The World's Best Book Summaries
What is the placebo effect in psychology? What role does the mind play in healing the body? Placebo is the beneficial effect experienced by a patient who has received a fake treatment but believes they’ve received real treatment. The placebo effect is proof that your beliefs can influence your physical health, conferring healing or inflicting sickness. Here is how you can harness the power of placebo to heal your body.
Want to know how to cope with grief and loss? What are some healthy coping methods? Dealing with grief and loss is a complex process that can leave us feeling lost and alone. However, in her book Bittersweet, author Susan Cain offers two methods that help to ease the suffering and allow us to carry on without moving on. Read on to learn how to cope with grief and loss, according to Cain’s two methods.
Are you on a journey of self-improvement? How do you avoid bad habits that could ruin your hard work? In Dopamine Detox, Thibaut Meurisse says that dopamine can steal your focus away from the work that matters most. The solution is a dopamine detox that can last up to 30 days—but the work doesn’t stop there. Here’s how to avoid bad habits that you broke after you’ve finished your detox.
Looking for an overview of Scott Barry Kaufman’s Transcend? Why does Kaufman say Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is misunderstood? In Transcend, Scott Barry Kaufman argues that Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs is largely misunderstood. He provides an updated view that’s more in line with modern science and Maslow’s full body of work. Read on for an overview of Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization by Scott Barry Kaufman.
What is the difference between placebo and nocebo? To what extent do a patient’s beliefs about medical treatment influence its outcome? Placebo is the healing effect conferred by a fake medical treatment. Nocebo, on the other hand, is the opposite of placebo—whereby the negative beliefs about a medical treatment produce ill health effects. Here’s a look at the psychology behind placebo and nocebo.
Are you going through a difficult time? Do you wish the pain would stop? Pema Chödrön’s book When Things Fall Apart reassures readers that suffering is an emotion everyone feels, but it doesn’t mean we should always have to experience it. She provides four tips for easing suffering so that, the next time you’re challenged, you can easily rise from it. Keep reading to learn how to stop suffering and start living peacefully.
How can accepting your mortality benefit you? How can you learn to embrace mortality? According to author Susan Cain, accepting your mortality can actually benefit you by strengthening your connections with others. In her book Bittersweet, she explores how accepting your life’s impermanence gives it more meaning and provides strategies for increasing your awareness of impermanence. Read on to learn about the importance of accepting your mortality and how to do it, according to Cain.
How does dopamine work? Does dopamine always provide a feeling of pleasure? In Dopamine Detox, Thibaut Meurisse explains the biological role of dopamine. Contrary to popular belief, dopamine doesn’t necessarily make you feel pleasure—rather, it pushes you to seek pleasurable experiences. Keep reading to learn how dopamine works and why it’s not necessarily a good thing.
What does Brené Brown have to say about shame? What’s the solution to feeling shame? In many of her books, author and researcher Brené Brown explains why we feel shame, why it’s harmful, and how to rise from it. All of her research combines into a meaningful discussion on human emotions that you can use to develop your self-worth. Taking advice from four of her books, we’ll look at what is said by Brené Brown on shame and how to combat it.
Why is hope so important in life? What does hope really mean? Self-help author Mark Manson explores the importance of hope in his book Everything Is F*cked, defining it as the belief that we can progress towards something valuable and create a better future. He also explores how hope can empower us to cope with the pain of existence. Read on to learn why hope is so important, based on Manson’s exploration of its true meaning.