Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives
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- Create Date：2021-07-01 08:52:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Michael A. Heller
- ISBN：1786497786
- 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
Dan
，
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
，
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
，
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
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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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I should read this book 10x to get all the info。 Or read only a chapter a week and contemplate。 This is a great book for discussion but only non small segments。 Well done！
Daniel
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Who owns what？ It’s much more complicated than we think。 Nothing is absolute and the court generally decides what decision will result in the greatest common good。 1。 First come， last served: people generally follow queue in Disneyland。 Unless you are rich enough to pay for the VIP tour at $400-$600 an hour。 People also buy queue places all the time， for example into Congress hearings， or new IPhone launches。 2。 Possession is one tenth of the law。 Who owns the space between rows of airline seats Who owns what？ It’s much more complicated than we think。 Nothing is absolute and the court generally decides what decision will result in the greatest common good。 1。 First come， last served: people generally follow queue in Disneyland。 Unless you are rich enough to pay for the VIP tour at $400-$600 an hour。 People also buy queue places all the time， for example into Congress hearings， or new IPhone launches。 2。 Possession is one tenth of the law。 Who owns the space between rows of airline seats？ The person in front or the one behind？ Enter the knee guard that locks the recliner of the seat in front， causing two passengers to fight and that airplane to land in emegency。 Airlines do not mandate ownership on purpose so that the total perceived space is higher。 3。 I reap what you sow: Intellectual property laws are complicated。 Disney had extended the patent of its characters from the original 15 years to eternity and beyond; paradoxically too strong an IP law can stymie new creations。 New medical products not made because there are so many patents of the product metabolic pathways held by different entities。 Many books with patent are not published。 Collages of songs are not made because of the need to pay every single person who owns a bit of the song。 4。 My home is not my castle。 Well， not all the way to the sky anyway。 How about below？ When resources were plentiful， it didn’t matter how much water you pump from under your land。 Industrial bottled water production is something else altogether: it can drain your neighbours’ water supply dry。 5。 Our bodies， not our selves: it’s not legal to sell a person， and also not ok for anyone to sell one’s organ。 However， it is ok to rent out the womb （surrogacy）， sell eggs and sperms。 6。 The meek shall inherit very little: the rich sets up trusts to avoid taxation forever。 Farmlands of African Americans are taken over by Whites because as time goes on， each descendant inherits less and less and unanimous action becomes almost impossible。 Primogeniture inherited from the Old World helps preserve aristocracy’s hold on land owned。 7。 The future of ownership: if we buy a book， we can use it however we like， lend it or resell it。 Not so an e-book。 Sometimes e-movies and ebooks we ‘bought’ can disappear and we certainly can’t resell an ebook that we’ve finished。 Common ownership saved the fish stock im many parts of the coast。 So ownership is never straightforward; and it has to be discussed and thought through and updated as time goes on。 This book is full of interesting examples and make ownership law fun， actually 。。。more
Tai Tai
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Michael missed the obvious: a chapter on relationships
Heidi Larson
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My rating might be more of a frustration that the author depicts society， maybe accurately， as only motivated by what we possess and how we protect what we possess until it's broken or we are sick of it。 My rating might be more of a frustration that the author depicts society， maybe accurately， as only motivated by what we possess and how we protect what we possess until it's broken or we are sick of it。 。。。more
Ryan
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This book was an amazing read！
Manoske
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Truly a lively and entertaining guide on what it means to own and the conventions we use to determine ownership。The authors are insightful。 The stories and concepts in the book are accessible， intelligent， and amusing。I recommend the book as a way of challenging your ideas on the nature of ownership in the digital age。
Glen Retief
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A fascinating guide to the odd quirks， contradictions， and randomness of ownership law。
Jacob
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This is one of those books that makes you see things through a completely different lens。 Ownership is something that seems basic enough on the surface but actually， is quite nuanced and foundational to a lot of our social systems。 There are many different types of ownership justifications - for example， you own something because you were there first， you put in labor， it’s attached to a thing you own， etc。 The authors provide lots of interesting examples to illustrate different questions of own This is one of those books that makes you see things through a completely different lens。 Ownership is something that seems basic enough on the surface but actually， is quite nuanced and foundational to a lot of our social systems。 There are many different types of ownership justifications - for example， you own something because you were there first， you put in labor， it’s attached to a thing you own， etc。 The authors provide lots of interesting examples to illustrate different questions of ownership claims， like:- whether someone should be allowed to recline their seat on an airplane - how long we should allow IP rights to persist for new pharmaceutical drugs， TV characters， etc， - the legality and morality of markets for buying and selling organs - what happens when one neighbor has redwood trees and the next-door neighbor has solar panels that are being blocked by them- whether a spouse is entitled to future earnings if she helped support her husband through graduate school， he lands a high-paying job， and they get divorced In some cases， these questions vary by state since there is often no federal ownership guidance。 That said， the authors argue that ownership design in the US is one hidden but important driver of inequality we see today。At the end， they discussed how ownership of digital goods is quite different from physical goods， even though the digital marketplaces design the shopping experience to appear similar。 For example， Amazon can remove a Kindle title or audiobook from a user’s device， but of course they cannot come to your house and take a paperback from your bookshelf。 Often， “owning” a digital movie or book actually means you have a limited， conditional license to stream it， but only on your device。 They also briefly touch on the sharing economy at the end， although I would have enjoyed hearing more about that。 All in all， this book was a great read and I highly recommend checking it out。 。。。more
Martin Dubeci
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Ak vás téma zaujíma （majetkové práva） tak okej， inak priemerný popík a stačí úvod。
Andrew Haddad
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This book is excellent！ It’s both fun and insightful。
Sasha
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How we assign ownership and changes in ownership structures underline most conflicts in society。 Heller provides an overview of prominent ownership conflicts and a lens through which to analyse them。 Highly recommend。
Mac
，
For the moment， consider this definition: Popular educational nonfiction is writing （a book in this case） that informs or instructs， meant for the average reader， not a professional training to be a lawyer or doctor。 To be successful， the book needs two main ingredients， knockout ideas and eye-catching examples。 Slot Heller and Salzman's Mine！ into this category; it more than qualifies， specifically。。。The ideas in Mine！ are thought provoking， enlightening， and useful for understanding everyday l For the moment， consider this definition: Popular educational nonfiction is writing （a book in this case） that informs or instructs， meant for the average reader， not a professional training to be a lawyer or doctor。 To be successful， the book needs two main ingredients， knockout ideas and eye-catching examples。 Slot Heller and Salzman's Mine！ into this category; it more than qualifies， specifically。。。The ideas in Mine！ are thought provoking， enlightening， and useful for understanding everyday life。 Often I found myself saying "Aha！" or "Never thought of it like that" or even "No way！ That can't be。" From idea to idea， chapter to chapter， Mine！ is a revealing intellectual ride。 That said， those ideas are not isolated， disparate concepts; the authors continually make the whole greater than the sum of the parts。 After finishing the book， I left better informed and more aware of the intricate importance of ownership in our lives。The examples in Mine！ are superb， often the highlight of each explanation。 They are mind bending and emotion arousing， sometimes serious， sometimes humorous。 For instance， who owns the space behind/before your airplane seat， and what role does strategic ambiguity play in determining the answer？ Can you shoot down a drone flying over your property when you can't shoot down a plane？ What body parts can you sell （a kidney？ sperm？ eggs？） and should the rule be the same for each？ Why did the Native Americans and European settlers define land ownership differently？ Can the association control the cats in my condominium？ And speaking more generally of the book's examples， who knew so many people sued so many people in so many ways？ My only quibble。 Sometimes Heller and Salzman overwork the discussion with too much “if this， then that” or “if that， then this。” At times， the book feels more like a law school tutorial than education for the average reader。 The weighty sections are only occasional， but they do slow the book down from time to time。Back to the main point: Thought provoking ideas intertwined with enjoyable examples is my standard for what I'm calling "popular educational nonfiction。" Mine！ has just the right ingredients expertly blended， and those ingredients make for excellent reading。Bonus ownership question: Having seen Heller and Salzman describe Mine！ on a webinar， I immediately reserved the book at the library so I borrowed the book at no cost to me and no benefit to the authors。 Some might say I should have bought the book and owned it for myself as a form of repayment to the authors。 Others might say I was being a savvy consumer; borrowing it temporarily was ownership enough to meet my needs。 I leave it to others to decide。 To hint at my answer， I'm embarrassed to tell my story。 。。。more
Rachel
，