Matthew Syed, ‘Rebel Ideas’

Some key ideas I enjoyed:

• P22/23 – often people buy unique gifts instead of sticking to wedding lists. These senders preferred unique gifts themselves; while those who sent from the list preferred to receive those from the list. An amazing example of how we see things from our own frame of reference.

• P66 – the term ‘knowledge clustering’ where often graduates from the same schools, who have had the same lecturers will have one form of knowledge.

• P114 – two forms of leaderships can form in groups – through dominance or prestige.

Why it’s relevant right now:

Cognitive diversity is shown to be a key way to increase innovation and creativity and solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Interest factor: 4/5

Coffee table cred: 3/5

Ignorance of external world while reading: 5/5

Book cover design: 2/5

Help the existential crisis: 4/5

‘Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence’ by Anna Lembke

What’s it about:

‘In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check.’ (from the author’s website)

What Lynn learned:

• Here’s a key summary of the lessons of balance, p.234.

• P72 - There are some handy steps involved in dopamine fasting (‘goal of which is to restore a level balance… and renew our capacity to experience pleasure in many different forms’)

D- Data

O – Objectives

P – Problems

A – Abstinence

M – Mindfulness

I – Insight

N – Next steps

E – Experiment

A great guide to give insight into breaking up an overreliance on any unhelpful behaviour.

Fave quote:

P 196 ‘having too much material wealth can be as bad as having too little Dopamine overload impairs our ability to delay gratification. Social media exaggeration and ‘post-truth’ politics (let’s call it what it is, lying) amplifying our sense of scarcity. The result is that even amidst plenty, we feel impoverished.’

Why relevant right now:

We are living in an instant gratification world – it’s time to learn how it works and how to cope.

Interest factor: 3/5

Coffee table cred: 3/5

Ignorance of external world while reading: 3/5

Book cover design: 3/5

Help the existential crisis: 3/5