The World's Best Book Summaries
What is virtual ownership? How do advertisers use virtual ownership to manipulate you into buying a product? How can you avoid it? Virtual ownership is the feeling of ownership of an object before you actually own it. Advertisers take advantage of this aspect of human nature through advertising and trial periods. Keep reading to learn more about virtual ownership.
Why do we feel a strong urge to repay favors, even from strangers? How does altruism lead to happiness? Is it possible to feel good while faking altruism? Reciprocal altruism theory states that we treat others as we have been treated by them. In other words, we may help others at a cost to ourselves, in hopes that others will repay the favor. This altruistic behavior came from evolution because by doing good for others, we are doing good for ourselves. Keep reading to learn more about the reciprocal altruism theory.
How can you work to overcome the power of free? What positive impacts can the power of free have? If something is “free,” it may cause you to make an irrational purchase, or to wait in a 45-minute line for it. But would you have really done those things if they weren’t free? Learn how to overcome the power of free and harness it for good. Continue reading to learn more about the power of free.
What are the three main factors that affect our happiness? What part of the happiness formula are in our control? The happiness formula states that our happiness is a function of our affective style (S), the conditions of our lives (C), and our voluntary activities (V)—or H=S+C+V. Some factors in the happiness formula are out of our control, but some are completely in our control to improve upon. Continue reading to learn more about the happiness formula.
Why shouldn’t you trust the voice inside your head? How is overidentification with your internal monologue prevent you from connecting to your true identity? According to Michael Alan Singer, the author of The Untethered Soul, the voice inside your head—your “inner roommate”—is the main obstacle to realizing your true self. Because this voice speaks to you as the voice of your own mind, you’ve mistakenly come to believe that it is you. Here’s why you shouldn’t take the voice inside your head too seriously,
What do emotions have to do with evolution? Why do we diagnose overly anxious people but not people who don’t feel anxiety at all? How can sadness actually benefit us? According to the authors of Why We Get Sick, emotions are a maladaptive psychological process. In the Stone Age, anxiety was necessary to keep us alive and sadness prevented us from repeating losses. Keep reading for more information about the evolutionary functions of emotions.
How can social norms promote acts of selflessness? Why do people try harder when they’re not being paid? Experiments have shown that when given free stuff, people are less likely to be greedy and more likely to selflessly leave some for others. When those items cost even a small amount of money, people are more likely to greedily purchase more. This could have serious implications for society. Keep reading to learn how “free” things can increase acts of selflessness.
Do you want to know how to improve your tennis game? What steps can you take to get better? Learning how to improve in tennis is about more than fixing your technical skills. You have to fix your bad habits both physically and mentally to compete at a high level. Read more about how to improve in tennis below.
What is disgust? How is disgust closely related to divinity? What is the opposite of disgust? Our sense of disgust was probably an advantage in natural selection, as it would have prevented us from coming into contact with things that were harmful to us. Aversion to disgust is ingrained in us so deeply that we try to separate ourselves from actions we deem unclean in order to reach divinity. Keep reading to learn more about the logic of disgust and how it relates to religion.
Are animals vs humans really that different? What do animals and humans have in common? In the modern world, most people believe animals vs humans are fundamentally different. Animals are considered lower beings, a perspective that has dominated human culture for millennia. But it turns out that animals and humans have much more in common than most people think. Keep reading to learn about the similarities between animals vs humans.