The seminal work of “Transactional Analysis” Berne concludes that the path taken by most people in life is avoiding awareness, spontaneity, and intimacy by playing games. Intimacy is when instinctual programming overtakes social programming and restrictions/ulterior motives. It is the only cure for stimulus-hunger, recognition-hunger, and structure hunger (the need…

Daniel Kahneman “System 1”, the unconscious modes/modules of our brains thinking, processes much of what we think and do. Humans are instinctively lazy when it comes to relying on our instincts, and will avoid engaging “System 2”, our more detailed and “rational” way of thinking about things, if we can…

Or, how people come to actually understand anything at all Makes the case for liberty of ideas, opinions, what can be said, and what can be done, except that which infringes on the liberty of others. We cannot do things which harm other people. Likewise, things which infringe on others can enter the sphere of things which could be regulated…

This book came to me highly recommended by my mother, who is also a Kahlil Gibran fan. The author is Christian/Lebanese (like Kahlil), but resides in France and writes in French as such. Lebanon is one of the only nations in the Middle East where Christians and Muslims (somewhat) coexist…

Amusing Ourselves To Death With Politics Many who claim to care about politics or be involved with politics are actually slacktivists who just watch news and treat politics like it is sports; entertainment. The polarization of politics and media present a chicken-and-egg scenario of which came first, a polarized electorate, or polarized politicians. This book, as…

American markets have become less free due to decreased competition. They have returned more earnings to shareholders and put less money into investment. Investment spurs growth in the economy. Increased profit margins decrease other economic activity, such as buying, which has a ripple effect. Thus, this lack of competition in…

The Origin of the Term “Conspicuous Consumption” Society evolved from peaceful “savages” and competitive “barbarians.” Each of these historical groups has different characteristics that manifest in different ways in the modern classes. Veblen likens the leisure class, the rich, as the high-achieving descendants of barbarians, caught up in showing off “pecuniary” (financial) ability. They like games of…

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s highly useful interpretation of feelings, values and expectations Diagnoses loneliness as a cause of many of society’s social and health ails, from both a societal and biological perspective. A key takeaway is the subjective nature of loneliness as it pertains to social expectations — people with social expectations for group behavior in Ethiopia are significantly different than those…

Describes the process of a mass movement, which consists of the same/similar tactics and life-stages, irrespective of ideology. They start with an idea, usually coming from an intellectual, which is then picked up by a despot/fanatic/leader (preaching instant-gratification hope), and in a healthy state of events, eventually gets put into…