100 Best Cognitive Psychology Books of All Time

We've ranked the best cognitive psychology books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

Thinking, Fast and Slow book cover1

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

5.0
Major New York Times bestseller
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011
A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

In the internatio
Man's Search for Meaning book cover2

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl

4.7
Man's Search for Meaning has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 psychiatrist Viktor Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the stories of his many patients, Frankl argues that we can
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion book cover3

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini

4.6
Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions book cover4

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely

4.6
Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?

Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are a
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking book cover5

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

4.5
Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a bo
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success book cover6

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck

4.5
Now updated with new research — the book that has changed millions of lives.

After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how
7

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Richard H. Thaler

4.5
Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we all are susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes make us poorer and less healthy; we often make bad decisions involving educ
Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction book cover8

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner

4.4
A New York Times Bestseller

An Economist Best Book of 2015

"The most important book on decision making since Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow."
—Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal

Everyone would benefit from seeing further into the future, whether buying stocks, crafting policy, launching a new product, or simply planning the week’s meals. Unfortunately, people tend to be terrible foreca
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience book cover9

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

4.4
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this posit
The Design of Everyday Things book cover10

The Design of Everyday Things

Don Norman

4.4
Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious—even liberating—book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary r
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams book cover11

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Matthew Walker

4.4
“Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book…Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you.” —Bill Gates

A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this “stimulating and important book” (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber.

With two appearances on CBS This Mor
Stumbling on Happiness book cover12

Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Gilbert

4.4
• Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? • Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight? • Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want? • Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can’t we remember one song
Grit book cover13
In this must-read book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students, and business people both seasoned and new that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called grit.

Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why
14

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

Steven Pinker

4.4
If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science.

Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and
15

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Charles Duhigg

4.4
A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new produ
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything book cover16

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Joshua Foer

4.4
The blockbuster phenomenon that charts an amazing journey of the mind while revolutionizing our concept of memory

An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic, Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Joshua Foer's yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top "mental athletes." He draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of remembering, and venerable tri
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma book cover17

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Bessel van der Kolk

4.4
• A New York Times Science Bestseller •

“Packed with science and human stories, the book is an intense read. . . . The struggle and resilience of [van der Kolk’s] patients is very moving.” —New Scientist


A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing


Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of comb
The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself book cover18

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

Michael A. Singer

4.4
Who are you? When you start to explore this question, you find out how elusive it really is. Are you a physical body? A collection of experiences and memories? A partner in a relationship? Each time you consider these aspects of yourself, you realize that there is much more to you than any of these can define.

In The Untethered Soul—now a New York Times bestseller—spiritual teacher Michael Singer
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning book cover19

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel

4.3
To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concr
The Art of Thinking Clearly: Better Thinking, Better Decision book cover20

The Art of Thinking Clearly: Better Thinking, Better Decision

dobelli rolf

4.3
The Art of Thinking Clearly by world-class thinker and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli is an eye-opening look at human psychology and reasoning -- essential reading for anyone who wants to avoid "cognitive errors" and make better choices in all aspects of their lives.

Have you ever: Invested time in something that, with hindsight, just wasn't worth it? Or continued doing something you knew was bad for yo
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets book cover21

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.3
Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are The Black Swan, Antifragile, and The Bed of Procrustes.

Now in a striking new hardcover edition, Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth se
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones book cover22

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

James Clear

4.3
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion book cover23

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Jonathan Haidt

4.3
Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding.

His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all ha
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom book cover24

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

Jonathan Haidt

4.3
In his widely praised book, award-winning psychologist Jonathan Haidt examines the world’s philosophical wisdom through the lens of psychological science, showing how a deeper understanding of enduring maxims-like Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, or What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger-can enrich and even transform our lives.
As a Man Thinketh book cover25

As a Man Thinketh

Allen

4.3
The mind guides our footsteps as we progress along the pathway of life.

Purity of mind leads inevitably to purity of life, to the precious love and understanding that should control our everyday acts and attitudes towards friends and foes.

But where must one look for guidance? How does one achieve purity of mind that alone brings happiness and confidence?

The author offers his clear answers in this b
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds book cover26

The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds

Michael Lewis

4.3
Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original papers that invented the field of behavioral economics. One of the greatest partnerships in the history of science, Kahneman and Tversky’s extraordinary friendship incited a revolution in Big Data studies, advanced evidence-based medicine, led to a new approach to government regulation
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst book cover27

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Robert M. Sapolsky

4.3
The New York Times bestseller

"It's no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read." --David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal


"It has my vote for science book of the year." --Parul Sehgal, The New York Times

"Hands-down one of the best books I've read in years. I loved it." --Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washin
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It book cover28

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It

Kelly McGonigal

4.3
The first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

After years of watching her students struggling with their choices, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., realized that much of what people believe about willpower is actually sabotaging their success. Committed to sharing what the scientific community alre
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales book cover29

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks

4.3
If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it. Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent t
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language book cover30

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language

Steven Pinker

4.3
The classic book on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind.

In this classic, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker w
The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science book cover31

The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Norman Doidge

4.3
An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they’ve transformed - people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable. We see a wo
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School book cover32

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School

John Medina

4.3
Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know—like the need for physical activity to get your brain working its best.

How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget—and so important to repeat new knowledge
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard book cover33

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Chip Heath and Dan Heath

4.3
Why is change so difficult and frightening? How do you create change when you have few resources and no title or authority to back you up? Chip and Dan Heath, the best-selling authors of Made to Stick, are back with a ground-breaking book that addresses one of the greatest challenges of our personal and professional lives — how to change things when change is hard.

In their follow-up book to the cr
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You find and Keep love book cover34

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You find and Keep love

Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

4.3
We rely on science to tell us everything from what to eat to when and how long to exercise, but what about relationships? Is there a scientific explanation for why some people seem to navigate relationships effortlessly, while others struggle? According to psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Amir Levine and Rachel Heller, the answer is a resounding "yes."In Attached, Levine and Heller reveal how a
The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload book cover35

The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload

Daniel J. Levitin

4.2
New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin shifts his keen insights from your brain on music to your brain in a sea of details.

The information age is drowning us with an unprecedented deluge of data. At the same time, we’re expected to make more—and faster—decisions about our lives than ever before. No wonder, then, that the average American reports frequently losing ca
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature book cover36

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

Steven Pinker

4.2
“In a work of outstanding clarity and sheer brilliance Steven Pinker banishes forever fears that a biological understanding of human nature threatens humane values.”
—Helena Cronin, author of The Ant and The Peacock

“A mind blowing, mind openingexpos. Pinker's profoundly positive arguments for the compatibility of biology and humanism are unrivalled for their scope and depth and should be mandatory,
Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts book cover37

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts

Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson

4.2
Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they screw up? Why the endless marital quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell?

Renowned social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson take a compelling look into how the b
Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much book cover38

Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much

Sendhil Mullainathan

4.2
Audiobook: 8 hrs and 47 mins

A surprising and intriguing examination of how scarcity—and our flawed responses to it—shapes our lives, our society, and our culture

Why do successful people get things done at the last minute? Why does poverty persist? Why do organizations get stuck firefighting? Why do the lonely find it hard to make friends? These questions seem unconnected, yet Sendhil Mullainathan
How the Mind Works book cover39

How the Mind Works

Steven Pinker

4.2
In this extraordinary bestseller, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists, does for the rest of the mind what he did for language in his 1994 book, The Language Instinct. He explains what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us to see, think, feel, laugh, interact, enjoy the arts, and ponder the mysteries of life. And he does it with the wit that prompted Mark Ridl
Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions book cover40

Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions

Dan Heath, Chip,Heath

4.2
Just making a decision can be hard enough, but how do you begin to judge whether it's the right one? Chip and Dan Heath, authors of #1 New York Times best-seller Switch, show you how to overcome your brain's natural shortcomings.

In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath draw on decades of psychological research to explain why we so often get it very badly wrong - why our supposedly rational brains are fr
Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender book cover41

Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender

David R. Hawkins

4.2
Letting Go describes a simple and effective means by which to let go of the obstacles to enlightenment and become free of negativity. During the many decades of the author's clinical psychiatric practice, the primary aim was to seek the most effective ways to relieve human suffering in all of its many forms. The inner mechanism of surrender was found to be of great practical benefit and is describ
42

The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Program to Help You Achieve Success, Confidence, and Happiness

Steve Peters

4.2
Your inner Chimp can be your best friend or your worst enemy...this is the Chimp Paradox


Do you sabotage your own happiness and success? Are you struggling to make sense of yourself? Do your emotions sometimes dictate your life?


Dr. Steve Peters explains that we all have a being within our minds that can wreak havoc on every aspect of our lives—be it business or personal. He calls this being "the
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions book cover43

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Brian Christian and Griffiths

4.2
A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we
44

Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook

Michael W. Eysenck and Mark T. Keane

4.2
Rigorously researched and accessibly written, Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook is widely regarded as the leading undergraduate textbook in the field. The book is clearly organised, and offers comprehensive coverage of all the key areas of cognitive psychology. With a strong focus on considering human cognition in context, the book has been designed to help students develop a thorough und
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics book cover45

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

Richard H. Thaler

4.2
Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans—predictable, error-prone individuals. Misbehaving is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth—and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world.

Traditional economics assumes rati
Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences book cover46

Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner

4.2
A revolutionary challenge to the widely held notion that intelligence is a single general capacity possessed by every individual to a greater or lesser extent. Gardner's trailblazing book revolutionized the worlds of education and psychology by positing that rather than a single type of intelligence, we have several--most of which are neglected by standard testing and educational methods.

More than
Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life book cover47

Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life

Martin E.P. Seligman

4.2
Known as the father of the new science of positive psychology, Martin E.P. Seligman draws on more than twenty years of clinical research to demonstrate how optimism enchances the quality of life, and how anyone can learn to practice it. Offering many simple techniques, Dr. Seligman explains how to break an “I—give-up” habit, develop a more constructive explanatory style for interpreting your behav
Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, author's Official Revised Edition book cover49

Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, author's Official Revised Edition

David R. Hawkins

4.2
All human endeavors have the common goal of understanding or influencing human experience. To this end, man has developed numerous descriptive and analytical disciplines: Morality, Philosophy, Psychology, and so on. Regardless of what branch of inquiry one starts from-philosophy, political theory, theology-all avenues of investigation eventually converge at a common meeting point: the quest for an
The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness book cover51

The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness

Culadasa, Matthew Immergut, and Jeremy Graves

4.2
A revolutionary, science-based approach to meditation from a neuroscientist turned meditation master, The Mind Illuminated is an accessible, step-by-step toolkit for anyone looking to start—or improve—their daily meditation practice.

The book that bestselling meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg raves “brings the path of meditation to life,” The Mind Illuminated is the first how-to meditation guide f
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains book cover52

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Nicholas Carr

4.2
“Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain book cover53

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

John J. Ratey

4.2
The authors embark upon a fascinating journey through the mind-body connection, showing how exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD, from addiction to Alzheimer's.
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain book cover54

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

David Eagleman

4.2
If the conscious mind—the part you consider you—accounts for only a tiny fraction of the brain’s function, what is all the rest doing? This is the question that David Eagleman—renowned neuroscientist and acclaimed author of Sum—answers in a book as accessible and entertaining as it is deeply informed by startling, up-to-the-minute research.
The Confidence Gap: A Guide to Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt book cover55

The Confidence Gap: A Guide to Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt

Russ Harris

4.2
Too many of us miss out on opportunities in life because we lack self-confidence. Whether it's public speaking, taking on a leadership role, or asking someone for a date, there are situations in which we just don't feel equipped to handle the challenges we face.



Russ Harris offers a surprising solution to low self-confidence, shyness, and insecurity: rather than trying to "get over" our fears, he s
56

The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts

Shane Parrish, Rhiannon Beaubien

4.2
The old saying goes, "To the man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail." But anyone who has done any kind of project knows a hammer often isn't enough.

The more tools you have at your disposal, the more likely you'll use the right tool for the job — and get it done right.

The same is true when it comes to your thinking. The quality of your outcomes depends on the mental models in your head.
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World book cover57

The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Iain McGilchrist

4.2
A new edition of the bestselling classic – published with a special introduction to mark its 10th anniversary

This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain – the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the ‘rational’ side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true?

Drawing on a vast bod
The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race book cover58

The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race

Daniel Z. Lieberman

4.2
59

The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life

Robin Hanson

4.1
Human beings are primates, and primates are political animals. Our brains, therefore, are designed not just to hunt and gather, but also to help us get ahead socially, often via deception and self-deception. But while we may be self-interested schemers, we benefit by pretending otherwise. The less we know about our own ugly motives, the better - and thus we don't like to talk or even think about t
The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT book cover61

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT

Russ Harris

4.1
Are you, like milllions of Americans, caught in the happiness trap? Russ Harris explains that the way most of us go about trying to find happiness ends up making us miserable, driving the epidemics of stress, anxiety, and depression. This empowering book presents the insights and techniques of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) a revolutionary new psychotherapy based on cutting-edge research
62

Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models

Gabriel Weinberg, Lauren McCann

4.1
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller!

"You can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form. You've got to have models in your head."
- Charlie Munger, investor, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway

The world's greatest problem-solvers, forecasters, and decision-makers all rely on a set of fram
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind book cover63

Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind

V. S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee, et al.

4.1
Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandr
How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be book cover64

How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

Katy Milkman

4.1

Wall Street Journal bestseller“A welcome revelation.” --The Financial TimesAward-winning Wharton Professor and Choiceology podcast host Katy Milkman has devoted her career to the study of behavior change. In this ground-breaking book, Milkman reveals a proven path that can take you from where you are to where you want to be, with a foreword from psychologist Angela Duckworth, the best-selling auth

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing book cover65

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Daniel H. Pink

4.1
Everyone knows that timing is everything. But we don't know much about timing itself. Our lives are a never-ending stream of "when" decisions: when to start a business, schedule a class, get serious about a person. Yet we make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork.

Timing, it's often assumed, is an art. In When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Pink shows that timing is really a
66

The Science of Self-Discipline: The Willpower, Mental Toughness, and Self-Control to Resist Temptation and Achieve Your Goals

Peter Hollins

4.1
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid book cover67

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

4.1
Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers at
68

Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom

Daniel T. Willingham

4.1
Kids are naturally curious, but when it comes to school it seems like their minds are turned off. Why is it that they can remember the smallest details from their favorite television program, yet miss the most obvious questions on their history test?

Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham has focused his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning and has a deep understanding o
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy book cover70

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

David D. Burns

4.1
The good news is that anxiety, guilt, pessimism, procrastination, low self-esteem, and other "black holes" of depression can be cured without drugs. In Feeling Good, eminent psychiatrist, David D. Burns, M.D., outlines the remarkable, scientifically proven techniques that will immediately lift your spirits and help you develop a positive outlook on life. Now, in this updated edition, Dr. Burns add
Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy book cover71

Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy

Mo Gawdat

4.1
Mo Gawdat is a remarkable thinker and the Chief Business Officer at Google’s [X], an elite team of engineers that comprise Google’s futuristic “dream factory.” Applying his superior skills of logic and problem solving to the issue of happiness, he proposes an algorithm based on an understanding of how the brain takes in and processes joy and sadness. Then he solves for happy.

In 2001 Mo Gawdat real
72

Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases

Daniel Kahneman

4.1
The thirty-five chapters in this book describe various judgmental heuristics and the biases they produce, not only in laboratory experiments but in important social, medical, and political situations as well. Individual chapters discuss the representativeness and availability heuristics, problems in judging covariation and control, overconfidence, multistage inference, social perception, medical d
Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step book cover74

Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step

Edward De Bono

4.1
The first practical explanation of how creativity works, this results-oriented bestseller trains listeners to move beyond a "vertical" mode of thought to tap the potential of lateral thinking.
77

Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior

Leonard Mlodinow

4.1
Leonard Mlodinow, the best-selling author of The Drunkard’s Walk and coauthor of The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking), gives us a startling and eye-opening examination of how the unconscious mind shapes our experience of the world and how, for instance, we often misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates, misunderstand the reasons for our investment decisions, a
Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being book cover78

Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being

Martin E. P. Seligman

4.1
“This book will help you flourish.” With this unprecedented promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, his first book in ten years—and the first to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr. Seligman has led f
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind book cover79

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

Julian Jaynes

4.1
At the heart of this seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that consciousness didn't begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only 3000 years ago & is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually all aspects of psychology, history & religion.
Preface
Introduction
The mind of man
The c
Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain book cover80

Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain

Antonio Damasio

4.1
Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"one of the world’s leading
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence book cover81

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

Gavin De Becker

4.1
True fear is a gift.
Unwarranted fear is a curse.
Learn how to tell the difference.

A date won't take "no" for an answer. The new nanny gives a mother an uneasy feeling. A stranger in a deserted parking lot offers unsolicited help. The threat of violence surrounds us every day. But we can protect ourselves, by learning to trust—and act on—our gut instincts.

In this empowering book, Gavin de Becker, th
82

How We Decide

Jonah Lehrer

4.0
The first book to use the unexpected discoveries of neuroscience to help us make the best decisions.

Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we “blink” and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind’s black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they’re discovering that this is not how the mind
Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence book cover83

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

Daniel Goleman

4.0
Bestselling author Daniel Goleman returns with a groundbreaking look at today's scarcest resource and the secret to high performance and fulfillment: attention

For more than two decades, psychologist and journalist Daniel Goleman has been scouting the leading edge of the human sciences for what's new, surprising, and important. In Focus, he delves into the science of attention in all its varieties,
84

The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

Steven Pinker

4.0
In The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, Steven Pinker looks at how the relationship between words and thoughts can help us understand who we are.

Why do so many swear words involve topics like sex, bodily functions or the divine? Why do some children's names thrive while others fall out of favour? Why do we threaten and bribe and seduce in such elaborate, often comical ways
85

You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself

David McRaney

4.0
An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise.

Whether you’re deciding which smart phone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being whose every decision is based on cool, detached logic, but here’s the truth: You are not so smart. You’re just as deluded as the rest of us--but that’s okay, because being deluded is part of being human.
The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us book cover86

The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us

Christopher Chabris, Daniel Simons

4.0
Reading this book will make you less sure of yourself—and that’s a good thing. In The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, creators of one of psychology’s most famous experiments, use remarkable stories and counterintuitive scientific findings to demonstrate an important truth: Our minds don’t work the way we think they do. We think we see ourselves and the world as they reall
Metaphors We Live By book cover87

Metaphors We Live By

George Lakoff, Mark Johnson

4.0

The now-classic Metaphors We Live By changed our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, the

88

The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life

Joseph Ledoux

4.0
The Emotional Brain investigates the origins of human emotions and explains that many exist as part of complex neural systems that evolved to enable us to survive.
The Interpretation of Dreams book cover89

The Interpretation of Dreams

Sigmund Freud

4.0
What are the most common dreams and why do we have them? What does a dream about death mean? What do dreams of swimming, failing, or flying symbolize?First published by Sigmund Freud in 1899, The Interpretation of Dreams considers why we dream and what it means in the larger picture of our psychological lives. Delving into theories of manifest and latent dream content, the special language of drea
The Doors of Perception: Heaven and Hell (Thinking Classics) book cover90

The Doors of Perception: Heaven and Hell (Thinking Classics)

Aldous Huxley

4.0
In 1953, in the presence of an investigator, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gramme of mescalin, sat down and waited to see what would happen. Huxley described his experience in 'The Doors of Perception' and its sequel 'Heaven and Hell'.
91

Atomic Habits: The life-changing million copy bestseller

James Clear

4.0
Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart book cover92

Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

James R. Doty MD

4.0
Growing up in the high desert of California, Jim Doty was poor, with an alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a dead end until at twelve he wandered into a m
Think like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain book cover93

Think like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain

Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

4.0
The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics changed the way we see the world, exposing the hidden side of just about everything. Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning podcast, and more.

Now, with Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have written their most revolutionary book yet. With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventio
94

The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home

Dan Ariely

4.0
The provocative follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Predictably Irrational

Why can large bonuses make CEOs less productive?
How can confusing directions actually help us?
Why is revenge so important to us?
Why is there such a big difference between what we think will make us happy and what really makes us happy?

In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely reve
Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best book cover95

Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best

Angela Duckworth

4.0

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the #1 bestselling author of Grit, a new book that reveals the hidden power of situations and how you can shape them to bring out your best.In Angela Duckworth’s first book, she showed that a common denominator of successful strivers is a blend of passion and perseverance she dubbed “grit.” This second book springs from her deepening realization that grit, wh

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, Third Edition: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures book cover96

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, Third Edition: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures

Francine Shapiro

4.0

From Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) originator Francine Shapiro, this groundbreaking, evidence-based work has been translated into multiple languages. Originally developed for treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), EMDR therapy is now also used to treat adults and children with complex trauma, anxiety disorders, depression, addictive behavior problems, and other c

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession book cover97

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Daniel J. Levitin

4.0
Whether you load your iPod with Bach or Bono, music has a significant role in your life—even if you never realized it. Why does music evoke such powerful moods? The answers are at last be- coming clear, thanks to revolutionary neuroscience and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology. Both a cutting-edge study and a tribute to the beauty of music itself, This Is Your Brain on Music unravels a
Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror book cover98

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

Judith L. Herman

4.0
When Trauma and Recovery was first published in 1992, it was hailed as a groundbreaking work. In the intervening years, Herman’s volume has changed the way we think about and treat traumatic events and trauma victims. In a new afterword, Herman chronicles the incredible response the book has elicited and explains how the issues surrounding the topic have shifted within the clinical community and t
On Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain Will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines book cover99

On Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain Will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines

Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee

4.0
From the inventor of the PalmPilot comes a new and compelling theory of intelligence, brain function, and the future of intelligent machines

Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intellige
100

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know about People

Susan Weinschenk

4.0
We design to elicit responses from people. We want them to buy something, read more, or take action of some kind. Designing without understanding what makes people act the way they do is like exploring a new city without a map: results will be haphazard, confusing, and inefficient. This book combines real science and research with practical examples to deliver a guide every designer needs. With it