Connected - The Amazing Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives

John Donne once famously wrote “No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” Humanity has always been well aware that we are a social species, dependent upon each other in many different ways. Now two social networking scientists have shown that this inter-dependency may be even deeper than we ever suspected.

Nicholas Christakis, Harvard professor and health care policy specialist and James Fowler, a health systems and political scientist, have written a superb book that explains just how connected the human species really is. Their thought-provoking insights explain how social networks impact individuals in an astounding variety of ways such as happiness, loneliness, sexual practices, suicide and even weight gain. Both happiness and depression can spread through our social networks amazingly quickly, so that you can be influenced for good or bad by people you many not even have face-to-face encounters with. While the authors acknowledge the difficulties in untangling cause and effect in social influences, they also convincingly argue that it is a fallacy to try to understand society from an individualist point of view. In short, they seek to change they way we think about every aspect of our lives.

Building their theories on decades of extensive social research and analysis, Christakis and Fowler use five basic rules to describe the relationship between individuals and their networks, such as mutual adaptation, the influence of friends and friends' friends, and the network's "life of its own." The authors even describe how social networks can display a form of higher intelligence, where the “whole” is greater than “the sum of its parts.” This can promote the good of the group in astounding ways, but also create “epidemics” or contagions of obesity, smoking and substance abuse; alter voting patterns and disseminate fads and markets.

While Christakis and Fowler are academics, this book is aimed at the popular market meaning that it is both interesting and easy to read. While their findings have significant implications for areas like health care, education and policy making, it also has profound ramifications for individuals. This is because ‘Connected’ seeks to open its readers to how embedded we are in our social networks. We are challenged to remember how much influence is received and extended through these networks and how much of an effect, good or bad, we can have on the lives of others. In this ‘Connected’ is a call to social responsibility with a strong commitment to using our networks to create and promote public good. Perhaps the most important lesson of this book is to remind us that we are deeply responsible for others just because we are so ‘connected.’

Does Prayer Actually Do Any Good?

This is one of my favourite Philip Yancey books. I would rate it right up the with the more acclaimed ‘What’s So Amazing About Grace?’ and ‘The Jesus I Never Knew.’ In 'Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference,' Yancey tackles a subject that is at the very heartbeat of the Christian faith. In theory, prayer is vital to every God-follower - an opportunity to connect in an intimate way with God - but in practice many find prayer to be confusing, difficult and more than a little frustrating. Here Yancey tackles both the theory and practice of prayer in a way that only he can. He views the topic through an investigative journalist’s eyes, as he probes and challenges it, but also wrestles with the topic as a believer who himself has faced many dry, difficult moments. Those periods of life where our prayers seemingly disappear into thin air.

Yancey explores such questions as: •Is God listening? •Why should God care about me? •If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer? •Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent and capricious? •Why does God seem sometimes close and sometimes far away? •How can I make prayer more satisfying?

All of these are very real human questions, and Yancey is courageous enough to voice them when many of us have been too afraid to speak them out loud. The result is a book that anyone and everyone who is keen to learn more about the theory AND the practice of prayer should definitely read. This book is quite an emotional read at times because Yancey so skilfully draws in personal stories and testimonies regarding the highs and lows of ordinary people’s prayer lives, and the disappointments that seem to occur for some in this regard (including his own). Yancey writes from his heart, both thoughtfully and candidly, and his gift with words means that he can shift his readers' perspective just enough to gain new insights. At the very least, Yancey manages to get his readers to think more carefully and comprehensively around deep and difficult subjects like this.

While Yancey does not even begin to pretend to have answers for all our questions regarding prayer, he does continually point back to the single most importance aspect of prayer which is our relationship with God. “I have found that the most important purpose of prayer may be to let ourselves be loved by God,” says Yancey. I could not miss the strong chord of yearning contained within Yancey’s more personal reflections, and ultimately this in itself is a reminder that prayer is a doorway which contains some of our deepest hopes and dreams.

If you have ever struggled with prayer or just want to learn more about the subject, then you will benefit greatly from reading this book.

Review: The Elephant Whisperer

South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony’s first book ‘Babylon’s Ark,’ detailed his involvement in saving the threatened animals at Baghdad Zoo. This moving book is currently being made into a major movie, while further good news for fans is that Anthony's second book - ‘The Elephant Whisperer - Learning About Life, Loyalty and Freedom From a Remarkable Herd of Elephants’ - is no less touching and engaging. The Elephant Whisperer details Anthony’s efforts to save a herd of rogue elephants. Anthony was asked to take the herd onto his game farm at Thula Thula because they were wreaking havoc in the reserve they were in. Anthony was warned the elephants were expert escape artists meaning they had become a public danger. Authorities informed him the herd would be shot if he could not ensure they remained within the boundaries of Thula Thula.

The book describes Anthony’s battle to bond with these elephants as he desperately strives to prevent their execution. To do so, Anthony risks life and limb as he builds up a relationship with the troublesome herd, primarily the matriarch named Nana. Anthony discovered these intelligent animals had been traumatised and were enormously distrustful of people. But he was convinced that if he managed to get the matriarch to trust at least one human again, the entire herd would settle down. In the end, Anthony was proved correct as he formed a surprising relationship with this particular herd of elephants - something most experts predicted could not be done. Anthony stresses in his introduction that the term ‘elephant whisperer’ is not a self-description, but rather it is “about the elephants - it was they who whispered to me and taught me how to listen.” In this compelling personal account, filled with numerous anecdotes both humorous and poignant, Anthony describes how the elephants he set out to save actually did more for him in return as they taught everyone at Thula Thula to embrace life and love more wholly.

Anthony makes several references to the immense, almost mystical, intelligence of the ‘Ellies’ and also their extended emotional networks and communication abilities. Some of his accounts seem rather incredible, and as are yet without scientific backing, but after all, who are we to disbelieve tales backed up by numerous fellow rangers and conservationists? Instead, just as Anthony emphasises, we should be humbled by the majestic dignity and deep connectedness displayed by these animals.

The book is filled with alluring descriptions of sights, sounds and smells that draw you right into the African bush. I found myself immersed in the tales of a master storyteller, feeling his desperation and exhaustion when the elephants escaped soon after arriving at Thula Thula, relating to his profound respect for these magnificent animals, and becoming caught up in the daily dangers and excitement of being a game ranger. As many people attest, being in the African bush can be quite a spiritual experience. Viewing wild animals in their natural habitat is hugely enriching, and if nothing else, this book stands as a stark reminder just how much humanity would lose if great herds such as these should disappear forever at the hands of poachers or the increasing urban sprawl.

This warm and charming narrative gives the elephants a voice, a chance to whisper their magic into our hearts and awaken us to the vital importance of conserving both the environment and the animals which live within it. As Anthony himself writes:

“Perhaps the most important lesson I learned is that there are no walls between humans and the elephants except those we put up ourselves and that until we allow not only elephants, but all living creatures their place in the sun, we can never be whole ourselves”.

Review: Counterfeit Gods

In an age where there is a plethora of Christian writers and books to choose from, Tim Keller stands out as one of the very finest. Keller manages to combine the best of a remarkable insight into Biblical stories with a keen observation of modern culture. In ‘Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters,’ the New York Times bestselling author exposes the error of making good things our ‘ultimate,’ and points his readers towards hope that truly can fulfill.

Keller expands upon John Calvin’s famous statement that “the human heart is a factory of idols,” and insists that “getting your hearts desire can be the worst possible thing that could happen to you.” This is because human beings have a tendency to take objects, even ones that are inherently good, and place upon them expectations they cannot possibly deliver. In this way we make ‘idols’ of these objects and diminish both them and ourselves in the process. Money, sex and power are obvious idols, but Keller points out that it is just as easy to do the same thing with romantic love, or family relationships. If, for example, we believe that romance (or a child) is the “one thing” we need to make life meaningful, we invest unreal expectations into those relationships that distort and ruin them because they simply cannot deliver.

Keller adds that our tendency to worship things other than God runs so deeply within humanity that even “our highest ideals” can become soul destroying idols. We invest unwarranted faith in religious and political ideologies that result in exactly the same disintegration of human connectedness that we see in other idols. In other words not even our belief systems (no matter how good they are) should replace God as the centre of our beings. Keller also speaks directly to some of western culture’s most common idolatries, the results of which he claims can be seen in rampant materialism, greed, immorality and the breakdown of families. Keller consistently uses examples from the Bible to highlight modern idols, and he does so in a way that brings these ancient narratives back to life. Nebuchadnezzar is used to illustrate the perils of power and pride, while Jonah’s ethnocentrism is equated to the dangers of modern nationalism.

Keller’s ‘Counterfeit God’s is a short, but profound book filled with powerful insights. It takes on both personal and corporate struggles with idolatry, and reveals how dangerously entrenched this problem is in modern society because it is so subtle. Keller reminds his readers that no matter how good something may be, only God can bring ultimate fulfillment and purpose to human beings.

Review: Steve Jobs - The Exclusive Biography

Steve Jobs was no saint. This will not surprise those who have already heard of his legendary temper tantrums and sometimes cruel treatment of family, friends and employees. Walter Isaacson’s recently released authorised biography “Steve Jobs” is a brutally honest portrayal of a man who was a deeply conflicted and enigmatic character. Jobs deserves all the acclaim he received after his recent death aged 56 because he was undoubtedly a visionary who revolutionised the world with the breath-taking beauty and seamless purpose of his digital products. Yet, at the same time, he bristled with arrogance, selfishness and was filled with contradictions of many different hues.

Isaacson’s in-depth portrayal of Jobs shows this to be true from his earliest days, when realising how much more intelligent he was than his adoptive parents, he would relentlessly force his will upon them. Jobs genuinely loved his parents, but still selfishly pushed them into untenable situations - such as taking a mortgage on a house they could not afford just so he could attend a different school.

Further character contradictions abound. Jobs was a Zen Buddhist who eschewed material possessions yet was worth $256 million by his mid-twenties and produced products that most people don’t realise they cannot live without until they have them. He struggled with the fact he had been given up for adoption, feeling abandoned by his biological parents, but then did exactly the same thing to a daughter born out of wedlock, refusing to admit paternity for years. Jobs also was a fan of fad diets, alternating between vegetarianism, veganism and fruitarism. Early on he believed his diet so expunged unhealthy toxins from his body that he had no need to shower regularly (a conviction friends and colleagues did not share).

In his early years Jobs stiffed his best friend and co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak out of a commission, and later ruthlessly stole ideas, refused to share credit on others, humiliated staff members in public, fired people on whims and would go ballistic in restaurants if he did not like the food. Yet he was also sensitive when criticised and was known to burst into tears in meetings, especially during his first incarnation as head of Apple. Jobs would get his way by sheer force of will, shouting and screaming at people, but at the same time he got them to do the best work of their lives. “I was hard on people sometimes, probably harder than I need to be,” he admitted. “But somebody’s got to do it.”

Jobs quickly became renowned for his ‘reality distortion field’. He never accepted anything was impossible, and those who worked with and alongside him testify how in his presence they also came to believe this to be true. Jobs refused to accept imperfection and would agonise for days over the shape, feel and style of the electronic plugs for his Macs, never mind the actual machines. His perfectionism, vision and ability to know what people wanted before they did meant he transformed two companies - Apple and Pixar - into world leaders in their respective fields. Jobs was behind products like the ‘Toy Story’ franchise, Mac computers, iPods, iPhones, iPads and the iCloud.

Isaacson’s biography of this flawed genius is compelling precisely because it is so honest. Jobs lived with a black-and-white paradigm in which people were either ‘heroes’ or ‘s--ts,’ and work was either ‘insanely good’ or ‘total s--t’. It is fitting then that this extensive look at his life is equally brutal with the truth. While Jobs comes across as a repugnant character at times, there is also something deeply stirring about a man who believed in the possibility that beauty and technology together could change the world. One of his earliest girlfriends described him best when she said he was an enlightened being who could also be cruel. Despite all this, his passing left a huge hole in the lives of those who knew him, with Jobs being described as a mentor, friend and inspiration.

Isaacson’s biography is a fascinating effort - not only for delving into the psychology of a man capable of such remarkable contrasts, but also for its insights into the history-making Information age. It is within this context we see how Jobs - a gifted and supernaturally driven man - actually did change human history, yet at the same time he struggled to carry out normal human relationships. Yes, Steve Jobs was certainly no saint. His character was riven with flaws, but his relentless drive and passion for beauty and technology to find a convergence point saw him become an indispensable part of the digital revolution. In the end, Isaacson’s concluding assessment seems to be spot on: “Was he smart? Not, not exceptionally. Instead, he was a genius.”

Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament

One of the most common laments of most Bible readers is how much they struggle with the Old Testament. Whether it is because of the violence, or the strange, almost other-worldly customs, or even just the endless lists and genealogies, the Old Testament is at best ignored by many Christians, and at worst viewed with a great deal of suspicion and anxiety.

Christopher Wright does not agree with this viewpoint at all. In fact, he believes the Old Testament is an incredibly valuable spiritual resource for Christ-followers because it was so essential to the formation of Jesus’ identity and mission. Wright is convinced that Jesus’ own story is rooted in the story of Israel, and that understanding the story of Israel will broaden and deepen our understanding of Christ.

Wright is an acclaimed Old Testament scholar, but wears his scholar’s mantle lightly and instead writes with a good communicator’s instinct for the lack of understanding that the average reader might have in regards to a subject he is so proficient in. Wright is passionate about the importance of studying the Old Testament, but he is equally passionate about convincing his audience to agree with him on this. The result is a book that is designed to draw the average reader past any misconceptions and prejudices, and into the fascinating world of the Old Testament.

Rather than tackling the Old Testament en masse, Wright takes 5 chapters in which he relates Jesus to the following five themes – story, promise, identity, mission and values. Each chapter is engrossing, and will give you plenty to think about as you learn just how much the Old Testament can increase your appreciation of the Jesus story. In his own words, Wright sees the Old Testament as telling “the story which Jesus completes”.

My favourite part about this book is how much it empowers readers to appreciate more deeply those parts of the Scriptures which shaped Jesus himself. This book comes highly recommended and is well worth reading, especially if you are one of those who finds the Old Testament scary, off-putting or obsolete.

Tutu: The Authorised Portrait

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has been in the news a lot lately after the celebrations for his 80th birthday were marred by the ANC government’s refusal to grant his good friend the Dalai Lama an entry visa into South Africa to join in the festivities. ‘The Arch’ also trended on social networks for his angry rebuttal of the government for their handling of this affair. As sad as the entire situation was, it was somehow appropriate that on Tutu’s 80th birthday he was denouncing an unjust decision by the powers that be, because that is exactly what he has spent most of his life doing.

As ‘Tutu: The Authorised Portrait’ makes powerfully clear, Desmond Tutu dedicated his entire life to fighting all forms of oppression and advocating social justice and peaceful reconciliation. This beautiful looking book has already been labelled as a ‘coffee table special’, but frankly, this would be a terrible waste. This is a book that deserves to be read and even re-read because it is a treasure trove of stories, interviews, pictures and interviews that grant fascinating insight into the life, spirituality and courage of a quite remarkable man. The title claims the book is a ‘portrait’ of the Archbishop and this claim is totally justified. It includes a biography by the legendary freedom-fighting journalist Allister Sparks, but then adds in over forty interviews conducted by Tutu’s daughter Reverend Mpho Tutu with close family, friends, colleagues, comrades and critics. With a tremendous collection of pictures thrown in and previously unpublished artefacts from Tutu’s private files, it really does feel as if a clear and striking portrait of the man has been painted.

Perhaps the best part of the book is that it does equal justice to Tutu’s role as a ‘man of God’ and his involvement in politics. During the apartheid years, many Christians claimed that politics and theology should never mix, but Tutu fought this perception with every fibre of his being. Tutu’s faith was the reason he fought so hard for a non-racial society, and it is the reason he has continued to challenge the present democratically elected government whenever he has felt they have stepped out of line. As Nelson Mandela himself describes: “Sometimes strident, often tender, never afraid, and seldom without humor, Desmond Tutu’s voice will always be the voice of the voiceless.”

This book comes highly recommended! It is only available in hard cover at the moment, and is a little pricey but well worth buying.