What We See and Don’t See

WHAT WE SEE AND DON'T SEE, the fourth book in the All About Me series, explores what science and research shows about how we perceive our world. Readers will learn how our brain makes sense of the world. They will discover how our brain simplifies and organizes information: How we see what we see and, sometimes, don't see what is obviously in front of us. They will discover how our five senses can be "extended," and our perception enhanced. They'll explore how there is more to perception than what meets the eye (or ear, or nose, or...), and how our culture can influence how we experience our surroundings. In other words, learn why it is important to "keep the bear at bay."

What’s the Catch?: How to Avoid Getting Hooked and Manipulated

RECOMMENDED

by David S. Sobel, M.D., illustrated by Jeff Jackson This book is the third in Hoopoe Book's ALL ABOUT ME series. In it readers will look at how people (from our parents to our peers) and media (from advertising to the internet) try to influence us. In many situations we are influenced to think, feel or behave in ways we might not usually do. Sometimes that influence is helpful, but at other times we end up shortchanged. The book explores situations and examples that will help us become more aware of the forces nudging and pushing us.

Ancient China Simplified

RECOMMENDED

by Edward Harper Parker

This is an easy to read yet highly informative history of ancient China. It is a classic in the field and covers all aspects of ancient Chinese life and culture. From the dynasties of the kings to the occupations and entertainments of the people, including ancient Chinese religions, sports, literature and customs. As well as the politics, geography and wars of this great civilization. It also includes chapters on ancient japan, human sacrifice, ancestor worship, and many interesting but generally unknown facts.

The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions

RECOMMENDED

by Karen Armstrong In the ninth century BCE, events in four regions of the civilized world led to the rise of religious traditions that have endured to the present day—development of Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, monotheism in Israel, and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Armstrong, one of our most prominent religious scholars, examines how these traditions began in response to the violence of their time. Studying figures as diverse as the Buddha and Socrates, Confucius and Jeremiah, Armstrong reveals how these still enduring philosophies can help address our contemporary problems.

Africa Place of Origins

An iLecture film from the Bradshaw Foundation  
  • Explore the rock art of Africa with Dr. Ben Smith, Director of the Rock Art Research Institute in South Africa.
  • From the deserts of the Sahara, through the jungles of the Tropics, and up in to the mountains of the Drakensberg, join us as we travel the length and breadth of Africa.
  • Features the desert paintings of the Tassili in north Africa, the ‘Schematic’ paintings of the Pygmy groups, the Sandawe and Hadza paintings, the San rock paintings and engravings of southern Africa, the Khoekhoen ‘finger-painting’ geometric art.

The Upanishads

The Upanishads, the earliest of which were composed in Sanskrit between 800 and 400 BCE by sages and poets, form part of the Vedas - the sacred and ancient scriptures that are the basis of the Hindu religion. Each Upanishad, or lesson, takes up a theme ranging from the attainment of spiritual bliss to karma and rebirth, and collectively they are meditations on life, death and immortality. The essence of their teachings is that truth can be reached by faith rather than by thought, and that the spirit of God is within each of us - we need not fear death as we carry within us the promise of eternal life.

Pagan Saviours: Pagan Elements in Christian Ritual and Doctrine

by The Institute for Cultural Research This monograph examines similarities between pagan mystery cults current in Greece and Rome in the centuries before and after the birth of Christ. It  looks at the similarities between them and the developing Christian ritual.

The Age of Sustainable Development

by Jeffrey D. Sachs Jeffrey D. Sachs is one of the world's most perceptive and original analysts of global development. In this major new work he presents a compelling and practical framework for how global citizens can use a holistic way forward to address the seemingly intractable worldwide problems of persistent extreme poverty, environmental degradation, and political-economic injustice: sustainable development.

Parkland

by Dave Cullen Something changed with Parkland. When Nicolas Cruz shot seventeen students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on 14th February 2018, the story was tragic and familiar. Yet the eighth school shooting that year made history for another reason.

Memes to Movements: How the World’s Most Viral Media Is Changing Social Protest and Power

An Xiao Mina Memes are the street art of the social web. Using social media–driven movements as her guide, technologist and digital media scholar An Xiao Mina unpacks the mechanics of memes and how they operate to reinforce, amplify, and shape today’s politics. She finds that the “silly” stuff of meme culture—the photo remixes, the selfies, the YouTube songs, and the pun-tastic hashtags—are fundamentally intertwined with how we find and affirm one another, direct attention to human rights and social justice issues, build narratives, and make culture. Crucially, Mina reveals how, in parts of the world where public dissent is downright dangerous, memes can belie contentious political opinions that would incur drastic consequences if expressed outright. Activists in China evade censorship by critiquing their government with grass mud horse pictures online. Meanwhile, governments and hate groups are also beginning to utilize memes to spread propaganda, xenophobia, and misinformation. Botnets and state-sponsored agents spread them to confuse and distract internet communities. On the long, winding road from innocuous cat photos, internet memes have become a central practice for political contention and civic engagement.