Superstimuli


Book Description

This groundbreaking book delves into the impact of superstimulus — technological products and behaviors that amplify our natural instincts and desires — on modern society. From social media's effects on mental health to online shopping's disruption of traditional commerce, the rise of superstimuli is driving cultural change and potentially harming overall well-being. Drawing upon scientific research and real-world examples, this book offers a thoughtful examination of the implications of technological superstimuli for both individuals and society at large.







Narrative Humanism


Book Description

This book attempts to clarify the narrative conditions of humanism, asking how we can use stories to complicate our understanding of others, and questioning the ethics and efficacy of attempts to represent human social complexity in fiction. With case studies of films like Parenthood (1989), American Beauty (1999), Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and The Kids Are All Right (2010), this original study synthesises leading discourses on media and cognition, evolutionary anthropology, literature and film analysis into a new theory of the storytelling instinct.




How to Calm Your Mind


Book Description

From the author of Hyperfocus, a treasure trove of practical, science-backed strategies that reveal how the key to a less anxious life, and even greater productivity, is a calm state of mind “After rebounding from his own burnout, Bailey devised a clear-eyed, concise method that marries science and self-help; he’s equally proficient in probing the roles of serotonin and endorphins while charting concrete steps in chapters titled ‘The Mindset of More’ and ‘Heights of Stimulation.’ Slow down, breathe, and submerge into these pages.” —Oprah Daily A PENGUIN LIFE BOOK It took an on-stage panic attack for productivity expert Chris Bailey to recognize how critical it is to invest in calm at the same time that we invest in becoming more productive. Productivity advice works—and we need it now more than ever—but it’s just as vital that we develop our capacity for calm. By finding calm and overcoming anxiety, we don’t just feel more comfortable in our own mind—we build a deeper, more expansive reservoir of energy to draw from throughout the day. The pursuit of calm ultimately leads us to become more engaged, focused, and deliberate—while making us more satisfied with our lives. And because calm saves us time by making us more productive, we don’t even need to feel guilty about the time we spend investing in it. How to Calm Your Mind is our crucial guide to achieving calm, navigating anxiety, and staving off burnout. It explains how our digital world drains us, and what we can do to abate the hidden sources of stress that burden our days. Bailey has learned to embrace the analog world and “stimulation fasts,” to use the science of “savoring” to become more focused and present, and to relax without guilt—and he shows us how we can reclaim calm, too. In an anxious world, investing in calm might be the best productivity strategy around.




Rewired


Book Description

Living in an age of digital distraction has wreaked havoc on our brains--but there's much we can do to restore our tech-life balance. We live in a world that is always on, where everyone is always connected. But we feel increasingly disconnected. Why? The answer lies in our brains. Carl D. Marci, MD, a leading expert on social and consumer neuroscience, reviews the mounting evidence that overuse of smart phones and social media is rewiring our brains, resulting in a losing deal: we are neglecting the relationships that sustain us and keep us healthy in favor of weaker and more ephemeral ties. The ability to connect and form strong social bonds is fundamental to human experience and emerged through unique structures in our brains. But ever-more-powerful technologies and ubiquitous access to media have hijacked our need to connect intimately and emotionally with others. The quick highs of clicking "like" and swiping right overstimulate the same neurological reward centers associated with social relationships. The habits that accompany our digital lifestyles are putting tremendous pressure on critical components of the brain associated with attention, emotion, and memory, changing how we process information and altering how we communicate and relate, even at a physiological level. As a psychiatrist working at the forefront of research on the impact of digital technology, Marci has seen this transformation up close and developed a range of responses. Rewired provides scientifically supported solutions for everyone who wants to restore their tech-life balance--from parents concerned about their children's exposure to the internet to stressed workers dealing with the deluge of emails and managing the expectation of 24/7 availability.




Red Pill Psychology


Book Description

Red Pill Psychology provides a new look at men's mental health while rejecting the usual approaches of the mainstream therapeutic industry - its gendered assumptions, casual misandry, default gynocentrism, and general disregard of men’s issues. The authors include a critique of modern sexual relations and offer new models with positive suggestions for improving the wellbeing of men and boys.




Wild Diplomacy


Book Description

Starting from a specific case, the spontaneous return of wolves to France and the intense conflicts that event has triggered, the French philosopher Baptiste Morizot invites us to think about what he calls "diplomacy with living beings." How can we conceive of cohabitation with the most recalcitrant wildlife, large predators in particular, and what concrete solutions need to be invented to make this happen? Drawing on knowledge gleaned from history and philosophy as well as from ethology, scientific ecology, and biology, Wild Diplomacy prompts us to ask what relations we want to reinvent with living beings today and how we might fundamentally reimagine our status as living beings among other life forms. This prize-winning book has broken new ground in contemporary French environmental philosophy.




You Are Not So Smart


Book Description

Explains how self-delusion is part of a person's psychological defense system, identifying common misconceptions people have on topics such as caffeine withdrawal, hindsight, and brand loyalty.




Aesthetics and Neuroscience


Book Description

This edited monograph provides a compelling analysis of the interplay between neuroscience and aesthetics. The book broaches a wide spectrum of topics including, but not limited to, mathematics and creator algorithms, neurosciences of artistic creativity, paintings and dynamical systems as well as computational research for architecture. The international authorship is genuinely interdisciplinary and the target audience primarily comprises readers interested in transdisciplinary research between neuroscience and the broad field of aesthetics.




The Fat Burning Blueprint


Book Description

Fat Burning Blueprint: Why Willpower Doesn't Help You Lose Weight, and Other Weight Loss IllusionsImagine you could lose the same amount of weight on two diet plans. On program one; you're hungry all the time. You have to use every drop of willpower you can muster to stay on it. You're frequently subject to cravings. You rarely feel full, and when you do it doesn't last very long. To top it off, this same eating plan requires you be a mathematician and a journalist, keeping track of every calorie and fat gram. On program two, you choose from basic foods that have sustained the human genus for a couple of million years. You eat as much as possible from this varied list. You rarely have cravings, and hunger is a thing of the past. Your appetite is regulated naturally, your energy level is high and you feel satisfied all the time. Which program would you want to do? Now let's go one step further and assume that these two eating programs produced identical results in the weight loss department.