I had been considering whether to buy the book, given that I already believe the premise and don’t expect reading it to change my behavior. This post (along with other IABED-related discourse) put me over my threshold for thinking the book likely to have a positive effect on public discourse, so I bought ten copies and plan to donate most of them to my public library.
Reasons people should consider doing this themselves:
Buying more copies will improve the sales numbers, which increases the likelihood that this is talked about in the news, which hopefully shifts the Overton window.
Giving copies to people who already believe the book’s premise does not help. If you have people to whom you can give the book, who do not already believe the premise, that is a good option. Otherwise, giving copies to your local library and asking them to display them prominently is the next best thing.
Even if you don’t agree with everything the book says, if you think its net effect on society will be in a better direction than status quo, you’re unlikely to get a better tool for translating money into Overton-window-shifting. Maybe paying to have dinner with senators, but you should be pretty confident in your persuasion and’s expository skills before attempting this.
I had been considering whether to buy the book, given that I already believe the premise and don’t expect reading it to change my behavior. This post (along with other IABED-related discourse) put me over my threshold for thinking the book likely to have a positive effect on public discourse, so I bought ten copies and plan to donate most of them to my public library.
Reasons people should consider doing this themselves:
Buying more copies will improve the sales numbers, which increases the likelihood that this is talked about in the news, which hopefully shifts the Overton window.
Giving copies to people who already believe the book’s premise does not help. If you have people to whom you can give the book, who do not already believe the premise, that is a good option. Otherwise, giving copies to your local library and asking them to display them prominently is the next best thing.
Even if you don’t agree with everything the book says, if you think its net effect on society will be in a better direction than status quo, you’re unlikely to get a better tool for translating money into Overton-window-shifting. Maybe paying to have dinner with senators, but you should be pretty confident in your persuasion and’s expository skills before attempting this.