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Author : Raymond Federman
Publisher : Poetry Salzburg
ISBN 13 : 9783901993046
Total Pages : 159 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (93 download)
Download or read book The Precipice and Other Catastrophes written by Raymond Federman and published by Poetry Salzburg. This book was released on 1999 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : Toby Ord
Publisher : Hachette Books
ISBN 13 : 031648489X
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (164 download)
Download or read book The Precipice written by Toby Ord and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This urgent and eye-opening book makes the case that protecting humanity's future is the central challenge of our time. If all goes well, human history is just beginning. Our species could survive for billions of years - enough time to end disease, poverty, and injustice, and to flourish in ways unimaginable today. But this vast future is at risk. With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we face existential catastrophes - those from which we could never come back. Since then, these dangers have only multiplied, from climate change to engineered pathogens and artificial intelligence. If we do not act fast to reach a place of safety, it will soon be too late. Drawing on over a decade of research, The Precipice explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. It puts them in the context of the greater story of humanity: showing how ending these risks is among the most pressing moral issues of our time. And it points the way forward, to the actions and strategies that can safeguard humanity. An Oxford philosopher committed to putting ideas into action, Toby Ord has advised the US National Intelligence Council, the UK Prime Minister's Office, and the World Bank on the biggest questions facing humanity. In The Precipice, he offers a startling reassessment of human history, the future we are failing to protect, and the steps we must take to ensure that our generation is not the last. "A book that seems made for the present moment." —New Yorker
Author : Nick Bostrom
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199606501
Total Pages : 577 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (996 download)
Download or read book Global Catastrophic Risks written by Nick Bostrom and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-29 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Global Catastrophic Risk is one that has the potential to inflict serious damage to human well-being on a global scale. This book focuses on such risks arising from natural catastrophes (Earth-based or beyond), nuclear war, terrorism, biological weapons, totalitarianism, advanced nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and social collapse.
Author : Fish Cheryl J.
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781943900435
Total Pages : 80 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (4 download)
Download or read book Crater and Tower written by Fish Cheryl J. and published by . This book was released on 2020-05 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In May, 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted, releasing volcanic ash that reached from the Washington coast to Minnesota. Forty years later, in May, 2020, Duck Lake Books will release Crater & Tower by Cheryl J. Fish. This is a poetic comparison and contrast of the deadliest volcano in US History and the 911 attack on the Twin Towers, the deadliest terrorist attack in US history. These historic events haunt the collective American consciousness, and this book will grace the collective American s soul.
Author : William MacAskill
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 1541618637
Total Pages : 423 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (416 download)
Download or read book What We Owe the Future written by William MacAskill and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Instant New York Times Bestseller “This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that.” —Ezra Klein An Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism” — that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more — or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today. In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed; counter the end of moral progress; and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human. If we make wise choices today, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope and beauty.
Author : Richard M. Weaver
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022609023X
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (26 download)
Download or read book Ideas Have Consequences written by Richard M. Weaver and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A foundational text of the modern conservative movement, this 1948 philosophical treatise argues the decline of Western civilization and offers a remedy. Originally published in 1948, at the height of post–World War II optimism and confidence in collective security, Ideas Have Consequences uses “words hard as cannonballs” to present an unsparing diagnosis of the ills of the modern age. Widely read and debated at the time of its first publication, the book is now seen as one of the foundational texts of the modern conservative movement. In its pages, Richard M. Weaver argues that the decline of Western civilization resulted from the rising acceptance of relativism over absolute reality. In spite of increased knowledge, this retreat from the realist intellectual tradition has weakened the Western capacity to reason, with catastrophic consequences for social order and individual rights. But Weaver also offers a realistic remedy. These difficulties are the product not of necessity, but of intelligent choice. And, today, as decades ago, the remedy lies in the renewed acceptance of absolute reality and the recognition that ideas—like actions—have consequences. This expanded edition of the classic work contains a foreword by New Criterion editor Roger Kimball that offers insight into the rich intellectual and historical contexts of Weaver and his work and an afterword by Ted J. Smith III that relates the remarkable story of the book’s writing and publication. Praise for Ideas Have Consequences “A profound diagnosis of the sickness of our culture.” —Reinhold Niebuhr “Brilliantly written, daring, and radical. . . . It will shock, and philosophical shock is the beginning of wisdom.” —Paul Tillich “This deeply prophetic book not only launched the renaissance of philosophical conservatism in this country, but in the process gave us an armory of insights into the diseases besetting the national community that is as timely today as when it first appeared. [This] is one of the few authentic classics in the American political tradition.” —Robert Nisbet
Author : Raymond Federman
Publisher : Make Now Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 100 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)
Download or read book The Precipice and Other Catastrophes written by Raymond Federman and published by Make Now Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drama. This book contains a long drama, The Precipice, and two shorter plays--Act without Words for the Hand and Who Will Crack First. Renowned experimentalist Raymond Federman was born in France in 1928 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1947. He has published eight novels, four volumes of poetry, four books of criticism, and numerous articles, essays, poems, plays, and stories. His novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. SPD carries a number of books by Raymond Federman including AUNT RACHEL'S FUR, THE VOICE IN THE CLOSET and MY BODY IN NINE PARTS.
Author : James Hansen
Publisher : A&C Black
ISBN 13 : 1408820625
Total Pages : 347 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (88 download)
Download or read book Storms of My Grandchildren written by James Hansen and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: _______________ 'When the history of the climate crisis is written, Hansen will be seen as the scientist with the most powerful and consistent voice calling for intelligent action to preserve our planet's environment' - Al Gore 'Few people know more about climate change than James Hansen ... This unnerving and fluently written book is the definitive one to read' - BBC Wildlife 'Anyone concerned about the world our children and grandchildren must inherit owes it to themselves to read this book' - Irish Times _______________ An urgent and provocative call to action from the world's leading climate scientist Dr James Hansen, the world's leading scientist on climate issues, speaks out with the full truth about global warming: the planet is hurtling to a climatic point of no return. Hansen - whose climate predictions have come to pass again and again, beginning in the 1980s when he first warned US Congress about global warming - is the single most credible voice on the subject worldwide. He paints a devastating but all-too-realistic picture of what will happen if we continue to follow the course we're on. But he is also a hard-headed optimist, and shows that there is still time to take the urgent, strong action needed to save humanity. _______________ 'James Hansen gives us the opportunity to watch a scientist who is sick of silence and compromise; a scientist at the breaking point - the point at which he is willing to sacrifice his credibility to make a stand to avert disaster' - LA Times
Author : Piers Blaikie
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134528612
Total Pages : 492 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (345 download)
Download or read book At Risk written by Piers Blaikie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods. However, the phrase 'natural disaster' suggests an uncritical acceptance of a deeply engrained ideological and cultural myth. At Risk questions this myth and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed. The updated new edition confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters and discusses disaster not as an aberration, but as a signal failure of mainstream 'development'. Two analytical models are provided as tools for understanding vulnerability. One links remote and distant 'root causes' to 'unsafe conditions' in a 'progression of vulnerability'. The other uses the concepts of 'access' and 'livelihood' to understand why some households are more vulnerable than others. Examining key natural events and incorporating strategies to create a safer world, this revised edition is an important resource for those involved in the fields of environment and development studies.
Author : Mirjam Horn
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 311039426X
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (13 download)
Download or read book Postmodern Plagiarisms written by Mirjam Horn and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2015-07-01 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph takes on the question of how literary plagiarism is defined, exposed, and sanctioned in Western culture and how appropriating language assigned to another author can be considered a radical subversive act in postmodern US-American literature. While various forms of art such as music, painting, or theater have come to institutionalize appropriation as a valid mode to ventilate what authorship, originality, and the anxiety of influence may mean, the literary sphere still has a hard time acknowledging the unmarked acquisition of words, ideas, and manuscripts. The author shows how postmodern plagiarism in particular serves as a literary strategy of appropriation at the interface between literary economics, law, and theoretical discourses of literature. She investigates the complex expectations surrounding the strong link between an individual author subject and its alienable text, a link that several postmodern writers powerfully question and violate. Identifying three distinct practices of postmodern plagiarism, the book examines their specific situatedness, precepts, and subversive potential as litmus tests for the literary market, and the ongoing dynamic notion of the concepts authorship, originality, and creativity.
Author : Elizabeth A. Fenn
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
ISBN 13 : 0374711070
Total Pages : 518 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (747 download)
Download or read book Encounters at the Heart of the World written by Elizabeth A. Fenn and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2014-03-11 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for History Encounters at the Heart of the World concerns the Mandan Indians, iconic Plains people whose teeming, busy towns on the upper Missouri River were for centuries at the center of the North American universe. We know of them mostly because Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1804-1805 with them, but why don't we know more? Who were they really? In this extraordinary book, Elizabeth A. Fenn retrieves their history by piecing together important new discoveries in archaeology, anthropology, geology, climatology, epidemiology, and nutritional science. Her boldly original interpretation of these diverse research findings offers us a new perspective on early American history, a new interpretation of the American past. By 1500, more than twelve thousand Mandans were established on the northern Plains, and their commercial prowess, agricultural skills, and reputation for hospitality became famous. Recent archaeological discoveries show how these Native American people thrived, and then how they collapsed. The damage wrought by imported diseases like smallpox and the havoc caused by the arrival of horses and steamboats were tragic for the Mandans, yet, as Fenn makes clear, their sense of themselves as a people with distinctive traditions endured. A riveting account of Mandan history, landscapes, and people, Fenn's narrative is enriched and enlivened not only by science and research but by her own encounters at the heart of the world.
Author : Gregg Easterbrook
Publisher : PublicAffairs
ISBN 13 : 1610397428
Total Pages : 413 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (13 download)
Download or read book It's Better Than It Looks written by Gregg Easterbrook and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2018-02-20 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is civilization teetering on the edge of a cliff? Or are we just climbing higher than ever? Most people who read the news would tell you that 2017 is one of the worst years in recent memory. We're facing a series of deeply troubling, even existential problems: fascism, terrorism, environmental collapse, racial and economic inequality, and more. Yet this narrative misses something important: by almost every meaningful measure, the modern world is better than it ever has been. In the United States, disease, crime, discrimination, and most forms of pollution are in long-term decline, while longevity and education keep rising and economic indicators are better than in any past generation. Worldwide, malnutrition and extreme poverty are at historic lows, and the risk of dying by war or violence is the lowest in human history. It's not a coincidence that we're confused -- our perspectives on the world are blurred by the rise of social media, the machinations of politicians, and our own biases. Meanwhile, political reforms like the Clean Air Act and technological innovations like the hybridization of wheat have saved huge numbers of lives. In that optimistic spirit, Easterbrook offers specific policy reforms to address climate change, inequality, and other problems, and reminds us that there is real hope in conquering such challenges. In an age of discord and fear-mongering, It's Better Than It Looks will profoundly change your perspective on who we are, where we're headed, and what we're capable of.
Author : Dinah Birch
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191030848
Total Pages : 1184 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)
Download or read book The Oxford Companion to English Literature written by Dinah Birch and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-09-24 with total page 1184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Companion to English Literature has long been established as the leading reference resource for students, teachers, scholars, and general readers of English literature. It provides unrivalled coverage of all aspects of English literature - from writers, their works, and the historical and cultural context in which they wrote, to critics, literary theory, and allusions. For the seventh edition, the Companion has been thoroughly revised and updated to meet the needs and concerns of today's students and general readers. Over 1,000 new entries have been added, ranging from new writers - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Patrick Marber, David Mitchell, Arundhati Roy - to increased coverage of writers and literary movements from around the world. Coverage of American literature has been substantially increased, with new entries on writers such as Cormac McCarthy and Amy Tan and on movements and publications. Contextual and historical coverage has also been expanded, with new entries on European history and culture, post-colonial literature, as well as writers and literary movements from around the world that have influenced English literature. The Companion has always been a quick and dependable source of reference for students, and the new edition confirms its pre-eminent role as the go-to resource of first choice. All entries have been reviewed, and details of new works, biographies, and criticism have been brought right up to date. So also has coverage of the themes, approaches and concepts encountered by students today, from terms to articles on literary theory and theorists. There is increased coverage of writers from around the world, as well as from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and of contextual topics, including film and television, music, and art. Cross-referencing has been thoroughly updated, with stronger linking from writers to thematic and conceptual entries. Meanwhile coverage of popular genres such as children's literature, science fiction, biography, reportage, crime fiction, fantasy or travel literature has been increased substantially, with new entries on writers from Philip Pullman to Anne Frank and from Anais Nin to Douglas Adams. The seventh edition of this classic Companion - now under the editorship of Dinah Birch, assisted by a team of 28 distinguished associate editors, and over 150 contributors - ensures that it retains its status as the most authoritative, informative, and accessible guide to literature available.
Author : Jeffrey R. Di Leo
Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 1438433832
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (384 download)
Download or read book Federman's Fictions written by Jeffrey R. Di Leo and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-01-02 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays offers an authoritative examination and appraisal of the French-American novelist Raymond Federman's many contributions to humanities scholarship, including Holocaust studies, Beckett studies, translation studies, experimental fiction, postmodernism, and autobiography. Although known primarily as a novelist, Federman (1928–2009) is also the author of numerous books of poetry, essays, translations, and criticism. After emigrating to the United States in 1942 and receiving a Ph.D. in comparative literature at UCLA in 1957, he held professorships in the University at Buffalo's departments of French and English from 1964 to 1999. Together with Steve Katz and Ronald Sukenick, he was one of the original founders of the Fiction Collective, a nonprofit publishing house dedicated to avant garde, experimental prose. Far too many accounts treat Federman as merely a member of a small group of writers who pioneered "metafictional" or "postmodern" American literature. Federman's Fiction will introduce (or, for some, reintroduce) to the broader scholarly community a creative and daring thinker whose work is significant not just to considerations of the development of innovative fiction, but to a number of other distinct disciplines and emerging critical discourses.
Author : William MacAskill
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0698191102
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (981 download)
Download or read book Doing Good Better written by William MacAskill and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most of us want to make a difference. We donate our time and money to charities and causes we deem worthy, choose careers we consider meaningful, and patronize businesses and buy products we believe make the world a better place. Unfortunately, we often base these decisions on assumptions and emotions rather than facts. As a result, even our best intentions often lead to ineffective—and sometimes downright harmful—outcomes. How can we do better? While a researcher at Oxford, trying to figure out which career would allow him to have the greatest impact, William MacAskill confronted this problem head on. He discovered that much of the potential for change was being squandered by lack of information, bad data, and our own prejudice. As an antidote, he and his colleagues developed effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach that allows each of us to make a tremendous difference regardless of our resources. Effective altruists believe that it’s not enough to simply do good; we must do good better. At the core of this philosophy are five key questions that help guide our altruistic decisions: How many people benefit, and by how much? Is this the most effective thing I can do? Is this area neglected? What would have happened otherwise? What are the chances of success, and how good would success be? By applying these questions to real-life scenarios, MacAskill shows how many of our assumptions about doing good are misguided. For instance, he argues one can potentially save more lives by becoming a plastic surgeon rather than a heart surgeon; measuring overhead costs is an inaccurate gauge of a charity’s effectiveness; and, it generally doesn’t make sense for individuals to donate to disaster relief. MacAskill urges us to think differently, set aside biases, and use evidence and careful reasoning rather than act on impulse. When we do this—when we apply the head and the heart to each of our altruistic endeavors—we find that each of us has the power to do an astonishing amount of good.
Author : Peter Singer
Publisher : The Life You Can Save.org
ISBN 13 : 1733672702
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (336 download)
Download or read book 10th Anniversary Edition The Life You Can Save written by Peter Singer and published by The Life You Can Save.org. This book was released on 2019-12-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this Tenth Anniversary Edition of The Life You Can Save, Peter Singer brings his landmark book up to date. In addition to restating his compelling arguments about how we should respond to extreme poverty, he examines the progress we are making and recounts how the first edition transformed the lives both of readers and the people they helped. Learn how you can be part of the solution, doing good for others while adding fulfillment to your own life.
Author : Mark Hitchcock
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
ISBN 13 : 0785289534
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (852 download)
Download or read book Global Reset written by Mark Hitchcock and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2022-06-14 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global Reset will open readers’ eyes and alert them to how world leaders are using the “Great Reset” agenda to seize pandemics, natural disasters and catastrophes, civil disorder, political unrest, and other current events to reshape every facet of life—all pointing toward the universal economy and godless global government of the Antichrist. COVID unleashed a cascade of consequences that are now reaching far beyond the pandemic itself. Governments have begun leveraging the coronavirus and even the vaccine as a power grab, setting the stage for further intrusions in the future. These accelerants are driving the world to the precipice of fundamental, irreversible transformation. The winds of change are blowing. Tectonic shifts are underway at every level. These realities are alarming by themselves. And yet, there remains a still deeper, more sinister agenda imbedded within. According to prophecies found in the Bible, a one-world government will indeed emerge in the end times. According to the book of Revelation, a future unified government will encompass the whole earth, and Satan himself will be behind it for the ultimate purpose of ruling over all the earth and being worshipped by its inhabitants. While we aren’t in the end times, we’re on the edge of the precipice. In Global Reset, readers will discover: The “Great Reset” agenda that sets the stage for the end time scenario prophesied in Scripture How China and other great nations are beginning to play a dominant role in international, socioeconomic, and political dynamics Possible scenarios regarding America in the end times and what believers can do to stem the tide of decline God’s great reset planned for planet earth and humanity—the millennial reign of Christ Every person’s needs for an eternal personal reset that can come only through Jesus Christ Prepare yourself spiritually and arm yourself with information. Find answers to the questions everyone should be asking about current world events and how they may be ushering in Christ’s return.
