The World's Best Book Summaries
How do you show care? Do other life forms deserve care like humans? In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer explains the benefits of mutual care, such as a flourishing environment. If you want to experience these benefits, she recommends encouraging mutual care with other people and other life forms. Read below to learn how to show care in your community.
What is the EU’s Digital Services Act package? What are the intended benefits? Why is the big tech industry skeptical? The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) are each intended to make the internet safer and more equitable for both end-users and service providers. However, analysts are divided on whether the new laws will have the intended effect. Read on to learn about the EU’s Digital Services Act package, including concerns identified by analysts.
What is bossware? What are the pros and cons of remote employee monitoring software? Is it ethical—or even legal? The term “bossware” describes the employee monitoring software used by some employers charged with managing remote workforces. Some companies using bossware say it makes things fairer and more productive, but others claim it decreases morale and the productivity benefits are overstated. Keep reading to learn more about what bossware is, how it’s being used, and its pros and cons.
What is Bad Science by Ben Goldacre about? What are the main takeaways of the book? In Bad Science, Ben Goldacre details the strategies researchers, corporations, and journalists use to mislead the public. Goldacre also gives you the tools you need to identify and call out shady science when you see it. Read below for a brief overview of Bad Science.
What does cherry-picking data mean? Why do many companies in healthcare do this? There are some drug and healthcare companies that cherry-pick results, referencing the positive and ignoring the negative. In Bad Science, Ben Goldacre expresses how this is an unethical practice. Let’s look at why cherry-picking data isn’t advised.
What is publication bias in research? Why do some companies only publish good results? Publication bias is a problematic tactic because it fails to reveal every result of a study, whether good or bad. In Bad Science, Ben Goldacre goes into more detail about why publication bias in research needs to be stopped. Let’s look into why companies consider giving into publication bias in the first place.
What qualifies as scientific misconduct in research? How does misinformation about science spread to the public? Many people trust scientists to give them facts about health, new discoveries, and more. However, their trust can be broken when scientific misconduct in research takes place. Keep reading to learn how healthcare industries overstate the effectiveness of their treatments, according to Ben Goldacre’s book Bad Science.
What is selection bias in research? How does it affect scientific findings? Selection bias is when researchers sort participants into different groups to get their desired result. According to Ben Goldacre in Bad Science, this unethical tactic can cause a systematic error that could’ve been avoided with randomization. Let’s look at why selection bias in research is a growing issue.
When it comes to being true to yourself, what role do habits play? What price do you pay for living with integrity? Martha Beck shares five techniques for being true to yourself in her book The Way of Integrity. She discusses committing to telling the truth, focusing on making small adjustments, focusing on your yearning, enjoying the benefits of integrity, and forgiving yourself for violating your integrity. Continue reading for Beck’s five-part advice on how to live with integrity.
What is blinding in research? How can you tell when a researcher is practicing good blinding? Blinding is a controlled research technique that involves the placebo effect, where neither the patients nor doctors don’t know which drug is being given. However, some researchers use bad blinding techniques to influence the participants in some way. Continue reading to learn how blinding in research works, according to Ben Goldacre’s book Bad Science.