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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 7651779" data-attributes="member: 19675">Although a great deal of my nonfiction teaches me WHAT to think- books of history, science, biographies, etc.- in some ways, the most important ones are the ones that have taught me HOW to think.  My books of logic/philosophy, religion, economics, marketing, legal theory and applied psychology have been key.So, for instance, what I have learned about religion, logic/philosophy and economics shape my politics more than discussions of character and party platforms because they let me break down the assertions of politicians.  I can more easily spot logical flaws, assertions that are hypocritical to a politician's professed beliefs, or holes in their economic theories & policies.More specifically, books like Paco Underhill's Why We Buy let me break down the floorplans and stocking arrangements of the selling engines we call "stores", why certain colors and words get used in certain projects, and let me be more aware of what buttons salesmen are trying to push in me.  (If you sell things or buy things, its a must-read, IMHO.)Finally, I've been training in the field of mediation for the past few years.  Mediation is, at its core, applied psychology.  Even a basic intro class will illuminate a LOT of human behavior to you.  I learned the formal psychological terminolgies of things hinted at in my law and MBA Classes, and WHY we react the way we do.*  You learn new methods of listening and communication.  It won't make you a candidates or sainthood, but it will open your eyes to a better way.  You WILL notice a difference in your life. * Big lesson #1, and oft repeated: man is not a rational animal, man is an animal has the ability to act rationally.  In every study done, our animal, emotional minds react before our logical ones do.  That matters.</blockquote>

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