Another Hopeful Fool reviewed Futurability by Franco Bifo Berardi
Challenging but worth it
4 stars
If you aren't used to academic writing of this style (some informal philosophy that defines highly specific terms, then deploys them to build ever more complex thought-structures throughout the book), then you'll find this book a real challenge to understand.
I'm so-so at understanding this style of writing, so I had to sometimes sit with a paragraph for 30 or more minutes before it could really sink in. Often I would just have to put the book down and try again the next day. Even then, trying my best, I know there is a lot that I didn't get.
But when you do get it, it's magical--it's like that moment in a video game where you understand a mechanic and are able to use it without thinking.
The actual arguments put forward have that quality of all great ideas in writing: As you're reading them, they feel like something you've …
If you aren't used to academic writing of this style (some informal philosophy that defines highly specific terms, then deploys them to build ever more complex thought-structures throughout the book), then you'll find this book a real challenge to understand.
I'm so-so at understanding this style of writing, so I had to sometimes sit with a paragraph for 30 or more minutes before it could really sink in. Often I would just have to put the book down and try again the next day. Even then, trying my best, I know there is a lot that I didn't get.
But when you do get it, it's magical--it's like that moment in a video game where you understand a mechanic and are able to use it without thinking.
The actual arguments put forward have that quality of all great ideas in writing: As you're reading them, they feel like something you've known all along and are just now putting into words. But in reality I know that, my thinking and writing on the topic of our stolen futures will be much clearer and sharper now.
PS. This book could do with some whiteboard visualisations. The subject matter is so cerebral, it's hard to keep it all in your head without some visual metaphors or shorthands. Maybe I'll try my hand at some.