The World's Best Book Summaries
What is procrastination? Is procrastination good or bad? Surprisingly, some people actually benefit from procrastinating if they work well under pressure. However, Damon Zahariades’s book The Procrastination Cure says that most procrastinators struggle with the habit, and need to stop it. Below we’ll look at more on if procrastination is beneficial or detrimental to people.
How do your working memory and long-term memory work together? What are some ways to improve your memory so you can learn more effectively? In Learn Like a Pro, Barbara Oakley and Olav Schewe argue that you can become a better learner if you understand more about how your brain functions and adopt learning methods that work with your brain’s learning capabilities rather than against them. A key function they discuss is memory. Keep reading to understand the importance of memory in learning.
What did Freud believe about identity and the self? How influential are his ideas? In the 19th century, through the work of Sigmund Freud, sexuality came to form the center of human identity. In The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman places this in a historical context, explaining how the concept of the self transformed over time. Keep reading for an overview of Sigmund Freud’s philosophy about self.
What is enlightenment meditation? What are five things you need to understand in order to be enlightened? Enlightenment is the ultimate goal of meditation. In the same way that mindfulness requires strong concentration, enlightenment requires strong mindfulness. Keep reading to learn how to practice enlightenment meditation, according to The Mind Illuminated.
Do you want to be more persuasive when you speak? How much would it help if you could understand the way people think and feel? Peter D. Andrei says that attribute substitution is behind a variety of cognitive biases and can be used to influence your audience in subtle yet powerful ways. He explains how you can do this by using emotions as replacement attributes, providing abundant evidence, and presenting social proof. Read more to learn how to use attribute substitution to influence people.
How does technology shape society? How major has the transition to the information age been? In the 1990s, James Davidson and William Rees-Mogg predicted that “sovereign individuals” would be the future. They discuss this prediction and others about society and the economy in their book The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age. Continue reading for an overview of this prescient book.
What’s the most basic negotiation tactic? How’s your perception of a wine’s price affected by your knowledge of the price of other wines? In How Highly Effective People Speak, Peter D. Andrei shares the basic strategies of powerful communication, teaching you how to speak with eloquence and persuasion by tapping into patterns of thinking that affect human behavior and perception. One of these patterns is the anchoring effect. Keep reading to learn how to convey your message in the most efficient and effective way possible by understanding the anchoring effect.
What do you do when audiences aren’t receptive to your speech? Why should you contextualize your ideas, and how should you do it? It can be nerve-wracking standing in front of an audience that might not agree with your viewpoints. By contextualizing your main idea at the beginning of your presentation, you’ll have a better chance of winning them over to your side. Keep reading to learn how to contextualize ideas, according to Amplify Your Influence by René Rodriguez.
What’s behind the latest FIFA controversy? What are the specific issues with women’s soccer teams? As the FIFA Women’s World Cup approaches, players are embroiled in battles and controversies with officials around equal rights and equal treatment. From clashes over LGBTQ+ rights to the pursuit of equal pay, women’s soccer has been shaken by conflict. Read on to discover some of the recent issues and how they might affect the upcoming World Cup.
How does society change? What’s the biggest factor? Is societal change predictable? Writing in the 1990s, James Davidson and William Rees-Mogg made major predictions about society’s future. They base them on what they call “megapolitics,” the theory that forms of government and economies are dictated mostly by circumstances, such as climate and the resources that are available. Keep reading to understand Davidson and Rees-Mogg’s theory of how society changes.