Book picks similar to
Talk: The Science of Conversation by Elizabeth Stokoe
non-fiction
science
blinkist
linguistics
The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil
Philip G. Zimbardo - 2007
Here, for the first time and in detail, Zimbardo tells the full story of the Stanford Prison Experiment, the landmark study in which a group of college-student volunteers was randomly divided into “guards” and “inmates” and then placed in a mock prison environment. Within a week, the study was abandoned, as ordinary college students were transformed into either brutal, sadistic guards or emotionally broken prisoners. By illuminating the psychological causes behind such disturbing metamorphoses, Zimbardo enables us to better understand a variety of harrowing phenomena, from corporate malfeasance to organized genocide to how once upstanding American soldiers came to abuse and torture Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib. He replaces the long-held notion of the “bad apple” with that of the “bad barrel”—the idea that the social setting and the system contaminate the individual, rather than the other way around.
Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior
Leonard Mlodinow - 2012
The latter has long been the subject of speculation, but over the past two decades researchers have developed remarkable new tools for probing the hidden, or subliminal, workings of the mind. The result of this explosion of research is a new science of the unconscious and a sea change in our understanding of how the subliminal mind affects the way we live.Employing his trademark wit and lucid, accessible explanations of the most obscure scientific subjects, Leonard Mlodinow takes us on a tour of this research, unraveling the complexities of the subliminal self and increasing our understanding of how the human mind works and how we interact with friends, strangers, spouses, and coworkers. In the process he changes our view of ourselves and the world around us.
Brave: 50 Everyday Acts of Courage to Thrive in Work, Love, and Life
Margie Warrell - 2015
Written for busy people on the go, its short, focused chapters provide practical tools and empowering perspectives to help you build your 'courage muscles' in your work, relationships and life. Visit http://www.trainthebrave.com to learn about the Train The Brave Challenge: free to anyone who purchases a copy of Brave.Drawing on her background in business, psychology and coaching, author Margie Warrell will guide you in moving past the fears, doubts and beliefs that keep you from making the changes, and taking the chances, you need to enjoy the fulfillment and success you desire.Courage is a habit. Practicing it daily, even in quiet small ways, unlocks new possibilities, creates new opportunities, grows your influence and enables you to meet your challenges with more resilience and self-assurance. So whether you're stuck in a rut, struggling in a relationship, overwhelmed by your daily juggling act or uninspired about your future, "Brave" will provide you with a regular dose of positive and practical inspiration to: Clarify what 'success' truly means to you, and be more purposeful in your daily efforts to achieve itSpeak up with greater confidence, and be more assertive in dealing with difficult people, getting what you want and changing what you don'tDefine the person and leader you aspire to be, become more resilient under pressure, decisive in uncertainty and adaptable to changeScrap the excuses (your age, education, gender, busyness or children) that sabotage your future actionsDare more boldly, passionately pursuing the goals that inspire you most, no matter how dauntingCourage begets courage. You build it every time you choose to leave the safety of your comfort zone for the sake of something more important. Day by day, brave action by brave action, you can "Train the Brave "within you to create a life rich in all that you seek. If you want to live your life more powerfully and purposefully, this book will become your trusted companion.
Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World
Nicholas Ostler - 2005
From the uncanny resilience of Chinese through twenty centuries of invasions to the engaging self-regard of Greek and to the struggles that gave birth to the languages of modern Europe, these epic achievements and more are brilliantly explored, as are the fascinating failures of once "universal" languages. A splendid, authoritative, and remarkable work, it demonstrates how the language history of the world eloquently reveals the real character of our planet's diverse peoples and prepares us for a linguistic future full of surprises.
Business Chemistry: Practical Magic for Crafting Powerful Work Relationships
Kim Christfort - 2018
Based on extensive research and analytics, plus years of proven success in the field, the Business Chemistry framework provides a simple yet powerful way to identify meaningful differences between people’s working styles. Who seeks possibilities and who seeks stability? Who values challenge and who values connection? Business Chemistry will help you grasp where others are coming from, appreciate the value they bring, and determine what they need in order to excel. It offers practical ways to be more effective as an individual and as a leader. Imagine you had a more in-depth understanding of yourself and why you thrive in some work environments and flounder in others. Suppose you had a clearer view on what to do about it so that you could always perform at your best. Imagine you had more insight into what makes people tick and what ticks them off, how some interactions unlock potential while others shut people down. Suppose you could gain people’s trust, influence them, motivate them, and get the very most out of your work relationships. Imagine you knew how to create a work environment where all types of people excel, even if they have conflicting perspectives, preferences and needs. Suppose you could activate the potential benefits of diversity on your teams and in your organizations, improving collaboration to achieve the group’s collective potential. Business Chemistry offers all of this--you don’t have to leave it up to chance, and you shouldn’t. Let this book guide you in creating great chemistry!
The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty
Simon Baron-Cohen - 2011
In some cases, this absence can be dangerous, but in others it can simply mean a different way of seeing the world.In The Science of Evil Simon Baron-Cohen, an award-winning British researcher who has investigated psychology and autism for decades, develops a new brain-based theory of human cruelty. A true psychologist, however, he examines social and environmental factors that can erode empathy, including neglect and abuse.Based largely on Baron-Cohen's own research, The Science of Evil will change the way we understand and treat human cruelty.
I Know You Are Lying
Mark McClish - 2001
There are usually several ways you can phrase a statement. People will word their statement based on all their knowledge. Therefore, their statement may include information they did not intend to share.聽I Know You Are Lying聽will show you what to look for in a verbal and written statement to determine if a person is telling the truth. The Statement Analysis techniques聽will also聽show you聽how to obtain additional information from a statement. Also included is an analysis of eight high profile cases. An examination of these cases will help you review the Statement Analysis techniques, and it will show you who is being truthful and who is being deceptive in the following cases: - The Oklahoma City Bombing- The O.J. Simpson Murder Trial- Sexual Molestation Allegations Against Michael Jackson- The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.- The Lindbergh Kidnapping and the Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann- President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky Scandal- The Murder of Marylin Sheppard - The JonBenet Ramsey Murder Whether you are conducting an interview or listening to a conversation, when you use聽the Statement Analysis techniques you will be able to determine who is being truthful and who is being deceptive.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
Barry Schwartz - 2004
Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401K, everyday decisions have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains why too much of a good thing has proven detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz explains how a culture that thrives on the availability of constantly evolving options can also foster profound dissatisfaction and self-blame in individuals, which can lead to a paralysis in decision making and, in some cases, depression. With the latest studies on how we make choices in our personal and professional lives, Schwartz offers practical advice on how to focus on the right choices, and how to derive greater satisfaction from choices that we do make.
The Science of Intelligent Achievement: How Smart People Focus, Create and Grow Their Way to Success
Isaiah Hankel - 2018
The Science of Intelligent Achievement teaches you the scientific process of finding success through your most valuable assets:- Selective focus - how selective are you with who and what you let into your life?- Creative ownership - how dependent are you on others for your happiness and success?- Pragmatic growth - how consistently and practically are you growing daily?First, this book will show you how to develop your focus by being very selective with where you spend your mental energy. If you've failed to reach an important goal because you were distracted, misinformed, or overcommitted, then you know the role focus and selectivity play in achievement. Second, you will learn how to stop allowing your happiness and success to be dependent on other people and instead, start taking ownership over your life through creative work. Finally, you will learn the art of changing your life through pragmatic decisions and actions. Self-improvement is not the result of dramatic changes. Instead, science has shown that personal and professional change is initiated and sustained by consistent, practical changes. To grow, you must leverage the power of micro-decisions, personality responsibility, and mini-habits. Your own biology will not let you improve your life in any other way.What do you currently value? What are working to attain? Have you been taught to value your job title or your relationship with some other person above all else? Have you been convinced that the most valuable things in life are your paycheck, the number of people who say 'hello' to you at the office, and the number of people who say 'I need you' at home? Or, have you become so passive in what you value that you let anyone and anything into your life, as long as whatever you let in allows you to stay disconnected from the cold hard truth that when things really go wrong in your life, the only person who will be able to fix it and the only person will be responsible for it is you. If so...welcome to fake success. Passivity, dependence, and the sacrifice of practical thinking and personal responsibility to fuzzy, grandiose ideals and temporary feelings -- these are markers of fake success.Intelligent Achievement, on the other hand, is not a moving target. It's not empty either. Instead, it's sturdy, full, and immovable. It's not something that's just handed to you. It's not something you're nudged to chase or coerced into wanting. Intelligent Achievement comes from within you. It's a collection of values that are aligned with who you are--values you have to protect and nurture. These values do not increase your dependence on other people and things. Instead, they relieve you of dependence. This kind of achievement is something that you have a part in building from the ground up--you know what's in it--you chose it, someone else didn't choose it for you.Achieving real success means you must focus, create, and grow daily. The Science of Intelligent Achievement will show you how.
Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
Walter J. Ong - 1982
Ong offers fascinating insights into oral genres across the globe and through time, and examines the rise of abstract philosophical and scientific thinking. He considers the impact of orality-literacy studies not only on literary criticism and theory but on our very understanding of what it is to be a human being, conscious of self and other.This is a book no reader, writer or speaker should be without.
Digital Darwinism: Survival of the Fittest in the Age of Business Disruption
Tom Goodwin - 2018
Change is happening faster than ever and the pace is accelerating.The lifespan of companies decreasing and the list of case studies of those that failed to adapt grows longer by the week. Life seems more unpredictable than ever, we face a growing abundance of data to process, more decisions to make and new technologies that promise to be the next big thing. In this book Tom Goodwin aims to provide CEO's and Business Executives across all industries with leadership through change. A guiding hand through through the turbulence of the moment, a way to reimagine business and products leveraging the profound new opportunities that new technology, new behaviors and new thinking allow. This is a practical guide, drawing on the past, with clear actionable steps on how leaders for the future can thrive today and tomorrow.
Keto Answers: Simplifying Everything You Need to Know about the World's Most Confusing Diet
Anthony Gustin - 2019
You’ve done your research, but nothing makes sense. There’s so much confusion! Do you count total or net carbs? Should you eat a lot of protein or not? Is keto safe long term? What happens when you fall off the wagon?Combined, we've spent well over a decade using keto to battle our own health issues and to help thousands of patients and clients lose fat and regain their health. We’ve done the work so you don’t have to. We have the answers to what works and what doesn’t.Don’t worry, you can be successful with the ketogenic diet. You can finally lose that fat. You can take control of your brain. You can reclaim your life and restore your health. And it’s simpler than you think…
Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners
Michael Erard - 2012
What do an Italian cardinal, a Connecticut blacksmith, and a German diplomat have in common with an MIT linguist, a Hungarian translator, and a Scottish church organist? They were all "hyperpolyglots," "language superlearners," or "massive multilinguals." In Babel No More, Michael Erard delves into the lives and minds of these intriguing individuals both past and present and discovers the upper limit of the human ability to learn, speak, and remember languages. Hyperpolyglots - people who, by one definition, can use six or more languages - are fascinating not simply because what they do is out of the ordinary. Rather, their accomplishments serve as a point of reference for the rest of us; in some ways they are what the author calls a gifted neural tribe, absorbing language for reasons, and with methods, that few people would emulate. But they are also marked by simple, if dogged, methods: the most prolific multilingual in history, Cardinal Mezzofanti, used flashcards. Taken together, their pursuits present a natural experiment into the limits and the nature of memory and language. Part scientific detective story, part travelogue, part valentine to anyone who's ever hoped to sprechen or parler something other than a mother tongue, Babel No More takes us all over the world to look at language learning in an entirely new way.
The Belief Instinct: The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life
Jesse Bering - 2011
Combining lucid accounts of surprising new studies with insights into literature, philosophy, and even pop culture, Bering gives us a narrative that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. He sheds light on such topics as our search for a predestined life purpose, our desire to read divine messages into natural disasters and other random occurrences, our visions of the afterlife, and our curiosity about how moral and immoral behavior are rewarded or punished in this life.Bering traces all of these beliefs and desires to a single trait of human psychology, known as the "theory of mind," which enables us to guess at the intentions and thoughts of others. He then takes this groundbreaking argument one step further, revealing how the instinct to believe in God and other unknowable forces gave early humans an evolutionary advantage. But now that these psychological illusions have outlasted their evolutionary purpose, Bering draws our attention to a whole new challenge: escaping them.Thanks to Bering's insight and wit, The Belief Instinct will reward readers with an enlightened understanding of the universal human tendency to believe-and the tools to break free.
The Art of Civilized Conversation: A Guide to Expressing Yourself with Style and Grace
Margaret Shepherd - 2005
And yet making conversation is a highly practical skill: those who do it well shine at networking parties, interviews, and business lunches. Good conversation also opens doors to a happier love life, warmer friendships, and more rewarding time with family.In The Art of Civilized Conversation, author Margaret Shepherd offers opening lines, graceful apologies, thoughtful questions, and, ultimately, the confidence to take conversations beyond hello. From the basics--first impressions, appropriate subject matter, and graceful exits--to finding the right words for difficult situations and an insightful discussion of body language, Shepherd uses her skilled eye and humorous anecdotes to teach readers how to turn a plain conversation into an engaging encounter.Filled with common sense and fresh insight, The Art of Civilized Conversation is the perfect inspiration not only for what to say but for how to say it with style.