My name is Joe Gianotti, and I've taught English at Lowell High School for 28 years. I have an undergraduate degree in English and History from the University of Indianapolis, an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education from Calumet College of St. Joseph's, and a masters degree in English from Purdue University. My channel is devoted to AP English Language videos, my greyhounds, and quick critiques of books I'm reading.
Just finished it, pretty good book. I didn’t really learn much about autism that I didn’t already know as a fellow autistic person. But the way she described things and her perspective on her neurotype were cool. I think this would be a good book for neurotypical loved ones of autistic people to read to help understand them better.
You did not like the book because he challenges the false narrative you have been fed. No respectable historian refers to the period as "Dark Ages," which is the clearest evidence that you are stuck in the false narrative. You also want to diminish the point that slavery was practiced by ALL nations, as was war and imperialism. He quotes many, many eminent historians and sociologists, so you can't complain that his data and ideas are fringe. You criticize his data without counter data and misunderstand his points. He never says Christianity is better. He gives credit to Christianity as one of several factors (others include disruption of Empires, Roman and Carolingen; influence of Germanic region). His main point is that democracy, capitalism, ending slavery, science all happened at a particular time, in a particular place and those blessings and hallmarks of modernity evolved, not by brilliant Enlightenmwnt thinkers, but was a natural progression from the previous 1000 years, not "dark," but rich in technological, philosophical, and economic innovation.
Thank you for your comment. Do you have a recommendation of another book I could read so that I would understand this book better? Thank you for your help.
Hey good video! small critique, the audio in this video was very quiet. i dont know if you use any editing software to produce your videos but ive noticed its a common trend across your videos. good thoughts though. thanks for the video.
~15:30 you say, *" I think that had this not happened, he would be considered one of the greatest presidents."* But people consider all manner of stupid things, don't they? I recall you read a book of Hitchens's. Are you aware of his book on Clinton? And regarding the smarts of the average Joe, don't forget that many can be, with very little enticement, become nothing more than clapping seals. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HECI4QK_mXA.htmlsi=45ig7kfGGLnjUHBB
I cannot cite a specific source. I can only say that I've read about Columbus and his men purposely giving blankets ridden with small pox to natives. I hope that my lack of surety came through in the video. As I said, I can't cite it in a specific text, but I'm also not well read in that area of history. Do you disagree? Or, do you have a source I could read? Thank you for your question.
The movie has nothing on the book. It tells a completely different story, a simplified one, having completely stripped off all the heavy themes and elements of the book. Watching the movie first may be a great error, as it sets one up with expectations that aren't part of the original story and one turns on a blind eye on the things they should be paying attention to instead.
@@josephgianotti7963 Disagree with what? Liking movies over books for simplicity and ease-of-thought is apples and oranges, but that doesn't mean what I said about the movie stripping away the book's themes and meaning isn't factual. Like the relationship between the protagonist and her husband you mentioned - the books deal with introvertism, refusal to be changed by other people, realisation of errors that could've been amended but now it's too late, and her final quest to find out what happened to her likely dead (or rather, not-alive-as-we-know-it) husband. The film is just Hollywood love drama tropes with a cliche cliffhanger ending.
@@josephgianotti7963 Have you read it? Remember those annoying questions on high school English test asking what the theme of the book was? Hitch helped us out here by an amazingly candid admission, In the preface on page xiii "A continuous theme in Hitch-22 is the requirement, exacted by a life of repeated contradictions, to keep two sets of books." If you haven't read it yet but still intend to, I'd recommend you underline the instances of "two sets of books." throughout. Then, we can compare notes.
"If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." Sadly, as he had a stubborn and unrepentant heart, Christopher is at the bottom of the sea.
"A class on atheism" lmao Atheism means the lack of belief in a god or gods. You want a class on the lack of belief in something that doesn't exist? OKAY DUDE
@@JoeyP946but then there would be no difference between you and my lampshade: you both lack belief in God. My lampshade isn’t taking part in online discussions on the topic, or reading books on the subject. I’d be highly suspicious that it has more than a ‘lack of belief,’ if it was commenting on atheist reading material. You won’t find “lack of belief” argued in any serious discussion on the topic because both sides understand it is merely an empty semantic gesture. Ricky Gervais might trot that line out, but no philosophers on the subject would do so. Now, if I asked my lampshade to affirm or deny the proposition, “the Christian God exists,” it wouldn’t be able to respond, because it lacks the ability to think and form opinions on topics. You, however, can say, ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ or ‘I don’t know.’ If you say yes, you are a theist, if you say no, you are an atheist. If you say, I don’t know, you are an agnostic. Richard Dawkins says, “There is almost certainly no God.” He didn’t say, “my lack of belief explains there is no God.” Atheists are waaaay more active in this debate to simply ‘lack belief.’
@@JS-ln4ns You can't prove that a God does not exist, which is why most Atheists that I know, take the position of "I do not accept your claims of God because of a lack of evidence"... The allmighty flying invisible spaghetti monster is an often used example What do motivations and actions of people who say they are an atheist have to do with the definition of the word atheist? Pick up a dictionary and read what it says. Atheist debaters often say their positions, Hitchens said he was an Anti theist and a humanist. Each atheist has their own 20 descriptions for the things that they believe and accept, which is completely separate from the fact that they lack a belief in God. My thoughts on the big bang have nothing to do with me not believing the bible. My thoughts on evolution have nothing to do with not believing the bible. My thoughts on morals or free will or objective truth have nothing to do with not believing. Some atheists debate their position from a biological point of view, some are astronomers, or physicists, or historians, each with their own reasons and perspective on why they don't believe in God. I don't get how "atheists" debating religious people somehow means that atheism means more than it is.
You give it an A+. Any self interest in giving it that grade? Here is an atheist with some qualifications seemingly giving it a slightly lower grade. "Second, unlike the new atheists, I take scholarship seriously. I have written that The God Delusion made me ashamed to be an atheist and I meant it." - Michael Ruse
Einstein was NOT an atheist; this is canard regularly spread by atheists. In fact, and on the contrary, he absolutely loathed being associated with them. Read 'Einstein on Religion' by his friend Max Jammer wherein the great man reveals himself as a deist. Other notable figures from the history of science who were also NOT of the Dawkins cohort: Newton (yes, really ), Darwin (ditto), Max Planck, and Erwin Schrodinger, Fred Hoyle, and Freeman Dyson, who described himself as a "non-denominational Christian". Indeed there are many notable figures in science who are avowed people of faith, not least Francis Collins and John Lennox.
This book is useful if you run out of toilet paper, or need kindling to start a nice warm fire in the fireplace, so you can read the Holy Bible and be comfortable on a cold winter night.
Use the evil Bible as toilet paper while reading the only god's, Christopher Hitchens, book? I gotchu 😅😅 tbf I have a severe case of diarrhoea Jesus will have to deal with
@@bobs182 Yeah, because it's such a new bestseller, everytime it needs fine tuning, right? How else would we justify all the new changes and contradictions happening in the modern world. Not to mention all the self-defeating verses added to the Bible that makes it shoot its own feet. And what makes you think I haven't read the bible? Do you think it became the greatest best seller in the whole wide world in a vacuum? Statistically most people have read it more than Harry Potter. Although Harry Potter has greater depth, morals and wisdom and no one can use it to enslave, subjugate or commit violence against minorities and weaklings.
If atheists are searching for truth, why must they always delete/hide my replies? That alone proves that they are having a very private and secret struggle with God...who they know full well exists. My reply @ga6589 can still be seen by selecting "Newest" on the comment filter. *Christopher Hitchens* Christopher Hitchens was deeply involved in homosexuality while he was in college. He eventually married a woman. To deal with the battle raging withing his conscience, he spent the rest of his life going around telling everyone, *"God can't be God because a God wouldn't care about what you do with your private parts."* Don't let your secret struggle with God darken your thinking process to where you're thinking your foolishness is your wisdom.
Good call, good book. For those intimidated by the sheer size of TPA it's a surprisingly quick and easy read and of course like all compilations you can dip in and out of it as it suits you. I might have been tempted to change the sub to "Essential Readings for the BELIEVER" because they're the ones who really need it.
Atheist= Someone who doesn't accept non-evidenitary claims, whether they're about gods or leprechauns. Sounds like you're offended when we point this out.
@@ga6589 You have the evidence and have deliberately misinterpreted it and mislabeled it. 1) "Nothing" exploded and became everything. We know this because everything seems to be moving away from a central point. *Yet, a created functional universe must expand, or it will implode.* 2) Chemicals under certain conditions created the first simple cell, all on their own. *We now know that a "simple cell" is more complex than a large functioning city. There is no such thing as a simple cell.* 3) DNA is a product of time, natural forces, mutations and natural selection. *DNA is billions of digitally coded instructions on how to build, maintain, repair and reproduce an organism. There are also billions of digitally coded instructions on how to build, maintain, repair and reproduce the DNA itself. Amazingly, this code is written both forward and backward in the same strand with different instructions for different purposes in each direction. Each and every cell in the human body has about a six foot strand of DNA. If strung together, one human's DNA would go to the edge of our known solar system and back.* God said that the knowledge each generation has possessed has been enough evidence to prove his existence. *Men are without an excuse.* Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, *so that men are without excuse.* For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. *Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools*
@@ga6589 If atheists are searching for truth, why must they always delete/hide my replies? That alone proves that they are having a very private and secret struggle with God...who they know full well exists. My reply can still be seen by selecting "Newest" on the comment filter.
I love Paige and have great respect for her. She was one of my earliest influences when I started to explore my Autistic identity in earnest during the pandemic. However, when I noticed the book had a great big endorsement from Temple Grandin on the cover (which I'm guessing was her publisher's doing), I couldn't bring myself to buy it. If that endorsement convinced more people to buy the book than to stay away from it, great for Paige and her publisher, but I won't spend money on anything even tangentially linked to Grandin.
Wow! This comment made me look into Temple Grandin a bit more (I've seen the movie but I don't actually know much about her as a person) and some of the things she's said about autism are wild! So strange considering she's autistic herself. When I googled it I found this: 'Grandin advocates for eugenics of whom she calls “low functioning” autistic people: “In an ideal world the scientist should find a method to prevent the most severe forms of autism but allow the milder forms to survive.”' Yikes! So many people (including me) didn't know about this.
@@pigeon4511 I wonder if Paige is even aware of that. I feel like she wouldn't have let Temple Grandin have anything to do with her book if she knew. She literally talks about ableism, including eugenics and the whole Hans Asperger situation in her book too.
I've read an early review copy of this book from NetGalley (a review website) and it's really amazing how the author doesn't give up facing bullying, being misunderstood, criticized by teachers, or even her own mother not coping with her daughter's diagnosis. She's so positive and persistent despite all odds.
her book was already on my tbr list, but seeing this makes me wanna move it to the top now haha. im autistic and paige layle is one of the best autistic creators out there! i dont know if you take recommendations, but i would like to name drop chloe hayden's book "different, not less" which is also a great read about this topic. and in case you're interested in understanding trans experiences, since you mentioned wanting to understand all your students better, i wanna say jamie raines has a fantastic book called "the t in lgbt". happy reading :D
I am reading it now. When you said that you were listening to an audiobook, I immediately thought “ I can’t imagine how that would go with the narrative jumps”. But yes, I agree it is excellent Atwood. What did you think of “Cats Eye”? I enjoyed that one too.
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Read this about ten years ago. Great book, but like you said, its a little deep towards the end. If I was to ever read it again I'm sure Id pick up on more of the information
Great book. He basically confirmed what I had figured out during my life. God did not create us, but we created God. It is in a way a depressive thought because you realise that we have had so much misery as a result of religion and totally unnecessary.
The delusion is there is no GOD! God is real, God is active, and God is more relevant then in any other day! Small and large atomic attraction, where does the energy come from to hold your atoms together? Where does the information come from that is encoded in your cells? What instructs a ribosome to put together strings of RNA to make DNA? The Lord God is coming again soon! This time will be about paying the price of denial! Are you ready? Are you born again in Christ Jesus? I urge you to repent and be saved by the ONLY SOURCE OF LOVE, and POWER, Yeshua Adonai Ha-mashiach! Jesus Christ the Lord!
It’s definitely a wonderful book! I’d say it’s the first book that gets you thinking. I’d recommend reading “Why We Believe In Gods” it’s a great book that goes in the evolutionary reasons for belief.
I just finished listening to the audiobook today. Great breakdown and well stated to not lose sight of the purpose of allegorical storytelling and critical analysis of author history. Definitely want to explore the version you mentioned and check out a different translation. The one I read had the housekeeper call him a “dung beetle” at one point, which could’ve been a translation change. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! The "dung beetle" translation is common. It causes me problems with my students who want to read the story literally, which are usually students who don't like literature very much. I read that line as the housekeeper calling him something akin to "dirty." Like you, it's the only point in the story that I can detect to support a literal reading.
