This is a review of Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
Overall, 4.5/5 Stars.
This non-fiction book is a well-articulated review of the intersection between snap judgements and gut feelings, and the empirical science answering if our gut feelings tend to be correct. When is too much information a bad thing? How are we best set up to draw the correct conclusions? Are we good at explaining our own reasoning? We ruminate about some things that in hindsight seemed so obvious from the beginning. Filled with good stories, interesting studies, and powerful examples, this book is sure to entertain and educate.
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This is a review of 4000 Weeks; Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.
Overall, 4/5 Stars.
This book is a theoretical challenge to a time management trend that seems to be growing with each passing year. The current goal consists of squeezing every minute out of our time awake in order to to be productive, achievement-oriented, always hustling and grinding to obtain the next big thing. Perhaps this goal is misguided in its original intention; how to best spend our time. 4000 weeks is the typical human lifespan. How are you going to spend your weeks?
This is a review of Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges, published in 1983.
Overall, 4/5 stars.
This wonderful book is a collection of short stories and essays blurring the line between fiction and reality, challenging our mental assumptions, and requesting us to reframe what we consider of reality.
This is not a video made by Voyagerr, but is a great illumination of the useless endeavor of blame.
“You are probably a bit of a blamer - most of us are. But why should we give it up? In this witty sequel to our most watched RSA Short, inspirational thinker Brené Brown considers why we blame others, how it sabotages our relationships, and why we desperately need to move beyond this toxic behavior.”
This clip is from this full talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXSjc-pbXk4&t=0s
This is a review of Atomic Habits by James Clear, published in 2018.
Overall, 5/5 stars. The first perfect rating for a book review yet.
This is a wonderful introspective book that presents an inverted strategy for making big changes in life. Putting habits first creates a foundation of consistency that allows for our biggest goals to manifest into reality. This book presents an incredibly fun, easily-digested, and captivating approach to make new habits easy, fun, and undeniable.
This is a review of The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, published in 1949.
Overall, 4/5 stars.
Incredibly applicable to fiction and non-fiction alike, the philosophical analyses in this book are incredible insightful and were enjoyable to ponder. Detailed reasons for the rating are included in this video.
This is not a video made by Voyagerr, but is a perfect distinction between empathy and sympathy.
“What is the best way to ease someone's pain and suffering? In this beautifully animated RSA Short, Dr Brené Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities.”
This clip is from this full talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXSjc-pbXk4&t=0s
For a group of adults over 50 years of age, what will most accurately predict their behavior in the next 7 days? A team of researchers measured the amount of fruits and vegetables their participants ate and the amount of exercise they completed. What was the most powerful predictor? Their dieting and exercise habits, their degree of self-motivated perspective, or their intention of what they will do next? Mullan and colleague (2021) present their research on the power of triaging our healthy decisions.
To learn more about this publication or directly access the article, the information is listed below:
Mullan, B., Olivier, C., & Thøgersen‐Ntoumani, C. (2021). Mind the gap: Habit and self‐determined motivation predict health behaviours in middle‐aged and older adults. British Journal of Health Psychology.
This video was not made by Voyagerr, but is a timeless reminder of the complexities of our stress response.
“Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.”
Check out Dr. McGonigal’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Stress-Why-Good-You/dp/1101982934
This video was not made by Voyagerr. The research reviewed in this video illustrates that happiness is not exactly what you may think.
“Dan Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness," challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.”
Here is Dan’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-Gilbert/dp/1400077427
This video is a brief review of the book Quiet; the Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain brought to you by Dr. Wayne of Voyagerr.
Overall rating: 3.5/5 stars.
However, this 3.5/5 rating is only occurring because of inaccuracies surrounding the terms introvert and extrovert throughout the book. This book is highly recommended and presents an incredibly important interpersonal lesson.
Here is a link to Susan Cain's foundation: https://www.quietrev.com/
This video was not made by Voyagerr, but presents an urgent call to reconsider how we approach Artificial Intelligence.
“Scared of super-intelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris - and not just in some theoretical way. We're going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven't yet grappled with the problems associated with creating something that may treat us the way we treat ants.”
Here is a related book, written by a frequent collaborator of this speaker: https://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-Nick-Bostrom/dp/0199678111
A rated review of the Gonzo-Journalism-infested book "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trial '72 by Hunter S Thompson.
Overall, 4/5 stars.
Ivan highly recommends you give this book a chance if you would be interested in the least bit by political angles, the nature of creating an image, the duality of mainstream media coverage, and a unique style of writing only HST may deliver.
This video was not made by Voyagerr.
We underestimate the complexity of what is occurring between the two hemispheres of our brain. This brief overview raises very curious questions about who we are when we consider how our left and right hemispheres construct our one single identity. Each hemisphere tends to act more individually than we may assume.
For children between the ages of 3 and 8, could humor predict how close two siblings are with one another? Is this connection related to how aware a child is of their own mental state and the different perspective of their sibling? This video recaps the article by Paine and colleagues (2020) investigating these interesting questions.
To learn more, the direct link to the article is below:
Paine, A. L., Karajian, G., Hashmi, S., Persram, R. J., & Howe, N. (2020). “Where’s your bum brain?” Humor, social understanding, and sibling relationship quality in early childhood. Social Development.
This video was not made by Voyagerr, but is a good overview of loneliness; an emotion that about half of Americans report feeling regularly. The evidence presented for the cause of loneliness is heavily rooted in Evolutionary Psychology, but is helpful to begin understanding one of the main causes for this enduring emotional state.
“Everybody feels lonely sometimes. But only few of us are aware how important this feeling was for our ancestors - and that our modern world can turn it into something that really hurts us. Why do we feel this way and what can we do about it?”
Can we learn more accurate information about a person by meeting them or by observing how they decorate their bedroom? What about their office? This episode of Lantern recaps an article from 2002 reviewing the ways in which strangers can accurately judge a person's character by merely being in their bedroom or office.
Article Reviewed:
Gosling, S. D., Ko, S. J., Mannarelli, T., & Morris, M. E. (2002). A room with a cue: personality judgments based on offices and bedrooms. Journal of personality and social psychology, 82(3), 379.