Book Reviews | Data Science & Psychology

24Nov/12

When is investment banking immoral? A review of Greg Smith’s book, Why I left Goldman Sachs.

On Thanksgiving evening, I started reading Greg Smith’s book, Why I left Goldman Sachs late in the afternoon. I finished it around midnight. It’s a relatively easy read with a relatively straightforward message: That Wall Street, as exemplified by Goldman Sachs’ evolution, has increasingly become a place where we send many of our brightest students [...]

Tagged as: goldman sachs, greg smith, investment bankers, new york times, wall street Comments Off

30Sep/12

Book Review: Brain Gain and the Is-Ought problem

Can technology make us wiser? There is something to be said for taking a theory as far as you can go with it and pushing it’s boundaries, as the process is educational. Other people have taken the “technology is making us dumber” meme and pushed it and so Marc Prensky’s book, Brain Gain, provides a [...]

Tagged as: brain gain, digital wisdom, marc prensky, technology Comments Off

25Apr/12

Empathizing vs. Systemizing – A Book Review of Tattoos On The Heart

I recently read this article from Fast Company about Father Greg Boyle’s work at Homeboy Industries, and just like every other time I’ve encountered stories of this work, it ended with me in tears. It reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write about Tattoos On The Heart, which just might be my favorite book [...]

Tagged as: empathy, greg boyle, homeboy industries, unconditional love No Comments

18Dec/10

Tony Hsieh, liberals, and libertarians prefer buying experiences to materialism – A Review of Delivering Happiness

I recently finished Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness, which is partially a business book, detailing his remarkable story where he has won (selling Link Exchange to Microsoft in his 20s for $265 million) and lost (selling almost everything to turn Zappos around) fortunes. Zappos, an online shoe seller, has gone on to become the model [...]

Tagged as: tony hsieh, zappos 1 Comment

2Dec/10

The Definition of Moral Hazard and A Review of The Big Short

Wikipedia defines a moral hazard as “when a party insulated from risk behaves differently than it would behave if it were fully exposed to the risk.” By this definition, the financial crisis is a classic tale of moral hazard. I recently stayed up til 3am finishing Michael Lewis’ book, The Big Short, which explains the [...]

Tagged as: michael lewis, moral hazard, the big short 3 Comments

17Nov/10

Why is Warren Buffett liberal on the estate tax? A Review of The Snowball.

I read Warren Buffett’s authorized biography recently and the fact that I finished the book (which isn’t short) is a testament to the writing of the book and to the uniqueness of Buffett himself. I now understand why people continue to flock to Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings, where Buffett gives his opinion on [...]

Tagged as: delaying gratification, openness to experience, warren buffet 2 Comments

10Aug/10

The Present Hedonism Time Perspective of Motley Crue Members, Liberals, and Libertarians

I recently read the story of Motley Crue’s wild ride in the 80s-90s, most of which blends together into a mess of outrageous behavior, impulsiveness, and hedonism. They drank a lot, did a lot of drugs, and had a lot of sex. I was fascinated by it (enough to keep reading), but also disgusted as [...]

Tagged as: conservatives, hedonism, liberals, libertarians, motley crue, time perspective, zimbardo 2 Comments

23Jul/10

On Hyperpartisanship, Hypermoralism, and the Supernormal Stimuli of Modern Politics

Today’s lead story from Politico, The Age of Rage, probably summarizes a lot of what people think is wrong with politics. Rather than make good policy, politicians and media are more concerned with scoring points for their political ideology (hyperpartisanship). However, as the Politico article points out, their actions are largely driven by the general [...]

Tagged as: hypermoralism, idealistic evil, incivility, joe wilson, partisanship, political ideology 5 Comments

4Jul/10

Appreciating American Libertarians – Insight from Ted Conover’s Book, Rolling Nowhere

I just finished Ted Conover’s book, Rolling Nowhere, which I definitely recommend to anyone interested in understanding the human condition. In fact, I’d recommend any/all of Conover’s books, where he assumes roles as diverse as a prison guard, illegal immigrant, and in this book, a train jumping hobo. Personally, psychology is always more convincing when [...]

Tagged as: consilience, openness to experience, psychological reactance, ted conover, tramps 4 Comments

30Jun/10

Psychological Causes of Violence in Sports Riots

Recently, the Los Angeles Lakers won game 7 against the Boston Celtics and there were riots in the streets of los angeles. Below is a video of some of the scene.

This scene is not unique to Los Angeles. In fact, riots appear to occur with regularity when sports teams win. There were riots in Boston [...]

Tagged as: consilience, los angeles lakers, open access, riots in boston, riots in los angeles, testosterone 3 Comments

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November 24, 2012
When is investment banking immoral? A review of Greg Smith’s book, Why I left Goldman Sachs.
November 21, 2012
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The Gaza Conflict and Being Pro-Peace rather than Anti-War
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