Other books that might interest you

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  Essays: First Series The Over-Soul

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

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  Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Over-Soul isn't just an essay—it's a revelation. It speaks of a vast, unshakable presence within us all, a silent force that knows, guides, and connects. Beyond intellect, beyond ego, Emerson leads us to the infinite.
  The Over-Soul is the quiet voice of truth, the source of wisdom that needs no teacher. It is intuition over logic, unity over isolation. When we listen, the noise of the world fades, and something deeper takes its place—clarity, purpose, transcendence.
  Emerson doesn't explain; he awakens. His words remind us that insight isn't learned but remembered, waiting beneath the surface of daily life. This isn't philosophy to study—it's truth to experience.
  Part of his seminal Essays: First Series, The Over-Soul remains a timeless meditation on the divine spark within. Open these pages, and you may just recognize something infinite in yourself.

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  Literary Theory for Robots - How...

  Dennis Yi Tenen

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  Literary Theory for Robots reveals the hidden history of modern machine intelligence, taking listeners on a spellbinding journey from medieval Arabic philosophy to visions of a universal language, past Hollywood fiction factories, and missile defense systems trained on Russian folktales. In this provocative reflection on the shared pasts of literature and computer science, former Microsoft engineer and professor of comparative literature Dennis Yi Tenen provides crucial context for recent developments in AI, which holds important lessons for the future of humans living with smart technology. 
   
   
   
  Intelligence expressed through technology should not be mistaken for a magical genie, capable of self-directed thought or action. Rather, in highly original and effervescent prose with a generous dose of wit, Yi Tenen asks us to read past the artifice—to better perceive the mechanics of collaborative work. Something as simple as a spell-checker or a grammar-correction tool, embedded in every word-processor, represents the culmination of a shared human effort, spanning centuries. 
   
   
   
  With its masterful blend of history, technology, and philosophy, Yi Tenen's work ultimately urges us to view AI as a matter of labor history, celebrating the long-standing cooperation between authors and engineers.

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  Pearl and Bessie - A baby...

  Julia Bishop, Andy Bull

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  On the rubbish dump, a baby cried.  
  The cry was weak, and fading. The wild dogs had picked up the cries, and the scent, and were circling, closing in. 
  Bessie walked towards the sound and found a day-old baby girl. She had been abandoned because of her sex. It happened often here, in south west China. 
  If Bessie did nothing, the baby would be torn to pieces. So she picked her up, carried her to safety, and later adopted her. Yet, in saving her life, did Bessie condemn the baby she named Pearl to a life of fear and persecution? 
  This is Pearl’s story, and that of Bessie, plus Alf – Bessie’s then fiancé, later husband – and John, a second Han Chinese child the couple adopted. 
  Bessie and Alf were Methodists missionaries in Yunnan province, China, in the first half of the twentieth century. They lived through momentous times, including the Japanese occupation, the Second World War, the civil war, the Communist takeover and the Cultural Revolution. 
  This book follows their personal stories against the backdrop of a turbulent century.

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  Mad Men - A Cultural History

  Bob Batchelor, M. Keith Booker

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   “A comprehensive examination of the ways in which [the series] uses American cultural memory . . . to shape . . . characters’ developments and the narrative arc.” —Journal of American Culture   From the opening credits that feature a silhouette falling among skyscrapers, Mad Men transcended its role as a series about the Madison Avenue advertising industry to become a modern classic. For seven seasons, Mad Men asked viewers to contemplate the 1960s anew, reassessing the era’s stance on women’s rights, race, war, politics, and family relationships that comprise the American Dream. Set in the mid-twentieth century, the show brought to light how deeply we still are connected to that age. The result is a show that continually asks us to rethink our own families, lives, work, and ethical beliefs as we strive for a better world.In Mad Men: A Cultural History, M. Keith Booker and Bob Batchelor offer an engaging analysis of the series, providing in-depth examinations of its many themes and nostalgic portrayals of the years from Camelot to Vietnam and beyond. Highly regarded cultural scholars and critics, Booker and Batchelor examine the show in its entirety, presenting readers with a deep but accessible exploration of the series, as well as look at its larger meanings and implications. This cultural history perspective reveals Mad Men’s critical importance as a TV series, as well as its role as a tool for helping viewers understand how they are shaped by history and culture. “This homage will appeal to fans and academic readers alike. . . . Recommended.” —Choice  “Offers a stimulating point of view on the role of mass communication products as keys to understanding our society.” —Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly  

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  Discriminations - Achieving...

  A. C. Grayling

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  World-renowned philosopher A. C. Grayling explores the messy politics of the 'culture wars' 
   
   
   
  It seems like we can't talk about anything nowadays . .  . Whether it's war or something utterly inconsequential, the internet is primed for furor. And the results can be horrifying—from online pile ons and doxing to job loss and, in some cases, death. But how did we end up here? 
   
   
   
  Nuanced and historically grounded, A. C. Grayling searches for middle ground in an otherwise incendiary debate. Looking at the history of cancellation, from Ancient Greek 'ostracism' through hemlock cups, witch trials, and the House of Un-American Activities, Discriminations is a timely examination of the state of our public culture and the chilling effect it's having on intellectual discourse.

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  Steel City Mafia - Blood...

  Paul N. Hodos

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  Pittsburgh's small but lucrative Cosa Nostra mafia family was on the rise in 1985 with a newly crowned Don . . . The men who came to dominate the rackets in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia opened the family to massive profits from drug trafficking and a street tax on other criminal activities. At the same time, the Youngstown, Ohio, faction of the family launched a brutal mob war against the weakening Cleveland mafia and the Altoona, Pennsylvania, crew violently clamped down on their city. Discover gritty stories of a made member who controlled who a local police department hired, an informant who betrayed his own mafia grandfather and father, numerous unsolved murders and a mob mole in the Pittsburgh office of the FBI. This is the tale of a mafia family at the pinnacle of its power, willing to do anything to hold on to that power and its downfall in the criminal underworld.

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