Smart Thinking

This second edition is a practical step-by-step guide to improving skills in analysis, critical thinking, and the effective communication of arguments and explanations.

Drawing on the latest research into cognitive science, Art Markman shows you how to maximise your capacity to learn and solve problems effectively at home and at work. Think smart people are just born that way? Think again. Art Markman, one of the premier cognitive scientists in this field, demonstrates the difference between raw intelligence and 'smarter' thinking. Using examples from his own lab and stories from the worlds of business and popular culture, Markman shows it is possible to learn to be a smarter thinker. In doing so, you can reap the benefits in every area of your life. Smart Thinking provides: 1. The means to replace self-limiting habits with new behaviours that foster smart thinking, 2. An understanding of the mind itself as well as memory, 3. The ability to define and solve problems more efficiently, 4. Ways to present and process information effectively. Using the tools and practical exercises provided in Smart Thinking, you too can access the skills needed to achieve your personal goals and create your own 'culture of smart thinking' at work and home.

Learn how to think more effectively, at work and at home. Many scientific and philosophical ideas are so powerful that they can be applied to our lives at home and work and school to help us think smarter and more effectively about our behaviour and the world around us. Surprisingly, many of these ideas remain unknown to most of us. In Mindware, the world-renowned psychologist Richard Nisbett presents these ideas in clear and accessible detail, offering a tool kit for better thinking and wiser decisions. He has made a distinguished career of studying and teaching such powerful problem-solving concepts as the law of large numbers, statistical regression, cost-benefit analysis, sunk costs and opportunity costs, and causation and correlation, probing how best to teach others to use them effectively in their daily lives. In this groundbreaking book, he shows that a course in a given field--statistics or economics, for example--often doesn't work as well as a few minutes of more practical instruction in analyzing everyday situations. Mindware shows how to reframe common problems in such a way that these powerful scientific and statistical concepts can be applied to them. The result is an enlightening and practical guide to the most powerful tools of reasoning ever developed--tools that can easily be used to make better professional, business and personal decisions.

For over 30 years Dr. Hardt has been studying the electrophysiological basis of spiritual states. He has developed a technology based on electroencephalographic (EEG) measurement and feedback, combined, in a highly optimized methodology, with computerized measures of subjective states, depth interviews, and extensive coaching in forgiveness and non-attachment. This technology has demonstrated significant effectiveness in healing and transforming core dimensions of personality, reducing stress and anxiety, reversing key aspects of the brain's aging process, increasing creativity by 50% and boosting IQ by nearly 12 points on average, enhancing peak performance, facilitating conflict resolution, and in expanding spiritual awareness and increasing access to advanced spiritual states.

Plenty of people are intelligent and have the right qualifications. But in business, to be successful, you also have to be smart and creative. This book contains 60 pieces of distilled wisdom to help you think smartly and creatively, and to enable you to stand out from the others. By the author of the bestselling 'The Diagrams Book' (12 languages licensed), each piece of advice can be read in one minute or the entire book in one hour. Divided into six main sections (Growth, Communication, Innovation, Creativity, Relationships and Thinking, this powerful little book draws from a range of disciplines and perspectives to enable readers to transform the way they approach work and life. LID Publishing's popular Concise Advice Lab notebooks are designed to be quick and comprehensive brainstorming tools and skill-building resources for busy professionals. The small trim size makes it easy to take along in a briefcase or purse. Interior pages are matte finish, so ink won't smear, and there's plenty of space to jot notes. A ribbon makes it easy to mark your place, and the elastic outer band keeps the notebook closed.

Each book is summarised to convey a brief idea of what each one has to offer the interested reader, while a 'Speed Read' for each book delivers a quick sense of what each book is like to read and a highly compressed summary of the main points of the book in question. The titles covered include thought-provoking classics on psychology, mindfulness, rationality, the brain, mathematical and economic thought and practical philosophy. The selection includes books about self-improvement as well as historically interesting accounts of how the mind works. Titles included go back as far as the Epictetus classic TheEnchiridion and Bertrand Russell's charming TheABC of Relativity, and proceed through classics such as Edward de Bono's Lateral Thinking and into the digital era with titles such as The Shallows and Big Data. The books are arranged chronologically, which draws attention to some of the interesting juxtapositions and connections between them. Some of the titles included are: Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt; Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell; Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari; The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload, by Daniel J. Levitin; The Descent of Man, by Grayson Perry; How the Mind Works, by Steven Pinker; Black Box Thinking: Why Some People Never Learn from Their Mistakes - But Some Do, by Matthew Syed; We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond; The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb; Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl; The News: A User's Manual, by Alain de Botton; Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking, by Richard E. Nisbett; The ABC of Relativity, by Bertrand Russell; The Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson; The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life, by Michael Puett; A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking; Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, by Tim Harford; Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger; Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis; The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life, by Ben Sherwood; Black Box Thinking, by Matthew Syed; Chaos: Making a New Science, by James Gleick; A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson; The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr; Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality, by Scott Belsky; The Enchiridion, by Epictetus; Gödel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas R. Hofstadter; What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami; and Lateral Thinking, by Edward de Bono.

The story of smart is an epic tale of genius, inspiration, hope, disappointment, disaster and ultimate triumph. Funky, stylish and fun, smart is the youngest and most exciting brand of car on the market - and it has revolutionised the way we think about cars and the way we use them.It has put much-needed fun back into driving, and even city motorists smile when they're at the wheel of a smart. But it nearly didn't happen atall. The revolutionary design was the product of the genius who invented the Swatch watch, saving the near-bankrupt Swiss watch industry in the process. But these visionary ideas proved too radical and the tiny two-seater almost died at birth when a succession of backers lost their nerve. The sensational story of smart traces the decade-long history of this ambitious project, talking to key figures from every stage of the programme and building a vivid picture of an idea ahead of its time.

Every day millions of people log onto Facebook to connect with friends. Each time we do this we are creating and reinforcing habits. We have routines for checking news from friends, looking up birthdays and family updates. When the interface of Facebook was changed in 2011 there was widespread condemnation. We are, in short, creatures of habit. Habits may help us to carry out our daily routine but they often cause us trouble, from unhealthy eating and smoking, to poor study skills and work routines. We've all experienced that endless frustration when we try to kick a bad habit. The frustration you have now will soon be over. Premier cognitive scientist Art Markman draws on all the latest scientific research to help you succeed in beating those bad habits. With the help of Smart Change, not only will you be able to understand just how habits are formed and maintained but you will be equipped with 5 essential tools to help you change your behaviour for the better and, what's more, influence the behaviour of others at work and at home.