Elizabeth Whitworth, Author at Shortform Books

Gain Mastery With Declarative Learning & Procedural Learning

Would you like to learn how to play the guitar or speak French? What learning skills can help you pick up any other type of skill? Once you have a basic understanding of how knowledge gets into your brain and stays there, you can make the most of what you learn. Barbara Oakley and Olav Schewe, in Learn Like a Pro, help you understand two systems that your brain uses to learn. Read on to get a practical introduction to declarative learning and procedural learning.

Freudian Marxism: The Fusion of Class & Psychological Domination

What do the ideas of Marx and Freud have in common? How did they help form the modern conception of the self? Carl Trueman argues that cultural developments of the past three centuries have transformed our conception of selfhood from a self rooted in religion, tradition, and community to one rooted in individualism, emotion, and sexuality. The ideas of Marx and Freud contributed to this transformation. Read more to learn about the roots and the emergence of Freudian Marxism from Trueman’s perspective.

Ready, Fire, Aim: Michael Masterson’s 4-Step Business Strategy

What should be your top priority during the first stage of your business? What are some effective ways of coming up with new product ideas? How can you keep your business growing after initial success? In Ready, Fire, Aim, Michael Masterson presents a strategy for building and growing a profitable business. He says successful, multimillion-dollar businesses progress through four stages of development, each presenting different challenges and objectives that entrepreneurs must prioritize. Read more for an overview of this book that can help you ensure continued growth and profitability for your business.

How to Write Marketing Copy: 4 Steps to Communicate Your Edge

Do you have an excellent product that deserves excellent marketing copy? What’s the best way to capture your product’s essence in words? To succeed in business, you must effectively market and sell your product or service. Not only must you refine what your product or service is, but you must also refine how you present it. In Ready, Fire, Aim, Michael Masterson provides a four-step strategy to do that. Read more to learn how to write marketing copy in four simple steps.

The Importance of Memory in Learning (Learn Like a Pro)

How do your working memory and long-term memory work together? What are some ways to improve your memory so you can learn more effectively? In Learn Like a Pro, Barbara Oakley and Olav Schewe argue that you can become a better learner if you understand more about how your brain functions and adopt learning methods that work with your brain’s learning capabilities rather than against them. A key function they discuss is memory. Keep reading to understand the importance of memory in learning.

Sigmund Freud’s Philosophy About Self: Sexuality as Identity

What did Freud believe about identity and the self? How influential are his ideas? In the 19th century, through the work of Sigmund Freud, sexuality came to form the center of human identity. In The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman places this in a historical context, explaining how the concept of the self transformed over time. Keep reading for an overview of Sigmund Freud’s philosophy about self.

How to Use Attribute Substitution to Influence People

Do you want to be more persuasive when you speak? How much would it help if you could understand the way people think and feel? Peter D. Andrei says that attribute substitution is behind a variety of cognitive biases and can be used to influence your audience in subtle yet powerful ways. He explains how you can do this by using emotions as replacement attributes, providing abundant evidence, and presenting social proof. Read more to learn how to use attribute substitution to influence people.

The Sovereign Individual: Book Overview & Key Takeaways

How does technology shape society? How major has the transition to the information age been? In the 1990s, James Davidson and William Rees-Mogg predicted that “sovereign individuals” would be the future. They discuss this prediction and others about society and the economy in their book The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age. Continue reading for an overview of this prescient book.

How the Anchoring Effect Is a Helpful Tool for Persuasion

What’s the most basic negotiation tactic? How’s your perception of a wine’s price affected by your knowledge of the price of other wines? In How Highly Effective People Speak, Peter D. Andrei shares the basic strategies of powerful communication, teaching you how to speak with eloquence and persuasion by tapping into patterns of thinking that affect human behavior and perception. One of these patterns is the anchoring effect. Keep reading to learn how to convey your message in the most efficient and effective way possible by understanding the anchoring effect.

How Does Society Change? Exploring the Theory of Megapolitics

How does society change? What’s the biggest factor? Is societal change predictable? Writing in the 1990s, James Davidson and William Rees-Mogg made major predictions about society’s future. They base them on what they call “megapolitics,” the theory that forms of government and economies are dictated mostly by circumstances, such as climate and the resources that are available. Keep reading to understand Davidson and Rees-Mogg’s theory of how society changes.