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The big picture : on the origins of life, meaning, and the universe itself / by Carroll, Sean M.,1966-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.The fundamental nature of reality -- Poetic naturalism -- The world moves by itself -- What determines what will happen next? -- Reasons why -- Our universe -- Time's arrow -- Memories and causes -- Learning about the world -- Updating our knowledge -- Is it okay to doubt everything? -- Reality emerges -- What exists, and what is illusion? -- Planets of belief -- Accepting uncertainty -- What can we know about the universe without looking at it? -- Who am I? -- Abducting God -- How much we know -- The quantum realm -- Interpreting quantum mechanics -- The core theory -- The stuff of which we are made -- The effective theory of the everyday world -- Why does the universe exist? -- Body and soul -- Death is the end -- The universe in a cup of coffee -- Light and life -- Funneling energy -- Spontaneous organization -- The origin and purpose of life -- Evolution's bootstraps -- Searching through the landscape -- Emergent purpose -- Are we the point? -- Crawling into consciousness -- The babbling brain -- What thinks? -- The hard problem -- Zombies and stories -- Are photons conscious? -- What acts on what? -- Freedom to choose -- Billion heartbeats -- What is and what ought to be -- Rules and consequences -- Constructing goodness -- Listening to the world -- Existential therapy.
Subjects: Cosmology.; Discoveries in science.; Evolution; Life; Meaning (Philosophy); Naturalism.; Physical laws.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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You are the universe : discovering your cosmic self and why it matters / by Chopra, Deepak,author.; Kafatos, Minas C.,author.;
What happens when modern science reaches a crucial turning point that challenges everything we know about reality? In this brilliant, timely, and practical work, Chopra and Kafatos tell us that we've reached just such a point. In the coming era, the universe will be completely redefined as a "human universe" radically unlike the cold, empty void where human life is barely a speck in the cosmos. You Are the Universe literally means what it says--each of us is a co-creator of reality extending to the vastest reaches of time and space. This seemingly impossible proposition follows from the current state of science, where outside the public eye, some key mysteries cannot be solved, even though they are the very issues that define reality itself: What came fefore the Big Bang? Why does the universe fit together so perfectly? Where did time come from? What is the universe made of? Is the quantum world linked to everyday life? Do we live in a conscious universe? How did life first begin?
Subjects: Cosmology.; Philosophy of nature.; Reality.; Consciousness.; Mind and body.; Quantum theory.; Physics;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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On trails / by Moor, Robert(Environmental journalist),author.;
"From a brilliant new literary voice comes a groundbreaking exploration of how trails help us understand the world--from tiny ant trails to hiking paths that span continents, from interstate highways to the Internet. In 2009, while thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, Robert Moor began to wonder about the paths that lie beneath our feet: How do they form? Why do some improve over time while others devolve? What makes us follow or strike off on our own? Over the course of the next seven years, Moor traveled the globe, exploring trails of all kinds, from the miniscule to the massive. He learned the tricks of master trail-builders, hunted down long-lost Cherokee trails, and traced the origins of our road networks and the Internet. In each chapter, Moor interweaves his adventures with findings from science, history, philosophy, and nature writing--combining the nomadic joys of Peter Matthiessen with the eclectic wisdom of Lewis Hyde's The Gift. Throughout, Moor reveals how this single topic--the oft-overlooked trail--sheds new light on a wealth of age-old questions: How does order emerge out of chaos? How did animals first crawl forth from the seas and spread across continents? How has humanity's relationship with nature and technology shaped world around us? And, ultimately, how does each of us pick a path through life? Moor has the essayist's gift for making new connections, the adventurer's love for paths untaken, and the philosopher's knack for asking big questions. With a breathtaking arc that spans from the dawn of animal life to the digital era, On Trails is a book that makes us see our world, our history, our species, and our ways of life anew"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Moor, Robert (Environmental journalist); Hikers; Hiking; Trails;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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In a flight of starlings : the wonders of complex systems / by Parisi, Giorgio,author.; Carnell, Simon,1962-translator.; Parisi, Anna(Writer on science),contributor.; translation of:Parisi, Giorgio.In un volo di storni.English.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, an enlightening and personal journey into the practice of groundbreaking science In In a Flight of Starlings, already a #1 bestseller in his native Italy, celebrated physicist Giorgio Parisi guides us through his unorthodox yet exhilarating work: investigating the principles of physics by observing the flight of flocks of birds. Studying the movements of these communities, he has realized, proves an illuminating way into understanding complex systems of all kinds-collections of everything from atoms and planets to other animals like ourselves. Along the way, he reflects on the lessons he's taken from a life in pursuit of scientific truth: the importance of serendipity to the discovery of new ideas, the surprising kinship between physics and other disciplines, and the value of science to a thriving society. In so doing, he removes the practice of science from the confines of the laboratory and into the real world. Part elegant scientific treatise, part thrilling journey of discovery, In a Flight of Starlings is an invitation to find wonder in the world around us"--
Subjects: Physics;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Life in five senses : how exploring the senses got me out of my head and into the world / by Rubin, Gretchen,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-250)."The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project discovers a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. For more than a decade, Gretchen Rubin had been studying happiness and human nature. Then, one day, a visit to her eye doctor made her realize that she'd been overlooking a key element of happiness: her five senses. She'd spent so much time stuck in her head that she'd allowed the vital sensations of life to slip away, unnoticed. This epiphany lifted her from a state of foggy preoccupation into a world rediscovered by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. In this revelatory journey of self-experimentation, she explores the mysteries and joys of the five senses as a path to a happier, more mindful life. Drawing on cutting-edge science, philosophy, literature, and her own efforts to practice what she learns, she investigates the profound power of tuning in to the physical world. From the simple pleasures of appreciating the magic of ketchup and adding favorite songs to a playlist, to more adventurous efforts like creating a daily ritual of visiting the Met and attending Flavor University, Rubin show us how to experience each day with depth, delight, and connection. In the rush of daily life, she finds, our five senses offer us an immediate, sustainable way to cheer up, calm down, and engage the world around us-as well as a way to glimpse the soul and touch the transcendent. A Life in Five Senses is an absorbing, layered story of discovery filled with profound insights and practical suggestions about how to heighten our senses and use our powers of perception to live fuller, richer lives-and, ultimately, how to move through the world with more vitality and love"--
Subjects: Happiness.; Perception.; Self-actualization (Psychology); Senses and sensation.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Aki-wayn-zih : a person as worthy as the Earth / by Baxter, Eli,author.; Smith, Matthew Ryan,1983-editor.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Members of Eli Baxter's generation are the last of the hunting and gathering societies living on Turtle Island. They are also among the last fluent speakers of the Anishinaabay language known as Anishinaabaymowin. Aki-wayn-zih is a story about the land and its spiritual relationship with the Anishinaabayg, from the beginning of their life on Miss-koh-tay-sih Minis (Turtle Island) to the present day. Baxter writes about Anishinaabay life before European contact, his childhood memories of trapping, hunting, and fishing with his family on traditional lands in Treaty 9 territory, and his personal experience surviving the residential school system. Examining how Anishinaabay Kih-kayn-daa-soh-win (knowledge) is an elemental concept embedded in the Anishinaabay language, Aki-wayn-zih explores history, science, math, education, philosophy, law, and spiritual teachings, outlining the cultural significance of language to Anishinaabay identity. Recounting traditional Ojibway legends in their original language, fables in which moral virtues double as survival techniques, and detailed guidelines for expertly trapping or ensnaring animals, Baxter reveals how the residential school system shaped him as an individual, transformed his family, and forever disrupted his reserve community and those like it. Through spiritual teachings, historical accounts, and autobiographical anecdotes, Aki-wayn-zih offers a new form of storytelling from the Anishinaabay point of view."--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Baxter, Eli.; First Nations; First Nations; First Nations; First Nations; First Nations;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Money for nothing : the scientists, fraudsters, and corrupt politicians, who reinvented money, panicked a nation, and made the world rich / by Levenson, Thomas,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Money for Nothing chronicles the moment when the needs of war, discoveries of natural philosophy, and ambitions of investors collided. It's about how the Scientific Revolution intertwined with finance to set England--and the world--off in an entirely new direction. At the dawn of the eighteenth century, England was running out of money due to a prolonged war with France. Parliament tried raising additional funds by selling debt to its citizens, taking in money now with the promise of interest later. It was the first permanent national debt, but still they needed more. They turned to the stock market--a relatively new invention itself--where Isaac Newton's new mathematics of change of time, which he applied to the motions of the planets and the natural world, were fast being applied to the world of money. What kind of future returns could a person expect on an investment today? The Scientific Revolution could help. In the hub of London's stock market--Exchange Alley--the South Sea Company hatched a scheme to turn pieces of the national debt into shares of company stock, and over the spring of 1720 the plan worked brilliantly. Stock prices doubled, doubled again, and then doubled once more, getting everyone in London from tradespeople to the Prince of Wales involved in a money mania that consumed the people, press, and pocketbooks of the empire. Unlike science, though, with its tightly controlled experiments, the financial revolution was subject to trial and error on a grand scale, with dramatic, sometimes devastating consequences for people's lives. With England at war and in need of funds and "stock-jobbers" looking for any opportunity to get in on the action, this new world of finance had the potential to save the nation-- but only if it didn't bankrupt it first"--
Subjects: Debts, Public; Stock exchanges;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Raising them right : the untold story of America's ultraconservative youth movement and its plot for power / by Spencer, Kyle,1970-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In the wake of the Obama presidency, a group of young charismatic conservatives catapulted onto the American political and cultural scenes, eager to thwart nationwide pushes for greater equity and inclusion. They dreamed of a cultural revolution-online and off-that would offer a forceful alternative to the progressive politics that were dominating American college campuses. In Raising Them Right, a gripping, character-driven read and investigative tour de force, Kyle Spencer chronicles the people and organizations working to lure millions of unsuspecting young American voters into the far-right fold-revealing their highly successful efforts to harness social media in alarming ways and capitalize on the democratization of celebrity culture. These power-hungry new faces may look and sound like antiestablishment renegades, but they are actually part of a tightly organized and heavily funded ultraconservative initiative to transform American youth culture and popularize fringe ideas. There is Charlie Kirk, the swashbuckling Trump insider and founder of the right-wing youth activist group Turning Point USA, who dreams of taking back the country's soul from weak-kneed liberals and becoming a national powerbroker in his own right. There is the acid-tongued Candace Owens, a Black ultraconservative talk-show host and Fox News regular who is seeking to bring Black America to the GOP and her own celebritydom into the national forefront. And there is the young, rough-and-tumble libertarian Cliff Maloney, who built the Koch-affiliated organization Young Americans for Liberty into a political force to be reckoned with, while solidifying his own power and pull inside conservative circles. Chock-full of original reporting and unprecedented access, Raising Them Right isa striking prism through which to view the extraordinary shifts that have taken place in the American political sphere over the last decade. It establishes Kyle Spencer as the premier authority on a new generation of young conservative communicators who are merging politics and pop culture, social media and social lives, to bring cruel economic philosophies, skeletal government, and dangerous antidemocratic ideals into the mainstream. Theirs is a crusade that is just beginning"--
Subjects: Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Campaign funds; Christianity and politics; Identity politics; Political action committees; Radicalism; Right and left (Political science); Right-wing extremists; Youth; Youth;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Fate of flames / by Raughley, Sarah,author.;
Before they can save the world from the monstrous phantoms, four girls who have the power to control the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water must first try to figure out how to work together.
Subjects: Science fiction.; Young adult fiction.; Dystopian fiction.; Celebrities; Four elements (Philosophy); Friendship; Monsters; Psychic ability; Superheroes;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Wanting : the power of mimetic desire in everyday life / by Burgis, Luke,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Wanting is a groundbreaking exploration of why we want what we want, and a toolkit for freeing ourselves from chasing unfulfilling desires. As an undergraduate studying philosophy at Stanford, Peter Thiel met French polymath René Girard and was introduced to his theory of "mimetic desire"-the idea that most human wanting comes from imitating what other people desire, rather than from an innate sense of need. Inducted into the Académie Française as the "Darwin of the social sciences," Girard is largely unknown outside academic circles. But because of Girard, Thiel knew that Facebook would thrive because it offered a window into people's curated presentation of the best parts of their lives, thereby satisfying our need to look for "models" who tell us what to desire. According to Girard, each of us is surrounded by people who generate, shape, and manipulate our desires at every turn. Mimetic desire is no mere tool of advertisers but a reality that affects our daily lives in romance, work, fitness, politics, and parenting. Mimetic desire is a secret, unacknowledged, sophisticated form of adult imitation that drives a larger degree of human behavior than anybody ever realized. The consequences of mimetic desire are startling. Because people learn to want what other people want, they are easily drawn into rivalries and conflict. According to Girard, people don't fight because they want different things; they fight because, through mimetic desire, they start to want the same things. But mimetic desire does not have to be in control. We are free to choose. And those who understand mimetic desire have a tremendous advantage over those who don't-they can use it for good or for ill. Drawing on his experience as an entrepreneur, teacher, and student of classical philosophy and theology, Luke Burgis shows how to counteract the mimetic forces of the market by turning blind wanting into intentional wanting-not by trying to rid ourselves of desire, but by desiring differently. Intentional desire is what propels us to create a better world. Burgis shows how to achieve more independence from trends and bubbles, how to feel more in control of the things we want, and ultimately how to find more meaning in our work and life by grounding them in desires that will never fade away"--
Subjects: Desire.; Imitation.; Basic needs;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 101 to 110 of 115 | « previous |