Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development Review

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Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development ReviewAs the title says, the book analyses the development of concepts in children. It starts with explanation of the classical theories of concepts, the reasons of their forming, and what they are lacking.
Starting from that, it goes carefully, without presuming anything, through a set of empirical studies done with young children (pre-school, and early school ages), tightening the ring arround the possible theories.
As a result, at the end the theory of theory based concepts seems to be best fitted.
Closing chapter made me eager to read following books of the author, where he is supposed to analyze what kind of early theories there are in children, if there is just few general , or more specific ones.
Very clearly and well written.Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development Overview

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The Hidden Connections: Integrating The Biological, Cognitive, And Social Dimensions Of Life Into A Science Of Sustainability Review

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The Hidden Connections: Integrating The Biological, Cognitive, And Social Dimensions Of Life Into A Science Of Sustainability ReviewIf you are looking to save the world via fiction, see Daniel Quinn. If you are looking to save the world via non-fiction, look no further than Hidden Connections. This book will provide you with everything you need (including a new mind and new conception of self) to get right with the ecosphere and the damage we have all helped inflict upon her. (Don't think the world is in trouble, see Lester Brown's ECO-ECONOMY).
Not a science buff, chapter one didn't blow my doors, although I was interested by what Capra had to say and (luckily) was able to wrap my head around all the concepts. In this chapter, he traces the evolution of life on the planet, and therewith provides a novel definition of life. A good place to start any book, I suppose, but certainly one about the future prospects of life on this planet.
Chapter two deals with mind and consciousness. In this chapter, Capra bridges the ancient Cartesian chasm between mind and body, defines cognition and consciousness, and explains the meaning of language. He even throws out some theories about the origin and evolution of all the above.
Chapter three breaks from the previous two chapters, as Capra delves into social reality. In this chapter he gives meaning to the world "meaning," explains social theory from Max Weber to Habermas, discusses human freedom, explains the three forms of power (coercive, compensatory, and conditioned power, or education), and talks about technology and culture.
For me, the book really picks up with chapter four, "Life and Leadership in Organizations." This chapter, Capra discusses what the definition of life means when applied to the corporate business world. Issues such as managment, labor rights, and the role of creativity are sure to please. It is this chapter that gets the ball rolling, which doesn't stop until the very last page.
Chapter seven almost left me breathless. Here Capra provides a thoroughgoing critique of the globalization. Books like THE CASE AGAINST THE GLOBAL ECONOMY are much longer and more detailed, but that is exactly what gives Capra's presentation unique: As with every subject, he synthesizes his argument into concise, lazer-like prose, drawing upon the work of hundreds of scholars, all well-documented in an A++ index.
Chapter eight deals with biotechnology, perhaps the defining charadcteristic of 21st century. This chapter covers a lot of ground: He explains genes, advances the freewill-determinism argument (freewill wins), gives a concise history of the Green Revolution, genetically modified organisms, the silent organic revolution, biopiracy, ecodesign, and biomimicry. As with the chapter on the global economy, this chapter is written in stunning prose that will not disappoint.
The last chapter is called "Changing the Game". In this chapter, Capra outlines the ecocide we are inflicting on the planet (again, a subject discussed singularly and to great satisfaction in ECO-ECONOMY), and what we can do to fix it. In this chapter, he gives a coherent definition of sustainability, outlines ecolitery, explains solar power, hypercars, converstion to a zero-waste hydrogen economy, and green tax shift that supports employment and taxes non-sustainable practices.
The way in which Capra weaves the concept of the network throughout the whole of this book is facinating, a subject which harkens back to his last book, THE WEB OF LIFE. Throughout HIDDEN CONNECTIONS, you will be exposed to many of networks with subtle power that is revolutionizing human culture and the fate of the planet as a whole: including academic networks, social protest networks and political networks. You will not finish this volume without feeling completely changed - and informed. No doubt, ecoliteracy can save the planet. I highly recommend this book.
A quote to wet your whistle: "Whereas the extraction of resources and the accumlation of waste are bound to reach their ecological limits, the evolution of life has demonstrated for more than three billion years that in a sustainable Earth houshold, there are no limits to development, diversification, innovation, and creativity."The Hidden Connections: Integrating The Biological, Cognitive, And Social Dimensions Of Life Into A Science Of Sustainability Overview

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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Review

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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking ReviewWell, as a huge fan of Gladwell's last book, The Tipping Point, I was excited last week to finally get my hands on his new effort: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. This time around Gladwell's basic thesis is that often snap judgements (what he calls "thin slicing") can be more accurate than well researched, careful analysis. Gladwell uses many examples (most are interesting) to demonstrate this behavior such as determining when art is faked, sizing up car buyers, picking presidential candidates and determining the characteristics of a person by observing their living space. This has always been Gladwell's talent: taking just-under-the-radar topics and bringing them into the public's view through great journalism and storytelling.
Gladwell is also careful to examine the flipside of this phenomenon: the times when "thin slicing" misleads us or gives us the wrong results. For instance, he presents examples where the mind works based on biases that don't necessarily enter the realm of conscious thought, but are nevertheless there (age, race, height, and so on).
It's a great topic and Gladwell sets it up with some wonderful examples, but then the book begins to have problems. First, the book is a little too anecdotal. Anyone who has ever had a 200-level psych class knows that what looks like cause and effect may be accounted for by an independent variable that wasn't considered (e.g., concluding cancer rates are higher in some area of the country because of pollution, when in fact the area has higher smoking rates as well). Given this, I found that too often conclusions are made on basic handwaving, or that important aspects of studies are not mentioned. For instance, Gladwell describes a study were observers are asked to determine certain characteristics (such as truthfulness, consciensciousness, etc.) of students by observing their dorm rooms; but, never does he mention how exactly one would determine these characteristics of individuals in a scientific manner for comparison. Such omissions leave the reader a little less than convinced.
Nevertheless, even with this flaw the first third of the book supports the thesis and makes for the usual entertaining reading; but things derail from there. The examples start to seem more peripheral: a rogue commander beating the conventional forces in a war game exercise, an artist known as Kenna who apparently should have made it big but didn't (why this example is interesting I've yet to figure out), and some rehash about coke vs pepsi from one of his older articles.
By the end of the book the whole thing derails into examples that just don't seem appropriate for the topic. Sure a study of why Pepsi always does better than Coke in blind tastes tests is interesting (and you can read his article on this without buying the book on Gladwell's web site), but does a study of "sips" vs "whole-can drinking" - people prefer sweet for sips (Pepsi) - really say something about unconscious rapid cognition?
One of Gladwell's greatest strengths is in recognizing interesting things, and then bringing them into conscious awareness so we actually realize these things are happening (whether it be tipping points or rapid cognition). I think he's partly achieved that in this book, but it doesn't come together the way the Tipping Point does. One gets the idea that this topic may have been better handled in an article rather than a full blown book.Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Overview

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