#psychology

43 posts

Back Pain and Back Exercises

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In the post Psychology of Back Pain, I touched on the work of Dr. Sarno that connects stress to back pain. If you haven't read that post, go do so now. A primary strategy for addressing back pain is...

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The Psychology of Back Pain

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In the posts How I Figured Out the Cause of My Back Pain and Back Pain and Learned Helplessness, I briefly mentioned the psychological aspect to back pain. I want to elaborate on this topic because...

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Your Brain at Work

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My streak of outstanding books continues. !Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming...

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The 50 Law

Back in April, I wrote the post An Urban Version of the 48 Laws of Power and broke my own rule about endorsing something before it even came out. Is the book The 50th Law as good as Robert Greene's...

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17 Lessons For Fat Loss

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The Precision Nutrition site just posted a great article on fat loss lessons called Why You're Not Lean Yet. My first thought was - oh great, not another get lean list. But I really like this list...

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Mean Genes

My interest in early man continues. !Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Taming Our Primal Instincts Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Taming Our Primal Instincts by Terry Burnham and Jay...

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Waistland

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I just finished reading a great book on food and society. !Waistland: The (R)Evolutionary Crisis Behind Our Weight and Fitness Crisis Waistland: The (R)Evolutionary Crisis Behind Our Weight and...

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Quirkology

If you enjoy psychology and the writing style of Freakonomics and Super Crunchers, then you will love this book. !Quirkology: How We Discover the Big Truths in Small Things Quirkology: How We...

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Anatomy of a Bad Trade

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Occasionally I serve up a post on my investing successes. Now let me tell you about the worst trade I ever made and the lessons I learned. On January 3, 2008, on the post My Drudge Report Oil Short...

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The Power of Persuasion

Because I liked Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) by Robert B. Cialdini and Covert Persuasion by Kevin Hogan, this book on consumer psychology was recommended to...

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He Bought At The Bottom

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I love talking to people about investing. Listening to what people are doing and how they interpret the financial news is very helpful to me. Being a contrarian has been profitable to me. In the last...

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Satisfaction Formulas

After posting my review of the science book Satisfaction, I noticed that I could have written it in pseudocode or C#. ![](/2008/11/satisfaction-formulas/img/satisifaction-code.png "satisifaction-code") This post had just enough...

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The Science of Fear

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History, statistics, psychology and a little bit of biology. Of course I'm going to like this book. !The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger The...

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Nudge Me When This Book Is Over

I really thought I'd find this book interesting. Nope. !Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H....

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The Geography of Bliss

Earlier this year I read a review of a book about a self-described "grump" that travels the world looking for happiness. !The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the...

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Financial Book Picks

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In the last few years, I've read quite a few books that are related to finance. Here are my favorites broken-down by sub-genre. Basic Investing !Bull's Eye Investing: Targeting Real Returns in a...

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More Than You Know

Over the past three years, I've read many financial books across various subtopics. Although I had intended to take a break from the finance books, I couldn't pass up a chance to read this book....

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The Definitive Book of Body Language

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A few months ago I read a blog post about body language. It linked to some lame video on YouTube that didn't hold my interest. Before heading off to the next blog, I decided I'd see if there were any...

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The Wisdom of Crowds

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This book was on my queue to read for quite a while. !The Wisdom of Crowds The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki was both interesting and a bit long-winded. Some chapters were entertaining to me...

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Meet Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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I rarely link to or discuss articles from newspapers, but I must make an exception. The Times Online has an outstanding profile titled Nassim Nicholas Taleb: the prophet of boom and doom. Read it....

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Mastery

Last year I read a book about Kaizen and this book was recommended to me. !Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment by George...

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Why Are We Predictably Irrational?

I just finished a great book that combines many of the concepts found in Stumbling on Happiness and Covert Persuasion with new studies and insight. !Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded...

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Vulcan Quote Worth Repeating

Tuvok from the Star Trek Voyager episode Rise: > It is illogical to dwell on situations beyond your control. It will only serve to heighten your anxiety which, if I may say so, is heightened enough....

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Fooled By Randomness

Last year I read The Black Swan. At times it was a difficult read, but it was outstanding. It's clear to me now that I should have read the author's previous book Fooled by Randomness first. In a...

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Ignore My Financial Advice

A few people in the last month have asked me for financial advice. Giving financial advice is a delicate and risky endeavor. It's not like fitness or nutritional advice. If I tell an overweight...

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Here is the Real Secret

Considering how many people are discussing The Secret, I decided to read the book yesterday. !The Secret The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is part science, part magic, part good wisdom, and part nonsense....

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The Secrets of Overachievement

A few years ago I saw this cool book with Superman on the cover promising insight on Exceptional Performance. What a cool book. I had to learn the secrets. I was so motivated, I placed it on my...

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Stumbling on Covert Persuasion

Since I started my TV-free experiment, I've been reading more books than usual. !Stumbling on Happiness Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert surprised me. I first saw the author on the Colbert...

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Summer (of George) Reading

On the show Seinfeld, George pledged to read a book during his time off. > George: I'm really going to do something with these three months. > > Jerry: Like what? > > George: I'm gonna read a book....

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