If Ignorance Is Bliss, We Should All Be Ecstatic

If Ignorance Is Bliss, We Should All Be Ecstatic

Author: Fred Leavitt

Publisher: Open Books Publishing (UK)

Published: 2021-02-10

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9781948598446

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Nothing we think we know - NOTHING - is likely to be correct. If Ignorance is Bliss, We Should All Be Ecstatic explores the limitations of knowledge and argues that neither reasoning nor direct observation can be trusted. Not only are they unreliable sources, but they do not even justify assigning probabilities to claims about what we can know. This position, called radical skepticism, has intrigued philosophers since before the birth of Christ, yet nobody has been able to refute it. Fred Leavitt uses two unique methods of presentation. First, he supports abstract arguments with summaries of real-life examples from many and varied fields, which make the arguments much more convincing and compelling. He cites more than 200 studies from psychology, mathematics, chaos theory, quantum mechanics, evolutionary theory, history, the corporate world, politics, the military, and current news reporting. Second, Leavitt's writing is user-friendly, even when dealing with complex issues. Whether answering the telephone, turning on the TV, talking with friends, or munching on an apple, we expect things to happen predictably. These expectations, paired with radical skepticism, exemplify cognitive dissonance at the highest level.


Book Synopsis If Ignorance Is Bliss, We Should All Be Ecstatic by : Fred Leavitt

Download or read book If Ignorance Is Bliss, We Should All Be Ecstatic written by Fred Leavitt and published by Open Books Publishing (UK). This book was released on 2021-02-10 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nothing we think we know - NOTHING - is likely to be correct. If Ignorance is Bliss, We Should All Be Ecstatic explores the limitations of knowledge and argues that neither reasoning nor direct observation can be trusted. Not only are they unreliable sources, but they do not even justify assigning probabilities to claims about what we can know. This position, called radical skepticism, has intrigued philosophers since before the birth of Christ, yet nobody has been able to refute it. Fred Leavitt uses two unique methods of presentation. First, he supports abstract arguments with summaries of real-life examples from many and varied fields, which make the arguments much more convincing and compelling. He cites more than 200 studies from psychology, mathematics, chaos theory, quantum mechanics, evolutionary theory, history, the corporate world, politics, the military, and current news reporting. Second, Leavitt's writing is user-friendly, even when dealing with complex issues. Whether answering the telephone, turning on the TV, talking with friends, or munching on an apple, we expect things to happen predictably. These expectations, paired with radical skepticism, exemplify cognitive dissonance at the highest level.


Big Picture Perspectives and A Pursuit of Social Activism

Big Picture Perspectives and A Pursuit of Social Activism

Author: Tiffany Twain

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2013-01-24

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1300919736

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This Book Eight of the Earth Manifesto contains incisive essays, including "A Clarion Call for Common Sense Action" and "Climate Change Considerations", along with provocative Pope Francis-inspired "Views on High from an Angular Unconformist", and "Sad Implications of the Two Dueling Santa Claus Strategies in Political Economics". It also contains renewed assessments of optimum economic and social planning for the United States and nations around the world. Among other contents, it includes the essay "Thirteen Main Methods Used to Increasingly Concentrate Wealth and Power", which assesses the pathological causes of extreme inequality that are having such deleterious impacts on the world during terribly hard times for tens of millions of Americans during the on-going coronavirus pandemic.


Book Synopsis Big Picture Perspectives and A Pursuit of Social Activism by : Tiffany Twain

Download or read book Big Picture Perspectives and A Pursuit of Social Activism written by Tiffany Twain and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-01-24 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Book Eight of the Earth Manifesto contains incisive essays, including "A Clarion Call for Common Sense Action" and "Climate Change Considerations", along with provocative Pope Francis-inspired "Views on High from an Angular Unconformist", and "Sad Implications of the Two Dueling Santa Claus Strategies in Political Economics". It also contains renewed assessments of optimum economic and social planning for the United States and nations around the world. Among other contents, it includes the essay "Thirteen Main Methods Used to Increasingly Concentrate Wealth and Power", which assesses the pathological causes of extreme inequality that are having such deleterious impacts on the world during terribly hard times for tens of millions of Americans during the on-going coronavirus pandemic.


Advanced Yoga Practices - Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living, Vol. 2

Advanced Yoga Practices - Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living, Vol. 2

Author:

Publisher: AYP Publishing

Published:

Total Pages: 591

ISBN-13: 0981925545

DOWNLOAD EBOOK


Book Synopsis Advanced Yoga Practices - Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living, Vol. 2 by :

Download or read book Advanced Yoga Practices - Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living, Vol. 2 written by and published by AYP Publishing. This book was released on with total page 591 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Bill Moyers Journal

Bill Moyers Journal

Author: Bill Moyers

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2013-06-04

Total Pages: 604

ISBN-13: 1595586881

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A companion volume to the Emmy Award–winning PBS® series—interviews with “an essential voice in our national conversation” (Brian Williams, MSNBC anchor). This “provocative” and “absorbing” (Star Tribune) companion book to Bill Moyer’s acclaimed PBS series invites readers into conversations with some of the most captivating voices on the scene today, in what Kirkus Reviews calls “a glittering array of discussions.” From Jon Stewart on politics and media to Michael Pollan on food, The Wire creator David Simon on the mean streets of our cities, James Cone and Shelby Steele on race in the age of Obama, Robert Bly and Nikki Giovanni on the power of poetry, Barbara Ehrenreich on the hard times of working Americans, and Karen Armstrong on faith and compassion, Moyer’s own intelligence and insight match that of his guests and their discussions animate many of the most salient issues of our time. With extensive commentary from Moyers, marked by his customary “respect, intelligence, curiosity, humor, and graciousness,” here are the debates; cultural currents; and, above all, lively minds that shape the conversation of democracy (Booklist). “In an era of much instant and ephemeral talk, it is a pleasurable thing to hold this ‘book of ideas.’” —Publishers Weekly “[Moyers] has always been about something beyond the moment. Or put another way, while everyone else in the media has been exploring topography, Moyers has been exploring geology.” —Los Angeles Times


Book Synopsis Bill Moyers Journal by : Bill Moyers

Download or read book Bill Moyers Journal written by Bill Moyers and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 604 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A companion volume to the Emmy Award–winning PBS® series—interviews with “an essential voice in our national conversation” (Brian Williams, MSNBC anchor). This “provocative” and “absorbing” (Star Tribune) companion book to Bill Moyer’s acclaimed PBS series invites readers into conversations with some of the most captivating voices on the scene today, in what Kirkus Reviews calls “a glittering array of discussions.” From Jon Stewart on politics and media to Michael Pollan on food, The Wire creator David Simon on the mean streets of our cities, James Cone and Shelby Steele on race in the age of Obama, Robert Bly and Nikki Giovanni on the power of poetry, Barbara Ehrenreich on the hard times of working Americans, and Karen Armstrong on faith and compassion, Moyer’s own intelligence and insight match that of his guests and their discussions animate many of the most salient issues of our time. With extensive commentary from Moyers, marked by his customary “respect, intelligence, curiosity, humor, and graciousness,” here are the debates; cultural currents; and, above all, lively minds that shape the conversation of democracy (Booklist). “In an era of much instant and ephemeral talk, it is a pleasurable thing to hold this ‘book of ideas.’” —Publishers Weekly “[Moyers] has always been about something beyond the moment. Or put another way, while everyone else in the media has been exploring topography, Moyers has been exploring geology.” —Los Angeles Times


In The Wind

In The Wind

Author: J.K. Savoy

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2008-03-24

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1450098193

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the beginning, butterflies were free A rose was a kiss that Earth blew to the Sun just to say thanks . . . then we came along . . . Michael Tanner, playboy-politician-philanthropist, finds himself in an Eastern European missile silo, perplexed as to why he’s just flicked the switch in a scheme to end all life on Earth. As he becomes aware of the enormity of his deed, a power beyond his grasp compels him to document the process that led him there, for his own understanding or for a posterity that may never be. Obsessed to put the pieces of his fragmented mind together, his fingers fly across the keyboard. How did this happen to him? How could a person dedicated to getting high or getting elected become the lone horseman of the Apocalypse? These questions assault and consume him as he loses himself in stream of consciousness writing hoping to understand the metamorphoses he has undergone. Tanner’s escapade began when he and his girlfriend, Ginny, were speeding in his Ferrari to a play in Manhattan. After a clogged fuel line forces them to sputter into a New Jersey diner’s driveway, a chance encounter with a tattooed waitress named Maya sets the course for events to come. An admitted ass-man, Tanner becomes blindsided by his fixation on Maya’s derriere. His life goes into a tailspin when Maya’s ex-lover, a convicted terrorist, Gabriel Durango, enters the diner following his prison break. Durango, the leader of a 1970s worldwide nihilist group called the GODS, takes the unlikely trio hostage in a Soviet-era bomb shelter. During his ensuing confinement, through forces beyond his understanding, Tanner becomes brainwashed into enthusiastically resurrecting the GODS’s long abandoned plan to annihilate humankind. The coke snorting would be governor and his bimbo girlfriend are ready targets for the wiles of their manipulative, charismatic captor. In spite of her prior relationship with Durango, Tanner becomes romantically involved with Maya. Early on in their captivity, Tanner learns that Maya is a former parapsychology professor and member of the GODS. Unending TV news updates, transmitting filtered streams of characters and events, force Tanner to keep in touch with the outside world. After continuous revelations of Ginny’s past and his family’s dark secrets, via the newscasts, Tanner experiences a crisis of conscience. This plays into Durango ́s intricate manipulation of Tanner’s perception. In The Wind explores the subtle yet overwhelming power of suggestion and its potential in achieving personality transformation. The novel demonstrates how the phenomena known as Stockholm Syndrome can effect drastic changes in behavior of an unwary victim. It shows the frightening possibility of how even a tycoon and political rising star like Michael Tanner might be converted to a radical accomplice of fanatics determined to eradicate humankind for a greater good. The question remains; did Michael Tanner take on the purpose of another or might he simply have become in touch with his true self?


Book Synopsis In The Wind by : J.K. Savoy

Download or read book In The Wind written by J.K. Savoy and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2008-03-24 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the beginning, butterflies were free A rose was a kiss that Earth blew to the Sun just to say thanks . . . then we came along . . . Michael Tanner, playboy-politician-philanthropist, finds himself in an Eastern European missile silo, perplexed as to why he’s just flicked the switch in a scheme to end all life on Earth. As he becomes aware of the enormity of his deed, a power beyond his grasp compels him to document the process that led him there, for his own understanding or for a posterity that may never be. Obsessed to put the pieces of his fragmented mind together, his fingers fly across the keyboard. How did this happen to him? How could a person dedicated to getting high or getting elected become the lone horseman of the Apocalypse? These questions assault and consume him as he loses himself in stream of consciousness writing hoping to understand the metamorphoses he has undergone. Tanner’s escapade began when he and his girlfriend, Ginny, were speeding in his Ferrari to a play in Manhattan. After a clogged fuel line forces them to sputter into a New Jersey diner’s driveway, a chance encounter with a tattooed waitress named Maya sets the course for events to come. An admitted ass-man, Tanner becomes blindsided by his fixation on Maya’s derriere. His life goes into a tailspin when Maya’s ex-lover, a convicted terrorist, Gabriel Durango, enters the diner following his prison break. Durango, the leader of a 1970s worldwide nihilist group called the GODS, takes the unlikely trio hostage in a Soviet-era bomb shelter. During his ensuing confinement, through forces beyond his understanding, Tanner becomes brainwashed into enthusiastically resurrecting the GODS’s long abandoned plan to annihilate humankind. The coke snorting would be governor and his bimbo girlfriend are ready targets for the wiles of their manipulative, charismatic captor. In spite of her prior relationship with Durango, Tanner becomes romantically involved with Maya. Early on in their captivity, Tanner learns that Maya is a former parapsychology professor and member of the GODS. Unending TV news updates, transmitting filtered streams of characters and events, force Tanner to keep in touch with the outside world. After continuous revelations of Ginny’s past and his family’s dark secrets, via the newscasts, Tanner experiences a crisis of conscience. This plays into Durango ́s intricate manipulation of Tanner’s perception. In The Wind explores the subtle yet overwhelming power of suggestion and its potential in achieving personality transformation. The novel demonstrates how the phenomena known as Stockholm Syndrome can effect drastic changes in behavior of an unwary victim. It shows the frightening possibility of how even a tycoon and political rising star like Michael Tanner might be converted to a radical accomplice of fanatics determined to eradicate humankind for a greater good. The question remains; did Michael Tanner take on the purpose of another or might he simply have become in touch with his true self?


Old Proverbs Never Die, They Just Diversify

Old Proverbs Never Die, They Just Diversify

Author: Anna Tóthné Litovkina

Publisher: University of Vermont Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK


Book Synopsis Old Proverbs Never Die, They Just Diversify by : Anna Tóthné Litovkina

Download or read book Old Proverbs Never Die, They Just Diversify written by Anna Tóthné Litovkina and published by University of Vermont Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The River's A Singer: Selected Poems

The River's A Singer: Selected Poems

Author: Valerie Bloom

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Published: 2024-08-15

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 1035049317

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The River's a Singer is a glorious collection of poems from the 2022 CLiPPA award winner, Valerie Bloom. Illustrated in gorgeous black and white art by Sophie Bass. The very best of Valerie Bloom's poetry including 'Fruits', 'Autumn Gilt', 'Haircut Rap', 'Duppy Jamboree' and 'The River'. This selection brings many of her distinctive lyrical poems, which sparkle with joy and wit, together for the very first time.


Book Synopsis The River's A Singer: Selected Poems by : Valerie Bloom

Download or read book The River's A Singer: Selected Poems written by Valerie Bloom and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2024-08-15 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The River's a Singer is a glorious collection of poems from the 2022 CLiPPA award winner, Valerie Bloom. Illustrated in gorgeous black and white art by Sophie Bass. The very best of Valerie Bloom's poetry including 'Fruits', 'Autumn Gilt', 'Haircut Rap', 'Duppy Jamboree' and 'The River'. This selection brings many of her distinctive lyrical poems, which sparkle with joy and wit, together for the very first time.


The Westminster Review

The Westminster Review

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1870

Total Pages: 612

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Westminster Review by :

Download or read book The Westminster Review written by and published by . This book was released on 1870 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Hideaway Hospital Murders

Hideaway Hospital Murders

Author: Robert Burton Robinson

Publisher: Robert Burton Robinson

Published: 2009-07-07

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1448610974

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Suspense with romance. The small East Texas town of Coreyville is shaken by brutal murders and kidnappings, striking too close to home for Greg Tenorly. And the only witness is a mentally ill neighbor whose remarks are rejected by the police as gibberish. But Greg listens carefully to the man's seemingly incoherent statements, and later realizes that they just might contain enough clues to point him in the direction of the killer. But his investigation leads him into a hornet's nest of dark secrets, old grudges, jealousy, and greed. Now, caught in the crossfire between two families, Greg's life is in serious jeopardy. By morning, more bodies will be headed for the morgue. The only question is whether Greg Tenorly will be among them.


Book Synopsis Hideaway Hospital Murders by : Robert Burton Robinson

Download or read book Hideaway Hospital Murders written by Robert Burton Robinson and published by Robert Burton Robinson. This book was released on 2009-07-07 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suspense with romance. The small East Texas town of Coreyville is shaken by brutal murders and kidnappings, striking too close to home for Greg Tenorly. And the only witness is a mentally ill neighbor whose remarks are rejected by the police as gibberish. But Greg listens carefully to the man's seemingly incoherent statements, and later realizes that they just might contain enough clues to point him in the direction of the killer. But his investigation leads him into a hornet's nest of dark secrets, old grudges, jealousy, and greed. Now, caught in the crossfire between two families, Greg's life is in serious jeopardy. By morning, more bodies will be headed for the morgue. The only question is whether Greg Tenorly will be among them.


What Liberals Believe

What Liberals Believe

Author: William Martin

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 927

ISBN-13: 151072060X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In a political and media environment dominated by conservative interests, liberals need every opportunity to be heard, without distortion and in their own words. What Liberals Believe fulfills this need by bringing together the largest collection of progressive quotations ever published. Compiled by William Martin from speeches, publications, books, blogs, and other sources, it offers wisdom and humor from the keenest progressive minds, both past and present, including Anna Quindlen, Frank Rich, Michael Moore, Oscar Wilde, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, Rosa Parks, Barbara Ehrenreich, and John F. Kennedy. This one-of-a-kind book includes timely, insightful quotations covering hundreds of critical issues and even presents a chapter entitled "Callous and Clueless Quotes from the Right" to remind readers just how nasty and thuggish right-wing discourse has become. A perfect resource for writers, bloggers, researchers, activists, speechwriters, teachers, and students, What Liberals Believe will appeal to anyone who has grown weary of the extremism of the shameless right. With a new, updated section reflecting the 2012 presidential season, this book contains everything you need to contextualize incumbent Barack Obama with what other liberals, past and present, believe. What Liberals Believe is an excellent resource to have on hand during the upcoming election.


Book Synopsis What Liberals Believe by : William Martin

Download or read book What Liberals Believe written by William Martin and published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 927 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a political and media environment dominated by conservative interests, liberals need every opportunity to be heard, without distortion and in their own words. What Liberals Believe fulfills this need by bringing together the largest collection of progressive quotations ever published. Compiled by William Martin from speeches, publications, books, blogs, and other sources, it offers wisdom and humor from the keenest progressive minds, both past and present, including Anna Quindlen, Frank Rich, Michael Moore, Oscar Wilde, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, Rosa Parks, Barbara Ehrenreich, and John F. Kennedy. This one-of-a-kind book includes timely, insightful quotations covering hundreds of critical issues and even presents a chapter entitled "Callous and Clueless Quotes from the Right" to remind readers just how nasty and thuggish right-wing discourse has become. A perfect resource for writers, bloggers, researchers, activists, speechwriters, teachers, and students, What Liberals Believe will appeal to anyone who has grown weary of the extremism of the shameless right. With a new, updated section reflecting the 2012 presidential season, this book contains everything you need to contextualize incumbent Barack Obama with what other liberals, past and present, believe. What Liberals Believe is an excellent resource to have on hand during the upcoming election.