Lisa Feldman Barrett – How emotions are made
Nice and usefull re-interpretation of what emaotions are, but I the anthropocentric way in which it contrasts emotions of humans and animals read as ‘goal seek’ that under-estimates the animal brain’.
There are so many guises in which intelligence manifests itself that it truly blows the mind
Enjoyable expansive thinking, unafraid of the pathetic.
The ideas that were seriously considered in covert operations and military plots shew a new light on the term ‘Intelligence’
Vince Houghton – Nuking the moon
The overly jolly style of writing can be a bit tiresome, but one cannot help to be fascinated by the outlandish stories..
The West has for a long time under-estimated the tenacity of Russian covert operations
Gordon Corera – Russians among us
The connection between ‘illegals’ and digital information warfare seems mostly motivated by the author’s (or publisher’s) desire to give the book more relevance, rather than the coherence of the narrative.
Crowd-sourced analysis of publicly available data can be a powerful tool in exposing lies, as is proved by an impressive track record of impactful scoops.
Eliot Higgins – We are Bellingcat
The book raises the question what happens if online sleuth methods are applied for profit maximization rather than for truth seeking.
There is a big difference between leaking and wistle blowing
Edward Snowden – Permanent record
Extensive justification of why Snowden exposed the scope of surveillance by the NSA (with too many references to patriotic US heros among Snowden’s ancestors).
To disprove ‘Intelligent Design’, just note that one can very well exhibit intelligent behavior without actual intelligence
Daniel Dennett – From bacteria to Bach and back
Caleidoscopic overview of Dennett’s ideas, but it would benefit from an more thorough justification of its antropocentric perspective (compare: Frans de Waal).