Related Reading:
Thinking, Fast and SlowSelected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 TitleOne of The Economist’s 2011 Books of the Year One of The Wall Steet Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011Winner of the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest Daniel Kahneman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his seminal work in psychology that challenged the rational model of judgment and decision making, is one of our most important thinkers. His ideas have had a profound and widely regarded impact on many fields—including economics, medicine, and politics—but until now, he has never brought together his many years of research and thinking in one book.
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.
Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a ManSteve Harvey, the host of the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show, can't count the number of impressive women he's met over the years, whether it's through the "Strawberry Letters" segment of his program or while on tour for his comedy shows. These are women who can run a small business, keep a household with three kids in tiptop shape, and chair a church group all at the same time. Yet when it comes to relationships, they can't figure out what makes men tick. Why? According to Steve it's because they're asking other women for advice when no one but another man can tell them how to find and keep a man. In Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Steve lets women inside the mindset of a man and sheds lights on concepts and questions such as:
—The Ninety Day Rule: Ford requires it of its employees. Should you require it of your man?
—How to spot a mama's boy and what if anything you can do about it.
—When to introduce the kids. And what to read into the first interaction between your date and your kids.
—The five questions every woman should ask a man to determine how serious he is.
— And more...
Sometimes funny, sometimes direct, but always truthful, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man is a book you must read if you want to understand how men think when it comes to relationships.
Thinking in Systems: A PrimerIn the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth--the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet-- Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001.Meadows' newly released manuscript, Thinking in Systems, is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life.Some of the biggest problems facing the world--war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation--are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking.While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner.In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.
Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things DoneThink smart people are just born that way? Think again.
Drawing on diverse studies of the mind, from psychology to linguistics, philosophy, and learning science, Art Markman, Ph.D., demonstrates the difference between "smart thinking" and raw intelligence, showing readers how memory works, how to learn effectively, and how to use knowledge to get things done. He then introduces his own three-part formula for readers to employ "smart thinking" in their daily lives.
Smart Thinking gives readers:
- The means to replace self-limiting habits with new behaviors that foster smart thinking
- An understanding of the mind itself as well as memory
- The ability to define and solve problems by finding and applying relevant knowledge
- Ways to present and process information effectively
Think (Paperback Edition): The Life of the Mind and the Love of GodWe often pit thinking and feeling against each other, especially when it comes to the Christian experience. Glorifying God with our minds and hearts, however, is not either-or, but both-and. Focusing on the life of the mind will enable you to know God better, love him more, and care for the world. This book will help you think about thinking, and about how the heart and mind glorify God together.
Being Logical: A Guide to Good ThinkingWhether regarded as a science, an art, or a skill–and it can properly be regarded as all three–logic is the basis of our ability to think, analyze, argue, and communicate. Indeed, logic goes to the very core of what we mean by human intelligence. In this concise, crisply readable book, distinguished professor D. Q. McInerny offers an indispensable guide to using logic to advantage in everyday life. Written explicitly for the layperson, McInerny’s Being Logical promises to take its place beside Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style as a classic of lucid, invaluable advice. As McInerny notes, logic is a deep, wide, and wonderfully varied field, with a bearing on every aspect of our intellectual life. A mastery of logic begins with an understanding of right reasoning–and encompasses a grasp of the close kinship between logical thought and logical expression, a knowledge of the basic terms of argument, and a familiarity with the pitfalls of illogical thinking. Accordingly, McInerny structures his book in a series of brief, penetrating chapters that build on one another to form a unified and coherent introduction to clear and effective reasoning.
At the heart of the book is a brilliant consideration of argument–how an argument is founded and elaborated, how it differs from other forms of intellectual discourse, and how it critically embodies the elements of logic. McInerny teases out the subtleties and complexities of premises and conclusions, differentiates statements of fact from statements of value, and discusses the principles and uses of every major type of argument, from the syllogistic to the conditional. In addition, he provides an incisive look at illogical thinking and explains how to recognize and avoid the most common errors of logic.
Elegant, pithy, and precise, Being Logical breaks logic down to its essentials through clear analysis, accessible examples, and focused insights. Whether you are a student or a teacher, a professional sharpening your career skills or an amateur devoted to the fine points of thought and expression, you are sure to find this brief guide to effecting reasoning both fascinating and illuminating.
From the Hardcover edition.
The Thinking Life: How to Thrive in the Age of DistractionProfessor Forni, founder of The Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins, is America's civility expert. In his first two books, Choosing Civility and The Civility Solution, he taught readers the rules of civil behavior and ways of responding to rudeness. Now, in The Thinking Life, he looks at the importance of thinking in our lives: how we do it, why we don't do enough of it and why we need to do more of it.
In twelve short chapters, he gives readers a remedy for the Age of Distraction, an age fuelled by the internet, Blackberries and cellphones, all of which make constant demands on our attention, diverting it from one thing to another. After suggesting ways we can find time to think more, Forni shows readers how we can improve our abilities of:
—Attention
—Reflection
—Introspection
—Self-control
—Positive thinking
—Proactive thinking
—Effective decision-making strategies
—Creative thinking
—Problem-solving strategies
Just as he did with civility, he puts the importance of good thinking front and center in a book as simple and as profound as his earlier works.
Think: A Compelling Introduction to PhilosophyHere at last is a coherent, unintimidating introduction to the challenging and fascinating landscape of Western philosophy. Written expressly for "anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them," Think provides a sound framework for exploring the most basic themes of philosophy, and for understanding how major philosophers have tackled the questions that have pressed themselves most forcefully on human consciousness.Simon Blackburn, author of the best-selling Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, begins by making a convincing case for the relevance of philosophy and goes on to give the reader a sense of how the great historical figures such as Plato, Hume, Kant, Descartes, and others have approached its central themes. In a lively and accessible style, Blackburn approaches the nature of human reflection and how we think, or can think, about knowledge, fate, ethics, identity, God, reason, and truth. Each chapter explains a major issue, and gives the reader a self-contained guide through the problems that the philosophers have studied. Because the text approaches these issues from the gound up, the untrained reader will emerge from its pages able to explore other philosophies with greater pleasure and understanding and be able to think--philosophically--for him or herself.
Philosophy is often dismissed as a purely academic discipline with no relation to the "real" world non-philosophers are compelled to inhabit. Think dispels this myth and offers a springboard for all those who want to learn how the basic techniques of thinking shape our virtually every aspect of our existence.
THINK SociologyWith an engaging visual design, 15 page chapters, and readings from popular trade titles, THINK Sociology is the introductory Sociology text your students will read.
THINK Sociology is informed with the latest research and the most contemporary examples, allowing you to bring current events directly into your classroom with little additional work.
An engaging visual design developed with the benefit of extensive student feedback will appeal to your students and deliver the core concepts of Sociology in a way that they can actually understand.
The groundbreaking instructor supplements package will help you bring the core concepts of Sociology to life, without burdening your students with heavy, too dense and too expensive learning solutions.
Thinkspot, the text’s open access website, provides students with a large resource of tools to help them achieve a better grade.
Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down WorldIn Think, Lisa Bloom examines the stark paradoxes that American girls and women live today, including excelling in education but obsessing over celebrities and tabloid media, in outperforming male counterparts in employment yet spending more time and money on appearances.Bloom wonders: How did we get from the Equal Pay Act and Title IX to celebutainment and Botox, and what can we do about it?
Bloom proffers the solution: one simple word, Think.
In this provocative, entertaining, and thoroughly researched book, Bloom illuminates specific steps for women to take to reclaim their brains, regain their focus, and take charge of their lives. Think is delivered in a no-nonsense, straight-talk manner that will make you laugh, question yourself, and start thinking again.
Hello, World!
My name is Steve Jones, and Thinker’s Bluff is my own little corner of the World’s Wide Web.
By (week) day, I am an Engineer working for a major aerospace company. Evenings and weekends, I share my time between family and hobbies.
I am an insatiable reader, so I forever have my head buried in books, ebooks, audio books, magazines, etc. In recent years, I also became an internet video “junkie” – a direct result of the day I discovered Ted.com. I had so much fun sampling Ted.com, in fact, that I was inspired to create the first version of Thinker’s Bluff on Google’s Blogger.
I already maintain several points of presence on the Internet, in addition to this one; I have pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, and a blog on Google Blogger, so why (you might wonder) have I also established this WordPress version of Thinker’s Bluff?
In 2011, I have decided to try my hand at e-Business 2.0. Specifically, I am combining my passions and core strengths of learning and achieving, with my long-time dream of owning and operating a bookstore.
This blogsite serves as my operational center – it anchors my ebusinesses and provides a comfortable “parlour” where I can welcome and converse with you, my friends and guests.
I will leave my Blogger site online for a while longer, but will move that blog here, where I own the domain and can better ensure its continuity. My eBookstores are here now and I have ambitions to bring additional specialized article and ebook sites online, in the months to come. (e.g. I already have a gardening site in the incubator.)
I am quite excited about this latest adventure. Your interests and ideas are going to help determine what happens here and I really look forward to getting to know you all.
Cheers!
spj




















Hello Stephen Jones,
Nice looking site. I’m taking John Thornhill’s recorded recorded etc course. A little behind, but please go look at my site and give me some feed back. Your post I read was so down, I thought I’d check and see if you continued.
I don’t really think they are into promoting people’s sites. Think I’d better learn to do it myself.
What I wanted to know from them, is it really necessary to use their theme? I rather like the looks and the way the one I have operates. Have some nifty plugins that I am going to install, the backup creator and have another one that lets you post directly to facebook and twitter .
Hope your are doing well with your bookstore. According to a survey I read the most SOLD ITEM on the internet is BOOKS! OR
Hi, Carolyn. Thank you for dropping by and following-up on my Inner Circle post. I am practicing getting in touch with my emoticons.
I went visiting your WordPress and your blogspot sites. Both look very good to my eye. I would not worry about using their particular theme, at this point. I find it is pretty easy to load and test other themes. So far, I prefer the TwentyTen theme I am using now, over the course template or any other I have tried; it appears to be compatible with more plugins than the TwentyEleven and I like the clean look. I am researching how to add a third column, so that I can get more of the sidebar stuff up toward the top of the page, but that is the only aspect of this theme that I presently feel is lacking.
Thanks for the encouragement. Looking forward to keeping in touch and sharing ideas, as we plow ahead.