Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
3.5 stars
Kindle
The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the
Middle-Aged Mind
by Barbara Strauch
3.5 stars
Kindle
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the
Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
Robert Whitaker
4.5 out of 5 stars (N=23)
Kindle, Audio
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
4.5 out of 5 stars (N=113)
Kindle, Audio
Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work Is Done
Susan J. Douglas
3.8 out of 5 stars (N=8)
Kindle
Lonely: A Memoir by Emily White
4.2 out of 5 stars (N=8)
Kindle
The Way We're Working Isn't Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That
Energize Great Performance
by Tony Schwartz, Jean Gomes, Catherine McCarthy Ph.D. (5 stars -- audiobook)
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder
by Richard Louv (4.5 stars -- audiobook)
Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger
by Jeff Wise (5 stars -- no audiobook, but podcast)
Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters
by Scott Rosenberg (4 stars -- audiobook)
Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and
One Quest for Transcendent Software
by Scott Rosenberg (4 stars -- no audiobook)
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
by Keith Johnstone (4.5 stars -- no audiobook)
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
by Daniel J. Levitin (3.5 stars -- audiobook)
The Collapse of Complex Societies (New Studies in Archaeology)
by Joseph Tainter
4 stars
kindle
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
by Nicholas Carr
4.1 out of 5 stars
audio, kindle
____________________________________________________
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
3 1/2 stars
"Fundamentally changes the way I think about the world. . . .
Academics aren't supposed to be able to write this well."
-Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics
"[An] utterly brilliant book. . . . Nudge won't nudge you-it will
knock you off your feet."
-Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness
"Nudge is as important a book as any I've read in perhaps twenty
years. It is a book that people interested in any aspect of public
policy should read. It is a book that people interested in politics
should read. It is a book that people interested in ideas about human
freedom should read. It is a book that people interested in promoting
human welfare should read. If you're not interested in any of these
topics, you can read something else."
-Barry Schwartz, The American Prospect
"This book is terrific. It will change the way you think, not only
about the world around you and some of its bigger problems, but also
about yourself."
-Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball
Product Description
Nudge is about choices-how we make them and how we can make better
ones. Authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein offer a new
perspective on preventing the countless mistakes we make- including
ill-advised personal investments, consumption of unhealthy foods,
neglect of our natural resources, and other bad decisions. Citing
decades of cutting-edge behavioral science research, they demonstrate
that sensible "choice architecture"can successfully nudge people
towards the best decisions without restricting their freedom of
choice. S straightforward, informative, and entertaining, this is a
must-read for anyone with interest in our individual and collective
well-being.
____________________________________________________
The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the
Middle-Aged Mind
by Barbara Strauch
Product Description
A leading science writer examines how the brain's capacity reaches its
peak in middle age
For many years, scientists thought that the human brain simply decayed
over time and its dying cells led to memory slips, fuzzy logic,
negative thinking, and even depression. But new research from
neuroscien tists and psychologists suggests that, in fact, the brain
reorganizes, improves in important functions, and even helps us adopt
a more optimistic outlook in middle age. Growth of white matter and
brain connectors allow us to recognize patterns faster, make better
judgments, and find unique solutions to problems. Scientists call
these traits cognitive expertise and they reach their highest levels
in middle age.
In her impeccably researched book, science writer Barbara Strauch
explores the latest findings that demonstrate, through the use of
technology such as brain scans, that the middle-aged brain is more
flexible and more capable than previously thought. For the first time,
long-term studies show that our view of middle age has been misleading
and incomplete. By detailing exactly the normal, healthy brain
functions over time, Strauch also explains how its optimal processes
can be maintained. Part scientific survey, part how-to guide, The
Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain is a fascinating glimpse at our
surprisingly talented middle-aged minds.
____________________________________________________
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the
Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
Robert Whitaker
In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and
history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has
the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over
the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added
to the government disability rolls because they have become newly
disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly
among our nation’s children. What is going on?
Anatomy of an Epidemic challenges readers to think through that
question themselves. First, Whitaker investigates what is known today
about the biological causes of mental disorders. Do psychiatric
medications fix “chemical imbalances” in the brain, or do they, in
fact, create them? Researchers spent decades studying that question,
and by the late 1980s, they had their answer. Readers will be
startled—and dismayed—to discover what was reported in the scientific
journals.
Then comes the scientific query at the heart of this book: During the
past fifty years, when investigators looked at how psychiatric drugs
affected long-term outcomes, what did they find? Did they discover
that the drugs help people stay well? Function better? Enjoy good
physical health? Or did they find that these medications, for some
paradoxical reason, increase the likelihood that people will become
chronically ill, less able to function well, more prone to physical
illness?
This is the first book to look at the merits of psychiatric
medications through the prism of long-term results. Are long-term
recovery rates higher for medicated or unmedicated schizophrenia
patients? Does taking an antidepressant decrease or increase the risk
that a depressed person will become disabled by the disorder? Do
bipolar patients fare better today than they did forty years ago, or
much worse? When the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
studied the long-term outcomes of children with ADHD, did they
determine that stimulants provide any benefit?
By the end of this review of the outcomes literature, readers are
certain to have a haunting question of their own: Why have the results
from these long-term studies—all of which point to the same startling
conclusion—been kept from the public?
In this compelling history, Whitaker also tells the personal stories
of children and adults swept up in this epidemic. Finally, he reports
on innovative programs of psychiatric care in Europe and the United
States that are producing good long-term outcomes. Our nation has been
hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as Anatomy of
an Epidemic reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic
have already been drawn up.
____________________________________________________
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know
about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific
discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims
people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss.
Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and
stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to
produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our
basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to
realize our fullest potential. Case studies of Google's 20 percent
time (in which employees work on projects of their choosing one full
day each week) and Best Buy's Results Only Work Environment (in which
employees can work whenever and however they choose—as long as they
meet specific goals) demonstrate growing endorsement for this
approach. A series of appendixes include further reading and tips on
applying this method to businesses, fitness and child-rearing. Drawing
on research in psychology, economics and sociology, Pink's
analysis—and new model—of motivation offers tremendous insight into
our deepest nature.
____________________________________________________
Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work Is Done
Susan J. Douglas
From Booklist
Douglas defines “enlightened sexism” as a response to the “perceived
threat of a new gender regime” following the gains made by feminists
since the 1970s. Her premise is that, under the mistaken assumption
that full gender equality has been achieved, it is now “OK” to
resurrect sexist stereotypes because they will no longer undermine
women’s equality. She explores the rise and evolution of media-created
fantasies from the early 1990s to the present in TV, movies, popular
songs, even network news, demonstrating how women have increasingly
been reduced to stereotypes obsessed with their figures, clothes,
shopping, and aging. From Beverly Hills 90210 and Buffy the Vampire
Slayer to reality shows like The Bachelor and Survivor, women have
been increasingly trivialized as overly emotional, unable to get along
with each other, and constantly in competition for male approval.
Douglas injects humor throughout, and notes the differences between
her and her “millennial” daughter. She concludes with the hope that
this new generation will not give up the fight. --Deborah Donovan
Note from Michele: I checked the Amazon reviews out to see why the
average is a bit low. A couple people complain that the book is
repetitive. But the criticism seems mostly focused on disagreement
with the ideas--debating whether Buffy the Vampire Slayer is feminist,
for example. So there does seem to be content for dicussion.
____________________________________________________
Lonely: A Memoir by Emily White
This boldly honest and elegantly written memoir reveals the painful
and sometimes debilitating experience of living with chronic
loneliness—the first book of its kind devoted exclusively to the
subject.
Despite having a demanding job, good friends, and a supportive family,
Emily White spent many of her evenings and weekends alone at home,
trying to understand why she felt so disconnected from everyone. To
keep up the faÇade of an active social life and to hide the painful
truth, the successful young lawyer often lied to those around her—and
to herself. She was suffering from severe loneliness.
In this insightful, soul-baring, and illuminating memoir, White
reveals her battle to understand and overcome this crippling
condition, and contends that chronic loneliness deserves the same
attention as other mental difficulties such as depression. "Right now,
loneliness is something few people are willing to admit to," she
writes. "There's no need for this silence, no need for the shame and
self-blame it creates. There's nothing wrong with loneliness, and we
need to start acknowledging this through a wider and more open
discussion of the state."
Interweaving her personal story with the latest in cutting-edge
scientific research—as well as the incredibly moving accounts offered
by numerous lonely men and women—White provides a deep and thorough
portrait of this increasingly common but too often ignored affliction.
By investigating the science of loneliness, challenging its stigma,
encouraging other lonely people to talk about their experiences, and
setting out one person's struggle, Lonely redefines how we look at
loneliness and helps those who are afflicted understand their mood in
an entirely new light, ultimately providing solace and hope.
____________________________________________________
The Way We're Working Isn't Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That
Energize Great Performance
by Tony Schwartz, Jean Gomes, Catherine McCarthy Ph.D. (5 stars -- audiobook)
Schwartz, CEO of the Energy Project, stretches an obvious thesis to
the breaking point in his plaint on how the American
workplace—theoretically where technology has allowed us to reach for
more, bigger, faster—has bred an atmosphere in which workers have
become disengaged from their work. We fail to take care of ourselves,
he points out, and end up undermining our health, happiness, and
productivity. Using a series of quadrants describing the emotional
workings of both employees and companies, he argues that nothing is
gained—and much is lost—by constantly pushing people to achieve more
and more in less time and with fewer resources; rejuvenation and rest
are necessary for creative breakthroughs and broader perspectives. All
well and good, but the bulk of the book is then eaten up exhorting
readers to get more sleep, exercise, eat better, and take care of
their emotional health. While a reminder to cultivate engagement and
mindfulness is always relevant to the modern business reader, the
usable content is slim—and fluffed out beyond the point of
readability. (May)
____________________________________________________
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder
by Richard Louv (4.5 stars -- audiobook)
Richard Louv (4.5 stars -- audiobook)
Today's kids are increasingly disconnected from the natural world,
says child advocacy expert Louv (Childhood's Future; Fatherlove;
etc.), even as research shows that "thoughtful exposure of youngsters
to nature can... be a powerful form of therapy for attention-deficit
disorder and other maladies." Instead of passing summer months hiking,
swimming and telling stories around the campfire, children these days
are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a
result, Louv says, they've come to think of nature as more of an
abstraction than a reality. Indeed, a 2002 British study reported that
eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than
they could name "otter, beetle, and oak tree." Gathering thoughts from
parents, teachers, researchers, environmentalists and other concerned
parties, Louv argues for a return to an awareness of and appreciation
for the natural world. Not only can nature teach kids science and
nurture their creativity, he says, nature needs its children: where
else will its future stewards come from? Louv's book is a call to
action, full of warnings—but also full of ideas for change. Agent,
James Levine. (May 20)
____________________________________________________
Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger
Jeff Wise (5 stars -- no audiobook, but podcast)
Fear is a mysterious force. It sabotages our ability to think clearly
and can drive us to blind panic, yet it can also give us superhuman
speed, strength, and powers of perception. Having baffled mankind for
ages, fear is now yielding its secrets to scientific inquiry. The
simple model of "fight or flight"--that people respond to danger
either by fleeing in terror or staying to fight through it--has been
replaced by a more complex understanding of the fear response.
Veteran science journalist Jeff Wise delves into the latest research
to produce an astonishing portrait of the brain’s hidden fear
pathways. Wise, who writes the "I'll Try Anything" column for Popular
Mechanics, favors a hands-on approach, volunteering to jump out of an
airplane while wearing sensors and to endure a four-hour simulated
missile attack on a Navy destroyer. He returns with a tale that
combines lucid explanations of brain dynamics with gripping, true-life
stories of mortal danger: we watch a woman defend herself against a
mountain lion attack in a remote canyon; we witness a couple
desperately fighting to beat back an encircling wildfire; we see a
pilot struggle to maintain control of his plane as its wing begins to
detach. By understanding how and why these people responded the way
they did, Wise argues, we can better arm ourselves against our own
everyday fears.
Full of amazing characters and cutting-edge science, Extreme Fear is
an original and absorbing narrative that will force you to reconsider
the limits of human potential.
____________________________________________________
Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters
Scott Rosenberg (4 stars -- audiobook)
Blogs are everywhere. They have exposed truths and spread rumors. Made
and lost fortunes. Brought couples together and torn them apart.
Toppled cabinet members and sparked grassroots movements. Immediate,
intimate, and influential, they have put the power of personal
publishing into everyone’s hands. Regularly dismissed as trivial and
ephemeral, they have proved that they are here to stay.
In Say Everything, Scott Rosenberg chronicles blogging’s unplanned
rise and improbable triumph, tracing its impact on politics, business,
the media, and our personal lives. He offers close-ups of innovators
such as Blogger founder Evan Williams, investigative journalist Josh
Marshall, exhibitionist diarist Justin Hall, software visionary Dave
Winer, "mommyblogger" Heather Armstrong, and many others.
These blogging pioneers were the first to face new dilemmas that have
become common in the era of Google and Facebook, and their stories
offer vital insights and warnings as we navigate the future. How much
of our lives should we reveal on the Web? Is anonymity a boon or a
curse? Which voices can we trust? What does authenticity look like on
a stage where millions are fighting for attention, yet most only write
for a handful? And what happens to our culture now that everyone can
say everything?
Before blogs, it was easy to believe that the Web would grow up to be
a clickable TV–slick, passive, mass-market. Instead, blogging brought
the Web’s native character into focus–convivial, expressive,
democratic. Far from being pajama-clad loners, bloggers have become
the curators of our collective experience, testing out their ideas in
front of a crowd and linking people in ways that broadcasts can’t
match. Blogs have created a new kind of public sphere–one in which we
can think out loud together. And now that we have begun, Rosenberg
writes, it is impossible to imagine us stopping.
____________________________________________________
Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and
One Quest for Transcendent Software
Scott Rosenberg (4 stars -- no audiobook)
Software is easy to make, except when you want it to do something
new," Rosenberg observes—but the catch is that "the only software
worth making is software that does something new." This two-tiered
insight comes from years of observing a team led by Mitch Kapor (the
creator of the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet) in its efforts to create a
"personal information manager" that can handle to-do lists as easily
as events scheduling and address books. Rosenberg's fly-on-the-wall
reporting deftly charts the course taken by Kapor's Open Source
Applications Foundation, while acknowledging that every software
programmer finds his or her own unique path to a brick wall in the
development process. (The software is still in development even now.)
With equal enthusiasm, Rosenberg digs into the history of the computer
industry's efforts to make programming a more efficient process.
Though there's a lot of technical information, it's presented in very
accessible terms, primarily through the context of project management.
Even readers whose computer expertise ends at retrieving their e-mail
will be able to enjoy digressions into arcane subjects like
object-oriented programming. (Jan.)
In the 80s, Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine attempted to
define the story of the development of a minicomputer: from the new
science to the business and nascent culture of electronic hardware and
software that was characteristic of that time. Scott Rosenberg's
Dreaming in Code draws on Kidder's model as it attempts to document
the state of software, the Internet, and everything circa 2006 through
the lens of Chandler, an as-yet-unfinished software application for
the management of personal information
The Soul of a New Machine attempted to define the story of the
development of a minicomputer: from the new science to the business
and nascent culture of electronic hardware and software that was
characteristic of that time. Scott Rosenberg's Dreaming in Code draws
on Kidder's model as it attempts to document the state of software,
the Internet, and everything circa 2006 through the lens of Chandler,
an as-yet-unfinished software application for the management of
personal information
____________________________________________________
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre
Keith Johnstone (4.5 stars -- no audiobook)
Impro ought to be required reading not only for theatre people
generally but also for teachers, educators, and students of all kinds
and persuassions. Readers of this book are not going to agree with
everything in it; but if they are not challenged by it, if they do not
ultimately succumb to its wisdom and whimsicality, they are in a very
sad state indeed . . . .Johnstone seeks to liberate the imagination,
to cultivate in the adult the creative power of the child . . .
.Deserves to be widely read and tested in the classroom and rehearsal
hall . . .Full of excellent good sense, actual observations and
inspired assetions.
____________________________________________________
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
Daniel J. Levitin (3.5 stars -- audiobook)
Charles Darwin meets the Beatles in this attempt to blend neuroscience
and evolutionary biology to explain why music is such a powerful
force. In this rewarding though often repetitious study by bestselling
author Levitin (This Is Your Brain on Music), a rock musician turned
neuroscientist, argues that music is a core element of human identity,
paving the way for language, cooperative work projects and the
recording of our lives and history. Through his studies, Levitin has
identified six kinds of songs that help us achieve these goals: songs
of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love. He cites
lyrics ranging from the songs of Johnny Cash to work songs, which, he
says, promote feelings of togetherness. According to Levitin,
evolution may have selected individuals who were able to use
nonviolent means like dance and music to settle disputes. Songs also
serve as memory-aids, as records of our lives and legends. Some may
find Levitin's evolutionary explanations reductionist, but he lightens
the science with personal anecdotes and chats with Sting and others,
offering an intriguing explanation for the power of music in our lives
as individuals and as a society. (Aug.)
____________________________________________________
The Collapse of Complex Societies (New Studies in Archaeology)
Joseph Tainter
4 stars, kindle
Review
"While the theoretical part of the book is quite remarkable and based
on exceptional erudition, I also found the accumulation of the
supporting data to be interesting reading . . . The merit of the book
is that it is interesting. It modifies some of our views about early
states and their collapse mainly by using data. It also shows how
archaeology in alliance with social sciences opens the way for a
comparative analysis of change in political and other cultural
institutions." European Cultural Heritage
"Tainter's is an attractive and compelling thesis of a genre which is
nearly extinct among domestic historians." History Today
"This is a lucid and stimulating book. Tainter does provide a
framework for organizing and evaluating the evidence of collapse. One
of the strengths of his framework is the broadness of its terms of
reference...Tainter's model accomodates all levels of complexity and
all kinds of evidence, from fiscal policy to the acquisition of raw
materials. It deserves to be widely read." Antiquity
"Tainter has provided copious grist for the intellectual mill in this
remarkable piece of scholarship. The breadth of its coverage is given
order by a model that qualifies, I believe, as one of the covering
laws archaeologists have sought. In addition, Old World and New World
scholars alike can profit from a reading of this book." P. Nick
Kardulias, American Journal of Archaeology
"The Collapse of Complex Societies contains much useful historical and
archeological information on empires that have abruptly disappeared."
James B. Rule, SUNY, Stony Brook, in Population and Environment
"The book is thought-provoking, engaging, and often witty, and well
illustrates the relevancy of classical antiquity to contemporary
concerns." Classical World
Product Description
Political disintegration is a persistent feature of world history. The
Collapse of Complex Societies, though written by an archaeologist,
will therefore strike a chord throughout the social sciences. Any
explanation of societal collapse carries lessons not just for the
study of ancient societies, but for the members of all such societies
in both the present and future. Dr. Tainter describes nearly two dozen
cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He
then develops a new and far-reaching theory that accounts for collapse
among diverse kinds of societies, evaluating his model and clarifying
the processes of disintegration by detailed studies of the Roman,
Mayan and Chacoan collapses.
____________________________________________________
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
by Nicholas Carr
4.1 out of 5 stars
audio, kindle
Carr—author of The Big Switch (2007) and the much-discussed Atlantic
Monthly story “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”—is an astute critic of the
information technology revolution. Here he looks to neurological
science to gauge the organic impact of computers, citing fascinating
experiments that contrast the neural pathways built by reading books
versus those forged by surfing the hypnotic Internet, where portals
lead us on from one text, image, or video to another while we’re being
bombarded by messages, alerts, and feeds. This glimmering realm of
interruption and distraction impedes the sort of comprehension and
retention “deep reading” engenders, Carr explains. And not only are we
reconfiguring our brains, we are also forging a “new intellectual
ethic,” an arresting observation Carr expands on while discussing
Google’s gargantuan book digitization project. What are the
consequences of new habits of mind that abandon sustained immersion
and concentration for darting about, snagging bits of information?
What is gained and what is lost? Carr’s fresh, lucid, and engaging
assessment of our infatuation with the Web is provocative and
revelatory.
Rebuttal by Stephen Pinker: