Book Review: ‘How the West Won,’ by Rodney Stark; A mighty engine for growth-avoiding asceticism on the one hand and profligate consumerism on the other

Book Review: ‘How the West Won,’ by Rodney Stark

A mighty engine for growth—avoiding asceticism on the one hand and profligate consumerism on the other.

Henrik Bering

March 30, 2014 5:24 p.m. ET

One of the most striking traits of American and European academics is a kind of masochism that manifests itself in books celebrating the superior claims of cultures not their own. Fortunately, a few unapologetic defenders of Western civilization can still be found. In “How the West Won,” Rodney Stark details how and why the vital aspects of modernity—defined here as a combination of sensible economic arrangements, political freedoms and scientific knowledge—developed in the West rather than elsewhere. In the process he adds considerably to the content of the old Western Civ courses, which would often discreetly ignore the contribution of Christianity and neglect practical matters such as advances in technology and banking. Read more of this post

How to get British kids reading; South Korea: An investment in the imagination

March 28, 2014 7:03 pm

How to get British kids reading

By Henry Mance

Pavan’s favourite activity is playing football outdoors. His second favourite is playing football indoors, and in third place is practising football skills against the sofa. Reading – the pursuit that Francis Bacon claimed “maketh a full man” – comes further down the eight-year-old’s list, behind school, going to discos, buying stuff, chatting to people, watching TV and playing on his Xbox games console. Read more of this post

Think you work hard? Bet you don’t; The disease of overwork is partly in our minds and it has a bearing on how stressed we feel

March 30, 2014 2:22 pm

Think you work hard? Bet you don’t

By Lucy Kellaway

The disease of overwork is partly in our minds and it has a bearing on how stressed we feel Read more of this post

Viktor Frankl on the Art of Presence as a Lifeboat in Turbulent Times and What Suffering Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life

Viktor Frankl on the Art of Presence as a Lifeboat in Turbulent Times and What Suffering Teaches Us About the Meaning of Life

The life-story of Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, born on March 26, 1905, is one of history’s greatest testaments to the tenacity of the human spirit. In his remarkable 1946 psychological memoir Man’s Search for Meaning (public library), previously discussed at length here, Frankl reflects on what his devastating time at Auschwitz taught him about the most essential driver of life – the inextinguishable human hunger for meaning, which separated those who survived from those who perished. Read more of this post

Philosopher Daniel Dennett on How to Criticize with Kindness and the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently

Philosopher Daniel Dennett on How to Criticize with Kindness and the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently

“In disputes upon moral or scientific points,” Arthur Martine counseled in his magnificent 1866 guide to the art of conversation, “let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent. So you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.” Of course, this isn’t what happens most of the time when we argue, both online and off, but especially when we deploy the artillery of our righteousness from behind the comfortable shield of the keyboard. That form of “criticism” – which is really a menace of reacting rather than responding – is worthy of Mark Twain’s memorable remark that “the critic’s symbol should be the tumble-bug: he deposits his egg in somebody else’s dung, otherwise he could not hatch it.” But it needn’t be this way – there are ways to be critical while remaining charitable, of aiming not to “conquer” but to “come at truth,” not to be right at all costs but to understand and advance the collective understanding. Read more of this post

Grit and the Secret of Success

Grit and the Secret of Success

“Inspiration is for amateurs – the rest of us just show up and get to work,” Chuck Close scoffed. “A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood,” Tchaikovsky admonished. “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too,” Isabel Allende urged. “You have to finish things,” Neil Gaiman advised aspiring writers. But while our cultural history may brim with creators who intuited the importance of doggedness in success, it wasn’t until recently that psychologists were able to ascertain the science behind this intuitive observation. We now know that genius-level excellence takes enormous dedication and that the impetus to reboot from autopilot is crucial to reaching such a level, but arguably the most significant work in the field comes from pioneering psychologistAngela Duckworth, who came up with the notion of “grit” – that very doggedness essential for success – and went on toreceive a MacArthur Genius grant for her research. Read more of this post

Does Thinking Fast Mean You’re Thinking Smarter?

Does Thinking Fast Mean You’re Thinking Smarter?

The research into the relationship between quick thinking and methodical reasoning could take some time to decipher

By Maria Konnikova

APRIL 2014

In 1884, at his specially built Anthropometric Laboratory in London, Sir Francis Galton charged visitors three pence to undergo simple tests to measure their height, weight, keenness of sight and “swiftness of blow with fist.” The laboratory, later moved to the South Kensington Museum, proved immensely popular—“its door was thronged by applicants waiting patiently for their turn,” Galton said—ultimately collecting data on some 17,000 individuals. Read more of this post

We Shop Because We’re Lonely, We’re Lonely Because We Shop; being lonely made you more materialistic, and being materialistic made you lonelier

We Shop Because We’re Lonely, We’re Lonely Because We Shop

NICHOLAS HUNE-BROWN

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

It is a sad paradox of modern existence that on a planet thick with humans—a place chock-full of them—so many are so desperately alone. A recent survey found that more than a third of Americans over 44 are lonely, and almost half of them have felt that way for more than six years. Here we are, desperate mariners floating through a sea of humanity—people everywhere but not a one to have a casual drink with on a Thursday evening while chatting about the latest episode of True Detective. What are we doing wrong? Read more of this post

The Germ Theory of Democracy, Dictatorship, and All Your Most Cherished Beliefs; Is culture just a side effect of the struggle to avoid disease?

The Germ Theory of Democracy, Dictatorship, and All Your Most Cherished Beliefs

BY ETHAN WATTERS • March 03, 2014 • 6:00 AM

Mosquito. (Photo: Rolf E. Staerk/Shutterstock)

Is culture just a side effect of the struggle to avoid disease?

One morning last fall, the evolutionary biologist Randy Thornhill was standing with me in front of the gorilla enclosure at the Albuquerque zoo. He was explaining a new theory about the origins of human culture when Mashudu, a 10-year-old western lowland gorilla, decided to help illustrate a point. In a very deliberate way, Mashudu sauntered over to the deep cement ravine at the front of his enclosure, perched his rear end over the edge, and did his morning business. Read more of this post

The Moment of Clarity: Using the Human Sciences to Solve Your Toughest Business Problems Hardcover

The Moment of Clarity: Using the Human Sciences to Solve Your Toughest Business Problems Hardcover

by Christian Madsbjerg  (Author), Mikkel B. Rasmussen  (Author)

Businesses need a new type of problem solving. Why? Because they are getting people wrong.

Traditional problem-solving methods taught in business schools serve us well for some of the everyday challenges of business, but they tend to be ineffective with problems involving a high degree of uncertainty. Why? Because, more often than not, these tools are based on a flawed model of human behavior. And that flawed model is the invisible scaffolding that supports our surveys, our focus groups, our R&D, and much of our long-term strategic planning. Read more of this post

Socrates and the Search For Wisdom

Socrates and the Search For Wisdom

March 28, 2014 by Shane Parrish

The arrogance of limited knowledge results in foolishness.

This is an excerpt from Plato’s Apology, from Plato: Complete Works (an excellent edition that is part of the Great Books program). Read more of this post

On Machiavelli: The Search for Glory

On Machiavelli: The Search for Glory (Liveright Classics) [Kindle Edition]

Alan Ryan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2013

An essential, comprehensive, and accessible guide to the life and works of Machiavelli. Read more of this post

One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life

One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life [Kindle Edition]

Mitch Horowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2014

From the millions-strong audiences of Oprah and The Secret to the mass-media ministries of evangelical figures like Joel Osteen and T. D. Jakes, to the motivational bestsellers and New Age seminars to the twelve-step programs and support groups of the recovery movement and to the rise of positive psychology and stress-reduction therapies, this idea–to think positively–is metaphysics morphed into mass belief. This is the biography of that belief. Read more of this post

A Few General Principles Associated With Wise Behavior; What does it mean to be wise? What is Wisdom?

A Few General Principles Associated With Wise Behavior

March 25, 2014 by Shane Parrish

Paul Baltes, once described wisdom as “a topic at the interface between several disciplines: philosophy, sociology, theology, psychology, political science, and literature, to name a few.” Farnam Street aims to be at the crossroad of these disciplines. Read more of this post