Favourite Books of 2020

When some of us had more time to read than usual…

Happy New Year to you! (Although if you’re in the US, it may not be so happy thus far — and you have my condolences, commiserations, and sympathy.)

I took a blissful two weeks (mostly) offline over my birthday (it’s not too late to wish me a happy one!), Christmas and New Year. Towards the middle of December I noticed I was feeling really tired, and realised I hadn’t had a holiday since sometime in 2019, and I’m not even sure I had one then. This is the mixed blessing of doing work I love — even though my work inspires and energises me, I still need a break occasionally. So I cleared my diary for two weeks, to do precisely whatever I felt like doing, and have come back feel refreshed.

Part of what I felt like doing was a review of 2020, including a review of what I’ve learned and what topics have fascinated me.

High-level Summary of 2020’s Shiny New Ideas

(with links to associated blog posts):

• Reality, especially recognising that reality is not a bunch of static objects, but rather a web of interlocking complex systems, giving rise to emergent properties (and emergent solutions) at the edge of chaos
• Taoism, Buddhism and the cycles of life