Manoj's Review on Books

Do wild animals breed in captivity ? Considering the range of species known and unknown to mankind, there can never be a singular answer. However, the carnivorous animals or the ones predatory in nature have an inclination to express celibacy in confinement. Freedom can be a valuable possession isn’t, the inherent nature of an animal to live or die on its own terms. There are theories of vitiated instincts under captivity but under an evolving nature of species, it's certainly hard to pinpoint.  Why should one refrain from adopting such a beautiful white cat with shining blue eyes ? The whimsical correlations of features come into play, it’s hard to train such cats, they can be hit by a moving vehicle due to lack of ability to dodge or may not even find them if they happen to be lost. Well, such cats predominantly happen to be deaf, they live in their own world devoid of a critical sense to navigate the world.  The attempt of Charles Darwin to explain the origin of species acr...

Lori Gottlieb is an established psychotherapist who encountered a break in relationship that overwhelmed her. She found it hard to endure the breakup and eventually took the funny option, consult a therapist for herself. In the year-long consulting process, Lori was taking therapy sessions for herself and consulted her own patients on the other side.  During the sessions, she understands that loss tends to be multilayered, actual loss is one part of it but what the loss represents is far more critical. A solution to the loss lies in completely acknowledging it’s representation, an aspect that’s easier said than done.  As the sessions progressed, Lori understood that the crux of many of her patients' issues happen to be reflected in her own life as well. A spark of thought that never occurred to her before undergoing therapy sessions herself.   Overall, the book walks a respective reader through the mental construct of Lori’s patients and her own self while drawing a ...

The title of the book is definitely intriguing if not provoking, how can someone be against empathy? It’s the ability to feel the pain, happiness or other forms of emotions experienced by another fellow human. The definition itself will provide sufficient defence in it’s favour while an argument against the said trait can at best be weak, which was my initial reaction. Having gone through Paul’s impressive online course on psychology, I was curious to understand his counterpoints.  When a large section of people have an inclination towards an emotional rather than rational appeal, can empathy prove to be an effective tool towards social equity. Empathy became a topic of discussion after a gun shootout against strangers by a juvenile student in the first decade of the 21st century. A clamorous public outcry with repeated media coverage of the said incident led to the projection of empathy as a critical tool for prevention of crimes thereby creating space for a fair and peaceful comm...

It was an interesting title that made me pick the book, more in anticipation of a funny novel that’s bound to showcase comical interplay of events between a couple and their relatives. However, once I dipped into the first few pages, it dawned on me that Oliver Sacks was a neurologist and am about to read interesting titbits of true stories cherry picked from the long list of the author’s patients. A curious case was brought in for Oliver’s diagnosis of the problem and identify a solution. The gentleman came in for a session with Oliver and exhibited remarkable expression of intelligence while having displayed noticeable competence towards his associated domain of work. Even after a long conversation no issues emerged to the surface until he was asked to recognize personalities. The gentleman was completely at sea and the idea of a face recognition seemed far fetched to him, a neurological condition named Prosopagnosia. As he turned to retreat back home after the session, he strangely...

  Chris Voss had spent 24 years in the FBI with a predominant role of negotiating life threatening hostage situations. Contrary to negotiation involving a business deal or even a low stake rental agreement, a ransom demand in return for release of hostages is a different ball game altogether. However, Chris having negotiated countless hostage situations, picks up the nuances learnt during those tense encounters and draws a framework that can be applied in non hostile environments as well.  In the 1980’s, business schools even with the likes of Harvard proposed the theory that humans are rational actors and try to gain maximum value for themselves during a negotiation. However, research during subsequent decades proved to be contrary for the following reasons (i) Framing Effect - Depending on how a proposal is framed, the response evoked from the recipient can be different (ii) Loss Aversion - An inclination towards unwarranted risk for the sake of avoiding a loss (iii) Cogniti...

Whenever a group of Giraffes feed on the leaves of acacia trees, scientists observe an interesting response, they release toxic substances into their leaves to ward off the feeding animal. An appropriate response to save oneself but the sequence of response doesn’t stop at that point, the respective acacia tree emits a scent called pheromones. It’s meant to alert the neighbouring acacia trees of an upcoming danger in the form of Giraffe and the community soon begins to release toxins in their leaves. It’s a classic example of a synchronised community at work, leading to a flip in our understanding that trees are sentient beings after all.  When a caterpillar takes a hearty bite of a leaf, the damaged tissues around the leaf sends electrical signals on the negative impact. However, the signals are sent at the rate of a third an inch per minute which establishes the fact that they live on a really slow lane. More aligned towards Satyajit Ray’s mode of unhurried film making rather tha...