Here are 100 books that Belief fans have personally recommended if you like
Belief.
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As an experimental social psychologist, who has conducted years of empirical research on bullshitting behavior and bullshit detection, Iâve found compelling evidence that the worst outcomes of bullshit communications are false beliefs and bad decisions. Iâm convinced that all of our problems, whether they be personal, interpersonal, professional, or societal are either directly or indirectly linked to mindless bullshit reasoning and communication. Iâm just sick and tired of incompetent, bullshit artists who capitalize by repackaging and selling what I and other experimental psychologists do for free. Itâs time the masses learn that some of us who actually do the research on the things we write about can actually do it better.
If there is one book I wish Iâd written myself, it is How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass. One of the things I admired most about the people who shaped my education and career path most was their ability to listen carefully and ask critical questions that uncovered even more than what was first expressed. Christopher DiCarloâs book is a manual to practicing these traits. The book provides all of the tools needed to question beliefs and assumptions held by those who claim to know what theyâre talking about, while at the same time providing practical solutions for todayâs world of misinformation. The book also convinced me that faulty reasoning can be spotted by asking the right sorts of questionsâwhat better gift to give someone?
In this witty, incisive guide to critical thinking the author provides you with the tools to allow you to question beliefs and assumptions held by those who claim to know what they're talking about. These days there are many people whom we need to question: politicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, clergy members, bankers, car salesmen, and your boss. This book will empower you with the ability to spot faulty reasoning and, by asking the right sorts of questions, hold people accountable not only for what they believe but how they behave.
By using this book you'll learn to analyze your ownâŚ
As an experimental social psychologist, who has conducted years of empirical research on bullshitting behavior and bullshit detection, Iâve found compelling evidence that the worst outcomes of bullshit communications are false beliefs and bad decisions. Iâm convinced that all of our problems, whether they be personal, interpersonal, professional, or societal are either directly or indirectly linked to mindless bullshit reasoning and communication. Iâm just sick and tired of incompetent, bullshit artists who capitalize by repackaging and selling what I and other experimental psychologists do for free. Itâs time the masses learn that some of us who actually do the research on the things we write about can actually do it better.
I found this book absolutely thrilling as a real-life story of one of the biggest bullshit busts in history. Bernie Madoffâs Ponzi scheme ran for almost 18 years without much concern or investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But, Harry Markopolos, a little-known number cruncher from a Boston equity derivatives firm, was onto Madoff after looking at Madoffâs financial records, several years before the bust made headlines. Page by page, Markopolos details his pursuit of the greatest financial criminal in history, and reveals the massive fraud, governmental incompetence, and criminal collusion that has changed thousands of lives forever-as well as the worldâs financial system. All the while, no one, including the SEC, would listen. As such, the book is the quintessential example of how spellbinding bullshit can be.
Harry Markopolos and his team of financial sleuths discuss first-hand how they cracked the Madoff Ponzi scheme No One Would Listen is the thrilling story of how the Harry Markopolos, a little-known number cruncher from a Boston equity derivatives firm, and his investigative team uncovered Bernie Madoff's scam years before it made headlines, and how they desperately tried to warn the government, the industry, and the financial press. Page by page, Markopolos details his pursuit of the greatest financial criminal in history, and reveals the massive fraud, governmental incompetence, and criminal collusion that has changed thousands of lives forever-as wellâŚ
As a licensed mental health professional, I once had a client claiming to be demonically possessed, and requested that I get an exorcist to drive the evil spirits out of her body. Instead, I utilized a therapeutic approach to challenge âirrationalâ beliefs. The problem was gone. I realized that people were prone to strange beliefs and started to read and listen to âexpertsâ who were skeptical in nature. To my surprise, I saw Carl Sagan distinguishing astrology (pseudoscience) from astronomy (science). His talk was clear, convincing, and logical. I was hooked.
Michael Shermer systematically addresses why humans believe weird and extraordinary things. He even makes a case that we are hard-wired for it. Furtherâand this should make most of us feel better about our strange thinkingâhe shows how even highly intelligent people sometimes believe in pseudoscience and other extraordinary claims.
This work presents a down-to-earth and sometimes funny survey of a range of contemporary irrationalisms, and explains their empirical and logical flaws. It tackles a variety of topics including creationism, Holocaust denial, race and IQ, cults and alien abductions, and the author looks at the research behind the claims and discredits the pseudoscience involved.
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctorâand only womanâon a remote Everest climb in Tibet.
As an experimental social psychologist, who has conducted years of empirical research on bullshitting behavior and bullshit detection, Iâve found compelling evidence that the worst outcomes of bullshit communications are false beliefs and bad decisions. Iâm convinced that all of our problems, whether they be personal, interpersonal, professional, or societal are either directly or indirectly linked to mindless bullshit reasoning and communication. Iâm just sick and tired of incompetent, bullshit artists who capitalize by repackaging and selling what I and other experimental psychologists do for free. Itâs time the masses learn that some of us who actually do the research on the things we write about can actually do it better.
I found Everything is Bullshit to be so interesting that I wasnât able to put it down once discovered in a random, one-off, used bookstore. This book is a sleeping beauty. It opened my eyes to all the scams that big companies use and how they have the money and power to keep getting away with them. The explanations for why many of our societyâs most cherished traditions are actually based on bullshit reasoning are well-researched and compelling. The book helped me understand why diamond engagement rings are so expensive, why wine is so expensive, how art becomes âartâ, why non-proďŹt organizations ask us to donate our cars to them, why college costs so much, and why so many pets die in animal shelters.
Many of our societyâs most cherished traditions are actually based on historical accident, the proďŹt motives of a few companies, or the agenda of someone who died long ago. A lot of what we believe and do is bullshit, yet we walk around thinking our way of doing things is inherently correct. Why do we exchange diamond engagement rings? Why is wine so expensive? How does art become âartâ? Why do so many non-proďŹts want us to donate cars to them? Why does college cost so much? Why do so many pets die in animal shelters? Why is the worldâŚ
Richard Nisbett is one of the worldâs preeminent psychologists. His thinking is primarily about thought, but it is extremely wide-ranging â from biopsychology to social psychology to criminology to philosophy. His influence on philosophy has been compared to that of Freud and Skinner.
The book, written in mid-century, has some of the most powerful hypotheses of social psychology, which, along with the ideas of fellow ĂŠmigrĂŠ from Germany, Kurt Lewin, gave birth to the field of social psychology. Read Chapter 4 at least. I do every 5 years or so. The chapter gave rise to both dissonance theory and attribution theory, two of the major accomplishments of social psychology.
Like most adolescents, I was deeply concerned with what others thought of me and how I fit in. Unlike most adolescents, I sometimes did little experiments to test othersâ reactions--such as lying down on a busy sidewalk, fully awake, to see how passersby would react (mostly with annoyance). Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there is an entire discipline--social psychology--that does real experiments on self-knowledge and social behavior. I got a Ph.D. in social psychology at the University of Michigan and have spent my career as a professor at the University of Virginia, where I have had great fun conducting such experiments.
A classic treatise on how the mind works in a social context by two of the most famous social psychologists in the world. Why do people do what they do? It is not just a matter of their character or personality; we all respond to social norms, social pressures, and cultural contexts, more so than we think we do. And to understand someone else, we have to put ourselves inside their head and understand how they see the world, and how culture and the social context shapes that view. Many people who have read this book say it has fundamentally changed the way they view the world.
How does the situation we're in influence the way we behave and think? Professors Ross and Nisbett eloquently argue that the context we find ourselves in substantially affects our behavior in this timely reissue of one of social psychology's classic textbooks. With a new foreword by Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point.
Iâve always been fascinated and intrigued by human behavior and decision-making. What influences our thoughts and behavior and why? In hindsight, I probably should have majored in psychology instead of business, but as a business school professor I still get to investigate all the little quirks and biases of the human mind. I live in Bergen, Norway and devote much of my time researching and teaching consumer psychology and decision-making. I hope you find some inspiration in this list of brilliant books!
This is a book about (social) identity and how our understanding of self is derived from the social groups we are part of.
Two brilliant psychologists, Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer, use their own research and insights from social psychology and neuroscience to explain how identity really works and how it influences our thinking and doing every single day.
The book really makes you think about how our social nature impacts on all kinds of decision-making, and it will give you new ideas and insights about power and influence.
If you're like most people, you probably believe that your identity is stable. But in fact, your identity is constantly changing - often outside your conscious awareness and sometimes even against your wishes - to reflect the interests of the groups of which you're a part. And that fluid identity has a powerful influence over your feelings, beliefs, and behaviours.
In THE POWER OF US, psychologists Packer and Van Bavel integrate their own cutting-edge research in psychology, neuroscience and economics to explain what identity really is and show how to harness its dynamic nature to:
I remember experiencing a true nervous breakdown once in high school. I had to leave campus in tears, filled with familiar sorrows and emotions I didnât recognize as my own. Something was happening and I couldnât put my finger on it, and it was utterly disorienting. Luckily, a spiritual mentor lived right down the street. She was quickly able to diagnose my experience. âYouâre a very strong empath,â she said. I had to learn what that meant, so I devoted many years to learning as much as I could about the empathic experience from psychological, physiological, anthropological, and metaphysical lenses alike.
Oh boy, this monumental book certainly expanded my empathetic mind! The greatest lesson? The fact that true empathy requires a compassionate response. That was an eye-opener! This book has really stuck with me. I remember being entrenched and enthralled with every page while on a writing retreat. I canât thank the author enough for helping me fine-tune my own books about the empathic experience!
Similar in tone to her well-known The Language of Emotions, this book doesnât dive too deeply into metaphysical perspectives. Instead, this book is primarily grounded in psychology, history, and science. That is the very reason why we highly sensitive souls benefit from books like these; we are admittedly gullible and easy to manipulate if our empathy is uncontrolled! Understanding our abilities through a grounded psychological lens such as this is crucial for our emotional understanding.
What if there were a single skill that could directly and radically improve your relationships and your emotional life? Empathy, teaches Karla McLaren, is that skill. With The Art of Empathy, she teaches us how to perceive and feel the experiences of others with clarity and authenticity-to connect with them more deeply and effectively.
Informed by current insights from neuroscience, social psychology, and healing traditions, this book explores:
Why empathy is not a mystical phenomenon but a natural, innate ability that we can strengthen and develop * How to identify and regulate our emotions and boundaries * The process ofâŚ
My interest in how music makes sense was first piqued when, as a music student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, I met a blind child who, despite having learning difficulties, could reproduce the most complex music on the piano just by listening. Put simply, he had a better musical ear than I did, as a prize-winning student at a top conservatoire. Since that early experience, I have devoted my life to exploring just how music works (without the need for conceptual understanding) and how teachers can use the universality of music to promote social inclusion.
I would heartily recommend this book to those interested in how musical abilities develop through childhood.
Hargreavesâ text was the first to put the developmental psychology of music on the map, identifying it as an important area of study for the first time and setting the scene for a major area of research in music psychology that continues to this day.
I love the way that Hargreaves combines empirical findings with observations of his own children in action, which makes it an engaging read.
This book sets out the psychological basis of musical development in children and adults. The study has two major objectives: to review the research findings, theories and methodologies relevant to the developmental study of music; and to offer a framework within which these can be organised so as to pave the way for future research. It describes the relationship between thinking and music, and discusses the relationship between thinking and music in pre-schoolers and schoolchildren in areas such as singing, aesthetic appreciation, rhythmic and melodic development, and the acquisition of harmony and tonality. The book describes the development of musicalâŚ
Head, Heart, and Hands Listening in Coach Practice
by
Kymberly Dakin-Neal,
This NABA award-winning book explores intentional listening as an essential skill for adults, introducing the Head, Heart, and Hands Listening model to amplify effective listening in personal and professional interactions. Itâs a vital resource for coaches, psychologists, HR professionals, teachers, counselors, salespeople and others who listen for a living. ListeningâŚ
Since 2014 I have studied, researched, and written about the concepts of meaning and purpose. In 2016, I published a book entitledThe Purpose Effect dedicated solely to the topic. In Work-Life Bloom, two of the key work-life factors that make up the accompanying model focus on meaning and purpose. I am known for urging people to declare their purpose, writing it down, and sharing it far and wide. My declaration is as follows: âWeâre not here to see through each other; weâre here to see each other through.â
Daniel Pink provides a unique perspective on finding meaning and purpose in life by embracing the transformative potential of regret.
As you explore your sense of meaning and purpose, this book offers valuable insights into how reflecting on past experiences and learning from mistakes can enrich your life's journey. It made me rethink past so-called regrets, and whether they might have positively or negatively influenced my sense of meaning.
Through thorough primary research and compelling stories, Pink demonstrates how regret can inspire personal growth, self-improvement, and a clearer understanding of your life's direction. The book encourages you to use regret as a powerful resource, which only can help your sense of meaning and purpose.
âThe world needs this book.â âBrenĂŠ Brown, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of Dare to Lead and Atlas of the Heart
An instant New York Times bestseller
As featured in The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post
Named a Best Book of 2022 by NPR and Financial Times
From the #1 New York Timesâbestselling author of When and Drive, a new book about the transforming power of our most misunderstood yet potentially most valuable emotion: regret.
Everybody has regrets, Daniel H. Pink explains in The Power of Regret. Theyâre a universal and healthy part of being human. AndâŚ