Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 12.12.22

This week, I finished three fantastic books from some amazing authors. We dive into some evolutionary psychology, the philosophy of procrastination and an incredible book by the one and only Carl Sagan. Enjoy!

Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).

Evolutionary Psychology: Bolinda Beginner Guides by Robin Dunbar, John Lycett and Louise Barrett

Evo psych is one of my favorite topics to read, and for some reason, people are always talking smack about it or just flat out hate it. I often have to debate with people about it, so I wanted to brush up on my knowledge from some of the best in the field like Robin Dunbar. This book gives you all the basics about evo psych, dives into a ton of research that helps explain human behavior, and if you’re like me, it’ll give you some ammunition when debating with evo psych haters.

The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging, and Postponing, or, Getting Things Done by Putting Them Off by John Perry

I’ve been a procrastinator my entire life, but what’s crazy is that I get more accomplished than most people. I’m always on a journey of self-understanding, which is why I picked this book up. Funny enough, I’ve had it for months and procrastinated reading it. But man, I’m so glad I read this book. It’s a super short, easy-to-read book by a philosopher discussing procrastination. What I loved about it is John Perry has clearly thought deeply about this, and this book will make you quit feeling bad about being a procrastinator.

He references procrastinators as “horizontal organizers” multiple times, and when it finally got to that chapter, it all clicked. Although this book isn’t about neuro differences, it’s largely what it’s about. Just like how many of us learn in different ways, many of us get things done and stay organized in different ways. Neither is right or wrong, and we just need to understand that about one another. But most of all, we need to cut ourselves some slack if the world isn’t designed for our style of doing things, and John Perry does a great job allowing the reader to quit kicking themselves for how they are.

Aside from saying this is a must-read for all procrastinators, I also want to note that this book also emphasizes not being a jerk. He has a chapter on working on group projects or collaborating with others and how to adapt so you don’t hold others up.

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan

This book has been recommended a million times by fellow readers as well as all the books from skeptics that I read. After quite some time, I finally read it, and I now understand what all the hype is about. If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t read this Carl Sagan book because I figured it’d be too much about outer space and science stuff that’s way over my head. And, it’s an extremel long book. But I was hooked from the moment I started it, and I can’t believe that I finished this book that fast. 

This is a fantastic book that not only teaches you how to be a better skeptic in a world filled with bogus science and bad beliefs. I’m always blown away at how timeless this topic is and how science literacy has been terrible for as far back as the start of scientific thinking. The nonsense Sagan discusses from the 60s to 90s is the same ridiculous stuff we deal with today.

But this is probably the best book I’ve read on the topic of skepticism and better understanding scientific thinking. Again, it definitely lives up to the hype, and I can’t recommend it enough.

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