Marlies
Why did I pick this book?
I saw this book recommended in numerous lists, but decided to actually read it when it was highly recommended during a webinar on Mental Models to use during the Covid-crisis. We life in volatile and an uncertain time, and being antifragile means you can handle and even thrive in such an environment.
About the book
Nassim Taleb argues why we need to have an (working) understanding of what it means to be antifragile. How to identify things which are fragile and how to become antifragile; to be able to thrive in an ever changing and uncertain environment.
Taleb does this in a very unique way, which to me feels a bit like sitting down at a diner room table and having Taleb explain his view on antifragility. Meaning that, although there are chapters (and even books) within the book, they are not clearly separating different arguments. He also does it in a style of writing which is really his own. Do not expect to read a ‘clean', “scientifically” argued book with a clear definition of antifragility. Also, be ready to have Taleb's opinions heard (where bankers, people-in-suits and bureaucrats are not highly regarded).
My recommendation
Start with a short summary of the key take-aways from this book, as I feel Taleb gives too many personal anecdotes/arguments to get a clean take-away of the concept of Antifragility. If you enjoy the summary, and need more information around the topic this book is a very good read and contains quite a few clear and entertaining examples to argue his point of view.
Why did I pick it?
I was looking for books from the School of Life, a philosophical school with very interesting YouTube videos. I also heard an interview with Alain de Botton and was very entertained by his way of talking. Finally, the topic ‘what can we learn from religion and why is it too short sighted to just ban religion altogether'?
The book
De Botton starts with the main thesis of the book; God does not exist, then, why do we even have religion and what can we learn from it?
He highlights several topics, among others community, art, perspective. He both argues what the secular world is missing, and what various religions have as a solution. For example, it is often difficult for people to admit that they have wronged somebody. In the spur of the moment sometimes even so badly, that apologizing seems like a monstrously difficult thing to do. The Jewish religion knows this, and has called for a great Day of Atonement (Yom Kipoer) on which everyone thinks about the wrongs they have done to people and tries to make amends. This is made easier because, since it is tradition, it is something that you just do, no matter how wrong you were.
Finally, de Botton makes recommendations on which traditions/solutions a secular world could implement to life a more meaningful life. From the roles of museums, to having the right idols, and how/why we go to restaurants.
My recommendation
I thought it was a really enlightening book. By both describing what a secular world is missing, and giving descriptions on how various religions tackle certain problems of life, de Botton offers a nice insight in how to life a more meaningful life. Especially the first chapter is really strong, focusing on community and community values.
I think most people can learn a great deal from reading this book, most importantly to keep an open mind and focus on what we can learn from people different from us, rather than rejecting them.
If you enjoyed this book for its philosophical aspect I would recommend to also watch the videos by School of Life. If your interest is peaked on what we can all learn from (various) religions, but in this recommendation from Christianity in particular, I recommend the video series from The Bible Project. And if you want more arguments for why we need religion, rather than reject it altogether I am also interested in that recommendation :)
Why did I pick this
I can't remember a specific example, but I know Freakonomics has appeared on many online must-read lists. I put it on my list, expecting I could learn something about the ‘invisible forces' at play in a community. Since it was available in my library I borrowed it.
The book
In the book Levitt describes some interesting causes and correlations at play in society. For example; that people will have a tendency to cheat (in this case specifically sumo wrestlers at tournaments, or parents of pre-school children).
As the author notes in the book there is not a single thread connecting the many observations. The story wanders, and at times I found this very annoying, as I could not really connect the content I was reading to a specific takeaway.
Recommendations
I believe this book might be one of the first to focus on numbers and statistics to uncover ‘wrong' assumptions in society. Which might be the reason why it's on multiple to-read lists.
However, I do think that in the mean time better books have arrived, with Factfulness by Hans Rosling high on number one. Shortly followed by Sanne Blauw's ‘Het best verkochte boek ooit' (unsure whether it's available in English). Both of these books do not feature sections which praise the author in between chapters, which I thought was a bit self-centered...
I had to stop reading this book because it was just so difficult to get through.
The Why
I wanted to read this book because it just has sooo many recommendations. I don't have an example of lists-of-books-to-definitely-read where this book is not featured on. As I could get it secondhand at a bargain I bought it and started reading it.
What it's about
Daniel Kahneman is a researcher who has done tons of research on human decision making and thinking, together with his colleague and friend Amos.
Most of this research focuses on the human's two types of thinking; Type 1 which is fast and mostly subconscious, and Type 2, which is slower and more deliberate.
The book explains the differences in these two modes of thinking and what kind of effect this two-mode of thinking has on human decision making. One such example of an effect is what is called the Availability Bias, which I notice a lot in daily life surrounding the choice for Nuclear power. Disasters such as Fukushima and Chernobyl come easily to mind, so the risk of a nuclear disaster is assessed to be higher than it actually is (with newly designed plants almost zero).
How its written
I'm really interested in the books subject; Cognitive Bias and how persons make decisions (and how to make better decisions myself). Unfortunately this book explains these Biases and Heuristics by way of describing experiments. So there were researchers, they did a certain experiment and they found this and that.
Super dry and non imaginative.
Verdict
For me the writing style makes it too boring to read for extended periods of time. I plan to skimp through this and highlight the different heuristics and will dive deeper into a specific section if I want to further my knowledge of a specific heuristic.
If you're more of an “easy-reader” I suggest Factfulness by Hans Rosling, which is soooo much more entertaining to read. Het bestverkochte boek ooit (met deze titel) by Sanne Blauw for the Dutchies amongst you, which focuses on faults in our use of numbers.
Also the podcast from Jordan Harbringer with Gabriel Weinberg is focused on Cognitive Biases, but then with a lot of real-world examples thrown in.
Why did I pick this book?
I used to not be a big fan of Apple, and therefor also not a great fan of Steve Jobs. Heightened by the ‘artsy' appearance he has with his turtleneck shirts and typical appearance with his hand to his chin.
I'm a product designer by trade, but generally dislike overly designed products (a designer couch, for example).
However, Jobs got mentioned again and again on articles/podcasts etc I follow and my interest started to pique.
The books contents
Isaacson tells a very transparent story of Jobs' life; how he was put up for adoption, starting Apple, Pixar, etc. Isaacson starts with telling why he didn't want to write a biography of a living person, but why he did change his mind on this. For me this makes the book feel really like a description of Jobs' life, rather than an ode to him and putting him on a pedestal.
There's a lot of detail in this book and it's not only an ‘and then... and then... and then...' life story, but also features a lot of the lessons to be learned from Steve Jobs as a CEO of two very very successful companies.
My recommendation
I was surprised by how quickly I read this book. Jobs' life is highly intriguing. A lot can be learned from his story. It's a great book for creatives, anyone into product design and managers. I had expected to learn these lessons from Adrian Newey's ‘How to build a car', because Newey is also a designer, where Jobs was more of a Sales person. But this book is the more interesting one by far.
Also looking forward to other books from Walter Isaacson.