Society – Page 3 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Radical Inclusion: Seven Steps to Help You Create a More Just Workplace, Home & World

By Scott J. Pearson | June 4, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

David Moinina Sengeh was seemingly at the peak of a great career triumph. Educated in America at Harvard and MIT, he was now a governmental cabinet member of education in his home country Sierra Leone. However, at the very beginning of his president’s term, the president – his boss – said that he would maintain the previous regime’s policy of banning pregnant girls from school. To most, this move seemed to make sense. However, to…

Healthcare Science Society

How to Prevent the Next Pandemic

By Scott J. Pearson | April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Pandemics were on global leaders’ agendas before 2020, but since no global catastrophe happened since 1918, most did not prioritize these concerns. I hope that will not happen as much going forward. Preventative work has gained a new life. Bill Gates, co-founder of both Microsoft and the philanthropic Gates Foundation, uses his privileged, bird’s-eye view to organize what work can be done to avoid the “next pandemic.” Though humanity has moved onto other challenges, doing…

Society

The Trayvon Generation: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

By Scott J. Pearson | February 19, 2023February 19, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

It would be hard for me to be critical of this book, but fortunately, I do not need to be. I listened to it in audiobook form and progressed through it quickly. It reads like a series of sermons – jeremiads of sorts – admonishing us to value human life in every form. As alluded to in the title, they focus on concerns about race. As an American white man, I am systemically complicit and…

Biography-Memoir Healthcare Science Society

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing & the Future of the Human Race

By Scott J. Pearson | December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In our generation, codes comprise some of the most interesting subjects of study. We code computers to do work for us; we also are beginning to decode the genetic code to propel life forward. The discovery of CRISPR promises to allow us to edit the human genome, and Professor Doudna sits among this innovation’s prime discoverers. Along with another female scientist Professor Charpentier, she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020. This biography, written…

Society Writing-Communication

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

By Scott J. Pearson | December 4, 2022December 4, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This book, originally published in 1985, warns against the proliferation of television media replacing printed texts. Much of Postman’s case comes across as a tome against television and cites renowned authors like Aldous Huxley and Marshall McLuhan in support of his thesis. However, 35-40 years after its original publishing, it’s easy to see how digital media (i.e., the computer and the Internet) have continued to revolutionize America’s information intake. Our goal now is simply to…

Healthcare Society

Bodies & Barriers: Queer Activists on Health

By Scott J. Pearson | November 14, 2022November 14, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Healthcare matters, almost by definition, are anxiety-ridden events. Few, if any, people go to doctors for mere enjoyment. If added to that anxiety lies further anxiety about who one loves or how one feels comfortable about their own body, the outcome of a medical transaction can be negatively impacted. Negative healthcare outcomes can lead to decreased quality of life or even length of life. Few people would wish for this, even for people who think,…

Psychology Society

Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection & Bridging Divides

By Scott J. Pearson | November 2, 2022November 2, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In recent decades, American society has collectively forgotten the virtue of fostering belonging in others. There seem to be many causes contributing to this central effect – political partisanship, technology, police injustices, lingering racism, the capitalistic thrust of media, and more. Cohen, a Stanford psychology professor, takes aim at this rich topic by presenting a comprehensive theory driven by research and then drawing out several practical applications. He does so to help modern social problems…

Kids Society

PEREMOHA: Victory for Ukraine

By Scott J. Pearson | October 8, 2022October 8, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

The plight of the Ukrainian people in 2022 has been seen and felt across the world. Most humans sympathize with a country whom a rival invaded for doing nothing but existing. Generally, I have mixed feelings about war because it’s incredibly destructive towards universal human life, but the philosophical category of a just war surely exists for situations like these. The Ukrainian military needs to be supported to defend their right to exist. This short…

Fiction-Stories History Society

Well Behaved Wives: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | October 6, 2022October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

The 1960s were transformative years for America, particularly for women. Coming out of the 1950s, many women felt constrained by limiting gender roles. However, in the early 1960s, feminism had not yet taken deep root. Women began to ask spiritual questions about whether there was more to life than being “well behaved.” This book chronicles women’s challenges of this era while shining light on repressive issues like domestic violence. Ruth Applebaum is a newlywed with…