The World's Best Book Summaries
What safety issues do women face? How does the gender data gap affect women’s safety? Caroline Criado Perez contends that the gender data gap—a lack of information about the female experience—harms women’s health, safety, and economic standing. In Invisible Women, she says that the data gap causes issues in public transport and disaster response. Read more to learn about women’s safety issues on public transport and in a disaster.
What happens when you use data for unethical reasons? What are the drawbacks and dangers of big data? Even though Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is openly enthusiastic about data studies, he’s aware that data has drawbacks and limitations and can lead to great harm if used unethically. In Everybody Lies, he explores some cases where these dangers have come to pass. Read below for unethical use of data examples.
Why are women often harassed on public transportation? What is the solution to this problem? Caroline Criado Perez believes that women don’t report sexual harassment on public transit because it ultimately won’t solve the problem. This is because men predominantly run public transit and are less likely to be harassed, so no system is in place to reduce harassment. Continue reading to learn why harassment on public transportation is an ongoing problem.
Did Carl Sagan believe there’s life on Mars? Did he believe that humans should colonize the planet? At the time Sagan wrote Cosmos, no compelling evidence for life has been found on Mars. Sagan says that as long as life isn’t found, humans should create an atmosphere on Mars and attempt to colonize it. If life is found, that’s another story. Here’s what Carl Sagan wrote about space exploration and Mars.
What was the Stanford Prison Experiment? What do the results of the experiment tell us about human nature? In 1971, a team of psychologists led by Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo turned the basement of the Stanford psychology department into a “jail.” Zimbardo recruited 24 male college students, half of whom would play the role of guards and the other half the role of prisoners. After a few days, the guards began to treat the prisoners with brutality—they subjected them to strip searches, emotionally and verbally tormented them, and even physically abused them. Here’s why we shouldn’t make sweeping conclusions about
How do people make moral choices? What is the key factor that determines whether people will do the right thing, ethically speaking? In psychology, morality is a subject that has been studied extensively. One of the key influences on people’s moral decisions seems to be distance—how far or close they are to the situation both physically and emotionally. Keep reading to learn about the psychology of morality.
Are your employees clear about the ethical expectations at your company? Are you consistently upholding behavior boundaries? CEO and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz draws on historical examples to show how you can provide cultural leadership in your organization. For lessons on ethical workplace behavior, Horowitz looks to Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, who shows us that we must not leave ethical gray areas. Keep reading to learn more about shaping ethical workplace behavior.
Are humans inherently good or evil? Does our environment shape who we are? In The Lucifer Effect, psychologist Philip Zimbardo argues that humans aren’t born good or bad. Instead, he theorizes that certain circumstances can cause any good person to become evil. Learn more about why Zimbardo believes humans aren’t inherently good or evil.
What is The Lucifer Effect about? What are the main takeaways from Philip Zimbardo’s book? The Lucifer Effect was written by Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist famous for running the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. In it, Zimbardo argues that most of us drastically misunderstand evil’s potential. Here’s a brief overview of Philip Zimbardo’s book The Lucifer Effect.
Do you want to know how to become a good person? How can you avoid being evil? In The Lucifer Effect, psychologist Philip Zimbardo says that certain circumstances and institutions contribute to human evil. He argues that anybody could commit the worst evil imaginable if they found themselves in the wrong situation. Learn how to become a good person with Zimbardo’s helpful tips.