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- Conspirituality : how new age conspiracy theories became a health threat / by Beres, Derek,author.; Remski, Matthew D.,1971-author.; Walker, Julian(Podcaster),author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Conspirituality takes a deep dive into the troubling phenomenon of influencers who have curdled New Age spirituality and wellness with the politics of paranoia--peddling vaccine misinformation, tales of child trafficking, and wild conspiracy theories. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a disturbing social media trend emerged: a large number of yoga instructors and alt-health influencers were posting stories about a secretive global cabal bent on controlling the world's population with a genocidal vaccine. Instagram feeds that had been serving up green smoothie recipes and Mary Oliver poems became firehoses of Fox News links, memes from 4chan, and prophecies of global transformation. Since May 2020, Derek Beres, Matthew Remski and Julian Walker have used their Conspirituality podcast to expose countless facets of the intersection of alt-health practitioners with far-right conspiracy trolls. Now this expansive and revelatory book unpacks the follies, frauds, cons and cults that dominate the New Age and wellness spheres and betray the trust of people who seek genuine relief in this uncertain age. Each of the three authors has witnessed firsthand the use of fear-based political agendas to manipulate the human desire for spiritual fulfillment. They throw a spotlight on the telltale signs of cult dynamics and expose how influencers have stoked suspicion of public health initiatives. And they show how charlatans and pseudo-doctors encourage their followers to oppose mainstream advice as a form of spiritual quest. With analytical rigor and flashes of irreverent humor, Conspirituality offers an antidote to our times, helping readers recognize wellness grifts, engage with loved ones who've fallen under the influence, and counter lies and distortions with insight and empathy."--- Subjects: Conspiracy theories; Conspiracy theories; Conspiracy theories.; Medical misconceptions.; New Age movement.; Public health; Social media and society.; Conspiracy theories;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- Mastering AI : a survival guide to our superpowered future / by Kahn, Jeremy,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-312) and index.A Fortune magazine journalist draws on his expertise and extensive contacts among the companies and scientists at the forefront of artificial intelligence to offer dramatic predictions of AI's impact over the next decade, from reshaping our economy and the way we work, learn, and create to unknitting our social fabric, jeopardizing our democracy, and fundamentally altering the way we think. Within the next five years, Jeremy Kahn predicts, AI will disrupt almost every industry and enterprise, with vastly increased efficiency and productivity. It will restructure the workforce, making AI copilots a must for every knowledge worker. It will revamp education, meaning children around the world can have personal, portable tutors. It will revolutionize health care, making individualized, targeted pharmaceuticals more affordable. It will compel us to reimagine how we make art, compose music, and write and publish books. The potential of generative AI to extend our skills, talents, and creativity as humans is undeniably exciting and promising. But while this new technology has a bright future, it also casts a dark and fearful shadow. AI will provoke pervasive, disruptive, potentially devastating knock-on effects. Leveraging his unrivaled access to the leaders, scientists, futurists, and others who are making AI a reality, Kahn will argue that if not carefully designed and vigilantly regulated AI will deepen income inequality, depressing wages while imposing winner-take-all markets across much of the economy. AI risks undermining democracy, as truth is overtaken by misinformation, racial bias, and harmful stereotypes. Continuing a process begun by the internet, AI will rewire our brains, likely inhibiting our ability to think critically, to remember, and even to get along with one another -- unless we all take decisive action to prevent this from happening.- Subjects: Artificial intelligence.; Artificial intelligence; Artificial intelligence; Artificial intelligence;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- Defectors [sound recording] : a novel / by Kanon, Joseph,author.; Lloyd, John Bedford,narrator.; Simon & Schuster Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by John Bedford Lloyd."From the bestselling author of Leaving Berlin and The Good German comes a fast-paced and richly imagined novel about an American spy, the Cold War's most notorious defector, who gave up his country for the safety--and prison--of Moscow, but never lost his gift for betrayal. In 1949, Frank Weeks, fair-haired boy of the newly formed CIA, was exposed as a Communist spy and fled the country to vanish behind the Iron Curtain. Now, twelve years later, he has written his memoirs, a KGB- approved project almost certain to be an international bestseller, and has asked his brother Simon, a publisher, to come to Moscow to edit the manuscript. It's a reunion Simon both dreads and longs for. The book is sure to be filled with mischief and misinformation; Frank's motives suspect, the CIA hostile. But the chance to see Frank, his adored older brother, proves irresistible. And at first Frank is still Frank--the same charm, the same jokes, the same bond of affection that transcends ideology. Then Simon begins to glimpse another Frank, still capable of treachery, still actively working for "the service." He finds himself dragged into the middle of Frank's new scheme, caught between the KGB and the CIA in a fatal cat and mouse game that only one of the brothers is likely to survive. Defectors is the gripping story of one family torn apart by the divided loyalties of the Cold War, but it's also a revealing look at the wider community of defectors, American and British, living a twilit Moscow existence, granted privileges but never trusted, spies who have escaped one prison only to find themselves trapped in another that is even more sinister. Filled with authentic period detail and moral ambiguity, Defectors takes us to the heart of a world of secrets, where no one can be trusted and murder is just collateral damage"--- Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Spy fiction.; Audiobooks.; Defectors;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- Mind the science : saving your mental health from the wellness industry / by Stea, Jonathan N.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A clinical psychologist who regularly deals with some of society's most vulnerable exposes and debunks the predatory pseudoscience and grift of the multi-trillion-dollar wellness industry and points us towards a better way to take care of our mental health. Can the unbroken gaze of a lone man on a stage in front of hundreds of people truly alleviate their mental distress? Can Berlin Wall pills or a coffee enema cure depression? Can we improve our mental health with past-life regression therapy, cold-water shock therapy, rebirthing therapy ... try none of the above. Wellness grifters and alternative-health snake oil salesmen are everywhere these days, and when our medical systems are under stress (and we are, too!) these costly purveyors of false hope are worse than a waste of money, they can lead us to delay badly needed care from real professionals, exacerbate our conditions and, in the most tragic of cases, even kill us. Today, people looking to care for their mental health face a market with at least 600 "brands" of psychotherapy-and counting. Most are invalid, and many could be harmful. There exist countless unregulated providers of mental-health services in the $4.5 trillion USD wellness industry and alternative medicine community who market themselves as "life coaches," "wellness consultants," and-depending on particular countries and jurisdictions-other various non-legally-protected titles, such as "therapists," "psychotherapists," "counselors," and "practitioners." Looking to exploit people's financial and emotional vulnerabilities, anyone can call themselves a "therapist" without a license. The world of mental healthcare is very much caveat emptor: buyer beware. Having seen so many of his patients hurt by the pseudoscience circulating in the industry, Dr. Jonathan N. Stea is on a mission to expose its harm and protect the public from pseudoscientific mental-health misinformation. In a landscape of rampant burnout and at a time when mental health concerns are at a fever pitch, Mind the Science provides hope and real information to those who have been touched by mental illness, have been misled by false marketing, or are simply curious about the relationship between science and mental health."--- Subjects: Communication in medicine.; Electronic information resource literacy.; Mental health education.; Mental health;
- Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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- The great wave : the era of radical disruption and the rise of the outsider / by Kakutani, Michiko,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."An urgent examination of how disruptive politics, technology, and art are capsizing old assumptions in a great wave of change breaking over today's world, creating both opportunity and peril-from the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author of the New York Times bestseller The Death of Truth. The twenty-first century is experiencing a watershed moment defined by chaos and uncertainty, as one emergency cascades into another, underscoring the larger dynamics of change that are fueling instability across the world. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, people have increasingly lost trust in institutions and elites, while seizing upon new digital tools to sidestep traditional gatekeepers. As a result, powerful new voices-once regarded as radical, unorthodox or marginal-are disrupting the status quo in politics, business and culture. Meanwhile, social and economic inequalities are stoking populist rage across the world, toxic partisanship is undermining democratic ideals, and the internet and AI have become high-speed vectors for the spread of misinformation. Writing with a critic's understanding of cultural trends and a journalist's eye for historical detail, Michiko Kakutani looks at the consequences of these new asymmetries of power. She maps the migration of ideas from the margins to the mainstream and explores the growing influence of outsiders-those who have sown anger and fear (like Donald Trump), and those who have provided inspirational leadership (like Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky). At the same time, she situates today's multiplying crises in context with those that defined earlier hinge moments in history, from the waning of the Middle Ages, to the transition between the Gilded Age and Progressive era at the end of the nineteenth century. Kakutani argues that today's crises are not only signs of an interconnected globe's profound vulnerabilities, but stress tests pointing to the essential changes needed to survive this tumultuous era and build a more sustainable future"--- Subjects: Civilization, Modern; Elite (Social sciences); Globalization.; Political culture.; Power (Social sciences); Uncertainty.;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- The life-changing science of detecting bullshit / by Petrocelli, John V.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Expanding upon his viral TEDx Talk, psychology professor and social scientist John V. Petrocelli reveals the critical thinking habits you can develop to recognize and combat pervasive false information that harms society in The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit. Bullshit is the foundation of contaminated thinking and bad decisions leading to health consequences, financial losses, legal consequences, broken relationships, and wasted time and resources. No matter how smart we believe ourselves to be, we're all susceptible to bullshit-and we all engage in it. While we may brush it off as harmless marketing sales speak or as humorous, embellished claims, it's actually much more dangerous and insidious. It's how Bernie Madoff successfully swindled billions of dollars from even the most experienced financial experts with his Ponzi scheme. It's how the protocols of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward resulted in the deaths of 36 million people from starvation. Presented as truths by authority figures and credentialed experts, bullshit appears legitimate, and we accept their words as gospel. If we don't question the information we receive from bullshit artists to prove their thoughts and theories, we allow these falsehoods to take root in our memories and beliefs. This faulty data affects our decision making capabilities, sometimes resulting in regrettable life choices. But with a little dose of skepticism and a commitment to truth seeking, you can build your critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills to evaluate information, separate fact from fiction, and see through bullshitter spin. In The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit, experimental social psychologist John V. Petrocelli provides invaluable strategies not only to recognize and protect yourself from everyday bullshit, but to accept your own lack of knowledge about subjects and avoid in engaging in bullshit just for societal conformity. With real world examples from people versed in bullshit who work in the used car, real estate, wine, and diamond industries, Petrocelli exposes the red-flag warning signs found in the anecdotal stories, emotional language, and buzzwords used by bullshitters that persuade our decisions. By using his critical thinking defensive tactics against those motivated by profit, we will also learn how to stop the toxic misinformation spread from the social media influencers, fake news, and op-eds that permeate our culture and call out bullshit whenever we see it"--- Subjects: Critical thinking.; Reasoning.; Decision making.;
- Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Results 41 to 46 of 46 | « previous