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The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas

The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas

  • Downloads：6092
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-02-28 00:19:38
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Gal Beckerman
  • ISBN：152475918X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Alona ，

I loved the premise of this book and learned a lot from each story。 Unfortunately， the delivery fell flat for me。 Each moments in time felt disjointed and after a few chapters I was ready to move onto the next book。 I enjoyed it enough to recommend it to a few friends， but only those particularly interested in social movement history！ Thank you Crown Publicity for the advanced readers copy。

J Earl ，

The Quiet Before by Gal Beckerman is a compelling argument for creating space for ideas to develop and grow， especially in today's world of instant reaction and often overreaction。 This book is less about slow versus fast than it is about developed versus underdeveloped。Through recreating the groundswell in several historical movements Beckerman shows the value and importance of having a way for ideas to be debated， modified， and shared。 Ideas， even the best， are rarely if ever formed in a compl The Quiet Before by Gal Beckerman is a compelling argument for creating space for ideas to develop and grow， especially in today's world of instant reaction and often overreaction。 This book is less about slow versus fast than it is about developed versus underdeveloped。Through recreating the groundswell in several historical movements Beckerman shows the value and importance of having a way for ideas to be debated， modified， and shared。 Ideas， even the best， are rarely if ever formed in a complete and nuanced manner immediately。 It takes input from others， the application of other perspectives， and an understanding of what might make change possible。 These can't be done in an openly public forum， particularly when the preferred form of communication is short and hyperbolic。 It takes a safe place and form for opinions and ideas to be expressed freely。 That is what is missing for many more recent movements which tend to peak quickly and then subside， with little actual long-term change。This book makes its goal pretty clear in the introduction and stays focused throughout。 If a reader loses focus I'd say it has to do with their ability to stay focused rather than the book， or maybe being a passive reader with a short memory span。 Either way， the book argues for and offers ideas for creating the space for the thought and debates necessary for movements to succeed and uses the historical examples to illustrate that without that space the movements would either never come to be or would quickly fail。 Pretty straightforward purpose and approach。I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in how to make change。 While the examples and the larger purpose is societal， the basic idea of formulating a better theoretical foundation through debate and discussion holds true for small "movements" one might want to generate in their communities or workplaces。Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more

Eric ，

This book was a mixed bag。 I thought it painted a pretty good picture of most of the events he discussed and I appreciated the chapters on the riot grrls and on Covid。 I thought the book lacked focus and I'm still unsure what the main goal of the author was。 Also， the book has less to do with the original ideas than it does the communication of said ideas。 Honestly if this was written by as a look at the evolution of communication among groups， I think it could have worked better。 Still there is This book was a mixed bag。 I thought it painted a pretty good picture of most of the events he discussed and I appreciated the chapters on the riot grrls and on Covid。 I thought the book lacked focus and I'm still unsure what the main goal of the author was。 Also， the book has less to do with the original ideas than it does the communication of said ideas。 Honestly if this was written by as a look at the evolution of communication among groups， I think it could have worked better。 Still there is enough info here to recommend this book to those interested in learning about some of our society's revolutions。Thank you to Crown Publications for the advance copy 。。。more

Linda Gabel ，

This book was a bit different than what I had expected。 Beckerman takes readers way back in history and tracks the very origins of change。 For example， how many were brought together to truly begin the study of latitude， longitude and scientific study， how an early petition in England effected much later big change， how Riot Grrrls impacted the rise of the me too movement and， of course stories of how early internet communications changed our world slower than one would think。 The ‘Interlude’ on This book was a bit different than what I had expected。 Beckerman takes readers way back in history and tracks the very origins of change。 For example， how many were brought together to truly begin the study of latitude， longitude and scientific study， how an early petition in England effected much later big change， how Riot Grrrls impacted the rise of the me too movement and， of course stories of how early internet communications changed our world slower than one would think。 The ‘Interlude’ on cyberspace was insightful on the early hopes for internet communications。 Overall， how stories of small， slow change effected much larger change in our world。My expectation was that it would give insight on how to make change happen and it did give me much insight into this。 But actually， he shows that large changes are brought about very slowly， one step at a time by dedicated individuals， over long periods of time。 Stacy Abrams is a great example of this in todays world。 She started with small meetings all over Georgia and over many years。 Today we can see the outcomes of her hard work and dedication to her mission。 Well researched and very interesting， this book changed my thinking that change happens all at once。 A good lesson in today’s world。 I truly appreciated Beckerman’s research and perspective。 I learned lots！My thanks to Crown Publicity and Random House for the advance copy of this book。 I look forward to others reading， discussing and learning from these examples。 。。。more