The Distracted Mind

The Distracted Mind PDF

Author: Adam Gazzaley

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2017-10-27

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 0262534436

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A “brilliant and practical” study of why our brains aren’t built for media multitasking—and how we can learn to live with technology in a more balanced way (Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart) Most of us will freely admit that we are obsessed with our devices. We pride ourselves on our ability to multitask—read work email, reply to a text, check Facebook, watch a video clip. Talk on the phone, send a text, drive a car. Enjoy family dinner with a glowing smartphone next to our plates. We can do it all, 24/7! Never mind the errors in the email, the near-miss on the road, and the unheard conversation at the table. In The Distracted Mind, Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen—a neuroscientist and a psychologist—explain why our brains aren't built for multitasking, and suggest better ways to live in a high-tech world without giving up our modern technology. The authors explain that our brains are limited in their ability to pay attention. We don't really multitask but rather switch rapidly between tasks. Distractions and interruptions, often technology-related—referred to by the authors as “interference”—collide with our goal-setting abilities. We want to finish this paper/spreadsheet/sentence, but our phone signals an incoming message and we drop everything. Even without an alert, we decide that we “must” check in on social media immediately. Gazzaley and Rosen offer practical strategies, backed by science, to fight distraction. We can change our brains with meditation, video games, and physical exercise; we can change our behavior by planning our accessibility and recognizing our anxiety about being out of touch even briefly. They don't suggest that we give up our devices, but that we use them in a more balanced way.

Nicholas Murray Butler's The International Mind

Nicholas Murray Butler's The International Mind PDF

Author: Charles F. Howlett

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2013-05-01

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 1623961408

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This new edition of Nicholas Murray Butler's The International Mind marks the 100th anniversary of its publication. Widely read at the time, it has reached the status of classic work. Butler is one of the 20th Century’s most famous college presidents. He transformed Columbia University into a famous research institution of higher learning. More importantly, this work still has an important message for today’s readers: how can we establish an international mind that builds a lasting peace for the world. This work is based on Butler’s famous speeches as president of the Lake Mohonk Conferences on International Arbitration, which took place just prior to the start of World War 1. Butler was a strong proponent of judicial internationalism and education as the mechanism through which the settlement of disputes between nations could be resolved. As head of the just-established Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Division of Intercourse and Education, Butler put forth his own views on international understanding. Later, Butler would become president of Carnegie’s Peace Endowment and was most responsible for helping to bring forth the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of national policy. In 1931, based on his efforts for world peace, which began at Lake Mohonk (NY), Butler shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Jane Addams. This new edition has a scholarly introduction as well as an extensive bibliographic essay on American Peace Writings by Charles F Howlett. An added feature to this new edition is a listing of Butler’s most notable works, the platforms of the 1907 & 1912 Lake Mohonk Conferences, and an lengthy 1914 interview with Butler by New York Times reporter, Edward Marshall. Readers will find the appendices an added bonus to a now classic work. This new edition of Butler’s important book will bring to light one of the early 20th century peace classics devoted to the study of international arbitration. It offers a clear and compelling argument as to the importance of internationalism as proposed by some of the more prominent educational leaders, statesmen, and jurists of the pre-World War 1 period. Most importantly, reissuing this work in its one hundredth anniversary year bears testimony to its lasting importance since Butler’s efforts and those at the Lake Mohonk Conferences on International Arbitration led to the creation of a Permanent Court of International Justice only a few years after the conclusion of the First World War.

The Coddling of the American Mind

The Coddling of the American Mind PDF

Author: Greg Lukianoff

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2019-08-20

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0735224919

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New York Times Bestseller • Finalist for the 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction • A New York Times Notable Book • Bloomberg Best Book of 2018 “Their distinctive contribution to the higher-education debate is to meet safetyism on its own, psychological turf . . . Lukianoff and Haidt tell us that safetyism undermines the freedom of inquiry and speech that are indispensable to universities.” —Jonathan Marks, Commentary “The remedies the book outlines should be considered on college campuses, among parents of current and future students, and by anyone longing for a more sane society.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Something has been going wrong on many college campuses in the last few years. Speakers are shouted down. Students and professors say they are walking on eggshells and are afraid to speak honestly. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide are rising—on campus as well as nationally. How did this happen? First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being and ancient wisdom from many cultures. Embracing these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—interferes with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. It makes it harder for them to become autonomous adults who are able to navigate the bumpy road of life. Lukianoff and Haidt investigate the many social trends that have intersected to promote the spread of these untruths. They explore changes in childhood such as the rise of fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised, child-directed play, and the new world of social media that has engulfed teenagers in the last decade. They examine changes on campus, including the corporatization of universities and the emergence of new ideas about identity and justice. They situate the conflicts on campus within the context of America’s rapidly rising political polarization and dysfunction. This is a book for anyone who is confused by what is happening on college campuses today, or has children, or is concerned about the growing inability of Americans to live, work, and cooperate across party lines.

A Whole New Mind

A Whole New Mind PDF

Author: Daniel H. Pink

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2006-03-07

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1101157909

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New York Times Bestseller An exciting--and encouraging--exploration of creativity from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers-creative and holistic "right-brain" thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn't. Drawing on research from around the world, Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others) outlines the six fundamentally human abilities that are absolute essentials for professional success and personal fulfillment--and reveals how to master them. A Whole New Mind takes readers to a daring new place, and a provocative and necessary new way of thinking about a future that's already here.

The Mind

The Mind PDF

Author: E. Bruce Goldstein

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2020-09-01

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0262358778

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An accessible and engaging account of the mind and its connection to the brain. The mind encompasses everything we experience, and these experiences are created by the brain--often without our awareness. Experience is private; we can't know the minds of others. But we also don't know what is happening in our own minds. In this book, E. Bruce Goldstein offers an accessible and engaging account of the mind and its connection to the brain. He takes as his starting point two central questions--what is the mind? and what is consciousness?--and leads readers through topics that range from conceptions of the mind in popular culture to the wiring system of the brain. Throughout, he draws on the latest research, explaining its significance and relevance.