I’m one of those simpletons who rates books, DVDs and the like at Amazon and then gets recommendations from the site. I think the system has gone wacky lately.
When I last checked for book recommendations, they included Pathophysiology of Disease, Essentials of General Surgery, Practical Orthopedics and Pathology: Board Review Series, the latter a review book for the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam. Why were these books recommended for me? Because I previously rated Kurt Vonnegut’s A Man Without a Country. I can’t decide if the connection is fascinating or frightening.
I also was recommended a map of and a guidebook to the Dominican Republic — because I rated Vehicle, a 1970 release by the band The Ides of March. Okay, a can grasp the connection between a vehicle and travel but considering the Dominican Republic is on a Caribbean island, I don’t think I’ll be driving there soon.
Another music release, Leo Kottke’s 6- and 12-String Guitar, brought a recommendation for The Six Sigma Handbook, “a comprehensive, 700-page guide to the quality tools and statistics that are the foundation for Six Sigma.” Being naturally curious, I investigated and learned that “Six Sigma is a methodology to manage process variations that cause defects, defined as unacceptable deviation from the mean or target; and to systematically work towards managing variation to eliminate those defects.” If I understood what that meant, maybe I’d have a clue how it’s related to Leo Kottke’s guitar playing.
I think I’ll just go back to the “to be read” pile on the bookshelf by the bed.
We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.
Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
