Recommendations based on "The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters"

From New York Times bestselling co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind, an essential investigation into the collapse in youth mental health—and a scientifically proven path to health and strengthThere is no bigger public health story now than the collapse in youth mental health. The numbers are terrifying and dominate our headlines. There has been much debate over how we got here, and what to do next, and bestselling author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt is at the white-hot center of that discourse. Haidt has spent his career speaking wisdom and truth into the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the perfect storm contributing to a public health emergency for Gen Z.For the cohort that hit puberty around 2009, their sense of self developed as the threads of three dramatic technological and social changes smartphones and life with the constant companionship of a screen, front-facing cameras and the bevy of apps that thrived on selfie-culture, and social networks that reduced engagement and affirmation to likes and hearts alone. But phones aren’t the only villain here; the ground for this crisis was seeded by a decades long shift from play-based childhoods to ones defined by over-supervision, structure, and fear.The Anxious Generation is a penetrating and alarming accounting of how we adults began to overprotect children in the real world while giving essentially no protection in the brutal online world. Haidt documents the four fundamental harms of the phone-based sleep deprivation, social deprivation, cognitive fragmentation, and addiction. He then shows the unique harms affecting boys, and the unique harms affecting girls. In the last section of The Anxious Generation , he offers concrete and scientifically based advice with separate chapters addressed to parents, schools, universities, governments, and to teens themselves. He draws on ancient wisdom and modern psychology to help everyone understand what healthy development would look like in the digital age.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The #1 bestselling author of The Anxious Generation and acclaimed social psychologist challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to conservatives and liberals alike—a “landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself” (The New York Times Book Review).Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns.In this subtle yet accessible book, Haidt gives you the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the curse of our eternal divisions and conflicts. If you’re ready to trade in anger for understanding, read The Righteous Mind.

What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever."It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNNOriginally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.“A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett's The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone is the most influential and talked-about book on society in the last decade - now updated with a new chapter on the controversy the book has ignited. Why do we mistrust people more in the UK than in Japan? Why do Americans have higher rates of teenage pregnancy than the French? What makes the Swedish thinner than the Australians? The answer: inequality. This groundbreaking book, based on years of research, provides hard evidence to show: How almost everything - from life expectancy to mental illness, violence to illiteracy - is affected not by how wealthy a society is, but how equal it is That societies with a bigger gap between rich and poor are bad for everyone in them - including the well-off How we can find positive solutions and move towards a happier, fairer future U rgent, provocative and genuinely uplifting, The Spirit Level has been heralded as providing a new way of thinking about ourselves and our communities, and could change the way you see the world. 'A big idea, big enough to change political thinking'Guardian 'A remarkable new book ... the implications are profound'Will Hutton, Observer 'The evidence is hard to dispute'Economist Richard Wilkinson studied economic history at the London School of Economics before training in epidemiology and is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham Medical School and Honorary Professor at University College London. Kate Pickett is a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of York and a National Institute for Health Research Career Scientist. Her work with Richard Wilkinson on The Spirit Level was shortlisted for Research Project of the Year 2009 by the Times Higher Education Supplement, and their book was chosen as one of the Top Ten Books of the Decade by the New Statesman.

We want to believe that there are some things we would never do. We want to believe that there are others we always would. But how can we be sure? What are our limits? Do we have limits? The answer lies with the Ten Types of Human: the people we become when we are faced with life's most difficult decisions. This pioneering examination of human nature looks at the best and worst that human beings are capable of, and asks why. It explores the frontiers of the human experience, excavating the forces that shape our thoughts and actions in extreme situations. It begins in a courtroom and journeys across four continents and through the lives of some exceptional people, in search of answers. Mixing cutting-edge neuroscience, social psychology, and human rights research, The Ten Types of Human is at once a provocation and a map to our hidden selves. It provides a new understanding of who we are—and who we can be.

A study of how evolution has forged our modern lives—from work and relationships to leadership and innovation, as well as our quest for happiness. Human psychology is rife with contradictions: We work hard to achieve our goals, but happiness at our success is fleeting. We hope our friends will do well in life but can't help feeling jealous if they do too well. We're aghast at the thought of people we know being murdered but are unconcerned when our armed forces kill enemies we've never met. We complain about difficult bosses but are often just as bad when we're in charge. These inconsistencies may seem irrational, but each of them has evolved to serve a vital function in our lives. Indeed, the most fundamental aspects of our psychology were permanently shaped by the "social leap" our ancestors made from the rainforest to the savannah. In their struggle to survive on the open grasslands, our ancestors prioritized teamwork and sociality over physical prowess, creating an entirely new kind of intelligence that would forever alter our place on this planet. A blend of anthropology, biology, history, and psychology with evolutionary science, The Social Leap traces our evolutionary history to show how events in our distant past continue to shape our lives today. From why we exaggerate to why we believe our own lies, the implications are far-reaching and extraordinary. Praise for The Social Leap Winner of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Book Prize "A rollicking tour through humanity's evolutionary past.... Von Hippel shows how our past explains the present and why our well-being rests on an understanding of how our minds evolved." —Adam Alter, New York Times –bestselling author of Irresistible "Full of insight into human character, von Hippel's book provides a stimulating program for measuring success without material yardsticks." — Kirkus Reviews

A pioneering exploration of the differences between the brain’s right and left hemispheres and their effects on society, history, and culture—“one of the few contemporary works deserving classic status” (Nicholas Shakespeare, Times, UK)“Persuasively argues that our society is suffering from the consequences of an over-dominant left hemisphere losing touch with its natural regulative ‘master’ the right. Brilliant and disturbing.”—Salley Vickers, a Guardian Best Book of the Year“I know of no better exposition of the current state of functional brain neuroscience.”—W. F. Bynum, Times Literary SupplementWhy is the brain divided? The difference between right and left hemispheres has been puzzled over for centuries. Drawing upon a vast body of brain research, the renowned psychiatrist, author, and thinker Iain McGilchrist reveals that the difference between the two sides is profound—two whole, coherent, but incompatible ways of experiencing the world. The detail-oriented left hemisphere prefers mechanisms to living things and is inclined to self-interest, while the right hemisphere has greater breadth, flexibility, and generosity.In the second part of his book, McGilchrist takes the reader on a journey through the history of Western culture, illustrating the tension between these two worlds as revealed in the thought and belief of thinkers and artists from the ancient to the modern, from Aeschylus to Magritte. He ultimately argues that, despite its inferior grasp of reality, the left hemisphere is increasingly taking precedence in today’s world—with potentially disastrous consequences.

Winner Of The Pulitzer Prize In 1974 And The Culmination Of A Life's Work, The Denial Of Death Is Ernest Becker's Brilliant And Impassioned Answer To The 'why' Of Human Existence. In Bold Contrast To The Predominant Freudian School Of Thought, Becker Tackles The Problem Of The Vital Lie - Man's Refusal To Acknowledge His Own Mortality. The Book Argues That Human Civilisation Is A Defence Against The Knowledge That We Are Mortal Beings. Becker States That Humans Live In Both The Physical World And A Symbolic World Of Meaning, Which Is Where Our 'immortality Project' Resides. We Create In Order To Become Immortal - To Become Part Of Something We Believe Will Last Forever. In This Way We Hope To Give Our Lives Meaning. In The Denial Of Death, Becker Sheds New Light On The Nature Of Humanity And Issues A Call To Life And Its Living That Still Resonates Decades After It Was Written.

How do we as Americans define our identities? How do our stories represent who we are-our successes, our failures, our past, our future? Stories of redemption are some of the most powerful ways to express American identity and all that it can entail, from pain and anguish to joy and fulfillment. Psychologist Dan P. McAdams examines how these narratives, in which the hero is delivered from suffering to an enhanced status or state, represent a new psychology of American identity, and in turn, how they translate to understanding our own lives. In this revised and expanded edition of The Redemptive Self, McAdams shows how redemptive stories promote psychological health and civic engagement among contemporary American adults. He reveals how different kinds of redemptive stories compete for favor in American society, as presented in a dramatic case study comparing the life stories constructed by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. McAdams provides new insight on race and religion in American narratives, offers a creative blend of psychological research and historical analysis, and explains how the redemptive self is a positive psychological resource for living a worthy American life. From the spiritual testimonials of the Puritans and the celebrated autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, to the harrowing stories of escaped slaves and the modern tales in Hollywood movies, we are surrounded by transformative stories that can inform how we make sense of our American identity. But is the redemptive life story always a good thing, and can anyone achieve it? While affirming the significance of redemptive life stories, McAdams also offers a cultural critique. Through no fault of their own, many Americans cannot achieve this revered story of deliverance. Instead, their lives are rife with contaminated plots, vicious cycles of disappointment, and endless pitfalls. Moreover, there may be a negative side to these beloved stories of redemption-they demonstrate a curiously American form of arrogance, self-righteousness, and naiveté that all bad things can be transformed. In this revised and expanded edition of the his award-winning book, McAdams encourages us to critically examine our own life stories-the good, the bad, the ups, the downs-in order to inform how we can benefit from them and shape a better future American identity.

**the New York Times And Sunday Times Bestseller** 'an Ordinary Person's Guide To Hope. Read This Book' Arundhati Roy 'as Accessible As It Is Brilliant' Owen Jones 'a Genuine Page Turner' Michelle Alexander Naomi Klein - Award-winning Journalist, Bestselling Author Of No Logo, The Shock Doctrine And This Changes Everything, Scourge Of Brand Bullies And Corporate Liars - Gives Us The Toolkit We Need To Survive Our Surreal, Shocking Age. 'this Is A Look At How We Arrived At This Surreal Political Moment, How To Keep It From Getting A Lot Worse, And How, If We Keep Our Heads, We Can Flip The Script.' Remember When Love Was Supposed To Trump Hate? Remember When The Oil Companies And Bankers Seemed To Be Running Scared? What The Hell Happened? And What Can We Do About It? Naomi Klein Shows Us How We Got Here, And How We Can Make Things Better. No Is Not Enough Reveals, Among Other Things, That The Disorientation We're Feeling Is Deliberate. That Around The World, Shock Political Tactics Are Being Used To Generate Crisis After Crisis, Designed To Force Through Policies That Will Destroy People, The Environment, The Economy And Our Security. That Extremism Isn't A Freak Event - It's A Toxic Cocktail Of Our Times. From How To Trash The Trump Megabrand To The Art Of Reclaiming The Populist Argument, Naomi Klein Shows All Of Us How We Can Break The Spell And Win The World We Need. Don't Let Them Get Away With It. 'who Better Than Naomi To Make Sense Of This Madness, And Help Us Find A Way Out? A Top-of-the-stack Must Read' Michael Stipe 'naomi Klein's New Book Incites Us Brilliantly To Interweave Our No With A Programmatic Yes. A Manual For Emancipation' Yanis Varoufakis 'magnificent ... A Courageous Coruscating Counterspell' Junot Díaz