Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is about our perceptions of success and genius. Gladwell’s take on the classic nature vs nurture argument, is that nurture wins. We have a way of looking at success stories and marvel at how some exceptional people were able to accomplish what they did, but really, they were merely products of … Read more
Blue Ocean Strategy is a book that argues for a better strategy in business, finding uncontested space rather than join the fierce competition that already exists. When a market is crowded, products become like commodities – they lose value and it becomes difficult to stand out. If you want to join the competition, you will be … Read more
Honesty can be used as a weapon in the realm of deception. This will especially work against the most suspicious people, for they will never see honesty coming. In 1926, Count Victor Lustig paid a visit to the most feared gangster of his time, Al Capone. Lustig tells Capone that he can double his money, … Read more
“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” Animal farm by George Orwell is a story about communism. The animals represented the workers who toiled all day, with the humans their capitalistic overlords, living from the fruits of the animals’ labor without giving them fair compensation. To make things worse, Mr. Jones was … Read more
Jung departed from Freud’s theories about the unconscious because he believed that the unconscious contents of the psyche consisted of inherited knowledge of archetypes, in addition to contents that were derived from the individual’s conscious life. In Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Jung explains the reasons for his departure, and gives us a detailed discussion … Read more
Candide by Voltaire is a satire about a young, good-natured, naïve man (Candide) who faces a series of tragedies. Candide was tutored by an old philosopher and author (Pangloss) who instilled in him the idea that “everything is the way it should be” and that they lived in the “best of possible worlds.” There is … Read more
The Prince by Machiavelli is an introduction to realpolitik. It’s important to understand that Machiavelli’s audience is a prince. Few can consider themselves princes in the modern world, and many of insights in this book involve warfare, how to successfully build and maintain an empire, and how to treat your subjects – none of these are … Read more
Slim looked through George and beyond him. “Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” Of Mice and Men is a story about George and Lenny, two guys struggling to make ends meet during the Great Depression in the … Read more
The Central Problem of Philosophy Camus starts The Myth of Sisyphus by stating that the central problem of philosophy is to figure out whether life is worth living, everything else is details. People don’t die in the name of the ontological problem. What gives life meaning is the irrational illusions. These same ideas that, when … Read more
The Role of Myths Myths are a mechanism we can use to find out who we are, and what we value implicitly. It teaches us about the stages of life, and how to pass through them successfully – while avoiding the psychological dangers along the way. In this post, I discuss the role of myths … Read more