Download or read book Are We Unique written by James Trefil and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 1998-02-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this fascinating book on an exciting and timely topic, James Trefil explores just exactly what it is that is so special about the human mind that sets us so far from all the other animals and that also makes it impossible to design a computer that coul

Download or read book Are We Unique written by James Trefil and published by Wiley. This book was released on 1998-02-18 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaim for Are We Unique? "In his masterful book, Trefil shares with readers some of the most recent research in neurology, evolution, primate research, computer science, and philosophy. Trefil's prose is lively and engaging." --Boston Globe "Trefil's race through the science that could explain the brain is highly readable." --Sunday Times of London "In a provocative essay, Trefil argues that the science of artificial intelligence is progressing rapidly. Machines, he theorizes, will one day develop a new kind of intelligence and self-awareness. So, maybe the real question is: Are we ready?" --San Diego Union-Tribune "A highly readable and engaging treatment of a fascinating question. Trefil makes a case for human uniqueness while at the same time celebrating the achievements of creations ranging from lobsters to neural nets. A provocative and enjoyable book." --Daniel L. Schacter Professor and Chair of Psychology, Harvard University author of Searching for Memory

Download or read book There s Only One You written by Kathryn Heling and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2020-02-28 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celebrate your individuality with this picture book that honors all the wonderful things that make you . . . you. “A picture-book celebration of individuality and diversity. . . . Affirming and welcome.” —Kirkus “In all the world over, this much is true: You’re somebody special. There’s only one YOU.” This feel-good book reassures kids that, whoever and whatever they are, it’s awesome being YOU! Expertly written to include all kinds of children and families, it embraces the beauty in a range of physical types, personalities, and abilities. Kids will love discovering and recognizing themselves in these pages—and they’ll feel proud to see their special qualities acknowledged. Adorable illustrations by Rosie Butcher show a diverse community that many will find similar to their own.

Download or read book In the Light of Evolution written by National Academy of Sciences and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

Download or read book Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1988-01-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is growing enthusiasm in the scientific community about the prospect of mapping and sequencing the human genome, a monumental project that will have far-reaching consequences for medicine, biology, technology, and other fields. But how will such an effort be organized and funded? How will we develop the new technologies that are needed? What new legal, social, and ethical questions will be raised? Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome is a blueprint for this proposed project. The authors offer a highly readable explanation of the technical aspects of genetic mapping and sequencing, and they recommend specific interim and long-range research goals, organizational strategies, and funding levels. They also outline some of the legal and social questions that might arise and urge their early consideration by policymakers.

Download or read book The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex written by Charles Darwin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2008-09-02 with total page 964 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the current resurgence of interest in the biological basis of animal behavior and social organization, the ideas and questions pursued by Charles Darwin remain fresh and insightful. This is especially true of The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Darwin's second most important work. This edition is a facsimile reprint of the first printing of the first edition (1871), not previously available in paperback. The work is divided into two parts. Part One marshals behavioral and morphological evidence to argue that humans evolved from other animals. Darwin shoes that human mental and emotional capacities, far from making human beings unique, are evidence of an animal origin and evolutionary development. Part Two is an extended discussion of the differences between the sexes of many species and how they arose as a result of selection. Here Darwin lays the foundation for much contemporary research by arguing that many characteristics of animals have evolved not in response to the selective pressures exerted by their physical and biological environment, but rather to confer an advantage in sexual competition. These two themes are drawn together in two final chapters on the role of sexual selection in humans. In their Introduction, Professors Bonner and May discuss the place of The Descent in its own time and relation to current work in biology and other disciplines.

Download or read book Perfect Planet Clever Species written by William C. Burger and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2011-04-29 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: [A] masterful survey. - Times Literary Supplement[A] concise ... extremely well-written journey about this planet''s history.... Highly recommended. - ChoiceIn a feat that may rival time travel, Burger has condensed 4.5 billion years into 294 eminently readable pages as he builds a case for solitude in our Milky Way galaxy. [Burger] writes with the clarity and humor of one who has had experience communicating complicated ideas to the lay public.-Boston GlobeFor many years the federal government funded the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), later popularized by Carl Sagan''s novel Contact and the movie starring Jodie Foster. Though in actuality SETI never did make contact with signals from an alien civilization, the search continues to this day through privately funded endeavors. How likely is it that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe? This is the intriguing question that has prompted William Burger''s illuminating and absorbing exploration of the unusual circumstances surrounding life on earth.Examining the critical episodes in our planet''s early history and the peculiar trajectory of life on our world, Burger shows that the long odyssey of planet Earth may be utterly unique in our galaxy. For example, he describes features of the sun that are far from average. By some estimates, 95 percent of the other stars in the Milky Way galaxy are smaller, and it is unlikely that any of them could supply the energy requirements for a life-sustaining planet such as our own. Earth, as the third planet from the sun, sits within the Goldilocks orbit: it is in the perfect position to receive not too much heat (like Mercury and Venus) and not too little (like more distant planets of the solar system) but just the right amount to foster the development of life.Turning to the evolution of life itself, Burger points out a host of amazing accidents (for example, the extinction of dinosaurs and the proliferation of flowering plants) that make the steps along the way to Homo sapiens seem like very rare events indeed. He also calls attention to the curious fact that the early hominid brain tripled in size over the relatively short time period leading to the appearance of modern human beings. Finally, he notes aspects of humanity''s cultural evolution that seem unlikely to have been duplicated anywhere else.Burger''s enlightening evaluation of evolutionary and cosmic history, full of fascinating details, shows that the human achievement may be unique in our galaxy.More Praise for Perfect Planet, Clever Species:This is by far the best existing treatment of the SETI problem. Based on the most recent findings of science, it analyzes in full detail all the unique factors that would have to be right for success. Particularly fascinating is Burger''s critical study of the ten thousands of unpredictable steps in the evolution of Homo sapiens after the origin of life. A splendid history of mankind. - Ernst Mayr, Harvard UniversityI believe that this brilliant, richly documented and well-written book, on par in historical influence (or importance) with classics such as Rachel Carson''s Silent Spring, Paul Ehrlich''s The Population Bomb, E.O. Wilson''s On Human Nature or Sarah Blaffer''s Mother Nature, will go down as one of the most significant philosophical guides for us to follow as we stumble blindly into the 21st Century. - Hugh H. Iltis, Emeritus Botany Professor, University of Wisconsin-MadisonWith a lively narrative and at a headlong pace, Bill Burger leads us expertly from the origin of our planet through to the evolutionary history of humankind. Along the way, he repeatedly highlights the part played by chance occurrence of favourable conditions. Such contingency means that we can reconstruct our past but not predict our future. But we can address Burger''s central question: ''Are we alone?'' Soberingly, he builds up step-by-step to his conclusion.... The history of evolution on Earth is a compelling story in its own right and one tha

Download or read book Uniqueness written by C.R. Snyder and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My Red Shirt and Me The red shirt incident begins with a rather ordinary red shirt. Not a brightly colored red shirt, not a dramatic cherry or firehouse red, more like a faded burgundy. But, for several days, my very iden tity was bound up in its redness. It was me, and I wore it with the pride a matador takes in his splendid cape, a hero in his medals of bravery, or a nun in her religious habit. I'll never forget the bound less joy I felt wearing that simple, pullover, short-sleeved red shirt in the hospital--or the rush of relief that I experienced when, at last, I decided to surrender it. However, we are getting ahead of our story, which starts a short time earlier with a most unfortunate accident. A light flurry of wet snow had begun to fall as the university limousine turned the corner on its way from the Bronx campus of New York University to the downtown campus. Although eight of us were packed into the car and had resigned ourselves to the usual boring faculty meeting awaiting us, somehow a spontaneous air of joviality was created.

Download or read book From Neurons to Neighborhoods written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-11-13 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

Download or read book I Human written by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2023-02-28 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For readers of Sapiens and Homo Deus and viewers of The Social Dilemma, psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic tackles one of the biggest questions facing our species: Will we use artificial intelligence to improve the way we work and live, or will we allow it to alienate us? It's no secret that AI is changing the way we live, work, love, and entertain ourselves. Dating apps are using AI to pick our potential partners. Retailers are using AI to predict our behavior and desires. Rogue actors are using AI to persuade us with bots and misinformation. Companies are using AI to hire us—or not. In I, Human psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic takes readers on an enthralling and eye-opening journey across the AI landscape. Though AI has the potential to change our lives for the better, he argues, AI is also worsening our bad tendencies, making us more distracted, selfish, biased, narcissistic, entitled, predictable, and impatient. It doesn't have to be this way. Filled with fascinating insights about human behavior and our complicated relationship with technology, I, Human will help us stand out and thrive when many of our decisions are being made for us. To do so, we'll need to double down on our curiosity, adaptability, and emotional intelligence while relying on the lost virtues of empathy, humility, and self-control. This is just the beginning. As AI becomes smarter and more humanlike, our societies, our economies, and our humanity will undergo the most dramatic changes we've seen since the Industrial Revolution. Some of these changes will enhance our species. Others may dehumanize us and make us more machinelike in our interactions with people. It's up to us to adapt and determine how we want to live and work. The choice is ours. What will we decide?

Download or read book Homo Prospectus written by Martin E. P. Seligman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our species is misnamed. Though sapiens defines human beings as "wise" what humans do especially well is to prospect the future. We are homo prospectus. In this book, Martin E. P. Seligman, Peter Railton, Roy F. Baumeister, and Chandra Sripada argue it is anticipating and evaluating future possibilities for the guidance of thought and action that is the cornerstone of human success. Much of the history of psychology has been dominated by a framework in which people's behavior is driven by past history (memory) and present circumstances (perception and motivation). Homo Prospectus reassesses this idea, pushing focus to the future front and center and opening discussion of a new field of Psychology and Neuroscience. The authors delve into four modes in which prospection operates: the implicit mind, deliberate thought, mind-wandering, and collective (social) imagination. They then explore prospection's role in some of life's most enduring questions: Why do people think about the future? Do we have free will? What is the nature of intuition, and how might it function in ethics? How does emotion function in human psychology? Is there a common causal process in different psychopathologies? Does our creativity change with age? In this remarkable convergence of research in philosophy, statistics, decision theory, psychology, and neuroscience, Homo Prospectus shows how human prospection fundamentally reshapes our understanding of key cognitive processes, thereby improving individual and social functioning. It aims to galvanize interest in this new science from scholars in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, as well as an educated public curious about what makes humanity what it is.

Download or read book The Emotional Life of Your Brain written by Richard J. Davidson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-12-24 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is your emotional fingerprint? Why are some people so quick to recover from setbacks? Why are some so attuned to others that they seem psychic? Why are some people always up and others always down? In his thirty-year quest to answer these questions, pioneering neuroscientist Richard J. Davidson discovered that each of us has an Emotional Style, composed of Resilience, Outlook, Social Intuition, Self-Awareness, Sensitivity to Context, and Attention. Where we fall on these six continuums determines our own “emotional fingerprint.” Sharing Dr. Davidson’s fascinating case histories and experiments, The Emotional Life of Your Brain offers a new model for treating conditions like autism and depression as it empowers us all to better understand ourselves—and live more meaningful lives.

Download or read book What Does it Mean to be Human written by Richard Potts and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This generously illustrated book tells the story of the human family, showing how our species' physical traits and behaviors evolved over millions of years as our ancestors adapted to dramatic environmental changes. In What Does It Means to Be Human? Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program, and Chris Sloan, National Geographic's paleoanthropolgy expert, delve into our distant past to explain when, why, and how we acquired the unique biological and cultural qualities that govern our most fundamental connections and interactions with other people and with the natural world. Drawing on the latest research, they conclude that we are the last survivors of a once-diverse family tree, and that our evolution was shaped by one of the most unstable eras in Earth's environmental history. The book presents a wealth of attractive new material especially developed for the Hall's displays, from life-like reconstructions of our ancestors sculpted by the acclaimed John Gurche to photographs from National Geographic and Smithsonian archives, along with informative graphics and illustrations. In coordination with the exhibit opening, the PBS program NOVA will present a related three-part television series, and the museum will launch a website expected to draw 40 million visitors.

Download or read book Unique Ability Creating the Life You Want written by Dan Sullivan and published by Strategic Coach. This book was released on 2003 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Who Are You Really written by Brian R. Little and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Traditionally, scientists have emphasized what they call the first and second natures of personality--genes and culture, respectively. But today the field of personality science has moved well beyond the nature vs. nurture debate. In Who Are You, Really? Dr. Brian Little presents a distinctive view of how personality shapes our lives--and why this matters. Little makes the case for a third nature to the human condition--the pursuit of personal projects, idealistic dreams, and creative ventures that shape both people's lives and their personalities. Little uncovers what personality science has been discovering about the role of personal projects, revealing how this new concept can help people better understand themselves and shape their lives"--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book We re Different We re the Same Sesame Street written by Bobbi Kates and published by Random House Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who better than Elmo and his Sesame Street friends to teach us that though we may all look different on the outside—deep down, we are all very much alike? Elmo and his Sesame Street friends help teach toddlers and the adults in their lives that everyone is the same on the inside, and it's our differences that make this wonderful world, which is home to us all, an interesting—and special—place. This enduring, colorful, and charmingly illustrated book offers an easy, enjoyable way to learn about differences—and what truly matters. We’re Different, We’re the Same is an engaging read for toddlers and adults alike that reinforces how we all have the same needs, desires, and feelings.

Download or read book Now Discover Your Strengths written by Marcus Buckingham and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-01-29 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 20th anniversary edition of Now, Discover Your Strengths comes with an access code to the Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment. This updated assessment includes reports and resources that go far beyond the standardized reports of the older assessment by providing you with personalized insight statements unique to your specific combination of strengths. The original publication of Now, Discover Your Strengths in 2001 launched a worldwide strengths revolution. To date, more than 20 million people have discovered their strengths, and tens of thousands more are discovering theirs every week. Gallup Press has published numerous strengths-based books, and Gallup Strengths Center has become a worldwide destination for strengths-based development. Since the book's release, Gallup has continued to dedicate countless hours to developing our strengths science, the brainchild of the late Dr. Donald O. Clifton, who was named Father of Strengths-Based Psychology by the American Psychological Association. Part of that investment resulted in Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 -- a refined upgrade of the original assessment for discovering your strengths. To ensure that you have the best possible experience in discovering and developing your strengths, we have made Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 available to those who purchase the 20th anniversary edition of Now, Discover Your Strengths. The updated assessment includes new reports and resources, including the Strengths Insight and Action-Planning Guide. This guide goes far beyond the standardized reports of the older assessment by providing you with personalized insight statements unique to your specific combination of strengths. These highly customized Strengths Insights are an in-depth analysis of your top five strengths. They describe who you are in astonishing detail and provide you with a comprehensive understanding of yourself, your strengths and what makes you stand out. These updated resources, in combination with the 20th anniversary edition of Now, Discover Your Strengths, give you the best opportunity to soar with your strengths -- at work and in your life.