The book Tribe was also good.

The Righteous Mind by Johnathan Haidt

Tribe by Sebastian Junger

just put my full lists on medium:

https://medium.com/@dopeshika/2018-in-books-startup-science-...

https://medium.com/@dopeshika/2018-in-books-mind-consciousne...

* The Beginning of Infinity - David Deutsch (taught me the true importance of knowledge)

* Tribe - Sebastian Junger (taught me how important it is to be part of a close community, decided to Airbnb all of next year after reading this book)

If you or anyone else is interested in this topic I strongly suggest the book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger.

That book really made me think pretty hard about this stuff. It's also a short 180 pages.

2 books I recently read that point to social connection as essential to meaning and well-being are Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari, and Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger.

A recent book that explores the loss of community when combat veterans come home, and how this may contribute to PTSD:

"Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging"

https://www.amazon.com/Tribe-Homecoming-Belonging-Sebastian-...

The book "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging" discusses similar dynamics with returning combat troops, and others that have lived through war or extreme challenging scenarios. The surprising finding is it's not the memory of the event that causes PTSD/depression, but returning to "normal" modern, atomized and isolated life of relative peace and stability.. and losing the excitement, adrenaline/thrill of events arguably humans have been adapted to thrive in: challenges and struggles, especially alongside a group of people facing same challenge together. Many people have been polled as being happier in for example war time London facing bombing raids, death and destruction, than peacetime after WW2. It's a good read.

On a similar note, it's always nice to see the "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" stories involving homeless people, but we (meaning the U.S) need to place higher value on assisting those who can't assist themselves.

Mental illness is the root of the problem. From homelessness to suicide rates to general well being, we need a better mental health care system in place.

I've been reading "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging" by Sebastian Junger and it draws a pretty clear connection between what we consider a "successful person" and unhappiness. In essence, people were happier when they lived simpler lives in tribes, and as society grew to place value on financial/personal independence and move away from the tribe system of survival - people became more unhappy and mental illness/suicide rates rose.

The more we segregated people by wealth/social status, the more isolated people feel and mental illness rates creep higher and higher.

This article just reinforces the idea that only lazy/dumb people are homeless, and only those who "put in the work" deserve recognition.

I’m currently spending time traveling and can sometimes go stretches without much interaction. I mostly stay at hostels and it’s wierd how that kind of communal sleeping arrangement makes me feel better even if I’m not actively interacting with people there. I think this was mentioned in the book Tribe by Sebastian Junger, about how we’ve evolved to sleep in large groups and that doesn’t really happen anymore.

My unscientific guess is that the mutation allowed for greater group dependence and cohesion. This article and Harari's book sort of dance around this, but I think it's some type of emotional gene that we are emotionally hard wired to NEED to connect with people. Like a tiger stalks with your back turned to it, people emotionally need to be connected to other people in a deep, meaningful way.

Humans are not only unique in their abilities like problems solving and language, but also in their 100% dedication to the tribe.

I think it is this combination that allows for us to work together in such large groups and successfully.

Harari calls it "fictions" that bind us together, but that doesn't quite seem to work for me.

The question I ask is WHY do these "fictions" work so well?

Why would a Nebraska farmer go half way across the world and climb French beaches with German guns shooting at him?

Why are we so compelled to identify with a group?

A comedian has a great joke about this. Essentially, the WORST thing you can do to a person is put them in solitary confinement. Even being surrounded by criminals and prison guards is infinity better than being forced to be alone in a room. We desperately need to connect with people. It seems hard wired genetically to me.

I think culture helps serve this purpose of binding us together.

Art, music, theatre, and even sports are all a part of the process of group cohesion.

Group cohesion and dependency is so powerful that it's often the number one factor in determining which societies/countries/groups come out victorious with intergroup conflict.

A great book called "War and Peace and War" by Peter Turchin is a fantastic book to read if this concept interests you.

Another one, "Tribe" by Sebastion Junger also explores this topic.

Sebastian Junger’s work is relevant to this, and after a decade of thinking about happiness and looking back on my own experiences and others, he lays out explicitly what I couldn’t put into words. His book Tribe is worth the read, and he has two documentaries on Netflix, Restrepo and Korengal that touches on the issue lightly.

It answers the question of why cancer patients can miss being sick, why soldiers miss being on the frontlines and why I was happiest living in a third world hole in a beat up apartment vs the luxury I’m living in now.

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, by Robert Sapolsky

Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari

Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian is better, stylistically, but changed me less as a person)

The Alchemist and The Fifth Mountain, by Paulo Coelho

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Tribe, by Sebastian Junger

1. Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham
2. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

3. Tribes by Seth Godin

4. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

5. The Industries of the Future by Alex Ross

6. Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews

7. The Science of Getting Rich: Financial Success Through Creative Thought by WALLACE D. WATTLES (The Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reads)

8. Money: Master the Game by Tony Robbins

9. Principles by Ray Dalio

10. Como Ganar Amigas e Influir Sobre las Personas by Dale Carnegie

11. Without Their Permission by Alexis Ohanian

12. Tribe by Sebastian Junger

13. Sapiens A Brief History of Humanity by Yuval Noah Harari

14. This is Water by David Foster Wallace

15. How Not to Be Wrong. The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

16. Walt Disney By Neal Gabler

17. The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley

18. Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

19. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

20. A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine

Out of all these, I would recommend only a few:

- Sapiens

- The Rational Optimist

- Walt Disney By Neal Gabler

- How Not to Be Wrong. The Power of Mathematical Thinking.

- A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy