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dr.Pep
dr.Pep
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Copyright © 2025 Pepijn van der Laan.
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The phone-based childhood lies at the basis of many societal issues

The phone-based childhood lies at the basis of many societal issues

Jonathan Haidt – The anxious generation

Refreshingly opinionated.

The ruthless pursuit of profit optimization has killed the soul of the American supermarket

The ruthless pursuit of profit optimization has killed the soul of the American supermarket

Benjamin Lorr – The secret life of groceries

Narrated with bravado, the book conjures the nostalgic image of a 1950s store and skillfully contrasts it with the current state of the industry.

The relationship between biological make-up and human behavior is governed by complex interaction effects

The relationship between biological make-up and human behavior is governed by complex interaction effects

Robert Sapolsky – Behave

The author set out on a daunting program with impressive results in a fascinating domain.

Through an anthropological lens, the English can be characterized as a withdrawn, class-conscious, ironic, understatement-loving and uptight tribe, whose members loosen up only in the pub

Through an anthropological lens, the English can be characterized as a withdrawn, class-conscious, ironic, understatement-loving and uptight tribe, whose members loosen up only in the pub

Kate Fox – Watching the English

Light read with amusing observation, stretched out over slightly more pages than necessary to convey the message.

Neuroscience increasingly provides evidence how the Arts  influence psychology and social behavior

Neuroscience increasingly provides evidence how the Arts influence psychology and social behavior

Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross – Your brain on art

Interesting to read how advances in brain science lead to confirmation of intuitive but traditionally hard-to-prove hypotheses.

Elections are not democratic but aristocratic, because only members of the elite get on the ballot

Elections are not democratic but aristocratic, because only members of the elite get on the ballot

David van Reybrouk – Against Elections (read in Dutch)

It would be interesting to expand the solution space to include not just random selection of citizens but also modes of participation and collaboration from non-political domains like open source software development.

Indigenous societies show that, next to capitalism, there are many alternative blends of violence, knowledge and charisma on which a viable social power structure can be built

Indigenous societies show that, next to capitalism, there are many alternative blends of violence, knowledge and charisma on which a viable social power structure can be built

David Graeber and David Wengrow – The dawn of everything

The authors attack a overly simplified version of the theories they aim to refute, failing to recognize the necessarily non-linear nature of evolution.

The unlikely journey of a talented, black physicist from the hood shows the mechanics of ‘privilege’

The unlikely journey of a talented, black physicist from the hood shows the mechanics of ‘privilege’

Hakeem Oluseyi – A quantum Life

Impressive and heart-warming life story

Today’s dominant ideology is the acceptance of ‘how the world really is’ and that any attempt to change that will lead to ruin

Today’s dominant ideology is the acceptance of ‘how the world really is’ and that any attempt to change that will lead to ruin

Slavoj Zizek – Like a thief in broad daylight

Mix of interesting Marxist perspectives on contemporary politics and confusing rants about old movies.

Statistical thinking leads to better decisions, but unfortunately most people are bad at that

Statistical thinking leads to better decisions, but unfortunately most people are bad at that

Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass Sunstein – Noise

Overly simplified presentation of basic statistics that cuts some corners, as superbly pointed out by Andrew Gelman.

Truly understanding strangers is difficult, but failing to do so may cause grave harm to individuals as well as society as a whole

Truly understanding strangers is difficult, but failing to do so may cause grave harm to individuals as well as society as a whole

Malcolm Gladwell – Talking to strangers

Gladwell once more makes his well known point that prejudice is often subconscious and institutionalized (cf. also Blink), this time inspired by a BLM atrocity.

Because we fundamentally believe resources can and will be redistributed, we will fall into the trap of always trying to make the overall pie as big as possible

Because we fundamentally believe resources can and will be redistributed, we will fall into the trap of always trying to make the overall pie as big as possible

Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo – Good economics for hard times

Smart agent-based modelling perspective on global challenges around poverty and sustainability.

To accurately ‘read people’ look for combinations of non-verbal tells

To accurately ‘read people’ look for combinations of non-verbal tells

Joe Navarro – What every body is saying

The glossary of non-verbal signals and their meaning makes you aware of the limitations of Zoom, Teams, and Skype, espacially in COVID times.

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Copyright © 2025 Pepijn van der Laan.
All rights reserved.