Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 1.8.24
This week, we have three great books from some amazing authors. We have a book about the widening wealth gap within the middle class and one of my favorite books about why we listen to certain types of people. The first book on the list is a new one about changing a person’s beliefs. Enjoy!
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Mindstuck: Mastering the Art of Changing Minds by Michael McQueen
Mindstuck is a decent enough book on a pretty important topic. We live in a world where people believe in strange things like stolen elections, a flat earth, and the denial of vaccines helping people. Michael McQueen put together a great book discussing why people believe these things and then gives a ton of strategies for how to persuade people.
I can’t remember Michael’s exact background, but he writes like an outsider and not someone who is an academic. That’s great, and it’s a great book for lay people, but as someone who reads a ton of these books, I have a few criticisms. First off, he references that hack Jonah Berger far too many times in this book. Next, he references some studies throughout the book that definitely sound like there would be issues if anyone tried to replicate them.
There are also a few times where the book seems to be teaching more of persuasion as a way to sell someone rather than change their mind (small nuance, I know), but overall, I think it’s worth the read if you’re interested in the topic.
Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class by Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich continues to be one of my favorite authors of all time. The way she’s able to write about the economic divides and class struggles in the United States is just pure perfection. Once again, I’m absolutely blown away that a book this old is so relevant and the fact that we’ve learned nothing over the decades. This book primarily focuses on the widening wealth gap but within the middle class.
I’m usually not a fan of learning about history, but Ehrenreich managed to keep me engaged and she discussed the differences between the baby boomers, hippies, yuppies and what happened with various groups during different decades. It made sense with how collect education changed, how women joining the work force changed things, how different bills changed things and much more.
I highly recommend this book as well as everything else Barbara has written. I still have more of her books to read, and I’m going to start another one soon.
Messengers: Who We Listen To, Who We Don't, and Why by Stephen Martin and Sam Woolf
This is one of my all-time favorite books, and this was my third or fourth time reading it. The book is all about what makes us listen to a person and believe what they’re saying. The authors break it down into different characteristics like how we listen to people who are attractive and we listen to people we believe are competent and trustworthy. It also talks about how people abuse this and we listen to bad actors. The problem is that nobody thinks they fall for these things, but the authors provide a ton of research, and it’ll make you start questioning why you believe what you believe when certain people say it.
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