Shortform Books

What Creates a False Sense of Entitlement?

How does a person create a false sense of entitlement? Why is it harmful to themselves and others? According to psychologist Martin Seligman, unearned self-esteem leads to a false sense of entitlement by making people believe it’s not necessary to work hard for success. Seligman says this is in part due to societal pressure to always maintain high self-esteem. Read on to learn the causes and dangers of a false sense of entitlement, according to Seligman.

Understanding Other People’s Feelings: The Myths & Truths

How can you better understand other people’s feelings? What are the benefits of empathizing with others? If you want to understand other people’s feelings, you need to first understand your own emotions, according to Lisa Feldman Barrett. Barrett is a neuroscientist and psychologist who has devoted herself to deconstructing old theories of emotions to create a new, more accurate theory. Read on to learn the myths and truths Barrett has identified about understanding other people’s feelings.

The #1 Rule of Thumb for Making Hard Decisions

Are you facing a difficult decision? How do you make a decision when neither option is appealing? When making hard decisions in life, first and foremost, consult your values. If you make a decision that contradicts your values, you’ll likely regret it down the road. Your core values are the guiding compass that will lead you in the right direction even when you don’t know your final destination. Keep reading to learn about the importance of values in decision-making.

Emotion and Facial Expression: Can You “Read” People?

Is there a relationship between emotions and facial expressions? How can you “read” someone’s emotions, according to psychology? According to Lisa Feldman Barrett’s research, the idea that facial expression reveals emotion is an outdated concept. Barrett claims that emotions are constructed rather than innate to humans, so a facial expression could have different meanings from one person to the next. Keep reading to learn why facial expression and emotion actually aren’t related, according to Barrett.

Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs: History & Partnership

What was the partnership between Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs like? How did they meet in the first place? Steve Wozniak is best known as one of the co-founders of Apple alongside Steve Jobs. The book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson details how the two first met and their partnership that led to the creation of Apple. Keep reading to learn about Wozniak and Jobs’s business relationship.

Importance of a Sustainable Forest Management Strategy

Why should we have sustainable forest management strategies? What do we need to do to have healthy forests? Suzanne Simard’s research in Finding the Mother Tree has led to a shift in thinking about ecological relationships. She argues that in we need to create a sustainable forest management strategy to ensure the long-term health of trees. Continue reading to learn why we need to change how we take care of forests.

How to Identify Your Target Market: The 5-Part Process

How to Be Persuasive and Always Get What You Want

What is a target market? How can you identify the target market of your company? A target market is a specific group of consumers that may potentially buy your product. It’s important to pinpoint your target market and understand what their unmet needs are so you can fulfill them. Let’s discuss how to identify a target market in the five parts highlighted in Play Bigger.

Best Stock Market Resources: Books, Blogs, & Podcasts

Are you interested in trading stocks but not sure where to start? What are the best resources to learn stock trading from? When it comes to stock market investing, especially if you want to build a portfolio of individual stocks (as opposed to investing in index funds), quality information is critical. But sifting through all the noise is difficult and time-consuming, especially if you are a beginner. Here are our picks of the best stock market resources, including books, blogs, and podcasts.

Hugo de Vries’s Theory of Evolution: Filling in the Gaps

What is Hugo de Vries known for? How did Hugo de Vries’s theory of evolution differ from Darwin’s? Hugo de Vries is known for filling the gaps in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by adding the concept of mutations. Mutations are a critical part of the evolutionary theory: There must be a chance, however small, that genetic information could spontaneously change during reproduction. Here’s why without mutations, evolution is not possible.

Atul Gawande: Being Mortal (Book Overview)

What is Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal about? What is the key message to take away from the book? In his book Being Mortal, surgeon Atul Gawande considers our experience of aging and dying in the 21st century. In his view, the modern approach to these stages of life undermines our ability to live well up to the end—to do better, we need to accept death as a natural part of the human experience and prioritize the well-being of the dying. Below is a brief overview of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande.