Life & Perspective
Reflections on how to live, work and learn.
Passion and Perseverance: Angela Duckworth on Grit
Angela Duckworth on grit: why passion and perseverance predict success better than talent, why effort counts twice and how grit can grow.
Washing the Dishes to Wash the Dishes: Thich Nhat Hanh's "The Miracle of Mindfulness"
Thich Nhat Hanh's The Miracle of Mindfulness: wash the dishes to wash the dishes, breathing as an anchor and mindfulness in ordinary life.
Explaining the World to Yourself: Seligman's "Learned Optimism"
Martin Seligman is one of the founders of what became "positive psychology," and Learned Optimism is the book where his shift began.
The Story Behind Success: Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers"
Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: the hidden advantages behind success, timing and culture, the 10,000-hour rule and how far to trust it.
The Power of the Introvert: Susan Cain's "Quiet"
Susan Cain's Quiet: the Extrovert Ideal, introversion as temperament rather than flaw and the real strengths quiet people bring.
The Loop That Runs Your Life: Charles Duhigg's "The Power of Habit"
Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit: the cue-routine-reward loop, how to change a habit by swapping the routine and the power of keystone habits.
The Strange Worlds of the Brain: Oliver Sacks' Clinical Tales
Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: clinical tales of how the brain builds reality and why patients are people, not deficits.
Fixed vs. Growth: Carol Dweck's "Mindset" and the Power of Yet
Carol Dweck's Mindset is built around a deceptively simple idea that turns out to have enormous consequences.
The Psychology of Yes: Robert Cialdini's "Influence"
Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is the classic study of how, and why, we say yes.
A Life Lived From Within: Jung's "Memories, Dreams, Reflections"
Memories, Dreams, Reflections is Carl Jung's autobiography, written near the end of his long life, and it is unlike any conventional life story.
From the Big Bang to Black Holes: Hawking's "A Brief History of Time"
Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time explained: the Big Bang, the nature of space and time, black holes and the search for a theory of everything.
Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology: Haidt's "The Happiness Hypothesis"
Haidt's The Happiness Hypothesis tests ancient wisdom about happiness against modern psychology: the elephant and the rider, relationships and meaning.
Sharpening the Saw: A Philosophical Look at Covey's "7 Habits"
A philosophical look at Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: character over technique, proactivity, interdependence and sharpening the saw.
The Tyranny of the Unexpected: Taleb's "The Black Swan"
Nassim Taleb's The Black Swan: rare, high-impact events, the illusion of prediction, hindsight bias and building robustness against the unknown.
Unveiling the Manipulative Mechanisms: Lessons from "Propaganda: The Public Mind in the Making"
Lessons from Edward Bernays' Propaganda: engineering consent, symbols and imagery, mass media manipulation and why ethics matter today.
Navigating Life's Abyss with Nihilism and Pragmatism: A Personal Journey
A personal journey through nihilism and pragmatism: what Nietzsche and William James teach about facing meaninglessness and building meaning.
Two Minds in One Head: Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow"
Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow: System 1 and System 2, common cognitive biases, loss aversion and the humility they bring.
Unraveling America's Intellectual Tapestry: Insights from "The Metaphysical Club" by Louis Menand
Picture this: a bustling intellectual crossroads where minds collide and ideas intertwine.
Cleansing the Doors of Perception: Huxley on Consciousness
Huxley's The Doors of Perception: the reducing-valve theory of the mind, seeing the ordinary as miraculous, and a critical look at its limits.
Beyond Good and Evil: Unpacking Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"
Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra unpacked: the Übermensch, the death of God and eternal recurrence, and the lessons this philosophical novel leaves.
Exploring Family Dynamics and Generational Conflict: Ivan Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons"
Turgenev's Fathers and Sons: the nihilist Bazarov, the clash between generations and what the novel teaches about family, ideas and love.
The Conquest of Happiness: Russell's Antidote to Modern Misery
Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness: why much unhappiness is self-made, and how zest, wide interests and affection lead outward to joy.
The Language of the Unconscious: Jung's "Man and His Symbols"
Jung's Man and His Symbols: what symbols really are, how dreams speak for the unconscious, archetypes and why modern life lost touch with symbols.
The Impartial Spectator: Adam Smith on Sympathy and Conscience
Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments: sympathy as the root of morality, the impartial spectator and why it doesn't contradict The Wealth of Nations.