The World's Best Book Summaries
Why is it important to wash your hands? Is a handshake really more unhygienic than a kiss? At any given time, there may be hundreds of microbes on your hands, ready to get you—or somebody else—sick. As it turns out, most people don’t wash their hands long enough to get rid of the viruses and bacteria. Keep reading to learn about the importance of regular handwashing.
Why is sleep so important? How much sleep do you really need? Sleep is critically important—if you go long enough without it, you’ll literally die. However, determining how much sleep you need isn’t so simple—everybody needs a different amount of sleep depending on the age group and individual body. Keep reading to learn about the importance of sleep
What do oxytocin and cortisol have to do with leadership? How does cortisol hinder collaboration and cause division amongst employees? In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek explains how cortisol and oxytocin affect leadership. Cortisol creates a toxic work culture where employees see each other as competitors rather than collaborators. Oxytocin, on the other hand, fosters empathy and trust, which encourages collaboration and inspires innovation. Here’s how cortisol and oxytocin affect the workplace culture in your organization, according to Sinek.
What exactly is oxytocin? What role does oxytocin play in leadership? Oxytocin controls feelings of trust, empathy, and bonding. According to management theorist Simon Sinek, oxytocin is the glue that holds a team together. However, oxytocin takes time to build. For this reason, as a leader, be patient and consistently prioritize your subordinates’ needs: You’ll prove yourself trustworthy over time and your subordinates will start innovating and collaborating. Read about the role of oxytocin in leadership.
What is Bill Bryson’s The Body about? How can you use the advice from the book to live a healthier lifestyle? In his book The Body, Bill Bryson takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the human body’s various systems. He examines how they work, how they can fail, and what can be done to fix them when that happens. Here’s a brief overview of the key takeaways from The Body by Bill Bryson.
Can you take too many vitamins? How many of each vitamin does the body actually need? Bill Bryson, the author of The Body, explains that most people are vitamin-deficient because of the abundance of processed foods. However, Bryson says that scientists can’t agree on how much of each vitamin you’re supposed to take. Here’s why taking vitamins is a balancing act.
What are the top nutrition myths that most people believe? And how did we come to believe them, especially when information is so freely available? With so much nutrition information floating around on the web, it can be hard to sift out the truth. Nutrition myths are everywhere—your social media feed, your favorite fitness blog, even your doctor’s office. Here, we bust the top five nutrition myths to help you make better food choices starting today.
How does the Thor software work? What was it originally created for? After discovering how high-frequency trading (HFT) was impacting Wall Street and the overall financial market, Canadian trader Brad Katsuyama developed the Thor software, which slows down a broker’s order so an HF trader can’t manipulate its latency time. Keep reading for a background on the Thor software and how it’s used against high-frequency trading.
Why do we feel compelled to eat the entire serving of lasagna? Why do we like the paint brand that has our favorite baseball player in its commercials? Why do we remember our first kiss better than what happened last week? We’re all prone to cognitive biases—quirks of the mind that distort reality in one way or another. These biases don’t adhere to logic or rational thinking. Our faulty perception gets in the way. We don’t see things as they truly are, and we often act on these misperceptions. We all can benefit from recognizing and understanding these biases. Here’s
Are humans and technology in competition with each other? Can computers do whatever humans can do? Will AI take over the world? According to Peter Thiel, the author of Zero to One, humans and technology don’t compete with each other—they complement each other. In the job market, computers don’t eliminate the need for human workers; they just empower human workers to be more productive. And, in the resource market, computers don’t compete with humans for resources, because computers are not consumers. Here’s why the concern of competition is irrelevant.