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Random Rationality: A Rational Guide to an Irrational World
What is the Meaning of Life? What is God? What does the future look like? Why are our democratic and economic institutions failing? All these questions and more explored and answered in this riveting new book by Fourat Janabi. While seemingly random in its width and breadth, Random Rationality tackles 20 issues from 5 disciplines that when woven together, paint a picture of the world today; both negative and positive. All the while explaining the subject matter critically, rationally and simply including Philosophy, Science, Politics, Economics and Technology.
A succinct, alarming, funny, and direct guide to our little planet and the people on it. It may make you upset, belittled, or feel hopeless, but it is equally like you to make you empowered, opinionated and informed.
A succinct, alarming, funny, and direct guide to our little planet and the people on it. It may make you upset, belittled, or feel hopeless, but it is equally like you to make you empowered, opinionated and informed.
180 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 2012
30 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Fourat Janabi
3 books8 followersI am a reader, a photographer, an explorer, and an idiot. Because of these qualities, I like to think I’m silly enough to write a book.
I’ve worked in Baghdad while a war was waging, in Bahrain while riots were ensuing, and in Saudi Arabia where women don’t exist. I lived in Italy where a simple task takes five days, and in Australia, where men wearing pink shirts is the new norm. While exploring twenty-five countries on five continents, and speaking bad Italian, horrible Spanish and passable Arabic, I’ve befriended Americans, Italians, Brazilians, Australians, Arabs, Chileans and New Zealanders all while faithfully and stupidly remaining the odd one out.
Through four years of craziness, staring death in the face on four occasions, meeting hundreds of beautiful people, and exploring new cultures, I now feel arrogant and important enough to commit my overvalued thoughts to fake paper and tell people what to think. The culmination of this randomness, is ‘Random Rationality: A Rational Guide to an Irrational World‘.
The first, and hopefully not last, book, of aspiring idiot, Fourat Janabi.
I’ve worked in Baghdad while a war was waging, in Bahrain while riots were ensuing, and in Saudi Arabia where women don’t exist. I lived in Italy where a simple task takes five days, and in Australia, where men wearing pink shirts is the new norm. While exploring twenty-five countries on five continents, and speaking bad Italian, horrible Spanish and passable Arabic, I’ve befriended Americans, Italians, Brazilians, Australians, Arabs, Chileans and New Zealanders all while faithfully and stupidly remaining the odd one out.
Through four years of craziness, staring death in the face on four occasions, meeting hundreds of beautiful people, and exploring new cultures, I now feel arrogant and important enough to commit my overvalued thoughts to fake paper and tell people what to think. The culmination of this randomness, is ‘Random Rationality: A Rational Guide to an Irrational World‘.
The first, and hopefully not last, book, of aspiring idiot, Fourat Janabi.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 20, 2013
When I reviewed the first edition of this book, I wrote,” Unassuming, universally written with sharp wit and charm, the first pages catch and you want to read on. Although Janabi never professes to be an expert… ”
In this, the special extended version of his book, I want to take that back. Janabi is something of an expert.
In this reworked version of “Random Rationality”, the book has more meat, more substance, more catch – this second edition elevates what was an interesting and entertaining read to greatness – I cannot put my finger on what I didn’t read before, but now this is a masterclass on thought in way the first edition was the thesis. This book is as good as (the oft-quoted by Janabi) Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” (For a real piece of existentialism at work, go for the “universe” section. It blew my mind a little), or Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s “The Black Swan”. This book should be up there on the shelves of every library, filed under “Epistemology”. Students and entrepreneurs should read it. Someone should vote Janabi into some kind of culture-changing council. I actually believe this kind of thinking might just save our species, might just save this planet.
The introduction, which before led nicely into the subjects now heightens the reader to receive the thoughts Janabi poses: not as a lecture, as some books of this ilk tend to churn, but as conversation: he is an accomplished thinker. It comes as no surprise that Janabi is also an experienced photographer because he really sees the world for what it is; through a macro lens not many of us have in our possession.
And now each topic shines in succinct chapters. The section on the existence of God stands out for me; the logic so circular that it feels cynical to “believe” after reading it, “Institutionalized religion, by way of the carrot-and-stick of heaven and hell (sic), simply makes it easy – or easier – for agendas of powers to manifest themselves and abuse the millions under their mental sway, “ backing this theory with great quotes, including one of my favorites, Karl Popper, “A theory that explains everything explains nothing.” Which in a way, is why this book is so clever – it doesn’t “explain” everything. Where other (lesser) authors would try to close gaps and end up conveying ineptitude and arrogance, Janabi includes only his feelings and thoughts, humbly wrapped in a simple-to-use scientific discourse. Nothing is conclusive or stopped, but instead well- traveled and fluid, using erudite musings and literary examples to fully illustrate his points, along with amusing anecdotes from his own life. I just keep agreeing with this guy over and over again, even when I didn’t want to.
Overall, “Random Rationality” has some real pearls, and despite the author’s reluctance to own up to being something of a great writer, (he calls himself an idiot) he is actually an accomplished observer and communicator, who would do well do carve himself a niche as a futures speaker. His political chapter, “Is politics relevant?”(“The human mind, which neuroscience has shown to be inherently biased, though more importantly, unable to impartially view and act upon information presented to itself, no matter the circumstance”) stands out as a potential TED talk for example. Someone give this guy a book deal already.
In this, the special extended version of his book, I want to take that back. Janabi is something of an expert.
In this reworked version of “Random Rationality”, the book has more meat, more substance, more catch – this second edition elevates what was an interesting and entertaining read to greatness – I cannot put my finger on what I didn’t read before, but now this is a masterclass on thought in way the first edition was the thesis. This book is as good as (the oft-quoted by Janabi) Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” (For a real piece of existentialism at work, go for the “universe” section. It blew my mind a little), or Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s “The Black Swan”. This book should be up there on the shelves of every library, filed under “Epistemology”. Students and entrepreneurs should read it. Someone should vote Janabi into some kind of culture-changing council. I actually believe this kind of thinking might just save our species, might just save this planet.
The introduction, which before led nicely into the subjects now heightens the reader to receive the thoughts Janabi poses: not as a lecture, as some books of this ilk tend to churn, but as conversation: he is an accomplished thinker. It comes as no surprise that Janabi is also an experienced photographer because he really sees the world for what it is; through a macro lens not many of us have in our possession.
And now each topic shines in succinct chapters. The section on the existence of God stands out for me; the logic so circular that it feels cynical to “believe” after reading it, “Institutionalized religion, by way of the carrot-and-stick of heaven and hell (sic), simply makes it easy – or easier – for agendas of powers to manifest themselves and abuse the millions under their mental sway, “ backing this theory with great quotes, including one of my favorites, Karl Popper, “A theory that explains everything explains nothing.” Which in a way, is why this book is so clever – it doesn’t “explain” everything. Where other (lesser) authors would try to close gaps and end up conveying ineptitude and arrogance, Janabi includes only his feelings and thoughts, humbly wrapped in a simple-to-use scientific discourse. Nothing is conclusive or stopped, but instead well- traveled and fluid, using erudite musings and literary examples to fully illustrate his points, along with amusing anecdotes from his own life. I just keep agreeing with this guy over and over again, even when I didn’t want to.
Overall, “Random Rationality” has some real pearls, and despite the author’s reluctance to own up to being something of a great writer, (he calls himself an idiot) he is actually an accomplished observer and communicator, who would do well do carve himself a niche as a futures speaker. His political chapter, “Is politics relevant?”(“The human mind, which neuroscience has shown to be inherently biased, though more importantly, unable to impartially view and act upon information presented to itself, no matter the circumstance”) stands out as a potential TED talk for example. Someone give this guy a book deal already.
August 31, 2012
This was my first 'win' from the Goodreads First Reads program! That being said, I was charmed by the title and the synopsis, "A succinct, alarming, funny, and direct guide to our little planet and the people on it. It may make you upset, belittled, or feel hopeless, but it is equally likely to make you empowered, opinionated and informed."
I will admit that the first few chapters were shaky for me. Janabi wasn't kidding when he put the word 'random' in the title of his book. His thoughts are truly all over the place at times. I think by the time I got to the "Political Relevance" chapter (#11) I was hooked and finished it the same evening. From this point of the book forward, Janabi is talking about real life - the life and times we are living in today - and his take on what we can all do to make this world sustainable in the future. I live in Wisconsin, home of the governor recall and all sorts of other messes during 2012, and now the presidential election is looming this fall. I definitely agree with a lot of Janabi's discussion of politicians and couldn't agree more with his suggestion to limit politicians to a 5 year term and then boot them out. Get rid of all of these lifetime politicians who are only working to get their oily selves re-elected.
I also enjoyed chapter 13 "Drug War's Inhumanity." I thought Janabi put forth a good argument for the legalizing of current illegal drugs. The stats put forth on the money wasted fighting the 'drug war' are astounding!
After reading this book, I will definitely research Google's self-driving "G-cars" - the example given about what a family of 3 can do with a G-car is astounding. I also had a decent discussion with my husband about a few topics from the book - which is a nice change of pace for me as a stay-at-home mom of 2 boys. Anything that doesn't involve time-outs or diapers is great. Reading this text actually made me think back to one of my favorite college professors - it seems like a book he might enjoy.
Overall, a good read and especially fun to read now because it is so current. I would note that I love the cover design of the book, however, I'm not sure if Janabi intended the word philosophy to be spelled "philisophy" on the front cover.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this through the Goodreads First Reads program.
I will admit that the first few chapters were shaky for me. Janabi wasn't kidding when he put the word 'random' in the title of his book. His thoughts are truly all over the place at times. I think by the time I got to the "Political Relevance" chapter (#11) I was hooked and finished it the same evening. From this point of the book forward, Janabi is talking about real life - the life and times we are living in today - and his take on what we can all do to make this world sustainable in the future. I live in Wisconsin, home of the governor recall and all sorts of other messes during 2012, and now the presidential election is looming this fall. I definitely agree with a lot of Janabi's discussion of politicians and couldn't agree more with his suggestion to limit politicians to a 5 year term and then boot them out. Get rid of all of these lifetime politicians who are only working to get their oily selves re-elected.
I also enjoyed chapter 13 "Drug War's Inhumanity." I thought Janabi put forth a good argument for the legalizing of current illegal drugs. The stats put forth on the money wasted fighting the 'drug war' are astounding!
After reading this book, I will definitely research Google's self-driving "G-cars" - the example given about what a family of 3 can do with a G-car is astounding. I also had a decent discussion with my husband about a few topics from the book - which is a nice change of pace for me as a stay-at-home mom of 2 boys. Anything that doesn't involve time-outs or diapers is great. Reading this text actually made me think back to one of my favorite college professors - it seems like a book he might enjoy.
Overall, a good read and especially fun to read now because it is so current. I would note that I love the cover design of the book, however, I'm not sure if Janabi intended the word philosophy to be spelled "philisophy" on the front cover.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this through the Goodreads First Reads program.
August 21, 2012
The author pegged himself as arrogant, and arrogant is exactly how he comes across in this book. His arguments are quite valid and he stands on firm foundations with most of them, but his delivery is, at times, harsh. If you don't mind having your beliefs offended, it is a book worth reading.
September 23, 2012
It's a very interesting book. Although it oversimplifies a few points, like the crony capitalism chapter, it explores in a fun and exciting way interesting subjects of our days. It kindles our interest in various topics instigating us to seek further knowledge. It's definitely an exciting start point for a curious mind.
December 10, 2012
i love it u have made certain core stuffs of life look so simple and logical.
September 23, 2012
if you buy this book and read nothing else read the free will chapter. i was lsughing and agreeing. the book will piss you off or nod in agreement.
July 13, 2022
Excellent book!!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews