Monday, March 8, 2021

The Hidden Habits of Genius: Beyond Talent, IQ, and Grit―Unlocking the Secrets of Greatness

Craig Wright
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“An unusually engaging book on the forces that fuel originality across fields.” --Adam Grant

Looking at the 14 key traits of genius, from curiosity to creative maladjustment to obsession, Professor Craig Wright, creator of Yale University's popular “Genius Course,” explores what we can learn from brilliant minds that have changed the world.


Einstein. Beethoven. Picasso. Jobs. The word genius evokes these iconic figures, whose cultural contributions have irreversibly shaped society.

Yet Beethoven could not multiply. Picasso couldn’t pass a 4th grade math test. And Jobs left high school with a 2.65 GPA. What does this say about our metrics for measuring success and achievement today? Why do we teach children to behave and play by the rules, when the transformative geniuses of Western culture have done just the opposite? And what is genius, really?

Professor Craig Wright, creator of Yale University’s popular “Genius Course,” has devoted more than two decades to exploring these questions and probing the nature of this term, which is deeply embedded in our culture. In The Hidden Habits of Genius, he reveals what we can learn from the lives of those we have dubbed “geniuses,” past and present.

Examining the lives of transformative individuals ranging from Charles Darwin and Marie Curie to Leonardo Da Vinci and Andy Warhol to Toni Morrison and Elon Musk, Wright identifies more than a dozen drivers of genius—characteristics and patterns of behavior common to great minds throughout history. He argues that genius is about more than intellect and work ethic—it is far more complex—and that the famed “eureka” moment is a Hollywood fiction. Brilliant insights that change the world are never sudden, but rather, they are the result of unique modes of thinking and lengthy gestation. Most importantly, the habits of mind that produce great thinking and discovery can be actively learned and cultivated, and Wright shows us how.

This book won't make you a genius. But embracing the hidden habits of these transformative individuals will make you more strategic, creative, and successful, and, ultimately, happier.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

小說的越界

劉劍梅
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人如何以“越界”式的飛翔,擺脫存在之痛、現實的重負與心靈深處的孤獨。

★深入剖析解讀博爾赫斯、布魯諾·舒爾茨、奧爾加·托卡爾丘克等當下熱門大師傑作 。
★觸及時代最鮮活的話題和標籤,探討女性主義,體悟時代節奏和觀念變化。
★閻連科、駱以軍傾情作序,當代著名作家余華、蘇童、遲子建、梁鴻以及著名批評家李歐梵、王德威推薦。


《小說的越界》是劉劍梅的文學評論集,本書分為“女性的水上書寫”“文學的變幻之旅”“文學的各種維度”“文學隨筆”四部分。
★女性的水上書寫:劉劍梅闡釋了瑪麗蓮·羅賓遜、韓江、阿蘭達蒂·洛伊等四位女性作家,如何通過作品大膽地跨越了男權社會規定的“家”的邊界,表達女性的獨立意識;
★文學的變幻之旅:深入地剖析了博爾赫斯、布魯諾·舒爾茨、奧爾加·托卡爾丘克及其他中外作家,如何以夢、幻想和變形跨越現實的各種疆域和束縛,完成“越界式”的飛翔;
★文學的各種維度:分析波拉尼奧、薩曼·魯西迪、格雷厄姆·格林等人的作品,討論了文學的各種維度,比如現實維度、歷史維度、宗教維度和思想維度。
★文學隨筆:透徹地剖析了傑出的文學大師們的作品中所蘊含的深邃秘密和神奇魅力,引導當代讀者擺脫來自現實的種種壓力、苦惱和束縛,安撫焦慮、不安的靈魂。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


Monday, March 1, 2021

Head Hand Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century

David Goodhart
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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A FINANCIAL TIMES AND TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020

The acclaimed new book from the celebrated author of The Road to Somewhere

'Brilliant, will become a classic' Daily Telegraph

'Utterly compelling ... one of the most important intellectuals in the country, if not Europe' Sunday Times

The coronavirus pandemic taught us something we ought already to have known: that care workers, supermarket shelf-stackers, delivery drivers and cleaners are doing essential work that keeps us all alive, fed and cared for. Until recently much of this work was regarded as menial by the the same society that now lauds them as 'key workers'. Why are they so undervalued?

In this timely and original analysis, David Goodhart divides human aptitudes into three: Head (cognitive), Hand (manual and craft) and Heart (caring, emotional). It's common sense that a good society needs to recognise the value of all three, but in recent decades they have got badly out of kilter. Cognitive ability has become the gold standard of human esteem. The cognitive class now shapes society largely in its own interests, by prioritizing the knowledge economy, ever-expanding higher education and shaping the very idea of a successful life. To put it bluntly: smart people have become too powerful.

Head, Hand, Heart tells the story of the cognitive takeover that has gathered pace over the past forty years. As recently as the 1970s most people left school without qualifications, but now 40 per cent of all jobs are graduate-only. A good society must re-imagine the meaning of skilled work, so that people who work with their hands and hearts are valued alongside workers who manipulate data. Our societies need to spread status more widely, and provide meaning and value for people who cannot, or do not want to, achieve in the classroom and the professions. This is the story of the central struggle for status and dignity in the twenty-first century.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

宋氏三姊妹與她們的丈夫:20世紀三位傳奇女子,一部動盪百年的中國現代史 (Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister)

張戎 (Jung Chang)
online access from EBSCOhost Ebooks
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現代中國從慈禧到今天,
宋氏三姊妹與她們的丈夫,正是完整串連中國百年史的關鍵人物!
跨越三個世紀 走過三大陸 多場革命
三位家喻戶曉的女子 三段鮮為人知的傳奇人生

親訪宋、孔、蔣、孫家親屬與專家學者見證人
參閱臺港英美俄五地共14家檔案館
收錄三姊妹個人生命與大歷史交織的珍貴照片64幀
★足以理解中國現代樣貌的歷史巨作★


《紐約時報》《泰晤士報》《衛報》《華盛頓時報》
《圖書館雜誌》《金融時報》《書單》《出版人週刊》等
★英美重量媒體一致讚譽★

本書從宋氏三姊妹為起點,連結到她們的丈夫,再連結到清末至近代的中國,緩緩寫出整個時代的動人史詩。有別於刻板教條的歷史,作者將人物的性格、感情、理念還原至歷史中,使歷史事件充滿人性;以人為主題,將生命歷程放入歷史事件中,讓人物述說歷史故事。你會發現:原來有好多真相被掩蓋住了。更會驚覺:這些教科書中的歷史人物,竟是在動盪不安的大時代中,展開自己與家人的生命歷程──本書宛如讓讀者看了一部活生生的宋氏家族興衰史。
──國立蘭陽女子高級中學教師◎汪栢年

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


Monday, February 22, 2021

Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures

Roma Agrawal
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Winner of the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books

The wonders of engineering revealed--by the inspirational female engineer behind the Shard, Western Europe's tallest building.


While our cities are full of incredible engineering feats, most of us live with little idea of what goes into creating the built environment, let alone how a new building goes up, what it is constructed upon, or how it remains standing.

In Built, star structural engineer Roma Agrawal explains how construction has evolved from the mud huts of our ancestors to skyscrapers of steel that reach into the sky. She unearths how humans have tunneled through solid mountains; how we've walked across the widest of rivers, and tamed nature's precious water resources. She tells vivid tales of the visionaries who created the groundbreaking materials used to build the Pantheon and the Eiffel Tower; and explains how careful engineering can minimize tragedies like the collapse of the Quebec Bridge. Interweaving science, history, illustrations, and personal stories, Built offers a fascinating window into a subject that makes up the foundation of our everyday lives.

“Conveys insight into the built environment in an unusually accessible style-the kind of insight that will help lay readers look differently at the world around them.” ―Wall Street Journal

“Interweaving science, history, illustrations, and personal stories, Built offers a simply fascinating and impressively informative history of architecture, a subject that makes up the foundation of our everyday lives.” ―Midwest Book Review

“Makes engineering concepts easy to understand . . . [Agrawal] asks to reader to dream with her, look at the world before a problem is solved, then rejoice in the solution and all that it has meant to us as heirs of earlier genius. In short, she does the almost impossible; she makes engineering fun.” ―Manhattan Book Review

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

說故事的力量: 解決問題、發揮影響力的最佳工具, 微軟、NASA、華府智庫爭相學習 (The Story Factor)

安奈特.西蒙斯 (Annette Simmons)
online access from HyRead ebook
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第一本將故事運用在商業場域的作品
世界級故事大師安奈特.西蒙斯成名作
微軟、NASA、花旗銀行、時代雜誌、華府智庫爭相學習
一本你需要的書,也是一本全世界迫切需要的書!


很多商業書都告訴我們,只要有具體的事實、數據,就能說服別人。
但其實不然。
不相信嗎?
看看賈伯斯怎麼說:「世上最強大的人,是說故事的人。」

──道理只能贏得辯論,故事卻能收服人心!──

本書作者安奈特.西蒙斯,是首位將「故事」概念運用於商務世界的先鋒,告訴我們如果想成功激勵、說服、影響他人,解決問題,有件很重要卻一直被忽略的事:說故事。

說故事是一種思維,也是一種技巧。

◎為何「說故事」是解決問題、發揮影響力的最佳工具?
故事是人類歷史上最古老的影響力工具,也是最有說服力的溝通技術。
一個好故事,打動的是人心,分享的是經驗,讓人不自覺被牽動。
這是任何數據或具體事情無法取代的,
更重要的是,它是每個人都學得會的技能!

◎怎麼「說」故事?
作者認為,任何尋求影響他人的人,首先都必須找到屬於自己的故事,然後學會如何成功的說出故事。她開創性的提出商界溝通中常用的六種故事,並詳細闡述在何種情況下、
如何講述這些故事。

說服別人之前,必須先設想別人怎麼看你!人們會想,「你是誰?」「你為什麼在這裡跟我說話?」
如果要影響初次見面的人,你必須學會說關於這兩個問題的故事:

「你是誰?」故事:告訴聽眾,哪些經歷造就今天的你。
「我為什麼在這裡」故事:開誠布公,向聽眾坦承自己的意圖。

這兩個故事,重點在於「取得信任」。要影響陌生人,你需要說「取得信任」的故事。

如果你想影響身邊的人,例如同事或下屬或朋友,另外四種故事:

「願景」故事:激發人們對未來的憧憬,克服當下的挫折和沮喪。
「教誨」故事:啟發他人思考如何以最佳方式做一件事。
「現行價值」故事:展現你的價值觀,而不是告訴他人應該怎麼做。
「我知道你在想什麼」故事:消除疑慮,取得信任。

以上四種故事,重點在於「激勵、啟發與引發共鳴」。要影響周遭的人,你需要說「引發共鳴」的故事。

◎你的六種故事在哪裡?
某種意義上,故事就在你的生活之中。你每天都在講故事。
這本書舉出超過一百個包括商界和政界的成功影響人心的故事案例,無論你是一個尋求創投資金的新創業者,試圖談成一筆生意的業務,主持公司改組方案的專案經理,或是為
公共議題發聲的主導人,你都必須說出一個好故事。透過這些案例,搭配你的生活或工作,找出屬於自己的六種故事。

最後作者提醒……
說故事,但不是假故事,為說好故事而捏造事實,最終會失去人心。

把故事說好,將讓你的聽眾與你的訴求、觀念、情感產生共鳴,最後得到任何你想達成的結果。
透過故事,我們不僅可以影響別人,你也將成為一位更有效率的溝通者。
最終,最好的故事取勝。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)