The Way the World Works
The Way the World Works

Author: Nicholson Baker

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-08-07

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1416572473

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Bestselling author Baker, "who writes like no one else in America" ("Newsweek"), has assembled his best nonfiction writing over the last 15 years, a trove of original and provocative pieces.

How the World Works
How the World Works

Author: Noam Chomsky

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2011-09-20

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 1593764278

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An eye-opening introduction to the timelessly relevant ideas of Noam Chomsky, this book is a penetrating, illusion-shattering look at how things really work from the man The New York Times called “arguably the most important intellectual alive.” Offering something not found anywhere else: How the World Works is pure Chomsky, but tailored for those unfamiliar to his work. Made up of meticulously edited speeches and interviews, every dazzling idea and penetrating insight is kept intact and delivered in clear, accessible, reader-friendly prose. Originally published as four short books in the famous Real Story series—What Uncle Sam Really Wants; The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many; Secrets, Lies and Democracy; and The Common Good—they’ve collectively sold almost 600,000 copies. And they continue to sell year after year after year because Chomsky’s ideas become, if anything, more relevant as time goes by. For example, it was decades ago when he pointed out that “in 1970, about 90% of international capital was used for trade and long-term investment—more or less productive things—and 10% for speculation. By 1990, those figures had reversed.” As we know, high-risk speculation continues to increase exponentially as corporations continue to push the free market economy—but only for the power they offer to the wealthy, not to benefit all people. We’re paying the price now for not heeding him then.

The Way the World Works
The Way the World Works

Author: John R. Carpenter

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2013-05-08

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 148361624X

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The Way the World Works, as partially figured out by John R Carpenter establishes the compatibilities to settle long-standing disagreements between atheists and religious devotees. In his desire to demonstrate that science and religion can co-exist, the author pens an illuminating book that attempts to reconcile these two purportedly opposing concepts in The Way the World Works. A valuable volume, this book deals with the areas in which science and religion are too often seen to be in conflict with each other and will provide readers with examples of how existing controversies between science and religion do not have to end in either-or, but can often end in both-and. An established man of science and a Christian, Carpenter provides evidence that religion and science are two sources of inspiration and elucidation that are neither antithetical nor hostile to each other. Rather, they are synergistic and mutually advantageous, that when joined together, produces an effect greater than the sum than what they emit independently.

How the World Really Works
How the World Really Works

Author: Vaclav Smil

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2022-05-10

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0593297067

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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A new masterpiece from one of my favorite authors… [How The World Really Works] is a compelling and highly readable book that leaves readers with the fundamental grounding needed to help solve the world’s toughest challenges.”—Bill Gates “Provocative but perceptive . . . You can agree or disagree with Smil—accept or doubt his ‘just the facts’ posture—but you probably shouldn’t ignore him.”—The Washington Post An essential analysis of the modern science and technology that makes our twenty-first century lives possible—a scientist's investigation into what science really does, and does not, accomplish. We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don’t know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check—because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn’t inevitable—the foolishness of allowing 70 per cent of the world’s rubber gloves to be made in just one factory became glaringly obvious in 2020—and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, such that any promises of decarbonization by 2050 are a fairy tale. For example, each greenhouse-grown supermarket-bought tomato has the equivalent of five tablespoons of diesel embedded in its production, and we have no way of producing steel, cement or plastics at required scales without huge carbon emissions. Ultimately, Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead? Compelling, data-rich and revisionist, this wonderfully broad, interdisciplinary guide finds faults with both extremes. Looking at the world through this quantitative lens reveals hidden truths that change the way we see our past, present and uncertain future.

How Attention Works
How Attention Works

Author: Stefan Van Der Stigchel

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-03-12

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 0262039265

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How we filter out what is irrelevant so we can focus on what we need to know. We are surrounded by a world rich with visual information, but we pay attention to very little of it, filtering out what is irrelevant so we can focus on what we think we need to know. Advertisers, web designers, and other “attention architects” try hard to get our attention, promoting products with videos on huge outdoor screens, adding flashing banners to websites, and developing computer programs with blinking icons that tempt us to click. Often they succeed in distracting us from what we are supposed to be doing. In How Attention Works, Stefan Van der Stigchel explains the process of attention and what the implications are for our everyday lives. The visual attention system is efficient, Van der Stigchel writes, because it doesn't waste energy processing every scrap of visual data it receives; it gathers only relevant information. We focus on one snippet of information and assume that everything else is stable and consistent with past experience; that's why most people miss even the most glaring continuity errors in films. If an object doesn't meet our expectations, chances are we won't see it. Van der Stigchel makes his case with examples from real life, explaining, among other things, the limitations of color perception (and why fire trucks shouldn't be red); the importance of location (security guards and radiologists, for example, have to know where to look); the attention-getting properties of faces and spiders; what we can learn from someone else's eye movements; why we see what we expect to see (magicians take advantage of this); and visual neglect and unattended information.

Creating a World That Works for All
Creating a World That Works for All

Author: Sharif M Abdullah

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published: 1999-06

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1605094064

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"We are in deep trouble," writes Sharif Abdullah. "We live a world that works for only a few." The problem, Abdullah asserts, is exlusivity: "I am separate." By practicing exclusivity, he maintains, we have created a soul-starved society. We suffer, both personally and as a society, from complex, interlocking so intense that they create a deep sense of emptiness in all of us. But there is hope. Abdullah shows how we can change our world by changing our consciousness. We can actually put an end these complex problems if we reject exclusivity in favor of inclusivity. We must turn from a mentality that disconnects us and instead embrace the goals of restoring balance to the earth and building community with all other people. In Creating a World That Works for All, Abdullah provides a practical blueprint for that change. Abdullah makes it clear that there are no bad guys to blame: we are all equally responsible for the current state of our world. We each have created it, and we each have equal power to change it. Abdullah offers three criteria for creating a world that works for all: 1. The Criteria of Enoughness: Everyone has enough, even though not everyone shares resources equally 2. The Criteria of Exchangeability: Trading places would be okay 3. The Criteria of Common Benefit: The system is designed and intended to benefit all In order to meet these criteria, Abdullah shows us how to let go of old theories and ideas, so we can clearly see our current problems and possible solutions. And he shows us how to create new stories that explain and define the new behaviors that make cultural changes possible.

She Works His Way
She Works His Way

Author: Michelle Myers

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2021-10-12

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1493433547

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Dear friend, We know it deeply. It is so hard to juggle work, home, and spiritual life. As working women, we've wrestled with tough questions: · How can I be effective in my work, and stay committed to the Gospel? · How can I be dedicated to my family, when my job is so demanding? · Why am I working so hard, and still so unfulfilled? Sound familiar? Like you, we see a culture that promotes success at all costs, and working women are falling for it. It's happening every day. Priorities are shifting. Things are getting done . . . but are we doing what matters most? And that's why we wrote this book. This is the story of how we traded the lies of the world for the truth of our loving Father--the lessons we learned that challenged culture's "good things" so we could find the greatest thing. The book you're holding in your hands is really a conversation--a conversation that pushes back against our culture with a Gospel-centered approach to work and womanhood, for the glory of God and the good of others. Let's get to work. His way. Michelle + Somer "This is the book for every working woman!"--ALLI WORTHINGTON, bestselling author and business coach