Download or read book Lies of Illusion written by Mike Haszto and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2012-09-27 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chris is an average Joe who wakes up everyday and follows the same old routine...his work, his marriage, and his life becoming more and more stale and unexciting. His life drastically changes on February 26th, in ways that he would have never imagined. He crossed that imaginary line between sanity and insanity, life and death, losing all respect. Then, he experienced the bizarre, in every possible dark way. Accompany Chris on his wild twenty four hour ride into eternity...

Download or read book Illusions and Lies written by adapted by Elizabeth Lenhard and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2005 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Cedric uses lies and deception to try to drive a wedge between the Guardians, the girls learn that true friendship cannot be broken.Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin know all about illusions.Since they discovered their powers as Guardians of the Veil, they have kept their secret hidden.While the girls use deception only to protect people, Cedric uses lies to turn the girls against one another.It is not until Will's life is put in danger that the girls discover that the one thing that is not an illusion is true friendship.With full colour comic inserts at the start and end of the story.

Download or read book The Truth About Lies written by Aja Raden and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do you believe what you believe? You’ve been lied to. Probably a lot. We’re always stunned when we realize we’ve been deceived. We can’t believe we were fooled: What was I thinking? How could I have believed that? We always wonder why we believed the lie. But have you ever wondered why you believe the truth? People tell you the truth all the time, and you believe them; and if, at some later point, you’re confronted with evidence that the story you believed was indeed true, you never wonder why you believed it in the first place. In this incisive and insightful taxonomy of lies and liars, New York Times bestselling author Aja Raden makes the surprising claim that maybe you should. Buttressed by history, psychology, and science, The Truth About Lies is both an eye-opening primer on con-artistry—from pyramid schemes to shell games, forgery to hoaxes—and also a telescopic view of society through the mechanics of belief: why we lie, why we believe, and how, if at all, the acts differ. Through wild tales of cons and marks, Raden examines not only how lies actually work, but also why they work, from the evolutionary function of deception to what it reveals about our own. In her previous book, Stoned, Raden asked, “What makes a thing valuable?” In The Truth About Lies, she asks “What makes a thing real?” With cutting wit and a deft touch, Raden untangles the relationship of truth to lie, belief to faith, and deception to propaganda. The Truth About Lies will change everything you thought you knew about what you know, and whether you ever really know it.

Download or read book Abuse Your Illusions written by Russ Kick and published by Red Wheel Weiser. This book was released on 2003-05-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third of Russ Kick’s bestselling Disinformation Guides gathers another all-star line-up of exposés: Juries have ruled in recent trials that Watergate was really about a Democratic Party prostitution ring. Ignored in the U.S. and distorted elsewhere, the Milosevic tribunal hasn’t gone the way authorities were anticipating. (We present exclusive first-hand reporting from the trial). Most theologians don’t believe in the physical Resurrection of Jesus. In 2001, the U.S. uncovered the biggest spy ring in the country since WWII, yet most people never heard about it. The U.S. is engaging in bioweapons research that violates international treaties and federal law. (The New York Times knows about this but refuses to report it). Teddy Roosevelt and Wall Street created Panama for profit. Gandhi wasn’t so wonderful, after all. These are just some of the revelations in the third of our all-star anthologies. Following up on bestsellers You Are Being Lied To and Everything You Know Is Wrong, editor Russ Kick has again assembled a line-up of leading investigative journalists, academics, activists, commentators, and independent researchers, covering CIA assassinations, the anthrax attacks, fluoride, TWA 800, Abraham Lincoln, child protective services, the tobacco industry, forgotten uprisings, the government's missing trillions, even more revelations about 9/11 and much more. Contributors include Gary Webb, Greg Palast, Noreena Hertz, Howard Zinn, Douglas Valentine, Jim Hougan, Kristina Borjesson, Arianna Huffington and many more well-known writers—some of whom you’ll be extremely surprised to see in these pages!

Download or read book Free Will and Illusion written by Saul Smilansky and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2000-03-30 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Saul Smilansky presents an original treatment of the problem of free will, which lies at the heart of morality and human self-understanding. He maintains that we have most of the resources we need for a proper understanding of the problem; and the key to it is the role played by illusion. The major traditional philosophical approaches are inadequate, Smilansky argues: their partial insights need to be integrated into a hybrid view, which he calls Fundamental Dualism. Common views about justice, responsibility, human worth, and related notions are radically misguided, and the absurd looms large. We do, however, find some justification for enlightened moral views, and grounding for some of our most cherished views of human nature. The bold and perhaps disturbing claim of Free Will and Illusion is that we could not live adequately with a complete awareness of the truth about human freedom: illusion lies at the centre of the human condition. The necessity of illusion is seen to follow from the basic elements of the free will issue, helping keep our moral and psychological worlds intact. Smilansky offers the challenge of recognizing the centrality of illusion and trying to free ourselves to some extent from it; this is not only a philosophical challenge, but a moral and psychological one as well.

Download or read book The Knowledge Illusion written by Steven Sloman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-03-14 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The Knowledge Illusion is filled with insights on how we should deal with our individual ignorance and collective wisdom.” —Steven Pinker We all think we know more than we actually do. Humans have built hugely complex societies and technologies, but most of us don’t even know how a pen or a toilet works. How have we achieved so much despite understanding so little? Cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that we survive and thrive despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a rich community of knowledge. The key to our intelligence lies in the people and things around us. We’re constantly drawing on information and expertise stored outside our heads: in our bodies, our environment, our possessions, and the community with which we interact—and usually we don’t even realize we’re doing it. The human mind is both brilliant and pathetic. We have mastered fire, created democratic institutions, stood on the moon, and sequenced our genome. And yet each of us is error prone, sometimes irrational, and often ignorant. The fundamentally communal nature of intelligence and knowledge explains why we often assume we know more than we really do, why political opinions and false beliefs are so hard to change, and why individual-oriented approaches to education and management frequently fail. But our collaborative minds also enable us to do amazing things. The Knowledge Illusion contends that true genius can be found in the ways we create intelligence using the community around us.

Download or read book Eyes Lies and Illusions written by Laurent Mannoni and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Armageddon written by Clive Ponting and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-02-29 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fifty years after the end of World War II Clive Ponting provides a major reassessment of the most destructive conflict in human history - one in which 85 million people died. Armageddon avoids conventional chronological accounts in order to concentrate on the deeper forces shaping the origins, course and outcome of the war across the globe. It analyses how and why the war spread from being a limited European conflict to the only global war, why countries were dragged into the fighting and how only a small number of neutral states escaped. It compares the two alliances, how they mobilized their resources and their strategies for victory. It avoids a detailed description of how commanders maneuvered on the battlefield and concentrates instead on the impact the war had on individual soldiers, sailors and airmen. Equally important is the fate of hundreds of millions of civilians. How did they survive occupation and what did resistance, collaboration and liberation really involve, and what happened at the end of the war? Armageddon has a truly global sweep, combined with an eye for detail, and provides fascinating comparisons from a multi-faceted war. It contains new facts, asks provocative questions and challenges many of the common assumptions about the war. It is a compelling new inquiry.

Download or read book Collective Illusions written by Todd Rose and published by Hachette Go. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and social psychology research, an acclaimed author demonstrates how so much of our thinking is informed by false assumptions—making us dangerously mistrustful as a society and needlessly unhappy as individuals. The desire to fit in is one of the most powerful, least understood forces in society. Todd Rose believes that as human beings, we continually act against our own best interests because our brains misunderstand what others believe. A complicated set of illusions driven by conformity bias distorts how we see the world around us. From toilet paper shortages to kidneys that get thrown away rather than used for transplants; from racial segregation to the perceived “electability” of women in politics; from bottled water to “cancel culture,” we routinely copy others, lie about what we believe, cling to tribes, and silence people. The question is, Why do we keep believing the lies and hurting ourselves? Todd Rose proves that the answer is hard-wired in our DNA: our brains are more socially dependent than we realize or dare to accept. Most of us would rather be fully in sync with the social norms of our respective groups than be true to who we are. Using originally researched data, Collective Illusions shows us where we get things wrong and, just as important, how we can be authentic in forming opinions while valuing truth. Rose offers a counterintuitive yet empowering explanation for how we can bridge our inference gap, make decisions with a newfound clarity, and achieve fulfillment. **National Bestseller** **Wall Street Journal Bestseller** **Named Amazon's 2022 Best Book of the Year in Business, Leadership, and Science**

Download or read book The illusion of not being into the illusion written by Adrian Gabriel Dumitru and published by Adrian G Dumitru. This book was released on with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not so long time ago ... I've written the book "THE ILLUSION ... OF BEING PART OF AN ILLUSION". Honestly ... i've not really understood the title. ... even if it was written by me. Today ... either. So i've started ... again as a self therapy to understand what is my real spiritual level. Experiencing incredible lies into my life ... but realising it ... I've became aware that it was all an illusion. And ... I've defined all as that. Later on ... believing i am totally changed I've started this book called ... "The illusion of ... not being into the illusion" ... but still i felt ridiculous. Yes. I had this sensation. Even pathetic. I was into the illusion ... but i was so, so stupid to believe that i am not experiencing that anymore. That ... i am awake. And ... the Universe was laughing of me, behind my back. On and on and on. I was writing. Defining all. ... even in micro details. But i guess i was even in a lower spiritual level cause i was experiencing lies ... believing i can't be fooled anymore. So ... i was still fighting. ... instead of smiling. Or ... even laughing. I could do it, but i was still blind. Still in duality. Still in illusion. I was only having the weird illusory sensation of being or not being into this illusion of the self. Balancing ... between believing contradictory ideas ... about the same thing. But ... all was a lie. Even all i thought or felt. Meanwhile i was continuing my writing ... hoping that anything will improve. And ... the charade still continues ...

Download or read book The Illusion of Simple written by Charles Forrest Jones and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2022-05-18 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In a dry Kansas riverbed, a troop of Girl Scouts finds a human hand. This discovery leads Billy Spire, the tough and broken sheriff of Ewing County, to confront the depths of his community. The racism, the dying economy, the lies and truths of friendship, and his own injured marriage. But like any town where people still breathe, there is also love and hope and the possibility of redemption. To flyover people, Ewing County appears nothing more than a handful of empty streets amid crop circles and the meandering, depleted Arkansas River. But the truth of this place - the interwoven lives and stories - is anything but simple"--

Download or read book The Innovation Illusion written by Fredrik Erixon and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2016-01-01 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Companies, entrepreneurs, and complexity -- Capitalism and economic dynamism -- What is wrong - the map or the reality? -- Technology and income - are they decoupling? -- Jobs and technology -- Innovation famine rather than innovation feast -- 9 THE FUTURE AND HOW TO PREVENT IT -- From corporate globalism to global corporatism -- The continued rise of regulatory uncertainty -- The "silver tsunami" for cash -- Future imperfect -- Preventing the future -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- INDEX

Download or read book Empire of Illusion written by Chris Hedges and published by Knopf Canada. This book was released on 2009-07-28 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulitzer prize–winner Chris Hedges charts the dramatic and disturbing rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy and illusion. Chris Hedges argues that we now live in two societies: One, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world, that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. In this “other society,” serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Hedges navigates this culture — attending WWF contests as well as Ivy League graduation ceremonies — exposing an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion.

Download or read book Lying and Deception in Everyday Life written by Michael Lewis and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 1993-02-05 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I speak the truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare...."-- Montaigne "All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness.'" -- Tennessee Williams Truth and deception--like good and evil--have long been viewed as diametrically opposed and unreconcilable. Yet, few people can honestly claim they never lie. In fact, deception is practiced habitually in day-to-day life--from the polite compliment that doesn't accurately relay one's true feelings, to self-deception about one's own motivations. What fuels the need for people to intricately construct lies and illusions about their own lives? If deceptions are unconscious, does it mean that we are not responsible for their consequences? Why does self-deception or the need for illusion make us feel uncomfortable? Taking into account the sheer ubiquity and ordinariness of deception, this interdisciplinary work moves away from the cut-and-dried notion of duplicity as evil and illuminates the ways in which deception can also be understood as a adaptive response to the demands of living with others. The book articulates the boundaries between unethical and adaptive deception demonstrating how some lies serve socially approved goals, while others provoke distrust and condemnation. Throughout, the volume focuses on the range of emotions--from feelings of shame, fear, or envy, to those of concern and compassion--that motivate our desire to deceive ourselves and others. Providing an interdisciplinary exploration of the widespread phenomenon of lying and deception, this volume promotes a more fully integrated understanding of how people function in their everyday lives. Case illustrations, humor and wit, concrete examples, and even a mock television sitcom script bring the ideas to life for clinical practitioners, behavioral scientists, and philosophers, and for students in these realms.

Download or read book The Spectacle of Illusion written by Matthew L. Tompkins and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A spectacular treasury of treats. Page after page of utter joy: I can't tear my eyes away' - Derren Brown In The Spectacle of Illusion, professional magician-turned experimental psychologist Dr. Matthew L. Tompkins investigates the arts of deception as practised and popularised by mesmerists, magicians and psychics since the early 18th century. Organised thematically within a broadly chronological trajectory, this compelling book explores how illusions perpetuated by magicians and fraudulent mystics can not only deceive our senses but also teach us about the inner workings of our minds. Indeed, modern scientists are increasingly turning to magic tricks to develop new techniques to examine human perception, memory and belief. Beginning by discussing mesmerism and spiritualism, the book moves on to consider how professional magicians such as John Nevil Maskelyne and Harry Houdini engaged with these movements - particularly how they set out to challenge and debunk paranormal claims. It also relates the interactions between magicians, mystics and scientists over the past 200 years, and reveals how the researchers who attempted to investigate magical and paranormal phenomena were themselves deceived, and what this can teach us about deception. Highly illustrated throughout with entertaining and bizarre drawings, double-exposure spirit photographs and photographs of spoon-bending from hitherto inaccessible and un-mined archives, including the Wellcome Collection, the Harry Price Library, the Society for Physical Research, and last but not least, the Magic Circle's closely guarded collection, the book also features newly commissioned photography of planchettes, rapping boards, tilting tables, ectoplasm, automata and illusion boxes. Concluding with a modern-day analysis of the science of magic and illusion, analysing surprisingly weird phenomena such as ideomotor action, sleep paralysis, choice blindness and the psychology of misdirection, this unnerving volume highlights how unreliable our minds can be, and how complicit they can be in the perpetuation of illusions.

Download or read book The Illusion of Democracy written by Phil Mennitti and published by Phil Mennitti. This book was released on 2015-02-02 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the second story in a non-partisan series detailing how the elite have impoverished America's Middle Class. In this timely and revealing book the author explains what has happened in simple, easy to understand terms, that are brief and to-the-point. The crippling and devastating consequences to liberty have not gone unnoticed. The author bears witness to history and the treacherous crimes which have overthrown the Republic. Referred to as the history of the Deep State. The Illusion of Democracy is a more accurate historical accounting of the United States since the coup of 1963, when President Kennedy was executed in Dealey Plaza by the Operation 40 assassination squad. This sequel focuses on the big picture. It explains Hegelian Dialectic Principles of how our puppet masters create conflict to increase their wealth and power. The book connects the dots of all major false flag events to prove this massive deception was intentionally engineered, and that we the people have been subjugated through indentured servitude into a feudal system controlled by wealthy oligarchs. This book was written at a high school level with those students in mind. It is perfect for high school classes, college courses, or the average reader at home who is curious about what went wrong over the past generation which killed the American Dream.

Download or read book The Price of Illusion written by Joan Juliet Buck and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Joan Juliet Buck, former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris and “one of the most compelling personalities in the world of style” (New York Times) comes her dazzling, compulsively readable memoir: a fabulous account of four decades spent in the creative heart of London, New York, Los Angeles, and Paris—“If you loved The Devil Wears Prada, you’ll adore The Price of Illusion” (Elle). In a book as rich and dramatic as the life she’s led, Joan Juliet Buck takes us into the splendid illusions of film, fashion, and fame to reveal, in stunning, sensual prose, the truth behind the artifice. The only child of a volatile movie producer betrayed by his dreams, she became a magazine journalist at nineteen to reflect and record the high life she’d been brought up in, a choice that led her into a hall of mirrors where she was both magician and dupe. After a career writing for Vogue and Vanity Fair, she was named the first American woman to edit Vogue Paris. The vivid adventures of this thoughtful, incisive writer at the hub of dreams across two continents over fifty years are hilarious and heartbreaking. Including a spectacular cast of carefully observed legends, monsters, and stars (just look at the index!), this is the moving account of a remarkable woman’s rocky passage through glamour and passion, filial duty and family madness, in search of her true self.