Blank Slate, the Noble Savage, and the Ghost In the Machine PDF Download

Author: Stephen Pinker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101200324
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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A brilliant inquiry into the origins of human nature from the author of Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Enlightenment Now. "Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read..also highly persuasive." --Time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize Updated with a new afterword One of the world's leading experts on language and the mind explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits-a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century-denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts. Injecting calm and rationality into debates that are notorious for ax-grinding and mud-slinging, Pinker shows the importance of an honest acknowledgment of human nature based on science and common sense.

Author: Allan Bloom
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439126267
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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The brilliant, controversial, bestselling critique of American culture that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” (The New York Times)—now featuring a new afterword by Andrew Ferguson in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition. In 1987, eminent political philosopher Allan Bloom published The Closing of the American Mind, an appraisal of contemporary America that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” (The New York Times) and has not only been vindicated, but has also become more urgent today. In clear, spirited prose, Bloom argues that the social and political crises of contemporary America are part of a larger intellectual crisis: the result of a dangerous narrowing of curiosity and exploration by the university elites. Now, in this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, acclaimed author and journalist Andrew Ferguson contributes a new essay that describes why Bloom’s argument caused such a furor at publication and why our culture so deeply resists its truths today.

Author: Julian Jaynes
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547527543
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 580

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National Book Award Finalist: “This man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century.”—Columbus Dispatch At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion—and indeed our future. “Don’t be put off by the academic title of Julian Jaynes’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Its prose is always lucid and often lyrical…he unfolds his case with the utmost intellectual rigor.”—The New York Times “When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium BC men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.”—John Updike, The New Yorker “He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally as adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.”—American Journal of Psychiatry

Author: Morris J. Vogel
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9780877228400
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Illustrates the history, civilization, and social conditions of the United States via artifacts, paintings, and other objects from the collections of cultural institutions in Philadelphia and environs.

Author: Donald Brown
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ISBN: 9780070082090
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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This book explores physical and behavioral characteristics that can be considered universal among all cultures, all people. It presents cases demonstrating universals, looks at the history of the study of universals, and presents an interesting study of a hypothetical tribe, The Universal People.

Author: Gene Scheer
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593465547
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Based on the song that President Joe Biden quoted in his inaugural address, this picture book celebrates the beauty and diversity of this country and the legacies on which we build our future. As President Joe Biden delivered his inaugural address, he quoted from a song that fully captured his own spirit of service: “The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day. What shall be our legacy? What will our children say? Let me know in my heart, when my days are through—America, America, I gave my best to you.” It was a sentiment that spoke not only to our new president’s character, but to the sense of pride in duty and purpose for the sake of a country we hold dear. And it contained a message of quiet patriotism that so many of us hope to share with the next generation. In this new picture book, using the full text of the song President Biden quoted, we do just that. With words that speak to the soul of our nation, and art from twelve different illustrators, all depicting what America means to them, we take readers on a journey through this beautiful country—its history, its struggles, and its dignity—and throughout, we count our own blessings and think about how we can do more to share them with others, and give our best to our country and everyone in it.

Author: Dean H. Hamer
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385485840
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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"A lucid, thought-provoking account of the case for 'nature' as a determinant of personality."—Peter D. Kramer, Author of Listening to Prozac and Should You Leave? Nowhere is the nature-nurture controversy being more arduously tested than in the labs of world-renowned molecular scientist Dean Hamer, whose cutting-edge research has indisputably linked specific genes to behavioral traits, such as anxiety, thrill-seeking, and homosexuality. The culmination of that research is this provocative book, Living with Our Genes. In it, Dr. Hamer reveals that much of our behavior—how much we eat and weigh, whether we drink or use drugs, how often we have sex—is heavily influenced by genes. His findings help explain why one brother becomes a Wall Street trader, while his sibling remains content as a librarian, or why some people like to bungee-jump, while others prefer Scrabble. Dr. Hamer also sheds light on some of the most compelling and vexing aspects of personality, such as shyness, aggression, depression, and intelligence. In the tradition of the bestselling book Listening to Prozac, Living with Our Genes is the first comprehensive investigation of the crucial link between our DNA and our behavior. "Compulsive reading, reminiscent of Jared Diamond, from a scientist who knows his stuff and communicates it well."—Kirkus Reviews "A pioneer in the field of molecular psychology, Hamer is exploring the role genes play in governing the very core of our individuality. Accessible . . . provocative."—Time "Absolutely terrific! I couldn't put it down."—Professor Robert Plomin, Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Center, Institute of Psychiatry

Author: Dion Fortune
Publisher: Phoemixx Classics Ebooks
ISBN: 3986775390
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Psychic Self-Defense Dion Fortune - "Psychic Self-Defense" is one of the best guides to detection and defence against psychic attack from one of the leading occult writers of the 20th century. After finding herself the subject of a powerful psychic attack in the 1930's, famed British occultist Dion Fortune wrote this detailed instruction manual on protecting oneself from paranormal attack. This classic psychic self-defence guide explains how to understand the signs of a psychic attack, vampirism, hauntings, and methods of defence. Everything you need to know about the methods, motives, and physical aspects of a psychic attack and how to overcome it is here, along with a look at the role psychic elements play in mental illness and how to recognise them.

Author: Virginia Woolf
Publisher: Modernista
ISBN: 9180949541
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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In a picturesque English village, residents prepare for an amateur production in the grounds of their manor house. Against the backdrop of World War II looming in the background, the play becomes a microcosm reflecting the anxieties, hopes, and societal changes of the time. Through Virginia Woolf's distinctive narrative style, each character's inner world is intricately woven into the fabric of the performance, blurring the lines between reality and theatricality. Between the Acts stands as Virginia Woolf's final novel, completing her exploration of experimental narrative techniques and modernist themes. Published posthumously in 1941, the novel continues Woolf's profound literary legacy of challenging conventional storytelling and delving into the complexities of human consciousness. VIRGINIA WOOLF [1882–1941] was an English author. With novels like Jacob’s Room [1922], Mrs Dalloway [1925], To the Lighthouse [1927], and Orlando [1928], she became a leading figure of modernism and is considered one of the most important English-language authors of the 20th century. As a thinker, with essays like A Room of One’s Own [1929], Woolf has influenced the women’s movement in many countries.