Shortform Books

Roots of Residential Segregation in the United States

When was the start of residential segregation in the United States? Who played the leading role in creating a segregated America? It started with a landmark, unconstitutional Supreme Court decision in 1883 that refused to equate housing discrimination with slavery. This kickstarted the period between 1883 and 1963 when residential segregation in the United States became prevalent. The government at all levels contributed to this issue. Read more about the history of residential segregation in the United States.

The Best Tips for a Smooth Job Transition

Have you been laid off or presented with a more lucrative job opportunity? What challenges will this transition bring into your life? Whatever the reason, job transition is a major change that presents a host of challenges in both occupational and social spheres. Accordingly, it’s important to manage yourself by supporting your psychological transition and the transition of your family. Here are some tips on how to make a transition to a new job as smooth as possible.

How to Accomplish Goals and Get More Done

Do you want to find out how to accomplish goals? How can preparation help you to do this? Why do you need to feel a sense of ownership over a project? Setting goals and sticking to them is difficult for the best of us. This article will show you some practical steps for how to accomplish goals, based on the advice of Steve Peters in The Chimp Paradox. Read on to find out how to accomplish goals successfully.

Hunger Was a Good Discipline: Hemingway in Paris

In A Moveable Feast, why does Hemingway say that hunger was a good discipline? Why was Hemingway so poor when he was living in Paris? When Ernest Hemingway was living in Paris, he often went hungry due to his lack of income. He was ashamed of himself and tried to hide his starvation from others. In the memoir, he describes how hunger affected his moods and his work.

How to Read Imaginative Literature: Adler’s Advice

How is reading imaginative literature different than reading expository writing? What four questions should you ask about the book? In How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler says that reading imaginative literature such as novels, plays, and poetry should be approached differently than informational books. The main difference is that imaginative literature is trying to convey emotions and experiences. Here’s how you can read imaginative literature like a pro.

Delay Discounting: Make Yourself Wait

Have you ever noticed that the longer you have to wait for something, the less you tend to want it? How can you take advantage of delay discounting? Delay discounting means that the longer you have to wait for something good, the less appealing it seems. This causes you to crave instant gratification rather than working towards a long-term goal. You can also turn this around and use it to your advantage. If you make that cookie harder to access, you’ll want it less. Continue below for more on delay discounting.

How Do Tariffs Impact the Economy?

How do tariffs impact the economy? Does imposing import tariffs help or hinder the country’s internal industries? According to economist Henry Hazlitt, tariffs are not as benevolent for the economy as many people believe. Tariffs shift money, manpower, and productivity away from efficient industries in order to support inefficient industries. In this article, we’ll consider Hazlitt’s argument on the negative effects of tariffs on employment and the economy at large.

Collaborative Coding: An Essential Programming Skill

Why is it important to learn collaborative coding? What are some ways you can demonstrate your collaborative coding abilities to employers? Collaborative coding is an important programming skill every coder should have up their sleeve. These days companies even screen for it during the interview process. In this article, we’ll discuss some collaborative coding best practices. First, we’ll look at teamwork, then mentoring.

Cognitive Heuristics: Faster Does Not Mean Better

Are humans more rational or emotional in their decision-making? Do you think you tend to make decisions based more on logic or emotion? Many people would say that their decisions are ruled mostly by reason and logic. But the truth is most people actually make decisions more irrationally than they realize. We are all subject to biases and cognitive heuristics and pulled by our emotions. We make decisions first, and rationalize them after the fact. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most common cognitive heuristics and demonstrate how they manifest with real-world examples.

The Form and Content of Television Is Changing Society

In what ways are form and content co-dependent? How are television and other forms of content hastening the death of our culture? According to Neil Postman, the author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, we are allowing the form (television and other forms of media) to dictate the content of our public discourse. In essence, television is redefining public life, and by extension, our culture and society. Here are some examples of how form dictates content and what it means for our culture.