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yasha32's review against another edition
As someone who considers himself to be a global citizen, avid traveler, and cosmopolitan, I really enjoyed this read. I do agree with a couple other reviewers that if you don’t already care about other cultures and countries, this book doesn’t do amazing at convincing you why you should care. Also, even though it’s not even 10 years old, since technology moves so fast, many items are already dated. Nevertheless, the book is packed full of interesting anecdotes and examples of cross-cultural successes. Main takeaway: you need to actively seek out information about other people and cultures. Don’t let the media or those around you “agenda set” — dictate what issues and topics are important. Seek out curators who will provide you with a stream of diverse information.
maggiedelano's review against another edition
2.0
I thought the content of this book was interesting. However, I really couldn't get over the fact that the author just assumes that the reader wants (or should want) to be a digital cosmopolitan. I'm not saying I don't think being one would be great, but he directly alludes to the "caring problem" that needs to be overcome and provides no suggestions to get there.
I'm not one to consider myself to be all that cosmopolitan - at least not in the sense that the author describes one as (i.e. an emphasis on global/cultural awareness). I think a lot about the fact that I should read the news more but I have a hard time motivating myself to. This book provided no such motivation. I spent the entire book being mad and indignant at the authors assumptions that being a cosmopolitan in the way he describes is a superior way to live and something we should aspire to. I do honestly think there are merits and benefits to exposing oneself to diversity, but the author really doesn't spell these out at all and I don't think it should be left up to me to guess why I should suddenly care about things I don't currently care about. The author brings up the fact that it's hard to care about topics that are unfamiliar to us but then provides no suggestions as to why we SHOULD care and if we should, how to get ourselves to do so.
I'm not one to consider myself to be all that cosmopolitan - at least not in the sense that the author describes one as (i.e. an emphasis on global/cultural awareness). I think a lot about the fact that I should read the news more but I have a hard time motivating myself to. This book provided no such motivation. I spent the entire book being mad and indignant at the authors assumptions that being a cosmopolitan in the way he describes is a superior way to live and something we should aspire to. I do honestly think there are merits and benefits to exposing oneself to diversity, but the author really doesn't spell these out at all and I don't think it should be left up to me to guess why I should suddenly care about things I don't currently care about. The author brings up the fact that it's hard to care about topics that are unfamiliar to us but then provides no suggestions as to why we SHOULD care and if we should, how to get ourselves to do so.
oboreads's review against another edition
1.0
Poorly executed attempt at calling into action a more global, and networked society. I read with great precision the first half of the book, but then the second half was skimmed, especially since the conclusion had all the main points one needed to get from the book. Things I did not find amusing about this author :
1) he just assumes that being more aware of international affairs is a positive thing and should be some thing we all default to, but as a social scientist I am forced to ask WHY????? you can't just say it is important and necessary without giving the reader any reasoning
2) it was a plain bullet point list of "oh I did this", "look at my work in Cambridge", "guess what I talked to this scholar on Skype and this is what he said", "at MIT my fellow scholars are researching this stuff" ..... there was no concise argument and he kept jumping around from one fact to the next
3) repeating arguments of confirmation bias and the fact that we all create self-tailored social media and news outlet habits is REDUNDANT... I think by now we all know that we do this online and avoid seeing individuals opinions and experiences that differ from ourselves. Please be more creative and either explain the significance of this or move on
4) promoting your own website *clap clap clap* are you proud of yourself?
1) he just assumes that being more aware of international affairs is a positive thing and should be some thing we all default to, but as a social scientist I am forced to ask WHY????? you can't just say it is important and necessary without giving the reader any reasoning
2) it was a plain bullet point list of "oh I did this", "look at my work in Cambridge", "guess what I talked to this scholar on Skype and this is what he said", "at MIT my fellow scholars are researching this stuff" ..... there was no concise argument and he kept jumping around from one fact to the next
3) repeating arguments of confirmation bias and the fact that we all create self-tailored social media and news outlet habits is REDUNDANT... I think by now we all know that we do this online and avoid seeing individuals opinions and experiences that differ from ourselves. Please be more creative and either explain the significance of this or move on
4) promoting your own website *clap clap clap* are you proud of yourself?
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