Author: Matthijs van Boxsel
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN:
Category : Stupidity
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
The author shows how stupidity manifests itself in all areas, in everyone, at all times: stupidity is the foundation of our civilization. He posits that stupidity is a condition for intelligence, that blunders stimulate progress and that failure is the basis for success.
The Encyclopædia of Stupidity
Author: Matthijs van Boxsel
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN:
Category : Stupidity
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
The author shows how stupidity manifests itself in all areas, in everyone, at all times: stupidity is the foundation of our civilization. He posits that stupidity is a condition for intelligence, that blunders stimulate progress and that failure is the basis for success.
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN:
Category : Stupidity
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
The author shows how stupidity manifests itself in all areas, in everyone, at all times: stupidity is the foundation of our civilization. He posits that stupidity is a condition for intelligence, that blunders stimulate progress and that failure is the basis for success.
Stupid American History
Author: Leland Gregory
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740793543
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller: Welcome to the land of the free, the home of the brave—and, apparently, the dumb, bizarre, and gullible . . . Did you know that . . . *John Tyler was on his knees playing marbles when he was informed that Benjamin Harrison had died and he was now president of the United States *For reasons still unknown, Texas congressman Thomas Lindsay Blanton, a Presbyterian Sunday school teacher and prohibitionist, inserted dirty words into the Congressional Record in 1921—for which his colleagues officially censured him by a vote of 293-0 *Two US presidents were indentured servants—and one of them ran away and wound up with a $10 reward posted for his capture From Columbus to George W. Bush, the bestselling coauthor of America’s Dumbest Criminals leads us through the many mythconceptions of our nation’s history in this lively book, exposing lots of entertaining moments of idiocy and inanity along the time line.
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740793543
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 274
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller: Welcome to the land of the free, the home of the brave—and, apparently, the dumb, bizarre, and gullible . . . Did you know that . . . *John Tyler was on his knees playing marbles when he was informed that Benjamin Harrison had died and he was now president of the United States *For reasons still unknown, Texas congressman Thomas Lindsay Blanton, a Presbyterian Sunday school teacher and prohibitionist, inserted dirty words into the Congressional Record in 1921—for which his colleagues officially censured him by a vote of 293-0 *Two US presidents were indentured servants—and one of them ran away and wound up with a $10 reward posted for his capture From Columbus to George W. Bush, the bestselling coauthor of America’s Dumbest Criminals leads us through the many mythconceptions of our nation’s history in this lively book, exposing lots of entertaining moments of idiocy and inanity along the time line.
Stupidity
Author: Avital Ronell
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252071270
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
"Avital Ronell's work studies the fading empire of cognition, modulating stupidity into idiocy, puerility, and the figure of the ridiculous philosopher instituted by Kant. Investigating ignorance, dumbfoundedness, and the limits of reason, Stupidity probes the pervasive practice of theory-bashing and related forms of paranoid aggression. A section on prolonged and debilitating illness pushes the text to an edge of a corporeal hermeneutics, "at the limits of what the body knows and tells.""--BOOK JACKET.
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252071270
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
"Avital Ronell's work studies the fading empire of cognition, modulating stupidity into idiocy, puerility, and the figure of the ridiculous philosopher instituted by Kant. Investigating ignorance, dumbfoundedness, and the limits of reason, Stupidity probes the pervasive practice of theory-bashing and related forms of paranoid aggression. A section on prolonged and debilitating illness pushes the text to an edge of a corporeal hermeneutics, "at the limits of what the body knows and tells.""--BOOK JACKET.
The absurd in literature
Author: Neil Cornwell
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1847796575
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
Neil Cornwell's study, while endeavouring to present an historical survey of absurdist literature and its forbears, does not aspire to being an exhaustive history of absurdism. Rather, it pauses on certain historical moments, artistic movements, literary figures and selected works, before moving on to discuss four key writers: Daniil Kharms, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien. The absurd in literature will be of compelling interest to a considerable range of students of comparative, European (including Russian and Central European) and English literatures (British Isles and American) – as well as those more concerned with theatre studies, the avant-garde and the history of ideas (including humour theory). It should also have a wide appeal to the enthusiastic general reader.
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1847796575
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
Neil Cornwell's study, while endeavouring to present an historical survey of absurdist literature and its forbears, does not aspire to being an exhaustive history of absurdism. Rather, it pauses on certain historical moments, artistic movements, literary figures and selected works, before moving on to discuss four key writers: Daniil Kharms, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien. The absurd in literature will be of compelling interest to a considerable range of students of comparative, European (including Russian and Central European) and English literatures (British Isles and American) – as well as those more concerned with theatre studies, the avant-garde and the history of ideas (including humour theory). It should also have a wide appeal to the enthusiastic general reader.
The Stupidity Paradox
Author: Mats Alvesson
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782832025
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
Functional stupidity can be catastrophic. It can cause organisational collapse, financial meltdown and technical disaster. And there are countless, more everyday examples of organisations accepting the dubious, the absurd and the downright idiotic, from unsustainable management fads to the cult of leadership or an over-reliance on brand and image. And yet a dose of stupidity can be useful and produce good, short-term results: it can nurture harmony, encourage people to get on with the job and drive success. This is the stupidity paradox. The Stupidity Paradox tackles head-on the pros and cons of functional stupidity. You'll discover what makes a workplace mindless, why being stupid might be a good thing in the short term but a disaster in the longer term, and how to make your workplace a little less stupid by challenging thoughtless conformity. It shows how harmony and action in the workplace can be balanced with a culture of questioning and challenge. The book is a wake-up call for smart organisations and smarter people. It encourages us to use our intelligence fully for the sake of personal satisfaction, organisational success and the flourishing of society as a whole.
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1782832025
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
Functional stupidity can be catastrophic. It can cause organisational collapse, financial meltdown and technical disaster. And there are countless, more everyday examples of organisations accepting the dubious, the absurd and the downright idiotic, from unsustainable management fads to the cult of leadership or an over-reliance on brand and image. And yet a dose of stupidity can be useful and produce good, short-term results: it can nurture harmony, encourage people to get on with the job and drive success. This is the stupidity paradox. The Stupidity Paradox tackles head-on the pros and cons of functional stupidity. You'll discover what makes a workplace mindless, why being stupid might be a good thing in the short term but a disaster in the longer term, and how to make your workplace a little less stupid by challenging thoughtless conformity. It shows how harmony and action in the workplace can be balanced with a culture of questioning and challenge. The book is a wake-up call for smart organisations and smarter people. It encourages us to use our intelligence fully for the sake of personal satisfaction, organisational success and the flourishing of society as a whole.
Hey, Idiot!
Author: Leland Gregory
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740792032
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
Over 200 true stories of boneheadedness and buffoonery from the New York Times-bestselling author of Stupid History! Former Saturday Night Live writer Leland Gregory has shown us gray matter-challenged examples in everything from the criminal world to the hallowed halls of government. This time, though, everyone, everywhere is fair game if they've exhibited outrageously stupid behavior. Consider: * The forgetful fireman who left cooking oil on the stove and returned from a call to find the station house burned to the ground * A lung cancer patient who caused an explosion when he lit up a cigarette—in his oxygen tent * A 58-year-old billiards player who was suspended from competition after testing positive for a muscle-building hormone * F. Edward Hebert, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who said, “The only way we’ll get a volunteer army is to draft them” Hey Idiot! lets everyone from bosses to public officials, doctors to sports heroes, skewer themselves with their moronic words and actions.
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740792032
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Book Description
Over 200 true stories of boneheadedness and buffoonery from the New York Times-bestselling author of Stupid History! Former Saturday Night Live writer Leland Gregory has shown us gray matter-challenged examples in everything from the criminal world to the hallowed halls of government. This time, though, everyone, everywhere is fair game if they've exhibited outrageously stupid behavior. Consider: * The forgetful fireman who left cooking oil on the stove and returned from a call to find the station house burned to the ground * A lung cancer patient who caused an explosion when he lit up a cigarette—in his oxygen tent * A 58-year-old billiards player who was suspended from competition after testing positive for a muscle-building hormone * F. Edward Hebert, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who said, “The only way we’ll get a volunteer army is to draft them” Hey Idiot! lets everyone from bosses to public officials, doctors to sports heroes, skewer themselves with their moronic words and actions.
Knowing Nothing, Staying Stupid
Author: Dany Nobus
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135446199
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
Why is stupidity sublime? What is the value of a 'dialectics of ignorance' for analysts and academics? Knowing Nothing, Staying Stupid draws on recent research to provide a thorough and illuminating evaluation of the status of knowledge and truth in psychoanalysis. Adopting a Lacanian framework, Dany Nobus and Malcolm Quinn question the basic assumption that knowledge is universally good and describe how psychoanalysis is in a position to place forms of knowledge in a dialectical relationship with non-knowledge, blindness, ignorance and stupidity. The book draws out the implications of a psychoanalytic theory of knowledge for the practices of knowledge construction, acquisition and transmission across the humanities and social sciences. The book is divided into two sections. The first section addresses the foundations of a psychoanalytic approach to knowledge as it emerges from clinical practice, whilst the second section considers the problems and issues of applied psychoanalysis, and the ambiguous position of the analyst in the public sphere. Subjects covered include: The Logic of Psychoanalytic Discovery Creative Knowledge Production and Institutionalised Doctrine The Desire to Know versus the Fall of Knowledge Epistemological Regression and the Problem of Applied Psychoanalysis This provocative discussion of the dialectics of knowing and not knowing will be welcomed by practicing psychoanalysts and students of psychoanalytic studies, but also by everyone working in the fields of social science, philosophy and cultural studies.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135446199
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
Why is stupidity sublime? What is the value of a 'dialectics of ignorance' for analysts and academics? Knowing Nothing, Staying Stupid draws on recent research to provide a thorough and illuminating evaluation of the status of knowledge and truth in psychoanalysis. Adopting a Lacanian framework, Dany Nobus and Malcolm Quinn question the basic assumption that knowledge is universally good and describe how psychoanalysis is in a position to place forms of knowledge in a dialectical relationship with non-knowledge, blindness, ignorance and stupidity. The book draws out the implications of a psychoanalytic theory of knowledge for the practices of knowledge construction, acquisition and transmission across the humanities and social sciences. The book is divided into two sections. The first section addresses the foundations of a psychoanalytic approach to knowledge as it emerges from clinical practice, whilst the second section considers the problems and issues of applied psychoanalysis, and the ambiguous position of the analyst in the public sphere. Subjects covered include: The Logic of Psychoanalytic Discovery Creative Knowledge Production and Institutionalised Doctrine The Desire to Know versus the Fall of Knowledge Epistemological Regression and the Problem of Applied Psychoanalysis This provocative discussion of the dialectics of knowing and not knowing will be welcomed by practicing psychoanalysts and students of psychoanalytic studies, but also by everyone working in the fields of social science, philosophy and cultural studies.
The Encyclopædia Britannica
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Languages : en
Pages : 904
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Languages : en
Pages : 904
Book Description
Idiots at Work
Author: Leland Gregory
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740792040
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
What's the strangest question employers have been asked during an interview? Among the responses: * What is it you people do at this company? * Why aren't you in a more interesting business? * Will the company move my rock collection from California to Maryland? * Does you company have a policy regarding concealed weapons? --from Idiots at Work: Chronicles of Workplace Stupidity Leland Gregory once thought crooks, politicians, and lawyers were the greatest nitwits out there, but it turns out that the working masses are packed with the dumb, dumber, and dumbest humans on the face of the planet. Gregory's look at nincompoops, Idiots at Work: Chronicles of Workplace Stupidity, makes it crystal clear that the world's biggest jerks are on the job. Consider these examples: * The woman who sued Eastman Kodak to improve the lighting conditions on her job...in a darkroom? * The Ontario Federation of Labor, which installed a bad boss hotline to get a handle on labor problems--only to have the system crash soon after startup because too many calls came in. * The interviewee who wore a Walkman, explaining that she could listen to the interviewer and the music at the same time. Gregory has made a career out of finding the imbeciles of the world and sharing their antics with the rest of us. His AMP humor compilations What's the Number for 911?, What's the Number for 911 Again?, The Stupid Crook Book, and Hey, Idiot! were all hilarious, but Idiots at Work takes the cake. The book is filled with hilarious tales of moronic managers, office idiots, stupid shareholders, daft decision-makers, poor planners, and other outstanding examples of cubical klutzes.
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 0740792040
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
What's the strangest question employers have been asked during an interview? Among the responses: * What is it you people do at this company? * Why aren't you in a more interesting business? * Will the company move my rock collection from California to Maryland? * Does you company have a policy regarding concealed weapons? --from Idiots at Work: Chronicles of Workplace Stupidity Leland Gregory once thought crooks, politicians, and lawyers were the greatest nitwits out there, but it turns out that the working masses are packed with the dumb, dumber, and dumbest humans on the face of the planet. Gregory's look at nincompoops, Idiots at Work: Chronicles of Workplace Stupidity, makes it crystal clear that the world's biggest jerks are on the job. Consider these examples: * The woman who sued Eastman Kodak to improve the lighting conditions on her job...in a darkroom? * The Ontario Federation of Labor, which installed a bad boss hotline to get a handle on labor problems--only to have the system crash soon after startup because too many calls came in. * The interviewee who wore a Walkman, explaining that she could listen to the interviewer and the music at the same time. Gregory has made a career out of finding the imbeciles of the world and sharing their antics with the rest of us. His AMP humor compilations What's the Number for 911?, What's the Number for 911 Again?, The Stupid Crook Book, and Hey, Idiot! were all hilarious, but Idiots at Work takes the cake. The book is filled with hilarious tales of moronic managers, office idiots, stupid shareholders, daft decision-makers, poor planners, and other outstanding examples of cubical klutzes.
Encyclopedia Idiotica
Author: Stephen Weir
Publisher: B.E.S. Publishing
ISBN: 9780764159176
Category : Errors
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The 64 A.D. burning of Rome during the reign of Nero . . . Winston Churchill's ill-conceived and disastrous World War I plan to invade Turkey at Gallipoli . . . the Maginot Line, built in France in 1929-34 in a foolhardy effort to prevent the feared German invasion . . . the 1950s thalidomide pharmaceutical disaster that resulted in at least 20,000 babies born with deformities . . . the 1989-91 misappropriation of company funds by publishing executive Robert Maxwell, and the collapse of his financial empire . . . the Enron scandal of 2000 that brought down a yet larger business empire. Chronicled in these pages are stories of corporate chicanery, poor military decisions, engineering disasters, diplomatic blunders, and other appalling, large-scale mistakes that resulted in ruin and misery for countless innocent bystanders. Here are baleful tales motivated by false hope, anger, greed, pride, lust, and many other instances of erratic human behavior. A selection of approximately 50 disastrous decisions are presented, each grim account summarized in a report of roughly a half-dozen pages and enhanced with sidebars and thumbnail-sized cartoon-style illustrations. Each account opens with its cast of characters, then sets the story's background before reporting the grim details and concluding with the unhappy moral. Here is a page-turner of a book that recounts some of history's most dramatic-but also catastrophic-moments.
Publisher: B.E.S. Publishing
ISBN: 9780764159176
Category : Errors
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The 64 A.D. burning of Rome during the reign of Nero . . . Winston Churchill's ill-conceived and disastrous World War I plan to invade Turkey at Gallipoli . . . the Maginot Line, built in France in 1929-34 in a foolhardy effort to prevent the feared German invasion . . . the 1950s thalidomide pharmaceutical disaster that resulted in at least 20,000 babies born with deformities . . . the 1989-91 misappropriation of company funds by publishing executive Robert Maxwell, and the collapse of his financial empire . . . the Enron scandal of 2000 that brought down a yet larger business empire. Chronicled in these pages are stories of corporate chicanery, poor military decisions, engineering disasters, diplomatic blunders, and other appalling, large-scale mistakes that resulted in ruin and misery for countless innocent bystanders. Here are baleful tales motivated by false hope, anger, greed, pride, lust, and many other instances of erratic human behavior. A selection of approximately 50 disastrous decisions are presented, each grim account summarized in a report of roughly a half-dozen pages and enhanced with sidebars and thumbnail-sized cartoon-style illustrations. Each account opens with its cast of characters, then sets the story's background before reporting the grim details and concluding with the unhappy moral. Here is a page-turner of a book that recounts some of history's most dramatic-but also catastrophic-moments.