The World's Best Book Summaries
What is Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree about? What are the main takeaways of the book? Scientists and foresters have typically thought of trees as competing for water, sunlight, and nutrients. However, ecologist Suzanne Simard explains in Finding the Mother Tree that trees share resources through a complex underground network of fungi. Read below for a brief overview of Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree.
Why is creative feedback important for artists? How can feedback make you better? In his book The Practice, Seth Godin shares tips and tricks to improve your creative skills. He says that after you finish a project, you should ask for feedback from others, but also not pay attention to a lot of criticism. Check out Godin’s advice for effectively using creative feedback.
Are there really right-brained and left-brained people? What are the characteristics associated with right- and left- brain dominance? In pop psychology, people are described as either left-brained (analytical and orderly) or right-brained (creative and imaginative). However, this distinction doesn’t actually have any basis in neuroscience. The left brain/right brain myth has long been debunked, although we still use these terms to describe personality and thinking style. Here’s why the left brain/right brain theory is moot.
How does a lack of social connection affect your mental health? Why is it important to maintain social connections throughout life? Psychological research increasingly shows that social connection is important for your psychological well-being. Strong social connections are a better predictor of long, happy lives than social class, intelligence, or genetics. Keep reading to learn about the link between social interaction and mental health.
Where do emotions come from in the brain, according to psychology? Do emotions come from a specific brain region? According to neuroscientist and psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett, emotions cannot be linked only to a certain part of the brain, like your amygdala. Rather, Barrett has found a more complex explanation for how your brain processes emotion. Keep reading for Barrett’s groundbreaking explanation of where emotions come from in the brain.
Should a ruler be optimistic or realistic? What should he prioritize—the support of the populace or the support of his peers? When it comes to the qualities of a prince, Machiavelli advises pragmatism. However, he still believes that princes should have and work towards certain guiding principles. Keep reading to learn these five principles.
Why do most religions have rules about marriage and sex? What difference does it make when religions have norms related to appearance? In The Elephant in the Brain, Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson argue that human behavior is driven by selfish motives hidden behind altruistic pretexts. The authors say that religion, too, is shaped by ulterior motives, and they share their theories about what they think religion is really about. Continue reading to find out more about the purpose of religion in society, according to Simler and Hanson.
What role did slavery play in the colonization of the United States of America? Was America really built on the backs of the enslaved? According to Nikole Hannah-Jones, an American investigative journalist and the author of The 1619 Project, the mainstream story of the colonization of the U.S. is based on half-truths, hypocrisies, and inaccurate information. The American colonists didn’t succeed due to their hard work. The survival and prosperity of American colonists were almost entirely due to the labor of slaves. Here’s how slaves built America.
What is a mindfulness practice? Do you want to live a stress-free life? You can’t solve a problem you haven’t noticed yet, so the first step to treating anxiety is to recognize the behavioral and thinking loops that create and result from anxiety. To do so, you need to practice mindfulness so that you’re more aware of your thoughts and actions. Below is Dr. Judson Brewer’s explanation of mindfulness, as written in his book Unwinding Anxiety.
What is knowledge overload? Is there too much information for our brains to handle? In Stolen Focus, Johann Hari identifies seven factors that are contributing to the attention crisis. The sixth factor is knowledge overload, which makes it difficult to focus long enough to process what we’re seeing and hearing. Keep reading to learn why too much information can actually be hurting you.