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Currently Reading...
I'm halfway through. Incredible overview of life between 1870 and 1970. I now have a huge appreciation for the innovation and speed of adoption during that period in American history. He points out the a lot of flaws in our measurements of growth, productivity and life improvement.
e.g. When looking at the average cost of a basic goods overtime most calculations do not factor in the life improvement associated with advances other than cost. As an example, in the 1870s most households used whale oil to provide light... with the advent of the electric bulb their was not only a price difference but less risk of fire, 10x brighter light, less cleaning and better air quality from the associated whale oil soot. This is to say innovations between 1870 and 1970 were far more than economic and nothing since has compared. The author argues that there will likely never be another period to compare... that these are one-time occurrences.
4/5
Addictive drugs and supernormal stimuli (sugars, fats, gambling, video games, etc) often highjack the reward system by triggering the release of more dopamine and strengthening the connection. Eventually your brain stops producing as much dopamine (or becomes less receptive) causing addicts to use more to get the same feeling and thereby reducing the craving for other experiences.
Dopamine is not about pleasure, dopamine causes learning and craving. Dopamine is released when something is better than expected and then gets associated with the trigger to that event. The closer the trigger is to the release of dopamine the stronger the connection and the more habit forming / addictive. Once your brain has associated a trigger to an experience it will release dopamine which causes craving for the experience. #neuroscience
4/5
This is an audible Great Courses Lecture. A lot of recap to the Deceptive Mind but there are new concepts and still worthwhile. #neuroscience
4.5/5
This is a good book to read after The Better Angels of our Nature. It focuses in on policing and volience in predominatley black neighborhoods (focusing on Los Angeles). Tries to answer questions about proper policing and why violence is so high in black communities through the true story of the murder and investigation of a LA police officer's son that lived in one of the communities. This may make you question wether #blacklivesmatter is addressing the real issue or hindering it—whatever the case there is a disparity on many fronts and lack of public/policy knowledge that needs our collective attention. #violence
via. Sam Harris and Glenn C. Loury
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Only read half, this was a daily-deal book. Talks about the power of visualization... I'm skeptical and this account was more anecdotal than scientific.
4/5
The recipe for viral stories and content. The take-away I keep coming back to is how important triggers are. #marketing #behavior