Elements of Surprise

Elements of Surprise
Author: Vera Tobin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2018
Genre: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES
ISBN: 9780674919570

Elements of Surprise opens with an novel but narrow focus: how a particular cognitive bias, the "curse of knowledge," underwrites stories that rely on what it calls "well-made surprise," as seen in (for example) classic detective fiction--that is, surprises in novels, films, television, and plays that set us up to be fooled in ways we find pleasing and satisfying. But from there, the book expands its reach. At its core, "cursed" thinking underlies almost everything people write, say, and think about both other people and our own pasts. The more information we have about something, and the more experience we have with it, the harder it is to step outside that experience. What unfolds is both a fresh approach to mental heuristics and biases and an ambitious work of cognitive literary criticism. Elements of Surprise provides a new and exciting way of thinking about the mechanics of narrative, explored through thoughtful readings of classic, popular, and obscure texts.--

Surprise!

Surprise!
Author: Dave Baiocchi
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2013-08-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0833081047

This report relates what professionals believe creates surprise, how they respond to it, and how the effects of surprise can be mitigated. RAND researchers interviewed representatives from 13 diverse professions and identified some common coping strategies, such as relying on past experience and trying to reduce the level of chaos in the environment.

A Pedagogy of Witnessing

A Pedagogy of Witnessing
Author: Roger I. Simon
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2014-08-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1438452713

This outstanding comparative study on the curating of "difficult knowledge" focuses on two museum exhibitions that presented the same lynching photographs. Through a detailed description of the exhibitions and drawing on interviews with museum staff and visitor comments, Roger I. Simon explores the affective challenges to thought that lie behind the different curatorial frameworks and how viewers' comments on the exhibitions perform a particular conversation about race in America. He then extends the discussion to include contrasting exhibitions of photographs of atrocities committed by the German army on the Eastern Front during World War II, as well as to photographs taken at the Khmer Rouge S-21 torture and killing center. With an insightful blending of theoretical and qualitative analysis, Simon proposes new conceptualizations for a contemporary public pedagogy dedicated to bearing witness to the documents of racism.

Inflicting Surprise

Inflicting Surprise
Author: Mark F. Cancian
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2021-04-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1538140284

Great power competition has returned after a generation of absence, and the U.S. military edge over prospective opponents is eroding. Whereas the United States previously could overwhelm adversaries with sheer force, if necessary, it now needs every advantage it can get. This study analyzes how the United States might inflict surprise on its adversaries to gain a strategic advantage. Surprise is one aspect of a broader discussion in the national security literature on innovative operational concepts, which may serve as force multipliers to enable the United States to get more out of existing capabilities. A follow up to CSIS’s highly successful 2018 study Coping with Surprise in Great Power Conflicts, this report highlights several components of a successful surprise, including exploiting adversary vulnerabilities, using intelligence and technology, employing secrecy and deception, and doing the unexpected. The report also contains over a dozen vignettes illustrating potential future surprises.

Responding to Capability Surprise

Responding to Capability Surprise
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2013-12-31
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309278406

From a military operational standpoint, surprise is an event or capability that could affect the outcome of a mission or campaign for which preparations are not in place. By definition, it is not possible to truly anticipate surprise. It is only possible to prevent it (in the sense of minimizing the number of possible surprises by appropriate planning), to create systems that are resilient to an adversary's unexpected actions, or to rapidly and effectively respond when surprised. Responding to Capability Surprise examines the issues surrounding capability surprise, both operational and technical, facing the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. This report selects a few surprises from across a continuum of surprises, from disruptive technologies, to intelligence-inferred capability developments, to operational deployments, and assesses what the Naval Forces are doing (and could do) about them while being mindful of future budgetary declines. The report then examines which processes are in place or could be in place in the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard to address such surprises. Today's U.S. naval forces continue to face a wide range of potential threats in the indefinite future and for this reason must continue to balance and meet their force structure needs. The recommendations of Responding to Capability Surprise will help to ensure more responsive, more resilient, and more adaptive behavior across the organization from the most senior leadership to the individual sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen.

The Only Study Guide You'll Ever Need

The Only Study Guide You'll Ever Need
Author: Jade Bowler
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2021-08-05
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 1788704207

We've all been there: a new school year starts and there's 8 months till your exams - that's plenty of time, right? Then there's 6 months, 3 months, 1 month and oh, now there's 2 weeks left and you haven't started studying... What happens next is a panic-induced mayhem of highlighting everything in the textbook (without even questioning if it's actually helpful). But I'm here to help you change this! In The Only Study Guide You'll Ever Need, I'll cover a range of different topics including: · How to get started and pick up that pen · Learning techniques that actually work (hello, science of memory!) · The dos and don'ts of timetabling · And combatting fear of failure, perfectionism, exam stress and so much more! As a fellow student now at university, I definitely don't have a PhD in Exam Etiquette but this is the book younger me needed. All I wanted was one place that had a variety of tried-and-tested methods with reassurance from someone who had recently been through the education system. The Only Study Guide You'll Ever Need is just that, and I have collected the best techniques and tools I wish I'd known earlier to help you get through your studies and smash your exams! Jade x

The Power of Surprise

The Power of Surprise
Author: Michael Rousell, PhD
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2021-09-15
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1538152428

Rousell examines the rich and complex nuances of the science of surprise and shows us how we can use it strategically to enrich lives. Random events transform us. After studying formative events, moments that define us, for over three decades, Michael Rousell discovered that most of them took place during a spark of surprise. This breakthrough launched a fascinating journey from neuroscience to stand-up comedy. Rousell draws on research from a wide variety of brain science disciplines (cognition, motivation, neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, persuasion, evolution, and learning), then examines those who already use surprise strategically (comedians, film directors, entertainers, magicians, and novelists). This examination illustrates the hidden, yet critical features inherent in surprise, while demystifying the complexities. Surprise evolved as a mechanism to instantly change our beliefs. Rousell shows how surprising events produce invisible influence because they open a window to spontaneous belief change with no warning or conscious awareness. You’ll see how seemingly minor features of surprise create profound differences and can be used to strategically enrich lives, create positive mindsets, and maximize influence.

Coping with Surprise in Great Power Conflicts

Coping with Surprise in Great Power Conflicts
Author: Mark F. Cancian
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 151
Release: 2018-03-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442280727

Surprise has always been an element of warfare, but the return of great power competition—and the high-level threat that it poses—gives urgency to thinking about surprise now. Because the future is highly uncertain, and great powers have not fought each other for over 70 years, surprise is highly likely in a future great power conflict. This study, therefore, examines potential surprises in a great power conflict, particularly in a conflict’s initial stages when the interaction of adversaries’ technologies, prewar plans, and military doctrines first becomes manifest. It is not an attempt to project the future. Rather, it seeks to do the opposite: explore the range of possible future conflicts to see where surprises might lurk.

Expressing and Describing Surprise

Expressing and Describing Surprise
Author: Agnès Celle
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2017-07-18
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027265089

Among emotions, surprise has been extensively studied in psychology. In linguistics, surprise, like other emotions, has mainly been studied through the syntactic patterns involving surprise lexemes. However, little has been done so far to correlate the reaction of surprise investigated in psychological approaches and the effects of surprise on language. This cross-disciplinary volume aims to bridge the gap between emotion, cognition and language by bringing together nine contributions on surprise from different backgrounds – psychology, human-agent interaction, linguistics. Using different methods at different levels of analysis, all contributors concur in defining surprise as a cognitive operation and as a component of emotion rather than as a pure emotion. Surprise results from expectations not being met and is therefore related to epistemicity. Linguistically, there does not exist an unequivocal marker of surprise. Surprise may be either described by surprise lexemes, which are often associated with figurative language, or it may be expressed by grammatical and syntactic constructions. Originally published as a special issue of Review of Cognitive Linguistics 13:2 (2015)

Surprise

Surprise
Author: Tania Luna
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2015-04-07
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0698157095

Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected is a fascinating look at how we can handle and harness surprise in our work, relationships, and everyday lives. Pop Quiz! Do you prefer when: A) Things go according to plan? B) When the unexpected happens? Most of us pick control and predictability. Yet research reveals a counterintuitive truth: surprise is the key that unlocks growth, innovation, and connection. It is also the secret ingredient in our best memories. Through colorful narratives and compelling scientific findings, authors Tania Luna and Dr. LeeAnn Renninger shine a light on the world's least understood and most intriguing emotion. They reveal how shifting our perception of surprise lets us thrive in the face of uncertainty. And they show us how surprise acts as a shortcut that turns a typical product into a meaningful experience, a good idea into a viral one, awkward small talk into engaging conversation, and daily life into an adventure.