Needs-Inspired Reading

We can think of wellbeing as a the dynamic fulfillment of important needs like rest, movement, nourishment, social connection and meaning. Understanding the importance of these needs and how to better satisfy them through reading books or watching public talks can be incredibly enriching. I’ve created a list of some I think do this in an accessible and engaging way.

A renowned neuroscientist, Matthew Walker has communicated compelling research, particularly through his book Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams and TED talk, Sleep Is Your Superpower, showing how adequate rest enhances cognitive function, emotional stability, and physical health. By understanding the science behind sleep, readers can appreciate its necessity and learn strategies to improve their sleep habits, thereby fulfilling the fundamental need for rest.

Walter C. Willett’s influential research and ability to translate complex scientific findings into practical advice have cemented his reputation as one of today’s foremost nutrition communicators. His book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating, along with Patrick J. Skereett, focuses on dietary patterns that promote both personal and public health aligning closely with the principles of the EAT-Lancet Commission. He has worked on the planetary health diet, outlined in the his talk What is a healthy and sustainable diet? It advocates for increased plant-based food consumption and reduced animal product intake to foster a food system that benefits human health and supports environmental sustainability.

If you ever wondered why it is that we need movement, Daniel E. Lieberman offers the evolutionary basis for physical activity, debunking common myths about exercise. In his book Exercised and public talks, he discusses how modern lifestyles often lead to sedentary behavior, which contrasts with our ancestors’ need for movement. By understanding this evolutionary perspective, readers can find motivation to incorporate more movement into their daily lives.

The Good Life by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz. This book conveys key insights from the Harvard Adult Development Study which has followed a cohort of people in Boston as well as their descendants collecting qualitative and quantitative data about their lives to understand the factors that helped them fare better or worse in life. It has also been widely communicated through his TED talk What makes a good life? They key takeway communicated in the book is that the quality of their relationships determined the quality of their lives.

With a background in positive psychology, Emily Esfahani Smith has combined in her book The Power of Meaning the empiricially driven insights of psychology, as well the thought of Aristotle, Viktor Frankl, Georg Eliot and the Buddha into a framework for meaning that is based on purpose, storytelling, belonging, and transcendence. It is more contemporary and accessible presentation of ideas found in works like Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning.

Martha Nussbaum has contributed to our thinking about the functionings and capabilities that represent what people can actually do and be in the world. She laid out these ideas systematically in her work, Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. This framework helps us to think about not just what it means to flourish as an individual but what kind of public institutions would support everyone to thrive. The work was highly influentila on the development of the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) and aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).