Seeing Like a State

“Out of the Crisis” by Demming: helped me see the best way to manage projects isn’t always about fixing problems, it starts with reducing uncertainty. “Seeing like a state”, “Knowledge and Power”, and “Antifragile”, top down control of a system always clashes with bottom up understanding, so experts in a field need humility when working with a new system and need to learn from the people who work with it every day. “Critique of Pure Reason”, there are things we can’t know using only logic, so don’t try to use it to understand everything.

This book is next on my reading list. One question that's come to mind before having read the book is if Singapore is an example of a highly-legible planned state's success?

"Seeing Like a State" by James C. Scott I started my career in international development, and the book above provides a dozen case studies on states using scientific management, stats, etc. to try and control their growth/populations/economies and failing miserably. It is a beautiful book in that it illustrates how difficult it is to actually manage a country and economy well, especially if you are trying to completely change it (i.e., "develop" it, solve poverty, etc.). It humbled me as a 22 year old "professional" wanting to fix the world. "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs is a close second to this theme of economic, technocratic development. EDIT: I notice 22 upvotes. WOW! If you are a fan of this book or curious to hear more, please comment. Happy to elaborate. If you want a third book, The Evolution of Civilizations[1] is another fun one here. It tries to apply scientific principles and hypothesis testing to historical analysis! [1] https://10millionsteps.com/review-evolution-of-civilizations

The following have all had a significant effect on my worldview. You can find more information at [1]. - The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany - Thinking, Fast and Slow - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Crime and Punishment - The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York - Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity - Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead - Franny and Zooey - Master of the Senate - Atlas Shrugged - Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed - Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics - The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't - Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World - Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones - Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow…

I read Seeing Like A State exactly around this time last year, and boy did I enjoy it. It somehow went well while reading Nassim Taleb’s Skin In The Game. One was an application of the other.

Books I'm glad I've read: The Inner Game of Tennis Impro by Keith Johnstone Seeing Like a State The Timeless Way of Building Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (read this one thrice) The Tao of Pooh Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd The Drama of the Gifted Child Interaction Ritual What Do You Say After You Say Hello? Of niche use: Mathematics: its Content, Methods and Meaning - mostly useful for figuring out what math you don't know. I recommend reading it at a fairly decent pace, and noting what subjects don't sound like an overview of something you've already learned.

Seeing like a state http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0300078153 Riches for the poor: The Clemente course in humanities http://books.google.com/books/about/Riches_for_the_Poor.html... (http://books.google.com/books/about/Riches_for_the_Poor.html?id=ltZXCvg4ubAC)