The Myth of Normal
Overview Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring […]
The Geography of Thought
Introduction Have you ever wondered why western culture is so individualistic and why eastern culture in sharp contrast is so collectivist? I have and never got a compelling answer till I read this book. Nisbett demonstrates that people actually think about—and even see—the world differently because of differing ecologies, social structures, philosophies, and educational systems […]
Books in 2024
The books I read in 2024 along with my rating on a scale of zero (sucks) to 10 (best). Aimless in Banares by Biswanath Ghosh (5/10) The world until yesterday by Jared Diamond (6/10) How not to die by Michael Greger (8/10) Outlive by Peter Attia (6/10) Same as ever by Morgan Housel (5/10) The […]
The Quick Fix
Introduction There is probably no other scientific discipline in which fads come and go so quickly, and with so much hype, as psychology. In Quick Fix, Jesse Singal discusses different psychological ideas that have been promoted as quick fixes for different social problems. He refers to these as “half-baked” ideas—ideas that may not be 100 […]
An End To Suffering – The Buddha In The World
Is the Buddha still relevant today and, if so, in what way? Pankaj Mishra tries to answer this question as he travels through poverty-ridden South Asia to gilded Europe and America. Along the way he discusses Western explorers’ “discovery” of Buddhism in the nineteenth century, finds out how Buddhist thought has flowered even in a […]
Misbelief: What makes rational people believe irrational things
My top 20 points: Misinformation affects all of us on a daily basis—from social media to larger political challenges, from casual conversations in supermarkets, to even our closest relationships. While we recognize the dangers that misinformation poses, the problem is complex—far beyond what policing social media alone can achieve—and too often our limited solutions are […]
The Brain
My top 25 takeaways: The lack of preparedness during birth (as compared to animals) seems like a disadvantage for us since (e.g.) baby giraffes can learn to stand on its feet in a few hours. But this is the reason we are the rulers of this planet: animals have a preprogrammed brain but the human […]
Primal Leadership
My top 25 points: The first half of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is internal- self-awareness and self-management. This is the ability to monitor and manage your feelings and mood. Most leadership problems are caused by poor self-management. The second half of EI is external- social awareness (knowing how to see emotions in others) and relationship management. […]
How to know a person
My top 30 takeaways: People skills are crucial to leading a satisfying life, yet today’s western society does not equip people with these skills. We’re living in the middle of some sort of vast emotional, relational, and spiritual crisis. It is as if people across society have lost the ability to see and understand one […]
Drive
My top 30 points: Motivation 1.0. At the dawn of evolution, human behavior was simple. Its only trigger was the survival instinct- gather food, protect themselves from animals, and recreate. Motivation 1, even though it wasn’t the most elegant, worked well back in the day. Motivation 2.0. As human societies developed, the operating system based […]
