Monday, August 29, 2022

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Oliver Burkeman
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AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Provocative and appealing . . . well worth your extremely limited time." ―Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal

The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks.

Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern fixation on “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society―and that we could do things differently.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

人生思考題 : 哈佛教育學院院長提出的5+1個人生重要問題 (Wait, What?: And Life’s Other Essential Questions)

詹姆斯.萊恩 (James E. Ryan)
online access from HyRead ebook
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《紐約時報》暢銷書 Amazon.com空降排行榜
哈佛大學給畢業生最棒的禮物‧感動全球900萬人精彩演說
你看過後,也會重新思考自己的日常溝通

5個平凡問題 串出非凡人生
如果你希望自己被愛、被珍惜、被尊重
就應該試著問,也試著答

網路上瘋傳的畢業典禮演講
哈佛大學教育學院院長剖析人生最重要的5+1個問題

不管在會議室或在教室,我們花了太多時間和精力在尋找正確答案。事實上,問題和答案一樣重要,甚至可能更重要。好問題能讓我們超越有限的認知,勇敢面對困難、未知、令人尷尬,甚至不愉快的處境,讓我們對人際關係和世界有更深入的了解。

哈佛大學教育學院院長詹姆斯.萊恩在本書指出問與答的奧妙,帶我們領略美國首席大法官的思辨過程,提醒我們經常詢問人生最重要的五個基本問題,包括:

• 「等等,你說什麼?」,是所有了解的根源。
• 「我想知道……?」,是所有好奇心的核心。
• 「至少,我們是不是能夠……?」,是所有進展的開始。
• 「我能夠幫什麼忙?」,是所有良好關係的基礎。
• 「真正重要的是什麼?」,能夠幫助我們找到生命的核心。

本書充滿許多幽默、動人的小故事,從美國最高法院、哈佛大學、殘障兒童之家到急診室,還有作者的身世。只要我們經常詢問這五個問題,就能夠回答人生加分題:「即便如此,今生今世,你是否已經了無遺憾?」本書妙趣橫生,說理深刻又感人,將永遠改變你對問題的看法。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, August 22, 2022

2030: How Today's Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything

Mauro F. Guillen
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The world is changing drastically before our eyes - will you be prepared for what comes next? A groundbreaking analysis from one of the world's foremost experts on global trends, including analysis on how COVID-19 will amplify and accelerate each of these changes.

Once upon a time, the world was neatly divided into prosperous and backward economies. Babies were plentiful, workers outnumbered retirees, and people aspiring towards the middle class yearned to own homes and cars. Companies didn't need to see any further than Europe and the United States to do well. Printed money was legal tender for all debts, public and private. We grew up learning how to "play the game", and we expected the rules to remain the same as we took our first job, started a family, saw our children grow up, and went into retirement with our finances secure.

That world - and those rules - are over.

By 2030, a new reality will take hold, and before you know it:
There will be more grandparents than grandchildren
The middle class in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will outnumber the US and Europe combined
The global economy will be driven by the non-Western consumer for the first time in modern history
There will be more global wealth owned by women than men
There will be more robots than workers
There will be more computers than human brains
There will be more currencies than countries

According to Mauro F. Guillen, the only way to truly understand the global transformations underway - and their impacts - is to think laterally. That is, using "peripheral vision", or approaching problems creatively and from unorthodox points of view. Rather than focusing on a single trend - climate change or the rise of illiberal regimes, for example - Guillen encourages us to consider the dynamic inter-play between a range of forces that will converge on a single tipping point - 2030 - that will be, for better or worse, the point of no return.

2030 is both a remarkable guide to the coming changes and an exercise in the power of "lateral thinking", thereby revolutionizing the way you think about cataclysmic change and its consequences.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

樹木教我的人生課 : 遇到困難時, 我總是在不知不覺間, 向樹木尋找答案

禹鐘榮
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「只要閱讀一次,就會愛上樹木,
閱讀兩次,就會熱愛自身的生命。」
★療癒韓國人民的年度之書
★15萬冊作者的最新力作,入選韓國最大連鎖書店「上班族必讀書籍」


樹木,是信仰,更是人類的心靈慰藉......

「努力、厚實實力,才能成功」——杉樹
你知道嗎?小杉樹要長得跟其他大樹一般,需要經歷百年的漫長歲月。但它們並未放棄,仍然在漆黑的土地中生根發芽,因為它們知道唯有等待並厚實根部的力量,才能有長高的事實。 ——如果是人類,也許有人早已放棄,但也有人如同小杉樹般,為了獲得成就,在別人不知道的幾千個日夜中努力。

「想獲得什麽,就得付出什麽」——樺樹
因為強風而無法向上長高的樺樹,取而代之的是往下深深扎根。而比起其他樹木,樺樹需要更多陽光才能生存,為此,它們放棄一起成長的朋友,選擇獨自在高聳的岩石上成長,這樣才能盡情獨享陽光。
——人也是如此,許多人都貪心得想要擁有全部,但兩全其美並非易事,需要取捨,才能獲得,如果糾結於失去,最終只會兩頭空。

「與樹木學習如何漂亮地退場。」——紅豆杉
樹木的空隙是老病樹木的傷口。古老的紅豆杉,隨著歲月的流逝,體內的空隙越大。而空隙就成為了被寒冬折磨得疲憊不堪的動物們之藏身處。如今已邁入人生下半場的作者,在一次與年輕後輩前往救治樹木時,學會了老樹戰勝傷痛,擁抱微小生命的人生智慧。
——無論是誰,到了某一瞬間,都要在該退後時退後一步,漂亮地讓出自己的空位。

作者照顧樹木已超過三十年,與樹木的相處遠比與人的相處還多,身為治癒樹木的樹木醫生,作者卻總說「是樹木治癒了我。」他相信樹木給予的力量,爲了和更多人分享樹木的智慧,於是寫下這本書。而人類身處於世界中,為了生存總是竭盡全力,正如同生長在條件惡劣中的樹木,不畏風寒,仍然在每一瞬間向下扎根,開拓它的生命。

樹木,世界上最古老且最有智慧的人生哲學家,它們用生存智慧教會人類生命的真諦。


(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, August 15, 2022

Barbarians at the Wall: The First Nomadic Empire and the Making of China

John Man
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The people of the first nomadic empire left no written records, but from 200 BC they dominated the heart of Asia for 400 years. They changed the world. The Mongols, today’s descendants of Genghis Khan, see them as ancestors. Their rise cemented Chinese unity and inspired the first Great Wall. Their heirs under Attila the Hun helped destroy the Roman Empire.

We don’t know what language they spoke, but they became known as Xiongnu, or Hunnu, a term passed down the centuries and across Eurasia, enduring today in shortened form as ‘Hun’. Outside Asia precious little is known of their rich history, but new evidence reframes our understanding of the indelible mark they left on a vast region stretching from Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China.

Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, Barbarians at the Wall traces their epic story, and shows how the nomadic cultures of the steppes gave birth to a ‘barbarian empire’ with the wealth and power to threaten the civilised order of the ancient world.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

The “Hunters, Warriors, Spirits: Nomadic Art of North China” exhibition presented by the City University of Hong Kong tells the story of the nomads through the diverse lenses of archaeology, art history, and anthropology. It features over 250 artworks from the early 1st millennium B.C.E. to the “golden age” between the 10th and 13th centuries C.E. These include everyday objects and weapons from the early nomads of northern China, such as the Orochen, Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Rouran, presenting not only the ideal relationship between humans and nature but also the nomads’ superb arts and artisanship. READ MORE

“Hunters, Warriors, Spirits: Nomadic Art of North China” Exhibition:
Date: 23 July – 23 October 2022 (Open daily, except Mondays)
Time: 10am to 7pm
Venue: Indra and Harry Banga Gallery at City University of Hong Kong , 18/F, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building
Admission: Free of charge, prior booking is required

草原王權的誕生: 斯基泰與匈奴,早期遊牧國家的文明

林俊雄
online access from HyRead ebook
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匈人是匈奴人嗎?匈奴人和斯基泰人又有什麼關係?
漢王朝如何被迫和親匈奴?它的復仇戰爭成功了嗎?
探尋中央歐亞草原的騎馬遊牧民──「斯基泰」與「匈奴」在世界史被忽略的意義!

騎馬遊牧民是野蠻和破壞的化身、而與文明無緣嗎?
這不過是留下文字記錄的定居農耕社會單方面的看法!


鼎盛期的波斯帝國也無法征服的部族集團──「斯基泰」;與漢皇帝具有對等軍事戰鬥力的遊牧民族──「匈奴」。他們跨越了「東方」與「西方」地理分界,串聯起整個歐亞大陸。

「斯基泰」是目前所知最古老的遊牧民族,約在西元前八至前七世紀的時候登上歷史舞台。而「匈奴」確切在歷史上出現,則是西元前三世紀的時候。雖然兩者的存在時間有落差,且看似一個存在於西洋史、一個存在於中國史,然而從考古挖掘的資料可以發現,兩者文化上非常的相似,屬於同一系統。同樣身為馳騁在草原之上的霸主,「斯基泰」與「匈奴」是同一群人嗎?他們又各自如何影響東西方的歷史呢?

本書首次把橫亙東西方的騎馬遊牧民合併而寫,探尋古代草原世界的王權形成和它們的文化,藉此思考遊牧民在世界史中的積極角色。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


正於香港城市大學舉行的《獵人‧戰士‧神靈:中國北方游牧藝術》展覽,結合考古學、藝術史及人類學等多元角度,呈現中國北方古代游牧民族世界。是次展覽展出250多件藝術品,由公元前千年追溯至公元10至13世紀的「黃金時代」,包括中國北方古代游牧民族如鄂倫春族、匈奴、鮮卑、柔然的日常用品及武器等,不單呈現古人與大自然的理想結合,同時反映游牧民族的卓越工藝。閱讀更多

展覽詳情:
日期: 2022年7月23日至10月23日 (逢星期一休館)
時間: 上午10時 – 下午7時
地點: 香港城市大學劉鳴偉學術大樓十八樓般哥展覽館
費用: 免費入場,需預先登記

Monday, August 8, 2022

Personality Isn't Permanent: Break Free from Self-Limiting Beliefs and Rewrite Your Story

Benjamin Hardy
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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Psychologist and best-selling author Benjamin Hardy, PhD, debunks the pervasive myths about personality that prevent us from learning - and provides bold strategies for personal transformation.

In Personality Isn’t Permanent, Dr. Benjamin Hardy draws on psychological research to demolish the popular misconception that personality - a person’s consistent attitudes and behaviors - is innate and unchanging. Hardy liberates us from the limiting belief that our “true selves” are to be discovered and shows how we can intentionally create our desired selves and achieve amazing goals instead. He offers practical, science-based advice to for personal-reinvention, including:

-Why personality tests such as Myers-Briggs and Enneagram are not only psychologically destructive, but are no more scientific than horoscopes
-Why you should never be the “former” anything - because defining yourself by your past successes is just as damaging to growth as being haunted by past failures
-How to design your current identity based on your desired future self and make decisions here and now through your new identity
-How to reframe traumatic and painful experiences into a fresh narrative supporting your future success
-How to become confident enough to define your own life’s purpose
-How to create a network of “empathetic witnesses” who actively encourage you through the highs and lows of extreme growth
-How to enhance your subconscious to overcome addictions and limiting patterns
-How redesign your environment to pull you toward your future, rather than keep you stuck in the past
-How to tap into what psychologists call “pull motivation” by narrowing your focus on a single, definable, and compelling outcome

Filled with strategies for reframing your past and designing your future, Personality Isn’t Permanent is a guide to breaking free from the past and becoming the person you want to be.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

從書影看香港文學

許定銘
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一部個人的香港文學全紀錄
從書影看我城的文藝生活誌


香港新文學發展至今已近百年歷史,筆者忽發奇想另闢蹊徑,以書話形式寫部別開生面的香港新文學史。

《從書影看香港文學》集文三百篇文學精粹,內容以個人收藏的各年代舊版新文學書為主。「書影」是個總稱,包括了書影、版權頁和前代書主的留言等。「書影」本身已是件裝幀藝術品,不同的設計家自有其獨特的藝術風格可供欣賞;版權頁是書的出世紙,不同的版本往往可以有不同的內容,也可能有作者不同的前言後語,可供研究者探究;前代書主的留言是書話中最具趣味的部分,您不妨讀讀侶倫與鷗外鷗之間的〈看一段題辭〉;寫彭成慧與方寬烈師生關係的〈靜遠的《做人藝術》〉等,即可領略舊書的風味。

作者一九五O年代起讀文學書,一九六O年代一頭栽進文學的書堆裡:買書、賣書、開書店、寫書、出版……,與所有和書有關的都結了不解緣,六十年不變,對一九五O、六O年代的香港文學有深入的認識,執筆時自然以這二十年為重點。一九五O年以前的文學書,多為大時代淘汰,或因世亂而甚難搜尋得手;一九七O年以後至今的日子很長,出版的文學書似恆河沙數,亦難以選擇,只好作為本書的副選,讓有心人日後去補充了。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, August 1, 2022

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, Emily Gregory
online access from McGraw-Hill's AccessEngineering
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This New York Times bestseller and business classic has been fully updated for a world where skilled communication is more important than ever.

The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today’s workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation―especially difficult ones―leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, it teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person.

This new edition addresses issues that have arisen in recent years. You’ll learn how to:
Respond when someone initiates a Crucial Conversation with you
Identify and address the lag time between identifying a problem and discussing it
Communicate more effectively across digital mediums

When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation poorly and suffer the consequences; or apply the lessons and strategies of Crucial Conversations and improve relationships and results.

Whether they take place at work or at home, with your coworkers or your spouse, Crucial Conversations have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a Crucial Conversation again.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

世界最強的思考武器 : 心智圖 (Mind Map Mastery)

東尼‧博贊 (Tony Buzan)
online access from iRead eBook
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撰寫報告、完成專案管理、寫最強履歷自薦信、工作求表現快速升遷、
辦一場結婚周年派對、完成馬拉松訓練、改善一段不友善的關係、
新事業計畫、難解的人生抉擇、探索未知學識,乃至於
幫寶貝選名字、學生提高學習成果、避免老年失智……

從創意發想到邏輯思考,從工作、家庭、教育與如何更幸福的思考,
只要幾枝(或一盒)彩色筆、一張紙,開始用世界最強的思考武器──心智圖,
通通都可以找到答案。因為大腦最愛這樣想事情。


目前,全球有超過100萬人正在使用。
最大私營石油公司BP、國際巴克萊、迪吉多(DEC)、惠普科技、IBM與
奧林匹克委員會,更將心智圖的思考納入員工的教育訓練。

何謂心智圖?心智圖是一種結合文字、圖像與顏色的筆記方法,
透過各種關鍵字的連結,幫助大腦有邏輯又充滿想像力的專注於某一項主題。

本書作者是英國腦力開發專家東尼‧博贊(Tony Buzan)
是心智圖的唯一發明者,也是發行數百萬本的暢銷書《心智圖聖經》系列作者,

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)