haphazard

Mu-Sick
$35.99

Aerosoles Women's Haphazard Mid Heel,Dark Brown Suede,11 M US
$69.95

Three Moons in Vietnam: A Haphazard Journey by Boat and Bicycle
$2.67
I picked a (er, one of the many counterfeited) copies of this book during a 3-week vacation in Vietnam. I was still reading the book months after I left, despite being an avid reader and known for staying up all night to read books in one sitting.

The problem is the book is fairly dull, and very much contrived. Mrs. Coffey mentions in a number of places in the book that the entire reason for going to Vietnam and taking the "path less traveled" is to write a book about it. One can't help but roll his eyes, then, when the same story line is repeated over and over:

1. The author and her husband try to travel via non-tourist boat to some destination.
2. The locals and guides they approach are reluctant to, citing police concerns, despite the author and her husband waving lots of cash at them like ugly Americans.
3. Mrs. Coffey and her husband insist, and off they go.
4. They often have to hide, because (as they were warned) the police come. (roll eyes)
5. They get sick, or lost, or face lots of discomfort, because after all, they are hiding on some small boat where they should not be. (roll eyes)

Then Mrs. Coffey complains a lot, completely relies on her husband to do all the asking for directions/getting on a boat etc., even though the whole trip was her idea.

Despite Mrs. Coffey being a professional writer, her writing became tiresore and, frankly, a chore to read. This is coming from someone who was particularly interested in how she perceived various locales in Vietnam, especially the ones I had just visited. A disappointing read. The only good thing is that I had not wasted $ on a "legit" copy of the book!

Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind
$14.95
As someone who's fairly well-read but not (as several other reviewers of this book) well-versed in the specialty of evolutionary biology, I found this book to be engaging, clear, and thought-provoking. I'd recommend this particularly to those interested in philosophy, psychology, computer programming, and the scientific method. What's most remarkable about this book is that although it delves deeply into many counter-intuitive qualities of human nature, it's utterly readable outside of an academic setting and offers practical advice on understanding of human failure and conflict.

Marcus' basic premise, that the human mind is highly flawed from an "engineering" standpoint, is highly compelling (to be accurate- this premise is based on the research of evolutionary biologists and does not necessarily reflect any originality on Marcus' part). In chapters on Memory, Belief, Choice, Language, and Pleasure, the author attributes many of the foibles of human nature to deficiencies in the human mind based on the fact that culture, deliberate reasoning, and long-term planning (vs. reacting in the moment) did not offer survival advantages over the course of the human being's adaptive evolution. Just a few examples of potential weaknesses described include: 1) a contextual (vs. "postal code") memory resulting in an average of 55 minutes per day looking for things we know we own but can't find; 2) an inflated craving for sugar, fat, salt, and sex based on evolutionary scarcity; 3) a tendency to believe things that fit in with our pre-existing beliefs (i.e., confirmation bias); and 4) a tendency to respond to anecdotes vs. data.

This book is interesting even from a purely philosophical perspective; for example, Marcus notes that "evolution didn't evolve us to be happy; it evolved us to pursue happiness"- hence humanity's often tragic and perpetual pursuit of material wealth far beyond necessity.

Marcus doesn't shy away from prescribing ways to cope with these challenges, and devotes his entire closing chapter to "true wisdom" gained by self-consciousness of our minds' limitations. A few of his suggestions include "anticipate your own impulsivity and pre-commit" for example by choosing your groceries a week in advance and not when you are hungry; "don't make important decisions when you are tired or have other things on your mind." He also addresses more comprehensive and far-reaching strategies for addressing the problems of the human mind, such as offering high school classes on informal argument, spotting fallacies, interpreting statistics, and understanding the difference between correlation and causation. I couldn't agree more- but is that my confirmation bias?