Download or read book The Healthy Skeptic written by Robert Davis and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2008-06-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It happens every day: we pick up a newspaper or magazine or turn on the television and are bombarded with urgent advice about how to stay healthy. Lose weight! Lower your cholesterol! Early detection saves lives! Sunscreen prevents cancer! But in many cases, pronouncements we rarely think to question turn out to be half-truths that are being pushed by various individuals or groups to advance their own agendas. The Healthy Skeptic explores who these health promoters are—from journalists and celebrities to industry-funded groups and consumer activists—what their motives are, and how they are spinning us in ways we often don't realize. This treasure trove of little-known facts, written by a seasoned health reporter, provides invaluable tips, tools, and resources to help readers think more critically about what they're being told. Becoming a healthy skeptic is vital, Davis argues, because following the right advice can have a profound impact on overall health and longevity. IN TEN ENTERTAINING CHAPTERS, ROBERT J. DAVIS DISCUSSES: * Diets and why they don't work * Dietary supplements * The campaign to reduce cholesterol * Celebrity exhortations to "get tested" * Sunscreen and its promoters' claims * The antichemical activists
Download or read book Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics written by Dan Harris and published by Harmony. This book was released on 2017-12-26 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF 10% HAPPIER Too busy to meditate? Can’t turn off your brain? Curious about mindfulness but more comfortable in the gym? This book is for you. You’ll also get access to guided audio meditations on the 10% Happier app, to jumpstart your practice from day one. ABC News anchor Dan Harris used to think that meditation was for people who collect crystals, play Ultimate Frisbee, and use the word “namaste” without irony. After he had a panic attack on live television, he went on a strange and circuitous journey that ultimately led him to become one of meditation’s most vocal public proponents. Harris found that meditation made him more focused and less yanked around by his emotions. According to his wife, it also made him less annoying. Science suggests that the practice can lower your blood pressure, mitigate depression and anxiety, and literally rewire key parts of the brain. So what’s holding you back? In Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, Harris and Jeff Warren, a masterful teacher and “Meditation MacGyver,” embark on a gonzo cross-country quest to tackle the myths, misconceptions, and self-deceptions that keep people from meditating. It is filled with game-changing and deeply practical meditation instructions—all of which are also available (for free) on the 10% Happier app. This book is a trip worth taking. Praise for Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics “If you’re intrigued by meditation but don’t know how to begin—or you’ve benefited from meditation in the past but need help to get started again—Dan Harris has written the book for you. Well researched, practical, and crammed with expert advice, it’s also an irreverent, hilarious page-turner.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project “The ABC News anchor, a ‘defender of worrying’ who once had an anxiety attack on air, offers a hilarious and stirring account of his two-steps-forward-one-step-back campaign to sort ‘useless rumination’ from ‘constructive anguish’ via mindfulness, along with invaluable suggestions for following in his footsteps.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
Download or read book Fitter Faster written by Robert Davis and published by AMACOM. This book was released on 2017-05-11 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lifetime of fitness in just minutes a day. I don't have time . . . I'm too tired . . . I hate gyms . . . These are among the most common excuses for not exercising. But the truth is that getting in shape requires less time and effort than you might think. Examining everything from pre-workout stretches to post-workout protein shakes, this science-backed book slices through fitness fads and misconceptions to reveal how you can exercise quickly and effectively. For example, is it best to exercise in the morning? Does aerobic activity burn more fat than weight lifting? You'll also learn how to get and stay motivated, what equipment to buy (and what not to waste money on), which dietary supplements really help, and how to combat muscle soreness. Fitter Faster explains how to: Find the right balance between cardio, strength, and stretching * Slash workout times with high-intensity interval training * Prevent boredom * Enhance fat-burning The accompanying Fitter Faster Plan, developed with celebrity trainer Brad Kolowich, Jr., pulls everything together. Requiring as little as 15 minutes a day, these quick workouts maximize efficiency-allowing you to reap the greatest benefit in the shortest possible time...all without ever having to set foot in a gym. With photographs illustrating each exercise routine, this eye-opening book will forever change the way you work out- and help you get fitter faster.
Download or read book A Skeptic s Guide to the Mind written by Robert A. Burton, M.D. and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if our soundest, most reasonable judgments are beyond our control? Despite 2500 years of contemplation by the world's greatest minds and the more recent phenomenal advances in basic neuroscience, neither neuroscientists nor philosophers have a decent understanding of what the mind is or how it works. The gap between what the brain does and the mind experiences remains uncharted territory. Nevertheless, with powerful new tools such as the fMRI scan, neuroscience has become the de facto mode of explanation of behavior. Neuroscientists tell us why we prefer Coke to Pepsi, and the media trumpets headlines such as "Possible site of free will found in brain." Or: "Bad behavior down to genes, not poor parenting." Robert Burton believes that while some neuroscience observations are real advances, others are overreaching, unwarranted, wrong-headed, self-serving, or just plain ridiculous, and often with the potential for catastrophic personal and social consequences. In A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind, he brings together clinical observations, practical thought experiments, personal anecdotes, and cutting-edge neuroscience to decipher what neuroscience can tell us – and where it falls woefully short. At the same time, he offers a new vision of how to think about what the mind might be and how it works. A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind is a critical, startling, and expansive journey into the mysteries of the brain and what makes us human.
Download or read book All Natural written by Nathanael Johnson and published by Rodale Books. This book was released on 2013-01-29 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this age of climate change, killer germs, and obesity, it's easy to feel as if we've fallen out of synch with the global ecosystem. This ecological anxiety has polarized a new generation of Americans: many are drawn to natural solutions and organic lifestyles, while others rally around high-tech development and industrial efficiencies. Johnson argues that both views, when taken to extremes, can be harmful, even deadly. Johnson, raised in the crunchy-granola epicenter of Nevada City, California, lovingly and rigorously scrutinizes his family's all-natural mindset, a quest that brings him into the worlds of an outlaw midwife, radical doctors, renegade farmers and one hermit forester. Along the way, he uncovers paradoxes at the heart of our ecological condition: Why, even as medicine improves, are we becoming less healthy? Why are more American women dying in childbirth? Why do we grow fatter the more we diet? Why have so many attempts to save the environment backfired? In All Natural*--a sparklingly intelligent, wry, and scrupulously reported narrative--Johnson teases fact from faith and offers a rousing and original vision for a middle ground between natural and technological solutions that will assuage frustrated environmentalists, perplexed parents, and confused consumers alike.
Download or read book Know Your Chances written by Steven Woloshin and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2008-11-30 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding risk -- Putting risk in perspective -- Risk charts : a way to get perspective -- Judging the benefit of a health intervention -- Not all benefits are equal : understand the outcome -- Consider the downsides -- Do the benefits outweight the downsides? -- Beware of exaggerated importance -- Beware of exaggerated certainty -- Who's behind the numbers?
Download or read book Making Sense of God written by Timothy Keller and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.
Download or read book The Skeptic s Guide to Health Medicine and the Media written by Roy Benaroch and published by . This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Science and the Skeptic written by Marc Zimmer and published by Twenty-First Century Books TM. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fake news, pseudoscience, and quackery have become scourges, spreading through society from social media all the way to Congress. The line between entertainment and reality, between fact and fiction, has become blurred. Some of the most crucial issues of our time—climate change, vaccines, and genetically modified organisms—have become prime targets for nefarious disinformation campaigns. Far too many people have become distrustful of real science. Even those who still trust science no longer know what to believe or how to identify the truth. Not only does this result in the devaluation and distrust of real science, but it is also dangerous: people acting based on false information can hurt themselves or those around them. We must equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills to fight back against all this disinformation. InScience and the Skeptic: Discerning Fact from Fiction, you will learn how science is done, from the basic scientific method to the vetting process that scientific papers must go through to become published; how and why some people intentionally or unintentionally spread misinformation; and the dangers in believing and spreading false information. You'll also find twenty easy-to-follow rules for distinguishing fake science from the real deal. Armed with this book, empower yourself with knowledge, learning what information to trust and what to dismiss as deceit. "We're not just fighting an epidemic; we're fighting an infodemic. . . . This is a time for facts, not fear. This is a time for rationality, not rumors. This is a time for solidarity, not stigma."—Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO "Our deepest beliefs should help navigate reality, not determine it."—Michael Gersen, The Washington Post "Journalism is very much about trying to simplify and distribute information about what's new and where advances have been made. That's incompatible with the scientific process, which can take a long time to build a body of evidence."—Kelly McBride, Poynter Institute
Download or read book Skeptic written by Michael Shermer and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2016-01-12 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collected essays from bestselling author Michael Shermer's celebrated columns in Scientific American For fifteen years, bestselling author Michael Shermer has written a column in Scientific American magazine that synthesizes scientific concepts and theory for a general audience. His trademark combination of deep scientific understanding and entertaining writing style has thrilled his huge and devoted audience for years. Now, in Skeptic, seventy-five of these columns are available together for the first time; a welcome addition for his fans and a stimulating introduction for new readers.
Download or read book The Skeptic s Guide to the Paranormal written by Lynne Kelly and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2004 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guaranteed to liven up any dinner party, this delightful, highly readable book offers color photos and scientific case-by-case explanations for 27 phenomena that appear to defy known science, including ghosts and poltergeists, the predictions of Nostradamus, and yogic levitation.
Download or read book The Road to Wellville written by T.C. Boyle and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1994-05-01 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Will Lightbody is a man with a stomach ailment whose only sin is loving his wife, Eleanor, too much. Eleanor is a health nut of the first stripe, and when in 1907 she journeys to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's infamous Battle Creek Spa to live out the vegetarian ethos, poor Will goes too. So begins T. Coraghessan Boyle's wickedly comic look at turn-of-the-century fanatics in search of the magic pill to prolong their lives--or the profit to be had from manufacturing it. Brimming with a Dickensian cast of characters and laced with wildly wonderful plot twists, Jane Smiley in the New York Times Book Review called The Road to Wellville "A marvel, enjoyable from beginning to end."
Download or read book Coffee is Good for You written by Robert J. Davis and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-01-03 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though food is supposed to be one of life's simple pleasures, few things cause more angst and confusion. Every day we are bombarded with come-ons for the latest diet, promises for "clinically proven" miracle ingredients, and warnings about contaminants in our favorite foods. It's enough to give anybody indigestion. Packed with useful-and surprising-information, Coffee Is Good for You cuts through the clutter to reveal what's believable and what's not in a fun and easily digestible way. You'll find out: Locally grown produce isn't necessarily more healthful than fruits and vegetables from across the globe Alcohol does cause breast cancer You don't need eight glasses of water a day for good health Milk isn't necessary for strong bones Oatmeal really can lower cholesterol Sea salt isn't more healthful than regular salt Low-fat cookies may be worse for you than high-fat cheese
Download or read book The Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs written by Robert T. Bakker and published by Golden Books. This book was released on 2013 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned paleontologist Robert T. Bakker and award-winning paleoartist Luis V. Rey combine forces in this oversized picture book about the evolution of dinosaurs. From the conquest of land by dino ancestor Acanthostega during the Devonian Period, through the mass die-off of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period, Bakker and Rey take readers on a safari through time while paying subtle homage to the 1960 Giant Golden Book Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles that inspired them both as young dinophiles. With stops along the way to look at monster bugs, ferocious fin-backs, fluffy dinosaurs, sea monsters and the 12-year-old girl who discovered them, dinosaur orchestras, tickling tyrannosaurs, and much, much more, this is a journey readers will never forget. It's a perfect gift for young dinosaur lovers as well as adult fans of Dr. Bakker and Luis Rey!"
Download or read book When Skeptics Ask written by Norman L. Geisler and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2013-03-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When skeptics ask tough questions, believers can turn to this helpful, user-friendly guide for thoughtful, up-to-date answers. Readers will also learn to identify and respond to the misuse of Scripture by nonbelievers and help detractors see the fullness, beauty, and truth of Christianity.
Download or read book The Skeptic s Guide to Sports Science written by Nicholas B. Tiller and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-03-27 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The global health and fitness industry is worth an estimated $4 trillion. We spend $90 billion each year on health club memberships and $100 billion each year on dietary supplements. In such an industrial climate, lax regulations on the products we are sold (supplements, fad-diets, training programs, gadgets, and garments) result in marketing campaigns underpinned by strong claims and weak evidence. Moreover, our critical faculties are ill-suited to a culture characterized by fake news, social media, misinformation, and bad science. We have become walking, talking prey to 21st-Century Snake Oil salesmen. In The Skeptic’s Guide to Sports Science, Nicholas B. Tiller confronts the claims behind the products and the evidence behind the claims. The author discusses what might be wrong with the sales pitch, the glossy magazine advert, and the celebrity endorsements that our heuristically-wired brains find so innately attractive. Tiller also explores the appeal of the one quick fix, the fallacious arguments that are a mainstay of product advertising, and the critical steps we must take in retraining our minds to navigate the pitfalls of the modern consumerist culture. This informative and accessible volume pulls no punches in scrutinizing the plausibility of, and evidence for, the most popular sports products and practices on the market. Readers are encouraged to confront their conceptualizations of the industry and, by the book’s end, they will have acquired the skills necessary to independently judge the effectiveness of sports-related products. This treatise on the commercialization of science in sport and exercise is a must-read for exercisers, athletes, students, and practitioners who hope to retain their intellectual integrity in a lucrative health and fitness industry that is spiraling out-of-control.
