Got through 11 books this year —> here are my top 5 that made the greatest impression on me. Thank you to everyone who shared their recommendations with me.
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable - Nassim Taleb. With the perspective as a philosopher and successful options trader, Taleb drives home the multitude of ways that the narrative fallacy affects our judgement of the world and history. When black swan events occur, we have a tendency to attempt to explain them in retrospect, but he argues, instead, that these events are by nature unexplainable. Amongst the several tangible lessons in the book, there is a core reminder that some of the complexities in the world are simply due to randomness and cannot be modeled effectively.
Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman. By identifying two systems within our mind, one that is quick to judge and another that requires challenging cognitive work, psychologist Kahneman identifies a number of biases that he’s uncovered over the course of his career. I was shocked at how many of these I personally failed to identify as a bias and how easy it was to misjudge reality when not applying cognitive work. These biases, set in the background of financial decisions and with an introductory explanation of his prospect theory, made for a great, eye-opening, read.
House of God - Samuel Shem. Depicting a parody of residency, Harvard-trained psychologist Dr. Shem sheds light on the many fallacies of medicine and the realities of medical training that are often guarded within the hospital. In it’s crude and antiquated language, the book is definitely not par-for-course for modern political discourse, but yet illuminates aspects of dehumanization in medicine that are as relevant today as they were when the book was written in the 70s.
Dark Money - Jane Mayer. A fascinating investigative journalistic approach to unveiling how America’s political system is affected by big money. In a post-Citizen’s United world, where super-PACs have become commonplace, understanding this history seems like a must-read for all American voters. It’s shocking and abrasive to see how much influence the ultra-rich have in guiding political discourse through infiltration of our academic institutions and parallel disinformation campaigns.
How to Avoid a Climate Change Disaster - Bill Gates. A refreshingly analytical take on the realities of climate change and what opportunities exist to address these developing misfortunes. The strategies proposed went well beyond policy changes that rely on political weather and included key innovations that can drive market alignment with the pursuit of carbon neutrality. The suggestions here identify both personal changes we can make and opportunities to invest in supporting these innovations.