Psychology
Published:
A collection of notes from books read on pyschology.
Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, 2006
A book about happiness that uses a clever metaphor to describe the conflict between primitive motives and conscious thought.
The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, 2018
This book touches on the recent developments in some American universities, and try to identify some of the causal mechanisms that give rise to the “… new problems on campus, [which] have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being and ancient wisdom from many cultures. Embracing these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—interferes with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. It makes it harder for them to become autonomous adults who are able to navigate the bumpy road of life.”
Notes - The Coddling of the American Mind
Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson
A book about psychological truths that we tend to pretend don’t exist but are more or less obvious, much like the saying “the elephant in the room”. Hence the title, the elephant in the brain.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
A book that proposes that cognition arises from two mental systems, that of what the author calls System 1 which include intuitions, impressions, feelings that require little focus and are automatic; and System 2, which include systematic thought that requires deliberate attention. The author suggests that most behaviour originates from System 1, and System 2 tends to rationalize the beliefs of System 1 without proper intervention. Many topics are covered in the book, including behaviour economics, biases, and well-being.
Notes - Thinking, Fast and Slow
The Lonely Century by Noreena Hertz
A book detailing the rising prevalence of loneliness in the world as life has become more urbanized and digitized, the associated physiological and psychological risks associated with loneliness, and what we can do with our communities to mitigate these risks.
The Moral Animal by Robert Wright
One of the earlier books on evolutionary psychology. How evolution has shaped our behaviour; our familial, romantic, and social relationships; and our social institutions.
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
A book about moral psychology, Jonathan’s principle area of research, about why it can be so hard from people of differing backgrounds to see eye to eye, the pillars of morality, what influences us to be more conserviative or more liberal, and more.
Noise by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein
A book exploring errors in judgment associated with noise, i.e., variability. Many focus on bias, because it’s clear when bias misses the mark. Noise is messier and more elusive, making it a more difficult foe. If an identical case is judged differently by different people in the criminal justice system, is that acceptable? If the same judge changes the flavor of their judgmenets depending on time of day, is that acceptable? If we can accept that this variation is unacceptable, how do we go about reducing noise?