Beauty can be consoling, disturbing, sacred, profane; it can be exhilarating, appealing, inspiring, chilling. It can affect us in an unlimited variety of ways. Yet it is never viewed with indifference. In this Very Short Introduction, the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object--either in art, in nature, or the human form--beautiful, and ex…
What is agnosticism? Is it a belief, or merely the absence of belief? Is it the result of too little thought about an issue--or too much? Who were the first to call themselves "agnostics"? Does agnosticism deserve serious consideration today? Can an agnostic live a religious life? What place should agnosticism have in education? These are just some of the questions that Robin Le Poidevin consid…
The tradition of ancient philosophy is a long, rich and varied one, in which the notes of discussion and argument constantly resound. This book introduces ancient debates, engaging us with the ancient developments of their themes. Moving away from the presentation of ancient philosophy as a succession of great thinkers, the book gives readers a sense of the freshness and liveliness of ancient p…
Make every minute count. Your calendar is full, and yet your meetings don’t always seem to advance your work. Problems often arise with unrealistic or vague agendas, off-track conversations, tuned-out participants who don’t know why they’re there, and follow-up notes that no one reads?or acts on. Meetings can feel like a waste of time. But when you invest a little energy in preparing y…
Thousands of people have had near-death experiences, but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander knew that NDEs feel real, but are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress. Then, Dr. Alexander’s own brain was attacked by a rare illness. The part of the brain that controls thoug…
About fifty meters south of ?hiradai station in the mountainous, rural area of Ha-kone (Japan) there is a small and inconspicuous temple named Rinsenji???. The temple belongs to the S?t? sect of Zen Buddhism and was established in 1559. It is not a particularly interesting or noteworthy temple except for one brief episode in its history. In May 1909 the police arrested Rinsenji’s chief priest…
In logic, we study properties of sentences, such as truth, falsity, necessity, and contin-gency, relations between sentences, such as entailment and consistency, and practicesinvolving sentences, such as argumentation. However, bysentences, we normallyonly mean sentences of a certain particular kind: declarative sentences—statements,and their counterparts in formal languages.There are princip…
The point, line, plane and solid objects represent the first three dimensions, but a kind of reversal of space is involved in the ascent to a fourth dimension. Steiner leads us to the brink of this new perspective—as nearly as it can be done with words, diagrams, analogies, and examples of many kinds. In doing so, he continues his lifelong project of demonstrating that our objective, everyday…
Questions of responsibility arise at all levels of health care. Most prominent has been the issue of patient responsibility. Some health conditions that risk death or serious harm are partly the result of lifestyle behaviours such as smoking, lack of exercise, or extreme sports. Are patients with such conditions responsible for them? If so, might healthcare providers, be they state-run systems …
This volume explores the concept of humour and its relationship with human behaviour. The interdisciplinary essays in this book cover a wide range of time, from the sixteenth century to the present day. They delve into various cultural contexts, challenging social norms and prompting readers to reflect on the ethical implications of humour. The collection highlights the varied metaphors of hero…
The best leaders know how to communicate clearly and persuasively. How do you stack up?If you read nothing else on communicating effectively, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you express your ideas with clarity and impact?no matter what the situation.
Achieving happiness while excelling at your career. What is the nature of human happiness, and how do we achieve it in the course of our professional lives? And is it even worth pursuing? This book explores answers to these questions with research into how happiness is measured, frameworks for personal behaviors, management techniques that build happiness in the workplace—and warnings t…
No organization can survive without iconoclasts -- innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible.Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. He explores the constraints the human brain places on innovative thinking, including fear of failure, the ur…
David Allen reads an all-new edition of his popular self-help classic for managing work-life balance in the 21st century - now updated for the new challenges facing individuals and organizations in today's rapidly changing world. Since it was first published more than 15 years ago, David Allen's Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era and the ulti…
After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stak…
Pilot Jarle Gimmestad sat in the cockpit at Oslo Airport one late even-ing, waiting for takeoff. “The flight was already delayed by one hour, and I was eager to get onto the runway. As usual, I was in dialogue with the co-pilot to make final adjustments before takeoff. Suddenly, the driver of the pushback tractor on the ground drew our attention to a wet sub…
Emptiness is a challenging concept: slippery in definition and elastic in meaning. It implies a total lack of content: people, buildings, objects or markings on a map. In the abstract, emptiness equals nothingness, a perfect void. Yet when one thinks of places on the globe that one might associate with being empty – the Gobi or Sahara deserts, t…
This book is about purpose or rather the achievement of purpose, whichis the realization of the highest form of aspiration of any organization orindividual.It is the argument of this bookthat the real battle our globalized worldis facing today is not between liberalism and protectionism, or betweenChina and the United States, or between globalization and nationalism,but rather between a sense o…
t is true that Finns have done well to keep alive our tradi-tion of oral narrative: memorizing and performing stories, fa-bles, myths, and histories. In the nineteenth century, The Ka-levala — comprising ancient songs and tales transmitted orally for centuries — was arranged, printed, and almost immediately adopted by Finns as our ‘official’ national epic. I…
Psychoanalyst Dr. Karyne E. Messina can't diagnose former President Donald J. Trump. But his behavior matches what's known, in her circles, as projective identification: people who are distinctly uncomfortable with their own thoughts and actions may unconsciously try to dispose of those feeling by blaming others. Instead of taking responsibility, they project, and their victims might not even r…
Innovation may be the hottest discipline around today?in business circles and beyond. And for good reason. Innovation transforms companies and markets. It’s the key to solving vexing social problems. And it makes or breaks professional careers. For all the enthusiasm the topic inspires, however, the practice of innovation remains stubbornly impenetrable. No longer. In The Little Black Book…
This collection of articles includes "How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better," by Graham Jones; "Crucibles of Leadership," by Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas; "Building Resilience," by Martin E.P. Seligman; "Cognitive Fitness," by Roderick Gilkey and Clint Kilts; "The Making of a Corporate Athlete," by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz; "Stress Can Be a Good Thing If You Know How to Use…
This book argues that Plato’s Republic must be understood as developing out of a 5th Century sophistic debate. In Part One the author presents a new analysis of the sophists and their extant texts addressing the important topics of justice and its value. This part shows that already in the 5th Century there was a robust debate about whether the just or unjust life was better for the self-inte…
n the knowledge economy, teams play a central role in decisions made within and across organisations. The reason why teams with diverse compositions are often used is arguably their ability to develop solutions that none of their members could have produced alone. Systems design, strategy and policy development, risk management, and innovation are just a few of the areas that call for team deci…
It has been seven years since he has lived in the prison of his nightmares, since the incident that changed his life forever. Now, it is time for the troubled warrior, Andahar, to set foot on land again. At the behest of his brother, a reluctant Andahar must deliver a mysteriously enchanting, bejewelled box to the King of Templetron. Little does he know, bewitching lands and formidable op…
We all experience anxiety, but we don’t have to let worry and fear control our lives. Anxious for Nothing, from New York Times bestselling author, Max Lucado, provides a roadmap for coping with and healing from anxiety. Complete with Lucado’s signature storytelling and relatable anecdotes, Anxious for Nothing invites you to study Philippians 4:6-7—the most highlighted passage of the Bible…
In many esoteric traditions, there exists an iconic or linguistic corollary between the concepts of ‘poisoner’ and ‘sorcerer’, suggesting a sinistral magical kinship. Indeed, the use of plant, animal and mineral toxins is a strand of magic originating in remotest antiquity and reaching the present day. Beyond its mundane function as an agent of corporeal harm, poisons have also served a…
Nobody sits us down and teaches us how to love. So we’re often thrown into relationships with nothing but romance movies and pop culture to help us muddle through. Until now. Instead of presenting love as an ethereal concept or a collection of cliches, Jay Shetty lays out specific, actionable steps to help you develop the skills to practice and nurture love better than ever before. He shar…
Semen Retention is a centuries-old practice that allows you to harness your body’s vital energy and redirect it to any area of your life. From achieving the perfect body to outstanding results in business and creative endeavours, semen retention can turbocharge your success.
The seventeenth-century French architect, physician, anatomist and inven-tor Claude Perrault (1613–1688) is best known for designing the front of the Louvre Museum in Paris. But he left another legacy. Eleven years after his death, a small book was published entitled Recueil de plusieurs machines, de nouvelle invention (Collected Notes of a N…
In Grain Brain, renowned neurologist David Perlmutter, MD, exposes a finding that's been buried in the medical literature for far too long: carbs are destroying your brain. Even so-called healthy carbs like whole grains can cause dementia, ADHD, epilepsy, anxiety, chronic headaches, depression, decreased libido, and much more.
Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor and thought leader on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living—a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.
Bestselling stress management author Tim Grimes expertly weaves practical advice with Neville's deep spiritual teachings to present a new model for finding fulfillment. you definitely don’t have to follow the specific advice Neville gives here if you don’t want to. But the larger point he’s making is that by deeply relaxing we can “reduce the idea of ecstasy to a single sensation.” …
The world we are living in today is a toxic place. Modern society is soft, unfit and mentally weak...And there is so much dissatisfaction with life. If you're reading this I know you probably want more from life.
This book is about mental imagery and the important work it does in our mental life. It plays a crucial role in the vast majority of our perceptual episodes. It also helps us understand many of the most puzzling features of perception (like the way it is influenced in a top-down manner and the way different sense modalities interact). But mental imagery also plays a very important role in emoti…
The report underscores the importance of learning to live both with and without digital technology; to take what is needed from an abundance of information but ignore what is not necessary; to let technology support, but never supplant, the human connection on which teaching and learning are based. The focus should be on learning outcomes, not digital inputs. To help improve learning, digital t…
What is the meaning of life? Are we truly free? How can we make ethical choices? Discover the answers to life's greatest questions. Demystifying the key ideas of the world's greatest philosophers, and exploring all of the most important branches of philosophical thought in a uniquely visual way, this book is the perfect introduction to the history of philosophy. How Philosophy Works combine…
We're told that the key to happiness is self-love. Instagram influencers, mommy bloggers, self-help gurus, and even Christian teachers promise that if we learn to love ourselves, we'll be successful, secure, and complete. But the promise doesn't deliver. Instead of feeling fulfilled, our pursuit of self-love traps us in an exhausting cycle: as we strive for self-acceptance, we become addicted t…
A sprawling, evocative, and groundbreaking autobiographical novel told in the unforgettable and hilarious voice of a young Iranian refugee. It is a powerfully layered novel that poses the questions: Who owns the truth? Who speaks it? Who believes it?
Has someone ever taken advantage of you for their benefit? Do you want to learn to defend yourself against Mental Manipulation or do you want to learn easy how to use Dark Psychology to get what you want from people without them even knowing it? You should know that most of our choices are generated and managed through the application of specific methods of Covert Manipulation. Knowing these …
What if the word "no" didn't slow you down, depress, or discourage you? Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but “NO” Can Never Hurt Me! That’s the lesson twenty-eight year old copier salesman Eric Bratton is about to learn. And he’s going to learn it from the most unlikely of mentors - himself! Imagine going to bed one night, then to awaken the next morning in a strange house wi…
What if charisma could be taught? For the first time, science and technology have taken charisma apart, figured it out and turned it into an applied science: In controlled laboratory experiments, researchers could raise or lower people's level of charisma as if they were turning a dial. What you'll find here is practical magic: unique knowledge, drawn from a variety of sciences, revealing what …
Rejection Proof is Jia Jiang's entertaining and inspiring account of conquering his fear of rejection, offering a completely new perspective on how to turn a no into a yes. Jia Jiang came to the United States with the dream of being the next Bill Gates. Despite early success in the corporate world, his first attempt to pursue his entrepreneurial dream ended in rejection. Jia was crushed and …
You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick, intelligent decisions, gives inspiring speeches, and issues clear orders to their team so they can execute a plan to achieve your organization's goals. Unfortunately, David Marquet argues, that's an outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore. As a leader in today's networked, information-dense business cl…
We all envy the natural thinkers of this world. They have the best ideas, make the smartest decisions, are open minded and never indecisive. Is there something they know that the rest of us don't? Is it something we can all learn? The answer is a resounding yes. They know The Rules of Thinking. These Rules are the guiding principles that show you how to make wiser decisions, stop procrast…
In response to the many inquiries he has received about the Sufi tradition from people from all walks of life, leading Sufi expert Idries Shah presents a clarifying series of questions and answers that illustrates how traditional Sufi concepts can resolve our social, psychological, and spiritual problems.
“The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason is a book that transcends time and continues to resonate with readers around the world. Originally published in 1926, his teachings are as relevant today as they were almost a century ago. Set in ancient Babylon, the book features a series of parables and anecdotes that provide practical ideas for achieving financial success.