Bullshit Jobs

This book by David Graeber was genuinely recommended once in the episodes we index, on Tim Ferriss. The people who vouched for it on air: Dr. Gül Dölen. It comes up in conversations about addiction & recovery, brain health, consciousness, psychedelics. Every quote below is verbatim, attributed, and linked to the exact second it was said. Sourced expert opinion, not medical advice.

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory is a 2018 book by anthropologist David Graeber that argues the existence and societal harm of meaningless jobs. He contends that over half of societal work is pointless, which becomes psychologically destructive when paired with a work ethic that associates work with self-worth. Graeber describes five types of bullshit jobs, in which workers pretend their role isn't as pointless or harmful as they know it to be: flunkies, goons, duct tapers, box tickers, and taskmasters.

• “I started with this book called Bullshit Jobs ... I read that book and it was very cathartic, and then I just went down the rabbit hole”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “it was very cathartic ... have enjoyed all the other books”
  Dr. Gül Dölen · The Tim Ferriss Show · Apr 202301:57:11

  Said during "Rethinking Psychedelics, Octopuses on MDMA, and The Master Key of Metaplasticity | Dr. Gül Dölen". The episode features Dr. Gul Dolen: Associate professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a pioneer in psychedelics research; her lab discovered that psychedelics reopen a critical period for social reward learning. Neuroscientist Gul Dolen explains how psychedelics may be a master key that reopens the brain's critical periods for healing.