Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 3.6.23
I’ve been dealing with a lot of irrational people lately, so the three books on this list are about human behavior, psychology and irrationality. First up, is a short book on human stupidity, and then we have a phenomenal new book on the history of psychology. Finally, there’s a book that I didn’t really like the first time I read it, but now it’s one of my favorites. 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).
The Little Book of Stupidity: How We Lie to Ourselves and Don't Believe Others by Sia Mohajer
A book buddy randomly suggested this book, so I picked it up, and I wasn’t disappointed. This is a really short book that goes over different biases and heuristics that causes us to have flawed thinking. Sia Mohajer did a fantastic job keeping this book super short while also explaining everything extremely well and using real-life scenarios of where our thinking goes sideways.
What I loved about this book was he tosses in little quizzes for you to guess the bias, but even more so, I love how he talks a lot about having compassion for others. Not only do I read these books to help with my own thinking, but it helps me have more empathy for others when I get frustrated and upset at their irrationality. We’re all just human.
Anywho, if you want a short book that’s a great introduction to better thinking, this is the book for you.
Psych: The Story of the Human Mind by Paul Bloom
I don’t know how Paul Bloom does it, but he just keeps writing incredible books. He’s one of my favorite psychology and philosophy writers, and this book didn’t disappoint. This book was longer than I expected, but I breezed through it because I couldn’t put it down. Paul does such an incredible job teaching the history of psychology while also discussing how it affects us in everyday life as well as some of the controversies throughout the history of psychological research.
When I heard this book was about “the history of psychology”, I figured I wouldn’t like it because I’m not a huge history book fan, but I loved this book. It felt less like a history book and more like what I imagine Paul’s introductory to psych class is (which is what inspired this book).
My son is 14 and getting interested in human behavior and psychology like myself, and I can’t wait to read this book again with him. If you’re even slightly interested in psychology, you need to get this book ASAP.
How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life by Thomas Gilovich
This was one of the first books I read on human irrationality and faulty reasoning, and I remember thinking it was super boring. Not only was I bored with it, but a lot of the concepts went over my head. Recently some other books I’ve read have mentioned this book or Thomas Gilovich’s work, so I decided to give it another read, and oh my God. This book is now one of my favorites on the topic.
I must have been in a weird headspace the first time I read it, or it just didn’t capture my attention because I was new to the topic. But this book is hands down one of the best books when it comes to understanding why people believe weird things, but it also helps the reader learn how to become a better thinker.
Even though this book was originally published years ago, everything in it holds up. I especially liked the chapter discussing how we can ask biased questions, which skews the answers we’re getting. I don’t see many books discussing this.
This is a must-read book to understand faulty reasoning, and it’s definitely going on my list of books to revisit at least once a year.
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