Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun.Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful "imagination-extenders and focus-holders" meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will. With patience and wit, Dennett deftly deploys his thinking tools to gain traction on these thorny issues while offering readers insight into how and why each tool was built.Alongside well-known favorites like Occam’s Razor and reductio ad absurdum lie thrilling descriptions of Dennett’s own creations: Trapped in the Robot Control Room, Beware of the Prime Mammal, and The Wandering Two-Bitser. Ranging across disciplines as diverse as psychology, biology, computer science, and physics, Dennett’s tools embrace in equal measure light-heartedness and accessibility as they welcome uninitiated and seasoned readers alike. As always, his goal remains to teach you how to "think reliably and even gracefully about really hard questions."A sweeping work of intellectual seriousness that’s also studded with impish delights, Intuition Pumps offers intrepid thinkers—in all walks of life—delicious opportunities to explore their pet ideas with new powers.

    Louis are all intimately connected with the mysterious number e. In this informal and engaging history, Eli Maor portrays the curious characters and the elegant mathematics that lie behind the number. Designed for a reader with only a modest mathematical background, this biography brings out the central importance of e to mathematics and illuminates a golden era in the age of science.

    In How to Stay Sane, she has taken these principles and applied them to self-help. Using ideas from neuroscience and sound psychological theory, she shows us how to better understand ourselves. Her idea is that if we know how our minds form and develop, we are less at the mercy of unknown unconscious processes. In this way, we can learn to be the master of our feelings and not their slave.This is a smart, pithy, readable book that everyone with even a passing interest in their psychological health will find useful.

    His fascinating quest draws on the history of philosophy, but also anthropology, sociology, psychology and neurology; he talks to theologians, priests, allegedly reincarnated Lamas, and delves into real-life cases of lost memory, personality disorders and personal transformation; and, candidly and engagingly, he describes his own experiences. After reading "The Ego Trick," you will never see yourself in the same way again.

    Is luck a cosmic force that we can randomly stumble upon, or is there something real that people we consider lucky have discovered? The Science of Being Lucky is an in-depth look at what all lucky people have in common and how they set themselves up for success time after time.Put success into your own hands, not fate's.The Science of Being Lucky takes you on a science-based journey into what luck is, what we think it is, and how to get more of it in your life. The journey begins by breaking down and defining the lucky breaks, coincidences, and serendipitous events in our lives - then delves into the specific traits, life factors, and perspectives that create lucky outcomes.The Science of Being Lucky will open your eyes to what is behind each moment you would call lucky and give you a concrete action plan to create more of the same. Luck doesn't have to be just fantasy.Become immune to bad luck.Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with dozens of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience. He's no stranger to bad luck, having broken the same toe three times, but he's found ways to reverse his luck and live the good life.Ditch the lucky underwear and rabbit's foot.-The human illusion of control and lucky thinking.-Popular methods for luck - do they work? (One does, one does not)-The downside of probabilities.-Avoiding bad luck internally and externally.Set yourself up for inevitable success.-Coincidence, serendipity, and other "small world" phenomenon.-Three traits that practically manufacture luck.-Max Gunther's famous "strategic luck planning" approach to life.Stack the deck in your favor and live better.The Science of Being Lucky will teach you how to turn lead into gold, a cloudy day into paradise, and your life into the stuff of movies.You will learn to create the conditions for luck and success instead of hoping for them. The more you internalize these mindsets, the luckier you'll get until your friends ask you what your secret is. The secret? It's not actually about luck."Break a leg" TODAY by scrolling up and clicking the BUY NOW button!

    In The Ego Tunnel, philosopher Thomas Metzinger claims otherwise: No such thing as a self exists. The conscious self is the content of a model created by our brain—an internal image, but one we cannot experience as an image. Everything we experience is “a virtual self in a virtual reality.”But if the self is not “real,” why and how did it evolve? How does the brain construct it? Do we still have souls, free will, personal autonomy, or moral accountability? In a time when the science of cognition is becoming as controversial as evolution, The Ego Tunnel provides a stunningly original take on the mystery of the mind.

    Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandran recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image, why we laugh or become depressed, why we may believe in God, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves and dream, perhaps even why we're so clever at philosophy, music and art. Some of his most notable cases:A woman paralyzed on the left side of her body who believes she is lifting a tray of drinks with both hands offers a unique opportunity to test Freud's theory of denial.A man who insists he is talking with God challenges us to ask: Could we be "wired" for religious experience?A woman who hallucinates cartoon characters illustrates how, in a sense, we are all hallucinating, all the time.Dr. Ramachandran's inspired medical detective work pushes the boundaries of medicine's last great frontier -- the human mind -- yielding new and provocative insights into the "big questions" about consciousness and the self.

    But by knowing what they are and how to spot them, we can avoid them and make better choices-whether dealing with a personal problem or a business negotiation; trying to save money or make money; working out what we do or don't want in life: and how best to get it.Simple, clear and always surprising, this indispensable book will change the way you think and transform your decision-making-work, at home, every day. It reveals, in 99 short chapters, the most common errors of judgment, and how to avoid them.

    And what he is due is the right to speak his mind. He must have this for your own safety's sake because his freedom is inextricably tied to your own. If he can be censored, why shouldn't you be censored? If we put barriers up to silence 'unpleasant' ideas, what's to stop the silencing of any discussion? This book is a full-throated defense of free speech and open inquiry in politics, science, and culture by the New York Times bestselling author and skeptic Michael Shermer. The new collection of essays and articles takes the Devil by the horns by tackling five key themes: free thought and free speech, politics and society, scientific humanism, religion, and the ideas of controversial intellectuals. For our own sake, we must give the Devil his due.

    What can Roger Federer teach us about the secret of longevity? What do the All Blacks have in common with improvised jazz musicians? What can cognitive neuroscientists tell us about what happens to the brains of sportspeople when they perform?And why did Johan Cruyff believe that beauty was more important than winning? Matthew Syed, the 'Sports Journalist of the Year 2016', answers these questions and more in a fascinating, wide-ranging and provocative book about the mental game of sport.How do we become the best that we can be, as individuals, teams and as organisations? Sport, with its innate sense of drama, its competitive edge, its psychological pressures, its sense of morality and its illusive quest for perfection, provides the answers.

    But ask a physicist and there’s no doubt that James Clerk Maxwell will be near the top of the list.  Maxwell, an unassuming Victorian Scotsman, explained how we perceive colour. He uncovered the way gases behave. And, most significantly, he transformed the way physics was undertaken in his explanation of the interaction of electricity and magnetism, revealing the nature of light and laying the groundwork for everything from Einstein’s special relativity to modern electronics.   Along the way, he set up one of the most enduring challenges in physics, one that has taxed the best minds ever since. ‘Maxwell’s demon’ is a tiny but thoroughly disruptive thought experiment that suggests the second law of thermodynamics, the law that governs the flow of time itself, can be broken. This is the story of a groundbreaking scientist, a great contributor to our understanding of the way the world works, and his duplicitous demon.

    This engaging book--part scientific overview, part memoir, part futurist speculation--describes Koch's search for an empirical explanation for consciousness. Koch recounts not only the birth of the modern science of consciousness but also the subterranean motivation for his quest--his instinctual (if "romantic") belief that life is meaningful.Koch describes his own groundbreaking work with Francis Crick in the 1990s and 2000s and the gradual emergence of consciousness (once considered a "fringy" subject) as a legitimate topic for scientific investigation. Present at this paradigm shift were Koch and a handful of colleagues, including Ned Block, David Chalmers, Stanislas Dehaene, Giulio Tononi, Wolf Singer, and others. Aiding and abetting it were new techniques to listen in on the activity of individual nerve cells, clinical studies, and brain-imaging technologies that allowed safe and noninvasive study of the human brain in action.Koch gives us stories from the front lines of modern research into the neurobiology of consciousness as well as his own reflections on a variety of topics, including the distinction between attention and awareness, the unconscious, how neurons respond to Homer Simpson, the physics and biology of free will, dogs, Der Ring des Nibelungen, sentient machines, the loss of his belief in a personal God, and sadness. All of them are signposts in the pursuit of his life's work--to uncover the roots of consciousness.

    She asks helpful questions throughout to help the reader explore the next steps they need to take. And provides practical action steps. If you really want to get unstuck you've got to engage with the material, not just read it.” ~ Beth Ellen Nash, Amazon reader Have you been spinning your wheels, feeling like you’re drowning in the molasses of monotony, discouragement and frustration? Do you, like many of us, struggle with achieving your goals and dreams, or solving a problem? Has something fundamental to your work, or relationship stopped and would you like to put the spark back into your life? Life coach Laura has helped thousands of people identify where the root of the problem lies and pave their path to personal fulfillment. And now she does the same for you in her practical and gimmick-free book Get Unstuck Now This guide shows you what your real underlying problem is and where to focus on so you can move on with more joy, clarity, and peace of mind. You’ll master easy-to-use tools, strategies and specific steps to bring about deep and meaningful transformation, so you can get unstuck... NOW! With this encouraging and easy-to-implement book, you’ll master: The 5 hidden, underlying principles and rules that affect our life. How your inner child may keep you stuck, who this inner child actually is, and how to deal with it. The ONE crucial thing that you MUST do, without which you’ll lack the will and motivation, to truly change something. …and many more tested and path-breaking ideas and practical tools to move forward fast with unstoppable confidence. “If you want to gain control and clarity in your life then this book is the key to it. This will not only help you discover your inner strengths, but also enable you to work on your weaknesses by identifying issues and resolving them, making your emotional and practical life balanced. Also if your focus is right, then I give you my word that it will broaden your vision changing you into a better person in life. Great work by Laura, highly recommended for those who are lost finding themselves in this fast moving world!!” ~Ilma Salman, Amazon reader Is it YOUR time to unshackle yourself from the chains of negative thoughts and behavior patterns that are keeping you stuck and frustrated? You can start right away. Hit the yellow Buy Button above and start creating a life that supports you now!

    His theories on the evolutionary tensions between parent and offspring, sibling and sibling, man and woman, friend and friend, and a person and himself or herself have not only revolutionized genetics and evolutionary biology but have influenced disciplines from medicine and the social sciences to history, economics, and literary studies. But unlike other renowned scientists, Trivers has spent time behind bars, drove a getaway car for Huey P. Newton, and founded an armed group in Jamaica to protect gay men from mob violence. Now, in the entertaining tradition of Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, Trivers tell us in his inimitable voice about the inimitable life behind the revolutionary science. He comments with irreverent wit and penetrating insight on everything from American racism to the history of psychiatry to who killed Peter Tosh, musical heir to Bob Marley. Sprinkled with anecdotes about such luminaries as Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, and with photographs throughout, this volume is sure to enlighten and entertain anyone with an interest in science, the human condition, or the nature of creative genius. PRAISE FOR WILD LIFE"To call Robert Trivers an acclaimed biologist is an understatement akin to calling the late Richard Feynman a popular professor of physics." -- PSYCHOLOGY TODAY"Who would have guessed that arguably today’s most original thinker in evolutionary theory could possibly have led the extraordinary life Robert Trivers recounts in these pages. We are taken on a wild trip from inspired meditations on the biology of self deception, through a steamy Jamaican underworld, to Black Panthers in California, to frank appraisals of distinguished or over-rated scientists, the whole adding up to a disarmingly frank and utterly unique memoir of a rollercoaster of a life. -- RICHARD DAWKINS, bestselling author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion“Robert Trivers is not just a brilliant evolutionary thinker but a world-class raconteur, adventurer, kibitzer, people-watcher, jester, and provocateur. This memoir is filled with sharp and hilarious observations about the living world, not least a certain species of hairless primate, not least a certain member of that species named Robert Trivers.” – STEVEN PINKER,best-selling author of How the Mind Works and The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined“It would not be hyperbole to say that Robert Trivers is one of the most important evolutionary theorists since Charles Darwin. But contrary to the image most people have of theoretical scientists as stodgy intellectuals holed up in their offices buried in paper, Trivers' memoir reveals a man whose life has been wild in every sense of the word. A lust for life doesn’t begin to sum up a career devoted to truth, courage, and the audacity to think what no one else has thought, and to act in ways few others would dare (you’ll even learn how to defend yourself in a knife fight). If that were not enough, Trivers is witty, clever, and compassionate. This book is destined to become a classic in scientific autobiography." -- MICHAEL SHERMER, Editor in Chief, The SkepticABOUT THE AUTHORRobert Trivers is a professor of anthropology and biological sciences at Rutgers University.

    Price begins with the mystery of the arrow of time. Why, for example, does disorder always increase, as required by the second law of thermodynamics? Price shows that, for over a century, most physicists have thought about these problems the wrong way. Misled by the human perspective from withintime, which distorts and exaggerates the differences between past and future, they have fallen victim to what Price calls the double standard fallacy: proposed explanations of the difference between the past and the future turn out to rely on a difference which has been slipped in at thebeginning, when the physicists themselves treat the past and future in different ways. To avoid this fallacy, Price argues, we need to overcome our natural tendency to think about the past and the future differently. We need to imagine a point outside time -- an Archimedean view from nowhen --from which to observe time in an unbiased way. Offering a lively criticism of many major modern physicists, including Richard Feynman and Stephen Hawking, Price shows that this fallacy remains common in physics today -- for example, when contemporary cosmologists theorize about the eventual fate of the universe. The big bang theory normallyassumes that the beginning and end of the universe will be very different. But if we are to avoid the double standard fallacy, we need to consider time symmetrically, and take seriously the possibility that the arrow of time may reverse when the universe recollapses into a big crunch. Price then turns to the greatest mystery of modern physics, the meaning of quantum theory. He argues that in missing the Archimedean viewpoint, modern physics has missed a radical and attractive solution to many of the apparent paradoxes of quantum physics. Many consequences of quantum theoryappear counterintuitive, such as Schrodinger's Cat, whose condition seems undetermined until observed, and Bell's Theorem, which suggests a spooky nonlocality, where events happening simultaneously in different places seem to affect each other directly. Price shows that these paradoxes can beavoided by allowing that at the quantum level the future does, indeed, affect the past. This demystifies nonlocality, and supports Einstein's unpopular intuition that quantum theory describes an objective world, existing independently of human observers: the Cat is alive or dead, even when nobodylooks. So interpreted, Price argues, quantum mechanics is simply the kind of theory we ought to have expected in microphysics -- from the symmetric standpoint.Time's Arrow and Archimedes' Point presents an innovative and controversial view of time and contemporary physics. In this exciting book, Price urges physicists, philosophers, and anyone who has ever pondered the mysteries of time to look at the world from the fresh perspective of Archimedes' Pointand gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, the universe around us, and our own place in time.