Tag: anthropology

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#BookReview: The Rules That Make Us by Oliver Sweet

Interesting Insights From An Atypical Perspective. How often have you ever heard the term “business anthropology”? Hell, how often have you ever heard the term “anthropology” and not pictured some remote tribe somewhere in some jungle or maybe desert? My guess is that your answer to both of those questions is somewhere in the range of “Rarely” to “Never” for nearly anyone reading this review. Even as widely read as *I* am, my answer would have been right there with you.

Yet here Sweet, a Xennial Londoner with a clearly leftist political bent – as in, he frequently villainizes pretty well anything white and/ or male – actually uses his experiences with both psychology and anthropology to show how the two interact to form culture in ways that you likely never even actively thought of… even if some of his observations make a fair amount of intuitive sense.

Depending on your own politics, you may well be praising Sweet’s more political commentary or you may be looking for the highest window available to you for defenestration purposes – but stick with this. Yes, it may be a touch annoying at times if you are more conservative than AOC or Bernie Sanders – sorry, Brits, I don’t know (or care about, frankly) your politics enough to give you an example from Sweet’s own backyard) – but Sweet really does have a lot of insight to offer here that you really should read, so work through your annoyances if possible and feel free to blast him on them in your review *after* you read the book, if you feel you must.

The star deduction isn’t for the political bent though, as I do try to be objective-ish with those. No, the star deduction is because of the lack of bibliography, clocking in at just 5% in the Advance Review Copy of the book that I had had for several weeks before publication and yet due to life happening just before and after the publication of this book was only able to read it a couple of weeks after publication in mid April 2026. The Sagan Standard – extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence – absolutely applies to quite a bit discussed in this text, so I would expect at least 20-30% documentation, and the given 5% falls well short of even the bare minimum 15% documentation I would expect to see from a more standard book with more standard points raised.

Still, read this book anyway. Even with the political bent (which, again, you may well appreciate depending on your own politics) and even with the lack of bibliography (which is inexcusable no matter your politics), there really is quite a bit here that is both interesting and perhaps even useful,. and if nothing else it can help show the kids in your life that there is yet another profession available to them that perhaps they may be interested in pursing and may not have been aware of. Given that so much of this book is based on Sweet’s own professional experience, it really does give almost as big an insight into what a “business anthropologist” does as it reveals about any more general cultural/ psychological insights into how we can all live together with at least somewhat more understanding of each other and how we interact with the “other”.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Rules That Make Us by Oliver Sweet was originally written on April 30, 2026.

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#BookReview: Our Tribal Future by David R. Samson

Contempt Is The Dissolver Of Unions. Yes, that is a particularly memorable line from the book – and a warning. Here, Samson discusses the history, biology, and sociology of our “Tribe Drive” – ongoing and apparently bleeding edge research in all three fields – and shows how it has brought us to where we are… and how we can better utilize it to achieve a more peaceable and prosperous future for all. Yes, some of this book is a touch… out there… for some, such as Samson’s admitting to basing some of his thinking of this topic on his use of psychedelic mushrooms, peyote, and similar compounds. And yes, there are things here that partisans left and right will likely complain about – some legitimately, some less so. And yes, in ultimately recommending a form of at minimum confederation of federated governments – if not outright anarchism, which he discusses without ever using the term, yet never precludes that the groups he discusses could become official “governments” – perhaps Samson is even a touch idealistic. And yet, the documentation is solid at around 20% of the text (not counting footnote discussions at the end of each chapter, which may bump that to around 22-25% of the text). Further, the book lays bare in scientific terms that which I’ve largely understood and have been advocating at various points for the last 15 years or so, through my own active political activism days and into my efforts to promote reading and literacy now.

Overall an intriguing, thought out book and one that adds greatly to the overall conversation around groups, governments, coalitions, and politics, and thus one that anyone who seeks to truly understand and use these concepts truly needs to read and understand. Very much recommended.

This review of Our Tribal Future by David R. Samson was originally written on April 1, 2023.

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#BookReview: The Treeline by Ben Rawlence

Lyrical Anthropological Examination That Needs Better Scientific Documentation. When Rawlence is describing the people and peoples he is traveling to and among, he has such a lyrical quality to his prose here that it really is quite beautiful – these are the best parts of this book. However, Rawlence is also quite the pessimist about human action and survival, going on at one point to proclaim that Earth would be better off without humanity. While this is not an unheard of proposition, fantastical claims like that require substantial documentation – and documentation is what this text sorely lacks, clocking in at barely 10% of the overall text (25-30% being more “normal”, and I’ve read books making far less fantastical claims clocking in north of 40% documentation). Ultimately, your opinion of the book is likely going to depend on whether you agree with Rawlence’s politics and philosophies, though, again, the writing when he is *not* speaking to these really is quite beautiful. Still, even in what he does present and even with the lack of documentation, this is a book that needs to be read by most anyone speaking to any level of climate science, as he does bring up some truly valid points here and there. Recommended.

This review of The Treeline by Ben Rawlence was originally written on February 13, 2022.

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Full Spectrum by Adam Rogers

This week we’re looking at a fascinating examination of the history of pigments – not a book about vision itself, but about the pigments humans have used over the course of our history and how these pigments have been a part of our technology since pre-history. This week, we’re looking at Full Spectrum by Adam Rogers.

A Rainbow Of Possibilities. This isn’t the book about vision I thought it was when I originally picked it up (admittedly without even reading the description, the title alone was intriguing enough). This is instead a book about the history and current science of dye manufacturing and how it is both one of the most ancient of technologies humans have known and one of the most groundbreaking. As it turns out, my own area – Jacksonville, FL – plays a role in the narrative, being a large source of the most technologically advanced white dye currently known. Yes, at times the book gets a bit… winding… and it can seem like we have diverged into other topics altogether, but the author always winds up coming back to the central thesis after these jaunts through various bits of history. Truly a fascinating read about a history many don’t know and a topic many might find a bit mundane – which is exactly what makes the work so awesome, particularly combined with the author’s great timing with comedic levity. Very much recommended.