Figments of Reality

Figments of Reality PDF Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139425293
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Is the universe around us a figment of our imagination? Or are our minds figments of reality? In this refreshing new look at the evolution of mind and culture, bestselling authors Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen eloquently argue that our minds necessarily evolved inextricably within the context of culture and language. They go beyond conventional reductionist ideas to look at how the mind is the response of an evolving brain trying to grapple with a complex environment. Along the way they develop new and intriguing insights into the nature of evolution, science and humanity.

Figments of Reality

Figments of Reality PDF Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139425293
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Is the universe around us a figment of our imagination? Or are our minds figments of reality? In this refreshing new look at the evolution of mind and culture, bestselling authors Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen eloquently argue that our minds necessarily evolved inextricably within the context of culture and language. They go beyond conventional reductionist ideas to look at how the mind is the response of an evolving brain trying to grapple with a complex environment. Along the way they develop new and intriguing insights into the nature of evolution, science and humanity.

Figments of Reality

Figments of Reality PDF Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521663830
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Popular science tour de force from bestselling authors, on evolution of intelligence, culture and mind.

The Collapse of Chaos

The Collapse of Chaos PDF Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141938285
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 652

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Book Description
Do we live in a simple or a complex universe? Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart explore the ability of complicated rules to generate simple behaviour in nature through 'the collapse of chaos'. 'The most startling, thought-provoking book I've read all year. I was pleased to learn that most of the things I thought I knew were wrong' -- Terry Pratchett

Figments of Reality

Figments of Reality PDF Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cognition and culture
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description


The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes

The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes PDF Author: Donald Hoffman
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393254704
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
Can we trust our senses to tell us the truth? Challenging leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. From examining why fashion designers create clothes that give the illusion of a more “attractive” body shape to studying how companies use color to elicit specific emotions in consumers, and even dismantling the very notion that spacetime is objective reality, The Case Against Reality dares us to question everything we thought we knew about the world we see.

Blood of the Fold

Blood of the Fold PDF Author: Terry Goodkind
Publisher: RosettaBooks
ISBN: 0795346034
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 806

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Book Description
The Seeker of Truth takes his rightful place as the new ruler of D’Hara in the third novel of the #1 New York Times–bestselling author’s epic fantasy series. After escaping from the Palace of Prophets, Richard comes to terms with his true identity as a War Wizard. But when he brings down the barrier between the Old and New Worlds, the Imperial Order suddenly poses a threat to the the freedom of all humankind. As the Imperial Order sends delegations and armies into the New World, Richard’s only chance to stop the invasion is to claim his heritage as the new Lord Rahl and ruler of D’Hara. But convincing the D’Harans of his legitimacy won’t be easy. Meanwhile, a powerful enemy is on the trail of Richard’s love, Kahlan Amnell. And when the spell Richard cast to protect her is broken, he must martial his newfound authority—and the armies that come with it—to save her life.

Mind and Cosmos

Mind and Cosmos PDF Author: Thomas Nagel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199919755
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 141

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Book Description
The modern materialist approach to life has conspicuously failed to explain such central mind-related features of our world as consciousness, intentionality, meaning, and value. This failure to account for something so integral to nature as mind, argues philosopher Thomas Nagel, is a major problem, threatening to unravel the entire naturalistic world picture, extending to biology, evolutionary theory, and cosmology. Since minds are features of biological systems that have developed through evolution, the standard materialist version of evolutionary biology is fundamentally incomplete. And the cosmological history that led to the origin of life and the coming into existence of the conditions for evolution cannot be a merely materialist history, either. An adequate conception of nature would have to explain the appearance in the universe of materially irreducible conscious minds, as such. Nagel's skepticism is not based on religious belief or on a belief in any definite alternative. In Mind and Cosmos, he does suggest that if the materialist account is wrong, then principles of a different kind may also be at work in the history of nature, principles of the growth of order that are in their logical form teleological rather than mechanistic. In spite of the great achievements of the physical sciences, reductive materialism is a world view ripe for displacement. Nagel shows that to recognize its limits is the first step in looking for alternatives, or at least in being open to their possibility.

Queen of Bad Dreams

Queen of Bad Dreams PDF Author: Danny Lore
Publisher: Vault Comics
ISBN: 163849052X
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
The Sandman meets Bladerunner in this LGBTQ+ Fantasy/SciFi blend! Sometimes dreams—called figments—escape the dreamer's mind. And it's Daher's job to track them down. When she finds herself caught up in the dreams of politically powerful family, Daher discovers secrets about the origins of figments. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A DREAM ESCAPES? When a dream entity known as a figment emerges from a dreamer’s mind, it’s Daher’s job as an IJ to track them down and make the call: reinsert the figment, or grant them agency in our world. After an especially powerful figment escapes the dreams of an even more powerful politician’s son, Daher is pulled headlong into an investigation that traces all the way back to the incident that sent dreams, even nightmares, spilling into our reality. Collects the complete five issue series.

Nature's Magic

Nature's Magic PDF Author: Peter Corning
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139442183
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
Nature's Magic presents a bold vision of the evolutionary process from the Big Bang to the 21st century. Synergy of various kinds is not only a ubiquitous aspect of the natural world but it has also been a wellspring of creativity and the 'driver' of the broad evolutionary trend toward increased complexity, in nature and human societies alike. But in contrast with the many theories of emergence or complexity that rely on some underlying force or 'law', the 'Synergism Hypothesis', as Peter Corning calls it, is in essence an economic theory of biological complexity; it is fully consistent with mainstream evolutionary biology. Corning refers to it as Holistic Darwinism. Among the many important insights that are provided by this new paradigm, Corning presents a scenario in which the human species invented itself; synergistic, behavioral and technological innovations were the 'pacemakers' of our biological evolution. Synergy has also been the key to the evolution of complex modern societies, he concludes.

Flatterland

Flatterland PDF Author: Ian Stewart
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458716546
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
First there was Edwin A. Abbott's remarkable Flatland, published in 1884, and one of the all-time classics of popular mathematics. Now, from mathematician and accomplished science writer Ian Stewart, comes what Nature calls "a superb sequel." Through larger-than-life characters and an inspired story line, Flatterland explores our present understanding of the shape and origins of the universe, the nature of space, time, and matter, as well as modern geometries and their applications. The journey begins when our heroine, Victoria Line, comes upon her great-great-grandfather A. Square's diary, hidden in the attic. The writings help her to contact the Space Hopper, who tempts her away from her home and family in Flatland and becomes her guide and mentor through ten dimensions. In the tradition of Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Toll Booth, this magnificent investigation into the nature of reality is destined to become a modern classic.