Wayfinding - Food and Fitness


Hugh Howey - 2015
    This work is the result of those requests. It is full of controversial claims, so be warned. I truly believe that if people follow the handful of principles in this short read, they will improve their health and change their lives.

The Art of War and Tao Te Ching: Ancient Chinese Wisdom Classics


Sun Tzu - 2011
    It is fundamental to Philosophical Taoism. Specially formatted for the Amazon Kindle, with easy navigation table of contents, and adjustable font size.

Hunter S. Thompson: The Playboy Interview


Hunter S. Thompson - 2012
    It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the last half century.To celebrate the Interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have culled 50 of its most (in)famous Interviews and will publish them over the course of 50 weekdays (from September 4, 2012 to November 12, 2012) via Amazon’s Kindle Direct platform. Here is the interview with the journalist Hunter S. Thompson from the November 1974 issue.

The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television


Steven Pinker - 2008
    Why do so many swear words involve sex, bodily functions and religion? What are the biological roots of swearing? Why would a democracy deter the use of words for two activities - sex and excretion - that harm no one and are inescapable parts of the human condition?Taboo language enters into a startling array of human concerns from capital crimes in the Bible to the future of electronic media. You'll discover that in Quebecois French the expression 'Tabernacle' is outrageous, that 'scumbag' has a very unsavoury origin and that in a certain Aboriginal language every word is filthy when spoken in front of your mother-in-law.Covering everything from free speech to Tourette's, from pottymouthed celebrities to poetry, this book reveals what swearing tells us about how our minds work. (It's also a bloody good read).

The Life of the Mind, Volume One: Thinking


Hannah Arendt - 1971
    Edited by Mary McCarthy; Indices.

Change Your Brain


Timothy Leary - 2000
    Known throughout the world as the guru who encouraged an entire generation to "turn on, tune in, and drop out," he draws on wit, humor, and skepticism to debunk the power of psychotherapy and to advocate reprogramming the brain with psychedelics. Discussing how various drugs affect the brain, how to change behavior, and how to develop creativity, he also delves into psychopharmacological catalyzing, fear of potential, symbol and language imprinting, and brain reimprinting with Hinduism, Buddhism, and LSD.

Cocaine Papers


Sigmund Freud - 1884
    & if you are froward, you shall see who is stronger, a gentle little girl who doesn't eat enough or a big wild man who has cocaine in his body. In my last severe depression I took coca again & a small dose lifted me to the heights." This lurid encomium to cocaine wasn't penned by an immature drug addict. It was written by Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis, to his fiancee Martha Bernays. He frequently got kicks from cocaine. But as is clear from his newly compiled Cocaine Papers, his interest in the drug was scientific, not sensual. He sought for a miracle drug to benefit patients & make his reputation. He thought he'd found it in cocaine. Freud's study of cocaine has been shrouded in myths, half-truths & speculation. Cocaine Papers sets the facts straight. Annotated by his daughter Anna, it presents the complete authoritative versions of his own writings on the drug, including several pieces never before published, along with the work of other early experimenters. He's revealed as not only a driven &, ultimately, tragic seeker for a panacea, but also as one of the pioneers of psychopharmacology, the science of using drugs to treat mental illness. In 1884, before beginning studies leading to the development of psychoanalysis, Freud was 28, a fledgling physician with a fiancee but without funds to wed. He'd been searching for a way to establish himself & gain the respect of colleagues. A paper by German physician Theodor Aschenbrandt seemed to provide the way. Conquistadores had noted the stimulant effect of coca leaves on Andean Indians. Aschenbrandt tried the drug on Bavarian soldiers & reported that it suppressed their hunger while increasing mental powers & capacity to endure strain. Aschenbrandt's paper triggered Freud's studies. He obtained samples & tried it. It gave him an emotional lift, producing what he described as "normal euphoria." After that he used cocaine frequently with the same results. He coolly summarized his experiences in his notes: "You perceive an increase of self-control, possess more vitality & capacity for work. This result is enjoyed without any of the unpleasant aftermaths which accompany exhilaration thru alcoholic means." Freud continued to study cocaine's effects on himself & patients. He found it not only useful in overcoming depression but effective against some purely physiological complaints. He used it to treat stomach disorders & persistent coughing. He didn't administer it indiscriminately. Tho he initially believed it wasn't habit-forming, he found its effects on patients too unpredictable to justify widespread use. Tho he & some American physicians reported initial successes in treating morphine addicts, fellow physician Adolf Albrecht Erlenmeyer warned that cocaine was itself addictive, the "3rd scourge of mankind"—after morphine & alcohol. Freud realized Erlenmeyer was correct. His friend & patient, Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, became the 1st morphine addict in Europe to be cured by cocaine. He was also one of the 1st to become dependent on it. This development dampened Freud's interest & helped turn his attention to the psychological theories that eventually won him fame. Freud's studies are considered basic to psychopharmacology. But they didn't lead to the discovery of its most effective clinical use. He abandoned his interest in cocaine just after he suggested that a colleague, Karl "Coca" Roller, experiment with its use in easing the pain of eye surgery. It was Koller & not Freud who invented local anesthesia.--Time (edited)

Paris Under the Occupation


Jean-Paul Sartre - 1980
    His work continues to influence fields such as Marxist philosophy, sociology, critical theory, and literary studies---Lisa Lieberman's writings on French postwar film and literature and their efforts to come to terms with the Holocaust have appeared in a variety of media.  She is the author of Leaving You: The Cultural Meaning of Suicide, which addresses the suicides of notable Holocaust survivors including Primo Levi, Bruno Bettelheim, and Jean Améry.  Trained as a modern European cultural and intellectual historian, she studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University and has taught at Dickinson College.  She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The New Existentialism


Colin Wilson - 1966
    

Poetry, Language, Thought


Martin Heidegger - 1971
    Essential reading for students and anyone interested in the great philosophers, this book opens up appreciation of Heidegger beyond the study of philosophy to the reaches of poetry and our fundamental relationship to the world. Featuring "The Origin of the Work of Art," a milestone in Heidegger's canon, this enduring volume provides potent, accessible entry to one of the most brilliant thinkers of modern times.

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.

Way of the Warrior


Bernard Schaffer - 2011
    A sixteen year veteran and second-generation cop, Schaffer possesses a keen insight into what it takes to successfully uphold the law and not lose your mind in the process. Equal parts biography and instructional guide, Way of the Warrior focuses on the core of the individual officer: the warrior spirit.Whether you're a grunt working The Street or a white shirt who'd need a GPS to find it, this guide is designed to help you reconnect with why you took the oath to serve and protect. Behind the badge and the gun lies the heart of a warrior. Unleash your inner hero.One of the most authentic Law Enforcement Kindle books available, this essay on the modern warrior society of police officers is part-biography, part-instructional guide as to what it means to protect and serve the public, at any cost. It employs Law Enforcement leadership principals, Law Enforcement tactics and methods of Law Enforcement intelligence, but focuses on the core of the individual officer: the warrior spirit.For anyone interested in real Law Enforcement police stories, whether they are grunts in the field or in positions of police leadership. Behind the badge and the gun lies the heart of a warrior. Unleash your inner hero.

The Ayn Rand Column


Ayn Rand - 1998
    The essays exemplify the radical ideas of her unique philosophy of objectivism: uncompromising rationality, egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism. With her characteristic intellectual consistency, she scrutinizes a breadth of topics ranging from the Cuban missile crisis to nationalism versus internationalism. This edition includes two out-of-print essays about the field of politics.

More than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor


George Lakoff - 1989
    We've merely been taught to talk as if it had: as though weather maps were more 'real' than the breath of autumn; as though, for that matter, Reason was really 'cool.' What we're saying whenever we say is a theme this book illumines for anyone attentive." — Hugh Kenner, Johns Hopkins University "In this bold and powerful book, Lakoff and Turner continue their use of metaphor to show how our minds get hold of the world. They have achieved nothing less than a postmodern Understanding Poetry, a new way of reading and teaching that makes poetry again important." — Norman Holland, University of Florida

Music at the Limits


Edward W. Said - 2007
    Said's essays and articles on music. Addressing the work of a variety of composers, musicians, and performers, Said carefully draws out music's social, political, and cultural contexts and, as a classically trained pianist, provides rich and often surprising assessments of classical music and opera."Music at the Limits" offers both a fresh perspective on canonical pieces and a celebration of neglected works by contemporary composers. Said faults the Metropolitan Opera in New York for being too conservative and laments the way in which opera superstars like Pavarotti have "reduced opera performance to a minimum of intelligence and a maximum of overproduced noise." He also reflects on the censorship of Wagner in Israel; the worrisome trend of proliferating music festivals; an opera based on the life of Malcolm X; the relationship between music and feminism; the pianist Glenn Gould; and the works of Mozart, Bach, Richard Strauss, and others.Said wrote his incisive critiques as both an insider and an authority. He saw music as a reflection of his ideas on literature and history and paid close attention to its composition and creative possibilities. Eloquent and surprising, "Music at the Limits" preserves an important dimension of Said's brilliant intellectual work and cements his reputation as one of the most influential and groundbreaking scholars of the twentieth century.