The World's Best Book Summaries
Why do humans find water appealing? How does it engage our senses? Humans are attracted to the way water looks, feels, and sounds. Wallace J. Nichols calls this the Blue Mind effect. He lays out the multifaceted appeal of water in his book Blue Mind, explaining that our attraction to water goes beyond our need to survive. Read on to learn about the fascinating phenomenon of the Blue Mind effect.
Do you blindly adopt or reject advice? What’s the best way to make the most of counsel? When Tim Ferriss wanted some advice, he sent the same list of 11 questions to scores of experts, promising to put his favorite responses into a book. The result is Tribe of Mentors. The book starts with a topic that might influence how you read the rest of it: how to take advice from others and even yourself. Keep reading for some insights on how to interpret and apply advice.
How did Jennette McCurdy recover from bulimia? What led her to bulimia in the first place? Like child star Jennette McCurdy, many people around the world suffer from bulimia. For McCurdy, hers began as a result of her mother restricting her calories when she was a child, but McCurdy had a hard time believing her mother was harming her. Discover the tremendous story of Jennette McCurdy’s bulimia recovery, as described in her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died.
What is the marginal value theorem? Why is technology so distracting? To explain technology’s impact on interference and the brain, The Distracted Mind by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen looks to the marginal value theorem. The MVT is used to examine food habits in animals but can be applied to humans’ excessive use of technology. Find out more about the marginal value theorem here.
How important is trust in marketing? How can you concretely build it and keep it? In Permission Marketing, Seth Godin discusses two approaches: Interruption Marketing and Permission Marketing. Both owe their profitability to the fact that they built customer trust in a brand. However, Godin asserts that Permission Marketing builds trust in a far more cost-effective way. Read more to learn about building customer trust through Godin’s permission model.
Why is technology a distraction? Why are people so vulnerable to technological interference? The Distracted Mind by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen argue that the Information Age increased our susceptibility to interference. They also explain this increase and warn about the harmful effects of this uptick in interference. Keep reading to learn how and why technology is a distraction, and why anyone can fall for interference.
How strong is the cognitive control network? Why is it easy for humans to fall for interference? The cognitive control network guides us to achieve our goals in life. But it does have its limits, which is why humans get distracted so easily and sometimes can’t fulfill those goals. Continue reading to learn how your cognitive control network might be failing you.
What does “Blue Mind” mean? How is it different from “Red Mind”? What contributes to these mental states? When you feel serene sitting at the beach, watching the waves, you’re likely experiencing Blue Mind. In his book Blue Mind, Wallace J. Nichols argues that water has a profound impact on our well-being and health because it induces a calming, meditative state, which he calls the Blue Mind state. Read more to understand Blue Mind’s meaning and why such a phenomenon exists.
Why do we get distracted so easily? What are the limitations of cognitive control? In The Distracted Mind, Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen define the distracted mind as an ingrained vulnerability to distractions and interruptions. They then discuss how this vulnerability arose because our higher-level goals outstripped our cognitive control. Here’s why the brain can become an easy victim to distractions.
What is The Distracted Mind about? What is the negative impact of technology on human brains? In The Distracted Mind, Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen define the distracted mind and the ways that technology has exacerbated it. They also discuss their proposed strategies for alleviating this condition by taking steps to improve our brain’s cognitive control and by modifying our environment. Read below for a brief overview of The Distracted Mind.