Required reading

Education, society, etc.

• The Winner-Take-All Society: Why the Few at the Top Get So Much More Than the Rest of Us , Frank, Cook () - This book describes the phenomenon that wealth and resources are becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few and discusses reasons for this (increased mobility, communication, etc.).
• Excellence Without a Soul: Does Liberal Education Have a Future?, Harry Lewis () - Former Dean of Harvard College describes the increased commercialization of undergraduate education and how Harvard has become increasingly pre-professional. Rather than being an institution of learning where young people come to explore their intellectual interests, Harvard is becoming a mass producer of "success." Lewis describes the history of the Harvard curriculum and the education trends in recent times. I agree with much of what he says.

Human-human interactions

• Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition), Robert Cialdini () - This book discusses techniques you can use to influence others, and perhaps more importantly, techniques others (advertisers etc.) use to influence you. An example of an "influence technique" is consistency: to get you to do something, someone may ask you a series of questions where you create a certain image of yourself, and then doing the thing they want (signing the petition, buying the project) is the only way to be consistent with that image. (I've heard you are a good citizen. Good citizens like you always do what's best for the community. Dogs in public are really harming this community. Will you sign this petition to ban dogs?)
  
• Honest Signals: How They Shape Our World (Bradford Books), Sandy Pentland () - MIT Media Lab researchers have developed a "sociometer," a device that measures the amount of movement, voice modulation, etc. a person has during interactions. They discuss their findings that the sociometer alone is a surprisingly accurate predictor of the success of acceptance of business propoals, exchange of phone numbers during speed dating, etc.
• You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, Deborah Tannen () - While men tend to perceive conversation as ways of achieving dominance, women often view conversation as a way to cooperate. Georgetown linguist Tannen discusses this and other reasons for miscommunication and conflict regarding communication between women and men.

Women in society

• Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, Ariel Levy () - Journalist Levy points out that women who objectify themselves or other women in order to get ahead cause society to have less respect for women. Levy highlights egregious cases of successful women who betray women and discusses the general objectification of women in American society.
• Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, Rachel Simmons () - Rhodes scholar Simmons describes how girls use tactics of "hidden aggression" (backbiting, teasing, withholding friendship) as ways to oppress girls who may stand out for being too aggressive, too smart, too pretty, etc. She argues that this is caused by societal oppression of girls: telling girls they must be "nice" and "perfect" prevents open competition and causes this more complex and potentially more traumatic mode of social interaction.
• A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf () - A beautifully written piece that examines why there had not been many great female artists, why there is inequality between men and women, and why women deserve to be given equal respect.

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