Logicomix and others
非常出彩（pun intended!)的英雄主义的罗素中心的逻辑故事。
关于其中的历史事实和数学/哲学表述，参见：http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=jhm
在读Monk时，我一直把维特根斯坦想象成一个仿佛挥舞着沉重的武器，激动起来手脚就不知往哪儿放的人，这本书可以说给出了一个更有趣，或许也是更准确的描绘（毕竟是在严格的家训下成长的）：极度专注下，不自觉，滑稽又坚定的手势和pose。仿佛手势就是他的语言他的思想的表达。
哥德尔，罗素，怀特海，希尔伯特的描绘和想象中没有太大的区别。
Football Manager is the computer game that thousands of hours are wasted(or, to put in a more precise term, witnessed). It is a football simulation game that has done a remarkable job in collection of data of real athletes/clubs, working them into statistics that predict player’s performance on the field.
- No micro-level physics is required. Just some stats such as “agility”“determination”“flair” predicting a player’s performance. 2.Season-Karma. The simulated world is in karma, marked by the start and end of each season.No real improvement of change is made is the world. 3.We still take much pleasure in watching it simulated and managing to influence a team’s strategy, transfers, morals,etc.
Social science is quite like a simulator, in which no real progress can be measured; no real creation can be predicted. The “creation” can only be seen as a repeat of sth that existed long before.
The Sense of Style
Chapter 4 is about grammar. Pinker introduced the new linguistic jargon, one that separates a word’s ——and ——.
Linguistic jargon is one of the worst kinds of jargon, and even Pinker’s magic could not relieve the mental work of hammering and piling. If you are new to grammar, then this chapter would definitely take much time to follow and understand.
What I would recommend, then, is to read this chapter ALONG WITH a grammar book. I used A Student’s Introduction to English Grammar (not because the author Pullum also attacked White’s Element of Style!), and it served its purpose very well: it is clear, concise, structured. (If you want to talk in the grammar like ‘I ain’t told nobody nothing’, then probably this book is not for you)
Chapter 6: Telling right from wrong?
Pinker gave some hilarious examples for Why oxford coma is a Must:
This book is dedicated to my parents, Ayn Rand and God.
Highlights of Peter Ustinov’s global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.