Le Bertrand Assorted Reflections
A timely and thought provoking book that may cause a reader to rethink the current course of human events.
Reflections of personal experiences that are sometimes amusing, interspersed with some discussions that attempt to address some less frivolous but elemental issues of human existence, from a Caribbean Islander in the USA. Le Bertrand’s reflections are sometimes amusing, but always interesting in the manner he contemplates how some enduring ideas did or could have better influenced his life. He firmly believes that certain enduring philosophical, scientific, metaphysical or spiritual ideas from past to present need to be revisited frequently. Consequently, his reflections are interspersed with his endorsement or sometimes lack of appreciation of some ideas expressed from as far back as the years B.C. to present. They include philosophical ideas from Socrates to Mortimer Adler; scientific ideas from Archimedes to Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Neils Bohr, Michio Kaku and others; contributions to economic and political liberalism by Vincent Gournay, Francois Quesnay, the French “Physiocrats”, Adam Smith, John Locke, David Hume and others; and contributions to metaphysics by Wayne Dwyer, Deepak Chopra, James Redfield, and sometimes unwittingly by many eminent physicists.
The result is a collection of ten chapters presented as Le Bertrand’s reflections of some humorous anecdotal experiences, the attention to some enduring ideas as related to his experiences and more importantly their potential contribution to the common good. Some of the ideas that interest him include the meaning of education and the lifelong pursuit of wisdom, consciousness, religiosity, economic and political liberalism, doubt associated with the judgments we make, current exposure to educated and uneducated barbarians, etc. The author tries to maintain objectivity by presenting ‘Le Bertrand’ as his alter ego, and sometimes derives great pleasure laughing at him.
The common themes include the author’s experiences, thoughts, search and attempts to experience a more meaningful life beyond the focused pursuit of accumulating wealth or the mere satisfaction of salacious appetites. The author expects that many readers will be entertained by some aspects of the reflections, will find the reflections thought provoking, or simply be happy to get exposed to, revisit, question or embrace some enduring ideas.
