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The most popular article this week was: 66 Personal Development Habits For Smart People.

• The Art of Ordinary Conversation — Some general guidelines for good conversation.
• The Seven Major Catalysts that Inspire Progress — Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer offer seven catalysts that inspire progress.
• Create A Happy Life in 15 Minutes or Less – Starting Now! — I hate the title of this and to be honest, I probably never would have read it if it wasn’t highly recommended by a friend. It was much better than I would have guessed.
• Children Should Be Allowed to Get Bored.
• Complexity and the Ten-Thousand-Hour Rule. — I love Malcolm Gladwell’s writing, even if I conclude different things. My thoughts in the link.
• Alfredo Moser’s Invention is Lighting up The World. Or is it?

Last week’s Brain Food covered: Richard Feynman’s love letter to his wife, The Laws of Simplicity, 3 Moocs by Nassim Taleb, an interview Maria Konnikova, and a lot more.

Books

What I’m reading

A Few Lessons From Sherlock Holmes, Peter Bevelin
Peter is easily one of my favorite authors. This book comes out next month but I was lucky enough to snag a pre-release copy. Peter’s books tend to be hard to find after they come out, so you’ll want to pre-order. One of his other books,Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger, is the best book you’ve never read. He also wrote: A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers From Warren Buffett.

Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard expands on the history of the company as well as how his business philosophy has changed over time. I had no idea they almost went bankrupt a few times. (He summarizes the book pretty well in thishour long talk.)

See the big list of what I’ve been reading.

What do Farnam Street readers read?

I’ve had a few requests for this recently.  Here’s a quick look at what books Farnam Street readers purchased in July (alphabetical order).

30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans
(I interviewed the author, Karl Pillemer)

A Little History of the World: Illustrated Edition

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders
(Most of these are freely available. Reading Warren Buffett’s shareholder letters helped me understand business more than my MBA. It was also a lot cheaper.)

How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

It’s Not All About Me: The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind

On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein

Seneca, Volume IV, Epistles 1-65 (Loeb Classical Library No. 75)

The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking

The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking

Writing That Works; How to Communicate Effectively In Business

Still Hungry?

+  Prince Rupert’s drop (also known as Dutch tears) are glass objects are created by dripping molten glass into cold water. The glass cools into a tadpole-shaped droplet with a long, thin tail. The water rapidly cools the molten glass on the outside of the drop, while the inner portion of the drop remains significantly hotter. When the glass on the inside eventually cools, it contracts inside the already-solid outer part. This contraction sets up very large compressive stresses on the exterior, while the core of the drop is in a state of tensile stress.

+  The adult brain is far more malleable that we thought, and so learning can be child’s play if you know how. (↬ Dan Pink)

+ Peter Thiel – You are Not a Lottery Ticket (an interesting follow up to the link from last week: A wide-ranging conversation between Gary Kasporov and Peter Thiel)

+ Hear Vladimir Nabakov Read From the Penultimate Chapter of Lolita.

+ Before You Hit Send, Read This.

+ Why Mega-Projects Always End Up Costing More Than Expected (There are a host of fascinating incentives on the part of the companies, the politicians, as well as numerous biases such as the planning fallacy at play.)

+ The Psychology of Bidding on The Price is Right.