The World's Best Book Summaries
What are the main issues with market societies? How can a market society affect the happiness of its citizens? A market society is one in which market values deeply intertwine with the daily lives of the people who live in it. The intrusion of markets into every aspect of life comes with a handful of issues, including a strong social impact. Let’s explore the social impact of living in a market society.
What are the connections you can make out of real estate networking? How can meeting other real estate professionals improve your business? In his book, Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat, real estate agent David M. Greene says that in order to build your investment “Dream Team,” you need to start by doing some real estate networking. By putting your name out there, you’ll make connections with real estate agents, lenders, contractors, property managers, and vendors. Keep reading to learn how to start real estate networking and how you can build a team from it.
What is the Strategic Choice Cascade strategy from Playing to Win? Why do companies struggle to employ this strategy in practice? In Playing to Win, the cascade strategy involves answering five questions, each leading to the next like a cascading waterfall. If used properly, the cascade strategy can help your business succeed. However, there are many misconceptions about this strategy that prevent businesses from adopting it. Keep reading to learn about Lafley and Martin’s Cascade Strategy, how it works, and some common misconceptions around it.
Why do they say “trust your gut”? How do you know when your gut is right? Gut decisions can be advantageous in some circumstances, but they can lead you astray in others. Malcolm Gladwell suggests that you can make better instinctive decisions by providing the unconscious mind with structure. This involves rehearsing your desired spontaneous responses and developing rules that you can fall back on in times of stress. Here’s how you can “train your gut” to make better decisions, according to Gladwell.
What is the mere exposure effect? Why do we like things that are familiar and dislike what’s unfamiliar? The mere exposure effect occurs when we start to like things just because we’ve been exposed to them before. It applies to everything from the people we interact with to that song that keeps playing on the radio. Here’s why we like the familiar and try to stay from the unfamiliar.
What is mythological art? Why did mythology use to be accessible only to the rich? Access to mythology used to be a prerogative of the wealthy elites. According to art critic John Berger, works of art that depicted elements of mythology were the elites’ way of affirming their high status because they were educated enough to know the stories being told. Keep reading to learn Berger’s view of mythology paintings in the European tradition.
What was Elon Musk’s early life like? Where was Elon Musk born and raised? Elon Musk’s early life was difficult in that he felt like an outsider growing up in South Africa. He also was bullied and struggled with the divorce of his parents. On the bright side, he grew up with the freedom and resources to explore his interests and was eventually able to move to Canada to attend college. Keep reading to learn more about Elon Musk’s early life.
Why do people tend to make such bad comparisons in life? How can those bad comparisons affect your future? Humans don’t have a great track record for making good choices and comparisons. This is especially prevalent when we make comparisons to the past and present when making big decisions for the future. Learn why your bad comparisons may be making you unhappy.
What is the origin of the free market economy? Why do we place so much faith in markets? In his book What Money Can’t Buy, Michael Sandel traces the origins of the free-market economic system back to the 1980s. According to Sandel, we put so much faith in markets because we believe it’s the optimal way to distribute limited resources. Keep reading to learn about the rise of the free market.
What are the benefits of buying a house below market value? How does it affect your real estate investment plan? If you’re using David M. Greene’s BRRRR method from his book Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat, then you need to start by buying a house below market value. The BRRRR method emphasizes buying cheap properties because you can easily recover your investment later when selling the home. Let’s look at how buying a house below market value can make you more money, and how to find a good deal out of it.