Book picks similar to
Social Change by Steven Vago


philosophy
academic
bookcase-9-shelf-3
non-fiction

The Delusion of Passion: Why Millennials Struggle to Find Success


David Anderson - 2016
    A brilliantly written, simple, and practical guide to develop a life that you are truly excited about living!Long DescriptionWe ve all grown up hearing statements that sound like There are more important things in the world than money...follow your passion or When you find your true passion, you'll never feel like you're working a day in your life.In our culture, there is a premium placed on finding our passion, as though somehow once we've found it, our lives will finally start to come together as we've always imagined. We've held onto these beliefs about passion and have made daily and even life-changing decisions based on the principle of following our passion.Is passion important in living a fulfilled life? Absolutely. But as the famous adage goes, It s not the things that you don t know that hurt you... It's the things you think are true that aren t that really mess you up.Unfortunately, there are a number of beliefs we have about trying to find our passion that are creating more questions, frustrations and confusion in our lives. Of course, something in these beliefs must be true (or they wouldn't resonate with us so strongly), but how do we separate fact from delusion? Instead of hoping to find a life of passion, how do we CREATE a life we are passionate about living?The Delusion of Passion: Why Millennials Struggle to Find Success was written to clarify truth from delusion in our commonly held beliefs about passion, and to put people in the driver's seat, creating a life they are passionate about living. It is written for Millennials and by Millennials to help our generation tap into new levels of productivity and intentionality in everything we do, and in our pursuit of personal excellence. Even those not in our generation have gained insights from this book into the Millennial mind, on how to work with Millennials effectively, and helping to clarify their own personal journeys as well.

A Stoic's Diary


Dipanshu Rawal - 2018
    Here's the link- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...------I have been both good and bad to people.Because,I have had ups and downs in my life.---I have been extremely happy whenever something good happened.And like everyone else, I have had my fair share of failures as well.I have been sad and depressed as well.There was a time when nothing went right.I know you might have witnessed such time in your life as well.So, at that moment,I started seeking life advices.While searching-“How to be happy in your life”,on Google,I stumbled upon a few philosophies.Out of those,stoicism was the one that attracted me the most.While researching on stoicism,I couldn’t help but notice that the simplicity and effectiveness of stoicism were lost in either the fancy words of contemporary writers or the outdated words by ancient stoic writers.So, here are my interpretations of stoicism in the simplest way possible.

This Book Will Save You Time


Misir Mahmudov - 2020
    Everything else can be made, bought or created. Our life is made up of around 600,000 hours and every second is of infinite value. We live in an attention economy where corporations are fighting for our time with the goal of monetizing our every second. The money we use loses value and devalues our time through inflation. When we work, we are exchanging our limited time for money whose quantity increases every year. It hasn’t always been this way. People used gold as money for a reason; it was also a limited resource. Now, what does the future hold?Valuing your time is the first step to improving your life. Knowing that your time is the only limited resource makes you more selective about the things you do, the people you spend your time with and the assets you choose to store your wealth in. Once you learn to appreciate your time, you will get busy doing the things you love and start making better financial choices.

Happiness


Alain Badiou - 2015
    It has, in contemporary society, been reduced to the simple answers of the self-help industry, consumerist trends and the polluted rhetoric of the politician. In this major intervention into both contemporary philosophy and how we live now, Alain Badiou attempts to rehabilitate the notion of 'being happy'. He claims, 'the category of happiness, such as it is promoted today, has largely been reduced to what I would call satisfaction' and satisfaction for Badiou simply isn't good enough. Risk, adventure, peril are what true happiness is all about. Putting oneself in the position to feel and experience things that go beyond simply feeling calm and at peace, deliberating disturbing our equilibrium and asking questions of ourselves is where true happiness lies.Badiou is also asking a serious political question in his interrogation of happiness: what does it mean, socially and politically, to simply accept one's place in the world? It's each individual's political responsibility to disrupt our allotted places in the universe, up-end the social order, bring about something new.This is a crucially important piece of lively, life-giving philosophy from one of the world's greatest living philosophers.

DSLR Cinema: Crafting the Film Look with Video


Kurt Lancaster - 2010
    Exploring the cinematic quality and features offered by hybrid DSLRs, this book empowers the filmmaker to craft visually stunning images inexpensively.Learn to think more like a cinematographer than a videographer, whether shooting for a feature, short fiction, documentary, video journalism, or even a wedding. DSLR Cinema offers insight into different shooting styles, real-world tips and techniques, and advice on postproduction workflow as it guides you in crafting a film-like look.Case studies feature an international cast of cutting edge DSLR shooters today, including Philip Bloom (England), Bernardo Uzeda (Brazil), Rii Schroer (Germany), Jeremy Ian Thomas (United States), Shane Hurlbut, ASC (United States), and Po Chan (Hong Kong). Their films are examined in detail, exploring how each exemplifies great storytelling, exceptional visual character, and how you can push the limits of your DSLR.

Shackled: A Journey From Political Imprisonment To Freedom


Adam Siddiq - 2017
    Following a grand betrayal, Khaled's father and uncles, the respected right-hand men to the King of Afghanistan, become targets of the new regime. Khaled's father is exiled, his uncles are executed, and their families are locked away in a forgotten corner of Kabul. So begins a decades-long struggle in captivity where Khaled faces the hardship of prison life while enduring tragedies as more of his loved ones are executed and succumb to diseases. Despite the tribulations he experiences, Khaled never gives up hope, choosing to make the most of his time by studying five different languages, advanced literature, and philosophy. Eventually, Khaled and his family are released from prison, but are they truly free? Forbidden from leaving the country, one thing continues to haunt Khaled: a longing to reunite with his father. SHACKLED is a raw, heart-opening story about resilience. It follows the Charkhi family from the 1932 coup to the 1979 Soviet invasion. Amidst national and personal upheaval, Khaled finds his freedom by choosing to lead a life of optimism, kindness, joy, and love. Adam Siddiq is the grandson of Khaled Siddiq. Adam wrote SHACKLED alongside his grandfather, Khaled—a shared journey they hope will inspire others to become more involved in the sacred bond between the youth and their elders.

God Needs To Go: Why Christian Beliefs Fail


J.D. Brucker - 2012
    It brings comfort, purpose, and sense of pride. These feelings mean so much to the Christian. But are these feelings justified? Do Christians have good reason to trust the truth of their beliefs? Author J. D. Brucker brings forth a short collection of arguments against Christian beliefs, exposing the falsehoods of the faith so many all around the world cherish.

Shadow People: How Meth-Driven Crime Is Eating at the Heart of Rural America


Scott Thomas Anderson - 2012
    He spent 18 months - between May of 2010 and October of 2011 - working as an embedded reporter with law enforcement agencies, partnering with officers on night patrols, accompanying detectives on warrant searches and probation sweeps, observing SWAT operations and spending hundreds of hours with attorneys and victims' advocates in small-town courtrooms. The result is "Shadow People," a stark and sometimes brutal exploration of America's modern methamphetamine crisis.

The End of Poverty


Jeffrey D. Sachs - 2005
    Sachs is renowned for his work around the globe advising economies in crisis. Now a classic of its genre, The End of Poverty distills more than thirty years of experience to offer a uniquely informed vision of the steps that can transform impoverished countries into prosperous ones. Marrying vivid storytelling with rigorous analysis, Sachs lays out a clear conceptual map of the world economy. Explaining his own work in Bolivia, Russia, India, China, and Africa, he offers an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that challenge the world's poorest countries.   Ten years after its initial publication, The End of Poverty remains an indispensible and influential work. In this 10th anniversary edition, Sachs presents an extensive new foreword assessing the progress of the past decade, the work that remains to be done, and how each of us can help. He also looks ahead across the next fifteen years to 2030, the United Nations' target date for ending extreme poverty, offering new insights and recommendations.

Fred Rogers: The Life and Legacy of the Legend behind Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood


Charles River Editors - 2018
    I give an expression of care every day to each child, to help him realize that he is unique. I end the program by saying, 'You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you are.' And I feel that if we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for mental health.” – Fred Rogers An anomalous YouTube video crudely entitled “Mr. Rogers is a [sic] Evil Man” stands at over 1.8 million views, with 1,000 likes and a whopping 30,000 dislikes. Similarly, saying an ill word about the universally adored Mister Rogers on the forums of the imageboard, 4Chan, will get the commenter torn to shreds by even its notoriously toxic anonymous users, and almost definitely ousted from the online community for good. In an age where even the motives of Gandhi and Mother Teresa are questioned by the cynical and they are at times vilified as “frauds,” one would be hard-pressed to find a rational argument against the untouchable character of Mister Rogers. When one does happen upon such an abnormality, the public is quick to defend the gentle soul. “It takes a special kind of scum to hate Mister Rogers,” reads the top comment on the aforementioned video, posted by user Sergei Ivanovich Mosin. The video has been picked apart by multiple journalists from the likes of Huffington Post and the Pittsburgh Magazine, amongst many others. So who exactly was Fred Rogers, and how did the host of one of history’s most beloved shows win the hearts of children around the world? Fred Rogers: The Life and Legacy of the Legend behind Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood profiles one of America’s most iconic television personalities. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Fred Rogers like never before.

Engaging Learners


Andy Griffith - 2012
    A class can be skilled and motivated to learn without a teacher always having to lead. Engaging learners in this way unpicks intrinsic motivation, the foundation that underpins a productive learning environment and helps to develop independent learning.Based on five years of intensive research through Osiris Education's award-winning Outstanding Teaching Intervention program this book is packed with proven advice and innovative tools that were developed in these successful outstanding lessons. Written in the same humorous, thought-provoking style with which they both teach and train, the authors aim to challenge all who teach, from newly qualified teachers to seasoned professionals, to reflect on their day-to-day practice and set an agenda for sustainable improvement.

The Complete Philosophy Files


Stephen Law - 2011
    Dip into any chapter and you will find lively scenarios and dialogues to take you through philosophical puzzles ancient and modern, involving virtual reality, science fiction and a host of characters from this and other planets. The text is interspersed on every page with lively cartoons, and there is a list of philosophical jargon at the end..Stephen Law has a gift for communicating complex ideas. He offers few answers, but his unstuffy, highly personal approach will have the reader thinking and arguing with as much pleasure as he does himself.

Pear Shaped: The Funniest Book So Far This Year About Brain Cancer


Adam Blain - 2015
    It made him laugh." Cindy McCain "This book is funny, moving and inspirational. I read some of it and had to get him on my radio show." Christian O'Connell, Absolute Radio Breakfast Show DJ "So honest, uninhibited, down-to-earth and readable despite the difficult subject. The best non-fiction book I have read in a very long time.....and I strongly recommend it." Peter J "Hilarious and moving in equal measures. What a brave man!" David Reuben "Adam Blain manages to be funny, poignant and inspiring describing with heart breaking honesty his journey so far, beginning with a diagnosis no one ever wants to face." RG A must-read memoir about coping with cancer Description Adam is a middle aged father of three. Completely out of the blue, and for no reason other than sheer dumb chance, he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain tumour. Adam has endured radiotherapy and chemotherapy which were preceded by major brain surgery to remove the tumour - helpfully described by his surgeon as being the size and shape of a pear. Using the blackest of humour, this book charts Adam's journey from normality to having a disease regularly described as a “death sentence”. How will he cope with the treatment? How will his relationship with family and friends be affected? Most important of all, how will his hair come through this? Quite simply, it is the funniest book so far this year about brain cancer. Warning - this book is intended for mature audiences due to the subject matter and use of strong language.

The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology


Lisa J. McIntyre - 1998
    This title enables students to grasp key sociological concepts and learn the useful lesson that there is much that goes on in the social world that escapes the sociologically untrained eye.

Six Names of Beauty


Crispin Sartwell - 2004
    In this elegant, witty, and ultimately profound meditation on what is beautiful, Crispin Sartwell begins with six words from six different cultures - ancient Greek's "to kalon," the Japanese idea of "wabi-sabi," Hebrew's "yapha," the Navajo concept "hozho," Sanskrit "sundara," and our own English-language "beauty." Each word becomes a door onto another way of thinking about, and looking at, what is beautiful in the world, and in our lives. The earthy and the exalted, the imperfect and the ideal: things, spaces, high art, sounds, aromas, nothingness. Sartwell writes about handfuls of beautiful things - among them, a Japanese teapot and Diana Rigg as Mrs. Emma Peel, the pleasure in a well-used hammer and in pop music and in Vermeer's "Girl in a Red Hat."In Sartwell's hands these six names of beauty -and there could be thousands more-are revealed as simple and profound ideas about our world and our selves.