The Human Edge


Book Description

The world is spinning so fast it’s difficult to keep up. Two hundred and fifty years ago the Industrial Revolution replaced our arms and legs at work. The fourth Industrial Revolution is now replacing our brains. This technological shift is engulfing organisations and people. It’s challenging the very essence of what it means to be human. Daily news headlines pose existential questions that used to belong in the pages of science fiction: Will a machine take my job? Are we becoming cyborgs? What happens when super computers become self-aware? If we can’t compete with artificial intelligence, what’s left? Innovation guru Greg Orme provides a helpful, funny and supportive shove in the right direction. He explores the skills you need to survive and thrive in a world of artificial intelligence. He urges you to stop competing, and instead do things machines can’t. To become a more human, human. This is a practical toolkit to master three intrinsically human ‘super powers’: 1. To ignite your innate CURIOSITY in a world of accelerating change... 2. To rediscover your CREATIVITY to produce an avalanche of game-changing ideas... 3. To develop CONNECTIVITY to kindle the passion, persistence and insights to successfully engage fellow humans to turn human creativity into business innovation. These career-enhancing capabilities have been identified in Orme’s work with business managers and organisations across the globe. They draw upon the latest psychological and neuroscience research, the unique philosophies of successful entrepreneurs, the practises of the world’s most innovative companies, as well as the habits of great artists, designers and scientists. The full text downloaded to your computer With eBooks you can: search for key concepts, words and phrases make highlights and notes as you study share your notes with friends eBooks are downloaded to your computer and accessible either offline through the Bookshelf (available as a free download), available online and also via the iPad and Android apps. Upon purchase, you'll gain instant access to this eBook. Time limit The eBooks products do not have an expiry date. You will continue to access your digital ebook products whilst you have your Bookshelf installed.




At The Human Edge: The Limits Of Human Physiology And Performance


Book Description

The book is a non fiction-based piece of popular science which unravels the amazing adaptive physiological responses that our bodies undergo as we push it to the limits in extreme sports and natural environments. Each chapter captures the history, geography and physical challenges which our bodies face when we as a species have tried to conquer the great outdoors. From Mt Everest to the South Pole, from a journey to Mars to the bottom of the Mariana trench, the book makes the subject accessible to readers, with a basic knowledge of science, and also tries to bring in the author's own personal experiences and those of many legends from this sphere.For the reader (someone interested in science, particularly the life sciences or those who enjoy the outdoors and partake in extreme sports and outdoor activities), this is aimed to make physiology accessible and relatable, not as a piece of academic text.The reader will come away with a stronger understanding of human physiology (particularly at the extreme), how the body first deteriorates, then adapts and finally excels when faced with running a marathon, summiting Everest or going to Mars. Its cross functional nature, being a piece of non-fiction / popular science with personal anecdotes and history mixed in, will make for an interesting and memorable reading.




Posthuman Life


Book Description

We imagine posthumans as humans made superhumanly intelligent or resilient by future advances in nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science. Many argue that these enhanced people might live better lives; others fear that tinkering with our nature will undermine our sense of our own humanity. Whoever is right, it is assumed that our technological successor will be an upgraded or degraded version of us: Human 2.0. Posthuman Life argues that the enhancement debate projects a human face onto an empty screen. We do not know what will happen and, not being posthuman, cannot anticipate how posthumans will assess the world. If a posthuman future will not necessarily be informed by our kind of subjectivity or morality the limits of our current knowledge must inform any ethical or political assessment of that future. Posthuman Life develops a critical metaphysics of posthuman succession and argues that only a truly speculative posthumanism can support an ethics that meets the challenge of the transformative potential of technology.




The Human Edge


Book Description

Selected by Hank Davis.




Humanity's Edge


Book Description

What makes one human? This is a question which had been pondered for centuries. This collection of short stories helps the reader further ponder this question.




The Place with No Edge


Book Description

In The Place with No Edge, Adam Mandelman follows three centuries of human efforts to inhabit and control the lower Mississippi River delta, the vast watery flatlands spreading across much of southern Louisiana. He finds that people’s use of technology to tame unruly nature in the region has produced interdependence with—rather than independence from—the environment. Created over millennia by deposits of silt and sand, the Mississippi River delta is one of the most dynamic landscapes in North America. From the eighteenth-century establishment of the first French fort below New Orleans to the creation of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan in the 2000s, people have attempted to harness and master this landscape through technology. Mandelman examines six specific interventions employed in the delta over time: levees, rice flumes, pullboats, geophysical surveys, dredgers, and petroleum cracking. He demonstrates that even as people seemed to gain control over the environment, they grew more deeply intertwined with—and vulnerable to—it. The greatest folly, Mandelman argues, is to believe that technology affords mastery. Environmental catastrophes of coastal land loss and petrochemical pollution may appear to be disconnected, but both emerged from the same fantasy of harnessing nature to technology. Similarly, the levee system’s failures and the subsequent deluge after Hurricane Katrina owe as much to centuries of human entanglement with the delta as to global warming’s rising seas and strengthening storms. The Place with No Edge advocates for a deeper understanding of humans’ relationship with nature. It provides compelling evidence that altering the environment—whether to make it habitable, profitable, or navigable —inevitably brings a response, sometimes with unanticipated consequences. Mandelman encourages a mindfulness of the ways that our inventions engage with nature and a willingness to intervene in responsible, respectful ways.




The Wee Book of Pee


Book Description

"Describes the gross qualities of urine, and how it works to benefit a person's health"--Provided by publisher.




Running to the Edge


Book Description

"Gripping . . . the narrative is smooth and immediate, almost effortless in its detail, if occasionally breathless, like a good fast run . . ." --The New York Times Book Review Visionary American running coach Bob Larsen assembled a mismatched team of elite California runners . . . the start of his decades-long quest for championships, Olympic glory, and pursuit of "the epic run." In the dusty hills above San Diego, Bob Larsen became America's greatest running coach. Starting with a ragtag group of high school cross country and track runners, Larsen set out on a decades-long quest to find the secret of running impossibly fast, for longer distances than anyone thought possible. Himself a former farm boy who fell into his track career by accident, Larsen worked through coaching high school, junior college, and college, coaxing talented runners away from more traditional sports as the running craze was in its infancy in the 60's and 70's. On the arid trails and windy roads of California, Larsen relentlessly sought the 'secret sauce' of speed and endurance that would catapult American running onto the national stage. Running to the Edge is a riveting account of Larsen's journey, and his quest to discover the unorthodox training secrets that would lead American runners (elite and recreational) to breakthroughs never imagined. New York Times Deputy Sports Editor Matthew Futterman interweaves the dramatic stories of Larsen's runners with a fascinating discourse of the science behind human running, as well as a personal running narrative that follows Futterman's own checkered love-affair with the sport. The result is a narrative that will speak to every runner, a story of Larsen's triumphs--from high school cross-country meets to the founding of the cult-favorite 70's running group, the Jamul Toads, from national championships to his long tenure as head coach at UCLA, and from the secret training regimen of world champion athletes like Larsen's protégé, American Meb Keflezighi, to victories at the New York and Boston Marathons as well as the Olympics. Running to the Edge is a page-turner . . . a relentless crusade to run faster, farther.




The Bloody Book of Blood


Book Description

Ouch! You scraped your knee and now gross blood is oozing out of the wound. What is that icky, sticky red stuff anyway? Look inside to learn all about blood, and how it keeps you healthy and strong.




The Soft Edge


Book Description

What Does it Take to Get Ahead Now—And Stay There? High performance has always required shrewd strategy and superb execution. These factors remain critical, especially given today’s unprecedented business climate. But Rich Karlgaard—Forbes publisher, entrepreneur, investor, and board director—takes a surprising turn and argues that there is now a third element that’s required for competitive advantage. It fosters innovation, it accelerates strategy and execution, and it cannot be copied or bought. It is found in a perhaps surprising place—your company’s values. Karlgaard examined a variety of enduring companies and found that they have one thing in common; all have leveraged their deepest values alongside strategy and execution, allowing them to fuel growth as well as weather hard times. Karlgaard shares these stories and identifies the five key variables that make up every organization’s “soft edge”: Trust: Northwestern Mutual has built a $25 million dollar revenue juggernaut on trust, the foundation of lasting success. Learn how to create an environment that engenders trust and propels high performance. Smarts: In most technical fields your formal education quickly becomes out of date. How do you keep up? Learn how the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University women’s basketball team, and others stay on top by relentlessly pursuing an advantage through smarts. Teamwork: Since collaboration and innovation are a must in the global economy, effective teamwork is vital. Learn how global giant FedEx stays focused and how nimble Nest Labs relies on lean teams with cognitive diversity. Taste: Clever product design and integration are proxies for intelligence because they make customers feel smart. But taste goes further into deep emotional engagement. Specialized Bicycles calls it “the elusive spot between data truth and human truth.” How can you consistently make products or services that trigger these emotional touch points? Story: Companies that achieve lasting success have an enduring and emotionally appealing story. What’s your company’s story? How do you tell it your way? Gain the ability to create a powerful narrative in a world where outsiders often exercise the louder voice.