A crowd of one
After reading the book 'A Crowd of one' I came to conclusions about the human race I had not thought about in depth greatly until now. Clippinger uses excellent diction, immaculate, and flawless structure to try to convey the Idea of identity in the human race. Since reading this book I have seen human interactions in a different way entirely.
For Instance, in chapter 3, Unlikely Heretics: the Prussian and the economist, Clippinger makes a very good argument for the validity of 'one man's terrorist is another patriot'. I felt that this had deeper meaning for me because growing up you get very specific labels for 'terrorist' and 'patriot'. For 'patriot' you think of Mel Gibson with American flag running across the battlefield crying freedom; while when u think of 'terrorist' you think of some guy in a cave making bombs and taking tony Stark hostage. These may be correct example of each, but they are not the only unbreakable examples of such. Clippinger makes this obscenely apparent in his elaborations.
Clippinger also writes about the Idea of communication as seen in the human race compared to animals of similar genetic structure and by their brain composition. He presents a variety of opinions on why humans are able to handle complex languages, facial recognition of emotion, and ability to keep large groups up to 200 causally.
He writes about some obvious to science topics, but at the same time he also writes about some that aren't so easy to see. For example Clippinger writes about the US and UN involvement in Somalia and how the most advanced military was given a run for their money by what they would consider rebels with no formal military training.
All in this entire book is fabulous example of engaging and intellectual analysis of ourselves and how we work. I would suggest this book to any of my colleagues and fellow intellectuals that are looking for a real page turner.