Shortform Books

Set Weight: Why Dieting Doesn’t Work

What exactly is the “set weight”? What role does your set weight play in fat gain? What happens when you fall below your set weight? Your set weight is the default weight your body seeks to maintain—it’s a homeostatic mechanism. Once you fall beneath that set weight, your body will compel you to eat and regain any weight you’ve lost. That’s why many people see excess weight come back once they get off a diet. Here’s how your body seeks to sustain your set weight, preventing you from keeping the lost weight off.

The Top 3 Mindfulness Exercises for Anxiety

What are the best mindfulness exercises for anxiety? Can you practice these exercises every day? In Unwinding Anxiety, Judson Brewer argues that you can defeat anxiety with mindfulness. Brewer provides a set of mindful exercises you can use to improve your life by overcoming anxiety. Read below for three mindfulness exercises to cope with anxiety.

Discovering God With Julia Cameron’s Advice

Do you want a relationship with God? How can Julia Cameron’s book Seeking Wisdom help you discover God? In Seeking Wisdom, Julia Cameron teaches you how to unblock and maximize your creativity through spirituality. Cameron explains that to maximize your creative potential, you must first get in touch with divinity through prayer. Read Cameron’s advice on discovering God from Seeking Wisdom.

The Difference Between Correlation & Causation

What’s the difference between correlation and causation? What are the consequences of mistaking correlation for causation? Just because two variables are correlated doesn’t mean one is causing the other. Correlation quantifies a relationship between two variables, but it doesn’t explain that relationship. This is a crucial distinction to keep in mind, as equating correlation and causation can lead to misinformed decisions. Here’s why correlation does not imply causation.

Hyper-Growth Startups: Outpacing Competitors

What’s a hyper-growth startup? What makes them grow so fast? How are they funded? In their book, The Unfair Advantage, Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba explain what hyper-growth startups are. They discuss how these businesses get started, how they’re funded, and what type of product or service they typically involve. They also provide some insight into the chances of success and what it’s like to be part of one of these businesses. Keep reading to learn the basics of hyper-growth startups.

Survivorship Bias in Statistics Skews Results

What is survivorship bias in statistics? How does survivorship bias skew our interpretation of the research findings? Any time a portion of a study sample is able to “leave” the study, we should be wary of survivorship bias. Survivorship bias occurs when we draw conclusions based on the “survivors” of a certain treatment or intervention. Keep reading to learn about survivorship bias and how it affects research findings.

3 Ways to Stay Motivated That You Can Try Today

What are the most effective ways to stay motivated? How can you stay motivated even when feeling overwhelmed? Bestselling author and award-winning journalist Steven Kotler believes the key to staying motivated involves how your brain functions when under stress. According to Kotler, adopting a positive attitude sustains motivation by generating more “reward chemicals” in the brain. Keep reading to learn Kotler’s three ways to stay motivated by maintaining a positive mindset.

Brain Diet: What to Eat for a Healthy Brain

What’s the best diet for the brain? What foods should you eat to keep your brain healthy and your mind sharp? What foods should you avoid? A healthy diet is a vital part of brain health. While there’s no general consensus on the best brain diet, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that you should eat certain foods regularly and avoid other foods as much as possible. Learn which foods are good for your brain and which ones can be potentially harmful.

The Mistreatment of Black People in Healthcare

How are Black people mistreated in the healthcare industry? How does racism manifest in healthcare? The American healthcare industry fails to provide adequate care and treatment to Blacks. Nikole Hannah-Jones, the author of The 1619 Project, links mistreatment of Black people in healthcare to medical practitioners’ racist beliefs that cause them to underestimate Black illness and not provide necessary treatments. Here’s how the effects of slavery echo across the American healthcare industry.

Why Do We Lie? How We Hide Our Motives

Why do we lie about our motives? Why do we seek to deceive others and ourselves about the reasons for our behaviors? At first glance, the idea of hidden motives may seem convoluted. The answer, according to Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson, is that, as a cooperative social species, we evolved to advance our own interests while appearing as selfless as possible—and it’s easier to deceive others if we’ve already deceived ourselves. Let’s explore this theory about why we tell lies about our reasons for doing what we do.