Changing 'My' Perceptions About Israel..You Should Too

Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle

This is an enjoyable read that highlights how Israel has come to become such a leader in high tech startups. It is quick, light reading that explores the historical and cultural aspects that lead so many Israelis to pursue entrepreneurship. In Israel, it seems, there is a culture that embraces the questioning of authority, a flat hierarchical structure across society, and risk seeking behavior. It is amazing how a small country surrounded by enemies (the Arabs), no natural resources, constant state of war (14 military conflicts since 1948) and cut off from several major ports of commerce is able to do so much. Did you know these facts about Israel?

With a population of only 7.1 million:
[1] As of 2012, Israel ranks 16th among 187 nations on the UN's Human Development Index, which places it in the category of "Very Highly Developed".

[2] After the USA, Israel has more companies listed on the NASDAQ (US tech stock exchange) than any other country in the world, including India, China, Korea, Singapore, Ireland and all of Europe combined.

[3] Israel is also the world leader in the percentage of the economy devoted to research and development at 4.5% of GDP. Japan is at a distant 2nd with 3.2% of GDP and United States in third place at 2.7% of GDP.

[4] Israel is the world leader in venture capital dollars raised per capita - coming at 2.5 times the next most venture capital intensive country - United States. More than x30 greater than the entire Europe, x80 greater than China and x350 greater than India.

[5]  Israel has the highest number of scientists, technicians, and engineers per capita in the world with 140 scientists, technicians, and engineers per 10,000 employees. In comparison, the same is 85 per 10,000 in the United States and 83 per 10,000 in Japan.

[6] The Israeli economy is ranked as the world's most durable economy in the face of crises, and is also ranked first in the rate research and development center investments.

At 295 pages, it's very difficult for me to summarize the book into a few statements let alone paragraphs. You have to read it to believe it. Believe me..it's pretty illuminating not only for other countries, but also for business people, organizations, investors and entrepreneurs. Meanwhile this is also a good read: Changing Perceptions About Israel and a short video about the country of Israel.

A Review of The Compass of Pleasure

The Compass of Pleasure

This is a second book by the author and also neuroscientist David J. Linden (though I never had the chance to read his first book: The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God). It touches upon the pursuit of pleasure by man and how such pursuits can become compulsive and ultimately lead to addiction. He makes a point. Too much pleasure is replaced by desire while liking becomes wanting. It maybe well-explained and not so much dumbed down but it is still rather a challenging book to read because there is hardcore biology inside. 

He explains much on how we pursuit pleasure in many ways. We spend a tremendous amount of our time and resources pursuing them. Pleasure being a key motivator of our lives is a keen to learning; we find food, water and sex in order to survive as a species.  

There's commentaries on gambling, drugs, meditation, exercise, spicy food, fast food, smoking, giving to charity and how they can all be linked to pleasure and in extreme cases: addiction. Some things activate a lot of our pleasure circuit and is carries a substantial risk of addiction (heroin, cocaine & certain medical drugs). Others carry little or no risk of addiction such as alcohol, smoking cannabis (weed), smoking tobacco or gambling simply because they weakly activate the pleasure circuit. However they can have the same effect as the first if done too frequently. He explains it all with his abundant use of personal anecdotes and penetrating observations.

Still some his commentary made it difficult to comprehend. One good example can be found here along the lines of "The author argues that addiction is a disease and addicts should not be held responsible. Because they are blameless victims of e.g. heart disease they should however be ultimately be responsible for their own recovery." Huh? He argues that some individuals have greater risk to addiction due to their genetic makeup and he tries to expose the science behind our vices and virtues. 

It's roughly 200 pages thick and I finished it in two days, it was pleasurable to read but don't try to read when you feel sleepy :) Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who loves non-fiction titles with a touch of biology plus if you like watching documentaries like Discovery Channel's Curiosity. 

Happy Reading!!~!