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ToSummarise.com

I summarise non-fiction books with more detail and critical analysis than you'll find elsewhere. Join my newsletter to get new summaries delivered straight to your inbox!

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New Book Summary: The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef

In The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don’t, Julia Galef argues that we don’t need to deceive ourselves in order to feel good, motivated, or persuade others. The book also offers practical tips to see the world more accurately. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS We’re in soldier mindset when we try to defend the views we already hold or wish are true. We’re in scout mindset when we...

September had 1 book summary and 3 blog posts. I've also started putting reading time estimates on my posts. Book summaries The Case Against Education: Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan (29 mins) - it is what it says it is. I found some of Caplan's arguments persuasive but, as you'll see below, I also took issue with many of his claims. Blog posts Thought Experiment: Would You Give Up the Ability to Enjoy Food? (4 mins) Criticisms of “The Case Against...

I didn’t plan this, but my latest summary for The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan comes right as the school year begins for those in the Northern Hemisphere. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. A word of warning: although Caplan makes some great points, I've also found multiple flaws with his arguments, particularly when he tries to calculate the social return and...

In August, I posted 2 book summaries and 1 blog post: Book summaries The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich - a very interesting but dense explanation of how WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic) cultures are different, and how they got to be that way. Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt - covers how to spot the far-too-common examples of "bad strategy" and develop good strategy instead. Blog posts Is it better to be WEIRD? - a long-ish...

You’re probably familiar with bad strategy. It’s full of fluff, lofty visions and desirable outcomes, with no clue on how to achieve these things. In Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, Richard Rumelt explains how good strategy is different. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS The word “strategy” has been so misused that many people don’t even know what it means. Bad strategy fails to...

My latest summary is for The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich, a fascinating book about culture and psychology, with a dash of history. This one's a bit lengthier than normal, reflecting the scope of Henrich's ambitious, 700-page book! As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS What is WEIRD? WEIRD is an acronym for: Western, Educated,...

I skipped June's monthly update because I only posted one summary, so I'll make up for that here. Since my last update in May, I posted 3 book summaries and 1 blog post: Book summaries Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall — a useful intro on how geography influences geopolitics, this book made me look at more maps than I'd ever done before! Scarcity by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir — explains how scarcity of various forms can cause us to tunnel and change the way we make decisions....

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen is a true classic in productivity circles. For that reason, I'd put off reading it for ages, figuring I would've already heard its best ideas through other authors who've been influenced by it. To my pleasant surprise, I still found it useful to read about Allen's original system and picked up a few "good tricks" along the way! As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link...

It's been a while since my last post as I've been taking some time off. But I'm back now with a new summary for Scarcity: The True Cost of Not Having Enough by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS What is scarcity? Scarcity is when we have less than we feel we need. While the book mainly discusses money and time scarcity, it can also apply to things like counting calories or...

I've just published a summary for Tim Marshall's Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Explain Everything About the World. It's a useful primer on geopolitics and made me examine maps far more closely than I've ever done before! As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS Geography explains many differences between countries and significantly affects geopolitics. Countries’ borders often depend on natural geographical...