Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 9.26.22
This week I finished six fantastic books. One is a collection of essays, and there’s also a history of 4chan trolls. The list also includes one of my fav books on morality and the mind, one about status, and another one I gave another read on group psychology. To start the list is the upcoming book from the awesome Annie Duke. 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).
Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke
Coming 10/4/22
I don’t have words to describe how much I loved this book, but I’ll give it a try. I was fortunate enough to get an early review copy of Annie Duke’s latest book, and I binged it over the weekend. Annie’s original book Thinking in Bets was the first book to introduce me to cognitive psych and better thinking, and I’ve been in love with the topic ever since. The problem is that there are so many books on making decisions, but so few of them dedicate any time to discussing when to quick. The second I heard Annie was writing this book, I had to read it.
Annie does an incredible job discussing the importance of quitting and makes clear that we need to get rid of our preconceived ideas that quitting is a sign of failure. As usual, throughout the book, in addition to discussing studies and research, she gives real-life examples. In some cases, people could have died had they not quit.
I’m someone who is constantly working on new projects and doing multiple side hustles, so opportunity costs are a big deal to me. Annie’s book is everything I could have hoped for and more, and now I have some better strategies for choosing when to quit. While there are definitely studies she references that people will be familiar with, she makes them feel fresh by discussing how we can use this information to know when to quit.
The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society by William Deresiewicz
I’m always reluctant to read books that are a collection of essays, but I really enjoyed William’s previous books, so I checked this one out. I absolutely loved this book. Deresiewicz has such fantastic essays and insight on topics like higher education, patriotism, art and so much more. He’s a fantastic writer, and he offers great perspectives on such a wide range of topics. There were a couple essays in the book that didn’t really connect with me personal, but overall, this is one of my fav books in this format. Anyone who reads this will definitely gain some new perspective on a variety of topics, even if they disagree because you can tell how deeply the author’s thought about each topic.
Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4Chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right by Angela Nagle
This is a decent, short book about the rise of everything insane on the internet these days. Nagle does a fantastic job capturing the history of 4chan, GamerGate, online trolls and how it turned into the alt-right. I was familiar with most of the stories and history she discusses, but for anyone who is curious about how we got to where we are, I definitely recommend you check this book out. It’s short and does a good job fitting all the important stuff within the pages.
The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony by Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer
I read an early copy of this book before it came out in 2021 and was fortunate enough to have Jay on the podcast. I remembered loving this book, but I enjoyed it even more this time around, which I didn’t think was possible. I’m fascinated by group psychology, and it’s such an important topic during these polarized times. Dominic and Jay have done so much interesting research that they pack into this book while also drawing from many other studies. They also offer some new ideas and information about famous studies like the Stanley Milgrim and Stanford Prison Experiments that are fresh and super interesting.
This book will help you understand why people are so divided and how it happens. More importantly, they discuss how we can use what we know about group identity to help bring people together and resolve some of the most challenging issues we face today. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read about how our groups and identities shape us, and I know I’ll be giving it another read in the future.
The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters by Kurt Gray and Daniel Wegner
I’ve had morality on the mind a lot lately, so I decided to come back to one of my favorite books. This was my third time reading this book, and I still love it just as much. This book isn’t just about morality, either. As the title suggests, it’s about how we perceive minds. Wegner and Gray do such a great job explaining how we assign minds to people in different states as well as the minds we give to animals and machines. The book blends psychology, philosophy, neuroscience and more, and it’s also easy to comprehend for just about anyone who reads it.
I always come back to this book because it helps me feel less insane. I see morality everywhere because it’s what leads to people making decisions, standing up for their beliefs, and wanting to attack or punish others. When I read this book, I better understand what’s going on in the world, and it’s fantastic. So, if you haven’t read this book and want a better idea of what the hell is going on in this world and why people act the way they do, I highly recommend you check this book out.
Status: Why Is It Everywhere? Why Does It Matter? By Cecilia L. Ridgeway
I see status-seeking everywhere, so when I recently learned of Cecilia Ridgeway’s work, I knew I had to read her book. She is a sociologist and social psychologist who also realizes how status appears everywhere, and that’s why I loved this book so damn much. Ridgeway has done years of research to see how people seek status in every situation and how it plays a role in how we make decisions in groups. Whether we realize it or not, there are battles for status happening everywhere and in all of our situations, and Ridgeway discusses how status can change depending on who we’re around and what the situation calls for.
This is one of my new favorite books on the topic because it has so much fresh research and great insight from the author. Cecilia has done so much research, and she’s passionate about figuring out solutions for how status creates inequality in our society. I can’t wait to read more of her books, and she also recommended some books that I’m excited to read as well.
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