Mental Pivot #43: Feeding My Reading List
Podcasts and book discovery, confusing explanations, and an interactive lesson on cooperation vs. cheating.
Podcasts are hands down my favorite vehicle for discovering interesting books to read. Word-of-mouth recommendations are great, but an informative podcast can provide an excellent introduction to a book’s key ideas and insights. My favorite “book podcasts” are actual one-on-one interviews with the author. These programs are not only free and consumable in under an hour, they also ensure that you’re getting your information directly from the horse’s mouth.
I recently added three books, all published in 2021, to my constantly changing “want to read” list based solely on the quality of a podcast interview. Even if I ultimately don’t read any of these titles, these podcasts engaged my mind and taught me something new. Hopefully, they’ll do the same for you.
The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t by Julia Galef is a book about rational thinking, mental flexibility, and making better decisions.
This podcast interview with Coleman Hughes gives prospective readers an overview of Galef’s ideas. In particular, I appreciate the two thinking metaphors she employs. The first is the “soldier mindset” where we seek to defend our ideas and “win” at all costs. The second is the titular “scout mindset” where we constantly question and revise our beliefs based on new information. Yes, these might not be wholly original ideas, but they’re skillfully packaged and presented.
Galef is also the longtime host of the Rationally Speaking podcast (excellent guests and a large back-catalog).
Mine! How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives by law professors Michael Heller and James Salzman. This is a book that explores who gets what and why. While the legal system addresses the thorny problem of ownership, the reality is that there's a vast, divergent world of unwritten rules guided by cultural norms, tradition, and personal values that influence ownership far more than we think.
A recent episode of the Amicus podcast, The Lawlessness of Property and Ownership, features a conversation between host Dahlia Lithwick and Michael Heller. Together they discuss the “toddler rules” of ownership, airplane seats, queuing, and much more. You can also read an abridged transcript of their conversation.
Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature by Angus Fletcher is a book that treats literature as a technological innovation rivaling any of the great scientific or engineering breakthroughs. Fletcher holds PhDs in both neuroscience and literature which results in creative insights.
This podcast interview between Fletcher and Eric Zimmer is a solid introduction to the ideas in Wonderworks. The two delve deeper into the idea of literature as an invention. One excerpt from the book I appreciated is the idea that “literature was a narrative-emotional technology that helped our ancestors cope with the psychological challenges posed by human biology. It was an invention for overcoming the doubt and the pain of just being us.” It opens a whole new perspective for the ways we use and benefit from stories.
By the way, I still enjoy word-of-mouth recommendations. If you’ve got any good items on your reading list, do share. Even if I don’t read the book, I’m sure we can find a good podcast on the topic ;-)
Now onto this week's recommendations…
Productivity:
How Learning Happens: David Perell muses on the subject of inspiration: how it drives lifelong learning, why it’s often overlooked in our schools, and why YouTube (which effectively combines entertainment and information) might be one of the most important resources for learning today.
Mise-en-Place for Knowledge Workers: Tiago Forte’s summary of Dan Charnas’ book “Work Clean” which uses the French culinary concept of “mise en place”—which refers to the planning and setup performed by professional kitchens—as a practice and mindset worth adopting in other domains.
Moving beyond Personal Productivity: Justin Rose ponders the end goal of efficiency and the tendency to overcomplicate our approach to productivity and introduce unwanted stress and friction into our lives.
Articles:
The Clickbaitification of Netflix: (Warning: possible NSFW image at the top of the article illustrating Netflix tactics) How do websites capture user attention and drive clicks? This article dives into specific (manipulative) techniques used by the popular video streaming service.
Funnels: The One Big Model from Sales & Marketing: Neil Kakkar drills down to first principles regarding one of the most popular sales and marketing metaphors.
Patterns in Confusing Explanations: Julie Evans teases apart 13 commonly encountered patterns in an attempt to encourage better communication. Her article focuses on computer programming examples, but these patterns are applicable to any domain and include things like strained analogies, unrealistic examples, meaningless jargon, and missing information.
The Rise of User-Hostile Software: Den Delimarsky reminds those who work in software of the core user-first principles that are sometimes overlooked. His simple flowchart for determining if a feature should be included is worth printing and pinning next to your desk if you design, develop, or manage products for a living.
The Shadowy Business of International Education: Longform article about the lucrative business of international students at North American colleges and universities (article focuses specifically on Canada). With international student fees and tuitions priced 4-5x higher than domestic students, there are strong financial incentives at play and student welfare is often compromised.
The Well Fixer’s Warning: A sobering piece about the current drought in California’s Central Valley and the ongoing problem of shared resources, aquifer depletion, and market incentives that favor water-intensive crops.
Odds & Ends:
Untools is a nifty collection of thinking tools for problem-solving and decision-making. You can find ideas such as Ishikawa diagrams, connection circles, the Eisenhower matrix, and more. Adam Amran, the site creator, has written detailed articles for each concept, replete with diagrams and practical examples. Very cool.
Nicky Case’s website is so awesome, I’ve probably mentioned it previously in this newsletter. That said, I recently had such a great time playing his interactive instruct-able called The Evolution of Trust, I had to include it here. The Evolution of Trust is a vivid demonstration of the game theory behind why and how we trust each other. Is it better to cooperate or cheat? Learn firsthand from the link above.
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