Ian Leslie

The author combines the results of research with anecdotes to provide an illuminating volume on why curiosity is so important to lifelong learning and our advancement as a global society. He examines the risks inherent in some current technological trends, such as smart phones and internet searches, and how to overcome them. He looks at what arouses curiosity and what quenches it.

Topics include:
- Three primary types of curiosity (diversive, epistemic, and empathic)
- The differences between puzzles and mysteries
- The psychology of curiosity and how it is revealed at an early age
- How we can cultivate curiosity in our children and ourselves
- Trends in education (he has some definite views on where we need to improve)

This book is a combination of psychology, sociology, history, and science. It is entertaining and informative. Some of his theories about education are different from other material I have read, so I am off to do more research. Ian Leslie has spurred my curiosity about curiosity.
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How to Disagree: Lesson on Productive Conflict at Work and Home

Originally published as Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together and retitled How to Disagree. I think the new title is a better title, as well as being far more positive and Ian Leslie has plenty to say. How to disagree is how to be able to move your thinking forward without conflict, and that disagreeing can be a positive. It helps to move thinking forward, not back.

Ian Leslie rightfully argues that constructive disagreement is an effective and essential way in learning which in an academic setting it most definitely is. It is through disagreements we grow and learn and negotiate but there does have to be some sort of connection first. Healthy arguments are great for all relationships and this book certainly explores those ideas.

One essential arguments Leslie puts forward is that emotions and ideologies are often not rational, especially emotions which are by their very nature not rational. Trying to telling someone to calm down to do something because could push them against us and we know we would probably do the same.

The book's argument is that without disagreement we don't progress, a point made beautifully clear through many examples, throughout the book. This book even has a toolkit that you can use in your own life and something which I will do.

An interesting look at how disagreements can be good for us.… (más)

This book not only taught me how to disagree with people productively, it also taught me what I’ve been doing wrong in my interactions with a particularly vexatious person in my life.

This is a very well written and engaging book. Often, when I read a book that is labeled as a business book, it consists of a central thesis that could have been stated in a short article. The thesis is then padded with examples and restatements that make reading the book tedious and boring. Not here. Leslie weaves in the main point of each chapter with engaging and enlightening illustrations that serve to make that concept crystal clear. If only all “business” books could be like this one, the genre wouldn’t get such a bad rap.

As I read the chapters in this book, I was reminded of a person who I recently cut out of my life. This person is an inveterate conspiracy theorist, addicted to contrarianism to the point that he believes that Covid vaccines turn people into butterflies. As I read each chapter in the book, my mind would go to some error I’d made when interacting with this person. I felt pretty bad about this until I reached Chapter 14. That chapter said that not all disagreements are worth your time. It’s OK to refuse to engage with people who consistently operate in bad faith or who are totally closed to new ideas. While I won’t talk to this person ever agaon if I can help it, I’m going to remember these tips when I engage with others.

This is an eye opening book, accessible yet packed with too many insights to mention. I highly recommend it.… (más)