All And Nothing

An insider’s perspective on free soloing From the author of the critically acclaimed Hangdog Days Examines what motivates people to climb without a rope Once considered a fringe activity, climbing without a rope has entered the mainstream consciousness, largely because of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo featuring professional climber Alex Honnold. Yet climbers have been free soloing all along—motivated by reasons as varied as the climbers themselves. All and Nothing delves into the cultural history of free soloing, ranging across the storied climbing cultures of the Alps, Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Joshua Tree, Yosemite, the Gunks, Eldorado Canyon, and several other locales. Writer and climber Jeff Smoot explores the interplay of climbing and risk, as well as psychological theories, evolving ethics, the effect of media coverage (particularly the portrayal of extreme sports), and shares original interviews with dozens of free soloists. Smoot also recounts his personal experiences climbing without a rope in the same era as talented climbers like Mark Twight and Peter Croft. From inside his complex connection to free soloing, he examines our relationship with risk, how we perceive our sense of control, and our perspective on mortality.

Why 1 = presence and 0 = absence and the digital world formula is x = xn: an exploration of meaning in a universe of infinite replication. In the beginning was the Zero, and the Zero was with God, and God was the One. —All and Nothing In 1854, the British mathematician George Boole presented the idea of a universe the elements of which could be understood in terms of the logic of absence and presence: 0 and 1, all and nothing—the foundation of binary code. The Boolean digits 0 and 1 do not designate a quantity. In the Boolean world, x times x always equals x; all and nothing meet in the formula x = xn. As everything becomes digitized, God the clockmaker is replaced by God the programmer. This book–described by its authors as “a theology for the digital world”—explores meaning in a digital age of infinite replication, in a world that has dissolved into information and achieved immortality by turning into a pure sign. All and Nothing compares information that spreads without restraint to a hydra—the mythological monster that grew two heads for every one that was cut off. Information is thousand-headed and thousand-eyed because Hydra's tracks cannot be deleted. It shows that when we sit in front of a screen, we are actually on the other side, looking at the world as an uncanny reminder of the nondigitized. It compares our personal data to our shadows and our souls, envisioning the subconscious laid out on a digital bier like a corpse. The digital world, the authors explain, summons forth fantasies of a chiliastic or apocalyptic nature. The goal of removing the representative from mathematics has now been achieved on a greater scale than Boole could have imagined.

In January 1945, the German army is retreating from the Russian advance. Germans are fleeing the occupied territories in their thousands, in cars and carts and on foot. But in a rural East Prussian manor house, the wealthy von Globig family seals itself off from the world. Protected from the deprivation and chaos around them, they make no preparations to leave until a decision to harbour a stranger for the night begins their undoing. Finally joining the great trek west, the remaining members of the family face at last the catastrophic consequences of the war. Profoundly evocative of the period, sympathetic yet painfully honest about the motivations of its characters, All for Nothing is a devastating portrait of the complicities and denials of the German people as the Third Reich comes to an end.

“After years of debate and inquiry, the key to a great marriage remained shrouded in mystery. Until now...”—Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success Eli J. Finkel's insightful and ground-breaking investigation of marriage clearly shows that the best marriages today are better than the best marriages of earlier eras. Indeed, they are the best marriages the world has ever known. He presents his findings here for the first time in this lucid, inspiring guide to modern marital bliss. The All-or-Nothing Marriage reverse engineers fulfilling marriages—from the “traditional” to the utterly nontraditional—and shows how any marriage can be better. The primary function of marriage from 1620 to 1850 was food, shelter, and protection from violence; from 1850 to 1965, the purpose revolved around love and companionship. But today, a new kind of marriage has emerged, one oriented toward self-discover, self-esteem, and personal growth. Finkel combines cutting-edge scientific research with practical advice; he considers paths to better communication and responsiveness; he offers guidance on when to recalibrate our expectations; and he even introduces a set of must-try “lovehacks.” This is a book for the newlywed to the empty nester, for those thinking about getting married or remarried, and for anyone looking for illuminating advice that will make a real difference to getting the most out of marriage today.

A simple and fictional take, based on actual research, on how zero came to be used in mathematical calculations. Was it Muchu the merchant's idea, maybe? Illustrations have bright earthy colours.

In this fascinating and empowering book, clinical psychologist Mike McKinney takes an informed look at the often talked about but little understood phenomenon of the ‘all or nothing’ personality: a personality type that is driven to focus on one task or area of life to the exclusion of all else. While often bringing great rewards in terms of career achievement, this approach can commonly lead to other aspects of life being adversely affected and can result in problems such as difficulty maintaining relationships or not having a life outside work. It’s also one of the main causes of burn-out. The author looks at how this personality type can develop (through, for example, a deep fear of failure, a desire to please others, or childhood expectations that you must ‘always do your best’) and, more importantly, he explores how balance can be brought to the all-or-nothing personality, so that its best qualities can be retained while the potential negatives are mitigated, resulting in a more meaningful and rewarding life.

"Tristan Pierce left the family business to carve out a life of his own, but never forgot his passionate affair with the much younger, inexperienced Sydney Greene, or the hurtful breakup that tore him apart. When he's forced to return home and face his past, will he be able to carve out a future, or will lies ruin his second chance at love?"--

Interest in German Idealism--not just Kant, but Fichte and Hegel as well--has recently developed within analytic philosophy, which traditionally defined itself in opposition to the Idealist tradition. Yet one obstacle remains especially intractable: the Idealists' longstanding claim that philosophy must be systematic. In this work, the first overview of the German Idealism that is both conceptual and methodological, Paul W. Franks offers a philosophical reconstruction that is true to the movement's own times and resources and, at the same time, deeply relevant to contemporary thought. At the center of the book are some neglected but critical questions about German Idealism: Why do Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel think that philosophy's main task is the construction of a system? Why do they think that every part of this system must derive from a single, immanent and absolute principle? Why, in short, must it be all or nothing? Through close examination of the major Idealists as well as the overlooked figures who influenced their reading of Kant, Franks explores the common ground and divergences between the philosophical problems that motivated Kant and those that, in turn, motivated the Idealists. The result is a characterization of German Idealism that reveals its sources as well as its pertinence--and its challenge--to contemporary philosophical naturalism.