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From one of America's most brilliant writers, a New York Times
bestselling journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of
meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and
enduring happiness. At the heart of Buddhism is a simple claim: The
reason we suffer-and the reason we make other people suffer-is that
we don't see the world clearly. At the heart of Buddhist meditative
practice is a radical promise: We can learn to see the world,
including ourselves, more clearly and so gain a deep and morally
valid happiness. In this "sublime" (The New Yorker), pathbreaking
book, Robert Wright shows how taking this promise seriously can
change your life-how it can loosen the grip of anxiety, regret, and
hatred, and how it can deepen your appreciation of beauty and of
other people. He also shows why this transformation works, drawing
on the latest in neuroscience and psychology, and armed with an
acute understanding of human evolution. This book is the
culmination of a personal journey that began with Wright's landmark
book on evolutionary psychology, The Moral Animal, and deepened as
he immersed himself in meditative practice and conversed with some
of the world's most skilled meditators. The result is a story that
is "provocative, informative and...deeply rewarding" (The New York
Times Book Review), and as entertaining as it is illuminating.
Written with the wit, clarity, and grace for which Wright is
famous, Why Buddhism Is True lays the foundation for a spiritual
life in a secular age and shows how, in a time of technological
distraction and social division, we can save ourselves from
ourselves, both as individuals and as a species.
From one of America's most brilliant writers, a New York Times
bestselling journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of
meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and
enduring happiness. At the heart of Buddhism is a simple claim: The
reason we suffer-and the reason we make other people suffer-is that
we don't see the world clearly. At the heart of Buddhist meditative
practice is a radical promise: We can learn to see the world,
including ourselves, more clearly and so gain a deep and morally
valid happiness. In this "sublime" (The New Yorker), pathbreaking
book, Robert Wright shows how taking this promise seriously can
change your life-how it can loosen the grip of anxiety, regret, and
hatred, and how it can deepen your appreciation of beauty and of
other people. He also shows why this transformation works, drawing
on the latest in neuroscience and psychology, and armed with an
acute understanding of human evolution. This book is the
culmination of a personal journey that began with Wright's landmark
book on evolutionary psychology, The Moral Animal, and deepened as
he immersed himself in meditative practice and conversed with some
of the world's most skilled meditators. The result is a story that
is "provocative, informative and...deeply rewarding" (The New York
Times Book Review), and as entertaining as it is illuminating.
Written with the wit, clarity, and grace for which Wright is
famous, Why Buddhism Is True lays the foundation for a spiritual
life in a secular age and shows how, in a time of technological
distraction and social division, we can save ourselves from
ourselves, both as individuals and as a species.
In his bestselling The Moral Animal, Robert Wright applied the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of the human mind. Now Wright attempts something even more ambitious: explaining the direction of evolution and human history–and discerning where history will lead us next.
In Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, Wright asserts that, ever since the primordial ooze, life has followed a basic pattern. Organisms and human societies alike have grown more complex by mastering the challenges of internal cooperation. Wright's narrative ranges from fossilized bacteria to vampire bats, from stone-age villages to the World Trade Organization, uncovering such surprises as the benefits of barbarian hordes and the useful stability of feudalism. Here is history endowed with moral significance–a way of looking at our biological and cultural evolution that suggests, refreshingly, that human morality has improved over time, and that our instinct to discover meaning may itself serve a higher purpose. Insightful, witty, profound, Nonzero offers breathtaking implications for what we believe and how we adapt to technology's ongoing transformation of the world.
In this sweeping narrative that takes us from the Stone Age to the
Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery:
there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have
followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archaeology,
theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn
basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are
sure to cause controversy. He explains why spirituality has a role
today, and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms
the validity of the religious quest. And this previously
unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued
religious extremism, but future harmony. Nearly a decade in the
making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking re-examination of
the past, and a visionary look forward.
In this work, Robert Wright examines a science that has emerged
from the work of evolutionary biologists and social scientists.
Taking the life and work of the evolutionist Charles Darwin as his
context, Wright seeks to demonstrate how Darwin's ideas have stood
the test of time and retells - from the perspective of evolutionary
psychology - the stories of Darwin's marriage, family, life and
career. From this paradigm, Wright draws conclusions about the
structure of our most basic preoccupations - sex, ambition,
politics, justice - aiming to throw light on the background of
these fundamental instincts, and to show why they are so important
to us. The work poses questions about not only the biological bases
for morality, but also the biological bases for amorality.
In a book sure to stir argument for years to come, Robert Wright challen+ges the conventional view that biological evolution and human history are aimless. Ingeniously employing game theory – the logic of ‘zero-sum’ and ‘non-zero-sum’ games – Wright isolates the impetus behind life’s basic direction: the impetus that, via biological evolution, created complex, intelligent animals, and then via cultural evolution, pushed the human species towards deeper and vaster social complexity. In this view, the coming of today’s independent global society was ‘in the cards’ – not quite inevitable, but, as Wright puts it, ‘so probable as to inspire wonder’. In a narrative of breathtaking scope and erudition, yet pungent wit, Wright takes on some of the past century’s most prominent thinkers, including Isaiah Berlin, Karl Popper, Stephen Jay Gould, and Richard Dawkins. Wright argues that a coolly specific appraisal of humanity’s three-billion-year past can give new spiritual meaning to the present and even offer political guidance for the future. This book will change the way people think about the human prospect.
In this unique, well-illustrated book, readers learn how fifty
financial corporations came to dominate the U.S. banking system and
their impact on the nation's political, social, and economic
growth. A story that spans more than two centuries of war, crisis,
and opportunity, this account reminds readers that American banking
was never a fixed enterprise but has evolved in tandem with the
country. More than 225 years have passed since Alexander Hamilton
created one of the nation's first commercial banks. Over time,
these institutions have changed hands, names, and locations,
reflecting a wave of mergers, acquisitions, and other restructuring
efforts that echo changes in American finance. Some names, such as
Bank of America and Wells Fargo, will be familiar to readers. The
origins of others, including Zions Bancorporation, founded by
Brigham Young and owned by the Mormon Church until 1960, are
surprising. Exploring why some banks failed and others thrived,
this book wonders, in light of the 2008 financial crisis, whether
recent consolidations have reached or even exceeded economically
rational limits. A key text for navigating the complex terrain of
American finance, this volume draws a fascinating family tree for
projecting the financial future of a nation.
Among the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon were all thought by the early
church fathers to have derived from the hand of Solomon. To their
minds the finest wisdom about the deeper issues of life prior to
the time of God's taking human form in Jesus Christ was to be found
in these books. As in all the Old Testament, they were quick to
find types and intimations of Christ and his church that would make
the ancient Word relevant to the Christians of their day. Of extant
commentaries on Ecclesiastes none are so profound as the eight
homilies of Gregory of Nyssa, even though they cover only the first
three chapters of the book. Joining Gregory among those most
frequently excerpted in this volume are Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory
the Great, Origen, John Cassian, John Chrysostom, Athanasius, Bede
the Venerable, and Jerome. Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great,
and Cyril of Jerusalem lead a cast of other less frequently cited
fathers, and then there remains a large cast of supporting players,
some of whose work is translated here into English for the first
time. This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume offers
a rich trove of wisdom on Wisdom for the enrichment of the church
today.
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