How We Decide

Nice book about the workings of the prefrontal cortex. Apparently the prefrontal cortex and our emotions help us make the bulk of our decisions. It discusses what happens when the prefrontal cortex does not work well and how it becomes adept at making certain types of decisions.

One complaint I have about the book is that it seems to be a compilation of various research done by other people rather than original content from the author. It is of course nice to have all the material assembled in one place, but I thought when you write a book one should have something new to say? Or have the rules changed?

Interesting read though.

My Guantanamo Diary

I would say this is a must read, not because it is a literary achievement, but because of the importance of the subject matter. In a climate where tolerance is an exception, such books bring to light the culture and thinking of a people who have been misunderstood and considered warlords for centuries. It is perhaps true that there are warlords among the Afghans, but most of them are simple people who manage their daily lives as best as they can, without any animosity towards westerners.

My biggest shock was in finding out how a large number of Gitmo prisoners ended up there - the Americans had declared a $25,000 reward for anyone who gave them information regarding members of the Taliban. In a war torn and famine ridden country, that amount tempted the not so morally upright into pointing at anyone they had even slight greivances against, resulting in mass arrests of ordinary people who had no connections to the Taliban. Americans will possibly never understand that such a thing could happen, because they dont live in the level of poverty that Afghans do.

The sad part is that once reported against, the poor suspects were immediately arrested and brought to Gauntanamo. There, they were not even allowed lawyers, were tortured continuously, and denied connection with their family for years. It is sad how an innocent person's life is affected by an event that was beyond their control. Who can compensate them for the lost years and hardship caused? Who can compensate for what their loved ones missed?