Book Description
Companies expect managers to use financial data to allocate resources and run their departments. But many managers can’t read a balance sheet, wouldn’t recognize a liquidity ratio, and don’t know how to calculate return on investment. Worse, they don’t have any idea where the numbers come from or how reliable they really are.
In Financial Intelligence, Karen Berman and Joe Knight teach the basics of finance—but with a twist. Financial reporting, they argue, is as much art as science. Since nobody can quantify everything, accountants always rely on estimates, assumptions, and judgment calls. Savvy managers need to know how those sources of possible bias can affect the financials—and they need to know that sometimes the numbers can be challenged.
While providing the foundation for a deep understanding of the financial side of business, the book also arms managers with practical strategies for improving their companies’ performance—strategies such as “managing the balance sheet” that are well understood by financial professionals but rarely shared with their nonfinancial colleagues.
Accessible, jargon-free, and filled with entertaining stories of real companies, Financial Intelligence will help nonfinancial managers be smarter and more confident in their everyday work.
Customer Reviews:
Illuminating.......2007-10-10
This book helps to demystify corporate accounting and arms the reader with the ability to ask the right questions for growing a profitable business.
Excellent book ... for beginners only.......2007-06-10
If you have some understanding of finance - even basic - don't expect to learn anything out of this book. I was expecting much more than that given the target audience - "managers" - and the publisher. I doubt that in today's world, a manager wouldn't have some sort of understanding of finance. Nonetheless, the book is well written, explained and organized. I had my analyst read it as an introduction and he liked it a lot.
Clear, interesting, fun.......2007-03-30
I had to buy this book for a fiscal management class. It is probably one of the best management books that I've read. It is really clear. I don't really have a head for finance, but this book makes it simple and entertaining. There are lots of examples from real life. This is a great book if you want to know more about financial vocabulary and basics. Also might be a good brushup, though I was starting from scratch so I wouldn't know.
A good beginning..........2007-03-10
This is an overview of what to look for in balance sheet and income statement as a manager. However, better information resides with cost based accounting around activities(ABC/M). This book is an excellent read for simple information. Not bad for the price!
Fun with managerial accounting.......2007-01-09
I really enjoyed reading "Financial Intelligence" by Karen Berman and Joe Knight. The authors use a fairly casual tone (often humorous) to combine a semester's worth of managerial accounting with a healthy dose of private sector application. The book is a quick read and should be great as an introduction to managerial accounting or a refresher for anyone responsible for managing a P/L at any level.
Book Description
Risk Intelligence gives executives and business managers a simple mental model and simple tools to manage these risks. According to the author's model, risks fall into two categories: knowable and therefore learnable, and unknowable and therefore difficult to prepare for.
The book not only shows readers how to analyse their knowable risks but helps them to appreciate the quality and utility of their own analysis. As it turns out, some people have a higher risk IQ than others and therefore analyse and manage risks more effectively. This book helps people of all risk aptitudes to assess and improve their risk IQs.
Customer Reviews:
Risk Intelligence is enthusiastically recommended for business leaders .......2006-11-05
Written by David Apgar, a managing director of the Corporate Executive Board best-practices research organization which serves senior executives at over 2,500 institutions worldwide, Risk Intelligence: Learning To Manage What We Don't Know openly challenges the common presumption that risk management and related business judgments is a matter solely for technical specialists. Risk Intelligence teaches the reader how to distinguish learnable risks from random risks in business decisions, how to score one's own risk intelligence, how to conduct a solid risk strategy audit, how to build networks that can adapt dynamically to risk, and much more. Written in plain terms with clear examples, Risk Intelligence is enthusiastically recommended for business leaders seeking to sharpen their flexibility and adaptability when confronting unknown threats.
Highly recommended.......2006-09-19
Apgar's focus on learnable risks offers some very useful frameworks for applying risk management concepts to a real-word competitive business environment.
Excellent new perspective on risk.......2006-09-08
This is a fantastic book with powerful insight about the failing of portfolio theory when it comes to understanding and managing business risks. Apgar offers wonderful examples to illustrate how business risks are actually learnable and he creates a framework for preparing yourself to be good at learning about and mitigating risk.
This would be a very good book for seminars on risk management at the college level or in exec education programs at corporations.
Book Description
The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know? offers an examination of the essential topics teachers, parents, and researchers need to know about the social and emotional development of gifted children.
Instigated by a task force convened by the National Association for Gifted Children and written by leading scholars in the field of gifted education, the book includes chapters on peer pressure and social acceptance, resilience, delinquency, and underachievement. The book also summarizes several decades worth of research on special populations, including minority, learning-disabled, and gay and lesbian gifted students.
Concise, comprehensive, meticulously researched, and wide-ranging in its coverage, The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know? is essential reading for those who wish to enable gifted students to develop their strengths and to position them to make the contributions of which they are capable.
For additional guidance on this special topic refer to On the Social and Emotional Lives of Gifted Children.
Educational Resource
Customer Reviews:
The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know?.......2007-08-09
It's a good book, but rather dry in its presentation. However, being primarily a bringing together and summarizing of published research in this topic, it is an invaluable reference for anyone wanting to really know what are the substantiated findings with respect to gifted children's social and emotional development. I bought it to better understand my daughter, and I am glad I did. But if someone is looking for straightforward parenting tips in dealing with these kids, then some other book may be more to the point. Overall, for me, it is an excellent book with some useful info not commonly found elsewhere.
Helpful Data.......2007-07-23
This book contains a wealth of information about numerous studies done on various facets of gifted education. For those who are data driven (and that certainly is the world we are living in these days) they will find a glut of statistics - many usable and even more of them quotable - to back up theories about what is effective for gifted students. For those trying to come up to speed on gifted education, this offers a crash course in the available research, but as with most books of this nature, it's pretty dry.
Not parent or teacher friendly - even if you're a gifted parent & teacher.......2007-01-26
I was hoping for a research based plain-speaking guide to helping my own highly gifted son. What I found in this book was a dense theory/research based textbook. As a fairly gifted adult and a high school English teacher, I was able to wade through the verbage, but it was no pleasant task. If you're looking for a textbook, this one is fine, but if you want some real-world advice, keep looking.
Leading research on socio-emotional development of gifted.......2003-10-18
The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children. What Do We Know? Edited by Maureen Niehart, Sally M. Reis, Nancy M. Robinson, Sidney M. Moon, A Publication of the National Association of Gifted Children, Washington, D.C.: Prufrock Press, Inc., 2002
This publication of the National Association for Gifted Children compiles 24 chapters written by leading researchers of the social-emotional development of gifted children. Chapters explore subjects including perfectionism, underachievement, depression, delinquency, risk and resilience, peer pressure and social acceptance among gifted students. It also addresses specific populations within the community of gifted youth. Categories include the special concerns of girls, of boys, students with learning disabilities or AD/HD, the creatively gifted, and gifted children who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Chapters review and present research relevant to each topic. Authors carefully distinguish fact from fiction regarding the social-emotional and psychological characteristics of gifted children. They stress, for example, that there is little research to suggest that gifted students are psychologically or emotionally vulnerable because of their gifts. However, gifted students may be at risk because of the frequent disparity between their cognitive abilities and their educational program. This book is a comprehensive resource, appropriate for both parents and educators.
Must-read for every gifted parent, teacher, & professional!.......2002-12-21
The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children assembles terrific team of well-respected professionals in gifted, and compiles a great set of essays on the social and emotional aspects of growing up gifted in today's world, complete with the research references to back up thier facts. Authors including Neihart, Rogers, Gross, Silverman, Reis, Robinson, and more... the contributors read like a who's who of gifted education today.
Everyone who works with, plays with, and parents gifted children should read this book. Topics include acceleration, the exceptionally gifted, Dabrowski's overexcitabilties, perfectionism, underacheivment, depression (does it really occur more, or less, in the gifted population?). Special populations are not overlooked, including female, male, gay, lesbian and bi-sexual, african-american, gifted / learning disabled and gifted / ADHD students. The book concludes with topics of parenting, counseling, and career counseling for gifted students.
With all the research-based information, the Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children is still readable and enjoyable. And it's FULL of research-proven techniques and strategies for dealing with the social and emotional aspects of growing up as a gifted child.
This book should be read by everyone in education, gifted, or parenting a gifted child!
Amazon.com
Frustrated and disappointed by constraining lists of "core knowledge" and elitist notions of "cultural literacy," renowned Harvard educator and psychologist Howard Gardner demonstrates his own synthesis of what makes the best learning in The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand. Gardner's profound invention, the concept of multiple intelligences, has shown how each of us has his or her own pattern of intelligence, or modes of learning and talent (for example, one person may do best at logical and musical activities, while another is more socially and linguistically attuned). Armed with an understanding of these intelligences, teachers have been provided a marvelous tool to access and develop the minds of all students better. In this heartening book, Gardner both furthers his vision and reveals his formulation of the "ideal education."
"Deep understanding should be our central goal; we should strive to inculcate understanding of what, within a cultural context, is considered true or false, beautiful or unpalatable, good or evil," he writes. To illustrate learning opportunities in these three realms, Gardner selects some heavyweight topics: Darwin's theory of evolution, Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, and the Holocaust. After a brief tour of the world's best schools (including Italy's remarkable student-driven Reggio Emilia), Gardner shows how these themes might be taught with a "multiple intelligences" approach to create as many ways as possible to begin study.
At times, Gardner's laments about education sound remarkably like those of fellow progressive Herbert Kohl (especially in 1998's Discipline of Hope: Learning from a Lifetime of Teaching). Each has a bitter pill for us to swallow about the status quo in education, but remains hopeful in his outlook for the future--if we can make some radical revisions to the methods and goals of our system, both men contend, all children can be graciously served by our teachers and schools. --Brian Williamson
Book Description
The brilliant educator who revolutionized our thinking with his theory of multiple intelligences now offers a far-reaching work on the goals of education.
Howard Gardner's concept of multiple intelligences has been hailed as perhaps the most profound insight into education since the work of Jerome Bruner, Jean Piaget, and, even earlier, John Dewey. Now in The Disciplined Mind, Gardner pulls together the threads of his previous works in a major new synthesis aimed at parents, educators, and the general public alike. The Disciplined Mind looks beyond such parochial issues as charters, vouchers, unions, and affirmative action in order to explore the larger questions of what an educated person should be and how such an education can be achieved for all students. Gardner eloquently argues that the purpose of K-12 education should be to enhance students' deep understanding of truth (and falsity), beauty (and ugliness), and goodness (and evil) as defined by their various cultures. With this stance, Gardner transforms the tired debate between "traditionalists" and "progressives."
In The Disciplined Mind, Gardner explores the theory of evolution, the music of Mozart, and the lessons of the Holocaust as a revealing set of examples that illuminates the nature of truth, beauty, and morality. His ultimate goal is an educated citizenry that understands the physical world, the biological world, and the social world -- in a personal context as well as from a broader social and cultural perspective. Light-years away from the fact-based, standardized-test mentality that has gripped the public and the policy makers, the education Gardner envisions will help younger generations rise to the challenges of the future -- while preserving the traditional goals of a "humane" education.
Even as he persuasively argues the merits of his educational approach, Gardner recognizes the difficulty of ever developing one universal ideal form of education. In an effort to reconcile conflicting educational viewpoints, he proposes the creation of six different educational pathways that, when taken together, could satisfy people's concern for student learning and their widely divergent views of what knowledge and understanding should be.
Customer Reviews:
A Disciplined Mind Without the "Disciplines".......2005-05-11
Prof. Gardner's book is disappointing. He tries to be all things to all people saying both that he believes in basic competencies but wants to put inquiry first. Also, his language is inflated, and lacking in philosopical specificity. For example, he believes in building up the inner world of "mental representations" [unexplained term] yet insists on "performances of understanding" [another unexplained term].
Also, he has respect for the individual learner and individual differences, yet he is concerned about the "position" or "situation" or social class dynamics in which the learning takes place. Thus, he fails to do justice either to the individual or to class, race, or gender. The role of leadership in learning is wholly ignored; and responsibility is not explored. In short, it is extremely difficult to pin down Prof. Gardner. It would be kind to say he is eclectic. I hope it's just not fuzzy thinking.
However, we can discern that he has a romantic obsession with beauty, truth, and goodness. Imagine -- the Holocaust is reduced to being an illustration of what goodness is or is not! His treatment of these ideas is superficial and banal. I don't like to be so judgmental, but his writing about them does not deserve a detailed analysis.
When attacking E.D. Hirsch whom he calls the main speaker for "cultural literacy," he sets up a straw man. He says that Hirsch's school of thought has an underlying belief in the Lockeian "tabula rasa." Yet, I find nothing in Hirsch's writings to indicate that he believes in a tabula rasa.
Further, is Prof. Gardner really less elitist than Hirsch as some have claimed? I have found that the Harvard elite spend their entire lives trying to achieve and learn everything, and be on top. Their lives are marked by ambition to the Nth degree; yet, he debunks time-honored and experience-honored content areas that traditionally have defined literacy at its best. Thus, I find a certain inherent dishonesty in Gardner's presentation.
Believe me, friends, I have taught students who have many ideals, Greek ideals and other ideals, but know very little, nor do they aspire to learn. If they have those ideals, and if they are facile and glib, will they be the leaders of tomorrow who are embraced by Prof. Gardner?
I find a tendency on Prof. Gardner's part to oversimplify certain issues like the Holocaust, and to overcomplicate certain others like the nature of intelligence.
The world is not waiting for the concept of intelligence to be re-written. Am I oversimplifying when I think that there is something very awkward about saying that there is no fundamental difference in intelligence between Einstein and the custodian of my school? Is this awkwardness because I am an elitist putting down the custodian? Is it because of lack of intelligence that I am still in the grip of a univocal definition of intelligence? I don't think so. Rather, we all know we are dependent on each other, and that everybody has some unique aptitudes or gifts they can express and be respected for, but trying to elevate this understanding to a higher level of truth or intellectual significance seems to me to be illegitimate.
Lastly, his writing style is a bit too fond of adjectives, and the book reads as a whole like It Takes A Village by Mrs. Clinton. The Disciplined Mind has a mellifluous style that presents itself as being highly sophisticated and, at the same time, as down-to-earth, with balanced common sense. Yet, ultimately, the book is boring. As one Amazon reviewer states, Prof. Gardner is full of himself.
In this book, there is no straightforward discussion or emphasis placed on knowledge, justice, Judeo-Christian values, persistence, responsibility, or character development...words which I find essential for a true philosophy of education.
Gardener's Eurocentrism dissappoints.......2001-01-12
While I whole-heartedly subscribe to the notion of multiple intelligences, I do so more with the factually accurate books of Stephen J. Gould than I do with Howard Gardener's work. This book is written for the American public, not for academia, and it shows. There is no citation, no supporting evidence, and no statistical analysis - merely Gardener holding forth his opinions about depth of knowledge being more valuable than breadth of knowledge. This would have been a much better essay than book. His choice of three examples of depth of knowledge is disappointingly eurocentric in an increasingly African-American, Hispanic and Asian American culture. I can quickly think of three other examples - 1) a study of jazz in 1920s Harlem, 2) the 16th century decimation of South America by diseases brought by Cortez's crew, and 3) a study of classical tonal Asian music - that would be equally as valid to study in depth and would help our students to understand both our culture and the rich diversity of other cultures. Why does Gardener see fit to publish this work? Perhaps he is blind to his own eurocentric ivory tower. He gives tidbits of other educational systems as being superior to ours, but then tells us "the Italian school simply cannot be transferred." So then why bother to use it as an example? To frustrate inspired teachers? Or to persuade us to send our children to Italy for preschool? Finally, Gardener stated that he would rather send his children to a school taught in Hirsch's curriculum and run by a cohesive staff than a school with his suggested curricula and run by the "average, harried" U.S. teacher. I find this very troubling. If the teacher is so important, than why bother to emphasize the curriculum? Why not emphasize the different methods of teaching the curriculum? Wouldn't that make more sense? In other words, the curriculum is not nearly as important as the teacher is. I think that Gardener had a good point to make, but that the book was so incoherent that his point was lost. I think his point was that no specific curriculum would enable our children to succeed. Instead, there is so much information in the world that teaching children to critically evaluate material has become vastly more important than the actual curriculum. In other words, students have to become meta-learners, learning "how to learn" in different subject areas. For example, learning history is vastly different from learning math. Therefore, while we can't expect all children to take a Ph.D. in history and to take 4 or 5 semesters of calculus, we can give them a good grounding in the overall structure of the field of mathematics, and the overall structure of the field of history. This understanding of the structure of the knowledge in that field of study would allow the student to find the needed information and competently analyze it when needed. I find that point interesting, and overall, made the book worth reading.
Pop Psychology in the 90s.......2000-02-11
I am not sure what disappoints me most - - the fact that Gardner seems to be uninterested in doing, or citing, even the most basic research on cognitive processes; the fact that intelligent people demonstrate almost no sense of history or intellectual objectivity as they rush to kneel at his altar; or the fact that he gives no credit to Spearman, Thurstone, Schwab or Hirst - - all of whom predated his highly-unoriginal writings.
I am disappointed that so many are willing to accept, on his publisher's word alone, that it is "Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences." Yes, he shines new light on this old theory; but then he stands in that light, figuratively extending his arms to his "educational groupies." As such, he belongs more in the company of Jim Bakker and Ross Perot than (as reported by the book's cover notes) that of Bruner, Piaget and Dewey.
Rather than being one of the great educational "thinkers" of our time as the cover notes imply; Howard Gardner proves only to be one of the great "publicists" of our time - - a perfect model for institutional halo effect. If he were teaching at a less prestigious institution, his ideas would be scrutinized with greater objectivity. What he offers is little more than new applications of some good, old theories.
Still, he has done us a couple of favors. He applies those theories in an appealing and effective manner, although when all is said and done, I suspect that he will be forced by his own applications of this "structural learning theory" to admit a host of other disciplines into his group - - each containing multiple discreet subsets. Educators who employ his views of this "structural learning theory" as evidence for the crucial importance of their own specific discipline in educational priority-making, are advised to find another rationale.
Finally, I learn much more about Howard Gardner in this book than I do about the disciplined mind. A degree of transparancy shows up on page 157 as he indicates that he, like most true thinkers, is simply searching for answers to the "deepest questions about the world." Those questions, according to Gardner, are: What is Truth? What is Beauty? What is Goodness? His answers - - "Truth" is determined through knowledge about evolution. "Beauty" is found in humankind's creative efforts. "Good" is recognized only as a contrast to evil. ...and his "disciplines serve as points of entry" for answering these questions.
The Beatitudes offer better "points of entry."
a convincing argument for a better program of education.......1999-10-10
I picked up this book because the local school system is experimenting with Gardner's multiple intelligences approach. As an interested parent, but not an educator, I found this book engaging and encouraging. It motivates me to get involved in the local school system and more actively involved in their education so that my two boys can benefit from at least some small part of the enlightened approach to schooling that Gardner describes. Not just the multiple intelligences perspective, but the education for understanding and the emphasis on deep exploration of important disciplines and explicit consideration of truth, beauty and morality. Stressing the learning of powerful ways to think over covering some broad checklist of important facts is great, although Gardner also acknowledges that certain core material on citizenship and basic literacy should be learned by all.
NationalBoard Certified Teacher Respoonse.......1999-10-02
It is interesting that as everyone rushes to quick fix education that they disregard the potential of different learning styles. This book is powerful in many ways, but the best chapter for those of us in the field to read is the one that explains how cultures educate their children. We have some things to learn about children. I hope the book, tied to Dr. Gardner's theory, will continue to open minds. Without his insights the National Board process would have been far more difficult to do. It was his work that opened my eyes to the needs and styles of my students. I learned to assess their personal growth and became a more reflective teacher.
Amazon.com
What's that squirrel thinking as it runs across the street? Behavioral neuroscientist Marc D. Hauser asks big questions about little brains in Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think. While his subjects aren't accessible for interviews, he believes that we can gain insight into their interior lives by examining their behavior in the context of their social and physical environments. Thus, while comparing the actions of chimps, rats, honeybees, and human infants, he is careful to keep in mind that each of them has different needs that require different kinds of intelligence and emotion and ought not be judged by the same criteria. Looking at counting, mapmaking, self-understanding, deception, and other intelligent activities, Hauser shows that the birds and the bees have more on their minds than we've come to believe. Acknowledging the vast gulf of language that separates our species from all others, he still maintains that this tool is but one of many and is no better an indication of "superior" intelligence than is the bat's fantastically well-developed echolocation system. In the last chapter, Hauser looks at moral behavior and decides that animals can be "moral patients but not moral agents"--that is, their inability to attribute mental states to others keeps them blameless for their actions but their sensitivity to suffering earns them fair treatment from the rest of us. Whether or not you agree with that, you're sure to find Wild Minds a refreshing look at the thoughts of our mute cousins. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
Do animals think? Can they count? Do they have emotions? Do they feel anger, frustration, hurt, or sorrow? Are they bound by any moral code? At last, here is a book that provides authoritative answers to these long-standing questions. Most pop-science books tend to anthropomorphize and romanticize animals, presenting them as furry little humans or as creatures that cannot think or feel at all. Marc Hauser, an acclaimed scientist in the field of animal cognition, uses insights from evolutionary theory and cognitive science to examine animal thought without such biases or preconceptions. For example, do species that share food or travel in large groups have greater innate mathematical abilities? Hauser treats animals neither as machines devoid of feeling nor as extensions of humans, but as independent beings driven by their own complex impulses. In prose that is both elegant and edifying, Hauser describes his groundbreaking research in the field, leading his readers on what David Premack, author of The Mind of an Ape, calls "a masterful tour of the animal mind."
Customer Reviews:
Tons of Experiments on nonhuman animals and infants.......2006-02-24
This book is very nice to read. It discusses a myriad of experiments conducted on nonhuman animals, mainly chimpanzees, but also pigeons, insects, rats, among other animals. Each chapter discusses a different topic: math cognition, spatial reasoning, morality in aniamls, self-awareness, among others. One little thing I did not like about this book is that Dr. Hauser is overcritical of almost all experiments, even though those very arguments can be said about his own experiments! The book overall provides a lot of information about animal behavior--and mind.
Shaping minds.......2005-04-05
Studies of human cognition inevitably raise the question: "Are other animals 'conscious'?". This immediately leads to a more perplexing question: "What is consciousness?". With the concept still but vaguely defined in human terms, asking it of the other animals evokes a host of difficulties. Hauser, to his credit, makes a worthwhile attempt to deal with both questions. In this sweeping survey, he declares that simplistic approaches to how the various primates deal with life are misplaced. There is a range of animal awareness out there, shaped by the forces of natural selection. Each species must be studied carefully and intensively, both in controlled and wild conditions. And the work, he insists, has barely started.
He combines his field experience with the work of many researchers in revealing facets of consciousness. Hauser's study was stimulated by a young monkey giving him a hug. He calls these elements "mental tool kits". By this he explains that similar conditions generate similar responses in the animal. This suggests there are probably areas in the brain common across many species. When conditions change, however, the response may vary wildly, indicating dissimilarity in capacity. A startling contrast is the range of food storage sites among different species. A dog may bury a bone in the garden, but a Clark's Nutcracker can stash up to thirty thousand seeds in six thousand locations - and find most of them the following Spring. Hauser calls this ability "cognitive mapping" - a special talent derived over long evolutionary time. Other animals have the role of "space travelers", although Clark's must hold some kind of record.
"Self-awareness" is an all-encompassing term. In the largest and most significant part of the book, Hauser dodges the vague, but common, phrase, replacing it with "self-recognition". This term is a more measurable aspect of cognition. Experiments with mirrors demonstrate that some primates know who they're looking at, while others see intruders or remain indifferent. Strangely, some birds seem to recognise themselves in reflected images. Expressing self-awareness means communicating. For us, that's done with speech or writing. With other creatures, other forms of expression must be inferred from observation. Deception is a commonly used test. An animal aware of itself, and aware of others as well, is likely to derive the other's intent. When another's intention can be directed, and the deceiver gains from that guiding, individuality seems enhanced. How far we can take such analyses is one of Hauser's calls for more research.
Language and thought are far too closely aligned in the minds of most researchers, Hauser believes. That link restricts "real" thoughts to those that can express them in words - in short, only humans. Hauser counters that thought is something we can interpret from actions - and the greater the variance in action, the better. He looks back at our evolutionary beginnings through the eyes of today's primates. Thought, he argues was there - language was a gloss that came later. The implication is that researchers need to try fresh approaches to studying how "wild minds" can be better understood. The result is the growth of a new discipline, cognitive ethology which encompasses a wide range of species who have, or might possess, thoughts we can identify. This book is a major step in furthering that new field. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Not definitive........2004-12-28
This is a report of ongoing studies, by many in different fields, of whether animals experience "moral emotions, feelings such as guilt, shame and embarrassment", if they're capable of inhibiting their own desires, if they "understand the impact of their" decisions, etc. I'm not sure how objective Mr. Hauser is however as, to me, he seems determined to have his opinion prevail as I can't recall one study he's accepted as valid. I'm sorry too that the studies are not definitive.
too much "we'll never really know".......2003-07-08
His style is a little flat: a scientist writing for popular audience and trying really hard not to talk down. But he organizes the subject really well and clearly, with chapters on tools, numbers, spatial navegation, sense of self, language, moral reasoning. Each one synthesizes a large amount of scientific research on both animals and children, with interesting anecdotes.
The preface makes it clear he's writing against sentimental popular books on the subject that treat animal as being like humans inside, and themselves attack "the scientists." But this book gives a dreary image of the scientists. Each chapter describes some amazing abilities of different animals, describes some exhausting, repetitive experiments to document (it often seems) a small part of what was already suspected, and then concludes that as to the most important part -- "what animals really think" -- science doesn't know. But (drearily), they probably aren't conscious.
He should be clearer than he is in summarizing what the experiments have shown, and in particular about the differences in cognitive performance (not "real thought") btw adult and infant humans, primates (his main interest), birds (who get less attention), rats (still less), and social insects (who make a few star turns).
Subtitle should be how animals and human minds differ.......2003-01-16
Hauser has written a remarkably accessible introduction to comparative psychology. While containing the main points one might expect in a textbook outline, he does an excellent job of presenting this information in an interesting narrative form.
Hauser begins with an introductory chapter that presents his basic approach and cautions against anthropomorphisms.
Chapters two through four comprise a unit that focuses on those mental capacities shared by animals and human beings. Both can identify objects and predict their movement. Both can distinguish quantity. Both can navigate through space. Perhaps it takes a course in cognitive psychology to appreciate these commonalities, but I believe that Hauser does an excellent job of presenting research results for lay consumption. His presentation of animal and human infant studies of the expectancy-violation principle is alone worth the cost of the book.
The second section, chapters five through seven, focus on mental capacities which seem to be qualitatively common in animals and humans, but quantitatively distinct. Hauser presents a well-balanced account of the evidence for self-awareness, teaching, and deception among animals.
The final section contains two chapters on mental capacities that appear to be almost unique to human beings - language and morality. Hauser's careful review of animal communication is amazing, as is his locus of morality in the ability to inhibit selfish tendencies to maintain social conventions.
I recommend this book without reservation. No reader will regret spending time with this book. It is quite stimulating.
Amazon.com
Just what does it take to raise a responsible, compassionate child in a society whose overbearing media celebrates and encourages violence, promiscuity, and gluttonous materialism? Dr. William Sears and his wife, Martha, a nurse, understand that instilling a moral code in one's children is among the most daunting, yet vital, of all parenting tasks. In The Successful Child, they've marvelously distilled 34 years' experience parenting their eight children and treating thousands of kids in their pediatric office--along with facts from recent scientific studies--into this collection of constructive, reassuring guidelines for nurturing children into healthy, well-adjusted young adults.
As Dr. Sears told his children, "Your success in life ... will not be measured by the money you make or the degrees you earn, but rather by the number of persons whose lives are better because of what you did." To that end, Sears advocates what he has coined "attachment parenting," or AP, the practice of listening to your parenting instincts and being sensitive to your baby's needs (such as by quickly responding to cries; by breastfeeding on cue, not bottle-feeding on a schedule; and by co-sleeping). By having his needs met immediately, Sears says the child learns to trust adults, and he in turn mirrors this behavior by acting sensitively to the needs of others later on.
Sears says, "It's never too late to try the AP approach with a child," but The Successful Child definitely will be most useful to parents who've raised their child according to AP guidelines through infancy and toddlerhood. Those who haven't may shudder when Sears writes that the developmental stage from birth to one year most influences a child's future success "because that's when caregivers leave the most lasting impressions on a child's brain." Nevertheless, the Searses have packed in a plethora of sensible tips here for all parents, including 16 ways to teach children how to make wise choices, 12 strategies for guiding spiritual development, seven questions to ponder when a teen wants to start working part-time, and a dozen ways to boost your child's intellectual abilities, such as by offering a diet high in brain-building omega-3 fatty acids. But the most important thing parents can do for their kids, the Searses say, is to hold high expectations: "Let her know that you expect her to do her best, no less and no more, and that you will love her no matter what." --Erica Jorgensen
Book Description
Just what does it take to raise a responsible, compassionate child in asociety whose overbearing media celebrates and encourages violence, promiscuity,and gluttonous materialism? Dr. William Sears and his wife, Martha, a nurse,understand that instilling a moral code in one's children is among the mostdaunting, yet vital, of all parenting tasks. In The Successful Child,they've marvelously distilled 34 years' experience parenting their eightchildren and treating thousands of kids in their pediatric office--along withfacts from recent scientific studies--into this collection of constructive,reassuring guidelines for nurturing children into healthy, well-adjusted youngadults.As Dr. Sears told his children, "Your success in life ... will not be measuredby the money you make or the degrees you earn, but rather by the number ofpersons whose lives are better because of what you did." To that end, Searsadvocates what he has coined "attachment parenting," or AP, the practice oflistening to your parenting instincts and being sensitive to your baby's needs(such as by quickly responding to cries; by breastfeeding on cue, notbottle-feeding on a schedule; and by co-sleeping). By having his needs metimmediately, Sears says the child learns to trust adults, and he in turn mirrorsthis behavior by acting sensitively to the needs of others later on. Sears says, "It's never too late to try the AP approach with a child," butThe Successful Child definitely will be most useful to parents who'veraised their child according to AP guidelines through infancy and toddlerhood.Those who haven't may shudder when Sears writes that the developmental stagefrom birth to one year most influences a child's future success "because that'swhen caregivers leave the most lasting impressions on a child's brain."Nevertheless, the Searses have packed in a plethora of sensible tips here forall parents, including 16 ways to teach children how to make wise choices, 12strategies for guiding spiritual development, seven questions to ponder when ateen wants to start working part-time, and a dozen ways to boost your child'sintellectual abilities, such as by offering a diet high in brain-buildingomega-3 fatty acids. But the most important thing parents can do for their kids,the Searses say, is to hold high expectations: "Let her know that you expect herto do her best, no less and no more, and that you will love her no matter what."--Erica Jorgensen
Customer Reviews:
Raising a child.......2007-06-27
Becoming a mother has made me remind my childhood, all the goods and bads. All those special moments I won't forget, and all those other moments I'd prefer not remembering. It has made me relive the past to see why I am the way I am. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be who I am, but I could've turned out better!!!
This amazing book tells you how children are affected, positively or negatively, with the behavior of their parents and their surroundings. With this book, I am finally understanding why, for example, I like to study, why I don't like to hug people, or why I didn't really obey my parents, etc. With astonishing simplicity it explains it all. I'm so grateful I could read this book now that my baby's small, so I can do everything that's in my hands (and in my husbands too) to help her turn out well and be a successful child.
Must have book.......2007-01-05
Great book for all us parents who do not like the "cry-it-out" method!!!
Excellent Book!.......2006-03-20
I really am enjoying this book by Martha Sears, just as I have the other Sears books. What a wonderful way to help encourage our children to become the most successful people they can be!
Insightful, but don't believe everything you read.......2006-02-22
I love and agree with a LOT of what the authors have to say in "The Successful Child". However, the authors really push the idea that a baby must be breastfed and carried in a sling 24/7 in order to be "connected" to his or her parents. I don't buy that. I don't practice what the authors call Attachment Parenting, and my son and I are extremely connected.
One other thing that bothers me about the book is that in some of the stories it is so obvious that the author is lying. Many of the anecdotes are clearly made up. For example, in one of his anecdotes Dr. Sears is talking about how he was watching a couple and their toddler son in his office waiting room one day, and he watched them long enough to be able to tell that they were excellent parents, and went over to tell them such and have a conversation with them about their parenting. How many doctors do you know who have time to sit in the waiting room watching patients who are waiting to see them, and carry out conversations? NONE. If I had been in a waiting room for a while, and I caught the doctor I was paying to see standing around IN THE WAITING ROOM watching instead of taking care of appointments, I would be very upset and would probably never visit there again. This is just one example of instances in which I think the authors are flat-out lying.
Most of what's in this book (aside from the repetetive AP talk, which gets old quick) is advice on how to practice positive parenting. If that is what you're interested in, then definitely give it a try. I checked this book out from the library but will probably buy it because there are a lot of ideas and methods in it that I don't want to forget, and that I have used on my son since reading it. I especially like the sections on sexuality, communication, and compassion.
naturally disciplining.......2005-07-20
I am from India and I am a product of attatchment parenting(almost all Indians are)...I now have a 2 month old baby girl...I agree with every aspect of Dr Sears philosophy about parenting.....As a kid,teenager and then a youth,I have always felt considering my parents' opinion before taking important decisions.It is true that I have not done many things I wanted to bcoz of fear of hurting my parents' feelings..looking back,I don't feel my freedom or independence was questioned in those times.In fact,they turned out to be good for me.But still,I disagree with my mom's opinions on almost anything and I have my own ways too.I believe attatchment parenting is what is natural and that is how to raise caring,sensitive children who have moral values and will strive towards the bettering of the world they live in.
Amazon.com
The basic premise of Justin Menkes's book is simple: just as math problems require a certain kind of quantitative intelligence, or relationships require the delicacy of emotional intelligence, strong business leadership rests on executive intelligence. Menkes has worked as an organizational consultant for an impressive roster of blue-chip companies--the CEOs of Gillette, Amgen, and Tyco offer their praise on the back cover of Executive Intelligence--and his experience shows in this thought-provoking volume. Clearly patterned after Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, the seminal book that explained a theory of multiple intelligences which might leave a person highly expert in one area but surprisingly deficient in others, Executive Intelligence provides a helpful analysis of the cognitive abilities which define strong leaders.
Menkes starts his book by breaking down the different components of executive intelligence. He argues that conventional behavioral frameworks which try to prescribe rote behaviors fail for leadership coaching, due to the need for customized solutions based on the specific circumstances of each business and leader. Instead, the best executives benefit from critical thinking, which helps them gather, process, and apply information to reach goals and navigate complex situations.
Three key areas of this executive intelligence receive significant attention through the book's 17 chapters. The first centers on tasks, and executives' ability to identify problems, devise solutions, and exercise good judgment in pursuing those solutions. The second area of intelligence is social, and revolves around executives' management of relationships with others. Intriguingly, Menkes does not view the social component of executive intelligence as "charisma", or a "good personality", per se; more important than those qualities, he argues, is the ability to see others' viewpoints, to be able to balance among competing views, and to communicate effectively. The third area of executive intelligence is more inwardly focused on leaders themselves, on their abilities to learn from their mistakes, and to adjust behavior to avoid repeating them. In each of these sections, readers will find a mix of real-world examples from the experiences of Fortune 500 leaders like Gillette's Jim Kilts or AOL's Jon Miller, and more theoretical arguments grounded in review of other management books and business-review articles.
The potential audience for Executive Intelligence is large: it includes executives and aspiring executives, of course, but also those who must coach or evaluate leaders, and scholars focused on leadership development. As an addition to the literature on leadership development, following classics like On Becoming a Leader and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, this book will find its way onto many managers' shelves. --Peter Han
Book Description
The final word on what traits make for highly successful managers – and a detailed explanation of how to identify potential standout performers.
Executive Intelligence is about the substance behind great leadership. Inspired by the work of Peter Drucker and Jim Collins, Justin Menkes set out to isolate the qualities that make for the 'right' people. Drawing on his background in psychology and bolstered by interviews with accomplished CEOs, Menkes paints the portrait of the ideal executive.
In a sense, Menkes's work reveals an executive IQ – the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Star leaders readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognise the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges.
Weaving together research, interviews and the results of his own proprietary testing, Menkes exposes one of the great fallacies of corporate life, that hiring and promotion are conducted on a systematic or scientific basis that allows the most accomplished to rise to their levels of optimal responsibility.
Finally, Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.
Download Description
"
What differentiates a ""star"" executive from his or her peers? This is no idle question because experts like Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, and Jack Welch agree that great talent builds great companies. So, finding and assembling a critical mass of the very best people should be the first priority of every business. But how do you recognize a star? What distinguishes them? Over the years, we've heard vague answers such as, ""they are people with sound judgment, business smarts, or business acumen.""But what do any of these terms really tell us?
Based on eight years of research on intelligence tests and cognitive skills,
Executive Intelligence reveals the set of aptitudes that all brilliant leaders share. Dr. Justin Menkes, a renowned leadership expert, verified these findings through hundreds of interviews with senior executives, including thirty of the most celebrated CEOs in the world. Menkes discovered that just as great mathematicians share an exceptional facility for skills such as computation and deductive reasoning, great managers also have a certain set of cognitive skills that are at the heart of business acumen.
Managerial work can be broken down into three subjects: accomplishing tasks, working with other people, and self-evaluation. Within each of these categories there are identifiable cognitive skills that determine how well an executive performs, such as:
TASKS -- the abilities to properly define a problem, identify the highest-priority issues, and assess both what is known and what needs to be known in order to render a sound decision.
OTHERS -- the abilities to recognize underlying agendas, understand multiple perspectives, and anticipate likely emotional reactions.
SELF -- the abilities to identify one's own mistakes, encourage and seek out constructive criticism, and adjust one's own behavior.
Though these cognitive skills play a profound role in determining a manager's success, they are not what most employers focus on when recruiting or promoting executives. Instead, nearly everyone fixates on personality type, style, or other irrelevant characteristics. This book seeks to refocus attention on what really determines leadership aptitude.
What star leaders do is not magic. Their accomplishments are made possible by specific, identifiable skills that can be measured -- and learned. With a clear understanding of Executive Intelligence, managers can develop a means to improve their own performance as well as identify and cultivate the critical mass of talent their organizations so desperately seek.
"
Customer Reviews:
A rigorous and eloquent examination of "the single biggest driver of executive performance".......2007-10-16
There are significant differences between information and knowledge. The former consists of raw data; the latter is what results from an evaluation of the data to increase one's knowledge and understanding of the given subject. Hence the importance of judgment when making decisions based on that understanding. Also, there are differences between what can be learned from formal training (e.g. reading, reasoning, and writing skills) and what cannot (e.g. character). Finally, as Howard Gardner and countless others have asserted, there are many different forms of intelligence that are frequently viewed as aptitudes.
For example, in his latest book, Five Minds for the Future, Gardner identifies and then explains five separate but related combinations of cognitive abilities that are needed to "thrive in the world during eras to come...[cognitive abilities] which we should develop in the future." Gardner refers to them as "minds" but they are really mindsets. Mastery of each enables a person:
1. to know how to work steadily over time to improve skill and understanding;
2. to take information from disparate sources and make sense of it by understanding and evaluating that information objectively;
3. by building on discipline and synthesis, to break new ground;
4. by "recognizing that nowadays one can no longer remain within one's shell or one's home territory," to note and welcome differences between human individuals and between human groups so as to understand them and work effectively with them;
5. and finally, "proceeding on a level more abstract than the respectful mind," to reflect on the nature of one's work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives.
Gardner notes that the five "minds" he examines in this book are different from the eight or nine human intelligences that he examines in his earlier works. "Rather than being distinct computational capabilities, they are better thought of as broad uses of the mind that we can cultivate at school, in professions, or at the workplace."
In this volume, Justin Mendes explains that Executive Intelligence(tm) (or ExI) "is the single biggest driver of executive performance" and claims that it is overlooked by current assessment practices. Through his work with some of the most effective executives in the world, Menkes, co-founder of Executive Intelligence Group, sought to understand the qualities of star performers. He found that success could be attributed to intelligence but not to, for example, the academic IQ required for admission into top universities. Instead, Menkes has identified specific patterns of "intelligent executive behavior." He distilled this behavioral pattern of success and, over three years, designed an assessment methodology to measure it. This is the Executive Intelligence Evaluation.
What does this evaluation involve? I visited executiveintelligence.com and located this explanation: "Structured as a one-on-one interview, the Executive Intelligence Evaluation quantifies and benchmarks an executive on the unique cognitive skills that are essential for leadership excellence. Instead of simply asking an executive about their capabilities, the methodology requires a candidate to demonstrate their skills. To accomplish this, the ExI Evaluation utilizes job relevant scenarios that necessitate: decision making and information gathering, managing the activities of others, and evaluating/adapting one's own thinking and behavior - in other words, the central responsibilities of any executive. What's more, a candidate's capabilities are evaluated in the real-time verbal format in which they must be demonstrated on the job. The interview takes about one-and-a-half hours and is conducted by a highly trained expert. Scores have been shown to have no adverse impact in terms of race, gender, language, or country of origin."
This book can be of immense value to C-level executives in any organization (regardless of its size or mature) who have or share primary responsibility in one or more of these areas:
1. Identifying their organization's leadership and management needs
2. Locating, interviewing, and selecting those to fill those needs
2. Supervising assignment and development of executive talent
3. Measuring executives' performance
4. Determining their compensation
5. Deciding on promotions, probations, and terminations
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out any of Howard Gardner's books (notably Five Minds for the Future), Daniel Goleman's Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis' Judgment: How Winning leaders Make Great Calls, Steven Feinberg's The Advantage-Makers: How Exceptional Leaders Win by Creating Opportunities Others Don't, and Launching a Leadership Revolution: Mastering the Five Levels of Influence co-authored by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward.
Good information for building a team.......2007-08-29
While I'm not certain I completely buy off on the premise that IQ is the single best predictor of success, this book does a nice job of laying out the qualities needed to succeed as a leader. Dealing with others, anticipating unforseen consequences, humility, etc. - all things to look for. Definitely worth a read if you're responsible for hiring and building a team.
Executive Intelligence.......2007-07-03
Menkes offers an excellent model for executive intelligence modeled after Binet's work in general intelligence that can be applied to the business world. He also offers quality real-life applications for using this model in companies.
He also cites why companies are not as effective as they should be, while offering hope that such intelligence can be developed in leaders. I highly recommend this excellent book as it has both personal and organizational applications.
Great book for assessing yourself and your bosses.......2007-05-27
I simply loved this book! The author states clearly and succinctly what makes up Executive Intelligence and that is task, people, and self. Through these three cognitive skills a person can gauge oneself or his boss. This is very powerful because you can discover blind spots and hidden strengths both in yourself and those you work for.
I would use these techniques in sizing up my competition.
Executive Intelligence.......2007-03-12
I love this book. Having been an executive recruiter for the last five years, I have been frustrated with the dysfunctional process of hiring executives. There have been times that I have felt I was "licking my fingers" whether candidates I presented to my clients were A-Players or not.
After reading this book, I realize that I have only been screening candidate's knowledge, but not their intelligence.
In addition to helping me better screen the candidates I work with, this book has inspired me to become a much better critical thinker in my business and personal life.
My only complaint is that Justin Menkes has an exclusive relationship with Spencer Stuart. As a recruiter, I would love to be trained in these valuable and revolutionary concepts and techniques.
Book Description
Computers are incredible. They are one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, dramatically and irrevocably changing the way we live. That is the good news. The bad news is that there are still major limitations to computers, serious problems that not even the most powerful computers can solve. The consequences of such limitations can be serious. Too often these limits get overlooked, in the quest for bigger, better, and more powerful computers. In Computers Ltd., David Harel, best-selling author of Algorithmics, explains and illustrates one of the most fundamental, yet under-exposed facets of computers - their inherent limitations. Looking at the bad news that is proven, lasting and robust, discussing limitations that no amounts of hardware, software, talents or resources can overcome, the book presents a disturbing and provocative view of computing at the start of the 21st century. Along the way he shows just how far from perfect computers are, while shattering some of the many claims made for these machines. Though we may strive for bigger and better things in computing, we need to be realistic: computers are not omnipotent - far from it. Moreover, the problem is real and here to stay.
Customer Reviews:
Easy introduction.......2004-09-21
The is a good introductory book into the limits of computation. The book introduces the major concepts and vocabulary in a very easy to understand way. However that is the limit to this book on limits. If you are looking for non-technical information, then this may well be the book for you.
If you are looking for proofs, answers to your homwork problems, or rigor, you will be disappointed. The author states many conjectures few have proofs. From the conjectures he uses easily understood arguments to make his points. The conjectors are in fact true, but you will have to look elsewhere to find proofs.
The reasons I gave 4 stars instead of 5 are twofold. Although the book is pretty good, the writing seems a bit quirky at times. I would have liked to have seen a bit more rigor. Although I can understand wanting the book to be as simple as possible, but many of the proofs are not very difficult and could have been included (for example the halting problem).
A limited introduction to the limits of Computation.......2001-11-09
This another nice book from David Harel, the author of the delightful
'Algorithmics : the spirit of Computer Science', which introduces the
general reader to the limits of computation (and hence the limits of
what computers can do).
Harel, who's a renowned figure in the field of Theoretical Computer Science,
has the ability to write and explain in a way that makes things seem
wonderfully clear, and indeed it is only such authors who can write good
books for the general reader.
This small (240 pages) book is quite ambitious in its coverage of topics -
starting off with the notion of an algorithm, it goes on to discuss
Efficiency and correctness, Turing machines, Finite state machines,
Decidability, Computability, Complexity, NP-completeness, Recursion,
Parallel algorithms, Probabilistic algorithms, and even touches upon
Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence !!
All this is done with almost no mathematics, at least hardly any beyond
high-school level. The reader is gently introduced to some of the most
celebrated problems of Computer Science, and he/she can get a feel of
the nature of this exciting and interesting field.
Throughout the book, the author keeps underscoring the fact that no matter
how far technology progresses, there'll always be problems that we can't
solve cheaply, or can't solve at all, or can't ever know whether they
can be solved or not (!!), ie he stresses that there are problems that
are 'beyond computers', which cannot be tamed by more and more processing
power or any other technological advancements.
This book covers pretty much the same range of topics as Harel's earlier
book, 'Algorithmics : the spirit of Computer Science', but in only half
the number of pages, and with a heavy emphasis on the 'limitations' of
computers, which actually are limitations of our knowledge rather than
of the machines themselves.
How does it compare with the eariler book ? Well, it's more uptodate,
since it was published in 2000, whereas the other one was in 1992 -
so here you find buzzwords like 'Java', 'Dotcom', 'Quantum Computing',
etc, which you wouldn't find in the earlier book, but on the whole
i prefer the earlier one, since it had a little more detail, made you
think a little more, and even had exercises for those who were interested
in probing further.
So all in all, if you want a light, breezy introduction to the basic ideas
of Theoretical Computer Science which doesn't demand too much concentration,
this is a good choice, but if you're willing to put in some time & effort
& enjoy puzzles & logical thinking, then you'll find Harel's other book,
'Algorithmics : the spirit of Computer Science' much more rewarding.
Popularization At Its Best.......2000-11-23
This book is a masterpiece! It can be read on many levels and should be a must for anyone who knows how to read and think. The layman will get a gripping and very accessible account of the limits of computing in particular, and the boundaries of knowledge in general. The professional will be able to see, in a nutshell, and explicitly, what he or she or it already knew, but did not really FEEL. But note that this book does not put down computers, but shows the intrinsic limitation of all knowledge. It should have been subtitled: `What EVEN computers can't do'.
Average customer rating:
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In the Era of Human Capital: The Emergence of Talent, Intelligence, and Knowledge As the Worldwide Economic Force and What It Means to Managers and
Richard D. Crawford
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
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Book Description
Life is rising up to meet us at every moment. The question is: Are we there to meet it or not? Diane Rizzetto presents a simple but supremely effective practice for meeting every moment of our lives with mindfulness, using the Zen precepts as tools to develop a keen awareness of the motivations behind every aspect of our behavior—to "wake up to what we do"—from moment to moment. As we train in mindfulness of our actions, every situation of our lives becomes our teacher, offering priceless insight into what it really means to be happy. It's a simple practice with transformative potential, enabling us to break through our habitual reactions and to see clearly how our own happiness and well-being are intimately, inevitably connected to the happiness and well-being of everyone around us.
Customer Reviews:
Wise and Insightful.......2006-08-28
A wonderful book. Full of very down-to-earth wisdom on living compassionately, honestly, and courageously. Many real-life stories from Rizzetto's work as a Zen teacher as well as practical advice and exercises for applying the book's teaching to your own life. Highly recommended.
Insightful and helpful.......2006-04-13
This is a wonderful and insightful book. It really brought the precepts alive for me in a thoughtful and practical way. I have read through it twice and am amazed at how much more I picked up from second reading. It has been absolutely helpful, a real gem, and a very good read to boot!
Great introduction .......2005-09-28
I picked this book up at the library and I had no idea why I chose it, the title was interesting and I was intrigued. I had no idea what the Buddhist precepts were. Yet reading the book I was fascianted by the insight. I found it went along with Stephen Covey's 7 Habits and the 8th Habit, as a way to change your life by working between the stimulus and the response. I liked the book so much I will buy it so I can re-read it when I need to. When the student is ready a teacher will be found applied here. I did not know I was looking for this insight but I am glad I was lead to find this book.
O.k. book........2005-09-09
The book is o.k., but the precepts are not the actual Buddhist ones, just the author's own versions of them.
The other problem is that I think this book is written primarily for women. The author always uses "she" or "her" when giving examples of anything. (Or maybe it is just women's lib gone awry!)
Anyway, it's an o.k. book.
The Precepts Come to Life.......2005-08-31
What I like most about Diane Rizzetto's book is not just that the words are clear, which they certainly are, but that they are immediate and alive. There is none of the moral judgment that usually accompanies writing on the Buddhist precepts; rather, the precepts actually come to life, as guideposts on how to live in the midst of the moral confusion that marks our everyday living. Diane uses many real life examples, both from her own life and the lives of others: some help clarify the meaning of the precept; some illustrate how the precept can be lived in real lfe situations; and some are deeply inspirational - pointing us in the direction that we all wish to go. I recommend this book to anyone, Buddhist or not, meditator or not, who would like to live in a more genuine and open hearted way.
Books:
- Fingerprints of the Gods
- Flow Control by Feedback
- Fluid Mechanics With Engineering Applications
- From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals)
- Fundamentals of Space Systems (The Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory Series in Science and Engineering)
- Fundamentals of WiMAX: Understanding Broadband Wireless Networking (Prentice Hall Communications Engineering and Emerging Technologies Series)
- Gregor And The Curse Of The Warmbloods (Underland Chronicles)
- Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature
- Handbook of Midlife Development (Wiley Series in Adulthood and Aging)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Conversations with God : An Uncommon Dialogue
- A Passover Haggadah
- Vintage Munro
- Tuscan Elements
- Why You're Dumb, Sick & Broke...And How to Get Smart, Healthy & Rich!
- Applied Mathematical Demography
- Adaptive Filter Theory
- Mushrooms of Western North America
- The Ups and Downs of a Wall Street Trader During the Depths of the Great Depression of the 1930s
- How I Earned the Ruptured Duck: Behind the Lines in Wwii
Ahead of the Curve: A Commonsense Guide to Forecasting Business and Market Cycles
Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators: From Idea to Execution
Finance for Managers (Harvard Business Essentials)
Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management
Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning
