The World's Best Book Summaries
What’s causing the journalism crisis? Why can’t for-profit journalism be trusted? These days, news media is, for the most part, nothing more than big business. And since journalists don’t want to write something that would insult those who pay their bills, they censor what news they share. This means that big media outlets can’t be trusted to share the whole story. Here’s why you should be careful where you get your news.
What is Eric Berne’s Games People Play about? How can you tell someone is playing a game on you? Games People Play is Berne’s 1964 classic about the many ways that we habitually relate to one another through “games.” These aren’t fun, harmless social games, though—they’re subtle, largely unconscious patterns that harm us and our relationships. Berne explains how most of us don’t even notice our games, and how we’re missing out on the fulfillment of game-free living. Keep reading to learn about Berne’s concept of “games” and why we play them.
Do you allow personal finance stories to change how you use your money? Do finance stories scare you away from making certain decisions or inspire you to invest in certain things? According to Morgan Housel, the author of The Psychology of Money, falling for financial success stories can cause you to make poor financial decisions. Listening to the personal finance stories of others can influence you to risk your financial health based on hope, or even make you think that you have more control than you actually do. Here’s why you should be careful what stories you believe about money.
Do you ever make purchases even though you know they will put you in debt? Do you know how spending more than you earn can affect you for years to come? In his book The Millionaire Fastlane, MJ DeMarco discusses insatiable consumption, or the never-ending desire to spend money. While spending money isn’t fundamentally a bad thing, if you spend more than you earn, you are dooming yourself to a lifetime of poverty. Here’s why you should think twice before buying things you don’t need.
Is there news censorship in America? What indirect censorship tactics do the elite use to influence big media outlets? Despite the supposed “freedom of the press,” the government and big corporations control what the general public sees in the news. They’re able to skirt censorship laws by using suppression and intimidation techniques. Here are the five most common tactics used to censor the media in America.
Why do people play mind games? Do they serve a purpose? At some point in your life, you’ve most likely encountered somebody who likes to play mind games. According to psychiatrist Eric Berne, we all play mind games on each other—it is a normal phase of psychological development. Here’s why we play mind games and why these games matter.
What’s the traditional formula for wealth? Does the formula work? What uncontrollable factors doesn’t it account for? In The Millionaire Fastlane, multimillionaire entrepreneur and investor MJ DeMarco challenges conventional wisdom about how to create wealth. He says that the traditional formula for wealth—getting a stable job and investing—may work, but it’s not necessarily going to make you happy. Here’s why you should re-think your financial plan.
What does it mean to have a survival mentality around money? What three ideas around money should you develop? In his book The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel suggests developing a survival mentality around money. This means accepting that you could lose all your money at any time, so you follow certain steps to ensure you protect your assets. Here are the three steps for developing a survival mindset.
Where does news come from? Who are the sources that provide the content? In their book Manufacturing Consent, Chomsky and Herman explain that the most common sources for the news are political and economic figures. This means that these elites can control what makes it to the news and what is suppressed. Here’s how the elites shape what the general public sees.
Why do people play mind games? How can you tell that someone is playing a mind game on you? In his 1964 classic Games People Play, Dr. Eric Berne theorizes that playing mind games is a part of psychological development that all people must grow past. He divided the mind games into seven different categories: 1) pseudo-small talk, 2) couples games, 3) sex games, 4) career games, 5) criminal games, 6) therapy games, and 7) positive games. Let’s take a look at Berne’s categories of psychological mind games people play on each other.