Download or read book Supernormal Stimuli How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose written by Deirdre Barrett and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2010-02-22 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How our once-helpful instincts got hijacked by our garish modern world. Have you ever wondered why some men choose pornography over actual women? Why so many people watch Friends instead of going out with their own buddies? Why a person would “feed” a plastic Pocket Pet while shirking real duties? Why both sides of every war see the other as the aggressor against whom their “Department of Defense” must respond? Harvard evolutionary psychologist Deirdre Barrett explains how human instincts—for food, sex, or territorial protection—developed for life on the savannah ten thousand years ago, not for today’s world of densely populated cities, technological innovations, and pollution. Evolution, quite simply, has been unable to keep pace with the rapid changes of modern life. We now have access to a glut of larger-than-life objects—from candy to pornography to atomic bombs—that gratify outmoded but persistent drives with dangerous results. In the 1930s Dutch Nobel laureate Niko Tinbergen found that birds that lay small, pale-blue eggs speckled with gray preferred to sit on giant, bright-blue, plaster dummies with black polka dots. He coined the term “supernormal stimuli” to describe these imitations that appeal to primitive instincts and, oddly, exert a stronger attraction than real things. Obviously these hard-wired preferences pose a danger to a species’ survival. Barrett’s singular insight is to apply this phenomenon for the first time to the alarming disconnect between human instinct and our created environment. Her book adroitly demonstrates how supernormal stimuli are a driving force in many of today’s most pressing problems, including obesity, our addiction to television and video games, and the past century’s extraordinarily violent wars. Man-made imitations, it turns out, have wreaked havoc on how we nurture our children, what food we put into our bodies, how we make love and war, and even how we understand ourselves. Barrett does more than pull the fire alarm to show how these unfettered instincts fuel dangerous excesses. There is a hopeful message here as well. Once we recognize how supernormal stimuli operate, we can craft new approaches to modern predicaments. Humans have one stupendous advantage over Tinbergen’s birds: a giant brain. The message of this book is that this gives us the unique ability to exercise self-control, override instincts that lead us astray, and save ourselves from civilization’s gaudy traps.
Download or read book Supernormal Stimuli written by Deirdre Barrett and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2010-01-26 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our instincts--for food, sex, or territorial protection-- evolved for life on the savannahs 10,000 years ago, not in today's world of densely populated cities, technological innovations, and pollution. We now have access to a glut of larger-than-life objects, from candy to pornography to atomic weapons--that gratify these gut instincts with often-dangerous results. Animal biologists coined the term "supernormal stimuli" to describe imitations that appeal to primitive instincts and exert a stronger pull than real things, such as soccer balls that geese prefer over eggs. Evolutionary psychologist Deirdre Barrett applies this concept to the alarming disconnect between human instinct and our created environment, demonstrating how supernormal stimuli are a major cause of today's most pressing problems, including obesity and war. However, Barrett does more than show how unfettered instincts fuel dangerous excesses. She also reminds us that by exercising self-control we can rein them in, potentially saving ourselves and civilization.
Download or read book Waistland A R evolutionary View of Our Weight and Fitness Crisis written by Deirdre Barrett and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2007-06-17 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett tackles the obesity and fitness crisis from an evolutionary standpoint. In the modern jungle of burgers, couches, and remote controls, obesity is an enormous and growing epidemic. Weight-loss books and diet gurus urge us to "listen to our bodies," but our instincts are designed for the African savannah, not food courts. The sugary and fatty foods that we, as hunter-gatherers, are programmed to forage used to be hard to come by. Now they're as close as the vending machine down the hall. Radical changes are necessary and, fortunately, are biologically easier than small or gradual changes in diet. Barrett tells us how to reprogram our bodies, break food addictions, and ignore our attraction to "supernormal stimuli"—artificial creations that appeal to our instincts more than the natural objects they mimic. Barrett delves into scientific research—from animal ethology to evolution—to show the disastrous direction in which our instincts have led us, and how, using our intellect, we can get back on course.
Download or read book The Big Book of Hacks written by Doug Cantor and published by Weldon Owen International. This book was released on 2012-11-13 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ingenious (and hilarious) projects that aspiring makers will love, brought to you by the tinkerers at Popular Science magazine. From useful, doable gadgets to outlandish contraptions that you’d likely be wise to avoid, this showcase of ingenuity is an entertaining tribute to the inventive spirit. In this book from the science and technology magazine that’s been inspiring everyday people for nearly 150 years, you’ll discover: Geek Toys: Be the life of any party with rad gaming hacks, amazing pyrotechnics, quirky DIY robots, wow-inducing projectiles, and lots of ways to make beer even better. Home Improvements: Pimp out your pad with a laser-security system, an improvised sous-vide cooker, and a life-sized cardboard display of anyone you want. Gadget Upgrades: Want to stash a flash drive in an old cassette? Use a DIY stylus on a touchscreen? Improvise a fisheye lens for your camera? With this book, you can. Things That Go: Give your motorbike a Tron vibe, deck out your car with an action-figure hood ornament, and keep gadgets charged on the go with a solar-powered backpack. …and much more!
Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior written by Lance Workman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-19 with total page 1570 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transformative wave of Darwinian insight continues to expand throughout the human sciences. While still centered on evolution-focused fields such as evolutionary psychology, ethology, and human behavioral ecology, this insight has also influenced cognitive science, neuroscience, feminist discourse, sociocultural anthropology, media studies, and clinical psychology. This handbook's goal is to amplify the wave by bringing together world-leading experts to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of evolution-oriented and influenced fields. While evolutionary psychology remains at the core of the collection, it also covers the history, current standing, debates, and future directions of the panoply of fields entering the Darwinian fold. As such, The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior is a valuable reference not just for evolutionary psychologists but also for scholars and students from many fields who wish to see how the evolutionary perspective is relevant to their own work.
Download or read book Primal Awareness written by Don Trent Jacobs and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1998-09-01 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remarkable story of one man's rediscovery of his primordial mandate and of the strange journey that took him there • Explores the innate knowledge that exists within us all, a "primal awareness," that can help us to live in harmony with our world • Shows how we can rediscover this unseeable realm In 1983, caught in a violent rainstorm while kayaking the Rio Urique in Mexico's Copper Canyon, Don Trent Jacobs was swept into an impassable catacomb of underwater tunnels toward what he believed was certain death. But instead of panic, Jacobs found himself filled with a strange consciousness that left him feeling at peace and invigorated with a confidence he had never before known. Moments later he was spit from the tunnel alive--not at the end of his journey, but only at its beginning. Primal Awareness tells the story of Don Trent Jacobs's remarkable vision of the human mind and heart and the compelling spiritual quest that brought him to it. Through his experiences with the Raramuri people of Mexico and his research of other indigenous societies, Jacobs identifies what he calls our "primal awareness," an innate knowledge that exists within us all. Jacobs shows how we can rediscover this primordial mandate that unites all things and that helps us to find our own inner strength an harmony.
Download or read book You Are What You Risk written by Michele Wucker and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 international bestselling author of The Gray Rhino offers a bold new framework for understanding and re-shaping our relationship with risk and uncertainty to live more productive and successful lives. What drives a sixty-four-year-old woman to hurl herself over Niagara Falls in a barrel? Why do we often create bigger risks than the risks we try to avoid? Why are corporate boards newly worried about risky personal behavior by CEOs? Why are some nations quicker than others to recognize and manage risks like pandemics, technological change, and climate crisis? The answers define each person, organization, and society as distinctively as a fingerprint. Understanding the often-surprising origins of these risk fingerprints can open your eyes, inspire new habits, catalyze innovation and creativity, improve teamwork, and provide a beacon in a world that seems suddenly more uncertain than ever. How you see risk and what you do about it depend on your personality and experiences. How you make these cost-benefit calculations depend on your culture, your values, the people in the room, and even unexpected things like what you’ve eaten recently, the temperature, the music playing, or the fragrance in the air. Being alert to these often-unconscious influences will help you to seize opportunity and avoid danger. You Are What You Risk is a clarion call for an entirely new conversation about our relationship with risk and uncertainty. In this ground-breaking, accessible and eminently timely book, Michele Wucker examines why it’s so important to understand your risk fingerprint and how to make your risk relationship work better in business, life, and the world. Drawing on compelling risk stories around the world and weaving in economics, anthropology, sociology, and psychology research, Wucker bridges the divide between professional and lay risk conversations. She challenges stereotypes about risk attitudes, re-frames how gender and risk are related, and shines new light on generational differences. She shows how the new science of “risk personality” is re-shaping business and finance, how healthy risk ecosystems support economies and societies, and why embracing risk empathy can resolve conflicts. Wucker shares insights, practical tools, and proven strategies that will help you to understand what makes you who you are –and, in turn, to make better choices, both big and small.
Download or read book The Committee of Sleep written by Deirdre Barrett and published by Crown. This book was released on 2001 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on examples of artists, scientists, writers, and others who have used dreams to solve problems, the author of The Pregnant Man explains how dreams can foster creativity, enhance inspiration, and resolve problems.
Download or read book Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Sexual Psychology and Behavior written by Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume in the Springer Series in Evolutionary Psychology presents a state of the art view of the topic of sexuality and sexual behavior drawing on theoretical constructs and research of noted individuals in the field. Comprehensive and multi-disciplinary, this book seeks to provide a broad overview without sacrificing the complexity of a multi-faceted approach. The book is framed by introductory and closing sections that provide a context for the range of ideas contained within. Ample space is provided in designated sections that focus on key areas of sexuality from both male and female perspectives and that include information from primate studies. This volume can serve as a graduate text in sexual behavior in evolutionary terms and as a guide for further research.
Download or read book Computational Science ICCS 2021 written by Maciej Paszynski and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The six-volume set LNCS 12742, 12743, 12744, 12745, 12746, and 12747 constitutes the proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Computational Science, ICCS 2021, held in Krakow, Poland, in June 2021.* The total of 260 full papers and 57 short papers presented in this book set were carefully reviewed and selected from 635 submissions. 48 full and 14 short papers were accepted to the main track from 156 submissions; 212 full and 43 short papers were accepted to the workshops/ thematic tracks from 479 submissions. The papers were organized in topical sections named: Part I: ICCS Main Track Part II: Advances in High-Performance Computational Earth Sciences: Applications and Frameworks; Applications of Computational Methods in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing for Advanced Simulations; Biomedical and Bioinformatics Challenges for Computer Science Part III: Classifier Learning from Difficult Data; Computational Analysis of Complex Social Systems; Computational Collective Intelligence; Computational Health Part IV: Computational Methods for Emerging Problems in (dis-)Information Analysis; Computational Methods in Smart Agriculture; Computational Optimization, Modelling and Simulation; Computational Science in IoT and Smart Systems Part V: Computer Graphics, Image Processing and Artificial Intelligence; Data-Driven Computational Sciences; Machine Learning and Data Assimilation for Dynamical Systems; MeshFree Methods and Radial Basis Functions in Computational Sciences; Multiscale Modelling and Simulation Part VI: Quantum Computing Workshop; Simulations of Flow and Transport: Modeling, Algorithms and Computation; Smart Systems: Bringing Together Computer Vision, Sensor Networks and Machine Learning; Software Engineering for Computational Science; Solving Problems with Uncertainty; Teaching Computational Science; Uncertainty Quantification for Computational Models *The conference was held virtually. Chapter “Effective Solution of Ill-posed Inverse Problems with Stabilized Forward Solver” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Download or read book Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology written by Charles Crawford and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evolutionary psychology is concerned with the adaptive problems early humans faced in ancestral human environments, the nature of psychological mechanisms natural selection shaped to deal with those ancient problems, and the ability of the resulting evolved psychological mechanisms to deal with the problems people face in the modern world. Evolutionary psychology is currently advancing our understanding of altruism, moral behavior, family violence, sexual aggression, warfare, aesthetics, the nature of language, and gender differences in mate choice and perception. It is helping us understand the relationship between cognitive science, developmental psychology, behavior genetics, personality, and social psychology. Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology provides an up-to-date review of the ideas, issues, and applications of contemporary evolutionary psychology. It is suitable for senior undergraduates, first-year graduate students, or professionals who wish to become conversant with the major issues currently shaping the emergence of this dynamic new field. It will be interesting to psychologists, cognitive scientists, and anyone using new developments in the theory of evolution to gain new insights into human behavior.
Download or read book Psychobiology of Behaviour written by Kostas N. Fountoulakis and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-26 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a comprehensive reference on the neurobiological understanding of behaviour, how behaviour is regulated by the brain, and how such behaviours in turn influence the brain. The work offers an introduction to neural systems and genetics/epigenetics, followed by detailed study of a wide range of behaviours – temperament and personality, instincts and drives, memory and cognitive function, sex and sexual differentiation, ethology and evolutionary biology, aging, drug abuse and other problematic behaviors, psychophysiology and ultimately the links to biological psychiatry and psychopharmacology. Research findings on the neural basis of social behaviour are integrated across different levels of analysis, from molecular neurobiology and neural systems/behavioural neuroscience to fMRI imaging data on human social behaviour. The content covers research on both normal and abnormal behaviours, as well as developmental aspects. The target audience includes psychiatrists, neurologists, nurses, psychologists and all researchers and advanced students in behavioural, social and developmental neuroscience, as well as clinical neuroscientists.
Download or read book Trauma and Dreams written by Deirdre Barrett and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2001-10-30 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finally, this volume concludes with a look at the potential "traumas of normal life," such as divorce, bereavement, and life-threatening illness, and the role of dreams in working through normal grief and loss
Download or read book The Gray Rhino written by Michele Wucker and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 English-language bestseller in China--the book that is shaping China's planning and policy for the future. A "gray rhino" is a highly probable, high impact yet all-too-often neglected threat: kin to both the elephant in the room and the improbable and unforeseeable black swan. Gray rhinos are not random surprises, but occur after a series of warnings and visible evidence. The bursting of the housing bubble in 2008, the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the new digital technologies that upended the media world, the fall of the Soviet Union...all were evident well in advance. Why do leaders and decision makers keep failing to address obvious dangers before they spiral out of control? Drawing on her extensive background in policy formation and crisis management, as well as in-depth interviews with leaders from around the world, Michele Wucker shows in The Gray Rhino how to recognize and strategically counter looming high impact threats. Filled with persuasive stories, real-world examples, and practical advice, The Gray Rhino is essential reading for managers, investors, planners, policy makers, and anyone who wants to understand how to profit by avoiding getting trampled.
Download or read book The Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior written by Stephen M. Colarelli and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-01-02 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When biological theories were used to understand behavior in the early 20th century, they were often poorly understood. Ideas about race, ethnicity, and IQ, and notions of social Darwinism, were based on a misunderstanding and an incomplete understanding of genetics and Darwin s theory of evolution by natural selection. Now, however, a biological understanding of social behavior is an integral part of modern science, and increasingly used in the study of behavior in organizations. Yet, compared with other explanatory paradigms in organizational behavior, biological and evolutionary approaches are still relatively rare. "The Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior" provides accessible insights for scholars and practitioners in management and organizational behavior into what biology can offer their fields. Chapters contain enough background to orient readers who may have little knowledge of biology, and provide substantive contributions to advancing understanding of specific areas of biology and human behavior in organizations. They also show how the addition of biological theory and research to organizational-behavior scholarship will increase its explanatory and predictive power and contribute to its scientific foundations."
Download or read book Aesthetics and the Embodied Mind Beyond Art Theory and the Cartesian Mind Body Dichotomy written by Alfonsina Scarinzi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-11-24 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The project of naturalizing human consciousness/experience has made great technical strides (e.g., in mapping areas of brain activity), but has been hampered in many cases by its uncritical reliance on a dualistic “Cartesian” paradigm (though as some of the authors in the collection point out, assumptions drawn from Plato and from Kant also play a role). The present volume proposes a version of naturalism in aesthetics drawn from American pragmatism (above all from Dewey, but also from James and Peirce)—one primed from the start to see human beings not only as embodied, but as inseparable from the environment they interact with—and provides a forum for authors from diverse disciplines to address specific scientific and philosophical issues within the anti-dualistic framework considering aesthetic experience as a process of embodied meaning-making. Cross-disciplinary contributions come from leading researchers including Mark Johnson, Jim Garrison, Daniel D. Hutto, John T. Haworth, Luca F. Ticini, Beatriz Calvo-Merino. The volume covers pragmatist aesthetics, neuroaesthetics, enactive cognitive science, literary studies, psychology of aesthetics, art and design, sociology.
Download or read book Puppy Socialization written by Marge Rogers and published by Bright Friends Productions. This book was released on 2021-06-23 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Puppy Socialization: What It Is and How to Do It defines and demystifies the most important thing you can do for your puppy: socialization. The authors don't just tell you what you need to know about socialization. They show you with dozens of photographs and exclusive linked videos (a live internet connection is needed to view the videos). You'll see other owners socialize their puppies under the guidance of a nationally certified dog trainer and behavior consultant. These real-life examples of socialization show you what to do when things go well and when they don't go so well. You’ll learn about: • The magical time. Did you know that there is a special time in a puppy's life when he is primed to accept new things? The authors tell you when that time is, when that socialization window starts closing, and how a little effort by an owner during that time can save heartache later. • Canine body language. Puppies and dogs are talking all the time—with their body language. Learn to tell when a puppy or dog is relaxed and happy, a bit nervous about something, or outright fearful. • Myth-busting. There's a lot of advice out there about socialization and not all of it is good. Some common myths can actually cause a puppy harm. The authors give you the most up-to-date information on puppy socialization and put some harmful myths to rest. • Socializing a puppy during COVID-19. Puppies have so much to get used to: people, environments, noises, and more. The authors provide strategies for keeping humans and puppies safe while socializing puppies, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. • What supplies are needed during socialization. The authors provide checklists of things owners need when socializing a puppy at home and away from home.
