What's Our Problem? - politics for people who like technical specifics

I don’t enjoy politics usually. But this book is like “politics for people who like technical specifics”, and that’s exactly why it worked on me. Easy 5/5.

I’m a long time fan of the Wait But Why blog, so I’d been wanting to read this, and I finally got to it in Egypt during our world trip. It really resonated with me, and I feel like I understand a lot more about modern politics after reading it. The standout concept for me was the thinking ladder. It changed how I view political parties and politics in general, and I’m more nuanced about it all now.

What sets it apart is that it’s idealistic and actually has advice for how we could improve the systems we live in, starting with thinking more like a scientist. I appreciate that, because many books will just illustrate the problem and say “yeah, well it’s shit isn’t it”.

I can see why Tim Urban spent so many years on this book, as politics was changing quite rapidly exactly when he started writing.

Super worth reading, even if you don’t think you are interested in politics. The person I’d hand it to first is someone technical who has a lot of political opinions, or wants to know more, or already likes Wait But Why. In fact, that’s the pitch: if you’re more interested in STEM than politics, this is the book for you.