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The People You Are
by Rita CarterIn THE PEOPLE YOU ARE, Rita Carter - award-winning science writer and international speaker - offers a new and vital understanding of personality. Rita explains that nearly every one of us is a team of personalities, working together, for the most part, to give the impression of a unified self. We are used to thinking of ourselves as one thing or the other - either introvert or extrovert, say - but things are rarely that simple for most of us. That's why we sometimes feel like a different person depending on mood, company and surroundings, why we sometimes suffer unaccountable memory lapses, why we buy something we then decide we didn't want in the first place, or why 'somebody else' turns off the alarm clock in the morning.Importantly, THE PEOPLE YOU ARE is also a practical guide to building a happy 'household' of personalities, explaining how to identify these different versions of ourselves and how to enable them to co-operate so that we can function successfully in life.THE PEOPLE YOU ARE is both an eye-opening and highly practical account of personality.
Look Again: The Power of Noticing What was Always There
by Cass R. Sunstein Tali SharotFor fans of Thinking, Fast and Slow and The Power of Habit, a groundbreaking new study of how disrupting our well-worn routines, both good and bad, can rejuvenate our days and reset our brains to allow us to live happier and more fulfilling lives.Have you ever noticed that what is thrilling on Monday tends to become boring on Friday? Even exciting relationships, stimulating jobs, and breathtaking works of art lose their sparkle after a while. People stop noticing what is most wonderful in their own lives. They also stop noticing what is terrible. They get used to dirty air. They stay in abusive relationships. People grow to accept authoritarianism and take foolish risks. They become unconcerned by their own misconduct, blind to inequality, and are more liable to believe misinformation than ever before.But what if we could find a way to see everything anew? What if you could regain sensitivity, not only to the great things in your life, but also to the terrible things you stopped noticing and so don't try to change?
Beliefism: How to stop hating the people we disagree with
by Paul Dolan'Brilliant, wise, humane, scientific, and kind. Beliefism is exactly what the doctor ordered - and it could change the world' Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard University"Repeated throughout is the fine principle that whatever position you wish to argue on an issue, you must be honest about what bad effects, as well as good, will follow." Steven Poole, The TimesBeliefism (noun): Discrimination against people who disagree with us Do you avoid people who are strongly against immigration? Or strongly for trans rights? Against abortion? For drug legalisation? We might like to think that we're tolerant, but many of us struggle to engage with people whose opinions differ strongly from our own-even if they might have something useful to contribute to the debate. That means we're falling victim to what behavioural scientist Professor Paul Dolan defines as Beliefism: discrimination against those with different beliefs to us.Drawing on the evidence from across the social sciences, Dolan shows how easy it is for us to divide ourselves into opposing camps - and how harmful that can be. Using the central metaphor of the duck-rabbit illusion-where the same image can be viewed as one animal or the other-the book shows that looking at an issue from only one perspective can lead to bad decisions and unnecessary conflict. The world would be a better place if there was less beliefism and Dolan shows how more tolerance is only possible "by design". We need to embed less beliefism into our organisations and lives and he provides a checklist called EMBRACE to help us do that.Combining curiosity, irreverence and warmth, Beliefism is a definitive behavioural science take by a leader in his field. Whether it's among friends, at university or at work, being less beliefist will make you a better partner or parent, and a more effective buddy or boss.
Beliefism: How to stop hating the people we disagree with
by Paul Dolan'Brilliant, wise, humane, scientific, and kind. Beliefism is exactly what the doctor ordered - and it could change the world' Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard University"Repeated throughout is the fine principle that whatever position you wish to argue on an issue, you must be honest about what bad effects, as well as good, will follow." Steven Poole, The TimesBeliefism (noun): Discrimination against people who disagree with us Do you avoid people who are strongly against immigration? Or strongly for trans rights? Against abortion? For drug legalisation? We might like to think that we're tolerant, but many of us struggle to engage with people whose opinions differ strongly from our own-even if they might have something useful to contribute to the debate. That means we're falling victim to what behavioural scientist Professor Paul Dolan defines as Beliefism: discrimination against those with different beliefs to us.Drawing on the evidence from across the social sciences, Dolan shows how easy it is for us to divide ourselves into opposing camps - and how harmful that can be. Using the central metaphor of the duck-rabbit illusion-where the same image can be viewed as one animal or the other-the book shows that looking at an issue from only one perspective can lead to bad decisions and unnecessary conflict. The world would be a better place if there was less beliefism and Dolan shows how more tolerance is only possible "by design". We need to embed less beliefism into our organisations and lives and he provides a checklist called EMBRACE to help us do that.Combining curiosity, irreverence and warmth, Beliefism is a definitive behavioural science take by a leader in his field. Whether it's among friends, at university or at work, being less beliefist will make you a better partner or parent, and a more effective buddy or boss.
The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion
by Cory LeadbeaterAs an aspiring novelist in his early twenties, Cory Leadbeater was presented with an opportunity to work for a well-known writer whose identity was kept confidential. Since the tumultuous days of childhood, Cory had sought refuge from the rougher parts of life in the pages of books. Suddenly, he found himself the personal assistant to a titan of literature: Joan Didion.In the nine years that followed, Cory shared Joan's rarefied world, transformed not only by her blazing intellect but by her generous friendship and mentorship. Together they recited poetry in the mornings, dined with Supreme Court justices, attended art openings, smoked a single cigarette before bed.But secretly, Cory was spiraling. He reeled from the death of a close friend. He spent his weekends at a federal prison, visiting his father as he served time for fraud. He struggled day after day to write the novel that would validate him as a real writer. And meanwhile, the forces of addiction and depression loomed large.In hypnotic prose that pulses with life and longing, The Uptown Local explores the fault lines of class, family, loss, and creativity. It is a love letter to a cultural icon-and a moving testament to the relationships that sustain us in the eternal pursuit of a life worth living.
Wise Women: Myths and stories for midlife and beyond
by Sharon Blackie Angharad WynneAn unforgettable collection of retold myths and folk tales celebrating the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond, from the award-winning author of Hagitude'An extraordinary selection of stories ... beautifully and vividly retold' TLS'Read it, absorb it, treasure it!' SHAHRUKH HUSAIN, author of The Virago Book of Witches'A fascinating collection of female myths and legends' SARA SHERIDAN, author of The Fair BotanistsFrom early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be golden-haired princesses, and the evil-doers often older women. But women today are searching for positive versions of themselves from midlife onwards, and this dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with characters - from ungainly giantesses and sequin-strewn fairy godmothers to misunderstood witches and craggy crones - provides them. They outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, embody the cycles and seasons of the earth, weave the world into being - and almost always have the last laugh.These women manifest their wisdom in different ways, and so offer us inspiration for how we too can walk boldly and live authentically in the second half of life.'Wonderful, both comforting and inspiring' VICTORIA SMITH, author of Hags'The book I've been longing for' JILL DAWSON, author of The Bewitching'I adored Wise Women - this is the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to reframing the narrative in our culture about the role of older females' ELEANOR MILLS, author of Much More to Come: Lessons on the mayhem and magnificence of midlife 'Reading it quenched a thirst I didn't know I had. Oh for a world where stories of the power and joy of women's elder years are celebrated everywhere' DOREEN CUNNINGHAM, author of Soundings'Revisits our old stories, making them thrilling for us now' STELLA DUFFY OBE
Everyone's a Critic: How we can learn to be kind to ourselves
by Julia BuenoDo you beat yourself up after making a mistake? Do you treat yourself worse than you would a good friend?If these questions strike a chord, it's likely that you contend with unhealthy self-criticism. This mental habit is the cause of so much emotional suffering, and lies at the root of most of the problems that psychotherapists and counsellors encounter.In Everyone's a Critic, psychotherapist Julia Bueno shares seven case studies, inspired by her practice. They explore some of the reasons why we learn to turn against ourselves, encourage readers to be more curious about their self-critic, and inspire a practice of greater self-compassion instead.Praise for Everyone's a Critic:'Julia Bueno explores such an important topic, and one that holds so many people back: our inner critic. This book discusses where it may come from and, through case studies, how we can rewrite the script. Gently enquiring, authoritative and reassuring.' Annalisa Barbieri, Guardian'A quiet revelation: an investigation into the lacerating self-criticism many of us unleash upon ourselves without even being aware of it. One thinks, feels and learns. A compelling and important book.' Hannah Betts]'This is most certainly not a self-help book to beat yourself up with. Julia Bueno explains how self-criticism affects many of us and digs far deeper than the usual social-media-blaming... It's an important, timely book that many will benefit from reading and acting upon.' Louise Chunn, founder of therapist-matching site Welldoing'If you've ever felt that little voice - or a very loud one - at the back of your mind telling you you're no good, Julia Bueno's book is the ideal way to answer back.' Harry Mount, editor of the Oldie
Birth Notes: A Memoir of Recovery
by Jessica Cornwell'I SAVOURED EVERY WORD' ABI DARÉ A REDEMPTIVE TALE OF THE POWER AND WISOM OF WOMEN'S BODIES' LEAH HAZARD'MAGNIFICENT: A WORK OF TRUTH' SUSIE ORBACH'FILLED ME WITH HOPE' DR ELINOR CLEGHORN'SO MANY WOMEN WILL FEEL LESS ALONE AFTER READING THIS BOOK' KATIE WARD Following the birth of her first children, twin boys, Jessica Cornwell collapsed in a fever. Rushed back to hospital, she was initially dismissed, before a life-threatening infection was diagnosed. Alone, recovering, watching her body bruise and break, a curious thing happened: she stopped feeling.At home, the numbness remained. Nursing her boys through jaundice, learning to breastfeed, slowly re-emerging into a world where other mothers seemed to cope, Jessica hid her secret - she felt no love, only fear. Worse, vivid memories began to surface, of moments in her past she thought buried.Jessica began to name, one by one, the shadows that returned to haunt her first year as a mother. And in claiming back the words, she fought to claim back her life and the love she bore her young family.Birth Notes is the story - luminous, breathtaking and courageous - of forging a self from fragments. With eloquent rage and searing honesty, it speaks for the unvoiced and shines a light on maternal mental health. It is the love story of a mother for her children and a woman for herself.
Birth Notes: A Memoir of Recovery
by Jessica Cornwell'I SAVOURED EVERY WORD' ABI DARÉ A REDEMPTIVE TALE OF THE POWER AND WISOM OF WOMEN'S BODIES' LEAH HAZARD'MAGNIFICENT: A WORK OF TRUTH' SUSIE ORBACH'FILLED ME WITH HOPE' DR ELINOR CLEGHORN'SO MANY WOMEN WILL FEEL LESS ALONE AFTER READING THIS BOOK' KATIE WARD Following the birth of her first children, twin boys, Jessica Cornwell collapsed in a fever. Rushed back to hospital, she was initially dismissed, before a life-threatening infection was diagnosed. Alone, recovering, watching her body bruise and break, a curious thing happened: she stopped feeling.At home, the numbness remained. Nursing her boys through jaundice, learning to breastfeed, slowly re-emerging into a world where other mothers seemed to cope, Jessica hid her secret - she felt no love, only fear. Worse, vivid memories began to surface, of moments in her past she thought buried.Jessica began to name, one by one, the shadows that returned to haunt her first year as a mother. And in claiming back the words, she fought to claim back her life and the love she bore her young family.Birth Notes is the story - luminous, breathtaking and courageous - of forging a self from fragments. With eloquent rage and searing honesty, it speaks for the unvoiced and shines a light on maternal mental health. It is the love story of a mother for her children and a woman for herself.
Hormonal: A Conversation About Women's Bodies, Mental Health and Why We Need to Be Heard
by Eleanor Morgan'The essential hormone handbook . . . it should be made part of the core curriculum up and down the land' STYLIST 'A must read. Informative, funny, moving and wise' JESSIE BURTONWe've gotten better at talking about mental health, but we still shy away from discussing PERIODS, MISCARRIAGE, ENDOMETRIOSIS and MENOPAUSE. That results in a lack of vital understanding for women, particularly as those processes are inextricably connected to our mental health.Combining her own experiences with extensive research and expert contributions, Eleanor Morgan explores the relationship between the female body, the female mind and the ways in which women's bodies are being medicalised. HORMONAL explores everything from contraception to PMS, in relation to anxiety, depression and taboos about hysteria and the 'hormonal' woman. It is a compelling portrait of the modern landscape of women and health, showing us how to navigate stigma and misinformation.'A personal yet scientific, subtle and often lyrical work' THE TIMES 'An essential guide in helping us truly understand our cores' VOGUE'Both fascinating and a huge relief' GRAZIA
The Brink of Being: Talking About Miscarriage
by Julia Bueno'Illuminating and consoling' JULIA SAMUEL, author of GRIEF WORKS'Intuitive and compassionate' SATHNAM SANGHERA Though approximately one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage, it remains a rarely talked about, under-researched, and largely misunderstood area of women's health. This profoundly necessary book - the first comprehensive portrait of the psychological, emotional, medical, and cultural aspects of miscarriage - aims to help break that silence.In this groundbreaking book, psychotherapist Julia Bueno draws on historical and psychological research alongside her personal story and those of people she's helped. Straightforward and supportive, she shines a light on the different ways that miscarriages can happen and how we might allow for our grief, offer comfort and break the silence.'It's the sort of book that women have long been searching for, and it feels like real progress. I'm so thankful she wrote it' MEAGHAN O'CONNELL, author of And Now We Have Everything'Profound insight, rare courage' ZOE WILLIAMS'Opening the door to more candid conversations' OBSERVER
Before the Light Fades: A Memoir of Grief and Resistance - 'Deeply affecting and unexpectedly inspiring’ Sarah Waters
by Natasha Walter'Deeply affecting and unexpectedly inspiring... the perfect read for daunting times' SARAH WATERS'Beautiful... illuminating and healing' JULIA SAMUEL'Eloquent, piercing, gloriously humane' PHILIPPE SANDSOne day in December, Natasha Walter's mother Ruth took her own life.At first, the grief and guilt that Natasha felt were overwhelming. As the author of feminist books and the founder of the charity Women for Refugee Women, Natasha had always been active in movements for social justice. But in the aftermath of her mother's suicide, her personal grief intertwines with a sense of political despair.Gradually, she starts to search back through Ruth's history, trying to understand how her life led to this death. She explores Ruth's own involvement as a young woman in the nuclear disarmament movement of the 1960s. Even though Ruth had been brought up to be a conventional young woman, she chose to take huge risks and break the law in order to stand up for what she believed was right. This was where Ruth met and fell in love with Natasha's father, the anarchist writer Nicolas Walter.Natasha also explores the history of Ruth's parents, particularly the story of her grandfather Georg. He was involved in anti-Nazi resistance in the 1930s in Germany, was imprisoned for three years and then went on the run across Europe. Eventually he got to safety, and never spoke again about his experiences.In thinking back through the years, Natasha comes to a deeper and more hopeful understanding of the legacy that her parents and grandparents leave her. No longer overwhelmed by grief, she comes to value the courage of past generations. She steps back into activism, and values the beauty of everyday life once again.Without false hope, this book explores why it is always important to stand up for what you believe is right, even when success is far from assured. This is a memoir that is honest about loss, but also searches for what is valuable in the legacy of one family that lived through some of the great crises of the twentieth century. It will resonate with those grappling with the loss of hope in these challenging political times, as well as those who are living in the shadow of bereavement.
You're the Only One I Can Tell: Inside the Language of Women's Friendships
by Deborah TannenA Washington Post Notable Book of 2017.Deborah Tannen's bestselling You Just Don't Understand: Conversations Between Women and Men made us aware of the deep and subtle meanings behind the words we say. She has since explored the way we talk at work, in arguments, to our mothers and our daughters.Now she turns to that most intense, precious and potential minefield: women's friendships.Best friend, old friend, good friend, new friend, neighbour, fellow mother at the school gate, workplace confidante: women's friendships are crucial. A friend can be like a sister, daughter, mother, mentor, therapist or confessor. She can also be the source of pain and betrayal.From casual chatting to intimate confiding, from talking about problems to sharing funny stories, there are patterns of communication and miscommunication that affect friendships. Tannen shows how even the best of friends - with the best intentions - can say the wrong thing, how the ways women friends talk can bring friends closer or pull them apart, but also how words can repair the damage done by words. She explains the power of women friends who show empathy and can just listen; how women use talk to connect - and to subtly compete; how fears of rejection can haunt friendships; how social media is reshaping relationships.Exploring what it means to be friends, helping us hear what we are really saying, understanding how we connect to other people; this illuminating and validating book gets inside the language of one of most women's life essentials - female friendships.
A Danger to Herself and Others: From the author of Faceless
by Alyssa SheinmelFrom the author of FACELESS 'Devastating. This is already one of my favourite books of the year' Irish Times'The author's cunning deployment of information keeps the reader guessing' Financial TimesOnly when she's locked away does the truth begin to escape...Seventeen-year-old Hannah Gold has always been treated like a grown up. As the only child of two New York professionals, she's been traveling the world and functioning as a miniature adult since the day she was born. But that was then. Now, Hannah has been checked into a remote treatment facility, stripped of all autonomy and confined to a single room. Hannah knows there's been a mistake. What happened to her roommate that summer was an accident. As soon as the doctor and judge figure out that she isn't a danger to herself or others, she can get back to her life of promise and start her final year at school. Until then, she's determined to win over the staff and earn some privileges so she doesn't lose her mind to boredom.But then she's assigned a new roommate. At first, Lucy is the perfect project to keep Hannah's focus off all she is missing at home. But Lucy may be the one person who can make Hannah confront the secrets she's avoiding - and the dangerous games that landed her in confinement in the first place.Gripping, heartwrenching and powerful, A Danger to Herself and Others is Girl, Interrupted meets We Were Liars in this new novel from New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Sheinmel.
Stranger Than Fanfiction
by Chris ColferFrom number one New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer comes a funny, heartbreaking, unforgettable novel about friendship and fame.Cash Carter is the young, world famous lead actor of the hit television show Wiz Kids. When four fans jokingly invite him on a cross-country road trip, they are shocked that he actually takes them up on it. Chased by paparazzi and hounded by reporters, this unlikely crew takes off on a journey of a lifetime - but along the way they discover that the star they love has deep secrets he's been keeping. What they come to learn about the life of the mysterious person they thought they knew will teach them about the power of empathy and the unbreakable bond of true friendship. In this touching novel, number one New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer takes us on a journey full of laughter, tears, and life-changing memories.
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
by Jordan B. PetersonWhat does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson's answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.Humorous, surprising and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street. What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure and responsibility, distilling the world's wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith and human nature, while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its readers.
To the River: Losing My Brother
by Don GillmorAn eloquent and haunting exploration of suicide in which one of Canada's most gifted writers attempts to understand why his brother took his own life. Which leads him to another powerful question: Why are boomers killing themselves at a far greater rate than the Silent Generation before them or the generations that have followed?In the spring of 2006, Don Gillmor travelled to Whitehorse to reconstruct the last days of his brother, David, whose truck and cowboy hat were found at the edge of the Yukon River just outside of town the previous December. David's family, his second wife, and his friends had different theories about his disappearance. Some thought David had run away; some thought he'd met with foul play; but most believed that David, a talented musician who at the age of 48 was about to give up the night life for a day job, had intentionally walked into the water. Just as Don was about to paddle the river looking for traces, David's body was found, six months after he'd gone into the river. And Don's canoe trip turned into an act of remembrance and mourning. At least David could now be laid to rest. But there was no rest for his survivors. As his brother writes, "When people die of suicide, one of the things they leave behind is suicide itself. It becomes a country. At first I was a visitor, but eventually I became a citizen." In this tender, probing, surprising work, Don Gillmor brings back news from that country for all of us who wonder why people kill themselves. And why, for the first time, it's not the teenaged or the elderly who have the highest suicide rate, but the middle aged. Especially men.
Dreaming Sally: A True Story of First Love, Sudden Death and Long Shadows
by James FitzGeraldPrize-winning author James FitzGerald explores how the death of an eighteen-year-old girl in the summer of 1968 forever changed his life and the life of the other man who loved her. Dreaming Sally is a deeply moving exploration of the weight of a life cut short.Sally will die in Europe this summer. George Orr dreamed that his girlfriend, Sally Wodehouse, would die on the trip she wanted to take, and he begged her not to go. But Sally did not take him seriously--how could she? She left for Europe in July 1968 with twenty-five other private-school kids, on "The Odyssey," a Sixties version of the Grand Tour. In August 1968, only hours after becoming engaged to George via telegram, she died as he had dreamed she would, in a freak accident. Sally was George's first love, but she was also James FitzGerald's. James first met Sally at a family cottage; he was drawn to her energy and warmth, a stunning contrast to the chilly emotional life of his own family. At seventeen, not exactly a hit with the girls, James was delighted when he realized that he'd be spending the summer with his old friend. And soon, even though he knew that Sally had a serious boyfriend back home, they became inseparable, touring the glories of Western culture by day, dancing and drinking the nights away--giddily unshackled from the expectations and requirements of their class and upbringing. To George and James, both sons of parents who knew how to make demands of their children but not how to love them, Sally represented all the optimism and promised freedom of the '60s. Her death has haunted both men for fifty years--arresting their development, miring them in grief and unreasoning guilt. Dreaming Sally is a profound and evocative exploration of the long shadow left by an eighteen-year-old girl, an uncanny story of first love, sudden death and the complexity of trauma and mourning.
Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD
by Romeo Dallaire<p>At the heart of <i>Waiting for First Light</i> is a no-holds-barred self-portrait of a top political and military figure whose nights are invaded by despair, but who at first light faces the day with the renewed desire to make a difference in the world. <p>Roméo Dallaire, traumatized by witnessing genocide on an imponderable scale in Rwanda, reflects in these pages on the nature of PTSD and the impact of that deep wound on his life since 1994, and on how he motivates himself and others to humanitarian work despite his constant struggle. Though he had been a leader in peace and in war at all levels up to deputy commander of the Canadian Army, his PTSD led to his medical dismissal from the Canadian Forces in April 2000, a blow that almost killed him. But he crawled out of the hole he fell into after he had to take off the uniform, and he has been inspiring people to give their all to multiple missions ever since, from ending genocide to eradicating the use of child soldiers to revolutionizing officer training so that our soldiers can better deal with the muddy reality of modern conflict zones and to revolutionizing our thinking about the changing nature of conflict itself. <p>His new book is as compelling and original an account of suffering and endurance as Joan Didion's <i>The Year of Magical Thinking</i> and William Styron's <i>Darkness Visible</i>.</p>
Mad Blood Stirring: The Inner Lives Of Violent Men
by Daemon FairlessWith a rare clarity and fearless honesty, journalist Daemon Fairless tackles the horrors and compulsions of male violence from the perspective of someone who struggles with violent impulses himself, creating a non-fiction masterpiece with the narrative power of novels such as Fight Club and A History of Violence.A man, no matter how civilized, is still an animal--and sometimes a dangerous one. Men are responsible for the lion's share of assault, rape, murder and warfare. Conventional wisdom chalks this up to socialization, that men are taught to be violent. And they are. But there's more to it. Violence is a dangerous desire--a set of powerful and inherent emotions we are loath to own up to. And so there remains a hidden geography to male violence--an inner ecosystem of rage, dominance, blood-lust, insecurity and bravado--yet to be mapped. Mad Blood Stirring is journalist Daemon Fairless's riveting first-person travelogue through this territory as he seeks to understand the inner lives of violent men and, ultimately, himself.
I Spend Therefore I Am
by Philip RoscoeA powerful exploration of how economic thinking has infiltrated every aspect of modern life, even our understanding of who we are and what it means to be a person. Economics is the academic success story of the 20th century, a potent force not just in markets and government, but in our everyday lives. It affects our decisions as consumers, of course, but also our education, our health, our social lives and our family relationships. In his trenchant book, Philip Roscoe argues that the justifications of economics allow us to set aside social or moral obligations and to act instead within a limited, short-term definition of self-interest. This attitude, and these justifications, are responsible for the gravest problems we face, from global financial meltdown to environmental threat. I Spend Therefore I Am shows how our daily activities, our values, and even our understanding of what it is to be a person have been changed for the worse by economics, a discipline, he writes, "at war with the goods of life."
Dataclysm
by Christian RudderProvocative, illuminating, and visually arresting, Dataclysm is a portrait of how big data reveals our essential selves--and a first look at a revolution in the making. What is the secret to a stable marriage? How many gay people are still in the closet? Do we truly live in a postracial society? Has Twitter made us dumber? These are just a few of the questions Christian Rudder answers in Dataclysm, a smart, funny, irreverent look at how we act when we think no one's looking. For centuries we've relied on polling or small-scale lab experiments to study human behavior. Today a new approach is possible. As we live more of our lives online, researchers can finally observe us directly, in vast numbers and without filters. Data scientists can quantify the formerly unquantifiable and show with unprecedented precision how we fight, how we age, how we love, and how we change. Our personal data has been used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us stuff we don't need. InDataclysm, Rudder uses it to show us who we are as people. He reveals how Facebook "likes" can predict, with surprising accuracy, a person's sexual orientation and even intelligence; how attractive women receive exponentially more job interview requests; and why you have to have haters to be hot. He charts the rise and fall of America's most reviled word through Google Search and examines the new dynamics of collaborative rage on Twitter. He shows how people express themselves, both privately and publicly. What is the least Asian thing you can say? Do people bathe more in Vermont or New Jersey? What do black women think about Simon & Garfunkel? Hint: They don't think about Simon & Garfunkel. Rudder also tracks human migration in real time, showing how groups of people move from certain small towns to the same big cities across the globe. And he grapples with the challenge of maintaining privacy in a world where these explorations are possible.
The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing
by Merve EmreAn unprecedented history of a personality test devised in the 1940s by a mother and daughter, both homemakers, that has achieved cult-like status and is used in today's most distinguished boardrooms, classrooms, and beyond.The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is the most popular personality test in the world. It has been harnessed by Fortune 100 companies, universities, hospitals, churches, and the military. Its language--of extraversion vs. introversion, thinking vs. feeling--has inspired online dating platforms and BuzzFeed quizzes alike. And yet despite the test's widespread adoption, experts in the field of psychometric testing, a $500 million industry, struggle to account for its success--no less to validate its results. How did the Myers-Briggs test insinuate itself into our jobs, our relationships, our Internet, our lives? First conceived in the 1920s by the mother-daughter team of Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, a pair of aspiring novelists and devoted homemakers, the Myers-Briggs was designed to bring the gospel of Carl Jung to the masses. But it would take on a life of its own, reaching from the smoke-filled boardrooms of mid-century New York to Berkeley, California, where it was honed against some of the twentieth century's greatest creative minds. It would travel across the world to London, Zurich, Cape Town, Melbourne, and Tokyo; to elementary schools, nunneries, wellness retreats, and the closed-door corporate training sessions of today. Drawing from original reporting and never-before-published documents, The Personality Brokers examines nothing less than the definition of the self--our attempts to grasp, categorize, and quantify our personalities. Surprising and absorbing, the book, like the test at its heart, considers the timeless question: What makes you you?
Letters
by Oliver SacksThe letters of one of the greatest observers of the human species, revealing his passion for life and work, friendship and art, medicine and society, and the richness of his relationships with friends, family, and fellow intellectuals over the decades, collected here for the first time &“Here is the unedited Oliver Sacks—struggling, passionate, a furiously intelligent misfit. And also endless interesting. He was a man like no other.&” —Atul Gawande, author of Being MortalDr. Oliver Sacks—who describes himself in these pages as a &“philosophical physician&” and a &“neuropathological Talmudist&”—wrote letters throughout his life: to his parents and his beloved Auntie Len, to friends and colleagues from London, Oxford, California, and around the world. The letters begin with his arrival in America as a young man, eager to establish himself away from the confines of postwar England, and carry us through his bumpy early career in medicine and the discovery of his writer&’s voice; his weight-lifting, motorcycle-riding years and his explosive seasons of discovery with the patients who populate his book Awakenings; his growing interest in matters of sight and the musical brain; his many friendships and exchanges with writers, artists, and scientists (to say nothing of astronauts, botanists, and mathematicians), and his deep gratitude for all these relationships at the end of his life.Sensitively introduced and edited by Kate Edgar, Sacks&’s longtime editor, the letters deliver a portrait of Sacks as he wrestles with the workings of the brain and mind. We see, through his eyes, the beginnings of modern neuroscience, following the thought processes of one of the great intellectuals of our time, whose words, as evidenced in these pages, were unfailingly shaped with generosity and wonder toward other people.
Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales
by Oliver SacksFrom the bestselling author of Gratitude and On the Move, a final volume of essays that showcases Sacks's broad range of interests--from his passions for ferns, swimming, and horsetails, to his final case histories exploring schizophrenia, dementia, and Alzheimer's.Oliver Sacks, renowned scientist and storyteller, is adored by readers for his neurological case histories, his fascination and familiarity with human behaviour at its most unexpected and unfamiliar. Everything in Its Place is a celebration of Sacks's myriad interests, all told with his characteristic compassion, erudition, and luminous prose. From the celebrated case history of Spalding Gray that appeared in The New Yorker four months before his death to reflections on mental asylums; from piercing accounts of Schizophrenia to a reminiscence of Robin Williams; from the riveting tale of a medical colleague falling victim to Alzheimer's to the cinematography of Michael Powell, this volume celebrates and reflects the wondrous curiosity of Oliver Sacks.