From Amazon to Tinder, from Google to Deliveroo, there is no facet of human life which the digital revolution has not streamlined and dematerialised. Its objective was to reduce the cost of physical interactions by forgoing face-to-face interactions, a direct result of the free-market shock of the 1980s, which sought to seamlessly expand the marketplace in every possible dimension. Today, we can be algorithmically entertained, educated, cared for and courted in a way which was impossible in the old industrial society, where institutions structured the social world. Today, these institutions have been replaced by monetised virtual contact.  As with the industrial revolution of the past, the digital revolution is creating a new economy and a new sensibility, bringing about a radical revaluation of society and its representations.  While obsessed with the search for an efficient management of human relations, the new digital capitalism gives rise to an irrational and impulsive Homo numericus prone to an array of addictive behaviours.  Far from producing a new agora, social media produce a radicalization of public debate in which hate-filled speech directed against adversaries becomes the norm.  The good news is that these outcomes are not inevitable. Technologies have not taken control of our lives. The digital revolution also offers an alternative path: one that leads to a world in which every word deserves to be listened to, without a transcendent truth hanging over it.  Are we able to seize the new opportunities opened up by the digital revolution without succumbing to its dark side?

Most of us would agree that we want to live a successful life. But what constitutes a successful life? How do we measure a life well lived?Mining for Gold: Essays Exploring the Relevancy of Torah in the Modern World focuses on these questions of life's values. Editor Rabbi Daniel Cohen has compiled essays from twenty leading rabbis in North America and Israel to reveal how the gold standard of living well can be reached in the modern world. Their conclusions find that ultimate wealth comes from having a good name or a virtuous character. The time to earn that good name is now, not when one is lying on a deathbed. If one's life is infused with the timeless values of family, friends, faith, and goodness, the end of life will come with few regrets. In this book, new insights on amplifying these values in your life are provided.One person who lived these values every day was Lester Gold. Mining for Gold: Essays Exploring the Relevancy of Torah in the Modern World is a tribute to his life and the timeless values he embodied. He understood that the answers to life's mysteries emerge from the Bible, the Torah. These essays and reflections from Lester's friends and family will help you do the same.

The end of the Second World War in Europe gave way to a gigantic refugee crisis. Thoroughly prepared by Allied military planners, the swift repatriation of millions of former forced laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war nearly brought this dramatic episode top a close. Yet in September 1945, the number of displaced persons placed under the guardianship of Allied armies and relief agencies in occupied Germany amounted to 1.5 million. A costly burden for the occupying powers, the Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian, Yugoslav and Baltic DPs unwilling to return to their countries of origin presented a complex international problem. Massed in refugee camps stretched from Northern Germany to Sicily, the DPs had become long-term asylum seekers.
Based on the records of the International Refugee Organization, this book describes how the European DP crisis impinged on the shape of the postwar order. The DP question directly affected the outbreak of the Cold War; the transformation of the "West" into a new geopolitical entity; the conduct of political purges and retribution; the ideology and methods of modern humanitarian interventions; the appearance of international agencies and non-governmental organizations; the emergence of an international human rights system; the organization of migration movements and the redistribution of "surplus populations"; the advent of Jewish nationhood; and postwar categorizations of political and humanitarian refugees.

How populism is fueled by the demise of the industrial order and the emergence of a new digital society ruled by algorithms In the revolutionary excitement of the 1960s, young people around the world called for a radical shift away from the old industrial order, imagining a future of technological liberation and unfettered prosperity. Industrial society did collapse, and a digital economy has risen to take its place, yet many have been left feeling marginalized and deprived of the possibility of a better life. The Inglorious Years explores the many ways we have been let down by the rising tide of technology, showing how our new interconnectivity is not fulfilling its promise. In this revelatory book, economist Daniel Cohen describes how today's postindustrial society is transforming us all into sequences of data that can be manipulated by algorithms from anywhere on the planet. As yesterday's assembly line was replaced by working online, the leftist protests of the 1960s have given way to angry protests by the populist right. Cohen demonstrates how the digital economy creates the same mix of promises and disappointments as the old industrial order, and how it revives questions about society that are as relevant to us today as they were to the ancients. Brilliant and provocative, The Inglorious Years discusses what the new digital society holds in store for us, and reveals how can we once again regain control of our lives.

Great mistakes make great reading! No area of human endeavor is immune to human error, as these stories of mistakes throughout history clearly show. Some of these mistakes are foolish or funny. Others are serious, terrifying or disastrous. Some are famous. Others are not well known. All of them are marvelously entertaining. Here is the amusing story of a triple double play, the little-known truth about the awesome angle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the harrowing tale of the man who was hanged twice. The famous and colorful mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia, once said, "I don't make many mistakes, but when I make one, it's a beaut." Everyone makes mistakes-mayors, presidents, kings, generals, police officers, judges, scientists, explorers, millionaires, baseball players, parents and students. So remember when you make a mistake, you are not alone! You are in the company of some of the most powerful and smartest people in history!

Henry Stanley's physical and mental toughness earned him the nickname Bula Matari, "Rock Breaker." Although best known for finding the lost Scottish missionary David Livingstone, the explorer and journalist had many other adventures around the world. Born in Wales in 1841, he was placed in a workhouse by his uncle at the age of six. Stanley escaped nine years later and made his way to New Orleans by working as a cabin boy. He fought for the Confederacy and was taken prisoner at Shiloh, one of the Civil War's bloodiest fights. After the war, Stanley discovered his talent for journalism and traveled thousands of miles to cover battles and other news. His abilities made him the perfect man to lead the New York Herald's expedition to Africa to find Livingstone. The two men became friends, and when Livingstone died, Stanley felt it was his duty to continue his work, including the search for and confirmation of the Nile's source. From 1874 to 1877, Stanley embarked on an expedition that mapped huge areas of central Africa. He encountered tribal warfare, exotic illnesses, and dense jungles, but nothing stopped him. On his last African journey, Stanley helped rescue a government official, Emin Pasha, who was trapped in Sudan during a revolt to drive Europeans and Egyptians out of the country. While on this expedition, Stanley located the fabled Mountains of the Moon, the ultimate source for the Nile.

Hiram Bingham was the ideal explorer-adventurer handsome, rich, intelligent, brave, and tough. His life seems like something out of film hero Indiana Jones s exploits in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The descendant of strong-willed missionaries, Bingham was born in Hawaii in 1875, At Yale he specialized in South American studies and became a college teacher. Gradually, the romance of the past took hold of his practical soul. Obsessed by the Incas and his dream of uncovering lost cities, Bingham initiated and expedition to Peru that would lead him to uncharted territories. Using quotations from Bingham s accounts, Cohen describes how in 1911 Bingham made the greatest archaeological find of the century, the rediscovery of Machu Picchu, the abandoned Inca city in the remote Peruvian mountains. On later expeditions he discovered other lost cities, as he continued his research on the mysteries of Machu Picchu and the last of the Incans, despite the physical hardships and dangers of exploration. When World War I broke out, Bingham learned to fly no small accomplishment in those pioneering days of aviation. He eventually joined the American forces in France as head of the largest Allied flight training base in Europe. After the war, the ambitious and restless Bingham entered a new career, politics, and was elected senator from Connecticut in a landslide victory. But he was too proud an individualist to do well in government. Bingham spent the rest of his life writing and lecturing. Bingham led the kind of action-packed life that most people only dream of. Daniel Cohen has written a story sure to capture the imagination of everyone who likes history enlivened by cliff-hanging adventures."

A Sampler of Useful Computational Tools for Applied Geometry, Computer Graphics, and Image Processing shows how to use a collection of mathematical techniques to solve important problems in applied mathematics and computer science areas. The book discusses fundamental tools in analytical geometry and linear algebra. It covers a wide range of topics, from matrix decomposition to curvature analysis and principal component analysis to dimensionality reduction. Written by a team of highly respected professors, the book can be used in a one-semester, intermediate-level course in computer science. It takes a practical problem-solving approach, avoiding detailed proofs and analysis. Suitable for readers without a deep academic background in mathematics, the text explains how to solve non-trivial geometric problems. It quickly gets readers up to speed on a variety of tools employed in visual computing and applied geometry.

In this book, Daniel Cohen explores the connections between arguments and metaphors most pronounced in philosophy, because philosophical discourse is both thoroughly metaphorical and replete with argumentation. The metaphors we use for arguments, as well as the ways we use metaphors as arguments and in arguments, provides the basis for a tripartite theoretical framework for understanding and evaluating arguments. There are logical, rhetorical, and dialectical dimensions to arguments, each providing norms for conduct, vocabulary for evaluation, and criteria for success. In turn, the identified roles for arguments in general discourse can be applied to metaphors, helping to explain what they mean and how they work. Cohen covers the nature of arguments, their modes and structures, and the principles of their evaluation. He also addresses the nature of metaphors, their place in language and thought, and their connections to arguments, identifying and reconciling arguments' and metaphors' respective roles in philosophy.

Why society’s expectation of economic growth is no longer realistic Economic growth—and the hope of better things to come—is the religion of the modern world. Yet its prospects have become bleak, with crashes following booms in an endless cycle. In the United States, eighty percent of the population has seen no increase in purchasing power over the last thirty years and the situation is not much better elsewhere. The Infinite Desire for Growth spotlights the obsession with wanting more, and the global tensions that have arisen as a result. Daniel Cohen provides a whirlwind tour of the history of economic growth, from the early days of civilization to modern times, underscoring what is so unsettling today. He examines how a future less dependent on material gain might be considered, and how, in a culture of competition, individual desires might be better attuned to the greater needs of society.

Why society's expectation of economic growth is no longer realistic Economic growth--and the hope of better things to come-is the religion of the modern world. Yet its prospects have become bleak, with crashes following booms in an endless cycle. In the United States, eighty percent of the population has seen no increase in purchasing power over the last thirty years and the situation is not much better elsewhere. The Infinite Desire for Growth spotlights the obsession with wanting more, and the global tensions that have arisen as a result. Amid finite resources, increasing populations, environmental degradation, and political unrest, the quest for new social and individual goals has never been so critical. Leading economist Daniel Cohen provides a whirlwind tour of the history of economic growth, from the early days of civilization to modern times, underscoring what is so unsettling today. The new digital economy is establishing a "zero-cost" production model, inexpensive software is taking over basic tasks, and years of exploiting the natural world have begun to backfire with deadly consequences. Working hard no longer guarantees social inclusion or income. Drawing on economics, anthropology, and psychology, and thinkers ranging from Rousseau to Keynes and Easterlin, Cohen examines how a future less dependent on material gain might be considered and, how, in a culture of competition, individual desires might be better attuned to the greater needs of society. At a time when wanting what we haven't got has become an obsession, The Infinite Desire for Growth explores the ways we might reinvent, for the twenty-first century, the old ideal of social progress.

This book is an in-depth discussion of rising inequalities in the western world. It explores the extent to which rising inequalities are the mechanical consequence of changes in economic fundamentals (such as changes in technological or demographic parameters), and to what extent they are the contingent consequences of country-specific and time-specific changes in institutions. It includes both theoretical and empirical contributions.

This volume presents the proceedings of the first French-Soviet workshop on algebraic coding, held in Paris in July 1991. The idea for the workshop, born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1990, was to bring together some of the best Soviet coding theorists. Scientists from France, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain, and the United States also attended. The papers in the volume fall rather naturally into four categories: - Applications of exponential sums - Covering radius - Constructions -Decoding.

This book presents a selection of the papers presented at EUROCODE '90, the symposium on coding theory held in Udine, Italy, November 1990. It gives the state of the art on coding in Europe and ranges from theoretical top- ics like algebraic geometry and combinatorial coding to applications like modulation, real-space decoding and VLSI implementation. The book is divided into eight sections: - Algebraic codes - Combinatorial codes - Geometric codes - Protection of information - Convolutional codes - Information theory - Modulation - Applications of coding. Five of the sections are introduced by an invited contribution.

This book contains a selection of papers presented at a Symposium on coding theory: "3 Journees sur le Codage," held November 24-26, 1986, in Cachan near Paris, France. It gives an account of the state of the art of research in France on Coding, ranging from rather theoretical topics like algebraic geometry and combinatorial coding to applications like modulation, real-space decoding and implementation of coding algorithms on microcomputers. The symposium was the second one of this type. With its broad spectrum, it was a unique opportunity for contacts between university and industry on the topics of information and coding theory.

This book contains a selection of papers presented at a Symposium on coding theory: "3 Journ es sur le Codage," held November 24-26, 1986, in Cachan near Paris, France. It gives an account of the state of the art of research in France on Coding, ranging from rather theoretical topics like algebraic geometry and combinatorial coding to applications like modulation, real-space decoding and implementation of coding algorithms on microcomputers. The symposium was the second one of this type. With its broad spectrum, it was a unique opportunity for contacts between university and industry on the topics of information and coding theory.

A study of the nature and the policy implication of changes in the global economy in relationship to the process of regional integration, conducted using the newest techniques of economic analysis. The principal message drawn from these analytical and policy insights is that in a world characterised by trade distortions and nonlinearities, regional integration may or may not foster global integration, and may or may not advance regional or global convergence. The key is good economic policy based on sound economic analysis. Part one of the volume covers three international trade policy issues: regionalism and multilateralism; the political economy of trade policy; and trade income inequality. Part two (chapters 7-11) focuses on three 'domestic' problems faced by regional groups: labour migration; exchange rate arrangements; and real convergence.

Neuroscience, Selflessness, and Spiritual Transcendence conveys the manner by which selflessness serves as a neuropsychological and religious foundation for spiritually transcendent experiences. The book combines neurological case studies and neuroscience research with religious accounts of transcendence experiences from the perspective of both the neurosciences and the history of religions. Chapters cover the subjective experience of transcendence, an historical summary of different philosophical and religious perspectives, a review of the neuroscience research that describes the manner by which the brain processes and creates a self, and more. The book presents a model that bridges the divide between neuroscience and religion, presenting a resource that will be critical reading for advanced students and researchers in both fields.

The end of the Second World War in Europe gave way to a gigantic refugee crisis. Thoroughly prepared by Allied military planners, the swift repatriation of millions of former forced laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war nearly brought this dramatic episode top a close. Yet in September 1945, the number of displaced persons placed under the guardianship of Allied armies and relief agencies in occupied Germany amounted to 1.5 million. A costly burden for the occupying powers, the Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian, Yugoslav and Baltic DPs unwilling to return to their countries of origin presented a complex international problem. Massed in refugee camps stretched from Northern Germany to Sicily, the DPs had become long-term asylum seekers. Based on the records of the International Refugee Organization, this book describes how the European DP crisis impinged on the shape of the postwar order. The DP question directly affected the outbreak of the Cold War; the transformation of the "West" into a new geopolitical entity; the conduct of political purges and retribution; the ideology and methods of modern humanitarian interventions; the appearance of international agencies and non-governmental organizations; the emergence of an international human rights system; the organization of migration movements and the redistribution of "surplus populations"; the advent of Jewish nationhood; and postwar categorizations of political and humanitarian refugees.

From New York Times best-selling author Thomas Piketty and noted Professors of Economis Daniel Cohen and Gilles Saint-Paul, comes an in-depth discussion of rising inequalities in the western world. It explores the extent to which rising inequalities are the mechanical consequence of changes in economic fundamentals (such as changes in technological or demographic parameters), and to what extent they are the contingent consequences of country-specific and time-specific changes in institutions.
Both the 'fundamentalist' view and the 'institutionalist' view have some relevance. For instance, the decline of traditional manufacturing employment since the 1970s has been associated in every developed country with a rise of labor-market inequality (the inequality of labor earnings within the working-age population has gone up in all countries), which lends support to the fundamentalist view. But, on the other hand, everybody agrees that institutional differences (minimum wage, collective bargaining, tax and transfer policy, etc.) between Continental European countries and Anglo-Saxon countries explain why disposable income inequality trajectories have been so different in those two groups of countries during the 1980s-90s, which lends support to the institutionalist view.
The chapters in this volume show the strength of both views. Through empirical evidence and new theoretical insights the contributors argue that institutions always play a crucial role in shaping inequalities, and sometimes preventing them, but that inequalities across age, sex, and skills often recur. From Sweden to Spain and Portugal, from Italy to Japan and the USA, the volume explores the diversity of the interplay between market forces and institutions.

How populism is fueled by the demise of the industrial order and the emergence of a new digital society ruled by algorithms In the revolutionary excitement of the 1960s, young people around the world called for a radical shift away from the old industrial order, imagining a future of technological liberation and unfettered prosperity. Industrial society did collapse, and a digital economy has risen to take its place, yet many have been left feeling marginalized and deprived of the possibility of a better life. The Inglorious Years explores the many ways we have been let down by the rising tide of technology, showing how our new interconnectivity is not fulfilling its promise. In this revelatory book, economist Daniel Cohen describes how today's postindustrial society is transforming us all into sequences of data that can be manipulated by algorithms from anywhere on the planet. As yesterday's assembly line was replaced by working online, the leftist protests of the 1960s have given way to angry protests by the populist right. Cohen demonstrates how the digital economy creates the same mix of promises and disappointments as the old industrial order, and how it revives questions about society that are as relevant to us today as they were to the ancients. Brilliant and provocative, The Inglorious Years discusses what the new digital society holds in store for us, and reveals how can we once again regain control of our lives.

The view that the Internet and the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution would deliver a frictionless economy without recessions is, at least for the time being, dead. This book takes stock of the ICT revolution, going well below the surface to ask and answer a few key questions: did the ICT revolution contribute to the divergence in the growth record? And if this is the case, how and why were some countries better equipped to exploit the potential of ICT? The naive approach to the Internet views e-commerce as a means to achieve a perfect world of competition. By making information cheap and readily available, it should allow the affluent consumer to raise competitive pressure on firms, help the firms themselves to put competitive pressure on their own suppliers and so on. For the poor countries, the story goes, the Internet should lower the barriers to entry to rich countries' markets and foster their inclusion in world markets. However, the theory of economic geography does not support the idea that geography becomes irrelevant as the cost of distance is reduced.