MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Takeaways:

This is an article detailing seven books that “investigate what our society values and what it’s built on, driving us to the monumental, the sublime, the quintessentially human.” They are:

1. Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death by Nick Lane: This book is an exploration of the genesis of life on earth. Lane focuses on millions of years of evolution and the planet’s twists and turns—the Great Oxidation Event, the Cambrian explosion—while profiling visionary scientists. He beautifully lays out the sheer improbability of our biosphere, explains why life may be so rare in our universe, and considers death as a process, not simply as an instantaneous end.
2. David Smith: The Art and Life of a Transformational Sculptorby Michael Brenson: This biography of the versatile 20th Century American sculptor David Smith provides a fascinating look at the mind and profile of a legendary artist, but also explores the tensions between abstraction and representation– while richly conveying the backdrop of 20th Century political and cultural change that took place during Smith’s career.
3. Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty: Looking to the past to explain modern capitalism, this surprise bestseller investigates the forces that cause and intensify economic stratification. Calling on historical events and thinkers of the 20th Century, Piketty credits capitalism with improving efficiency– while creating economic divides that push the bounds of morality.
4. The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed: This is a meticulously researched look at the relationship between founding father Thomas Jefferson and a family he enslaved, the Hemingses. Gordon-Reed, a law professor and historian, unspools this saga in her magisterial Pulitzer Prize–winning exploration of this relationship. This incredible, galling story shows that Jefferson’s life is inextricable from the Hemingses– just as America’s history is inextricable from slavery.
5. Democracy’s Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them, by Dan Bouk – This is a cultural history about how we collect and process info about our population, and how we might learn from it. Written by an accomplished data analyst, the book shows that the explosion of cities and suburbs poses challenges to our frail—and, in some cases, outdated—political institutions. As sweeping demographic change has escalated in recent decades—a surge in immigration and a sorting of the parties between cities and suburbs for Democrats and rural counties for Republicans—so too have disputed elections and the threat of gridlock. This searching, textured inquiry illuminates how much simple population figures can teach us.
6. Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet, by Jennifer Homans: This 2010 history charts the arc of ballet from its origins in Renaissance Italian and French courts to the dawn of the 21st century. It takes the time to insightfully look at the way ballet as an art form has intersected with political ideas over the past 500 years. Overall, this book is not just a cultural history of the art of ballet, it becomes a prism through which to contemplate the human physique and human capability as a whole.
7. The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human, by Siddhartha Mukherjee: Mukherjee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning oncologist whose new book is an expansive study of the cell– the common denominator of all life– and its dizzying range of types and functions. Cells are anything but simple structures, he argues; rather, they’re sinuous ecosystems, and they come together at a dazzling scale in the body. Understanding the cell is the key to an age of personalized medicine, Mukherjee argues: Are we ready to embrace it?

From Hamilton Cain at The Atlantic:
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Five takeaways:

1. Inflammation is the immune system’s response to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, toxic compounds, or irradiation. It is a defense mechanism that removes injurious stimuli to cells and initiates the healing process. What many people don’t know about it, is that chronic inflammation can lead to many diseases.
2. Inflammation often goes undetected until it becomes a bigger, life-affecting issue. We often fail to understand how inflammation relates to our particular afflictions until problems have spun out of control.
3. Inflammation is the cause of many of the small afflictions that we often overlook or work through: Brain fog, chronic aches and pains, anxiety, acne, sinus issues, headaches, gastrointestinal issues, and so many more.
4. Inflammation is caused by the three T’s:
   • Trauma: an impact, as drastic as a car accident or as innocuous as an elbow bumping a door frame, can trigger a stress response that manifests as swelling.
   • Toxins: exposure may take place through food allergies, medications, chemical exposure, bacterial infection or overgrowth, or another consumed or exposed stimulus.
   • Thoughts: stress has a physical inflammation reaction. Chronic stress puts us in a continuous state of alarm and inflammation.
5. The key to overcoming inflammation is to a) know your body, by getting tested by professionals to learn about your own sensitivities and allergies and b) remove known toxins from your diet or immediate sphere. You can overcome inflammation and you will feel the joy of greater health!

From The Wellness Way
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Five takeaways:

1. This article explores the importance of learning as much as possible about our loved ones, particularly our family elders. Many of us live in the dark about so much of the lives of our elders.
2. Keating, a professor of sociology, has developed “the essential questions” that families can use to learn more about each other. The stories and memories these questions elicit, Keating argues, will “place you in a rich sensory world you knew little about,” and feel more connected to your personal roots.
3. Parents and grandparents have unique snapshots of memories of a world that will never return; absorbing those stories is a way of preserving lost worlds while creating lasting connection.
4. These memories reaffirm a family’s identity and can reaffirm one’s personal sense of history. A greater sense of one’s place in a progression of a family can add to a sense of personal meaning.
5. As we look ahead to Thanksgiving, take a moment to think about meaningful questions that will elicit thoughtful answers from your loved ones. You will find that your loved one’s answers may surprise, delight, and amaze.

From Elizabeth Keating at The Atlantic:
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Five takeaways:

1. While traditional religiosity and belief has been on a rapid decline in America, many overlook the fact that Americans are far more likely than people in other developed nations to practice religious or spiritual behavior
2. A 2017 Pew Research Center survey showed that 48 percent of respondents considered themselves both religious and spiritual, and another 27 percent said they are spiritual but not religious.
3. So why the rise of nonreligious spirituality? Spiritual experiences—traditionally religious or otherwise—give us unique insights into life that cannot be found anywhere else. They give us insight and connect us with “bigger” and more meaningful ideas about existence.
4. Spiritual practice has a real effect on the brain as well: Researchers have shown that a spiritual experience reduces activity in brain regions associated with sensory and emotional processing—thus, perhaps, helping people escape the virtual prison of overthinking and rumination. Studies have also shown that medical patients reported better quality of life if spiritual-care professionals (such as chaplains) were involved in their care along with doctors and nurses.
5. Brooks’ three tips for bringing more spirituality and transcendence into your life are to:
   • Start Simply – don’t go on a thirty-day Himalayan retreat right off of the bat. Do smaller, easier practices such as going on walks without your phone.
   • Read More – Start reading widely from the wisdom literatures and be careful not to start with the densest texts.
   • Let Go – Reject the urge to over-analyze. Strive to be more accepting of certain experiences at face value and accept your gut reactions rather than overanalyzing and overintellectualizing things. Acceptance, acceptance, acceptance.

From Arthur C. Brooks at The Atlantic:
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Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.