Interview with Ian Leslie, author of Conflicted : Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together
Ian Leslie, author of Conflicted : Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together recommends some fascinating books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Ian's book:
Review from Book Depository:
What is the secret of happy relationships?
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Conflicted : Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together
How do companies build collaborative cultures?
What lies behind some of the greatest scientific and creative breakthroughs?
The surprising answer is: conflict.
Insight and empathy spring from the clash of different perspectives. In a world where it's easier than ever for people to share their opinions, we should be reaping the benefits of diverse views. Instead, we too often find ourselves mired in hostility or - worse - avoiding disagreement altogether. Ian Leslie argues that this is because most of us never learn how to air our differences in a way that leads to progress.
Conflicted draws essential lessons on how to disagree well from world-class experts: interrogators, hostage negotiators, divorce mediators, diplomats and addiction counsellors. It tells inspiring stories of productive disagreements, from the invention of the aeroplane to the success of The Rolling Stones, and combines them with fascinating insights from the science of human communication.
Whether it's at work, at home, or in public, confronting our differences is the only way to make the most of them. Conflicted is about how to do that successfully.
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Easons €21.00
Book Depository €12.63
Waterstones £12.99
Wordery $17.09
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
There are so many to mention but if forced to pick one I'd say The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. It combines a truly gripping narrative - of a cholera outbreak in London in the nineteenth century and how it was solved - with big ideas on science, medicine, and the future of cities. It's more relevant now than ever.
Review From Book Depository:
It's the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure-garbage removal, clean water, sewers-necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate are spurred to action-and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time.
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The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking, Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of disease, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.
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Book Depository €12.95
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Wordery $15.57
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
My favourite recent example is Range by David Epstein: an evidence-based hymn to the power of generalists in a world of increasing specialisation, packed with fascinating research and brilliantly told stories.
Review from Book Depository:
A powerful argument for how to succeed in any field: develop broad interests and skills while everyone around you is rushing to specialize.
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Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
From the '10,000 hours rule' to the power of Tiger parenting, we have been taught that success in any field requires early specialization and many hours of deliberate practice. And, worse, that if you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up with those who got a head start.
This is completely wrong.
In this landmark book, David Epstein shows you that the way to succeed is by sampling widely, gaining a breadth of experiences, taking detours, experimenting relentlessly, juggling many interests - in other words, by developing range.
Studying the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors and scientists, Epstein demonstrates why in most fields - especially those that are complex and unpredictable - generalists, not specialists are primed to excel. No matter what you do, where you are in life, whether you are a teacher, student, scientist, business analyst, parent, job hunter, retiree, you will see the world differently after you've read Range. You'll understand better how we solve problems, how we learn and how we succeed. You'll see why failing a test is the best way to learn and why frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers.
As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, Range shows how people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive and why spreading your knowledge across multiple domains is the key to your success, and how to achieve it.
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Easons €9.49
Book Depository €9.25
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $12.80
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
Like generations of British schoolchildren, I loved everything by Roald Dahl, who told anarchic, gleeful, very naughty stories. My favourite was probably The Twits.
Review From Book Depository:
Mr Twit is a foul and smelly man with bits of cornflake and sardine in his beard. (All links earn commission from purchases that help fund this site. Prices accurate at time of writing)
The Twits
Mrs Twit is a horrible old hag with a glass eye.
Together they make the nastiest couple you could ever hope not to meet.
Down in their garden, the Twits keep Muggle-Wump the monkey and his family locked in a cage. But not for much longer, because the monkeys are planning to trick the terrible Twits, once and for all . . .
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Easons €7.99
Book Depository €8.58
Waterstones £8.99
Wordery $10.32
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I much prefer paper books, for their tactility, sense of permanence, visibility on display, and the fact that I can make notes in the margins.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
Daunt's of Marylebone, a fittingly beautiful temple to reading. I always leave with five times as many books as I wanted when I went in.
Many thanks to Ian for recommending some fascinating books! Please don't forget to check out Ian's book Conflicted : Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Faber & Faber (Conflicted), Penguin Books Ltd (The Ghost Map), Pan Macmillan (Range), Penguin Random House Children's UK (The Twits).
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