Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, recently shared his review of Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy." Giving the book an 8 out of 10 rating, Kamath expressed on X (formerly Twitter) that he found it to be a captivating read despite the considerable time it took him to complete it.
He highlighted the book's exploration of the fundamental question of human nature, reflecting on the intriguing journey of understanding "why we are how we are."
“Good book, 8/10, takes forever to finish, but great to catalogue summaries of different schools of thought. For anyone who asks, "If not a job in finance, then what?", it's definitely psychology for me. The most interesting thing is figuring out why we are how we are,” he wrote in his post on X.
This post from Kamath saw several reactions on social media, with over 50,000 views. “Finding joy in understanding human nature is as valuable as understanding market dynamics. Embracing psychology could offer profound insights into human behaviour, enriching your perspective on every other field, finance included,” wrote one of the X users.
A second user wrote, “This is also my favorite subject after my job. It's fun to understand other people, how they think, why they do what they do etc. Understanding Psychology is also one of the most important parts of building a business.”
“Why you have to 'finish' a book? This is a linear way of thinking. Just read it till you enjoy it. Drop it and read something else when you feel so. Why keep adhering to sunk cost fallacy? Read 5 random pages of 3 random books,” added a third X user.
A fourth user wrote, “I am glad @nikhilkamathcio you focussed on psychology. Indeed, it is the genesis of all- our behavioral, societies, inventions and 'Us the humans'.”