standard and having something to compare seemed to be the next inevitable step in thermometry. A few interesting objections were raised in the history of thermometry and the most memorable one for me was the argument that when something is cold, there is an abundance of "cold" as opposed to absence was "heat." This assertion is clearly plausible (though various experiments later confirmed the presence of heat/infrared ray) and it is from this skepticism the calorific/frigorific argument was developed.

So many scientific theories have now been conceptualized and applied since these early trials and errors in thermometry. Nowadays, few would categorize science as an area of philosophy. Rather, science is conceived as an area of knowledge which deals with objective, universal information. Moreover, no longer do we doubt and challenge science; we take science for granted and even accept it without fully understanding a lot of its content. Although both currently-existing and new discoveries in science are overwhelming and extremely difficult to keep up with, it is through the study of History and Philosophy of Science that we learn that skepticism increases the quality of knowledge, if not quantity.

Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches by Marvin Harris

What is so holy about cows that poverty-stricken Hindus refuse to eat beef, even when they are on the verge of dying of starvation? Why do Jews despise pig and why do we go to war?

Some cultural practices are simply beyond being quirky to the extent that they seem irrational. 'Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches' contains entertaining accounts regarding some of the world's most widely-celebrated cultures. It gives a anthropological, scientific, and logical explanation behind how these cultures came to be in such wide and strict practice. These seemingly-superstitious cultures are the products of a long period of lifestyle changes. As a result, at one stage, these cultures were an indispensable part of peoples' lives: almost a means of survival. Even nowadays, these cultures are still preserved, even though life is probably still manageable without adhering to them.

The most fascinating thing is how "cows, pigs, wars and witches" are interrelated in the course of the anthropological development of the human race. The book provides the key to this puzzle in a very entertaining way.

A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein

If you trace back the origin of exchange and observe its gradual progress, you will understand why the title of this book is so appropriate. Trade not only affects the financial/commercial aspect of the trading partners, but also has the ability to revolutionize people's way of living and thinking, not to mention the international political atmosphere.

The early form of trade was carried out in a very honest, moral manner. Trade was a way for an economy to obtain crude resources that were unavailable from a trading partner who had the same resource in abundance, who in return demanded something from the other party. It then transformed to a means of reaping profit, and people began to trade even the things that were not scarce - as illustrated by Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage.

Trade, which served the human race by increasing the availability of goods available to us, can also create conflict. The rivalry between the Dutch India Company and the British East India Company in the 17th and 18th centuries eventually led to widespread imperialism in Europe. This later becomes one of the contributing factors towards instigating the First World War. Plantation and immigration are both products of trade.

Nations have debated the dichotomy of free trade and protectionism for centuries, and the topic is still hotly debated. Although a few countries still adhere to their strict protectionist policies, most of us live in an economy which is becoming increasing more liberal towards trade. The establishment of GATT, WTO and FTAs between neighboring and faraway nations illustrate this modern trend in trade.