Download or read book The Contact Paradox written by Keith Cooper and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What will happen if (perhaps when) humanity makes contact with another civilisation on a different planet? In 1974 a message was beamed towards the stars by the giant Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, a brief blast of radio waves designed to alert extraterrestrial civilisations to our existence. Of course, we don't know if such civilisations really exist. For the past six decades a small cadre of researchers have been on a quest to find out, as part of SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. So far, SETI has found no evidence of extraterrestrial life, but with more than a hundred billion stars in our Galaxy alone to search, the odds of quick success are stacked against us. The silence from the stars is prompting some researchers to transmit more messages into space, in an effort to provoke a response from any civilisations out there that might otherwise be staying quiet. However, the act of transmitting raises troubling questions about the process of contact. In The Contact Paradox, author Keith Cooper looks at how far SETI has come since its modest beginnings, and where it is going, by speaking to the leading names in the field and beyond. SETI forces us to confront our nature in a way that we seldom have before – where did we come from, where are we going, and who are we in the cosmic context of things? This book considers the assumptions that we make in our search for extraterrestrial life, and explores how those assumptions can teach us about ourselves.
Download or read book Kierkegaard and the Theology of the Nineteenth Century written by George Pattison and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book situates Kierkegaard in the nineteenth-century debates which influenced him and discusses his relevance to contemporary Christian theology.
Download or read book The Ostrich Paradox written by Robert Meyer and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Ostrich Paradox boldly addresses a key question of our time: Why are we humans so poor at dealing with disastrous risks, and what can we humans do about it? It is a must-read for everyone who cares about risk." —Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow We fail to evacuate when advised. We rebuild in flood zones. We don't wear helmets. We fail to purchase insurance. We would rather avoid the risk of "crying wolf" than sound an alarm. Our ability to foresee and protect against natural catastrophes has never been greater; yet, we consistently fail to heed the warnings and protect ourselves and our communities, with devastating consequences. What explains this contradiction? In The Ostrich Paradox, Wharton professors Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther draw on years of teaching and research to explain why disaster preparedness efforts consistently fall short. Filled with heartbreaking stories of loss and resilience, the book addresses: •How people make decisions when confronted with high-consequence, low-probability events—and how these decisions can go awry •The 6 biases that lead individuals, communities, and institutions to make grave errors that cost lives •The Behavioral Risk Audit, a systematic approach for improving preparedness by recognizing these biases and designing strategies that anticipate them •Why, if we are to be better prepared for disasters, we need to learn to be more like ostriches, not less Fast-reading and critically important, The Ostrich Paradox is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why we consistently underprepare for disasters, as well as private and public leaders, planners, and policy-makers who want to build more prepared communities.
Download or read book The Maverick Paradox The Secret Power Behind Successful Leaders written by Judith Germain and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2017-04-19 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All successful leaders have a secret power - where's yours? When leadership becomes a byword for control, and trust is outdated - how should YOU respond? 'Believe nothing, test everything'. This is the war cry of the maverick. This scream, an essential cornerstone of the maverick mindset. Leadership and maverick expert Judith Germain provides the blueprint to becoming a successful leader. - Discover the 5 maverick attributes all 'natural leaders' possess - Master the 8 maverick capabilities that all successful leaders demonstrate - Extend your influence by utilising the 3 key power bases - Become a transformational leader by deploying the Maverick DRIVEN Leadership(TM) Methodology 'Judith is one of those rare people who actually knows what she's talking about. She provides results based on good research and a professional approach'. Peter Clayton, author of 'Body Language at Work' and body language consultant for the BBC and ITV
Download or read book The Dark Forest written by Cixin Liu and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2015-08-11 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inspiration for the Netflix series 3 Body Problem! Over 1 million copies of the Three-Body Problem series sold in North America PRAISE FOR THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM SERIES: “A mind-bending epic.”—The New York Times • “War of the Worlds for the 21st century.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Fascinating.”—TIME • “Extraordinary.”—The New Yorker • “Wildly imaginative.”—Barack Obama • “Provocative.”—Slate • “A breakthrough book.”—George R. R. Martin • “Impossible to put down.”—GQ • “Absolutely mind-unfolding.”—NPR • “You should be reading Liu Cixin.”—The Washington Post The Dark Forest is the second novel in the groundbreaking, Hugo Award-winning series from China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu. In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion-in just four centuries' time. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead. The Three-Body Problem Series The Three-Body Problem The Dark Forest Death's End Other Books by Cixin Liu Ball Lightning Supernova Era To Hold Up the Sky The Wandering Earth A View from the Stars At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Download or read book The Personalization Paradox written by Val Swisher and published by XML Press. This book was released on 2021-03-08 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to Infosys, 86% of consumers surveyed indicated that personalized content has some impact on what they purchase and 25% said that personalization plays a large role in their purchases. And yet, looking at the data, two things stand out: Most companies say that personalizing the customer experience is a critical "must have," and they have the statistics to back it up. Very few companies believe they are delivering enough personalized content, or deliver it well. What's holding these companies back from their personalization goals? And how can you avoid the pitfalls and make personalization possible with your own enterprise content? In this book, global content strategy expert Val Swisher and senior content strategist Regina Lynn Preciado show you exactly what it takes to deliver personalized experiences at scale. You'll learn: Why personalized content is imperative to the enterprise Why so many companies fail to deliver - and how to avoid the pitfalls The five dimensions of content standardization How to bring people, technology, and process together The impact of big data and artificial intelligence The only way to deliver personalized content at scale is to automate the process at the point of delivery. And for that to work, you've got to change how you "do" content. The Personalization Paradox: Why Companies Fail (and How to Succeed) at Delivering Personalized Experiences at Scale shows you how.
Download or read book The Platform Paradox written by Mauro F. Guillén and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Platform Paradox, Wharton professor Mauro F. Guillén argues that many platforms misunderstand key aspects of what it takes to succeed globally, from culture and institutions to local competitive dynamics. He offers an integrated framework for digital platforms to identify and implement a strategy on a truly global scale.
Download or read book Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity written by Leigh H. Edwards and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-25 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout his career, Johnny Cash has been depicted—and has depicted himself—as a walking contradiction: social protestor and establishment patriot, drugged wildman and devout Christian crusader, rebel outlaw hillbilly thug and elder statesman. Leigh H. Edwards explores the allure of this paradoxical image and its cultural significance. She argues that Cash embodies irresolvable contradictions of American identity that reflect foundational issues in the American experience, such as the tensions between freedom and patriotism, individual rights and nationalism, the sacred and the profane. She illustrates how this model of ambivalence is a vital paradigm for American popular music, and for American identity in general. Making use of sources such as Cash's autobiographies, lyrics, music, liner notes, and interviews, Edwards pays equal attention to depictions of Cash by others, such as Vivian Cash's publication of his letters to her, documentaries and music journalism about him, Walk the Line, and fan club materials found in the archives at the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, to create a full portrait of Cash and his significance as a cultural icon.
Download or read book The Grace and Truth Paradox written by Randy Alcorn and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2009-06-24 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians trying to model their lives after Jesus may find that He gets buried under lists, rules, and formulas. Now bestselling author Randy Alcorn offers a simple two-point checklist for Christlikeness based on John 1:14. The test consists of balancing grace and truth, equally and unapologetically. Grace without truth deceives people, and ceases to be grace. Truth without grace crushes people, and ceases to be truth. Alcorn shows the reader how to show the world Jesus -- offering grace instead of the world's apathy and tolerance, offering truth instead of the world's relativism and deception. Grace or Truth…or Both? Truth without grace breeds self-righteousness and crushing legalism. Grace without truth breeds deception and moral compromise. Is it possible to embrace both in balance? Jesus did. Randy Alcorn offers a simple yet profound two-point checklist of Christlikeness. “In the end,” says Alcorn, “we don’t need grace or truth. We need grace and truth. And for people to see Jesus in us, they must see both.”
Download or read book On the Brink of Paradox written by Agustin Rayo and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to awe-inspiring ideas at the brink of paradox: infinities of different sizes, time travel, probability and measure theory, and computability theory. This book introduces the reader to awe-inspiring issues at the intersection of philosophy and mathematics. It explores ideas at the brink of paradox: infinities of different sizes, time travel, probability and measure theory, computability theory, the Grandfather Paradox, Newcomb's Problem, the Principle of Countable Additivity. The goal is to present some exceptionally beautiful ideas in enough detail to enable readers to understand the ideas themselves (rather than watered-down approximations), but without supplying so much detail that they abandon the effort. The philosophical content requires a mind attuned to subtlety; the most demanding of the mathematical ideas require familiarity with college-level mathematics or mathematical proof. The book covers Cantor's revolutionary thinking about infinity, which leads to the result that some infinities are bigger than others; time travel and free will, decision theory, probability, and the Banach-Tarski Theorem, which states that it is possible to decompose a ball into a finite number of pieces and reassemble the pieces so as to get two balls that are each the same size as the original. Its investigation of computability theory leads to a proof of Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem, which yields the amazing result that arithmetic is so complex that no computer could be programmed to output every arithmetical truth and no falsehood. Each chapter is followed by an appendix with answers to exercises. A list of recommended reading points readers to more advanced discussions. The book is based on a popular course (and MOOC) taught by the author at MIT.
Download or read book Solving Fermi s Paradox written by Duncan H. Forgan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-02 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence through the lens of Fermi's paradox, discussing methodology and potential solutions.
Download or read book Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Law written by Michael Bohlander and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-08-07 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is statistically unlikely that humans are the only intelligent species in the universe. Nothing about the others will be known until contact is made beyond a radio signal from space that merely tells us they existed when it was sent. That contact may occur tomorrow, in a hundred years, or never. If it does it will be a high-risk scenario for humanity. It may be peaceful or hostile. Relying on alien altruism and benign intentions is wishful thinking. We need to begin identifying as a planetary species, and develop a global consensus on how to respond in either scenario.
Download or read book Democracy s Paradox written by Bruce Kapferer and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does populism indicate a radical crisis in Western democratic political systems? Is it a revolt by those who feel they have too little voice in the affairs of state or are otherwise marginalized or oppressed? Or are populist movements part of the democratic process? Bringing together different anthropological experiences of current populist movements, this volume makes a timely contribution to these questions. Contrary to more conventional interpretations of populism as crisis, the authors instead recognize populism as integral to Western democratic systems. In doing so, the volume provides an important critique that exposes the exclusionary essentialisms spread by populist rhetoric while also directing attention to local views of political accountability and historical consciousness that are key to understanding this paradox of democracy.
Download or read book The Plastics Paradox written by Chris Dearmitt and published by . This book was released on 2020-03 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Plastics Paradox is the first and only book to reveal the truth about plastics and the environment. Based on over 400 scientific articles, it dispels the myths that the public believe today. We are told that plastics are not green when in fact, they are usually the greenest choice according to lifecycle analysis (LCA) We are told that plastics create a waste problem when they are proven to dramatically reduce waste, for example replacing 1lb of plastic requires 3-4lb of the replacement material We are told that plastics take 1000 years to degrade when in fact a plastic bag disintegrates in just one year outdoors We are led to believe that plastic bags and straws are an issue when in fact they barely register in the statistics The list goes on... Everything you believe now is untrue and we are making policies that harm the environment based on bad information. After reading The Plastics Paradox you will be able to make wise choices that help create a brighter future for us and for our children.
Download or read book The Prosperity Paradox written by Clayton M. Christensen and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-01-15 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clayton M. Christensen, the author of such business classics as The Innovator’s Dilemma and the New York Times bestseller How Will You Measure Your Life, and co-authors Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon reveal why so many investments in economic development fail to generate sustainable prosperity, and offers a groundbreaking solution for true and lasting change. Global poverty is one of the world’s most vexing problems. For decades, we’ve assumed smart, well-intentioned people will eventually be able to change the economic trajectory of poor countries. From education to healthcare, infrastructure to eradicating corruption, too many solutions rely on trial and error. Essentially, the plan is often to identify areas that need help, flood them with resources, and hope to see change over time. But hope is not an effective strategy. Clayton M. Christensen and his co-authors reveal a paradox at the heart of our approach to solving poverty. While noble, our current solutions are not producing consistent results, and in some cases, have exacerbated the problem. At least twenty countries that have received billions of dollars’ worth of aid are poorer now. Applying the rigorous and theory-driven analysis he is known for, Christensen suggests a better way. The right kind of innovation not only builds companies—but also builds countries. The Prosperity Paradox identifies the limits of common economic development models, which tend to be top-down efforts, and offers a new framework for economic growth based on entrepreneurship and market-creating innovation. Christensen, Ojomo, and Dillon use successful examples from America’s own economic development, including Ford, Eastman Kodak, and Singer Sewing Machines, and shows how similar models have worked in other regions such as Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Rwanda, India, Argentina, and Mexico. The ideas in this book will help companies desperate for real, long-term growth see actual, sustainable progress where they’ve failed before. But The Prosperity Paradox is more than a business book; it is a call to action for anyone who wants a fresh take for making the world a better and more prosperous place.
Download or read book The Road to Contact written by Keith Cooper and published by Bloomsbury Sigma. This book was released on 2019-05-02 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Time Travel written by Nikk Effingham and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-02-20 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are various arguments for the metaphysical impossibility of time travel. Is it impossible because objects could then be in two places at once? Or is it impossible because some objects could bring about their own existence? In this book, Nikk Effingham contends that no such argument is sound and that time travel is metaphysically possible. His main focus is on the Grandfather Paradox: the position that time travel is impossible because someone could not go back in time and kill their own grandfather before he met their grandmother. In such a case, Effingham argues that the time traveller would have the ability to do the impossible (so they could kill their grandfather) even though those impossibilities will never come about (so they won't kill their grandfather). He then explores the ramifications of this view, discussing issues in probability and decision theory. The book ends by laying out the dangers of time travel and why, even though no time machines currently exist, we should pay extra special care ensuring that nothing, no matter how small or microscopic, ever travels in time.
