This is a great list! Thank you so much for the interesting angle of psychology books by non-psychologists. Sometimes it takes the perspective of a fresh eye. All have been added to my GoodReads want-to-read!
And boy, do we ever need to “hold our identities lightly” as much as we do now with the world changing so fast? And the lies being hurled at us on a daily basis.
I listen to Russ Robert's podcast a lot and he's had a lot of guests on that I disagree with. And that's been great. It's a good reminder that you can hold a differing opinion than me and still make a reasonable case. It's nice to see his book out in the wild.
I “thought about” yoga for 10 years before taking my first class two years ago. I’m now thinking about becoming a yoga instructor. My yoga teacher said to me “I didn’t think about it I just jumped right in.” So I think I’ll start with Edward Slingerman’s book on spontaneity. Thanks for this list Paul. Funny how things I really need to see pop up.
I have read two of these since this post came out: Alchemy and Scout Mindset. They were both interesting but I absolutely loved Alchemy because it was a lot of fun and took itself less seriously (maybe because the focus was marketing rather than how to not be a mindless troll). I'm now re-reading it in paper format with my husband.
I just finished Matthew Cobb’s Idea of the Brain and loved it! Very enlightening, especially when it comes to how baby the field of neuroscience really is and how suspect its conclusions are. Thanks, Paul!
As far as making decisions, I’d like to talk about fantasy and pivoting in the context of evolution of lived experience. When my much younger friend and I lived in New Brunswick, Canada, we both had aspirations! Both of us were hard working and can do kind of people. When we were cooking together after a busy day, we used to laugh and joke about what we would do if we ever made it big - meaning having success with our aspirations way off in the future. The area we were in was blue-collar and agricultural. I owned a farm which included a bed-and-breakfast and cabin business. All my life, I’ve driven Toyota Corolla‘s, which I still have today and love. But my fantasy at that time was to own a Dodge Ram Turbo Cummings Diesel. My friend, and I would just burst out laughing when we fantasized about this while we were cooking. We laughed and joked that we could just sit at the super market and chug. When we bought our groceries, we would have enough power to carry them home. The rednecks wouldn’t be able to laugh at us anymore.
Well a lot has changed since then, and fast forward 30 years. So my fantasy now has changed and evolved after taking the Science of Well -Being Course with Professor Laurie Santos of Yale University. Now because of hedonic adaptation, I changed my fantasy and learned money can buy happiness through experiences. Now with this pivot, I would love to rent a Tesla Cyber Truck for a week. This would be so much fun! The Cyber Truck is so beautiful. It’s just really out there. And just think of the memories that I would have from that week’s experience. When alone at night if feeling a little bit down, I could savour with gratitude and think of the fun had driving a cyber truck for a week! I would rather do this rather than own one. After this experience, I wonder what my next adventure would be and it might not even be driving a truck. I find this very intriguing, but my lived experience is most people don’t really understand how to implement these thoughts and make them work. There’s so much more I could say, but having conversation with open minded people would be a good pathway forward! There is a lot more to this story as the adventure unfolds.
I'd like to add a personal recommendation for another excellent neuroscience book written by a non-scientist: "The Undiscovered Mind: How the Human Brain Defies Replication, Medication, and Explanation", by John Horgan. The author is a science journalist and professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. The book dates back 24 years, but I think the central message has held up well. Horgan exposes the wide gaps in current theories of brain function (and dysfunction). He argues that progress in neuroscience is actually a kind of “anti-progress”. Horgan writes, “Instead of finding a great unifying insight, [neuroscientists] just keep uncovering more and more complexity.” Indeed, he adds, as they “learn more about the brain, it becomes increasingly difficult to imagine how all the disparate data can be organized into a cohesive, coherent whole.” https://www.amazon.com/Undiscovered-Mind-Replication-Medication-Explanation/dp/0684865785
This is a great list! Thank you so much for the interesting angle of psychology books by non-psychologists. Sometimes it takes the perspective of a fresh eye. All have been added to my GoodReads want-to-read!
And boy, do we ever need to “hold our identities lightly” as much as we do now with the world changing so fast? And the lies being hurled at us on a daily basis.
Add I’ve ordered Alchemy in print to arrive tomorrow!
Love the list from A to Z, got them all sent to Kindle, and btw: Laurie's first page is a killer, well, ahem, or not #becomingavampire. Thanks!
I listen to Russ Robert's podcast a lot and he's had a lot of guests on that I disagree with. And that's been great. It's a good reminder that you can hold a differing opinion than me and still make a reasonable case. It's nice to see his book out in the wild.
My main problem with Russ is that he basically only has men on. The last woman was on to talk about a man. :-P
Wow - great list! I hadn't heard of some of these - will check them out!
I “thought about” yoga for 10 years before taking my first class two years ago. I’m now thinking about becoming a yoga instructor. My yoga teacher said to me “I didn’t think about it I just jumped right in.” So I think I’ll start with Edward Slingerman’s book on spontaneity. Thanks for this list Paul. Funny how things I really need to see pop up.
Great list and I can say that Annie Duke’s Thinking in Bets as well as Quit are great reads filled with lots of rewards.
Thanks for these! I'll be sure to share. ❣️
100% yes to vampire.
Great list - thank you. Time to beat up my amazon and library accounts...
I have read two of these since this post came out: Alchemy and Scout Mindset. They were both interesting but I absolutely loved Alchemy because it was a lot of fun and took itself less seriously (maybe because the focus was marketing rather than how to not be a mindless troll). I'm now re-reading it in paper format with my husband.
I just finished Matthew Cobb’s Idea of the Brain and loved it! Very enlightening, especially when it comes to how baby the field of neuroscience really is and how suspect its conclusions are. Thanks, Paul!
As far as making decisions, I’d like to talk about fantasy and pivoting in the context of evolution of lived experience. When my much younger friend and I lived in New Brunswick, Canada, we both had aspirations! Both of us were hard working and can do kind of people. When we were cooking together after a busy day, we used to laugh and joke about what we would do if we ever made it big - meaning having success with our aspirations way off in the future. The area we were in was blue-collar and agricultural. I owned a farm which included a bed-and-breakfast and cabin business. All my life, I’ve driven Toyota Corolla‘s, which I still have today and love. But my fantasy at that time was to own a Dodge Ram Turbo Cummings Diesel. My friend, and I would just burst out laughing when we fantasized about this while we were cooking. We laughed and joked that we could just sit at the super market and chug. When we bought our groceries, we would have enough power to carry them home. The rednecks wouldn’t be able to laugh at us anymore.
Well a lot has changed since then, and fast forward 30 years. So my fantasy now has changed and evolved after taking the Science of Well -Being Course with Professor Laurie Santos of Yale University. Now because of hedonic adaptation, I changed my fantasy and learned money can buy happiness through experiences. Now with this pivot, I would love to rent a Tesla Cyber Truck for a week. This would be so much fun! The Cyber Truck is so beautiful. It’s just really out there. And just think of the memories that I would have from that week’s experience. When alone at night if feeling a little bit down, I could savour with gratitude and think of the fun had driving a cyber truck for a week! I would rather do this rather than own one. After this experience, I wonder what my next adventure would be and it might not even be driving a truck. I find this very intriguing, but my lived experience is most people don’t really understand how to implement these thoughts and make them work. There’s so much more I could say, but having conversation with open minded people would be a good pathway forward! There is a lot more to this story as the adventure unfolds.
I'd like to add a personal recommendation for another excellent neuroscience book written by a non-scientist: "The Undiscovered Mind: How the Human Brain Defies Replication, Medication, and Explanation", by John Horgan. The author is a science journalist and professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. The book dates back 24 years, but I think the central message has held up well. Horgan exposes the wide gaps in current theories of brain function (and dysfunction). He argues that progress in neuroscience is actually a kind of “anti-progress”. Horgan writes, “Instead of finding a great unifying insight, [neuroscientists] just keep uncovering more and more complexity.” Indeed, he adds, as they “learn more about the brain, it becomes increasingly difficult to imagine how all the disparate data can be organized into a cohesive, coherent whole.” https://www.amazon.com/Undiscovered-Mind-Replication-Medication-Explanation/dp/0684865785
Your list reminds me of how many damn books get published each year. I only heard of one of these and that’s because I read every book by Maria.
Productivity guru Paul Bloom is my favourite Paul Bloom. Not that the other's aren't great. Thanks for the list.