Shortform Books

Social Constructionist Theory: Our Life is Based on Myths

What is the social constructionist theory? How does the fact that our reality is socially and culturally constructed influence our beliefs and behaviors? The social constructionist theory is the theory that our societies function on shared assumptions and collective “myths.” These assumptions and beliefs aren’t natural–rather, they are created by society and culture itself. We’ll cover the origin of social constructs and how social constructionist theory explains many of your beliefs about what is “natural” or common sense, and what isn’t.

Early Homo Sapiens: The Most Skilled Humans in History

What were our ancestors the early Homo sapiens like? How did they live? How did they communicate? What did they eat? How did they shape our lives today? We don’t know much about the early Homo sapiens, but we do know that they were cooperative, nomadic, and extremely knowledgeable. Early Homo sapiens may be the most knowledgeable humans in the history of mankind. We’ll cover how early Homo sapiens lived and how they came to dominate other animals.

Types of Money: How Beads, Bills, and Data Became Currency

What were the types of money used throughout history? What were the advantages and disadvantages of these types of currency? Ancient types of money included cattle, animal skins, grain, salt, beads, and cloth. These have all been used as types of currency in various cultures and time periods. We’ll cover the major kinds of money throughout history and why a few particular types prevailed.

Confirmation Bias Definition: Why You See What You Want to See

What is confirmation bias? What can cause confirmation bias? Confirmation bias is the tendency to find and interpret information in a way that confirms your prior beliefs. We selectively pay attention to data that fit our prior beliefs and discard data that don’t. Better understand the above confirmation bias definition and how confirmation bias occurs in decision making.

Capitalism Theory: How It Created a New System of Ethics

What does capitalism theory say about how the economy should be governed? What kind of ethics has capitalism introduced into society? Capitalism is a system of private ownership based on the ethics of individual wealth. It gets its name from the word “capital”: money and resources that are invested in the production of a product or service. We’ll cover the basics of capitalism theory and look at the new set of ethics capitalism introduced into society.

British Rule in India: Can You Erase Imperial Legacies?

What were the legacies of British rule in India? How did the British Raj irrevocably change the nation? We’ll cover the British legacy in India and how empires, though often oppressive and unjust, bring benefits as well. See how the British rule in India has impacted the country today.

Hunter-Gatherer Societies: What We Know and Can’t Know

We’ve only been working in offices and, before that, as farmers and herders, for the last 12,000 years. For hundreds of thousands of years before that, the majority of our species’ history, we lived in hunter-gatherer societies. Hunter-gatherer societies were the predominant form of societies for early humans. We don’t know much about these societies, but we do know that hunter-gatherers were probably some of the most skilled and informed humans in history. We’ll cover the nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle and evidence of forager belief systems.

Individualism and Collectivism: What They Are + Why They’re Myths

What’s the difference between individualism and collectivism? What do they mean? How do these values diversely affect our behavior and what we see as “natural”? The difference between individualism and collectivism is that the belief in individualism emphasizes the rights of the individual, whereas the belief in collectivism emphasizes what’s best for the community. These two belief systems produce very different behaviors in society. We’ll cover how beliefs about individualism and collectivism that we hold are “true” are actually imagined orders. Still, they have a powerful impact on our behavior.

What Is the Barter System? How It Worked for Our Ancestors

What is the barter system? How did the barter economy work before currencies were invented? What were its advantages? What were its problems? The barter system is a system of trading one thing for another. It was the predominant economy before the invention of money. We’ll cover how the barter system worked and the flaws in the barter economy.

What Caused the Agricultural Revolution? Accident, Probably

What caused the Agricultural Revolution? How did farming come to dominate the modern era? The Agricultural Revolution was probably caused inadvertently by the spread of wheat. Early Sapiens took advantage of the prospering of wheat to set down roots and abandon their nomadic lifestyles. We’ll cover the causes of the Agricultural Revolution and how the “revolution” happened gradually.