Grandiose Narcissism, Stamina, Claremont McKenna College

Links and recommendations

You can now watch my recent discussion at Claremont McKenna College with Professor Jon Shields:

---

From the archives:

I Have Never, Ever, Not Even Once, Used The Term “Liberal Elites”

I Have Never, Ever, Not Even Once, Used The Term “Liberal Elites”

---

The Only Reading App I Use:

I’ve been using Readwise since April of 2021.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter/X, you’ll know I regularly share screenshots like this from books or articles I’ve read:

These screenshots come from my Readwise app.

Readwise aggregates your reading highlights from various sources like Kindle, Apple Books, Substack, Twitter, and so on. It stores your highlights in one place, making it easier to stay on top of your reading.

Each morning, it emails me 8 random excerpts from different books I’ve read. Since 2021, that daily message has been a quiet ritual for me: fragments from books I half‑forgot are resurfaced, like my own past self giving me a tap on the shoulder.

Moreover, when I’m thinking about a particular topic, a quick search pulls up not just my notes but every highlighted Kindle passage I’ve ever saved on the topic.

Exclusive Offer for My Readers

Use this link →  https://readwise.io/robkhenderson/ to try Readwise free for 60 days (double the length of the standard free trial).

I suspect, like me, you’ll wonder how you ever read without it.

---

Links and recommendations:

• Sex Offenders Make Up Large Share of Homeless Population, New Report Shows by Devon Kurtz

• Why We Fight by

  Rob Kurzban

• Rod Dreher: The Woke Right Is Coming for Your Sons by

  Rod Dreher

• Stamina Succeeds by

  Robin Hanson

• Reading Books Isn't a Moral Virtue by

  Michael Inzlicht

• Which Identity is More Important: Race, Gender, or Religion? by

  Ryan Burge

• Follow me on Instagram here. The platform is less volatile and more chill than Twitter/X, so I post some spicier excerpts from my readings on my IG stories

• You can follow me on TikTok here

---

Three interesting findings:

1. The so-called self-esteem movement of the 1980s and 1990s backfired—badly. It functioned less as a self-esteem movement and more as a narcissism movement. Showering children with constant, indiscriminate praise may foster not healthy confidence, but grandiose narcissism. (source: Rise Above by Scott Barry Kaufman).

2. A significant minority of young men who aren't working rely on government assistance, either in the form of food or cash. From 2004 to 2017, screentime—especially video games and pornography—accounts for nearly half the decline in working hours among men in their 20s. (source).

3. According to the latest statistics, you're actually less likely to contract an STI from a Nevada prostitute in a well-regulated brothel than you are having sex with an average young woman from San Antonio. (source: Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon).

---

Livestream with Will Storr:

This Thursday (June 12) at 1pm ET, you can join me and my friend Will Storr for a Substack livestream discussion.

Will was one of the first to read an early manuscript of my book Troubled:

“Rob Henderson's journey through foster care, the military, and, later, at Yale and Cambridge, is truly extraordinary. In Troubled he uses his own fascinating personal story to explore social class, status, his 'luxury beliefs' framework, and the ways educated elites think about complex social issues. Gripping, moving, and intellectually satisfying, Troubled is a superb book.”

—Will Storr, author of The Status Game and The Science of Storytelling

Will is the author of many books including The Status Game, The Science of Storytelling, and, most recently, A Story is a Deal. We’ll speak about his latest book on storytelling, as well as our mutual interest in the psychology of social status. Join us this Thursday here.