I read quite a bit, and I really like some of the suggestions I found in LW. So, my question is: is there any recent or not-so-recent-but-really-good book you would recommend? Topics I’d like read more about are:
evolutionary psychology (I read some Robert Wright, I’d like to read something a bit more solid)
status/prestige theory (Robin Hanson uses it all the time, but is there some good text discussing this?)
I’m happy to read pop-sci, as long as it’s written with a skeptical, rationalist mindset. I.e. I liked Linden’s The accidental mind, but take Gladwell’s writings with a rather big grain of salt.
I just finished reading it. The start is promising, discussing consumer behavior from the signaling/status perspective. There’s some discussion of the Big Five personality traits + general intelligence, which was interesting (and I’ll need to look into a bit deeper). It shows how these traits influence our buying habits, and the crazy things people do for a few status points...
The end of the book proposes some solutions to hyper-consumerism, and this part I did not particularly like—in a few pages the writer comes up with some far-far-reaching plans (consumption tax etc.) to influence consumers; all highly speculative, not likely to ever be realized.
Apart from the end, liked it, writer is quick & witty, and provides food for thought.
I read quite a bit, and I really like some of the suggestions I found in LW. So, my question is: is there any recent or not-so-recent-but-really-good book you would recommend? Topics I’d like read more about are:
evolutionary psychology (I read some Robert Wright, I’d like to read something a bit more solid)
status/prestige theory (Robin Hanson uses it all the time, but is there some good text discussing this?)
I’m happy to read pop-sci, as long as it’s written with a skeptical, rationalist mindset. I.e. I liked Linden’s The accidental mind, but take Gladwell’s writings with a rather big grain of salt.
Give him a year or two and he’ll have written one.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/82g/on_the_openness_personality_trait_rationality/ has a download of one book very close to this topicspace.
Thanks! The link doesn’t seem to work, but I’ll check out the book. Did you read it?
No, I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list. Here’s another download link http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33627365/Scholarship/Spent%20Sex%20Evolution%20and%20Consumer%20Behavior.pdf
Thanks, Grognor!
I just finished reading it. The start is promising, discussing consumer behavior from the signaling/status perspective. There’s some discussion of the Big Five personality traits + general intelligence, which was interesting (and I’ll need to look into a bit deeper). It shows how these traits influence our buying habits, and the crazy things people do for a few status points...
The end of the book proposes some solutions to hyper-consumerism, and this part I did not particularly like—in a few pages the writer comes up with some far-far-reaching plans (consumption tax etc.) to influence consumers; all highly speculative, not likely to ever be realized.
Apart from the end, liked it, writer is quick & witty, and provides food for thought.