Shortform Books

De Facto and De Jure Segregation: How They Differ

What is the difference between de facto and de jure segregation? Are all forms of segregation banned by the constitution? The difference between de facto and de jure segregation is that de facto segregation is by personal choice or private practices, while de jure is due to discriminatory government policy. The Supreme Court ruled that de jure segregation is unconstitutional, while de facto segregation cannot be remedied by the constitution. Read on to discover the history and examples of de facto and de jure segregation in housing.

How to Generate Ideas: Exercise Your Idea Muscle

Do you struggle to find that one perfect idea and hold yourself back from entertaining less-than-perfect ideas? What can you do to increase your chances of getting novel, original ideas? No matter what field of work you’re in, you’d likely benefit from being more creative and generating more good ideas. The most important rule of thumb to follow is to brainstorm lots of ideas. Here’s a spread of advice from Tim Ferriss on how to generate ideas, how to identify the best ones, and how to put them to action.

Assertive and Aggressive: Know the Difference

What is the difference between assertive and aggressive communication? What can you do to avoid being aggressive? How can this help you to avoid conflict? The difference between assertive and aggressive communication is whether you are in control of your emotions. Another key difference between assertive and aggressive communication is how you present your message. In The Chimp Paradox, Steve Peters says that aggressive behavior is caused by your emotional inner Chimp taking over. Read on to find out the key differences between assertive and aggressive communication and what this has to do with your inner Chimp.

The New One-Minute Manager: The 3 Core Principles

What lessons can you learn from Ken Blanchard’s book The New One-Minute Manager? How can you get the most out of your employees? The New One-Minute Manager teaches three core principles: one-minute goals, one-minute praisings, and one-minute redirects. You’ll learn how empowering your employees motivates them to work harder. Continue below for a brief overview of The New One-Minute Manager‘s core lessons.

How Body Responses Sabotage Your Willpower

How do your natural body responses affect willpower? How can you turn your fight-or-flight response into a pause-and-plan response? Body responses such as the fight-or-flight response were great in the Stone Age, but not so great for our self-control. These impulses that were designed to save your life tend to kick in at the worst times—like when you’re on a diet and your body says that you need that fresh-baked cookie. Luckily, there are ways to fight these natural body responses and take the control back.

The Frugal Millionaire: More Common Than You Think

What are the habits of the frugal millionaire? Why are there so many frugal rich people? The frugal millionaire next door shuns an extravagant lifestyle and instead practices frugal habits such as living below your means, budgeting, and saving money. There are many frugal rich people because they didn’t get rich through wasteful spending, they got rich by smartly investing their money. Read more to discover the habits and quirks of the frugal millionaire.

Why You Should Keep Your Goals to Yourself

Do you feel excited when you set big goals for yourself? Do you share your goals with others to keep yourself accountable? Research shows that when you share your goals with others, your brain feels the pleasure of this accomplishment even as you speak the words—you don’t even have to put in the effort of following through. Counterintuitively, since you already felt the pleasure of going, it makes you lose motivation to actually go. This is why you should keep your goals to yourself until you accomplish them.

Stay on Task by Understanding Reactive Thinking

Do you struggle to stay on task? Do you know what reactive thinking is and how it affects your ability to focus? To be productive, you must minimize distractions. When you’re learning how to stay on task, it helps to consider the factors that can prevent you from doing so. The brain’s ability to focus effectively can be hampered by reactive thinking. Read more to understand how reactive thinking can harm your ability to stay on task.

Inspectional Reading: Understanding Key Points

How can inspectional reading help you comprehend a book better? How do you read inspectionally? Mortimer Adler’s book How to Read a Book describes inspectional reading as the second level of reading. At this level, a reader can understand the main concepts of the book by skimming it and reading its high-level content. Learn how you can understand a book in just 15 minutes with inspectional reading.

Henry Hazlitt on Automation and Unemployment

Labor Market Discrimination and Income Inequality

Is it true that automation increases unemployment? How does labor-saving technology affect the economy? It’s a common misconception that automation leads to unemployment. In fact, automation increases production, because more output creates larger profits for businesses, enabling them to expand production, hire more workers, and/or raise wages. In this article, we will debunk the myth about automation and unemployment and explain why labor-saving technology actually creates more jobs than it eliminates.