Excellent Advice for Living is a compilation of Kevin Kelly's life wisdom, initially written for his young adult children on his 68th birthday. The book features 450 aphorisms that cover a wide range of topics, from setting ambitious goals and optimizing generosity to cultivating compassion and practical advice on career, relationships, parenting, and finances. Kelly's advice is designed to be accessible and applicable to all ages, emphasizing the importance of kindness, decency, and generosity of spirit. The book is praised for its straightforward and memorable guidance, making it an ideal companion for anyone seeking to navigate life with grace and creativity.
In 'Fooled by Randomness', Nassim Nicholas Taleb discusses the pervasive influence of chance and randomness in our lives and financial markets. The book argues that humans tend to underestimate the role of luck and overestimate the role of skill, leading to biases such as hindsight bias, survivorship bias, and the narrative fallacy. Taleb emphasizes the importance of recognizing and coping with uncertainty, and he critiques the tendency to seek deterministic explanations for random events. The book is part of Taleb's Incerto series, which also includes 'The Black Swan', 'The Bed of Procrustes', 'Antifragile', and 'Skin in the Game'.
The Odyssey, attributed to Homer, is an ancient Greek epic poem that tells the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. The poem explores Odysseus's encounters with various mythical creatures, divine interventions, and natural challenges. Upon his return to Ithaca, he must confront the suitors who have been vying for his wife Penelope's hand in marriage. With the help of his son Telemachus and the goddess Athena, Odysseus devises a plan to defeat the suitors and reclaim his throne. The poem is a reflection on human nature, loyalty, and the consequences of one's actions, and it remains a crucial component of ancient Greek literature and Western cultural heritage.
In 'Wild Problems,' Russ Roberts addresses the big, uncertain decisions in life—such as who to marry, whether to have children, where to move, and how to forge a life well-lived—that cannot be solved using data, science, or traditional rational approaches. He suggests focusing less on the path that promises the most happiness and more on figuring out who you actually want to be. Roberts draws on the experiences of great artists, writers, and scientists to lay out strategies for reducing fear and the loss of control when facing these 'wild problems.' He argues that life should be experienced as a mystery rather than a problem to be solved, and he critiques the idea of relying solely on cost-benefit analysis and utilitarianism for making life's major decisions.
Psychologist and writer Adam Mastroianni says our minds are like the keep of a castle protecting our deepest held values and beliefs from even the most skilled attacks. The only problem with this design for self-preservation is that it also can keep out wisdom that might be both useful and true. Mastroianni's summary of the problem is "you can't reach the brain through the ears." Listen as Mastroianni talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the implication of this view of mind for teaching, learning, and our daily interactions with the people around us.
EconTalk 
