Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI
by Carissa Véliz · 21 Apr 2026 · 503pp · 129,255 words
what looks like us and, second, because we confuse it with empathy. When another human being spontaneously mirrors us, it means we are connected: Their mirror neurons are engaged, signaling they are feeling empathy for us, with us. But when an AI mirrors us, it means we are being bullshitted. Most of
Think Like an Engineer: Use Systematic Thinking to Solve Everyday Challenges & Unlock the Inherent Values in Them
by Mushtak Al-Atabi · 26 Aug 2014 · 204pp · 66,619 words
, if we see someone accidentally hitting her finger with a hammer, we almost feel the pain in our own fingers. These neurons are now dubbed “mirror neurons.” Empathy is a very powerful tool and those who cultivate it can be good team players. Empathy is very necessary for professional success as well
Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI
by Anil Ananthaswamy · 15 Jul 2024 · 416pp · 118,522 words
. 2 (Summer 1958): 1–7. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT Hebb had proposed a mechanism: Christian Keysers and Valeria Gazzola, “Hebbian Learning and Predictive Mirror Neurons for Actions, Sensations and Emotions,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 369, No. 1644 (June 2014): 20130175. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT The
In Our Own Image: Savior or Destroyer? The History and Future of Artificial Intelligence
by George Zarkadakis · 7 Mar 2016 · 405pp · 117,219 words
parietal cortex of the brain. There, information from the visual cortex relating to bodily movement is integrated with information from the motor cortex that contains mirror neurons, the neurons that qualify if what we see is one of us. Alarm bells go off in the brain when there is a perceptual conflict
The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
by Sam Harris · 5 Oct 2010 · 412pp · 115,266 words
influence neural response to faces of presidential candidates. Neuropsychologia, 45 (1), 55–64. Kaplan, J. T., & Iacoboni, M. (2006). Getting a grip on other minds: Mirror neurons, intention understanding, and cognitive empathy. Soc Neurosci, 1 (3–4), 175–183. Kapogiannis, D., Barbey, A. K., Su, M., Zamboni, G., Krueger, F., & Grafman, J
The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey Into the Dark Side of the Brain
by James Fallon · 30 Oct 2013
studies of Marco Iacoboni of UCLA offered a mechanism for how brain processes connect people, at least on an intellectual or cognitive-perceptual level. The mirror neuron system is a hypothesized cortical brain circuit based on Iacoboni’s finding that in primates there are neurons that respond when a person watches the
Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother's Boyfriend
by Barbara Oakley Phd · 20 Oct 2008
Lack of Anxiety Executive Dysfunction Emotional Control—Affective and Predatory Murderers Problems with Abstract Reasoning Seeing the Human Conscience Why Does Psychopathy Develop? Empathy and Mirror Neurons Successful Psychopaths CHAPTER 5: INSIGHTS FROM MY SISTER'S LOVE LETTERS The Early Years The Missing Decade Memories of Carolyn The Letters CHAPTER 6: THE
…
neurological features to have a feeling of compassion. Psychopaths, it appears, may be born preprogrammed with a tendency to grow up “morally blind.” EMPATHY AND MIRROR NEURONS Empathy—identifying with and understanding another person—appears to be related to a distributed complex of neural units that are primed in part by
…
mirror neurons. These neurons, believed by many to be the greatest neurological discovery of the 1990s, are triggered not only when humans perform an action but also
…
when a person witnesses another person performing the same activity. Thus far, mirror neurons have been found in the premotor cortex and the inferior parietal cortex, and it is thought they may be located in additional areas of the
…
of neurons have evolved to allow animals to understand what another animal is doing or to recognize another's action. It appears, however, that human mirror neurons are far more flexible and highly evolved than neurons found in any other animal. Dr. Marco Iacoboni, a neuroscientist who specializes in researching
…
mirror neurons, notes: When you see me perform an action—such as picking up a baseball—you automatically simulate the action in your own brain…. Circuits in
…
template for that action based on your own movements…. And if you see me choke up, in emotional distress from striking out at home plate, mirror neurons in your brain simulate my distress. You automatically have empathy for me. You know how I feel because you literally feel what I am feeling
…
.30 On the other hand, people with autism often display no firing in their mirror neurons in response to the activities of others. Researchers believe that the “broken” mirror neuron system of autistics lies at the heart of their difficulties with social interaction and lack of empathy, as well
…
as their inability to imitate. The role of mirror neurons in the development of psychopathy is as yet unclear, since psychopaths seem to have no difficulty comprehending the mental state of others. Psychopaths instead seem
…
precisely because I knew it would provide yet another, very different, frame with which to shape my experiences.) I've a good ear for language—mirror neurons in my language module fire quite nicely, thank you. After a few months out on the boats, my Russian took on the soft Ukrainian flavor
…
default mode of human thought. empathy. A trait that may be related to many areas of the brain, including the anterior cingulate cortex and the mirror neurons of the frontal and parietal lobes. People with Williams syndrome show great empathy, while people with borderline and schizoid personality disorders, and psychopathy, can show
…
the reticular activating system, which is responsible for keeping you awake and focusing attention. Overwhelming damage to this area can result in coma or death. mirror neurons. These neurons are triggered not only when humans perform an action but also when a person witnesses another person performing the same activity—no one
…
knows the mechanism that causes this to happen. Mirror neurons are believed to be in the frontal and parietal lobes in humans. They are thought to be a key element of empathy. narcissistic personality disorder
…
as indentured servants for Machiavellians, 320n Texas Southern University as example of “stable sinister system,” 278–80 acting out, 37 actors and throwaway quip about mirror neurons, 104n Adams, Abigail, on George Washington: if he wasn't the best intentioned man in the world he'd be very dangerous, 300 addictive behavior
…
MAO-A and, 80–81 polio and, 116 Auerbach, “Red,” mental flexibility of, 301 Authoritarian Personality, The (Theodor Adorno), 46 autism gray matter and, 106 mirror neurons and, 105 avoidant personality disorder, defined, 135 Axelrod, Robert, and game “Prisoner's Dilemma,” 257–58 Axis I and Axis II of DSM-IV, defined
…
, 135, 244 people Mao, 225–27, 227n Milosevic, 162, 166 Stalin, 30 psychopathy, 51, 56 schizoid personality disorder, 135 medial prefrontal cortex, role in, 99 mirror neurons and, 104–105 Williams syndrome's abundance of, 98–99 emptiness, as DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder, 158 “end justifies means” behavior
…
and brain stem nuclei portrayed in flowchart form (as “Hypo/BSN”), 185, 196 role in producing automatic emotional response, 196 Iacoboni, Marco, and research on mirror neurons, 104–105 ice cream, superb Russian, child wrestling, 286n idealization and devaluation, alternating between. See relationships, unstable personal, “splitting” identity diffusion. See identity disturbance identity
…
, 169–71 role in genocide, 156n, 162, 169–71 Milosevic and Marković: A Lust for Power (Slavoljub Djukic), 155 mimicking abilities. See also mirror neurons DiCaprio, Leonardo, 104n Milosevic, 154 mirror neurons, 104–105. See also mimicking abilities Missionary Position, The (Christopher Hitchens), 285 Mitchie, Christine, and dimensional trait description of psychopathy, 167 Mitevic
…
in reactions to emotionally charged words, imaging studies of, 90–91 gray, white matter and, 106 image of psychopathic dysfunction and moral reasoning overlap, 101 mirror neurons, role in, 105 neural differences between borderlines and, 209 “pseudopsychopaths” created by brain damage, 96 right anterior superior temporal gyrus dysfunction and problems with abstract
Switched On: My Journey From Asperger's to Emotional Awakening
by John Elder Robison · 6 Apr 2016 · 316pp · 106,321 words
—for a special introductory price of $1,999. But she didn’t mention money at all. Instead, she launched into a five-minute explanation of mirror neurons, electromagnets, and pulse energy. I wasn’t sure if Lindsay had read my book or knew about my background as an electrical engineer. What she
…
microscopic shots of energy into the brain. I’d never considered such a possibility, but I was intrigued. And the mirror neuron thing was fascinating too. I’d recently read up on mirror neurons—brain cells that cause us to act out what we see or hear. We see our mother smile at us
…
, and our mirror neurons make us smile in response, sort of a monkey see, monkey do effect (literally so, because it was first
…
observed in monkeys). The idea of stimulating mirror neurons with electricity sounded more than cool to a techno geek like me. I had a brief vision of Frankenstein’s monster with lightning sizzling between
…
’s happening here, not pick the perfect word. Then I thought back to a section I remembered reading in one of Lindsay’s articles: “Are mirror neurons involved in the ability to understand metaphors? Autistic individuals typically have difficulties with metaphors, often interpreting them literally, and the researchers believe this too may
…
music was surely enhanced by TMS. Mirror neurons might or might not lie at the root of the change. Whatever the explanation turned out to be, I knew that Lindsay, Shirley, Alvaro, and
…
been learning about. Resolving to look into that the next morning, I drifted off to sleep. The next day, some additional reading about mirroring and mirror neurons made clear how far off base my ideas had been, at least with respect to published science. Mirroring in human beings begins when an infant
…
brain cells that do this job, and there is a lot of debate over the way they may be implicated in autism. Some researchers think mirror neurons are missing in autistic people, while others suggest they are broken. And then there is a third contingent of scientists who think the whole mirroring
…
behavioural response to what you see. So the autistic kids felt the same things but didn’t show it. That was how I came upon mirror neurons and hypothesized that they may be the key to this breakdown in empathy. “And by the way,” she added, “no one was really hurt in
…
Broca’s area controlled more than just speech. They had chosen to stimulate there because of Broca’s relationship to mirror neurons. Broca is one of the key parts of the brain’s mirror neuron system, which is tied in turn to social interaction. According to Lindsay, that’s probably why I had such
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
by Steven Pinker · 24 Sep 2012 · 1,351pp · 385,579 words
When They Create Widespread Empathy. In yet another book, The Empathic Civilization, the activist Jeremy Rifkin explains the vision: Biologists and cognitive neuroscientists are discovering mirror-neurons—the so-called empathy neurons—that allow human beings and other species to feel and experience another’s situation as if it were one’s
…
’s empathy craze has been set off by scrambling the various senses of the word empathy. The confusion is crystallized in the meme that uses mirror neurons as a synonym for sympathy, in the sense of compassion. Rifkin writes of “so-called empathy neurons that allow human beings and other species to
…
as touching and tearing. Though neuroscientists ordinarily can’t impale the brains of human subjects with electrodes, we have reason to believe that people have mirror neurons too: neuroimaging experiments have found areas in the parietal lobe and inferior frontal lobe that light up both when people move and when they see
…
someone else move.18 The discovery of mirror neurons is important, though not completely unexpected: we could hardly use a verb in both the first person and the third person unless our brains were
…
it. But the discovery soon inflated an extraordinary bubble of hype.19 One neuroscientist claimed that mirror neurons would do for neuroscience what DNA did for biology.20 Others, aided and abetted by science journalists, have touted mirror neurons as the biological basis of language, intentionality, imitation, cultural learning, fads and fashions, sports fandom
…
, intercessory prayer, and, of course, empathy. A wee problem for the mirror-neuron theory is that the animals in which the neurons were discovered, rhesus macaques, are a nasty little species with no discernible trace of empathy (or
…
imitation, to say nothing of language).21 Another problem, as we shall see, is that mirror neurons are mostly found in regions of the brain that, according to neuroimaging studies, have little to do with empathy in the sense of sympathetic concern
…
.22 Many cognitive neuroscientists suspect that mirror neurons may have a role in mentally representing the concept of an action, though even that is disputed. Most reject the extravagant claims that they can
…
and orbital cortex lit up in sweet revenge.25 Empathy, in the morally relevant sense of sympathetic concern, is not an automatic reflex of our mirror neurons. It can be turned on and off and even inverted into counterempathy, namely feeling good when someone else feels bad and vice versa. Revenge is
…
up and frowned when he did well. The problem with building a better world through empathy, in the sense of contagion, mimicry, vicarious emotion, or mirror neurons, is that it cannot be counted on to trigger the kind of empathy we want, namely sympathetic concern for others’ well-being. Sympathy is endogenous
…
sent by circuits that are calling for incompatible responses, or those that register physical or emotional pain. And unfortunately for the mirror-neuron theory, the areas of the brain richest in mirror neurons, such as parts of the frontal lobe that plan motor movements (the rearmost portions above the Sylvian fissure) and the parts
…
empathy. The other problem with empathy is that it is too parochial to serve as a force for a universal consideration of people’s interests. Mirror neurons notwithstanding, empathy is not a reflex that makes us sympathetic to everyone we lay eyes upon. It can be switched on and off, or thrown
…
controls the muscles. Just in front of it are premotor areas that organize motor commands into more complex programs; these are the regions in which mirror neurons were first discovered. The portion in front of them is called the prefrontal cortex, and it includes the dorsolateral and orbital/ventromedial regions we have
…
al., 2002. 15. Emotional contagion: Preston & de Waal, 2002. 16. Sympathy not the same as contagion: Bandura, 2002. 17. Discovery of mirror neurons: di Pellegrino, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese, & Rizzolatti, 1992. 18. Possible mirror neurons in humans: Iacoboni et al., 1999. 19. Mirror mania: Iacoboni, 2008; J. Lehrer, “Built to be fans,” Seed, Feb. 10
…
we might not,” New York Times, Jan. 7, 2007; S. Vedantam, “How brain’s ‘mirrors’ aid our social understanding,” Washington Post, Sept. 25, 2006. 20. Mirror neurons as DNA: Ramachandran, 2000. 21. Nasty macaques: McCullough, 2008, p. 125. 22. Empathy in the brain: Lamm, Batson, & Decety, 2007; Moll, de Oliveira-Souza, & Eslinger
…
, 2003; Moll, Zahn, de Oliveira-Souza, Krueger, & Grafman, 2005. 23. Skepticism about mirror neurons: Csibra, 2008; Alison Gopnik, 2007; Hickok, 2009; Hurford, 2004; Jacob & Jeannerod, 2005. 24. Overlap in insula: Singer et al., 2006; Wicker et al., 2003. 25
…
big one: Historians rethink the war to end all wars. New Yorker (August 23). Gopnik, Alison. 2007. Cells that read minds? What the myth of mirror neurons gets wrong about the human brain. Slate (April 26). Gordon, M. 2009. Roots of empathy: Changing the world child by child. New York: Experiment. Gorton
…
: A history. New York: Norton. Huntington, S. P. 1993. The clash of civilizations? Foreign Affairs, Summer. Hurford, J. R. 2004. Language beyond our grasp: What mirror neurons can, and cannot, do for language evolution. In D. K. Oller & U. Griebel, eds., Evolution of communication systems: A comparative approach. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press
…
CAG repeats length in androgen receptor gene is associated with violent criminal behavior. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 122, 367–72. Ramachandran, V. S. 2000. Mirror neurons and imitation learning as the driving force behind “the great leap forward” in human evolution. Edge. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ramachandran/ramachandran_index
…
revolution military symbolism, see martial culture and values militias Mill, John Stuart Million Man March Milner, Larry Milner, Peter Milošević, Slobodan Milton, John Min, Anchee mirror neurons Mischel, Walter Moabites Moby-Dick modernity Moffitt, Terri Mokkeddem, Malike Moltke, Helmuth von monarchy Age of Dynasties and filicide hereditary regicide Mondeville, Henri de, Chirurgia
Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking
by Cecilia Heyes · 15 Apr 2018
Parma discovered neurons in the premotor cortex of monkeys with some very interesting properties (di Pellegrino, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese, and Rizzolatti, 1992). Now known as “mirror neurons” (Gallese, Fadiga, Fogassi, and Rizzolatti, 1996), each of these cells fires not only when a monkey executes a particular action (for example, pinching) but also
…
when the monkey passively observes a similar action performed by another agent. Subsequent research, using single neuron recording and brain imaging, has confirmed that mirror neurons are also present in the premotor and parietal cortices of adult human brains (Molenberghs, Cunnington, and Mattingley, 2012). The Parma group assumes that
…
mirror neurons are genetically inherited and argues that their adaptive function relates to “action understanding” rather than imitation (Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004). However, other researchers have been
…
quick to assume that mirror neurons provide the neurological basis for imitation, and to interpret Meltzoff and Moore’s evidence of neonatal imitation as a sign that mirror neurons are present at birth (Lepage and Theoret, 2007). There is now a good deal of
…
evidence that mirror neurons are involved in imitation. For example, meta-analyses of imaging data have shown that
…
selectively disrupts imitative behavior (Catmur, Walsh, and Heyes, 2009; Mengotti, Ticini, Waszak, Schutz-Bosbach, and Rumiati, 2013). Given this involvement, it is tempting to regard mirror neurons as a solution to the correspondence problem and, therefore, as an explanation of imitation. But this would be a mistake. “Involvement” is not explanation. Unless
…
we know how mirror neurons solve the correspondence problem, they are just another black box. The question “How do people imitate?” becomes the question “How do mirror neurons imitate?” The target shifts but the challenges remain the same: to identify the source of
…
the information that allows people and / or mirror neurons to relate the “seen but unfelt” to the “felt but unseen,” and to explain
…
how this information is handled such that people and / or mirror neurons produce behavior similar to that of the model. IMITATION BY ASSOCIATION Associative Sequence Learning Some years ago, my research group set out to meet these
…
and lively music (Jones, 2006)—but it has skewed the data from cross-target tests, giving the false impression that the capacity for imitation, and mirror neurons (Lepage and Theoret, 2007), are present at birth. Reports of neonatal imitation didn’t just inspire the cognitive instinct view of imitation; they were the
…
snake fear in unrelated rhesus monkeys. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 355–372. Cook, R., Bird, G., Catmur, C., Press, C., and Heyes, C. (2014). Mirror neurons: From origin to function. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37(2), 177–192. Cook, R., Dickinson, A., and Heyes, C. (2012). Contextual modulation of mirror and
…
concentrated on g: Phenotypic and phylogenetic comparisons with two meta-analytical databases. Intelligence, 46, 311–322. Ferrari, P. F., Rozzi, S., and Fogassi, L. (2005). Mirror neurons responding to observation of actions made with tools in monkey ventral premotor cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17(2), 212–226. Fiorito, G., and Scotto
…
London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 367(1594), 1322–1337. Keysers, C., Kohler, E., Umiltà, M. A., Nanetti, L., Fogassi, L., and Gallese, V. (2003). Audiovisual mirror neurons and action recognition. Experimental Brain Research, 153(4), 628–636. Kidd, D. C., and Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science
…
, 6, 97–102. Kohler, E., Keysers, C., Umiltà, M. A., Fogassi, L., Gallese, V., and Rizzolatti, G. (2002). Hearing sounds, understanding actions: Action representation in mirror neurons. Science, 297(5582), 846–848. Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., Zak, P. J., Fischbacher, U., and Fehr, E. (2005). Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature, 435
…
, 85–86, 86f, 89, 116, 118–119, 125, 127–128, 136, 140–142, 202–207; learning mechanisms, 4–5, 5–6, 54, 78, 116–143; mirror neurons, 120–121, 129; social learning, 89, 116, 142; social rewards, 138–139; training studies, 129–130, 142. See also Copying; “Correspondence problem” Implicit mindreading, 5
…
, 149, 151–152, 155–162, 159f, 161f; theories and views, 6, 144–168 “Minimal program” (language theory), 172–173, 191 “Minimal theory of mind,” 157 Mirror neurons, 120–121, 129 Mirrors, 123f, 128, 132, 143 Modules, 20, 134 Monogamous mating systems, 59 Moore, M.K., 119–120, 128, 209 Moral thinking, 219
The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience, and the Secret World of Sleep
by Dr. Guy Leschziner · 22 Jul 2019 · 307pp · 102,477 words
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
by Iain McGilchrist · 8 Oct 2012
Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life
by Winifred Gallagher · 9 Mar 2009 · 280pp · 75,820 words
The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis
by Jeremy Rifkin · 31 Dec 2009 · 879pp · 233,093 words
What to Think About Machines That Think: Today's Leading Thinkers on the Age of Machine Intelligence
by John Brockman · 5 Oct 2015 · 481pp · 125,946 words
Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life
by Steven Johnson · 2 Jan 1999 · 294pp · 86,601 words
The Last Best Cure: My Quest to Awaken the Healing Parts of My Brain and Get Back My Body, My Joy, a Nd My Life
by Donna Jackson Nakazawa · 21 Feb 2013
Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian With Practical Advice for Aspergians, Misfits, Families & Teachers
by John Elder Robison · 22 Mar 2011 · 185pp · 60,638 words
Emergence
by Steven Johnson · 329pp · 88,954 words
The Participation Revolution: How to Ride the Waves of Change in a Terrifyingly Turbulent World
by Neil Gibb · 15 Feb 2018 · 217pp · 63,287 words
Possible Minds: Twenty-Five Ways of Looking at AI
by John Brockman · 19 Feb 2019 · 339pp · 94,769 words
Emotional Ignorance: Lost and Found in the Science of Emotion
by Dean Burnett · 10 Jan 2023 · 536pp · 126,051 words
Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal · 21 Feb 2017 · 407pp · 90,238 words
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
by Robert M. Sapolsky · 1 May 2017 · 1,261pp · 294,715 words
Buyology
by Martin Lindstrom · 14 Jul 2008 · 83pp · 7,274 words
The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement
by David Brooks · 8 Mar 2011 · 487pp · 151,810 words
Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
by Anil Seth · 29 Aug 2021 · 418pp · 102,597 words
Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought
by Barbara Tversky · 20 May 2019 · 426pp · 117,027 words
Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought
by Andrew W. Lo · 3 Apr 2017 · 733pp · 179,391 words
Rationality: From AI to Zombies
by Eliezer Yudkowsky · 11 Mar 2015 · 1,737pp · 491,616 words
Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb · 20 Feb 2018 · 306pp · 82,765 words
The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth
by Jonathan Rauch · 21 Jun 2021 · 446pp · 109,157 words
The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With or Without Slides
by Garr Reynolds · 29 Jan 2010
Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone
by Mark Goulston M. D. and Keith Ferrazzi · 31 Aug 2009
Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion
by Paul Bloom · 281pp · 79,464 words
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Doto Get More of It
by Kelly McGonigal · 1 Dec 2011 · 354pp · 91,875 words
Heart of the Machine: Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence
by Richard Yonck · 7 Mar 2017 · 360pp · 100,991 words
The Globotics Upheaval: Globalisation, Robotics and the Future of Work
by Richard Baldwin · 10 Jan 2019 · 301pp · 89,076 words
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You
by Elaine N. Aron · 1 Dec 2013 · 323pp · 94,683 words
Autism: A Very Short Introduction
by Uta Frith · 22 Oct 2008 · 127pp · 36,853 words
The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett · 1 Jan 2009 · 309pp · 86,909 words
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
by Jonathan Haidt · 13 Mar 2012 · 539pp · 139,378 words
Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning
by Tom Vanderbilt · 5 Jan 2021 · 312pp · 92,131 words
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
by Bessel van Der Kolk M. D. · 7 Sep 2015 · 600pp · 174,620 words
Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior
by Jonah Berger · 13 Jun 2016 · 261pp · 72,277 words
The Village Effect: How Face-To-Face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier, and Smarter
by Susan Pinker · 30 Sep 2013 · 404pp · 124,705 words
Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
by John T. Cacioppo · 9 Aug 2009 · 327pp · 97,720 words
The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us
by Diane Ackerman · 9 Sep 2014 · 380pp · 104,841 words
SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully
by Jane McGonigal · 14 Sep 2015 · 525pp · 147,008 words
Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food
by Catherine Shanahan M. D. · 2 Jan 2017 · 659pp · 190,874 words
The Narcissist Next Door
by Jeffrey Kluger · 25 Aug 2014 · 295pp · 89,280 words
Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life
by Colin Ellard · 14 May 2015 · 313pp · 92,053 words
Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition): Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
by Jon Kabat-Zinn · 23 Sep 2013 · 706pp · 237,378 words
Liars and Outliers: How Security Holds Society Together
by Bruce Schneier · 14 Feb 2012 · 503pp · 131,064 words
The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success
by Kevin Dutton · 15 Oct 2012 · 280pp · 85,091 words
Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future
by Cory Doctorow · 15 Sep 2008 · 189pp · 57,632 words
The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World
by David Deutsch · 30 Jun 2011 · 551pp · 174,280 words
Adam Smith: Father of Economics
by Jesse Norman · 30 Jun 2018
The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism
by Olivia Fox Cabane · 1 Mar 2012 · 287pp · 81,014 words
Team Human
by Douglas Rushkoff · 22 Jan 2019 · 196pp · 54,339 words
Secrets of the Autistic Millionaire: Everything I Know Now About Autism and Asperger's That I Wish I'd Known Then
by David William Plummer · 14 Sep 2021
Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination
by Mark Bergen · 5 Sep 2022 · 642pp · 141,888 words
Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century
by P. W. Singer · 1 Jan 2010 · 797pp · 227,399 words
What About Me?: The Struggle for Identity in a Market-Based Society
by Paul Verhaeghe · 26 Mar 2014 · 208pp · 67,582 words
Zest: How to Squeeze the Max Out of Life
by Andy Cope, Gavin Oattes and Will Hussey · 19 Jul 2019 · 159pp · 45,725 words
The Rapture of the Nerds
by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross · 3 Sep 2012 · 311pp · 94,732 words
The Truth About Lies: The Illusion of Honesty and the Evolution of Deceit
by Aja Raden · 10 May 2021 · 291pp · 85,822 words
The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.
by Robin Sharma · 4 Dec 2018 · 325pp · 97,162 words
Presentation Zen
by Garr Reynolds · 15 Jan 2012
The Musical Human: A History of Life on Earth
by Michael Spitzer · 31 Mar 2021 · 632pp · 163,143 words
Alone Together
by Sherry Turkle · 11 Jan 2011 · 542pp · 161,731 words
The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism
by Jeremy Rifkin · 31 Mar 2014 · 565pp · 151,129 words
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
by Kai-Fu Lee and Qiufan Chen · 13 Sep 2021
The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall
by Mark W. Moffett · 31 Mar 2019 · 692pp · 189,065 words
You Are Not So Smart
by David McRaney · 20 Sep 2011 · 270pp · 83,506 words
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism
by Fumio Sasaki · 10 Apr 2017 · 167pp · 49,719 words
Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error
by Kathryn Schulz · 7 Jun 2010 · 486pp · 148,485 words
Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving With the Self-Absorbed
by Wendy T. Behary · 1 Jul 2013 · 173pp · 59,825 words
Upgrade
by Blake Crouch · 6 Jul 2022 · 396pp · 96,049 words
No Regrets, Coyote: A Novel
by John Dufresne · 1 Jun 2014 · 329pp · 97,834 words
Choose Yourself!
by James Altucher · 14 Sep 2013 · 230pp · 76,655 words
Program Or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age
by Douglas Rushkoff · 1 Nov 2010 · 103pp · 32,131 words
Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now
by Douglas Rushkoff · 21 Mar 2013 · 323pp · 95,939 words
Exodus: How Migration Is Changing Our World
by Paul Collier · 30 Sep 2013 · 303pp · 83,564 words
The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and Enlightenment
by Guy Spier · 8 Sep 2014 · 240pp · 73,209 words
Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
by Douglas Rushkoff · 7 Sep 2022 · 205pp · 61,903 words
The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads
by Tim Wu · 14 May 2016 · 515pp · 143,055 words
Vanishing New York
by Jeremiah Moss · 19 May 2017 · 479pp · 140,421 words
Grouped: How Small Groups of Friends Are the Key to Influence on the Social Web
by Paul Adams · 1 Nov 2011 · 123pp · 32,382 words
Exit Strategy
by Sherry Walling, Rob Walling · 22 Nov 2024 · 215pp · 60,241 words
The Evolution of God
by Robert Wright · 8 Jun 2009
Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization?
by Aaron Dignan · 1 Feb 2019 · 309pp · 81,975 words
Humankind: Solidarity With Non-Human People
by Timothy Morton · 14 Oct 2017 · 225pp · 70,180 words
Democracy and Prosperity: Reinventing Capitalism Through a Turbulent Century
by Torben Iversen and David Soskice · 5 Feb 2019 · 550pp · 124,073 words
Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road
by Matthew B. Crawford · 8 Jun 2020 · 386pp · 113,709 words
The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource
by Chris Hayes · 28 Jan 2025 · 359pp · 100,761 words
Humankind: A Hopeful History
by Rutger Bregman · 1 Jun 2020 · 578pp · 131,346 words