Akiva Reads

by C Alexander Simpkins, Annellen Simpkins

I've been wanting a little grounding in Buddhism, not so I can practice (probably) but so I can understand Buddhist art, temples, and culture a bit better. I picked this up on a whim at the library, because it was nice and short and introductory, even though I suspected it was going to be very little beyond that. I was right, it did help me get started, and hopefully it'll prove to be enough of a structure that I can hang further reading on it. Even my ignorant ass caught some issues, though.

• Copyediting: At least 3-4 times names were spelled two different ways in neighboring paragraphs or headings, and some of the differences were clearly uncaught typos.

• Misusing pop science: There were several "ehhh" moments, but because I'm a math person this was the one that I remember. While discussing the chair the author is sitting in vs. the concept of chairs, "...as the renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell explained, a category is not a member of itself." Bruh, that was a debate about whether you could build a perfect logical foundation for mathematics that didn't allow ambiguity or paradoxes, and the paradox is that "the set of all sets that do not contain themselves" can't contain itself and can't not! It does sound like a Zen koan, but you have to explain it and use it correctly.