Editor’s note: This article was first published in October 2017. Daniel Kahneman, who died in March 2024, is described in the present tense, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) is described as written “more than 20 years ago.”
In our article “How you can become smarter” we included the habit of reading every day, so what better than to add some books that serve exactly that purpose: to make us smarter, open our minds and make us think. Books for the mind, in short.
In another article we recommended 3 books that can change the way you see life and the world, which I personally believe practically everyone should read.
Our minds often sabotage our good intentions and even the choices we make in life, in business, with our partners, and even when we shop at the supermarket or in the property market.
Continuing with our reading recommendations, these are books that will help us turn our lives around by making us question our choices and the reasons behind them. In short, they are excellent books for opening your mind and making you smarter.
Books to make you smarter and open your mind
1. Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
I already included this book in a previous article. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman talks about the two very different ways of thinking that define us. Once you’ve read it, you’ll discover that many of the decisions you’ve made were not as rational as you thought, and you’ll learn how to master your mind so that you make decisions more wisely.
“Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.”
Kahneman explains how our brain works through two systems of thinking: System 1, which is fast, intuitive and emotional, and System 2, which is slower, apparently more deliberative and supposedly more logical.
The author explains how your brain makes decisions that seem reasoned when, in reality, our thinking is biased, leading us to make the wrong decisions.
Without a doubt, of all the books for becoming smarter, this is the one I would recommend without hesitation to anyone who wants to open their mind, understand why they think the way they do and, of course, make better decisions in their daily life.
2. The Wisdom of Psychopaths, by Kevin Dutton
There is a very fine line between a successful neurosurgeon and a serial killer. Can psychopaths teach us lessons about life? They certainly can. Working from a scientific basis, the author of this book takes us inside the brains of psychopaths, starting from the premise that a psychopath is not always a serial killer.
Some psychopathic traits are even very positive and necessary for succeeding in business and in your career today: being daring, charismatic, ruthless, focused, cool-headed and self-confident are some of the ingredients that mean there are more psychopaths running companies than in prison.
3. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, by Maria Konnikova
Combining neuroscience and psychology, journalist and psychologist Maria Konnikova gives us some guidelines for thinking like the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, developing our creativity, mindfulness and logical deduction along the way.
Most of the skills discussed in the book can be developed with practice and dedication, and they will no doubt make you smarter.
4. The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Many readers agree that it’s not an easy book to read. Let’s say it helps if you have already read plenty of other books.
But if you are someone who questions everything that happens around you, it’s probably the book for you. As the author himself explains, a “black swan” is an improbable event whose consequences are explained in a way that ignores chance, and for which people try, in hindsight, to find a logical explanation.
In other words, for the author, the success of Google and YouTube, like many other successes, are black swans. One way or another, it will change the way you think. That’s why we’ve included it among the books for becoming smarter. In general, Taleb has written several books that help you become wiser and that cultivate your mind.
Three more books to open your mind
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
This book, written more than 20 years ago, has literally changed many lives. It has also inspired numerous courses built on Covey’s teachings. It usually appears on lists of the best self-help books, although it is really more of a course divided into seven lessons or stages than a book.
Whether you are an employee, a manager, a salesperson or an entrepreneur, it’s a book that will open your mind, change your character for the better and, as the title says, make you much more effective at whatever you do.
6. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard H. Thaler
How do we convince an overweight teenager to swap pastries for an apple? How can we convince people that they should save and learn about investing so that they can enjoy a comfortable lifestyle later on?
Put another way, how can we get people (and ourselves) to do what is good for them when they don’t do it, even though they know it is good for them? You need a nudge, and in the book the authors explain how to make those challenges a piece of cake thanks to subtle nudges that let inertia do the rest.
Recommended above all for people with very little willpower.
See also: 6 books that will change the way you think forever
7. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven Levitt
From how to raise your children to online dating or buying a flat, our lives are full of choices that seem elementary at first sight, but we are often swayed by other factors or triggers that influence the way we choose.
I was surprised by this book, which, with a few doses of humour, will answer many questions that have probably never crossed your mind.
For example, why do drug dealers often live with their mothers? If you are looking for books to make you smarter, and if we associate intelligence with discovering knowledge, this book will certainly open your mind and make you smarter, with facts you didn’t know you wanted to know.
The book was a bestseller, so the sequel was not long in coming: SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. I think the title says it all, but you certainly learn from it.
See also: The best personal development and self-help books
Featured image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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