Interview with Michael Banissy, author of When We Touch: Handshakes, hugs, high fives and the new science behind why touch matters
Michael Banissy, author of When We Touch: Handshakes, hugs, high fives and the new science behind why touch matters recommends a superb set of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Michael's book:
Description from Bookshop.org:
Why is a hugged person a healthier person? (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
When We Touch: Handshakes, hugs, high fives and the new science behind why touch matters
Why do high-fiving teams win more matches?
How does a shared handshake make you more likely to tell the truth?
We rely on touch every day of our lives. It makes us who we are. It helps us connect with those around us. And yet touch between individuals can be fraught with confusion and misunderstanding.
In When We Touch, social neuroscientist Professor Michael Banissy blends expert scientific insights with anecdotes from 90s rom coms to office politics to explore the new science of human touch.
His groundbreaking new book explains how touch impacts every part of our lives, from why touch is essential for healthy development, to how kissing might help us choose a genetically beneficial mate to how holding hands with a loved one can help us feel less pain.
Banissy tackles the nuances of appropriate touch across culture and gender, investigates our 'touch personas' and why they differ, and offers solutions to the 'touch hunger' that has become a modern epidemic in our increasingly distanced world.
From the most inconsequential to the most salient moments of human contact, When We Touch is a fascinating and entertaining exploration of our most overlooked sense.
Buy On:
Easons €23.79
Bookshop.org UK £16.14
Waterstones £16.99
Wordery $16.75
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
The Practice of Groundedness by Brad Stulberg is my go-to book right now. It’s about approaches to build sustainable, lasting success grounded in values and behaviours like presence, patience, and perspective-taking. Now and again, you come across a book you’ll keep returning to, and Brad’s book is one of those. Filled with actionable advice and evidence - it is wonderfully written.
Description from Bookshop.org:
Playing into the always-on, never enough hustle culture ultimately takes a serious toll. While the high of occasional wins can keep you going for a while, angst, restlessness, frayed relationships, exhaustion, and even substance abuse can be the unwanted side effects of an obsession with outward performance.
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The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds—Not Crushes—Your Soul
In The Practice of Groundedness, bestselling author Brad Stulberg offers a path for which peak performance and well-being and fulfillment can emerge and prevail for a lifetime. At the heart of this model is groundedness--a practice that values presence over rote productivity, accepts that progress is nonlinear, and prioritizes long-term values and fulfillment over short-term gain. To be grounded is to possess a firm and unwavering foundation, an internal strength and self-confidence that sustains you through ups and downs and from which deep and enduring success can be found. Groundedness does not eliminate ambition and striving; rather, it situates these qualities and channels them in more meaningful ways.
Interweaving case studies, modern science, and time-honored lessons from ancient wisdom traditions such as Buddhism, Stoicism, and Taoism, Stulberg teaches readers how to cultivate the habits and practices of a more grounded life. Readers will learn:
Why patience is the key to getting where you want to go faster--in work and life--and how to develop it, pushing back against the culture's misguided obsession with speed and "hacks."
How to utilize the lens of the wise observer in order to overcome delusion and resistance to clearly see and accept where you are--which is the key to more effectively getting where you want to go
Why embracing vulnerability is the key to genuine strength and confidence
The critical importance of "deep community," or cultivating a sense of belonging and connection to people, places, and causes.
Provocative and practical, The Practice of Groundedness is the necessary corrective to the frenetic pace and endemic burnout resulting from contemporary definitions of success. It offers a new--and better--way.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £23.74
Bookshop.org US $25.11
Waterstones £24.99
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
I’m currently reading Alison Jones’ Exploratory Writing. It’s an excellent book about how writing for ourselves can be one of the most powerful thinking tools we have to support various aspects of life, like creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, and mental health. It’s a lovely mix of evidence and exercises to help people understand and make the most of writing regularly as a smart thinking approach.
Description from Bookshop.org:
Everything we’re learning about how we function best as humans in the digital age is pointing towards one of our oldest technologies: the pen and the page.
Exploratory writing – writing for ourselves, not for others, writing when we don’t know exactly what it is we want to say – is one of the most powerful and lightweight thinking tools we have at our disposal. It’s also been, until now, one of the most overlooked.
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Exploratory Writing: Everyday magic for life and work
But the world’s most influential leaders are increasingly using the techniques in this book to support the key skills of the 21st century – self-mastery, creativity, focus, solution-finding, collaboration – and so can you.
Alison Jones has been helping business leaders identify and articulate what matters over a 30-year career in publishing and as a coach. The founder of Practical Inspiration Publishing and host of The Extraordinary Business Book Club podcast and community, she is passionate about the power of writing to change ourselves and the world.
Buy On:
Easons €20.99
Bookshop.org UK £14.24
Bookshop.org US $20.45
Waterstones £14.99
Wordery $16.49
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
So many books come to mind, I think I’d have to go for Charlotte’s Web. It’s a classic for good reasons.
Description from Bookshop.org:
This beloved book by E. B. White, author of Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, is a classic of children's literature that is "just about perfect." This paper-over-board edition includes a foreword by two-time Newbery winning author Kate DiCamillo.
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Charlotte's Web
Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.
E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. It contains illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White's Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, among many other books.
Whether enjoyed in the classroom or for homeschooling or independent reading, Charlotte's Web is a proven favorite.
Buy On:
Easons €7.69
Bookshop.org UK £9.49
Bookshop.org US $9.29
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $10.68
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
Paper every time. I might be biased as a touch scientist, but something about the feel of a book in your hands helps ground you in the moment of reading. I don’t get the same immersion from other formats.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
Again, there are so many to choose from. Can I pick two? David’s is a great little independent bookshop in Hertfordshire in the UK, where I grew up. Good people, books, and events there. Then on the other side of the Atlantic is The Last Bookstore in LA – the selection of books, vibe, and staff are all great.
Many thanks to Michael for recommending a superb set of books! Please don't forget to check out Divided: Racism, When We Touch: Handshakes, hugs, high fives and the new science behind why touch matters.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Orion Publishing Co (When We Touch), Random House USA Inc (The Practice of Groundedness), Practical Inspiration Publishing (Exploratory Writing), Penguin Random House Children's UK (Charlotte's Web).
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