Rush: Why You Need and Love the Rat Race
Hudson Street Press, May 2011
THINK YOU NEED TO GO ON VACATION?
THINK AGAIN.
We all think we will be happy when we finally have some downtime -- when we can get away, disconnect, shut down. You may even daydream about withdrawing from the rat race full-time. What you don't know is that all that peace and quiet will ruin your state of mind. In this outrageous book, Todd Buchholz will convince you that what you really want is to chase your tail -- even if you never catch it.
Weaving in entertaining stories and counterintuitive arguments gathered from a broad spectrum -- neuroeconomics to evolutionary biology to Renaissance art to General Motors -- Buchholz draws the collar-grabbing conclusion that the race to compete has not only made us taller and smarter, it's what we love and what we need. Among the book's many surprising takeaways are:
- Put off retirement-it can make you stupid
- We all need to be control freaks
- In-house competition is actually great for morale
- Never let the ninth-place team take home a trophy
Witty, compelling, and full of surprises, Todd Buchholz shows that it's the race itself that literally delivers the rush and drives us forward, even if we never reach the finish line.
Hardcover | ISBN: 9781594630774 | Publication Date: May 2011
Reviews:
"Buchholz's insightful observations about what makes us tick are
surprising, intelligent, and entertaining. Drawing from a wide range of
disciplines, he sets us straight about what we really want out
of life -- and makes us wonder why no one has told us before."
-- Leonard Mlodinow, author of best sellers The Drunkard's
Walk and The
Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking)
"Offers a valuable corrective to many accounts of zero- and
negative-sum games."
-- Tyler Cowen, author of Create Your Own Economy
"Wicked smart. Todd Buchholz is a brilliant economist. He actually
makes this science fun."
-- Neil Cavuto, author of Your Money or Your Life
"Rush is loaded with powerful insights and penetrating ideas. If
you
want to better understand how our past will shape our future, read this
book."
-- James Canton, PH.D., author of The Extreme Future
"A brilliant synthesis of economic and neurobiological forces, put
together into a witty and persuasive story of why human beings can't
stop rushing around to improve their lives."
-- Denis Burdakov, Ph.D., Laboratory Director, Cambridge
University
Neuroscience
"Once every other year or so, I come across a brilliant book I wish I
had written. Rush is one of those. Buchholz's style is literate
and
refreshing, his arguments and anecdotes thought provoking and
potentially infuriating. Whether readers agree or disagree, they will
have a lot of fun with Rush."
-- Robert Z. Aliber, author of Your Money and Your Life,
Professor
of
Economics, University of Chicago
