Don't Trust Your Gut - Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

There is a lot more content in the book - these are just the bits that seemed most relevant to my life at present.

Dating and kids

• Attraction/swipes based on height, race, jobs, similarities. But don’t affect if a relationship with be successful.
• Sexiest male jobs: Lawyer, cop/firefighter/military, health professional.
• Personality can affect how someone views physical attractiveness.
• In big part it’s a numbers and bravery game - ask lots of attractive (physically or otherwise) out, and 10% will say yes. 1 ask, 0 dates. 1000 asks, 100 dates.
• Successful relationship: Satisfaction with life, conscientiousness, growth mindset, secure attachment styles.
• Where you raise your kids is the most important factor. Surround them with adults who share the values you want your kids to have.

Wealth

• ~9/10 rich people own a business.
• Rich businesses: Real estate, investing, auto dealerships, independent creatives [but might not include super-poor], market research, middlemen (e.g. distributors).
• Never-rich: Building equipment contractors; residential building construction; automotive repair and maintenance; services to buildings and dwellings; architectural, engineering, and related services; building finishing contractors; personal care services; petrol stations.
• Business success needs: Limited price competition (no fight to the bottom); geographically localised (not dominated by global monopoly); laws (helping create local monopolies); high barriers to entry; brand names.
• The average successful entrepreneur is 42. They’re not an outsider - they’ve spent years learning through their jobs, and were often the top of their previous field before founding their company. The modern world of 20-something tech start-ups is an anomaly.
• Successful and unsuccessful companies both have about equal luck - the former just take advantage of it. Make your own luck by producing prolifically and putting it and yourself out (even if you think it’s bad).
• Sales: less enthusiastic and less smiling sells more.

Happiness

• Activities
  • Happiest: Sex, theatre/dance/concert, exhibition/museum/library.
  • Least happy: Sick, working/studying, caring for adults.
  • Overestimated: Pets, sleep/resting, computer games.
  • Underestimated: Exhibition/museum/library, drinking alcohol, sports/exercise.
• Active activities provide more happiness than passive ones.
• Happy activities (e.g. music, socialising, alcohol) in nature/beauty can be used to enhance unhappy activities (e.g. working, waiting, commuting)
• A negative has a higher magnitude than a positive. Your favourite sports team losing is more powerful than a win - one win and one loss is a net negative. If you support a team that wins two games out of three, your expectations adjust - so still a net negative. The key is to reduce the magnitude by caring less.
• Note: Only 60k people, only iPhone owners, only those who want to take part in such a study.