The authors exquisitely describe one of the most important psychological insights of our age: how we are all born with a rich natural inheritance – a partially formed mind containing a genetic treasure-house of innate knowledge patterns: the ‘human givens’. We all experience these givens as physical and emotional needs, powerful forces that must be satisfactorily met in our environment if our minds are to unfold and develop to their fullest potential. How these innate patterns connect up with the world, and unfold in it, determine our own and our family’s emotional health and happiness – as well as the maturity and humanity of the society we create around us. This book explores these human givens and looks at what each child and adult needs from the environment in order to develop well.

Cult thinking is not something out there—a rare affliction that infects a few people on the margin of society—but a disturbing phenomenon that most of us have experienced in some degree. In Them and Us: Cult Thinking and the Terrorist Threat, author and psychiatrist Arthur Deikman shows the connection between classic cult manipulation and the milder forms of group pressure that can be found in even the most staid organizations—churches and schools, mainstream political movements and corporate boardrooms.

In her foreword, Doris Lessing discusses the implications and repercussions of cult thinking on contemporary society.

For too long, people have taken their own ways of life for granted, ignoring the vast, international cultural community that surrounds them. Humankind must now embark on the difficult journey beyond culture, to the discovery of a lost self and a sense of perspective. By holding up a mirror, Edward T. Hall permits us to see the awesome grip of unconscious culture on our lives. With concrete examples ranging from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to the mating habits of the bowerbird of New Guinea, Hall shows us ourselves. Beyond Culture is a classic work about self-discovery; it is a voyage we all must embark on if humankind is to survive.

"We are deeply intuitive creatures whose gut feelings drive our strategic reasoning." This fundamental premise underpins this book, and it drives our sense of righteousness, our cultural identity and its inevitable politics. It's what Haidt calls "the hive", a collective sense of community that we need in order to be happy and content. However, this moral sense also blinds us. Until we understand better its impact on us - as well as the fact that the other side is also composed of good people who have something worthwhile to say - we will continue our troublesome behaviour in politics and society.

Moving beyond the classical left-right split in politics, David Goodhart demonstrates how the UK is today divided into two 'tribes' - 'Somewheres' who are rooted in a specific community and usually socially conservative, and 'Anywheres', mobile and more liberal-minded individuals. This division helps explain developments such as Brexit, and is echoed in the USA in the cleavage between red and blue states and the election of Donald Trump. Anywheres' tend to dominate the elites in many countries. However, their relative ignorance of the social values of their Somewhere compatriots, and of the power of cultural identity, results in divisive politics. Backed up by considerable evidence and statistics, Goodhart explains how an adjustment is required at several levels of society - from education to immigration - to resolve this schism.

Iain McGilchrist presents a fascinating exploration of the differences between the brain’s left and right hemispheres, and how those differences have affected society, history, and culture. McGilchrist draws on a vast body of recent research in neuroscience and psychology to reveal that the difference is profound: the left hemisphere is detail oriented, while the right has greater breadth, flexibility, and generosity. McGilchrist then takes the reader on a journey through the history of Western culture, illustrating the tension between these two worlds as revealed in the thought and belief of thinkers and artists from Aeschylus to Magritte. The left-brain, he argues, though a fine ‘emissary’ and crucial assistant to a naturally superior right brain, has become dominant in the modern era, setting the stage for a whole host of problems which threatens our existence.

According to Matthew Syed, Black Box Thinking is about the willingness and tenacity to investigate the lessons that often exist when we fail, but which we rarely exploit. It is about creating systems and cultures that enable organizations to learn from errors, rather than being threatened by them. Our society stigmatizes failure and seeks to cover it up and/or blame others rather than see the lessons and development potential embodied within. "A failure to learn from mistakes," he writes, "has been one of the single greatest obstacles to human progress.” A progressive attitude to failure, he adds, turns out to be a cornerstone of success for any institution.

Where do the best ideas come from? And how do we apply these ideas to the biggest problems and challenges we face? Rebel Ideas is a fascinating journey through the science of team performance. It draws on psychology, economics, anthropology and genetics, and takes lessons from a dazzling range of case-studies, including the catastrophic intelligence failings of the CIA before 9/11, a communication breakdown at the top of Mount Everest, and a moving tale of de-radicalization in America’s deep South. Syed’s book offers a radical blueprint for creative problem-solving. It challenges hierarchies, encourages constructive dissent and forces us to think again about where the best ideas come.

One of the world's most famous linguists examines the way we communicate in public - in the media, in politics, in our courtrooms, and classrooms - letting us see, in a new way, the forces that have powerfully shaped our lives.

The war on drugs, the battle of the sexes, political turf combat--in the argument culture, war metaphors pervade our talk and influence our thinking. We approach anything we need to accomplish as a fight between two opposing sides. In this fascinating book, Tannen shows how deeply entrenched this cultural tendency is, the forms it takes, and how it affects us every day--sometimes in useful ways, but often causing damage.