The World's Best Book Summaries
What are the four components of analytical reading? What is the goal of reading a book analytically? Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book describes analytical reading as the third level of reading. At this level, the aim is to understand to book and its background as much as possible in an unlimited amount of time. Keep reading to learn about the four components of analytical reading.
Are you looking to further your understanding of Amusing Ourselves to Death? How can you relate this thirty-six-year-old book to life today? Thirty-six years ago, Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death to warn society of a looming future like Brave New World. Postman believed that entertainment value would become more important than truth or intelligence. Continue reading for Amusing Ourselves to Death discussion questions.
What lessons can you learn from Ken Blanchard’s book The New One-Minute Manager? How can you get the most out of your employees? The New One-Minute Manager teaches three core principles: one-minute goals, one-minute praisings, and one-minute redirects. You’ll learn how empowering your employees motivates them to work harder. Continue below for a brief overview of The New One-Minute Manager‘s core lessons.
How do your natural body responses affect willpower? How can you turn your fight-or-flight response into a pause-and-plan response? Body responses such as the fight-or-flight response were great in the Stone Age, but not so great for our self-control. These impulses that were designed to save your life tend to kick in at the worst times—like when you’re on a diet and your body says that you need that fresh-baked cookie. Luckily, there are ways to fight these natural body responses and take the control back.
Do you feel excited when you set big goals for yourself? Do you share your goals with others to keep yourself accountable? Research shows that when you share your goals with others, your brain feels the pleasure of this accomplishment even as you speak the words—you don’t even have to put in the effort of following through. Counterintuitively, since you already felt the pleasure of going, it makes you lose motivation to actually go. This is why you should keep your goals to yourself until you accomplish them.
How can inspectional reading help you comprehend a book better? How do you read inspectionally? Mortimer Adler’s book How to Read a Book describes inspectional reading as the second level of reading. At this level, a reader can understand the main concepts of the book by skimming it and reading its high-level content. Learn how you can understand a book in just 15 minutes with inspectional reading.
What are the best Amusing Ourselves to Death quotes by Neil Postman? Do Postman’s observations from 1985 still hold true today? Although Postman’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death was published over thirty years ago, the messages still hold true today, if not more than ever. Postman warns us of a world that is more focused on entertainment than truth and value. Continue reading for some of Neil Postman’s quotes from Amusing Ourselves to Death.
How does Ken Blanchard describe the three kinds of managers? What sets a one-minute manager apart from nice and tough managers? In his book The New One-Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard discusses the three kinds of managers: tough, nice, and one-minute managers. One-minute managers instill confidence in their employees and are experts at time management. Keep reading to learn more about the three kinds of managers.
What is heart rate variability? Why is heart rate variability important to willpower? Heart rate variability is the variance in time between each heartbeat. The higher the variability, the more relaxed and adaptable your body is to stress. This is related to willpower because people with higher heart rate variability are better at delaying gratification, dealing with stress, ignoring distractions, and exercising self-control. Continue reading for more information on heart rate variability and what you can do to increase it.
Do you ever reward yourself with a snack when you’ve done well on your diet? Why do people tend to think that being “good” gives us moral permission to be “bad”? Moral licensing is when people tell themselves they deserve an indulgent treat because they’ve been good. However, much of the time the “reward” is actually counterintuitive to the person’s goal. Here is why moral licensing goes against self-control.