Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 4.1.24
We have 5 great books this week. We have the brand new Jonathan Haidt book as well as the new book from Cass Sunstein and Tali Sharot. We also have a book about the psychology of spending money, one of my favorite motivational books, and a phenomenal book about systemic racism. Enjoy!
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Tightwads and Spendthrifts: Navigating the Money Minefield in Real Relationships by Scott Rick
This was a surprisingly great book. I can’t remember how I came across it, but I’m glad I did. Scott Rick is a behavioral scientist, and this book discusses some super interesting studies about the differences between people who spend money a lot (spendthrifts) and people who are afraid to spend money (tightwads). The results of the studies provide great insight into our behaviors around money, but more importantly, Scott Rick dives into how we can navigate our relationships with our partners. Money can often be a tough topic for couples, but this short read will help you understand your relationship to money as well as your partner’s.
Metaracism: How Systemic Racism Devastates Black Lives—and How We Break Free by Tricia Rose
This is an absolute must-read book. I don’t know why the concept of systemic racism is so hard to grasp for so many people. A lot of people say, “What even is systemic racism?” Or they come up with their own strange definitions of what systemic racism is. Systemic racism is understanding how there are different systems in place that harm communities of color. In this book, Tricia Rose shows how systemic racism affects Black people in the United States.
It’s easy to think say, “We have laws against discriminating against people!” and not see how policing, schooling, employment, and other areas of life are racist without people even realizing it. There’s no way that you can set down this book and think that the United States doesn’t have a problem with systemic racism. Tricia Rose uses highly publicised stories like the ones about Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and many others as a jumping off point to explain how our current systems negatively impact Black people and Black communities as a whole.
The most enlightening chapter for me was the chapter on schooling and the story about Kelley Williams-Bolar. She’s the mom who was convicted for “lying about her residency to get her daughters into a better school district”.
Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover
I’ve been in a bit of a rut, and I’m someone who responds well to tough love. I read this book years ago, and I kept wanting to reread it and finally did. If you need a nice kick in the butt that will encourage you to be the best at what you do regardless of outside influences, read this book. Tim Grover is a legendary basketball trainer who works with people like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wayde and many others. He gives you the blueprint to being a badass. This is going to be my go-to book when I need some motivation in the future.
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
I’ll start out by saying that Jonathan Haidt is one of my favorite authors. His previous books like The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind changed my life for the better. With that said, this is a great book, but I just disagree with the core argument: social media and technology is ruining our kids’ lives. A few years ago, Haidt and Jean Twenge co-wrote a New York Times article on this topic, and my first Substack piece was actually a criticism of it.
I’ll say this in the most respectful way possible. If you don’t feel like reading an entire book, just go read the New York Times article.
This book is just an expansion of that article with chapters dedicated to different topics, most of which are covered in the article. Haidt provides a ton of stats and statistics, but again, I’m highly skeptical of it for reasons I argued in my original response to the article. I have a now 15-year-old son who has had an iPhone since he was 11 or 12. He’s a gamer like me, and he’s doing incredible. He gets straight A’s, he’s very social, well-behaved, and a genuinely happy kids.
While Haidt acknowledges that social media has its benefits, he doesn’t really try to answer why kids like my son are fine. That’s the most important question so we can really figure out what’s going on. It’s kind of like PTSD: why is it that traumatic experiences affect some people negatively while others experience post-traumatic growth? Is there something we can do so kids can use social media in a healthier way…if it’s even the cause for the mental health crisis?
Haidt never dives into the socioeconomic factors that are affecting kids, and that’s another issue I have with his arguments. Mental illness, suicide rates, and addiction have been on the rise long before smartphones. I’m 12 years sober from alcoholism and drug addiction, and I didn’t have a smartphone, and neither did the many of the other people who die each year.
The majority of the people dying from Deaths of Despair (you should read that book by the way) are in my age group, which means they’re the parents. With so many children growing up in households where parents are depressed, anxious, alcoholics, drug addicts, suicidal, or a combination of all of these, getting rid of social media isn’t going to help these kids much. The authors of Deaths of Despair argue that our terrible state of capitalism and the growing wealth gap are the primary causes, and it’s hard to disagree.
A Nature article came out arguing against Haidt’s book. I don’t know how much of it is accurate when talking about the studies, but I do agree that the problem is far more complex than smartphones and social media. Also, Robby Soave wrote a great book called Tech Panic, which argues against a lot of Haidt’s points as well. There’s a debate between Haidt and Soave on YouTube that I highly recommend watching.
With this review, I mean no disrespect to Jonathan Haidt. I love his writing, and he’s a lot smarter than me, but I think we need a more holistic approach.
Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There by Tali Sharot and Cass Sunstein
I love, love, LOVE, Tali Sharot and Cass Sunstein books, so I was super excited to found out the just released a book together. This book is all about habituation, and it’s so damn good. It’s a short read, but it discusses how habituation can be used for both good and bad in this world. Habituation happens regardless of whether we want it to or not, but habituation can lead to increases in sexism, racism, and many more bad situations. This book has a ton of studies, and the authors do a great job teaching the reader how to recognize habituation and how to maneuver it to lead a better life.
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