How the Body Shapes the Way We Think

How the Body Shapes the Way We Think

Author: Rolf Pfeifer

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2006-10-27

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 0262288524

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An exploration of embodied intelligence and its implications points toward a theory of intelligence in general; with case studies of intelligent systems in ubiquitous computing, business and management, human memory, and robotics. How could the body influence our thinking when it seems obvious that the brain controls the body? In How the Body Shapes the Way We Think, Rolf Pfeifer and Josh Bongard demonstrate that thought is not independent of the body but is tightly constrained, and at the same time enabled, by it. They argue that the kinds of thoughts we are capable of have their foundation in our embodiment—in our morphology and the material properties of our bodies. This crucial notion of embodiment underlies fundamental changes in the field of artificial intelligence over the past two decades, and Pfeifer and Bongard use the basic methodology of artificial intelligence—"understanding by building"—to describe their insights. If we understand how to design and build intelligent systems, they reason, we will better understand intelligence in general. In accessible, nontechnical language, and using many examples, they introduce the basic concepts by building on recent developments in robotics, biology, neuroscience, and psychology to outline a possible theory of intelligence. They illustrate applications of such a theory in ubiquitous computing, business and management, and the psychology of human memory. Embodied intelligence, as described by Pfeifer and Bongard, has important implications for our understanding of both natural and artificial intelligence.


Staying with the Trouble

Staying with the Trouble

Author: Donna J. Haraway

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2016-08-25

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 0822373785

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In the midst of spiraling ecological devastation, multispecies feminist theorist Donna J. Haraway offers provocative new ways to reconfigure our relations to the earth and all its inhabitants. She eschews referring to our current epoch as the Anthropocene, preferring to conceptualize it as what she calls the Chthulucene, as it more aptly and fully describes our epoch as one in which the human and nonhuman are inextricably linked in tentacular practices. The Chthulucene, Haraway explains, requires sym-poiesis, or making-with, rather than auto-poiesis, or self-making. Learning to stay with the trouble of living and dying together on a damaged earth will prove more conducive to the kind of thinking that would provide the means to building more livable futures. Theoretically and methodologically driven by the signifier SF—string figures, science fact, science fiction, speculative feminism, speculative fabulation, so far—Staying with the Trouble further cements Haraway's reputation as one of the most daring and original thinkers of our time.


Writing Culture

Writing Culture

Author: James Clifford

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9780520057296

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"Humanists and social scientists alike will profit from reflection on the efforts of the contributors to reimagine anthropology in terms, not only of methodology, but also of politics, ethics, and historical relevance. Every discipline in the human and social sciences could use such a book."--Hayden White, author of Metahistory


Global Transformations

Global Transformations

Author: M. Trouillot

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-04-30

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 1137041447

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Through an examination of such disciplinary keywords, and their silences, as the West, modernity, globalization, the state, culture, and the field, this book aims to explore the future of anthropology in the Twenty-first-century, by examining its past, its origins, and its conditions of possibility alongside the history of the North Atlantic world and the production of the West. In this significant book, Trouillot challenges contemporary anthropologists to question dominant narratives of globalization and to radically rethink the utility of the concept of culture, the emphasis upon fieldwork as the central methodology of the discipline, and the relationship between anthropologists and the people whom they study.


Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium. FemaleMan_Meets_OncoMouse

Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium. FemaleMan_Meets_OncoMouse

Author: Donna J. Haraway

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-06-27

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1351399233

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One of the founders of the posthumanities, Donna J. Haraway is professor in the History of Consciousness program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Author of many books and widely read essays, including the now-classic essay "The Cyborg Manifesto," she received the J.D. Bernal Prize in 2000, a lifetime achievement award from the Society for Social Studies in Science. Thyrza Nicholas Goodeve is a professor of Art History at the School of Visual Arts.


Edhina Ekogidho – Names as Links

Edhina Ekogidho – Names as Links

Author: Minna Saarelma-Maunumaa

Publisher: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura

Published: 2003-10-17

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 9522228168

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What are the most popular names of the Ambo people in Namibia? Why do so many Ambos have Finnish first names? What do the African names of these people mean? Why is the namesake so important in Ambo culture? How did the long independence struggle affect personal naming, and what are the latest name-giving trends in Namibia? This study analyses the changes in the personal naming system of the Ambo people in Namibia over the last 120 years, starting from the year 1883 when the first Ambos received biblical and European names at baptism. The central factors in this process were the German and South African colonisation and European missionary work on the one hand, and the rise of African nationalism on the other hand. Eventually, this clash between African and European naming practices led to a new and dynamic naming system which includes elements of both African and European origin.


The United Nations, Peace and Security

The United Nations, Peace and Security

Author: Ramesh Thakur

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-06-08

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 1139456946

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Preventing humanitarian atrocities is becoming as important for the United Nations as dealing with inter-state war. In this book, Ramesh Thakur examines the transformation in UN operations, analysing its changing role and structure. He asks why, when and how force may be used and argues that the growing gulf between legality and legitimacy is evidence of an eroded sense of international community. He considers the tension between the US, with its capacity to use force and project power, and the UN, as the centre of the international law enforcement system. He asserts the central importance of the rule of law and of a rules-based order focused on the UN as the foundation of a civilised system of international relations. This book will be of interest to students of the UN and international organisations in politics, law and international relations departments, as well as policymakers in the UN and other NGOs.


Sustainability in a Digital World

Sustainability in a Digital World

Author: Thomas Osburg

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-05-17

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 3319546031

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This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the different emerging concepts in the innovative area of sustainability and digital technology. More than 20 leading thinkers from the fields of digitalization, strategic management, sustainability and organizational development share clearly structured insights on the latest developments, advances and remaining challenges concerning the role of sustainability in an increasingly digital world. The authors not only introduce a profound and unique analysis on the state-of-the art of sustainability and digital transformation, but also provide business leaders with practical advice on how to apply the latest management thinking to their daily business decisions. Further, a number of significant case studies exemplify the issues discussed and serve as valuable blueprints for decision makers.


The Net and the Butterfly

The Net and the Butterfly

Author: Olivia Fox Cabane

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-02-07

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0698153448

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In The Charisma Myth, Olivia Fox Cabane offered a groundbreaking approach to becoming more charismatic. Now she teams up with Judah Pollack to reveal how anyone can train their brain to have more eureka insights. The creative mode in your brain is like a butterfly. It's beautiful and erratic, hard to catch and highly valued as a result. If you want to capture it, you need a net. Enter the executive mode, the task-oriented network in your brain that help you tie your shoes, run a meeting, or pitch a client. To succeed, you need both modes to work together--your inner butterfly to be active and free, but your inner net to be ready to spring at the right time and create that "aha!" moment. But is there any way to trigger these insights, beyond dumb luck? Thanks to recent neuroscience discoveries, we can now explain these breakthrough moments--and also induce them through a series of specific practices. It turns out there's a hidden pattern to all these seemingly random breakthrough ideas. From Achimedes' iconic moment in the bathtub to designer Adam Cheyer's idea for Siri, accidental breakthroughs throughout history share a common origin story. In this book, you will learn to master the skills that will transform your brain into a consistent generator of insights. Drawing on their extensive coaching and training practice with top Silicon Valley firms, Cabane and Pollack provide a step-by-step process for accessing the part of the brain that produces breakthroughs and systematically removing internal blocks. Their tactics range from simple to zany, such as: · Imagine an alternate universe where gravity doesn’t exist, and the social and legal rules that govern it. · Map Disney’s Pocahontas story onto James Cameron’s Avatar. · Rid yourself of imposter syndrome through mental exercises. · Literally change your perspective by climbing a tree. · Stimulate your butterfly mode by watching a foreign film without subtitles. By trying the exercises in this book, readers will emerge with a powerful new capacity for breakthrough thinking.


William Golding

William Golding

Author: Jack I. Biles

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2021-09-15

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0813181860

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In William Golding: Some Critical Considerations, fourteen scholars assess various aspects of the Nobel Prize-winning author's writings. Their essays include criticism of individual works, discussion of major themes and technical considerations, and bibliographical studies. Separately, the essays help us understand the intricacies and impact of Golding's art; together they show the breadth of his purpose.