Monday, August 24, 2020

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language

Gretchen McCulloch
online access from EBSCOhost Ebooks
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An Instant New York Times Best Seller!

Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post

A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer


“Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” (Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too)

Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are.

Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it.

Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

大腦會說故事 : 看電影、讀小說, 就是大腦學習危機下的生存本能 (The Storytelling Animal)

哥德夏 (Jonathan Gottschall)
online access from HyRead ebook
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「紐約時報書評」選書
「洛杉磯時報好書獎」決選書單

作者透過分析各種故事原型,以最新的腦神經醫學、心理學研究和實驗為基礎,說明故事之所以吸引我們,正是因為人類的大腦在接收這些暴力情節的同時,強化了自身對未知情境和棘面對大自然和社會複雜情境時需要的生存本能。

人為什麼會說故事、聽故事、沉浸在故事的世界中?作者從多種面向切入探討,並舉出了許多心理學與神經科學的發現來說明故事的功能與未來……──林君昱 國立成功大學心理學系助理教授

這本書小心翼翼地結合藝術與科學,手法相當高明,讀起來很有收穫,令人振奮且擴展思維。──Terry Castle 史丹佛大學哈斯人文講座教授

這本書緊緊抓住了讀者的心思,作者分享了許多生動的故事,以及說故事本身的故事,綜合起來說明為何說故事是人類的本能。──Edward Wilson 哈佛大學昆蟲學榮譽館長

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


Monday, August 17, 2020

Humankind : A Hopeful History

Rutger Bregman
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. "The Sapiens of 2020."---The Guardian

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Utopia for Realists comes "the riveting pick-me-up we all need right now" (People), the #1 Dutch bestseller Humankind, which offers a "bold" (Daniel H. Pink), "extraordinary" (Susan Cain) argument that humans thrive in a crisis and that our innate kindness and cooperation have been the greatest factors in our long-term success on the planet.

"Humankind made me see humanity from a fresh perspective." ---Yuval Noah Harari, author of the #1 bestseller Sapiens


If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. It's a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest.

But what if it isn't true? International bestseller Rutger Bregman provides new perspective on the past 200,000 years of human history, setting out to prove that we are hardwired for kindness, geared toward cooperation rather than competition, and more inclined to trust rather than distrust one another. In fact this instinct has a firm evolutionary basis going back to the beginning of Homo sapiens.

From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the solidarity in the aftermath of the Blitz, the hidden flaws in the Stanford prison experiment to the true story of twin brothers on opposite sides who helped Mandela end apartheid, Bregman shows us that believing in human generosity and collaboration isn't merely optimistic---it's realistic. Moreover, it has huge implications for how society functions. When we think the worst of people, it brings out the worst in our politics and economics. But if we believe in the reality of humanity's kindness and altruism, it will form the foundation for achieving true change in society, a case that Bregman makes convincingly with his signature wit, refreshing frankness, and memorable storytelling.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

為什麼要睡覺?睡出健康與學習力、夢出創意的新科學 (Why We Sleep)

沃克 (Matthew Walker)
online access from iRead eBook
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缺乏睡眠成為全球流行病的今天,
我們需要超強睡眠顧問沃克傳授的睡眠全書。
這本書總結數十年來的睡眠研究成果以及最新科學突破,
告訴我們睡眠複雜又迷人的真相。

睡眠與做夢的功能,超乎想像:
.學習之前的睡眠,幫助腦準備形成新記憶;
.學習之後的睡眠,可以鞏固記憶、避免遺忘。
.夢提供虛擬實境,讓過去與現在的知識融合,激發創意。
.夢還能撫慰痛苦的記憶,幫助我們走出創傷。

睡眠不足的壞處,不容輕視:

.只要一晚睡四小時,對付癌症的自然殺手細胞數量剩下不到一半。
.腦中的清潔大隊運作不良,無法清除阿茲海默症的毒性蛋白。
.連續清醒十九小時後開車,你的精神狀態和酒駕沒兩樣。
.容易覺得肚子餓,吃飽了卻還想再吃,體重居高不下。

睡眠對專業領域和職場的驚人影響:
.NBA籃球運動員一晚睡眠超過八小時,每分鐘得分會提升近三成。
.NASA發現,短短二十六分鐘的小睡,就能使太空人的表現更好。
.企業中,睡眠不足的員工會缺乏生產力與創意;
.管理階層睡得不好,第二天員工的生產力也會降低。

我們的身體健康、心理健康、記憶力、學習力、創意、生產力、
領導力、決策力、智商與情商、吸引力、運動表現,甚至食慾,
這些讓日間生活更精采的能力,
原來都與夜間那場神祕的睡眠有關係。

沃克是傑出的神經科學家,他熱愛睡眠,研究睡眠,
為我們描繪出當前科學對於睡眠的全盤了解,
最後還告訴我們如何睡好覺的訣竅。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, August 10, 2020

To Repair the World : Paul Farmer Speaks to the Next Generation

Paul Farmer
online access from Ebook Central Academic Complete
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Doctor and social activist Paul Farmer shares a collection of charismatic short speeches that aims to inspire the next generation. One of the most passionate and influential voices for global health equity and social justice, Farmer encourages young people to tackle the greatest challenges of our times. Engaging, often humorous, and always inspiring, these speeches bring to light the brilliance and force of Farmer’s vision in a single, accessible volume.

A must-read for graduates, students, and everyone seeking to help bend the arc of history toward justice, To Repair the World:
● Challenges readers to counter failures of imagination that keep billions of people without access to health care, safe drinking water, decent schools, and other basic human rights
● Champions the power of partnership against global poverty, climate change, and other pressing problems today
● Overturns common assumptions about health disparities around the globe by considering the large-scale social forces that determine who gets sick and who has access to health care
● Discusses how hope, solidarity, faith, and hardbitten analysis have animated Farmer’s service to the poor in Haiti, Peru, Rwanda, Russia, and elsewhere
● Leaves the reader with an uplifting vision: that with creativity, passion, teamwork, and determination, the next generations can make the world a safer and more humane place.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

World Humanitarian Day (August 19)
On World Humanitarian Day August 19, the world commemorates humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work, and honours all aid and health workers who continue, despite the odds, to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need. READ MORE

你不必走得快, 但一定要走得遠

丁菱娟
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人生就像馬拉松,前面落後不算輸
快慢不是問題,到想去的地方最重要
很多人並不是失敗,而是差一點就成功
──
資深職場人丁菱娟傾囊相授工作的現實與眉角──

麥當勞創辦人雷.克羅克(Ray Kroc)53歲創業;
肯德基爺爺65歲創業;
漫威教父史丹.李(Stan Lee)年過 40才打造自己的漫畫世界;
張忠謀56歲創立台積電;
齊白石66歲成為國畫大師......
古今中外有太多例子告訴我們:「你不必走得快,但一定要走得遠。」

想去前方,衝刺即可;
想去遠方,才是戰力大考驗。

要不要當最潮的「斜槓青年」?
「做事」重要還是「做人」重要?
「學非所用」好不好?
找不到有興趣的工作怎麼辦?
把興趣當成工作最完美?
如何培養對工作的熱情?
錢多、事少、離家近最幸福?
和主管同事走得愈近愈好?
小主管如何既親和又權威?

「工作」對你來說是什麼?是謀生溫飽的方式?是鍛鍊成長之路?還是實現夢想的階梯?

工作是這樣的弔詭:愈想逃離,你就愈軟弱;愈去面對,你就愈強大。
透過工作給我們的難題和挑戰,面對它、解決它,工作終將會回饋給我們專業、自信、成就,以及一生受用的心理素質。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)