Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain

Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain PDF Author: Shankar Vedantam
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393652211
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2021 A Next Big Idea Club Best Nonfiction of 2021 From the New York Times best-selling author and host of Hidden Brain comes a thought-provoking look at the role of self-deception in human flourishing. Self-deception does terrible harm to us, to our communities, and to the planet. But if it is so bad for us, why is it ubiquitous? In Useful Delusions, Shankar Vedantam and Bill Mesler argue that, paradoxically, self-deception can also play a vital role in our success and well-being. The lies we tell ourselves sustain our daily interactions with friends, lovers, and coworkers. They can explain why some people live longer than others, why some couples remain in love and others don’t, why some nations hold together while others splinter. Filled with powerful personal stories and drawing on new insights in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, Useful Delusions offers a fascinating tour of what it really means to be human.

Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain

Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain PDF Author: Shankar Vedantam
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393652211
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 198

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2021 A Next Big Idea Club Best Nonfiction of 2021 From the New York Times best-selling author and host of Hidden Brain comes a thought-provoking look at the role of self-deception in human flourishing. Self-deception does terrible harm to us, to our communities, and to the planet. But if it is so bad for us, why is it ubiquitous? In Useful Delusions, Shankar Vedantam and Bill Mesler argue that, paradoxically, self-deception can also play a vital role in our success and well-being. The lies we tell ourselves sustain our daily interactions with friends, lovers, and coworkers. They can explain why some people live longer than others, why some couples remain in love and others don’t, why some nations hold together while others splinter. Filled with powerful personal stories and drawing on new insights in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, Useful Delusions offers a fascinating tour of what it really means to be human.

City of Delusions

City of Delusions PDF Author: John Triptych
Publisher: J Triptych Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Lethe: the fabled last bastion of mankind. It is said that the city was humanity’s last hope, a place of sanctuary for those who would brave the barren wastes to enter through its hallowed gates. But the truth is far, far different. Lethe is a place of lies and betrayal. The people who live within its ancient foundations resort to guile and hypocrisy to further their own ends. The decadent aristocracy lives in fortress-like mansions, ignoring the suffering of the teeming masses to engage in all manner of debauchery. The Magi Order is hopelessly corrupt, openly defying the ancient laws that once held the brotherhood in high esteem amongst the people. In this maelstrom of deceit, Miri is stripped of her powers, and is forced to battle in the arenas to regain her freedom. Rion is indoctrinated into the noble class, his scant memories are relentlessly debilitated in order to ensure his loyalty for an insidious cause. Meanwhile, a dashing rogue named Zeren stumbles upon a vast conspiracy that could alter the destiny of the entire city. Do not miss this sequel to Lands of Dust, a new dystopian science fiction series in the tradition of Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth, Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, Frank Herbert’s Dune and Star Wars—as only John Triptych could tell it!

A History of Delusions

A History of Delusions PDF Author: Victoria Shepherd
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861540921
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
‘Fascinating and compassionate’ Horatio Clare The King of France – thinking he was made of glass – was terrified he might shatter…and he wasn’t alone. After the Emperor met his end at Waterloo, an epidemic of Napoleons piled into France’s asylums. Throughout the nineteenth century, dozens of middle-aged women tried to convince their physicians that they were, in fact, dead. For centuries we’ve dismissed delusions as something for doctors to sort out behind locked doors. But delusions are more than just bizarre quirks – they hold the key to collective anxieties and traumas. In this groundbreaking history, Victoria Shepherd uncovers stories of delusions from medieval times to the present day and implores us to identify reason in apparent madness.

Delusions of Grandeur

Delusions of Grandeur PDF Author: Chris Andoe
Publisher: Cahokia Press
ISBN: 9780692470770
Category : Gays
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
"Not since Charles Bukowski have I found myself so submerged into the life and times of so many colorful characters. Acclaimed writer Chris Andoe brings a modern flair to such a missing style of literature today. I felt intrigued, enlightened, dirty, amused, outraged, betrayed and in awe of all that is Delusions Of Grandeur." - Karla Templeton, Vital Voice Oklahoma native Chris Andoe has lived from San Francisco to New York, but for nearly twenty years has remained captivated by the drama, culture, and tragedy of the haunted old river city of St. Louis, a place he's likened to Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond, simultaneously celebrating yet mourning a glorious past. Delusions of Grandeur is a compilation of tales and snippets of many lives and characters whose stories entertain standing alone and enrapture woven together. From a deranged conman penetrating the highest reaches of state politics to shocking headlines of a 'human slaughter chamber' on the East St. Louis riverfront, Andoe has collected and craftily chronicled the whole spectrum of the St. Louis LGBT community and beyond, and the outcome is nothing short of page turning. Often mired in controversy for his unflinching style, "Emperor of St. Louis" Chris Andoe is a columnist for Vital Voice.

Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs

Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs PDF Author: Lisa Bortolotti
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199206163
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
The book is an interdisciplinary exploration of the nature of delusions. It brings together recent work in philosophy of mind, cognitive psychology and psychiatry, offering a comprehensive review of the philosophical issues raised by the psychology of normal and abnormal cognition.

The Delusions of Crowds

The Delusions of Crowds PDF Author: William J. Bernstein
Publisher: Grove Press
ISBN: 0802157114
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 491

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Book Description
This “disturbing yet fascinating” exploration of mass mania through the ages explains the biological and psychological roots of irrationality (Kirkus Reviews). From time immemorial, contagious narratives have spread through susceptible groups—with enormous, often disastrous, consequences. Inspired by Charles Mackay’s nineteenth-century classic Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, neurologist and author William Bernstein examines mass delusion through the lens of current scientific research in The Delusions of Crowds. Bernstein tells the stories of dramatic religious and financial mania in western society over the last five hundred years—from the Anabaptist Madness of the 1530s to the dangerous End-Times beliefs that pervade today’s polarized America; and from the South Sea Bubble to the Enron scandal and dot com bubbles. Through Bernstein’s supple prose, the participants are as colorful as their “desire to improve one’s well-being in this life or the next.” Bernstein’s chronicles reveal the huge cost and alarming implications of mass mania. He observes that if we can absorb the history and biology of this all-too-human phenomenon, we can recognize it more readily in our own time, and avoid its frequently dire impact.

Suspicious Minds

Suspicious Minds PDF Author: Joel Gold
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 143918156X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
"The Truman Show delusion and other strange beliefs"--Cover.

The Devil's Delusion

The Devil's Delusion PDF Author: David Berlinski
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786751479
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
From a bestselling author, an “incendiary and uproarious” assault on the pretensions of scientific atheists (National Review) Militant atheism is on the rise. Prominent thinkers including Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have published best-selling books denigrating religious belief. And these authors are merely the leading edge of a larger movement that includes much of the scientific community. In response, mathematician David Berlinski, himself a secular Jew, delivers a biting defense of religious thought. The Devil's Delusion is a brilliant, incisive, and funny book that explores the limits of science and the pretensions of those who insist it is the ultimate touchstone for understanding our world.

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions; Volumes I & II

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions; Volumes I & II PDF Author: Charles Mackay
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3387043694
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 737

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Book Description
Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.

Merger Delusion

Merger Delusion PDF Author: Peter F. Trent
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 0773539328
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 700

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Book Description
The story of the fight against the forced merger of Montreal municipalities and the world's first metropolitan de-merger.