piabo's Reviews (301)

Pretty cool book!
Interesting to understand yourself and the people around you. It is also for people like me who are lucky and did not experience much trauma in life.

I learned lots of interesting facts about brain, mind, and behavior. And the advice in the last few chapters seems very relevant too. I was fascinated throughout!

My Prof. recommended it to me (she teaches “Personal and Social Motivation”), so I thought I give it a try.

It is basically a cis, white, straight woman who talks about her challenges in life and how having less helped to approach/solve them. I expected a light, shallow read, and that is what I got.

I am happy for that woman, how having less helped her. And also to see what kind of problems privileged people struggle with.
I already did all the things she talked about, so other than the insights into her life, I did not get anything but more confirmation for my minimalist-ish lifestyle from this book.

Great introduction to racism in the UK.

Written very matter-of-factly and boring sometimes (as in "On day X this happened, then on day Y this happened").
It also seemed like the author was jumping between events. I think it makes sense in some contexts to remind of previous events, but it was too much.

I also heard it is politically biased, so definitely read it with cations to form my own opionion.
Since I knew very little, this book was still great. Now I know more.

Ukraine is a very interesting and diverse country. It does not deserve this war.
Fuck off Putin! Hands off Ukraine!!

How can science be so beautifully fascinating? I was close to crying at many times because of the sheer beauty and wonders of quantum biology. It is incredible.
I want to read it again and again because I still cannot believe what they told me. It is too unintuitive and wonderful.
But I love it. I want to read more in this field.

This was actually quite relatable and a super nice read. I don't know why, but I did not expect it from a colorful "self-help"/philosophy book like this. I initially picked it up because I thought it would make a pretty gift.
But now I liked it for myself, and I think we should all have and be more Ubuntu in our lives! Give it a read or at least learn about this inspiring way of life somewhere :)
Most of these things should be common sense I think, but might be good reminders for some. We are all connected!

This book has been on my reading list for very long and I never picked it up because I thought I won't be able to understand it.
Philosophers, especially those that are already dead, intimidate me with their ideas a bit.

Luckily, this book did not confirm my fear. Fanon's ideas are clear, and he does well in explaining them. He does quote other philosophers quite frequently and puts their work into context, but it is not too bad. If anything, this just motivates me to read more of the big thinkers of the past that in some ways laid the foundation for our current understanding of the world.

I also always thought that Fanon's ideas will be foreign to me and I will learn radically new concepts. To the most extent that was not true, all the books I read about racism build on many of Fanon's thoughts. He was a very important thinker and everyone interested in the world should read this, his first, book.

Interesting, but very generalizing and hetero-normative. I feel also a bit judgy. Even though they wanted to give good advice for each type, I felt preference towards Secure people, then Anxious people, and last Avoidant. It seems a bit pessimistic towards the Avoidant behaviour.

Still interesting.

Boring for me, but most likely not for others.

The overall idea could have been summarized in one or two chapters. In the middle parts the authors were just talking about their world changing ideas.
It is not that I disagree with those ideas, but I did not want to read about the justifications in this book. I wanted to learn about different nudges and how nudges work psychologically.

This was more of a political book about libertarian paternalism.

I recommend reading "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman and "Influence" by Robert Cialdini instead for more psychological and hard science based insights.

Yes, but how if you have a life?
I should really stop reading books of old white man.

I think it properly summarizes general principles for how to get work done. But all of them were known to me before.
And some of them are absolute trash when it comes to anyone ever affected by challenges with motivation.
I don't see how the advice to "get the task done" helps me in getting the task done. Like wtf? I do not know how!

I am looking for books that also analyze the psychology of human beings and make sense. Not just a white man telling me what worked for him. It does not make sense.
I do not have unlimited energy and sometimes I procrastinate. I thought this book might help me with that. But it doesn't.
Ah.