The best books I read in 2019
1. The Social Leap by @BillvonHippel
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"At least since the steamship, people have traveled the globe with relative ease. Yet no one thought to put wheels on a suitcase until 1970, and they didn't catch on until 1987"
1. The Social Leap by @BillvonHippel
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"At least since the steamship, people have traveled the globe with relative ease. Yet no one thought to put wheels on a suitcase until 1970, and they didn't catch on until 1987"
@BillvonHippel 2. Blueprint by Robert Plomin
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โThe average IQ score difference between siblings is 13 points, not that far off the average difference of 17 points for pairs of individuals selected at random from the population.โ
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โThe average IQ score difference between siblings is 13 points, not that far off the average difference of 17 points for pairs of individuals selected at random from the population.โ
3. The Laws of Human Nature by @RobertGreene
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โTo the extrovert, the introvert has no fun, is stubborn, even antisocial. To the introvert, the extrovert is shallow, flighty, and overly concerned with what people think.โ
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โTo the extrovert, the introvert has no fun, is stubborn, even antisocial. To the introvert, the extrovert is shallow, flighty, and overly concerned with what people think.โ
@RobertGreene How The Mind Works by @sapinker
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"no society can be simultaneously fair, free, and equal. If it is fair, people who work harder can accumulate more. If it is free, people will give their wealth to their children. But then it cannot be equal"
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"no society can be simultaneously fair, free, and equal. If it is fair, people who work harder can accumulate more. If it is free, people will give their wealth to their children. But then it cannot be equal"
@RobertGreene @sapinker Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch
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โModern life is so mediated by electronic images that we cannot help responding to others as if their actions- and our own- were being transmitted to an unseen audience or stored for scrutiny at some later timeโ
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โModern life is so mediated by electronic images that we cannot help responding to others as if their actions- and our own- were being transmitted to an unseen audience or stored for scrutiny at some later timeโ
@RobertGreene @sapinker Cognitive Gadgets by @CeliaHeyes
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โchildren show prestige bias; they are more likely to copy a model that adults regard as being higher social status- for example, their head-teacher rather than an equally familiar person of the same age and gender.โ
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โchildren show prestige bias; they are more likely to copy a model that adults regard as being higher social status- for example, their head-teacher rather than an equally familiar person of the same age and gender.โ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes Thinking in Bets by @AnnieDuke
โDespite the popular wisdom that we achieve success through positive visualization, it turns out that...people who imagine obstacles are more likely to achieve successโ
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โDespite the popular wisdom that we achieve success through positive visualization, it turns out that...people who imagine obstacles are more likely to achieve successโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke Political Tribes by @amychua
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โI think protesting is almost a status symbol for elites. Thatโs why they always post pictures on Facebook, so all their friends know theyโre protesting.โ
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โI think protesting is almost a status symbol for elites. Thatโs why they always post pictures on Facebook, so all their friends know theyโre protesting.โ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua Demons (The Devils) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
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โMy dear, the real truth always sounds improbable, do you know that? To make the truth sound probable you must always mix in some falsehood with it. Men have always done so.โ
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โMy dear, the real truth always sounds improbable, do you know that? To make the truth sound probable you must always mix in some falsehood with it. Men have always done so.โ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua Pre-Suasion by @RobertCialdini
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โAn analysis of 500 attorneys found that the harder an attorneyโs name was to pronounce, the lower he or she stayed in the firmโs hierarchy. This effect held independent of the foreignness of the names.โ
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โAn analysis of 500 attorneys found that the harder an attorneyโs name was to pronounce, the lower he or she stayed in the firmโs hierarchy. This effect held independent of the foreignness of the names.โ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini Our Inner Ape by Frans de Waal
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โOne monkey stopped responding for 12 days after witnessing a companion being shocked each time they pulled a handle to get food for themselves. They were literally starving themselves to avoid inflicting pain on others.โ
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โOne monkey stopped responding for 12 days after witnessing a companion being shocked each time they pulled a handle to get food for themselves. They were literally starving themselves to avoid inflicting pain on others.โ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini The Rational Optimist by @mattwridley
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โRandom violence makes the news precisely because it is so rare, routine kindness does not make the news precisely because it is so commonplace."
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โRandom violence makes the news precisely because it is so rare, routine kindness does not make the news precisely because it is so commonplace."
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley Why Women Have Sex by Cindy Meston & David Buss
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โMost women who have affairs are deeply unhappy with their marriages...it is not true of men. Men who have affairs do not differ from men who remain faithful in terms of their level of marital happiness!โ
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โMost women who have affairs are deeply unhappy with their marriages...it is not true of men. Men who have affairs do not differ from men who remain faithful in terms of their level of marital happiness!โ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley Evil by Roy Baumeister amzn.to
โIn the history of the world, increased recognition of differences between groups has led more often to conflict and violence than to peaceful cooperation and sharing. America is now making a dangerous gamble on the opposite result"
โIn the history of the world, increased recognition of differences between groups has led more often to conflict and violence than to peaceful cooperation and sharing. America is now making a dangerous gamble on the opposite result"
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley โResearch has found that most men find most women at least somewhat sexually attractive, whereas most women do not find most men sexually attractive at all.โ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley โattractive defendants were twice as likely to avoid jail as unattractive ones...a defendant who was better-looking than his victim had to pay an average of $5,623; but when the victim was more attractive, the average compensation was $10,051.โ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley โIf you think that you are doing something that is on the side of good, then whoever opposes you must be evil. To perceive them as any less is to diminish oneโs own claim to be good...to sustain oneโs goodness, it is essential to see the enemy as evil.โ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley Blueprint by @NAChristakis
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If you consider someone to be your friend, there is a 34 percent chance they consider you to be their friend
If you consider someone to be your enemy, there is a 5 percent chance they consider you to be their enemy
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If you consider someone to be your friend, there is a 34 percent chance they consider you to be their friend
If you consider someone to be your enemy, there is a 5 percent chance they consider you to be their enemy
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis โIn fact, findings from cross-cultural studies suggest that in-group bias is higher in collectivist societies (including communist societies) than it is in individualist societies which stress autonomy.โ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis The Ape that Understood The Universe by @SteveStuWill
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โA little excess fear is exactly what evolutionary principles would predict...โthe cost of getting killed even once is higher than the cost of responding to a hundred false alarms.โโ
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โA little excess fear is exactly what evolutionary principles would predict...โthe cost of getting killed even once is higher than the cost of responding to a hundred false alarms.โโ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill Sex, Power and Partisanship amzn.to
โprimates lower on the hierarchy have a fitness incentive to adopt political philosophies that seek to right power imbalances..those same primates also have an incentive to revert to a hierarchical order once they assume powerโ
โprimates lower on the hierarchy have a fitness incentive to adopt political philosophies that seek to right power imbalances..those same primates also have an incentive to revert to a hierarchical order once they assume powerโ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill The Secret Life of Pronouns by @jwpennebaker
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โFrom age 13 to 20, our self-esteem drops...Thereafter, to age 70, self-esteem gradually increases. In fact, by age 65, many of us feel as good as when we were 9 years old, which is as good as it ever gets.โ
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โFrom age 13 to 20, our self-esteem drops...Thereafter, to age 70, self-esteem gradually increases. In fact, by age 65, many of us feel as good as when we were 9 years old, which is as good as it ever gets.โ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker amzn.to
โOf all human emotions, none is trickier or more elusive than envy...as soon as we feel the pangs, we disguise it to ourselvesโit is not envy we feel but unfairness of the distribution of goods or attention, resentment at this unfairness, even angerโ
โOf all human emotions, none is trickier or more elusive than envy...as soon as we feel the pangs, we disguise it to ourselvesโit is not envy we feel but unfairness of the distribution of goods or attention, resentment at this unfairness, even angerโ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker On Writing by @StephenKing
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โIf you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered."
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โIf you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered."
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing Date-onomics by Jon Birger
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"there are 5.5 million college-educated women between 22-29, versus only 4.1 million college-educated men in the same age bracket...the dating pool for college graduates has 33% more women than menโor 4 women for every 3 men"
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"there are 5.5 million college-educated women between 22-29, versus only 4.1 million college-educated men in the same age bracket...the dating pool for college graduates has 33% more women than menโor 4 women for every 3 men"
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing โModern people have trouble believing that preliterate tribes go to war over women...Across the world, the best-fed foraging peopleโs are the most warlike...โEven though we like meat, we like women a whole lot more.โโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing The Case Against Education by @bryan_caplan
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"the marriage market is probably the strongest reason to pay for expensive private schools. Going to Harvard may not get you a better job but almost certainly puts you in an exclusive dating pool for life"
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"the marriage market is probably the strongest reason to pay for expensive private schools. Going to Harvard may not get you a better job but almost certainly puts you in an exclusive dating pool for life"
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan โparents were more motivated to pass wealth to sons because the reproductive benefits that accrue to wealthy sons are greater than the benefits that accrue to wealthy daughters. Partially because of these sex differences, gender inequality spreadโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan โstepparenthood is the strongest risk factor for child abuse ever identified..a stepparent is 40-100 times more likely to kill a young child, even when confounding factorsโ poverty, motherโs age, traits of people who tend to remarryโare taken into account" amzn.to
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan โwealth has only a trivial effect on happiness unless we have more than those around us, suggesting it is status and not money that we are really after"
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan โmale stupidity is actually an adaptation to female choosiness, as male risk taking and conflict are products of sexual selection...risk taking is an honest signal of how robust & skilled a person is...women can use male risk taking as a sign of qualityโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan โour brains were shaped for fitness, not for truth. Sometimes truth is adaptive, but sometimes it is not. Conflicts of interest are inherent to the human condition, and we are apt to want our version of the truth, rather than the truth itself, to prevailโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan The Body Keeps the Score amzn.to
The costs of child abuse โexceeded those of cancer or heart disease...eradicating child abuse would reduce depression by more than half, alcoholism by two-thirds...suicide and IV drug use, and domestic violence by three-quartersโ
The costs of child abuse โexceeded those of cancer or heart disease...eradicating child abuse would reduce depression by more than half, alcoholism by two-thirds...suicide and IV drug use, and domestic violence by three-quartersโ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan Coming Apart by @charlesmurray
Children living with both biological parents
Affluent families in 1960: 95%
Working class families in 1960: 95%
Affluent families in 2005: 85%
Working class families in 2005: 30%
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Children living with both biological parents
Affluent families in 1960: 95%
Working class families in 1960: 95%
Affluent families in 2005: 85%
Working class families in 2005: 30%
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray Evolutionary Psychology by David Buss
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โchildren living with one genetic parent and one stepparent are roughly 40 times more likely to be abused than children living with both genetic parents...even when poverty and socioeconomic status are controlled"
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โchildren living with one genetic parent and one stepparent are roughly 40 times more likely to be abused than children living with both genetic parents...even when poverty and socioeconomic status are controlled"
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray โSuccessful women turned out to place an even greater value than less professionally successful women on mates who have professional degrees, high social status, and greater intelligence and who are tall, independent, and self-confidentโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray The Science of Storytelling by @wstorr
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โif weโre psychologically healthy, our brain makes us feel as if weโre the moral heroes at the centre of the unfolding plots of our lives. Any โfactsโ tend to be subordinate to that storyโ
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โif weโre psychologically healthy, our brain makes us feel as if weโre the moral heroes at the centre of the unfolding plots of our lives. Any โfactsโ tend to be subordinate to that storyโ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr "a man who dates an unattractive woman experiences a moderate decrease in status, whereas a woman who dates an unattractive man experiences only a trivial decrease in status...having an unattractive mate hurts a manโs status more than it does a womanโs"
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
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"success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect...success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it"
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"success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect...success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it"
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr Emotional arcs of stories:
-Rags to riches (rising emotion)
-Riches to rags (falling emotion)
-Man in a hole (fall then rise)
-Icarus (rise then fall)
-Oedipus (fall, rise, fall)
Most commercially successful:
-Icarus
-Oedipus
-2 sequential man in a holes
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-Rags to riches (rising emotion)
-Riches to rags (falling emotion)
-Man in a hole (fall then rise)
-Icarus (rise then fall)
-Oedipus (fall, rise, fall)
Most commercially successful:
-Icarus
-Oedipus
-2 sequential man in a holes
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr โWhen the data scientist David Robinson analyzed 112,000 plots including books, movies, television episodes, and video games, his algorithm found one common story shape...โThings get worse and worse, until, at the last minute, they get better.โโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr Cultural Revolution by Frank Dikรถtter
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr "Mao went straight to the students, seeing in the young his most reliable allies. They were impressionable, easy to manipulate and eager to fight...โWe have to depend on them to start a rebellion, a revolution'"
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr โmale-typical traits such as beards and deep voices may be more about intimidating other men than they are about attracting women. In other words, these traits may be deersโ antlers rather than peacocksโ tails.โ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr Vision of the Anointed by @ThomasSowell
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โThe family is an obstacle to schemes for control...Engelsโ 1st draft of the Communist Manifesto included a deliberate undermining of family bonds...Marx was astute enough to leave that out of the final versionโ
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โThe family is an obstacle to schemes for control...Engelsโ 1st draft of the Communist Manifesto included a deliberate undermining of family bonds...Marx was astute enough to leave that out of the final versionโ
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr @ThomasSowell Survival in the Killing Fields by Haing Ngor
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr @ThomasSowell โcontrary to stubborn anthropological myth, people everywhere fall in love...the idea that romantic love is an invention of Western culture is itself an invention of Western cultureโ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr @ThomasSowell "66% of high school students say they're bored in class every day...a major Gates Foundation study ranked boredom as the most important reason why kids drop out of high school"
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr @ThomasSowell โLoserthinkโ by @ScottAdamsSays
โThe clearest signal youโre in a cult is that other members of the group actively try to prevent you from exchanging ideas with outsiders.โ
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โThe clearest signal youโre in a cult is that other members of the group actively try to prevent you from exchanging ideas with outsiders.โ
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@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr @ThomasSowell @ScottAdamsSays Everyday Stalinism by Sheila Fitzpatrick amzn.to
"Some became virtually professional public denouncers during the Great Purges..decided super-vigilance was the way to save their own skins and made a point of writing denunciations of everyone in their environment"
"Some became virtually professional public denouncers during the Great Purges..decided super-vigilance was the way to save their own skins and made a point of writing denunciations of everyone in their environment"
@RobertGreene @sapinker @CeliaHeyes @AnnieDuke @amychua @RobertCialdini @mattwridley @NAChristakis @SteveStuWill @jwpennebaker @StephenKing @bryan_caplan @charlesmurray @wstorr @ThomasSowell @ScottAdamsSays Good Reasons for Bad Feelings by @RandyNesse
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โNatural selection shaped us to care enormously about what other people think about our resources, abilities, and character...Low self-esteem is a signal to try harder to please others.โ
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โNatural selection shaped us to care enormously about what other people think about our resources, abilities, and character...Low self-esteem is a signal to try harder to please others.โ
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