The Hacking of the American Mind by Robert H. Lustig

He also reiterates ideas from his previous books, which share an obsession with a generalized “metabolic syndrome” as the core American affliction and sugar as the most obviously guilty culprit. Lustig’s strongest tool in making this argument is his ability to lucidly explain neuroscience, specifically regarding the neural pathways developed by pleasure-seeking behaviors and cortisol-driving chronic stress. The result is a “death spiral” for physical and psychological health. What we say here about books applies to all formats we cover.Pediatric endocrinologist Lustig ( The Fat Chance Cookbook, with Heather Millar) makes his unoriginal thesis very clear up front: Americans are miserable and suffer from addiction, depression, and illness because American culture, corporations, and pop psychology promote dopamine-based pleasure and reward over serotonin-mediated contentment and happiness. We look at every kind of content that may matter to our audience: books, but also articles, reports, videos and podcasts. *getAbstract is summarizing much more than books. For instance, it may offer decent advice in some areas while being repetitive or unremarkable in others. A helpful and/or enlightening book, in spite of its obvious shortcomings. is particularly well structured.ĥ – Solid. A helpful and/or enlightening book that stands out by at least one aspect, e.g. contains uncommonly novel ideas and presents them in an engaging manner.Ħ – Notable. A helpful and/or enlightening book that combines two or more noteworthy strengths, e.g. presents the latest findings in a topical field and is written by a renowned expert but lacks a bit in style.ħ – Good. A helpful and/or enlightening book that has a substantial number of outstanding qualities without excelling across the board, e.g. A helpful and/or enlightening book that is extremely well rounded, has many strengths and no shortcomings worth mentioning.Ĩ – Very good. Often an instant classic and must-read for everyone.ĩ – Superb. A helpful and/or enlightening book that, in addition to meeting the highest standards in all pertinent aspects, stands out even among the best.

Here's what the ratings mean:ġ0 – Brilliant. Books we rate below 5 won’t be summarized. Our rating helps you sort the titles on your reading list from solid (5) to brilliant (10). We rate each piece of content on a scale of 1–10 with regard to these two core criteria.

Helpful – You’ll take-away practical advice that will help you get better at what you do. Whatever we select for our library has to excel in one or the other of these two core criteria:Įnlightening – You’ll learn things that will inform and improve your decisions. At getAbstract, we summarize books* that help people understand the world and make it better.

The Hacking of the American Mind by Robert H. Lustig