Curious Behavior

Curious Behavior PDF

Author: Robert R. Provine

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-08-31

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 0674071565

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Robert Provine boldly goes where other scientists seldom tread—in search of hiccups, coughs, yawns, sneezes, and other lowly, undignified human behaviors. Upon investigation, these instinctive acts bear the imprint of our evolutionary origins and can be uniquely valuable tools for understanding how the human brain works and what makes us different from other species. Many activities showcased in Curious Behavior are contagious, but none surpasses yawning in this regard—just reading the word can make one succumb. Though we often take it as a sign of sleepiness or boredom, yawning holds clues to the development of our sociality and ability to empathize with others. Its inescapable transmission reminds us that we are sometimes unaware, neurologically programmed beasts of the herd. Other neglected behaviors yield similar revelations. Tickling, we learn, may be the key to programming personhood into robots. Coughing comes in musical, medical, and social varieties. Farting and belching have import for the evolution of human speech. And prenatal behavior is offered as the strangest exhibit of all, defying postnatal logic in every way. Our earthiest acts define Homo sapiens as much as language, bipedalism, tool use, and other more studied characteristics. As Provine guides us through peculiarities right under our noses, he beckons us to follow with self-experiments: tickling our own feet, keeping a log of when we laugh, and attempting to suppress yawns and sneezes. Such humble investigations provide fodder for grade school science projects as well as doctoral dissertations. Small Science can yield big rewards.

Curious Behavior

Curious Behavior PDF

Author: Robert R. Provine

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-08-31

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 0674067223

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Provine boldly goes where other scientists seldom tread—in search of hiccups, coughs, yawns, sneezes, and other lowly, undignified, human behaviors. Our earthiest instinctive acts bear the imprint of our evolutionary origins and can be valuable tools for understanding how the human brain works and what makes us different from other species.

Why Dogs Do That

Why Dogs Do That PDF

Author: Tom Davis

Publisher: Willow Creek Press

Published: 2012-07-03

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 1607556839

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Why do dogs bury bones? Why do dogs turn circles before lying down? Why do dogs chase cars? Or their tails? These and 36 other curious canine behaviors are informatively and lightheartedly answered in the handsomely illustrated Why Dogs Do That. An original pencil drawing, rich in detail, illustrates each insightful explanation of odd but characteristic dog actions, social graces and sometimes unseemly deportment.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time PDF

Author: Mark Haddon

Publisher: Anchor Canada

Published: 2009-02-24

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 0307371565

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A bestselling modern classic—both poignant and funny—narrated by a fifteen year old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions. Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. At fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour’s dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing. Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favourite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As Christopher tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, the narrative draws readers into the workings of Christopher’s mind. And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon’s choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotions. The effect is dazzling, making for one of the freshest debut in years: a comedy, a tearjerker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read.

Political Behavior in Organizations

Political Behavior in Organizations PDF

Author: Andrew J. DuBrin

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1412954614

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A highly effective guide to the use of organizational politics using strategies and tactics derived out of scholarly research.

Curious Minds

Curious Minds PDF

Author: Perry Zurn

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2023-09-05

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 0262547147

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

An exhilarating, genre-bending exploration of curiosity’s powerful capacity to connect ideas and people. Curious about something? Google it. Look at it. Ask a question. But is curiosity simply information seeking? According to this exhilarating, genre-bending book, what’s left out of the conventional understanding of curiosity are the wandering tracks, the weaving concepts, the knitting of ideas, and the thatching of knowledge systems—the networks, the relations between ideas and between people. Curiosity, say Perry Zurn and Dani Bassett, is a practice of connection: it connects ideas into networks of knowledge, and it connects knowers themselves, both to the knowledge they seek and to each other. Zurn and Bassett—identical twins who write that their book “represents the thought of one mind and two bodies”—harness their respective expertise in the humanities and the sciences to get irrepressibly curious about curiosity. Traipsing across literatures of antiquity and medieval science, Victorian poetry and nature essays, as well as work by writers from a variety of marginalized communities, they trace a multitudinous curiosity. They identify three styles of curiosity—the busybody, who collects stories, creating loose knowledge networks; the hunter, who hunts down secrets or discoveries, creating tight networks; and the dancer, who takes leaps of creative imagination, creating loopy ones. Investigating what happens in a curious brain, they offer an accessible account of the network neuroscience of curiosity. And they sketch out a new kind of curiosity-centric and inclusive education that embraces everyone’s curiosity. The book performs the very curiosity that it describes, inviting readers to participate—to be curious with the book and not simply about it.

Curious Dave's Behavior Journey

Curious Dave's Behavior Journey PDF

Author: Dave Keeler

Publisher: FriesenPress

Published: 2012-04

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1770974903

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Curious Dave's Behavior Journey reveals the ground-level events of the author's life for the past thirty-five years. Dave uses examples of unhealthy and healthy behavior to support the need for us to improve our character. He believes that most of our unhealthy behaviors are only being human and can be improved. This book is amazing because it reveals views of organizational and individual behaviors that most of us never see. Purely by accident, Dave was placed in office locations where it was easy to eavesdrop on management meetings. He learned some very disturbing information. Many leaders and managers make decisions based on their insecurities; and often these decisions cause the demise of the organization. Dave has conducted studies in three types of personal behavior. These studies, like the eavesdropping, reveal that we must improve our character. The studies were performed over five years. The studies were about personal driving habits, safety and security habits, and sexual arousal. His conclusions are fresh and rather alarming in some areas. And in some cases the findings are riveting. The book represents a great view of what is going on in America and how we can improve and improve our country.

Comparative Blended Learning Practices and Environments

Comparative Blended Learning Practices and Environments PDF

Author: Ng, Eugenia M. W.

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2009-10-31

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 1605668532

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Comparative Blended Learning Practices and Environments offers in-depth analysis of new technologies in blended learning that promote creativity, critical thinking, and meaningful learning.

Creative Acts for Curious People

Creative Acts for Curious People PDF

Author: Sarah Stein Greenberg

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Published: 2021-09-21

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1984858173

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

WINNER OF THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • “A delightful, compelling book that offers a dazzling array of practical, thoughtful exercises designed to spark creativity, help solve problems, foster connection, and make our lives better.”—Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author and host of the Happier podcast In an era of ambiguous, messy problems—as well as extraordinary opportunities for positive change—it’s vital to have both an inquisitive mind and the ability to act with intention. Creative Acts for Curious People is filled with ways to build those skills with resilience, care, and confidence. At Stanford University’s world-renowned Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, aka “the d.school,” students and faculty, experts and seekers bring together diverse perspectives to tackle ambitious projects; this book contains the experiences designed to help them do it. A provocative and highly visual companion, it’s a definitive resource for people who aim to draw on their curiosity and creativity in the face of uncertainty. Teeming with ideas about discovery, learning, and leading the way through unknown creative territory, Creative Acts for Curious People includes memorable stories and more than eighty innovative exercises. Curated by executive director Sarah Stein Greenberg, after being honed in the classrooms of the d.school, these exercises originated in some of the world’s most inventive and unconventional minds, including those of d.school and IDEO founder David M. Kelley, ReadyMade magazine founder Grace Hawthorne, innovative choreographer Aleta Hayes, Google chief innovation evangelist Frederik G. Pferdt, and many more. To bring fresh approaches to any challenge–world changing or close to home–you can draw on exercises such as Expert Eyes to hone observation skills, How to Talk to Strangers to foster understanding, and Designing Tools for Teams to build creative leadership. The activities are at once lighthearted, surprising, tough, and impactful–and reveal how the hidden dynamics of design can drive more vibrant ways of making, feeling, exploring, experimenting, and collaborating at work and in life. This book will help you develop the behaviors and deepen the mindsets that can turn your curiosity into ideas, and your ideas into action.

The Curious Public Administrator

The Curious Public Administrator PDF

Author: William Hatcher

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-11-21

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 1003829325

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Louis Brownlow, one of public administration’s historical thinkers, once argued, “[T]he principal requirement of a good administrator is an insatiable curiosity.” This book is rooted in the notion that public administrators must practice insatiable curiosity to be effective, fair, and democratic. By seeking to uncover how the world works, and therefore practicing curiosity, public administrators may be more likely to move toward evidence-based decisions, improving the efficacy and efficiency of public service. Curiosity encourages public administrators to seek answers in a caring manner and, in doing so, to empathize with the communities that they serve. First, the book incorporates the concept of curiosity into the field of public administration. Scholarship in philosophy, business administration, social science, and other scholarly fields addresses curiosity, but public administration has yet to examine this concept in detail. This book fills that hole in the literature. Second, the book presents novel primary data on curiosity in public agencies by examining curious organizations and surveying local government officers. Third, the book presents novel primary data on how public affairs faculty view curiosity and incorporate the concept in their research and the classroom. Lastly, author William Hatcher integrates this information in the book’s final chapter to present a model of administrative curiosity, focusing on creating a guide for future research and teaching. Thus, this book serves as a roadmap for developing a new doctrine of curiosity in public administration theory and practice, and it will be of enormous interest to students enrolled in public affairs courses as well as practicing public administrators and nonprofit managers.