Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
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- Create Date：2021-08-05 07:16:03
- Update Date：2025-09-23
- Status：finish
- Author：Michael A. Heller
- ISBN：1786497794
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
A hidden set of rules governs who owns what--explaining everything from whether you can recline your airplane seat to why HBO lets you borrow a password illegally--and in this lively and entertaining guide， two acclaimed law professors reveal how things become mine。
Mine is one of the first words babies learn。 By the time we grow up， the idea of ownership seems natural， whether buying a cup of coffee or a house。 But who controls the space behind your airplane seat: you reclining or the squished laptop user behind？ Why is plagiarism wrong， but it's okay to knock-off a recipe or a dress design？ And after a snowstorm， why does a chair in the street hold your parking space in Chicago， but in New York you lose the space and the chair？
Mine！ explains these puzzles and many more。 Surprisingly， there are just six simple stories that everyone uses to claim everything。 Owners choose the story that steers us to do what they want。 But we can always pick a different story。 This is true not just for airplane seats， but also for battles over digital privacy， climate change， and wealth inequality。 As Michael Heller and James Salzman show--in the spirited style of Freakonomics， Nudge， and Predictably Irrational--ownership is always up for grabs。
With stories that are eye-opening， mind-bending， and sometimes infuriating， Mine！ reveals the rules of ownership that secretly control our lives。
Mine is one of the first words babies learn。 By the time we grow up， the idea of ownership seems natural， whether buying a cup of coffee or a house。 But who controls the space behind your airplane seat: you reclining or the squished laptop user behind？ Why is plagiarism wrong， but it's okay to knock-off a recipe or a dress design？ And after a snowstorm， why does a chair in the street hold your parking space in Chicago， but in New York you lose the space and the chair？
Mine！ explains these puzzles and many more。 Surprisingly， there are just six simple stories that everyone uses to claim everything。 Owners choose the story that steers us to do what they want。 But we can always pick a different story。 This is true not just for airplane seats， but also for battles over digital privacy， climate change， and wealth inequality。 As Michael Heller and James Salzman show--in the spirited style of Freakonomics， Nudge， and Predictably Irrational--ownership is always up for grabs。
With stories that are eye-opening， mind-bending， and sometimes infuriating， Mine！ reveals the rules of ownership that secretly control our lives。
Reviews
Tina
，
Lots and lots of fascinating insights on the intersection of law and behavioral science， focusing specifically on ownership design。 This easily makes the cut as one of my favorite BI books， and I’ve read anything from Freakonomics to Predictably Irrational。
Ann Hidayat
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 One of the book that I would re-read sometime in the near future。 I am interested in a psychology of possession， so I found reading interesting to learn more on why we value things as ours。 Then， this book came。 One of Mine！ chapter talked about the psychology of human to put value on things， as well as endowment effect， in which pretty much summarized Possessed: Why We Want More Than We Need。 As for the rest of the chapter， the author talks about property and how everything in our life can One of the book that I would re-read sometime in the near future。 I am interested in a psychology of possession， so I found reading interesting to learn more on why we value things as ours。 Then， this book came。 One of Mine！ chapter talked about the psychology of human to put value on things， as well as endowment effect， in which pretty much summarized Possessed: Why We Want More Than We Need。 As for the rest of the chapter， the author talks about property and how everything in our life can be tied as property。 He also shows a lot of examples of cases that has happened even to the supreme court。 Who knows that "I have a dream" phrase is copyrighted such that you can't use it for your own purpose。 Even though the original author of "I have a dream" has long passed， the copyright is still live until recently。 Determining the boundary of your physical property is also tricky。 When you have your property above your soil， how much deep down that you own， and how much up high that consider as your own property。 Trespassing is one of example how people perceive property boundary differently。 Does drone， or airplane needs permission to pass through your property air 35，000 feet above the ground？ The dispute is not end on that， even your neighbor tree in their property can block the sunlight for your roof solar-power metal， thus it violates your right for renewable energy access。 But the tree is solely your neighbor property， and it has value。 So how do we solve it？The most interesting part is marriage property。 Without saying much， this chapter makes me rethink the value of marriage。 Not necessarily that we can't get married， but prior on having a decision to marry someone， there is a need to understand local law on how marriage property works。 If you're not careful， a couple with separate account in different state at the time of opening， by the time one of them dies， the husband/wife can't get inheritance / property。 This can lead a disaster if he/she can't support themselves financially。 And of course， digital subscription / book。 Especially book （It's an irony that I read this book in kindle version）。 Does the book that you purchase online， really yours？ You can lend printed copy book to your friend， but not kindle version。 So how the ownership really works？ I recommend this book to anyone who interested on property and ownership。 After reading this book， all things on your possession won't look the same。 。。。more
Kumiko
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Engaging， fast-paced， and lots of interesting tie-ins between ideas of ownership in 2021。 If you liked Freakonomics， this may be right up your alley。 Engaging， fast-paced， and lots of interesting tie-ins between ideas of ownership in 2021。 If you liked Freakonomics， this may be right up your alley。 。。。more
Sylvia
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This book centers around a great central idea， with many interesting examples。 It was a bit pop/brief for me: after every cool example， I waited excitedly for the author to dig in to the legal or philosophical or sociological theory behind ownership as a construct—only to get a couple sentences and then another example of a totally different kind。 Eventually， though， the book settles into some meatier legal discussions in the later chapters that I will enjoy rereading。 That is not necessarily a This book centers around a great central idea， with many interesting examples。 It was a bit pop/brief for me: after every cool example， I waited excitedly for the author to dig in to the legal or philosophical or sociological theory behind ownership as a construct—only to get a couple sentences and then another example of a totally different kind。 Eventually， though， the book settles into some meatier legal discussions in the later chapters that I will enjoy rereading。 That is not necessarily a fault of the book， but just a mismatch between my goals as a reader and the book’s goals， which served to walk casual readers more gradually into legal discussions。 Overall this was brain-tickling in a “hey wow ownership is weird！” way， with some cool legal cases thrown in。 I’d like to take the authors’ class！ The central idea this book explores is simply: ownership is a societal construct。 Even in one single society （the modern US）， ownership it is constructed in different ways for different purposes， often by intentional actors。 The authors consider six “stories of ownership” that effectively compel the human psyche， for psychological， cultural， or evolutionary reasons that are unexplained but they keep calling “primitive”: •t First-in-time: the first who stakes a claim on the thing is the owner•t Physical possession/control: the person who holds or regularly uses the thing is the owner•t Labor investment: the person who built or worked for acquisition of the thing is the owner•t Home/attachment: the owner of a property owns all the things on or in it•t Body: a person owns their body and all its parts•t Inheritance: ownership is transferred through family relationshipsAlong the way through explaining these “stories，” the authors do a good job complicating the conventional ideas of possession， property， labor and rights。 Examples like the FastPass at Disneyland， Southwest seating， etc show how corporate strategies can intentionally create ambiguous or conflicting ownership stories for profit or to compel certain behaviors。 The landmark case of Johnson v。 M’Intosh is explicitly articulated as a tool where the definition of “labor” was constructed legally to permit white settlers to take indigenous land。 The tragedy of the commons is described through groundwater pumping disputes and the different rules in different states。 The organization of American law is unpacked as aggressive to co-ownership and in favor of partition and individual ownership。One of the best short examples in the book points out a unique situation （Barry Bonds’ season record home run ball） that was adjudicated legally。 The situation is succinctly drawn， the players explained， and the ownership stories framework applied。 The authors give the result， and their own legal “solution，” explaining a complicated legal idea along the way （ex ante/ex post）。 Even if you’re not here for law jargon， they effectively explain why， though it seems unjust to this particular claimant， it best serves justice on the whole as law struggles to impose fair rules that serve society。 I was in some ways disappointed with the chapter that explores ownership of bodies。 I appreciated the mention of slavery （both historical and modern） as key to the stories of ‘ownership’ in the US; I just don’t think it dug explicitly into the core issue of personhood under the law。 The legal case studies focus on organ donation， surrogacy， and noncompetes。 I would have liked a more robust discussion， maybe an entire chapter， about how society constructs who is eligible to be an “owner，” and who is eligible to be owned （African American bodies， women， children， fetuses， etc）。 I don’t think it was beyond the scope of the work to try; the labor chapter specifically calls out how the word “labor” was constructed in service of settler-colonial goals with a brief but powerful example。In general， I recommend this book to anyone interested。 I found the overall thesis compelling: “ownership” seems to most people intuitive and obvious （or is sold to them that way）， while in actuality it operates as an intentionally-wielded construct for social control， exploitation， and power。 There's a lot more out there to explore， even just in modern US society with a focus on the legal concerns， but this is a great starting point。 。。。more
Lex
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One of those life changing books that reveals the weird little secrets that have been controlling your whole life。 Can't recommend enough 。 One of those life changing books that reveals the weird little secrets that have been controlling your whole life。 Can't recommend enough 。 。。。more
Abby Kelley
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A really interesting book outlining how property and contract law impacts our day-to-day lives。 I really enjoyed the anecdotes， but at times， they were dragged out a little too much。
Du
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Solid overview of the changing world of ownership。 I really enjoyed the way the chapters were broken down， and how the owner of things is interpreted differently in different arenas。 I also like the way that the book tell stories both legal and anecdotal to illustrate the points。 In the end the idea is here are interesting and thought provoking， which is exactly what this book should provide。
Neil Doherty
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A lawyer’s view on ownership: a book for Wonks。 But I will try to put it to use。
James
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What a fascinating read。 I clearly had no understanding of what is mine。 I appreciate that Heller created the frameworks of what makes something Mine and then showed arguments for and contrary that ate at the foundation of what makes something yours。 I took away a few actions， signs I need to put up asI live on a shared lane and we let others have access to this property， and things I need to watch for personally like hunters and foraging。 I loved that the book ended with a good discussion of th What a fascinating read。 I clearly had no understanding of what is mine。 I appreciate that Heller created the frameworks of what makes something Mine and then showed arguments for and contrary that ate at the foundation of what makes something yours。 I took away a few actions， signs I need to put up asI live on a shared lane and we let others have access to this property， and things I need to watch for personally like hunters and foraging。 I loved that the book ended with a good discussion of the future of ownership and how ownership may continue to change。 Interesting， thought provoking and a wonderful read 。。。more
Ali Sattari
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My intro to ownership design， pretty good narrative with abundant real life examples。
Mindy
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Audio
James Mason
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Heard about on 99 PI
Dan
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The popular nonfiction ideal！ The idea of home “ownership” always felt bogus to me。 This book finally gave me the tools I needed to unpack these feelings （and opened my eyes to so many more situations and angles）。“six contested pathways to claiming ownership: first-in-time， possession， labor， attachment， self-ownership， and family”Excerpt FromMine！Michael A。 Heller & James Salzmanhttps://books。apple。com/us/book/mine/。。。This material may be protected by copyright。 The popular nonfiction ideal！ The idea of home “ownership” always felt bogus to me。 This book finally gave me the tools I needed to unpack these feelings （and opened my eyes to so many more situations and angles）。“six contested pathways to claiming ownership: first-in-time， possession， labor， attachment， self-ownership， and family”Excerpt FromMine！Michael A。 Heller & James Salzmanhttps://books。apple。com/us/book/mine/。。。This material may be protected by copyright。 。。。more
Carrie
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Fascinating ideas but for some reason took me a long time to get through。
C
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Fantastic and thought provoking， and potentially quite paradigm shifting
Amirmansour Khanmohammad
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Fun to read。 An eye opener and thought provoking book， that shows lenses to see the world through that cannot be dropped easily， and contains ideas that are sticky。
Ivan
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The thread of ownership binds this book together as the authors attempt a Freakonomics project by going through a long list of examples of ownership working and not working。 I only give it three stars because the tone of the book comes off as Law School professors explaining how ownership works to the uneducated masses， complete with some terms defined in italics。 The authors also chose to provide their opinion on the examples in some cases， but not in others。 So they are fine with Disney chargi The thread of ownership binds this book together as the authors attempt a Freakonomics project by going through a long list of examples of ownership working and not working。 I only give it three stars because the tone of the book comes off as Law School professors explaining how ownership works to the uneducated masses， complete with some terms defined in italics。 The authors also chose to provide their opinion on the examples in some cases， but not in others。 So they are fine with Disney charging for VIP passes （tough luck if you can't afford those） but they get sentimental when talking about Uber and how it does not replace the feeling of owning a car。There are some good parts to the book， especially the chapters on copyright and family ownership of assets through generations， but taken as a whole it was an uneven read。 。。。more
Laura Porto
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This was fascinating ！ I listened to this one so it moved along pretty quickly。 I enjoyed the combination of "real life" applications， law and history。 This was fascinating ！ I listened to this one so it moved along pretty quickly。 I enjoyed the combination of "real life" applications， law and history。 。。。more
Ashley Brooks
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This is one of those nonfiction books that I read purely to learn more about an interesting topic: the rules of ownership and how they define our entire society。 Mine！ explores the basic rules of ownership and the tools for determining who owns what from a law perspective。 It sounds niche， but it was fascinating。 I was genuinely surprised by how far-reaching the effects of ownership rules can be， impacting everything from climate change to disputes over "investments" in an ex-spouse's future car This is one of those nonfiction books that I read purely to learn more about an interesting topic: the rules of ownership and how they define our entire society。 Mine！ explores the basic rules of ownership and the tools for determining who owns what from a law perspective。 It sounds niche， but it was fascinating。 I was genuinely surprised by how far-reaching the effects of ownership rules can be， impacting everything from climate change to disputes over "investments" in an ex-spouse's future career。 Bonus: It's a well written and compelling read。 。。。more
Cambri Morris
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Didn't finish。 I thought it would be more of a sociological look rather than about law。 It's pretty cool that it is essentially the content of a course they teach， just not a perspective that interests me。 Didn't finish。 I thought it would be more of a sociological look rather than about law。 It's pretty cool that it is essentially the content of a course they teach， just not a perspective that interests me。 。。。more
Juby
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The teacher of a law class I took in high school once told us， “If there’s one thing you learn from my class， or your entire high school experience， it is to always have a lawyer。” I thought of that advice reading this book because if there’s ONE book you MUST read this year， it’s this one！ Written by two lawyers， it examines ownership design through stories and outcomes of lawsuits。 You learn about adverse possession， digital ownership （yes Amazon and Apple can take all your paid for downloaded The teacher of a law class I took in high school once told us， “If there’s one thing you learn from my class， or your entire high school experience， it is to always have a lawyer。” I thought of that advice reading this book because if there’s ONE book you MUST read this year， it’s this one！ Written by two lawyers， it examines ownership design through stories and outcomes of lawsuits。 You learn about adverse possession， digital ownership （yes Amazon and Apple can take all your paid for downloaded content away from you！）， the history of Native Americans and Blacks losing property， partition， South Dakota and dynasty heirs， and so much more。 I feel like I see the world in a different way now and received incredible legal advice for free。 。。。more
Sheryl
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Fascinating all around！ I love books that are paradigm-shifters and I will always look at ownership differently going forward。 Basically every conundrum in life revolves around ownership。
Emilie22
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Another one of those books that I want everyone to read and will re-read because there is no way I processed and digested everything this book has to offer。*I will draw upon things I learned from reading Thinking Fast and Slow and High Conflict that are not necessarily explicitly addressed in this book but definitely are touched upon。This book is rich with examples ranging from “who owns the space above your house when an unwelcomed drone is flying” to “is it ok to sell your kidneys” （and under Another one of those books that I want everyone to read and will re-read because there is no way I processed and digested everything this book has to offer。*I will draw upon things I learned from reading Thinking Fast and Slow and High Conflict that are not necessarily explicitly addressed in this book but definitely are touched upon。This book is rich with examples ranging from “who owns the space above your house when an unwelcomed drone is flying” to “is it ok to sell your kidneys” （and under what circumstances）。 Here are the 3 high level takeaways I have:1） Beware of the power of binary thinking。Our brain is wired to cling to heuristics （short cuts） to make sense of the overwhelming amount of information we receive each day。 Knowing this though， we need to be mindful not to view conflicts as simply a “yes” or “no” or “all” or “nothing” mentality。 We will lose the possibility of finding true resolution with this mindset。2） Beware of perverse incentives。Heller and Salzman use climate change as an example here where perverse incentives were unintentionally created （as they usually are）。 While caps are put in place with the intention of curbing “bad” behavior， they can be dangerous if no incentive is offered to those who don’t meet that cap。3） Understand underlying interests。This was a big lesson I learned in my Negotiations class at UCLA。 There is a classic example of two daughters wanted an orange， and the father thought it was fairest to just cut if in half， but was puzzled why both daughters were left unhappy。 That’s because had he taken the time to understand underlying interests， he would have learned that one wanted the juice of the orange， while the other wanted the zest for baking。 We need to be aware of the tenants we traditionally cling to when defining ownership。 If we understand the faults in these and allow ourselves to be more broad minded， we will find more effective and efficient solutions。 。。。more
GM
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fascinatingwould love to read a similar book focused on HK / CHN （in Eng）。
Bob Martin
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Audiobook。 This is a great book。 It's written in an entertaining and very clear way。The book explores the stories we use to lay claim to property， ideas， and rights。 These stories boil down to just a few variations， but are used again and again to justify competing claims of ownership。It looks at how these stories shape， not only legal ownership， but ownership of personal rights。 Among the questions are， who owns the space behind an airline seat？ The person who wants to recline， or the person be Audiobook。 This is a great book。 It's written in an entertaining and very clear way。The book explores the stories we use to lay claim to property， ideas， and rights。 These stories boil down to just a few variations， but are used again and again to justify competing claims of ownership。It looks at how these stories shape， not only legal ownership， but ownership of personal rights。 Among the questions are， who owns the space behind an airline seat？ The person who wants to recline， or the person behind them who already feels cramped？ Who owns a place in line and can it be sold？ Can I sell my body parts？ They use many examples that show the ambiguity and motivations behind various claims and provide examples of solutions to seemingly intractable conflicts。 It changed my perspective。 I start to see these underlying narratives in places I never thought。 I highly recommend it。 。。。more
Laura
，
Law professors Heller （Columbia） and Salzman （UCLA） offer a fascinating discussion of the rules of ownership， supported by a wide variety of real world examples to illustrate the ways the rules work and compete with one another。 They identify six simple principles that "everyone uses to claim everything": first-in-time （"I had it first so it's mine！"）; possession （"I have it so it is mine。"）;labor （"I earned it so it's mine！"）; attachment （"It's mine because it is attached to something mine！"）; Law professors Heller （Columbia） and Salzman （UCLA） offer a fascinating discussion of the rules of ownership， supported by a wide variety of real world examples to illustrate the ways the rules work and compete with one another。 They identify six simple principles that "everyone uses to claim everything": first-in-time （"I had it first so it's mine！"）; possession （"I have it so it is mine。"）;labor （"I earned it so it's mine！"）; attachment （"It's mine because it is attached to something mine！"）; self-ownership （It's mine because it comes from my body！"）; and family （It's mine because it's in my family！"）。 These rules or principles interact and often contradict each other， giving rise to lots of legal issues -- all well-illustrated here， covering everything from the space around your airline seat to the ownership of the water and oil under your land to human surrogacy and egg-selling。 The book ends with an interesting discussion of ownership structures for the future。 I was particularly drawn to the section focused on the impact of the internet on ownership。 （Do you know you really don't "own" all those books on your e-reader？ Should you care？） Well-presented， and lots of food for thought。 。。。more
Lisa
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Fascinating！
Steve
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A couple of snarky opinionated law professors write about the legal concepts of ownership， where they come from， and how they compare/contrast with more common sense ideas about property。 This is a really vast subject， if you go back in history and also consider traditions from around the world。 So this book is really a quick summary of the last few hundred years of European practice I guess。 But it was entertaining and a bit educational。
Cherie Palmer
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I thought I understood how ownership worked， boy， was I wrong！
Jane
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