Interview with Pete Davis, author of Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing
Pete Davis, author of Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing recommends some fantastic books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Pete's book:
Review from Book Depository:
A profoundly inspiring and transformative argument that purposeful commitment can be a powerful force in our age of restlessness and indecision. Most of us have had this experience: browsing through countless options on Netflix, unable to commit to watching any given movie--and losing so much time skimming reviews and considering trailers that it's too late to watch anything at all. In a book borne of an idea first articulated in a viral commencement address, Pete Davis argues that this is the defining characteristic of the moment: keeping our options open. We are stuck in "Infinite Browsing Mode"--swiping through endless dating profiles without committing to a single partner, jumping from place to place searching for the next big thing, and refusing to make any decision that might close us off from an even better choice we imagine is just around the corner.
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Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing
This culture of restlessness and indecision, Davis argues, is causing tension in the lives of young people today: We want to keep our options open, and yet we yearn for the purpose, community, and depth that can only come from making deep commitments. In Dedicated, Davis examines this quagmire, as well as the counterculture of committers who have made it to the other side. He shares what we can learn from the "long-haul heroes" who courageously commit themselves to particular places, professions, and causes--who relinquish the false freedom of an open future in exchange for the deep fulfillment of true dedication. Weaving together examples from history, personal stories, and applied psychology, Davis's candid and humble words offer a meaningful answer to our modern frustrations and a practical path to joy.
Buy On:
Book Depository €19.18
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
I love Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World. It’s an exploration of two types of relationships: gift relationships and market relationships. Market relationships, Hyde writes, are based on short-term, one-off exchanges. You get something, I get something, immediately. These exchanges can be made between strangers, because they don’t require commitment. But gift relationships have a different set of rules: They involve the circulation of goods around long-term communities. They require trust and commitment. To receive a gift leaves you closer, perhaps more obligated, to the gift-giver than you were before. And unlike market transactions, gifts have a synthetic power: When gifts are exchanged between strangers, they tend to establish lasting relationships.
Review from Book Depository:
The Gift brilliantly argues for the importance of creativity in our increasingly money-driven society. Reaching deep into literature, anthropology and psychology Lewis Hyde's modern masterpiece has at its heart the simple and important idea that a 'gift' can inspire and change our lives.
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The book gave me this new lens through which to see all the relationships around me. One of my neighbors has a contractor friend who helps fix things around her house. Their relationship is a complicated dance. He never accepts payment, so she bakes for him, gives him elaborate Christmas and birthday presents, has him and his wife over for meals, and hires (and overpays) some of his friends for other odd jobs. The whole exchange would be simpler if she just used a handy-man app. But that’s not the point. Their complex exchange keeps gifts circulating and deepens their relationship over time. You’re not going to get that from an app. And when it comes to happiness, I’ve seen a pretty strong connection between daily joy and the number of gift relationships you are in.
The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World
Buy On:
Easons €18.19
Book Depository €8.86
Waterstones £12.99
Wordery $15.45
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
I recently read The Knowledge Economy by Roberto Unger, which is a visionary, inspiring, and illuminating account of where our economy is — and where it should go.
Review From Book Depository:
Revolutionary account of the transformative potential of the knowledge economy A revolutionary practice of production--the knowledge economy--has emerged in our time. It appears in every sector, not just in high-tech industry, but so far only as a series of insular vanguards that exclude the vast majority of workers and businesses. In this book Roberto Mangabeira Unger explores the hidden workings and the transformative potential of the knowledge economy. He describes the radical changes in economic and political institutions, and in ways of thinking, that could bring knowledge-intensive production to the whole economy--and inaugurate a period of accelerated and socially inclusive economic growth.
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The Knowledge Economy
Buy On:
Easons €28.00
Book Depository €23.41
Waterstones £12.99
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
I'm a huge Roald Dahl fan — loved the Witches, The BFG, and Danny, The Champion of the World.
Review From Book Depository:
From the World's No. 1 Storyteller, The Witches is a children's classic that has captured young reader's imaginations for generations.
This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches.
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The Witches
Grandmamma loves to tell about witches. Real witches are the most dangerous of all living creatures on earth. There's nothing they hate so much as children, and they work all kinds of terrifying spells to get rid of them. Her grandson listens closely to Grandmamma's stories-but nothing can prepare him for the day he comes face-to-face with The Grand High Witch herself!
Buy On:
Easons €9.49
Book Depository €8.86
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $13.69
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I've been trying to transition to iPad because it's easy to highlight your favorite passages.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
My local store in my hometown of Falls Church, Virginia — One More Page books.
Many thanks to Pete for recommending some fantastic books! Please don't forget to check out Pete's book Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (Dedicated), Canongate Books Ltd (The Gift), Verso Books (The Knowledge Economy), The Witches (Penguin Random House Children's UK)
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