Social psychology, persuasion and influence

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madn

“Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay (only the first two chapters the title is worth the price of admission!)”Peter Cundill

The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind

“The Crowd, written in 1895 by Gustave Le Bon, is probably the most instrumental book in framing my ability to go against the grain of conventional thought and not feel insecure.”Frank Martin

The True Believer

“My favourite book to recommend is The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer. There is no discussion about investing, but it is extremely helpful in understanding…”Joe Rosenberg

Groupthink

“Years ago Irving Janis, a Yale psychologist, wrote a wonderful little book called Groupthink, which compellingly highlights its dangers. It is full of fascinating case studies of the phenomenon, but…”Barton Biggs

Private Truths, Public Lies

“So this is one of the all time great books. Incredible.”Marc Andreessen

Give and Take

“Adam Grant's research on how givers, takers, and matchers perform across careers and organizations. Hoffman has discussed generosity as a structural feature of successful networks and recommended this as the empirical case for why reciprocity norms shape long-run outcomes.”Reid Hoffman

The Laws of Human Nature

“If you've ever been curious about psychology or human behavior, it is by far the most comprehensive and memorable book I've found.”Andrew Wilkinson

David and Goliath

“…books I've recommended, highlighted to death, or forced on friends.”Andrew Wilkinson

Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out o

“One of the most useful leadership books he's read; he bought copies for his entire Slack exec team (70+ people) to align them on a shared mindset.”Stewart Butterfield

The Righteous Mind

“Recommended on Marginal Revolution and discussed across several Conversations with Tyler episodes. Cowen finds Haidt's moral foundations framework more useful as a descriptive tool than as a normative one — he cares less about Haidt's prescriptions for political reconciliation than about the cross-cultural data showing how differently moral intuitions are organized across populations.”Tyler Cowen

Wanting

“He has championed René Girard's theory of mimetic desire "and how we can use it in our lives as founders.”Garry Tan