Meaning of Life, Human Nature, and Delusions

Meaning of Life, Human Nature, and Delusions
Author: Rui Diogo
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 863
Release: 2021-12-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783319704005

Whatever are your beliefs, background, education, political views or interests, one thing is sure: this book will engage you, teach you something new, and more importantly make you to re-think deeply about critical aspects of your daily-life, including sex, love, food, physical activities, diseases, work and stress, and how you see and deal with other people, other animals, and the planet in general. Indeed, it focuses on topics that have fascinated people from all places and historical periods since times immemorial: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Are we progressing, and will we thrive? It does this by integrating in a unique fashion information from ancient Greek, Sumerian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim texts to high-tech brain research, facts about near-death experiences, Covid-19, QAnon conspiracies, virtual reality and dating aps; from Adam and Eve to the rise of misogyny and racism to Black Lives Matter, Me-Too, Hollywood romantic movies and Disney fairy-tales. Contrary to notions about 'human progress' and 'Homo Deus' defended by authors such as Harari, Pinker and Dawkins, it shows that human history instead involves the repetition of similar imaginary tales created by a combination of traits found in other animals and the uniquely human obsession about 'cosmic purpose' stories related to our awareness of death's inevitability. Organized religions appeared later, chiefly during the rise of agriculture and 'civilizations'. Diogo navigates mesmerizing untold stories revealing a paradox: these events and the industrial 'revolution' increased inequality, oppression, slavery, subjugation of women, famines, plagues, 'work', stress, and suicides. Data from psychology, biology, neurobiology, and cross-cultural studies of hunter-gatherers and so-called 'developed' societies reveal an even more profound paradox: within all forms of life, the 'sapient being' is the one immersed in Neverland's world of unreality - truly a Homo irrationalis, fictus and socialis believing in fictional tales about cosmic 'duties', 'romantic meant to be', demons, inferior 'races' and 'genders', conspiracies, and 'justified' slavery, warfare, genocides, and animal abuses. Importantly, such tales play, on the other hand, crucial functions such as help coping with death and a plethora of societal troubles, decreasing stress, or preventing drug and alcohol abuse. An optimist and passionate wondered and wanderer, Diogo provides enthralling details about the history of religion, discrimination, romantic love, warfare, diseases and Earth's biodiversity illustrating how 'virtue is in the middle' and that we - with our intriguing combination of beliefs, bodily needs and desires, artistic abilities, and mismatches between our senses' illusions and the cosmos' reality - are not 'better' or 'worse' than the other millions of captivating living species. This powerful and urgently needed message has critical repercussions for how we understand, care about, and mindfully enjoy living in this splendid planet, in the reality of here and now. Pre-publication comments: "I applaud the enormous work that Diogo has invested in this follow-up to his widely acclaimed Evolution driven by organismal behavior book, and the challenge of getting people to think beyond and outside of our usual set of definitions and expectations. The case-studies provided in the book are fascinating and insightful" (Drew Noden, Award-winning Emeritus Professor, Cornell University) "Rui Diogo is becoming the Slavoj Zizek of evolutionary biology" (Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra, Director of the Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich)

New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry

New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry
Author: Michael G. Gelder
Publisher:
Total Pages: 2131
Release: 2000
Genre: Psychiatry
ISBN: 9780192629708

This two volume set is the definitive source for all practising psychiatrists. It covers all areas of general psychiatry in depth, and includes sections on each of the subspecialties including child psychiatry and forensic psychiatry.

The Halo Effect

The Halo Effect
Author: Phil Rosenzweig
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2008-12-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1847397026

Why do some companies prosper while others fail? Despite great amounts of research, many of the studies that claim to pin down the secret of success are based in pseudoscience. THE HALO EFFECT is the outcome of that pseudoscience, a myth that Philip Rosenzweig masterfully debunks in THE HALO EFFECT. THE HALO EFFECT highlights the tendency of experts to point to the high financial performance of a successful company and then spread its golden glow to all of the company's attributes - clear strategy, strong values, and brilliant leadership. But in fact, as Rosenzweig clearly illustrates, the experts are not just wrong, but deluded. Rosenzweig suggests a more accurate way to think about leading a company, a robust and clearheaded approach that can save any business from ultimate failure.

The Strong Delusion

The Strong Delusion
Author: John W. Milor
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2017-02-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532014457

John Milors fascinating work is based on the Bible telling of a powerful deception that will overshadow the Earth, a deception so intense that only those with a genuine love relationship with God will be able to endure it. Events from the authors own life, including a series of supernatural encounters, have revealed some key components of this strong delusion, which he believes will initiate a grand display of open contact with extraterrestrials. It will also involve the global rise of Islam. Its no mistake that the faiths of four billion people (Christians and Muslims) include two versions of prophetic visions that are nearly identical, yet they represent opposite sides of a global conflict that will end in the Battle of Armageddon. This book delves into myriad topics, including: Encounters with angels, otherworldly beings, and Jesus Christ; Encounters with demons, ghosts, nephilim, jinns, and mythical creatures; The Bibles explanation of ET good guys and bad guys; The Quran and Hadiths ET connection: Was Muhammad abducted as a boy, and operated on? Was the angel that abducted Muhammad really Gabriel? Were the mysterious jinns of Islam actually surviving nephilim? Is the Quran and Hadiths ideology specifically tailored for the Antichrist? These and other topics harken to ancient times and peer into a not-too-distant future, when the author believes we will see a return to the days of Noah, as prophesied by Jesus.

Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine

Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine
Author: Thomas Schramme
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017-02-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9789401786874

This is the first wide-ranging, multi-authored handbook in the field of philosophy of medicine, covering the underlying conceptual issues of many important social, political and ethical issues in health care. It introduces and develops over 70 topics, concepts, and issues in the field. It is written by distinguished specialists from multiple disciplines, including philosophy, health sciences, nursing, sociology, political theory, and medicine. Many difficult social and ethical issues in health care are based on conceptual problems, most prominently on the definitions of health and disease, or on epistemological issues regarding causality or diagnosis. Philosophy is the discipline that deals with such conceptual, metaphysical, epistemological, methodological, and axiological matters. This handbook covers all the central concepts in medicine, such as ageing, death, disease, mental disorder, and well-being. It is an invaluable source for laypeople, academics with an interest in medicine, and health care specialists who want be informed and up to date with the relevant discussions. The text also advances these debates and will set the agenda for years to come.

One Century of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology

One Century of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology
Author: Giovanni Stanghellini
Publisher:
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2013-07-04
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 019960925X

2013 sees the centenary of Jaspers' foundation of psychopathology as a science with the publication of his magnum opus the Allgemeine Psychopathologie (General Psychopathology), Many of the issues concerning methodology and diagnosis are today the subject of much discussion and debate. This volume brings together leading psychiatrists and philosophers to discuss the impact of this volume, its relevance today, and the legacy it left.

Is Whistleblowing a Duty?

Is Whistleblowing a Duty?
Author: Emanuela Ceva
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 97
Release: 2019-01-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1509529683

Recent years have seen a number of whistleblowers risk their liberty to expose illegal and corrupt behaviour. Some have heralded their bravery; others see them as traitors. Can there be a moral duty to emulate their example and blow the whistle? In this book, leading political philosophers Emanuela Ceva and Michele Bocchiola draw on well-known cases, such as those of Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, to probe the difference between permissible and dutiful whistleblowing. They argue that, insofar as whistleblowing is understood as an individual act of dissent, it falls short of constituting a duty, although it can be praiseworthy. Whistleblowing should, they contend, be seen as an institutional duty, embedded within the organizational practices of public accountability. This concise book will be invaluable for students and scholars of applied political theory, and political and professional ethics.