Christopher L'Heureux
- 21
- reviews
- 6
- helpful votes
- 30
- ratings
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Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down.
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A ferrari with no motor
- By will on 11-18-17
- Artemis
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Rosario Dawson
Loved it!
Reviewed: 07-26-20
Couldn't wait to get back to it! Fantastic and easily acceptable thriller set in the future. Great way to expand your creative mind.
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Junkyard Cats
- Shining Smith, Book 1
- By: Faith Hunter
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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After the Final War, after the appearance of the Bug aliens and their enforced peace, Shining Smith is still alive, still doing business from the old scrapyard bequeathed to her by her father. But Shining is now something more than human. And the scrapyard is no longer just a scrapyard, but a place full of secrets. This life she has built, while empty, is predictable and safe. Until the only friend left from her previous life shows up, dead, in the back of a scrapped Tesla warplane. Clutched in her cold fingers is a note to Shining - warning her of a coming attack.
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Would be a great story, if most of it wasn't missi
- By Amazon Customer on 01-11-20
- Junkyard Cats
- Shining Smith, Book 1
- By: Faith Hunter
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
Entertaining Short!
Reviewed: 05-15-20
An entertaining sci-fi short story with lots of imagination. Plenty of twists and enough left out to make you wonder. Enjoyed the listen!
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Grant
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 48 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Chernow reveals in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.
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Excellent Book (BUT WHERE IS THE PDF FILES)????
- By Amazon Customer on 10-25-17
- Grant
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
Want depth? This is depth.
Reviewed: 04-17-20
A fantastic history of Grant's life, I don't think this yarn is for everyone. The casual reader will not find all 48 hours/1000+ pages gipping to the last. That said, it is an incredibly well written and thoughtful book - well researched and organized. It's worth the investment for anyone yearning to know more about the man, the Civil War, or the aftermath. And then there are leadership lessons. From a historical perspective, Chernow strikes at an old question: does the situation make the person, or does the person make the situation. The answer: clearly, it depends but leadership counts. There is plenty of well-researched history found in these pages. The Civil War period reminded me of flip-flopping politicians. Except, sometimes you change your mind once you've learned something. Grant learns a lot in those years. Chernow sheds light on Grant's presidency too, something often regarded as a disaster. Surely there are setbacks, but overall Grant contributes positively to the Office. Finally, the story of the post-Civil War south is heartbreaking. Chernow details the destruction of the south, its reconstruction, and its lapse back into formalized discrimination. I couldn't help but think the Union won the war but lost the peace creating a problem not resolved for another 100 years. What I found most enlightening was the portrait of the man. Grant was an introvert (I think). He showed humility; many thought him uneducated but later in life he recounted a series of obscure campaigns in detail to a dinner guest. He possessed knowledge but didn't flaunt it. Grant's positivism shines throughout his life; he always thought about the upside, even when disappointed. Probably best articulated in Shiloh when Sherman commented on a disastrous first day. Grant replied dead-pan, "Whip 'em tomorrow, though." Grant possessed an immense amount of trust, sometimes to a fault. This led to success in battle and failures elsewhere - particularly with his money. Grant's trust in and loyalty to others made him an easy to hoodwink which happened, with catastrophic effect, several times. Lastly, Grant was a student and he learned. Whether it was to become a captivating speaker or acquire a taste for power, Grant was a dynamic character who adapted over time. I clearly found this book engaging overall. It taught me a few things that I didn't realize or had forgotten about history. It filled some gaps for sure. Well balanced, it also shows a portrait of a leader with the good and the bad. A worthy read.
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Caffeine
- How Caffeine Created the Modern World
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
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Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
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Leaves much to be desired
- By Melody H on 02-02-20
- Caffeine
- How Caffeine Created the Modern World
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
Interesting...
Reviewed: 04-17-20
A great dive into the effect of the worlds BEST energy drink - coffee - though Caffeine is takes a larger look at the compound caffeine. Pollan did some great research to write this. For those coffee drinkers out there, you should fit this little gem in...and learn the up and down sides to your favorite morning drink.
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Buried Deep
- By: Margot Hunt
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
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In this pulse-pounding short thriller for fans of Big Little Lies and The Last Mrs. Parrish, Maggie Cabot refuses to sit by idly as police re-open an investigation into the mysterious death of a woman her husband used to know. After two decades in a near-perfect marriage, Maggie and James Cabot are enjoying their first year as empty-nesters in their charming Florida suburb, until two detectives arrive at their front door and change their lives forever.
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Drivel
- By Pamela B on 12-11-19
- Buried Deep
- By: Margot Hunt
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
Great Short Story
Reviewed: 04-17-20
The performance was one of the best Ive listened to in a while. I listened on a run (two actually) and it was enjoyable. Would recommend for sure!
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The Innovator's Dilemma
- When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
- By: Clayton M. Christensen
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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His work is cited by the world's best-known thought leaders, from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell. In this classic best seller - one of the most influential business books of all time - innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right - yet still lose market leadership. Christensen explains why most companies miss out on new waves of innovation.
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This book is best read, not heard
- By Andrea Rudert on 09-09-17
- The Innovator's Dilemma
- When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
- By: Clayton M. Christensen
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
Unfamiliar Territory
Reviewed: 03-07-20
Totally outside my comfort zone - learned a lot and enjoyed the journey. There is much in here that applies to other professions and life in general. Take a look if you have the time.
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Superforecasting
- The Art and Science of Prediction
- By: Philip Tetlock, Dan Gardner
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Everyone would benefit from seeing further into the future, whether buying stocks, crafting policy, launching a new product, or simply planning the week's meals. Unfortunately, people tend to be terrible forecasters. As Wharton professor Philip Tetlock showed in a landmark 2005 study, even experts' predictions are only slightly better than chance. However, an important and underreported conclusion of that study was that some experts do have real foresight.
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Great for Experts
- By Michael on 02-20-17
- Superforecasting
- The Art and Science of Prediction
- By: Philip Tetlock, Dan Gardner
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
What to predict the future? Read this and maybe...
Reviewed: 03-07-20
Tetlock references auftragstaktik, must I say more? This useful book details what Tetlock learned during the IARPA funded Good Judgment Project where they tracked predictions of about 20k people. The Superforecasters got the predictions right more than the others. More importantly, they learned how to increase success.
Predictions were specific, based on probability, and possessed a confidence rating. The experts were generally wrong because they saw everything related to their expertise. It was the generalists that did better because they tried to get as much information as possible. Experts beamed confidence while generalists were wary. Hedgehog and fox analogy here! Tetlock explains various bias traps and the wisdom of the crowd. The crowd has bits of expert knowledge and its aggregation begits better prediction.
The take-away: break predictions down into smaller problems (reductionist). Use large samples first - a reference class. For example to answer the question, does a family have a pet? Start with the average number of pets the average family owns in the area. Then look at the specific data (# kids in this family) provided to make fine adjustments to the probability.
Overall a great and insightful read...some application here too!
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Drive
- The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
- By: Daniel H. Pink
- Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money - the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction - at work, at school, and at home - is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
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Not as good as A Whole New Mind
- By Michael O'Donnell on 04-30-10
- Drive
- The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
- By: Daniel H. Pink
- Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink
Changes the way we think about rewards! Must read!
Reviewed: 03-07-20
A fantastic read about our flawed perception of motivation. Daniel Pink lays out a convincing argument that the old 'carrot & stick' approach to incentives is wrong. While a rewards & punishments approach works for simple tasks, one needs intrinsic motivation based on autonomy, competence, and purpose to accomplish complex and creative tasks. This is because we psychologically want to direct our own lives, be better than what we are; and yearn to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
A must read for anyone who aspires to lead or motivate others and commitment is valued over compliance.
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The Death of Expertise
- The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
- By: Tom Nichols
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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People are now exposed to more information than ever before, provided both by technology and by increasing access to every level of education. These societal gains, however, have also helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitarianism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues. Today, everyone knows everything and all voices demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism.
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Disappointing
- By iKlick on 09-10-17
- The Death of Expertise
- The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
- By: Tom Nichols
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
An explanation of how we got here.
Reviewed: 03-07-20
Current technology exposes people to massive and ever-increasing amounts of information. Nichols argues that this trove of knowledge paradoxically makes us dumber in his well-researched book. A small bit knowledge fuels human bias giving us a false reason to believe we are experts. The Death of Expertise lays out how we got here.
Nichols, a professor at the US Naval War College, codifies something we see every day on TV talk shows and news channels: everyone is as smart as everyone else. ‘You’re wrong’ is the same as ‘You’re stupid.’ Reasoned arguments convince nobody and how we feel rules the day. Why do we all think we’re experts? We have access to massive amounts of instantaneous information, and we lack the ability to determine if its real or fake. We need to pause and reflect but technology imbibes us to comment without thinking. Our education system gives us an inflated sense of self. Everyone gets a trophy because bad grades aren’t good for business; top grades go to our heads. These things combine in the information space that feeds bias. Antivaxxers are a notable example. Despite many scientific studies to the contrary, the idea that the MMR vaccine leads to autism still exists. No doubt this problem will grow as 5G and AI make the information we look for easier to come by.
This danger in the military is greater. We flippantly talk in terms of mastery and claim ourselves experts in the fundamentals despite changing jobs every two years or less. Our personnel system values breadth of experience and we hardly come close to hitting the 10,000-hour rule on any specific skill. Denying evidence to stay aligned with values and beliefs sounds like fighting the plan and not the enemy. How can I make the facts fit my theory? There are plenty of historical examples; the Chinese intervention in the Korean War readily comes to mind.
Nichols supplies few prescriptions. His stand-out recommendation is to develop the skill of metacognition: understanding one’s own thoughts. Studies show the less one knows about a topic, the more confident they are in their knowledge of the topic. Self-awareness might be the only way to get past this bias. But how?
Be eclectic. Get your information from various sources and perspectives. Read things that you know will piss you off and reflect. Study and be wary of bias. Take time to think. Nourish self-doubt. Question everything, especially your beliefs and cultivate someone to challenge you. This will help you realize that you do not have expert knowledge. How does the quote go? ‘The more I learn, the less I know.’ Lastly, listen to experts. That requires trust because they are not always correct. Experts have a better guess informed by their depth of knowledge.
While nothing in this book was novel, it is something to consider and worth a look to anyone who wants to better understand how we got to where we are.
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The Undoing Project
- A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Forty years ago Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original studies undoing our assumptions about the decision-making process. Their papers showed the ways in which the human mind erred systematically when forced to make judgments about uncertain situations. Their work created the field of behavioral economics, revolutionized Big Data studies, advanced evidence-based medicine, led to a new approach to government regulation, and made Michael Lewis' work possible.
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Behind the scenes of amazing science
- By Neuron on 10-16-17
- The Undoing Project
- A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
A fantastic tale!
Reviewed: 03-07-20
This is the story of the partnership between Amos Tversky and Danny Kahneman who upended rational decision-making theory and tied economics to psychology. Their creative process was fueled by curiosity, not passion. They asked interesting questions about why things were, the way they were. They were not afraid to be wrong; “If you have [an idea] that doesn’t work out, don’t fight hard to save it. Find another.” Most importantly, they used each other to reflect, process, and crystalize their theories.
Lewis is a captivating storyteller who kept me entertained while laying out the enormous amount of work these scholars undertook over a lifetime. Their discovery did not come from a eureka moment but from a curiosity. One of Kahneman’s colleagues always complained that everyone acted like an idiot when confronted by economic matters. That was odd, they thought, because at the time all economic models required a rational thinker. Their investigation found human logic failure was not based on emotion, as thought, but by failures in human cognition.
Kahneman found Israeli fighter pilots tended to perform better after an instructor criticized them or worse after they were praised. The instructors, however, only realized the former. Kahneman discovered this was simply a regression to the mean and retrieved the data to prove it. Punishment and praise had no measurable effect on a pilot’s performance. The big ideas do not stop there. Lewis takes us on a survey of useful thoughts: prospect theory, heuristics, the cocktail party effect, the gambler’s fallacy, the fallacy of small samples, hindsight bias, the hot-hand fallacy, confirmation bias, and the 7 plus/minus 2 rule to name only a few.
My take-away centered on a discussion of human nature. ‘People predict future events by making up stories because we are deterministic. We love a narrative and will accept any explanation if it fits the facts, ignoring what we do not see. We decide based on how we understand the story, not how probable the story is.’ How do we guard against this on the battlefield?
If you want to read Thinking, Fast and Slow, or want to know how instinctive versus deliberative thinking came about, this is a great primer. Lewis describes the history of two critical thinkers and how they were able to keep coming up with ideas by asking the right questions, distilling their ideas through discourse, and finally by testing their assumptions. A history of creativity worth a look.
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