The World's Best Book Summaries
Why is rest so important for your brain? What are the best ways to let your brain relax? Chris Bailey, the author of Hyperfocus, argues that brain rest is essential for productivity. He discusses why rest matters, the two ideal methods of rest, and the importance of sleep when it comes to cognitive performance. Continue reading to learn how to relax your brain.
Where do you see yourself in the future financially? Do you have a financial goal you’re striving for? According to Morgan Housel’s book The Psychology of Money, you should know your personal financial goals, otherwise, you may find yourself making decisions that don’t align with your goals. For example, short-selling stocks may work for some people, but it wouldn’t work with a long-term compounding plan. Here’s why it’s important to follow your own financial goals.
How much money is “enough”? Is there a point at which you should stop taking risks and enjoy what you have? People who say “money doesn’t buy happiness” are wrong—money can make you happier, up to a point. However, once you make enough to live a comfortable life, money can become a trap. Some people become so greedy in their desire to keep making more that they risk losing everything they have. Here’s how to be happy with having “enough.”
What is Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers about? What is the key message to take away from the book? Outliers is a collection of stories, each exploring a variety of external factors that contribute to success. Malcolm Gladwell argues that extraordinarily successful people—or outliers—reached that point not just because of hard work and determination, but also thanks to luck, timing, and opportunities. He challenges the notion of self-made success through anecdotes and insight from various disciplines, including history, sociology, and psychology. Here’s our book review of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
Is the future predetermined by the laws of physics? Is free will an illusion? What is scientific determinism? We could predict the state of the universe at a given time—even a time in the future—if two things were true: we have a unifying theory of physics, and we’re able to measure the state of the universe at any given time. This would be “scientific determinism,” and physicist Stephen Hawking explains its limitations in A Brief History of Time. Read more to learn Hawking’s insights on this intriguing matter.
What is the importance of humility in leadership? How do you strike a balance between trust in others and self-reliance? Being a leader doesn’t always mean telling people what to do—often, other team members are better equipped than you to make the right decisions. However, if you’re too reliant on others and lack confidence in your leadership, you may end up following others’ lead in situations where you know better. Here’s how to strike a balance between trust in others and confidence in your ideas.
How can you tell someone is playing a mind game on you? What are the different types of mind games people play? Mind game psychology is complex because there are many different types of games people play on each other. In his book Games People Play, psychiatrist Eric Berne provides a framework for analyzing mind games and understanding why people get tangled up in negative interactions. In this article, you’ll learn how to analyze ming games according to Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis framework.
Does the United States truly practice the freedom of the press? Who decides what gets published and what doesn’t? Despite the fact that the United States prides itself on having freedom of the press and freedom of speech, the authors of Manufacturing Consent argue that the elite class is censoring media. There are many ways they do this: using political power, limiting competition, pulling funding, etc. Learn why Chomsky and Herman believe the media is being indirectly censored.
What’s the difference between focused and diffuse thinking? How can you leverage these two modes to maximize learning? Authors Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski offer a number of tips for enhancing your learning that are based on your brain’s ability to alternate between different modes of thinking. They assert that your brain operates in two separate modes, each of which contributes to learning and problem solving in different ways. They call these two modes “focused thinking” and “diffuse thinking.” Read on to learn these ways of improving your learning ability.
What is the key to giving effective constructive feedback? Should you emphasize positive or negative aspects of someone’s performance when delivering feedback? According to Rolf Dobelli, the author of The Art of Thinking Clearly, people better accept and implement feedback that is framed in a positive than a negative way. This is because of the psychological phenomenon called the feature-positive effect. Here’s how to give constructive feedback, according to Rolf Dobelli.