What BeSci Nerds Are Reading This Summer

Welcome to the Shaping Wealth behavioral finance book hub! The idea is pretty simple: We live in a golden age of writing and thinking about behavioral finance–really, behavioral science more broadly–but dark times with our attention spans for reading and focus. So why not point you toward some great ideas that are shaping the minds of investors, advisors, consumers, citizens, and other humans. Let’s aim to do this every quarter and see how it goes!

With no further fanfare needed, here are a few suggested titles for my fellow BeSci nerds (erm, you) for some fun summer reading. 

1. Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick. I’m a big Mollick fan. His blog, One Useful Thing, is a can’t miss for lucid takes on the hottest topic on the planet. I liked this book-length treatment because it articulates all the roles AI can play in our lives, as coach, co-work, teacher, and more. I’m kind of obsessed with AI and all of its consequences for work and society, so Mollick’s framing of what’s at stake and what’s possible. It is very useful. 

2. Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today, by Hal Hershfield. Hal is the pioneer in research on who we might be years down the road. The more seriously and lovingly we regard our future selves, the better decisions we tend to make now. This profound thesis has so many intriguing implications for how we live our lives every day. Hal, who is also an Advisory Board member here at Shaping Wealth, makes complex neuroscience and psychology come alive in a plainly-written, anecdote-rich treatment.

3. The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions, by Michael Norton. I love books about habits. Behavioral finance typically focuses on good decision-making, but a lot of the action in driving good life outcomes are based on habits, which are basically decisions on autopilot. (The brain uses a ton of energy, so it tries to economize by habituating otherwise brain-cramping decisions.) Norton, who I’ve long been a fan of for his work on money and happiness, elevates the discussion of habits to one around rituals, where we find meaning in purpose in the mundane. A good read for those who want to live with more intention.

4. Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, by Charles Duhigg. “Every meaningful conversation is made up of countless small choices. There are fleeting moments when the right question, or a vulnerable admission, or an empathetic word can completely change a dialogue.” Duhigg, a great writer who has also written about habits, shows us how the best communicators break down our exchanges into three levels (I’ll leave you hanging) and that there are many micro-skills each of us can learn in order to connect better with others.

5. How Not to Invest: The Ideas, Numbers, and Behaviors that Destroy Wealth–and How to Avoid Them, by Barry Ritholtz. I recently had Barry on my Chopping Wealth podcast to discuss this comprehensive tour around every imaginable way we (might) stink as investors. It’s at once easy-to-read, funny, irreverent, and deeply informed by history and behavioral finance. Barry enumerates how to be (in the words of our joint hero, Charlie Munger) “less stupid.” Avoiding mistakes and letting the market compound one’s decent judgment is a surer way to build wealth than trying to outsmart everyone else.