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The Observe and Rapport Newsletter
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A weekly guide of my favorite books, articles, products, and lifestyle habits.
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March 8th, 2024 | by Kyle Brennan
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Thought of the Week
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In his book, Act of Meaning, psychologist Jerome Bruner distinguishes between two different modes of thinking:
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Paradigmatic Thinking
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Analytical. Making an argument. Amassing data, collecting evidence, and offering hypotheses.
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Narrative Thinking
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Understanding the individual in front of you. Capturing a person's unique presence and character. How someone struggles and strives.
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People respond more to emotion than to statistics. It's why podcasts have become such a popular medium.
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We grew up on talk shows with multiple talking heads spouting pre-meditated facts, figures, and mantras for four-minute segments without ever showing their true selves.
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When someone is allowed the time and space to tell you their story, you get a much more personal, complicated, and attractive image of the person.
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You get to experience their experience.
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What I'm Reading
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I was daunted by the length of this book at first (550 pages), but @walter_isaacson has a way of making the boring interesting. The detailed descriptions of Einstein’s theories and research went a bit over my head at times, but that didn’t in any way damper my enjoyment of the book
What I loved about Isaacon’s book here is the way it delicately balances three aspects: the life of Einstein from a strictly biographical angle, the examination of his scientific works like special and general relativity, and the discussion of how Einstein impacted and viewed the scientific zeitgeist of the early 20th century —particularly within the field of physics. Einstein believed deeply in intellectual freedom and he was a nonconformist first and foremost.
While it wasn’t my favorite biography, I was fascinated to learn as much as I could about one of the most fascinating minds of the last century.
Rating: 3.8 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Article I'm Reading
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Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) has been the subject of a lot of criticism, and maybe some of it is warranted. But you can't knock her effort to speak the truth and push back against what has become "normal" in our modern progressive society.
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In this excerpt from her latest book, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up, Shrier explains how the mental health industry has transformed the way we teach, treat, discipline, and even talk to our kids. "American kids are the freest, most privileged kids in all of history. They are also the saddest, most anxious, depressed, and medicated generation on record."
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She reveals that many kids today are given counselors and mental health experts who encourage students to talk about their feelings, trauma, and anxiety. While that sounds good on paper, it may actually be leading to more antidepressant prescriptions for children and the proliferation of mental health diagnoses. This has led to a staggering number of kids who are lonely, lost, sad, and fearful of growing up.
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My favorite quote from the article:
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“If you want to, let’s say, climb a mountain, if you start asking yourself after two steps, ‘How do I feel?’ you’ll stay at the bottom,” Dr. Linden said.
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Documentary I'm Watching
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In August 2020 while on a trip to Tomsk (South Siberia), Aleksei Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist, was poisoned by a prohibited military-grade Novichok nerve agent. Later the same month he was evacuated to Germany for treatment, unconscious and in a critical condition. Navalny returned to Russia on January 17, 2021, and was immediately taken into custody. This documentary covers those two major life events before his recent death on February 16, 2024.
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The final scene of this documentary gives me chills.
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The interviewer asks Navalny something like, "Should you die upon returning to Russia, what message do you want to leave behind."
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Aleksei responds with a lukewarm platitude in English, which is polite but unmoving: "Don't give up."
The interviewer then asks him to answer again, this time in Russian.
Aleksei's tone changes and he becomes more authentic and natural in his native tongue:
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"Listen, I've got something very obvious to tell you. You're not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong. We need to utilize this power to not give up, to remember we are a huge power that is being oppressed by these bad dudes. We don't realize how strong we actually are. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. So don't be inactive. "
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Borrow Kindle Books for Free
The Library Extension has changed how I find and borrow ebooks. While browsing Amazon or Goodreads, this browser add-on indicates whether a book is available at my local library. With a simple click on the "borrow" button, the book is sent directly to my Kindle. It requires only a library account to use. (Screenshot)
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Quote I'm Pondering
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“If people are afraid to say what they really think, they will instead lie. Therefore, punishing speech – whether by taking offence or by threatening censorship – is ultimately a request to be deceived.”
— @G_S_Bhogal
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Keith and Kyle sit down to discuss social psychological concepts such as Collective Fallacy and Preference Falsification, Different approaches to building meaningful relationships with others, how to be financially responsible while also maximizing joy and fulfillment in life experiences, and the importance of spending quality time with loved ones.
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Books mentioned in this episode:
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Check Out My Amazon Favorites Bookstore
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Browse my favorite book selections hand-curated by me. I also earn commissions so if you buy anything, those earnings get reinvested right back into this fancy newsletter ;)
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Kyle's Published Work
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33 Life Lessons on My 33rd Birthday
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Thirty-three was a big one. Mostly because I became a dad. Our daughter was born on New Year’s Eve — a fitting arrival for a kid destined to reset everything. It’s been a beautiful, if slightly sleep-deprived blur ever since. I’ve only been “Dad” for less than ten months, but if I’m being honest, I’ve been preparing for the role for over …
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Depth Over Downloads: Why Spending Time with Books Still Matters
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Everyone wants faster information. But no one asks if faster information leads to better understanding — or a better life. In the age of AI and tweet-sized wisdom, we’ve confused information with transformation. But there’s a massive difference between knowing what a book says and being changed by it. The Delusion of Instant Learning In a recent interview, political journalist Ezra Klein admitted he once believed …
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The Jack Reacher Approach to Never Being Caught Off Guard
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There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, ‘Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,’ and an optimist who says, ‘Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.’ Either way, nothing happens.” —Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia I don’t read much fiction, but I’ve always been hooked on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. He’s not your typical …
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