Book picks similar to
Making Sense: Conversations on Consciousness, Morality and the Future of Humanity by Sam Harris
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Healing the Broken Brain
Mike Dow - 2017
Mike Dow is a best-selling author, psychotherapist, and relationship expert. So why is he writing a book about stroke?Well, what you probably don’t know about Dr. Mike is that his younger brother, David, is a stroke survivor. What’s more, David’s stroke happened when he only 10 years old. This means most of Dr. Mike’s teenage years were spent witnessing what his family was dealing with trying to find the best treatments for David. He struggled to know what to do to help his brother. He watched helplessly as his brother wrestled with depression, trying to find the motivation to recover on top of the challenges of adolescence. He mourned the loss of what could have been—and he was angry.How his family would have loved to sit down with top experts in stroke to find out what they should be doing and have their questions answered. Now Dr. Mike has the ability to do just that, and he’s doing it so that others in his family’s position don’t have the same struggle.Armed with questions from stroke survivors and their loved ones, Dr. Mike talks with the best clinicians across the country to get over 100 answers you need to know to maximize your recovery.
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
David Eagleman - 2009
In one afterlife, you may find that God is the size of a microbe and unaware of your existence. In another version, you work as a background character in other people’s dreams. Or you may find that God is a married couple, or that the universe is running backward, or that you are forced to live out your afterlife with annoying versions of who you could have been. With a probing imagination and deep understanding of the human condition, acclaimed neuroscientist David Eagleman offers wonderfully imagined tales that shine a brilliant light on the here and now.
The Four Temperaments: 1 Lecture, Berlin, March 4, 1909 (Cw 57)
Rudolf Steiner - 1985
Rudolf Steiner describes how each person's combination of temperaments is shaped out of a particular kind of union between hereditary factors and the inner spiritual nature. Telling descriptions are provided for the inwardly comfortable phlegmatic, the fickle interest of the sanguine, the pained and gloomy melancholic, and the fiery, assertive choleric. Steiner also offers practical suggestions for guiding the temperaments educationally in childhood and for adult self-improvement.
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Jonathan Haidt - 2012
His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.
Die Now to Live Forever
Sanjay Singh - 2019
It depicts a typical middle-class Indian family mindset. Throughout his life, Vinay has been taught to dream big and work hard. After years of tireless effort, he becomes a doctor but things turn sour as he starts to perceive unusual psychiatric symptoms. He falls victim to major psychiatric disorders, OCD and Depression. With each passing day life increasingly becomes a burden on him. He looses his loved ones. He takes few futile attempts to balance work and life, but nothing works out. It is when he turns absolutely distraught that he decides to end his life. But one dream has changed it all. He discovers a new realm of life. He is a different man now. The story describes how one can find much-longed happiness, how one can break the cycle of desires and sorrows and how one can become Buddha in their own lives. The author gives a lucid description of novel concepts like “Self witnessing”, “Self-conditioning”, “Self-love” and “Buddhahood”. He describes ways to attain the supreme form of happiness. This book is unique in the sense that it touches the much-neglected topic of mental health. India is a country with the highest burden of people suffering from major psychiatric disorders. Additionally, it ranks number one in suicide rates all over the world. This book has been written by a medical professional- Dr. Sanjay Singh. It is second in line to books written by him after “Oh dear happiness! The lost story of contentment”. He has written a blog named “The story behind the Dark Disease - Depression" which has been read more than two lacs times. He hopes that this book will pave the way to a new way of life to those who are extremely depressed and suffering from various psychiatric illnesses.
Joy: The Surrender to the Body and to Life
Alexander Lowen - 1994
Using examples from four decades of clinical practice, Lowen shows how painful emotional experiences--from sexual abuse and fear of dying to the anger and heartbreak all human beings experience in life--are manifested in bodily symptoms. He then instructs readers how to listen for and answer the unique signals in the body that serve as internal cries for freedom. The vibrant health that results has a wide range of holistic benefits for the total being, including enhanced sexual pleasure and heightened spirituality. Joy, the culmination of Lowen's life work, is a wonderfully hopeful and transformational guide from one of the pioneers of body/mind therapy.
Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life
Winifred Gallagher - 2009
Gallagher grapples with provocative questions—Can we train our focus? What’s different about the way creative people pay attention? Why do we often zero in on the wrong factors when making big decisions, like where to move?—driving us to reconsider what we think we know about attention. Gallagher looks beyond sound bites on our proliferating BlackBerries and the increased incidence of ADD in children to the discoveries of neuroscience and psychology and the wisdom of home truths, profoundly altering and expanding the contemporary conversation on attention and its power. Science’s major contribution to the study of attention has been the discovery that its basic mechanism is an either/or process of selection. That we focus may be a biological necessity— research now proves we can process only a little information at a time, or about 173 billion bits over an average life—but the good news is that we have much more control over our focus than we think, which gives us a remarkable yet underappreciated capacity to influence our experience. As suggested by the expression “pay attention,” this cognitive currency is a finite resource that we must learn to spend wisely. In Rapt, Gallagher introduces us to a diverse cast of characters—artists and ranchers, birders and scientists—who have learned to do just that and whose stories are profound lessons in the art of living the interested life. No matter what your quotient of wealth, looks, brains, or fame, increasing your satisfaction means focusing more on what really interests you and less on what doesn’t. In asserting its groundbreaking thesis—the wise investment of your attention is the single most important thing you can do to improve your well-being—Rapt yields fresh insights into the nature of reality and what it means to be fully alive.
The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty
Peter Singer - 2009
The pandemic has had a devastating effect on global extreme poverty and harrowing scenes from around the world continue to leave us shocked. As the pandemic rages on, it’s natural to ask: how can I help? Peter Singer – often considered to be the world’s most influential living philosopher– answers this question in The 10th Anniversary Edition of his seminal book, The Life You Can Save. This book will inspire and empower readers to ACT NOW and SAVE LIVES. Moreover, the ebook and the audiobook (narrated by mission–aligned celebrities including Stephen Fry, Kristen Bell, Paul Simon and Michael Schur!) is available to all readers for FREE on The Life You Can Save website. In The Life You Can Save, Peter Singer compellingly lays out the case for why and how we can take action to provide immense benefit to others, at minimal cost to ourselves. Using ethical arguments, illuminating examples, and case studies of charitable giving, he shows that our current response to world poverty is not only insufficient but morally indefensible. And he provides practical recommendations of charities proven to dramatically improve, and even save, the lives of children, women and men living in extreme poverty. The Life You Can Save teaches us to be a part of the solution, helping others as we help ourselves.
The Art of Dying
Peter Fenwick - 2008
Peter Fenwick is an eminent neuropsychiatrist, academic and expert on disorders of the brain. His most compelling and provocative research has been into the end of life phenomena, including near-death experiences and deathbed visions of the dying person, as well as the experiences of hospice and palliative care workers and relatives of dying people. Dr. Fenwick believes that consciousness may be independent of the brain and so able to survive the death of the brain, a theory which has divided the scientific community. The "problem with death" is deeply rooted in our culture and the social organization of death rituals. Fenwick believes that with serious engagement and through further investigation of these phenomena, he can help change attitudes so that we in the West can face up to death, and embrace it as a significant and sacred part of life. We have become used to believing that we have to shield each other from the idea of death. Fear of death means we view it as something to be fought every step of the way.Aimed at a broad popular readership, The Art of Dying looks at how other cultures have dealt with death and the dying process (The Tibetan "death system", Swedenborg, etc.) and compares this with phenomena reported through recent scientific research. It describes too the experiences of health care workers who are involved with end of life issues who feel that they need a better understanding of the dying process, and more training in how to help their patients die well by overcoming the common barriers to a good death, such as unfinished business and unresolved emotions of guilt or hate.From descriptions of the phenomena encountered by the dying and those around them, to mapping out ways in which we can die a "good death", this book is an excellent basis for helping people come to terms with death.
Brief Peeks Beyond: Critical Essays on Metaphysics, Neuroscience, Free Will, Skepticism and Culture
Bernardo Kastrup - 2015
It addresses science and philosophy, explores the underlying nature of reality, the state of our society and culture, the influence of the mainstream media, the nature of free will and a number of other topics. Each of these examinations contributes an angle to an emerging idea gestalt that challenges present mainstream views and behaviors and offers a sane alternative. The book is organized as a series of short and self-contained essays, most of which can be read in under one hour.
Children Who Have Lived Before: Reincarnation today
Trutz Hardo - 2000
Incredibly, when subjected to scientific investigation, children's memories about their past lives can invariably be confirmed in every detail.Supported by overwhelming scientific evidence, the children's stories in this book suggest that reincarnation is a reality for us all. Whether they are from England, Europe, the USA, Lebanon, South Africa, Israel, India, Brazil, Sri Lanka or Turkey, children who have lived before offer us insights into our global future, as well as profound messages from our collective past. This book is a must for anyone interested in the subject of reincarnation.'[Trutz Hardo presents] convincing evidence on reincarnation that will even give the toughest sceptic much to think about. I hope that finally many readers will learn the truth of reincarnation' Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, author of 'On Death and Dying'
Signs of Emotional Abuse: How to Recognize the Patterns of Narcissism, Manipulation, and Control in Your Love Relationship
Barrie Davenport - 2016
You haven't been pushed or slapped. You haven't had to call the police. But something feels very, very wrong in your intimate relationship. You just can't put your finger on it. Victims of emotional abuse are often confused about their partner's behaviors. "Is this really abuse?" "Could it be my fault?" "Maybe it will change." Your partner has a way of reinforcing your self-doubt, turning the tables on you to make you feel crazy, selfish, and unlovable. DOWNLOAD::Signs of Emotional Abuse: How to Recognize the Patterns of Narcissism, Manipulation, and Control in Your Love Relationship Emotional abuse may be hard to identify and understand, but it's as devastating to a relationship as physical abuse is. It can damage your self-esteem, sense of identify, and even your mental health. Your partner might use mind games, control, verbal abuse, and other narcissistic traits to keep you off balance and afraid. He or she wants to keep you in a state of confusion and anxiety so you won't speak up or take control of your life. The first step toward improving your situation is knowing what you're dealing with. Once you recognize the signs of emotional abuse, you can create new boundaries and responses to your partner's behavior and make informed decisions about your life moving forward. Bestselling author Barrie Davenport will clear up the confusion about whether or not your partner’s behavior is really abuse. In
Signs of Emotional Abuse
, you'll learn: 9 common patterns of emotional abuse 125 specific emotionally abusive behaviors 7 critical questions to ask yourself about your abusive partner The next steps after you identify emotional abuse by your partner The best support resources to help you move forward Signs of Emotional Abuse will help you identify the covert tactics used by emotional abusers to help you quickly recognize them in your daily life.
Would You Like To Know More? Gain clarity about your relationship so you can begin to take back control of your life! Scroll to the top of the page and select the buy now button.
A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America
Bruce Cannon Gibney - 2017
In A Generation of Sociopaths, Gibney examines the disastrous policies of the most powerful generation in modern history, showing how the Boomers ruthlessly enriched themselves at the expense of future generations.Acting without empathy, prudence, or respect for facts--acting, in other words, as sociopaths--the Boomers turned American dynamism into stagnation, inequality, and bipartisan fiasco. The Boomers have set a time bomb for the 2030s, when damage to Social Security, public finances, and the environment will become catastrophic and possibly irreversible--and when, not coincidentally, Boomers will be dying off. Gibney argues that younger generations have a fleeting window to hold the Boomers accountable and begin restoring America.
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time
Maria Konnikova - 2015
How do they do it? Why are they successful? And what keeps us falling for it, over and over again? These are the questions that journalist and psychologist Maria Konnikova tackles in her mesmerizing new book. From multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes to small-time frauds, Konnikova pulls together a selection of fascinating stories to demonstrate what all cons share in common, drawing on scientific, dramatic, and psychological perspectives. Insightful and gripping, the book brings readers into the world of the con, examining the relationship between artist and victim. The Confidence Game asks not only why we believe con artists, but also examines the very act of believing and how our sense of truth can be manipulated by those around us.