Tristan Harris
12 Books recommended by Tristan Harris
Tristan Harris, is an American technology ethicist. He is the president and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology.Early in his career, Harris worked as a design ethicist at Google. He received his baccalaureate and master's degree from Stanford University, where he studied the ethics of human persuasion.
Tristan Harris's favorite books
The Attention Merchants
The Attention Merchants
Tim Wu
Business & Economics"From Tim Wu, author of award-winning The Master Switch, and who coined the phrase "net neutrality"--a revelatory look at the rise of "attention harvesting," and its transformative effect on our society and our selves"--
“Absolutely, must read Tim Wu's book "The Attention Merchants.”
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Don't Shoot the Dog!
Don't Shoot the Dog!
Karen Pryor
Behavior modificationIncludes a new section on clicker training.
“Amazing book. It's funny”
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Finite and Infinite Games
Finite and Infinite Games
James Carse
Philosophy“There are at least two kinds of games,” states James Carse as he begins this extraordinary book. “One could be called finite; the other infinite.” Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end. But infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play. The rules may change, the boundaries may change, even the participants may change—as long as the game is never allowed to come to an end. What are infinite games? How do they affect the ways we play our finite games? What are we doing when we play—finitely or infinitely? And how can infinite games affect the ways in which we live our lives? Carse explores these questions with stunning elegance, teasing out of his distinctions a universe of observation and insight, noting where and why and how we play, finitely and infinitely. He surveys our world—from the finite games of the playing field and playing board to the infinite games found in culture and religion—leaving all we think we know illuminated and transformed. Along the way, Carse finds new ways of understanding everything from how an actress portrays a role, to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil, to the nature of science. Finite games, he shows, may offer wealth and status, power and glory. But infinite games offer something far more subtle and far grander. Carse has written a book rich in insight and aphorism. Already an international literary event, Finite and Infinite Games is certain to be argued about and celebrated for years to come. Reading it is the first step in learning to play the infinite game.
“highly recommended by Stewart Brand and a lot of other really, really folks I respect a whole lot. ”
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1984
1984
George Orwell
DramaApril, 1984. Winston Smith thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is watching him, and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye. Its ideas have become our ideas, and Orwell's fiction is often said to be our reality. The definitive book of the 20th century is re-examined in a radical new adaptation exploring why Orwell's vision of the future is as relevant as ever.
“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
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Technopoly
Technopoly
Neil Postman
Technology & EngineeringIn this witty, often terrifying work of cultural criticism, the author of Amusing Ourselves to Death chronicles our transformation into a Technopoly: a society that no longer merely uses technology as a support system but instead is shaped by it—with radical consequences for the meanings of politics, art, education, intelligence, and truth.
“Another one by him is called Technopoly, which also is about how when culture surrenders to technology. And especially the quantification of metrics and SAT score”
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Brave New World
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley
FictionSet far in the future, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World depicts a world where “Controllers” have achieved what they believe to be the ideal society. Through scientific and genetic breakthroughs the human race has been brought to perfection: humans have pre-assigned roles in society, and everyone happily fulfills their purpose. Bernard Marx, however, is different. He is disgusted by the predestined behaviour of his peers and has a strong desire to break free from social pressures, leading him to set off on a journey to visit one of the few remaining Savage Reservations—places where the old, flawed, and imperfect life still continues. Inspired by the popularity of utopian novels at the time Aldous Huxley created a dystopian vision of what our world might one day become—and readers will be terrified to discover that some of his predictions may have already come true. Brave New World has twice been adapted for film, most recently in 1998 as a television movie starring Peter Gallagher and Leonard Nimoy. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.
“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
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Wherever You Go, There You Are
Wherever You Go, There You Are
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Self-HelpThe time-honored national bestseller, updated with a new afterword, celebrating 10 years of influencing the way we live. When Wherever You Go, There You Are was first published in 1994, no one could have predicted that the book would launch itself onto bestseller lists nationwide and sell over 750,000 copies to date. Ten years later, the book continues to change lives. In honor of the book's 10th anniversary, Hyperion is proud to be releasing the book with a new afterword by the author, and to share this wonderful book with an even larger audience.
“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
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The 4-Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek
Tim Ferriss
The 4-Hour Workweek In 20 Minutes Summary Tim Ferriss The 4-Hour Work Week teaches techniques to increase your time and financial freedom giving you more lifestyle options. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (2007) is a self-help book by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur. The book has spent more than four years on The New York Times Best Seller List, has been translated into 35 languages and has sold more than 1,350,000 copies worldwide. It deals with what Ferriss refers to as "lifestyle design" and repudiates the traditional "deferred" life plan in which people work grueling hours and take few vacations for decades and save money in order to relax after retirement.
“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
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The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Al Ries,Jack Trout
MarketingRies and Trout share their rules for certain successes in the world of marketing. Combining a wide-ranging historical overview with a keen eye for the future, the authors bring to light 22 superlative tools and innovative techniques for the international marketplace.
“a profound book for me”
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“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
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Winners Take All
Winners Take All
Anand Giridharadas
Social ScienceAn insider's groundbreaking investigation of how the global elite's efforts to "change the world" preserve the status quo and obscure their role in causing the problems they later seek to solve. Former New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can--except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. We see how they rebrand themselves as saviors of the poor; how they lavishly reward "thought leaders" who redefine "change" in winner-friendly ways; and how they constantly seek to do more good, but never less harm. We hear the limousine confessions of a celebrated foundation boss; witness an American president hem and haw about his plutocratic benefactors; and attend a cruise-ship conference where entrepreneurs celebrate their own self-interested magnanimity. Giridharadas asks hard questions: Why, for example, should our gravest problems be solved by the unelected upper crust instead of the public institutions it erodes by lobbying and dodging taxes? He also points toward an answer: Rather than rely on scraps from the winners, we must take on the grueling democratic work of building more robust, egalitarian institutions and truly changing the world. A call to action for elites and everyday citizens alike.
“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
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“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
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