Category Archives: Books & Reading

Books & Reading

Lucid Dreaming: What Your Brain’s Really Up To In This Sleep State | Glam

By Saskia Ainsworth | March 5, 2023 6:00 am EST

Naja_WoW/Shutterstock

Has a dream ever felt so real that you were sure that you were living it? Lucid dreaming is a phenomenon that happens to millions of us across the globe and has reportedly occurred in at least 55% of adults, according to Sleep Foundation.

Those who lucid dream often report that their dreams feel like real life and that they can control what happens as if it was happening in real time. Bizarrely, many lucid dreamers are often aware that they are dreaming too. However, those who study this type of dream are still unsure of the exact cause.

While much of the lucid dreaming world remains a complex mystery to scientists, there are some aspects of it that they do understand. Currently, they have a basic understanding of when and how this unique dreaming state happens, which at least provides some answers. In the meantime, many lucid dreamers continue to enjoy the freedom they find themselves with while they are sleeping, taking the opportunity to explore their inner thoughts and wildest dreams. So, what do scientists know so far about this magical dreaming state?

Source: Lucid Dreaming: What Your Brain’s Really Up To In This Sleep State

Karen Gurney: The truth about faking orgasms | TED Talk

By Karen Gurney • TEDxLondonWomen

Screenshot…

Whose pleasure is prioritized during sex, and why?

Psychosexologist Karen Gurney explains how a lack of equal pleasure in the bedroom actually reflects broader gender inequality in society — and asks you to reconsider what dynamics are at play, even behind closed doors.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item… see video at link…

Source: Karen Gurney: The truth about faking orgasms | TED Talk

Your Literary Guide to the 2023 Oscars ‹ Literary Hub

By Eliza Smith, March 10, 2023

From article…

Sure, we’re a website about books, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get in on the Oscars fun, too. (Exhibit A: If they gave Oscars to books, our 2022 nominees.) And while there are few adaptations in this year’s lineup, we’ll still be tuning in on Sunday to celebrate storytelling, judge the Academy’s taste, and perhaps witness some live drama. In the meantime, we’re recommending the books and films you should read and watch next for each Best Picture contender. Follow along with us on Twitter on Sunday at 8 pm ET!

Source: Your Literary Guide to the 2023 Oscars ‹ Literary Hub

Hitting the Books: AI is making people think faster, not smarter | Engadget

There is too much internet and our attempts to keep up with the breakneck pace of, well, everything these days — it is breaking our brains.

By Andrew Tarantola | @terrortola | March 5, 2023 10:30 AM

wenjin chen via Getty Images

Parsing through the deluge of inundating information hoisted up by algorithmic systems built to maximize engagement has trained us as slavering Pavlovian dogs to rely on snap judgements and gut feelings in our decision-making and opinion formation rather than deliberation and introspection.

Which is fine when you’re deciding between Italian and Indian for dinner or are waffling on a new paint color for the hallway, but not when we’re out here basing existential life choices on friggin’ vibes.

In his latest book, I, HUMAN: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique, professor of business psychology and Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic explores the myriad ways that AI systems now govern our daily lives and interactions.

From finding love to finding gainful employment to finding out the score of yesterday’s game, AI has streamlined the information gathering process. But, as Chamorro-Premuzic argues in the excerpt below, that information revolution is actively changing our behavior, and not always for the better.

Source: Hitting the Books: AI is making people think faster, not smarter | Engadget

Human dependence, human needs, Maslow, the Circle of Seven Essential Needs | by Mike Sosteric | Medium

By Mike Sosteric, Mar 18, 2021

From article…

Greetings and welcome. My name is Michael. In this presentation, I am going to talk about six related topics. I am going to talk about the myth of human independence as well as the critical importance of meeting our human needs.

I am going to talk about Abraham Maslow’s early theory of human needs and I’ll also talk about some of the problems with the iconic “Pyramid” that is still to represent his theory.

Then, I am going to introduce you to a new more modern theorization of human needs, the Circle of Seven Essential Needs (Sosteric & Ratkovic, 2020). Finally, I am going to end with a statement bout expanding our view of human nature.

Source: Human dependence, human needs, Maslow, the Circle of Seven Essential Needs | by Mike Sosteric | Medium

How to organize your books — even when you have thousands of them – The Washington Post

Serious book lovers share their strategies for displaying their collections and keeping all those titles from taking over

By Rosa Cartagena, March 3, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST

Monica Chavez, pictured, built her home library with her husband. They chipped away at it on weekends for two years. (Monica Chavez)

Here’s a riddle for you: When a book editor and political science professor downsize from a six-bedroom house in the suburbs to a 900-square-foot Manhattan apartment, how many books will they have to get rid of?

For Matthew Budman (the editor) and his wife, Cristina Beltrán (the professor), the answer was a staggering 12,000.

“We had, you know, giant yard sales, and we had people carting off thousands of books,” says Budman, author of “Book Collecting Now: The Value of Print in a Digital Age.”

The transition was tough, but he says it allowed him to recognize that quantity isn’t everything. Now, he keeps roughly 3,000 titles at home (plus thousands more in storage).

Source: How to organize your books — even when you have thousands of them – The Washington Post