Product Description
Barnabas Kindersley and Anabel Kindersley. Foreword by: Harry Belafonte. A photographer and a teacher traveled the world meeting and talking to children for two years. Readers will enjoy learning about the dreams, beliefs, hopes, fears, and day-to-day lives of other children. Over 500 color photos. 79 pages. Trim size 12.4" x 9.64".
Customer Reviews:
My daughter's favorite book.......2007-08-03
This awesome book shows children around the world and what their everyday life is like (homes, schools, families, pets, friends, churches, food). Having a daughter adopted internationally,this book helps us learn more about her birth country and about all the children of the world. We've started giving this as birthday gifts to her friends.
Very interesting.......2007-06-29
My 6 year old loves reading this book. It shows how children around the world dress, live, and play. It is interesting to see what other children like to do for fun, or what they like to eat. It is also teaching her about the different countries around the world.
Expanding Awareness.......2007-02-21
I hope that all children can someday enjoy this book with their friends and caring adults. It makes real the lives of children all around the world - their hopes, their dreams, their families and their daily routines. It's a delight to see our similarities and a great lesson to learn about our differences. Thank you to the authors and publishers.
Children Just Like Me.......2007-02-19
I purchased this book for my son Ben when he was 2 1/2 yrs. old. He is now 10 and my daughter Maria reads it continuously. This book is by far the best young children's awareness book about the differences and similarities between all children on this earth. I work for the YMCA and have purchased it for our summer camp so that the children coming to stay at Camp Silver Beach can learn more about the childhoods of the international counselors who are role models for them during the summer. At 2 1/2 years, my son knew the continents and could point out where "Ari or Celena" lived and tell me their favorite toys or food and point to the countries in which they live. This book is colorful and timeless expanding a child's view of the world and helping to instill the compassion we need to get along with all kinds of people.
A great way to introduce your children to the wider world.......2007-01-16
My family and I love this book so much I bought one for every set of cousins on our Christmas list. Our three year old daughter doesn't watch TV so this is a fantastic way for her to get a sense of the wider world....She's fascinated by the photos and stories of the children who dress and live so differently from her. And our older cousins can read the materials themselves. We very enthusiastically recommend this one!
Book Description
The author of the million-copy-selling 1001 Ways series shows how to get ahead by fulfilling every employers ultimate expectation. This book contains a clear message: Every boss wants an effective worker to do what most needs to be done without having to be asked. Simple? Perhaps. Easy? Not on your life. But thanks to Bob Nelson, employers and employees everywhere will be empowered by this vital message, and in the process achieve their goals and create a mutually rewarding experience. As brief, to the point, and inspiring as his previous best-selling titles, Nelsons commonsense advice can be applied to any situation, from the mailroom to the boardroom, and is illustrated with a wide array of examples and anecdotes from real life. Helping readers tap into their own intelligence, resourcefulness, and pride, Nelson demonstrates how acts of initiative both big and small can make an enormous difference in the way an employee is viewedand rewardedby his or her boss; he also shows how the effects of those actions benefit the entire organization. Its a perfect first day on the job book; a useful resource for any HR department; and a worthwhile investment for anyone who wants to learn more and go farther in a job, in a career, and in life.
Download Description
Bob Nelson maps out a specific and easy-to-follow strategy for fulfilling what he calls "the Ultimate Expectation" at every workplace: that people will use their best judgment to figure out what needs to be done and then do it without having to be told. Brief, to the point, and inspiring, Nelson's advice can be applied to any situation, from the mailroom to the boardroom and is illustrated with anecdotes from everyday life.
Customer Reviews:
The smart take on initiative .......2007-09-17
Corporate employees must contend with downsizing, scarce jobs and scarcer benefits. In today's virtual corporations, a handful of employees do the work that many people used to do. To survive, make yourself an irreplaceable employee. That's the short, sweet, familiar point (and the only message, given the book's brevity) that Bob Nelson conveys in this simple but clear manual for long-term employment survival. Take the initiative, assume responsibility, know your job better than anybody else and fulfill your supervisor's expectations - even the unspoken ones. Become indispensable: it's here in a nutshell. We find that Nelson provides valuable tips on being a proactive employee and, for fun, illustrates them with some bright little stories.
Initiative + Timing = Promotion.......2003-07-18
This is a very easy to read book full of examples of how people were able to make headway on the corporate ladder by showing initiative, waiting until the timing was right, and even disobeying superiors.
Through a string of specific examples from which generalized ideas are formed, this book explains how you can be an empowered employee with a driving force that will not only bring you job satisfaction, but can help you turn even a doldrum job into an opportunity for success.
The ideas, such as "be a person that makes things happen" can apply to any job, you just have to think about how it can apply to you.
Pro-active thinking!.......2003-02-03
Bob Nelson has assembled a quick reading book on popular business concepts and situations facing a regular employee. He offers suggestions on becoming more pro-active than re-active to situations that arise through out many different careers. Nelson also gives examples of true story scenarios in which a person took a chance or challenged an idea and was later promoted for it. He talks about successes and also failures in careers in which people either sat on the sidelines or got in the game. This book most can probably read in a day as it is under 100 pages and reads very fast. It has quick chapters and a lot of useful insight.
Not so thrilled.......2002-05-17
I was a bit disappointed after reading the book because I thought the author was giving 'general advice' rather than 'specific tips'. I would rather recommend 'The Administrative Assistant' (Crisp Publications)
Encouraging a good employee to be a great employee.......2002-01-23
Bob Nelson doesn't pull any punches, and he says what every employer has always wanted to say, but couldn't quite find the right words. I am purchasing a copy of this book for each of my departments. It will be required reading for all employees. It drives me crazy when an employee is asked to do something and the first thing out of his/her mouth is, "but I don't know how." Fine, you don't know how, but you are an intelligent human being whom I hired, and you can learn. I love the person who doesn't have a clue, but takes on the task, thinks things through, asks questions, and gets the job done. Stagnation is boring, and it's not long before it starts to stink. This books gives employees great ideas to keep from being anything but stagnate. If they work for me, they know actions speak louder than words, and the right actions will take them places. Employers, be sure to read the book. As a companion, read "First, Break All the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. With these books, you will have the tools to make your organization soar.
Book Description
This timely compilation features 365 simple actions people can take to change the world, one day - or even five minutes - at a time. Each suggested action, in 16 "helping" categories, can be started and finished in a day or less, and none requires a cash donation. Readers may choose to accomplish a different altruistic step each day of the year, activate the same tool every day, or take actions that address a personally favored issue, such as animal welfare, or the pursuit of peace. Possibilities for compassionate service include acting as driver for a battered women's shelter, planting trees or a garden at a schoolyard, recycling running shoes into a playground surface, taking a day off from consumerism, aiding low-income students in finding grants and scholarships, helping unemployed workers put together resumes, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
This Book Helped Me Help Others.......2006-05-02
"The Difference a Day Makes" is a terrific book. Karen has done a great job in communicating the importance of giving back every day. There were several new ways to give that I learned through reading this book. It is easy to read, understand and implement in your daily life. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to make a difference (and that should be everyone).
Idealism In Action.......2005-12-15
This is a nice book. It shows how simple everyday deeds can have a positive impact upon the world. Too often people who genuinely want to do something good for society honestly don't know how to go about achieving anything. This book gives great suggestions and points would-be philanthropists in the right direction.
The Difference... Helps You Make A Big Difference!.......2005-04-01
What a refreshing read - both thought provoking and resourceful, In today's "information overload" society, it's nice to have a handy resource to help me accomplish many of my personal volunteer goals without it being so much work. In fact, I'm going to buy copies for all my nieces and nephews as they are all charged with doing community service projects and, in my opinion, need to experience that "giving back," among other things, makes you feel good about yourself!
A kind of recipe collection for doing good.......2005-03-11
For some, compassionate feelings can overwhelm spare time and energy: readers with such a problem should consider The Difference a Day Makes : 365 Ways to Change Your World in Just 24 Hours a kind of recipe collection for doing good. Turn good intentions into powerful action with a guide which provides vast lists of good things which can be done in a few simple minutes or hours; from providing a resource list for a neighborhood to encouraging workplace and home use of the arts, and assisting an elder who has a pet.
Being the Difference..........2005-02-04
If, like me, you've been feeling that sending a check somehow isn't `enough', this is The resource that makes doing `more' easy.
If you're involved with inventing or organizing `service projects', it's a MUST. Definitely the handiest resource for getting your/ their imagination going anyone could possibly wish for.
And if you want to start making a difference before you even get the book, add copies for your local library and scout troops to your order. It's that great.
Book Description
"Whatever" is now the password into civilized youth culture. Alarming numbers of Christians eighteen to twenty-five years old believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Yet, Ryan Dobson proclaims, we can't even function if we believe that everything is relative. In his first book, the impassioned youth speaker explains God's establishment of absolutes, using relevant examples to awaken Christians to the world's desperate hunger for absolute truth -- and the church's duty to proclaim it.
OUR GENERATION IS BEING DESTROYED BY RAMPANT TOLERANCE.
Somebody’s cheating at school?
âWell, that’s his business.â
Your roommate wants an abortion?
âI wouldn’t do it, but hey, it’s her life.â
Accepting everything means you believe in nothing. When it comes to right and wrong, sitting on the fence won’t get youâor the people you loveâanywhere. Passiveness is not love. Love is getting in people’s face and telling them the truth.
Finally, someone has the courage to point out that some ideas are simply stupid. Honest and unflinching, Ryan Dobson will show you how to back up your beliefs and be intolerantâin love.
Customer Reviews:
Shallow, quick and to the point... and then?.......2007-09-20
I highly recommend this book for someone with a short attention span, little or no training in philosophy and has trouble reading in-depth material. Pretty much a short read (took about an 40 minutes) that offers introductory ideas of the very basics of apologetics with a modern theme that appeals to teenagers.
I think this would be a half decent book for 12-15 year olds, maybe even some 16 year olds but that is about as high as I would go before someone would be thinking "and then...?"
The stylized text and tone of the author had me thinking he was a 20-something writing verses a 40-something year old, I will give him props for having a message that reaches the youth but I would expect more from such a book with a engaging title.
A Call to All Christians.......2007-03-30
Christians in this country are so persecuted. As Pat Robertson said, "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." Liberals are sending Christians to concentration camps, not allowing them to get married, making them eat at seperate restaurants, and enslaving them. The Horor! Ryan Dobson, you go put those hippy-liberals back where they belong.
(just in case anyone was wondering, this was meant to be sarcastic)
Good, but not the greatest........2006-11-01
First, I can see how someone who is not an evangelical will have a problem with this book and the things that Dobson has to say. In fact, he says in the beginning of the book that he knows he will "lose some readers" because of the truths that he expounds on in this book. Is the book a great read? - well, yes and no. Keep in mind that the target audience for this book is young people, I would guess teens and early twenties. For someone older, or more mature, then I am sure that a book by the elder Dobson (Christian author James Dobson is his dad) would be a better read. Yes, Ryan Dobson can come across as intolerant to someone who does not take the time to read the whole book and understand what he is saying. Yes, it can seem slightly annoying that he (and some of his friends) seem to have "perfect" lives. However, in the whole scheme of this book, I think he presents a down to earth and "real" message to today's young evangelicals. I think this would be a great book for a youth group or youth Bible study to read and discuss together.
Jesus Christ..........2006-10-10
...would loathe this book. Its message is the polar opposite of the love, acceptance and forgiveness that Christ personified with His life and death.
"One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important? Jesus answered, `The first is, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." The second is this, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.'
-- Mark 12:28-31
"You shall love your neighbour as yourself" - is it sinking in yet? Dobson and his followers are *defying Christ*, not following Him, so I do not consider them Christians.
Be Intolerant.......2006-09-15
Must read for any one with young children. Great thought starter for those seeking the Truth.
Book Description
Hot on the heels of the wildly successful The Hypochondriac’s Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have comes The Paranoid’s Pocket Guide to Mental Disorders You Can Just Feel Coming On, Dennis DiClaudio’s hilarious look at fifty disturbingly familiar maladies you just know are buried deep in your psyche. This inspired new collection profiles the most nerve-wracking, harebrained, loopy, life-threatening and totally out-there mental disorders you could imagine—and some you could never imagine.
With complete descriptions of the symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, and treatment for psychosis, this book could convince even the most rational readers that something—or someone—is out to get them. From the slightly odd
Stendhal Syndrome (the fear of artwork) to the mentally debilitating
Athazagagoraphobia (the feeling that you’ve forgotten something important) and the downright bizarre
Windigo Psychosis (the belief that you are a wild and ravenous monster), The Paranoid’s Pocket Guide to Mental Illnesses You Can Just Feel Coming On is a fascinating compendium of psychological illnesses for all of us to fret and agonize over.
Customer Reviews:
entertaining and educational.......2007-04-23
I didn't read this cover to cover, but thought it was pretty entertaining and also educational. I think it would be a fun informal supplement to an abnormal psych class. The descriptions are vivid and funny, and that makes it easy to remember them. Instead of an abstract, stark, clinical description of symptoms, you get the "gist" of the disorder.
good book but not for 10 dollars.......2007-04-12
this book is fun reading, the fact that it is not written by an MD makes it lacking, if it goes on sale for 5 bucks take it, otherwise hold off.
Five stars.......2007-03-25
This is an excellent addition to the DiClaudio's "Hypochondriac's Guide..." This book is significantly larger than its predecessor (at least three times longer!), yet maintains that same biting sense of medical humor without. A warning - if you're like me, you'll find at least three or four mental disorders in this book that you very well could have. Of course, it's always good to have a reason to give for your erratic behavior. If you could handle the grossness of the previous book, you'll probably be mostly unswayed by the unnerving disorders in this one. Use this book to diagnose all your friends! :)
Book Description
The Simplest Path, Step One: Free Your Mind delineates, in one slim volume, a complete system for achieving personal spiritual awakening, along with a straightforward, no-nonsense plan individuals and groups so enlightened can follow to awaken Humanity en masse and positively transform the world. This book contains keys to awakening. Awakening from our personal dream shatters the solid "box" of limitation memes have built around our lives, and frees us to fluidly craft our personalities, environments, relationships, careers, etc. as an artist paints a landscape or a sculptor teases form from formless clay. All of us awakening together from the shared dream of the planet will mark the birth of our species out of our current global nightmare of decline into a limitless future literally beyond our present ability to imagine, even in our "wildest dreams," indeed.
Customer Reviews:
Way Beyond "Socrates Revisited".......2007-08-22
After reading the commentary attached to the one star rating given by the young man from Texas, I feel compelled to step forward in defense of this very fine book. With only one exception, every point made in that negative review is simply wrong. Just not factually correct. The reviewer identifies himself as a young man (... "to my young mind"), and since all of his other Amazon reviews are of TV episodes on DVD, video games and rock music CDs I take him at his word. Well, I am an "old man," closing in on my sixty-third birthday, and I came to Mr. Casspriano's book after six decades of life experience, the last three of those decades a zealous practitioner of Zen Buddhism. I say this not to "brag," but simply to qualify myself as a reviewer before beginning.
I'll start where the one star reviewer closed his argument, with his statement that the simplest path reduces to two Socratic concepts: "Admit that you don't know anything" and "know yourself."
The first part is nominally true (the exception). Like Zen Buddhism, a central tenet of the simplest path is working to release the false notion we all hold that we know ourselves, other people, the world around us. But identifying and releasing our attachments to our illusions is a life's work, not some brash "I don't know nothin'!" as the young Texan seems to imply. Under normal circumstances, we go about our daily lives with no idea we are deluded about anything, as Maya (the illusion of the phenomenal world around and even inside us) is so convincing that most of us never even think to question its validity. Casspriano did not invent the notion of human beings being trapped in illusion, as this truth was known to the timeless authors of the Hindu Vedas and is central to all schools of Buddhism (not just Zen). But his scientific/spiritual exploration of the mechanism by which Maya ensnares our minds and can, with effort, be overcome is among the best "plain English" explanations of this process I have read. There is no "inscrutable mystery" in the simplest path (a criticism that has been accurately leveled toward Zen Buddhism, as a lot of Eastern thought truly does come off as "inscrutable" when translated into English and/or the metaphors of Western culture). Casspriano lays out in no-nonsense American English exactly what our brains are doing when they create the illusion we mistake for reality, then shows the reader in the same clear terms how to train his or her brain to break free of illusion and taste reality as-it-is. In just 216 pages, that is no mean feat. After thirty years of Zen practice and numerous kensho experiences (of varying depths and intensities), I can say from personal experience that Casspriano is correct. Enlightenment comes as the fruit of a long, incremental process of retraining the mind to touch reality in a new way, and the process described in the simplest path is the same as that followed in Zen practice, especially Rienzi Zen koan study (I'll have more to say about this in a later paragraph). Casspriano's approach and language is very different from traditional Zen (more "scientific," and no sitting meditation is required), which I think would appeal to Americans and other Westerners seeking to experience "awakening" without necessarily committing themselves to a religion like Buddhism, but the internal mental/spiritual process and final destination are the same.
"Know yourself," on the other hand, is not in this book at all, at least not in the way the young reviewer, or Socrates for that matter, uses the phrase. As in Buddhism, Casspriano takes pains to demonstrate that "self" is as much of an illusion as our misapprehension of the phenomenal world, and is a byproduct of exactly the same mind process that creates outer Maya. A core teaching of Buddhism is that our "self," our personality/ego, is nothing more than an aggregation of outside influences that cluster together in our minds like shiny stones gathered into a pile, and which we mistake not only for something "real," but tragically, for our essential selves. Yet this "pile" has nothing really to do with who we are at all. Buddhism teaches "no-self." Belief in the illusion of a unique and independent "self" is our greatest obstacle to enlightenment. Wasting time and energy getting to "know yourself" in the Western sense is foreign to Eastern thought. Casspriano again does a great job of translating the Buddhist concept of "no-self" into Western scientific/spiritual terminology. He shows the process by which our ego/personality aggregate "piles up," as well as how to take the pile down, stone by stone. Enlightenment is what the pile was covering up, and so it naturally appears as soon as the pile is removed - but oh how we cling to our personal pile of stones! "Self" is what we must trade for enlightenment, what must be surrendered, and Casspriano returns to this truth many times in the simplest path. My point is that the one star reviewer's reduction of the simplest path to "know yourself" has no basis at all in the actual book.
As to the book being "gimmicky": Yes, the words "The Simplest Path" recur frequently throughout the book, but not in reference to the book itself (at least that's not how I took it), but rather to the system of understanding the mind and working toward "awakening" Casspriano is describing - and it is a complete system that deserves to be considered as a whole, on its own. At times the repetition does have a feel of "branding" in the commercial sense, so I understand where the reviewer may have taken his impression. But the simplest path, while resonant with Zen Buddhism (and apparently, according to Casspriano, with the Toltec philosophy espoused by Carlos Castaneda, of which I have no personal knowledge, so I'll have to take the author's word for that) is far enough different that it needs its own "name" to set it apart from other schools of similar but not identical thought. The reviewer's criticism is like saying that every use of the term "Zen" in a book called "Zen Buddhism" should be taken as a reference to the book, and not to the larger practice of Zen Buddhism as a spiritual discipline that the book is describing. Casspriano's point in repeatedly linking The Simplest Path, Zen Buddhism and Toltec Shamanism throughout the book, at least as I understood it, is to highlight these three spiritual practices as related reliable paths through a dark forest of illusion, a forest in which many apparent (and more popular) paths, including most (all?) religious beliefs, actively vie to mislead travelers toward deeper ensnarement in the dream, rather than leading them toward "awakening."
I want to say a word about koan study in Rienzi Zen and how it relates to the simplest path. Koans are those quirky Zen sayings and stories like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "what was your original face before you (or your parents) were born?" that have no rational answer, and which Zen students turn and turn in their minds like the tumblers of a combination lock until their imprisoned psyches "explode" in a "super-rational" experience of reality beyond the illusion ("irrational" would be the wrong term, as that implies "nonsense"). That "super-rational" vision of reality is called "kensho." I have experienced it myself, more than once in my lifetime. I have come to think of Casspriano's "Key Questions" in the second half of the simplest path, especially the later seven of the ten, as "cultural koans" designed to trigger "collective kensho" for the whole human race at once. Like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?", unflinching consideration of the value of human life, of how our beliefs about the future shape the present, of the true origin and destiny of life on Earth, etc., especially as seen through the lens of Casspriano's "Key Question Technique," reveals that none of these questions have rational answers, yet all require our active and immediate response. Successful resolution of these larger riddles that impact everyone will require us all to eventually "explode" into reality, together, in a "super-rational" way. We'll have to break through the illusion and wake up together, as one (which has been the goal of Mahayana Buddhism, of which Zen is a sect, since around 200 BCE). That is the "Planetary Awakening" addressed in this book, and I believe Casspriano's "Key Questions" are a concrete step in that direction. I'm glad I spent my fifteen dollars.
This is my "old man" take on the simplest path, having encountered it after 30 years of Zen Buddhist practice (I'm not veering off my chosen path here, just bowing respectfully in passing toward Casspriano's). From a Buddhist perspective, the simplest path is true Dharma, though I do not get the impression from reading his book that Vincent Casspriano is himself a Buddhist or a follower of any religion. That to my mind makes his book all the more interesting.
True, but gimmicky.......2007-08-09
Casspriano's book is scientifically and philosophically sound as best as my young mind can tell, but I don't recommend this book. Its scattered with numerous pages of advertising about how his "program" works and how it compares to other religions and spiritual movements. Why must this author physically write out "The Simplest Path" in reference to his book every other page, and talk about his second volume? Perhaps because he's not out for pure truth, but for our money.
All this book comes down to after you strip away the nonsense is two things. First, admit that you don't truly know anything. Second, know yourself. Do those two things (they essentially both mean to question EVERYTHING), and you'll have Casspriano's "Planetary Awakening," with 15 bucks still in your pocket. And you'll be following the fundamental truths already said by Socrates.. so do yourself a favor and pick up Plato's "Apology" and read up on the Socratic dialogue on how to live a good life. And don't stop there, because you can't be sure he's right.
And I have 10 bucks that says these other couple of reviews were written by the book publisher. In any case, ignore the hype.
A Unique and Inspiring Wake-up Call.......2007-05-15
This is one of the most clear-headed books I've read in years on the subject of real, nitty gritty, get your hands dirty spiritual development (as opposed to the fru fru New Age variety). So much of what passes for "spirituality" in our time amounts to some author, celebrity, priest, philosopher or self-appointed guru telling us what to "believe," sight unseen, if we want to reach heaven, attain enlightenment, achieve "ascension," etc. Casspriano takes an at times startling opposite approach. For Casspriano, such unquestioned/unquestionable beliefs are not only NOT the path to spiritual awakening, they represent the chief obstacle blocking our realization of higher consciousness. And it's not just religious beliefs ("faith") he's talking about, but all our beliefs about reality, especially those that enclose our thinking in "boxes" that limit our freedom to find solutions to real-world threats like Peak Oil, overpopulation, Global Warming, etc. Though much of the book focuses on individual enlightenment, for Casspriano, these larger planetary issues are "spiritual," as well. Whether the issue is our personal inability to find happiness or Humanity's collective rush toward physical extinction, the cause is the same - our wrong-headed beliefs about what's real. The solution is the same, as well - continuous, deep questioning. Using Richard Dawkins' concept of "memes" as a central metaphor, Casspriano first breaks down the basic process of belief, showing the mechanism in our brains by which beliefs misdirect and control our psyches, then he walks the reader through an exploration of a series of ten "anti-meme questions" aimed at breaking down the walls of our mental "boxes" and setting our minds free. With each question, he supplies an exercise designed to allow the reader to attain a personal taste of reality "beyond the box," especially as flavored by that chapter's "Key Question." For the most part, this formula works very well (with a few rare moments of over-exuberance on the author's part, as already described in other reviews, though as a card carrying vegan environmentalist, I can't say I particularly minded), delivering a cumulative series of death-blows to some of the most basic "pillars" of our present human consensus reality. Beyond the walls those pillars supported lies real reality, where we are all interconnected and interdependent, and, in Casspriano's view, mutually destined for greatness, if we can just wake up and grab the reins of our runaway culture in time. This is not a book for spiritual "feel gooders" seeking soft assurances that they're perfect just they way they are and everything's going to be all right, no matter what. This is a wake up call, a tool kit and a concrete action plan for becoming individually enlightened and collectively saving the world, all rolled up into one. That, I think, is a cause well-worthy of exuberance.
Challenge Consensus Reality!.......2007-05-10
This is a thoughtful book that addresses how we may go about developing a process to question our everyday consensus reality. I suppose if I have learned anything in 49 years of life, it is that all personal and social problems stem from our fundamental views on the nature of reality itself. Vincent Casspriano uses the concept of a "meme" as a fundamental unit of ideas, assumptions, etc. that often block our understanding of reality itself. One such meme, for example, may be that we have to "fight for our freedom" or the world's a "fearful" place and hence, we have to be ready to kill to protect ourselves. I suppose you could also use the word "paradigm" here as well, but the essential point of this book is that we "unconsciously" function in our life with many limited points of view that block our ability to solve problems on both a personal and a social basis.
While Vince Casspriano is to be congradulated for producing a book that presents both a methodology and a motivation for personal transformation, there are a few pitfalls here that the potential reader should be aware of before tackling this material. The author has some rather strong views on fossil fuel consumption, meet consumption, and the role of humans in the cycle of procreation. While I generally agree with his analysis on fossil fuel consumtion and meat consumption (as I have viewed large tracks of deforrested grazing land in developing countries), these viewpoints can distract the reader from the essential point here which is to rigourously question consensus reality. Since I am single, and have no motivation to have children, I definitely disagree with his views on the necessity of human procreation on this planet, but here again, it is important to extract the essential meaning rather than get caught in the specific political/social debates that these issues may spawn.
If you are serious about personal transformation with the potential for changing our global consciousness, than this book can be an invaluable tool. I do agree with the Author that a world population of "high functioning" people can resolve every planetary problem we face today. As we systematically question our consensus reality, we will see our problems in new ways, and with this new perspective, problems can often be quickly resolved or transcended.
A Simple Cure For What's "Eating Us".......2006-11-13
I considered titling this review, "Stop Whining, Wake Up and Get Busy Saving the World," but decided "Eating Us" would be more attention-grabbing - which matters because I believe Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" is an important book, and I want to do whatever I can to draw your attention to it. Pick the title you like best. Both very fittingly describe what you will find within the pages of this remarkable new release from New Paradigm Press.
I have selected three short quotations to explore in this review that I think best summarize Casspriano's overall message:
From Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":
"Right now, this very moment, you are asleep... Even if you are reading these words in broad daylight - sitting at your desk or beside the kitchen table, your feet firmly planted on the floor, eyes open, senses alert, feeling the weight of this book in your hands as sounds of life rise and fall rhythmically around you - you are deeply asleep, and dreaming furiously"
Now, the idea that Humans are sleeping, and must therefore "awaken," is by no means unique to Casspriano's "Simplest Path" spiritual system, being the root observation underlying pretty much all Eastern religion, and a lot of Western Occultism and New Age metaphysics, as well. In fairness, Casspriano makes no claim to this as an original insight, openly supporting his assessment of the human predicament with quotations taken from Animism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. He then flows seamlessly into a list of complementary illustrations from the secular realms of Quantum Physics, brain/consciousness research, and most to-the-point, the study of memes and memetics, ala Evolutionary Biologist and world's best-known cheerleader for scientific atheism, Richard Dawkins.
If you've never heard of memes or memetics, a quick Google of those terms will reveal hundreds of serious, information-rich websites devoted to this now thirty-year old science. In a nutshell, a "meme" is a sort of contagious thought-form that spreads between people by way of imitation. Obvious memes in our environment include advertising jingles, fads and fashions, etc. Casspriano somewhat radically extends the concept to include just about everything that makes up the contents of our individual brains and shared human culture. While he resists redefining the word "meme" wholesale, he decidedly expands its definition to make memes and "memeplexes" (what you get when a number of memes band together into an organic, relational unit, like a religion or cultural or political movement) the basic, fundamental building blocks of everything we habitually label "real..."
And then he demonstrates, in at times excruciating detail, the complete emptiness of the "apparent-reality" that is a byproduct of memetic activity in our brains. What we call "real" is not real at all. It's an illusion spun up by our memes. And our memes are not original to us. They are "viral invaders" assailing our minds from without. Worse - and, while even this thought is not wholly unique to Casspriano, he certainly gives it his own very effective spin - memes are by no means mere passive beliefs or simple "harmless ideas." They are, Casspriano believes, actively predatory psychic parasites whose survival depends on our buying into the illusions they create in our minds. Think of illusion (Samsara, Maya, etc.) as a web we're caught in. Memes are the spider. We are the fly. Gotcha.
One thing I like very much about Casspriano's book is that he never asks us to take anything on faith, least of all this rather ugly depiction of the human psychic/spiritual condition. He not only challenges readers to test his hypothesis firsthand in order to experience what is real and true for ourselves, he spends a large chunk of the book outlining specific exercises anyone can do to escape memetic interference and personally experience reality as-it-is. The exercises in Part II of the book are powerful medicine... But this is a digression, so let me return to the point.
Memes are the spider, and we are the fly. A better metaphor might be that memes are the farmer, and we are the cow. Domesticated and docile, we allow memes to milk us daily, to extract from our minds the potent human psychic energy which, if reclaimed by us and put to proper human use, would quickly and positively transform our lives and our world. This transformation is awakening, ascension, enlightenment, metanoia, the Buddha-like change of consciousness most religions and spiritual systems on Earth hint at, but few ever actually deliver to followers. In this analysis, Casspriano's "Simplest Path" is very much in line with Gurdjieff's "Fourth Way," Carlos Castaneda's Toltec sorcery, and a few other well known spiritual practices inhabiting a somewhat darker, though perhaps more realistic corner of the New Age. But unlike most of those other systems, Casspriano's prescription for escaping illusion and awakening to reality is remarkably, well... simple.
From Chapter Three, "Waking Up":
"The simple truth is that we are sleeping because we lack sufficient energy to wake up."
And later in the same chapter:
"The real work that brings about awakening, rather than merely granting the external appearance of "being spiritual," while actually embroiling us ever more deeply in the dream, is a rigorous, daily commitment to the identification and elimination of every self-serving belief from which our personal dream-lives are constructed."
For "belief" in the quotation above, read "meme/memeplex." Casspriano certainly does, treating the terms as largely interchangeable. In the end, this genuinely simple - at least in the sense of being uncomplicated and pragmatic - spiritual practice amounts to discovering reality as-it-actually-is less by searching for a glimpse beyond the illusion, than by systematically withdrawing our participation in, and identification with, the dream. When we disentangle our psyches from memetic illusion, only reality remains. We don't have to chase it; to a meme-free mind, reality just appears. This is "Satori" in Zen Buddhism. This is "stopping the world" in the Toltec sorcery of Castaneda and others. Casspriano's genius lies in his talent for exposing the core mechanism behind such complex and often inscrutable spiritual systems, and for putting into plain language clear instructions for unraveling the dream and achieving personal awakening. The virus-like process by which memes take over and control our human minds, as described by Casspriano is, to my mind, very complicated (but well worth struggling through). What is genuinely simple about "The Simplest Path," however, is Casspriano's prescription for breaking those bonds, once you've made the effort to understand how they are created and maintained. For Casspriano, remaining a victim of spiritual sleep and energetic exploitation by memes is a complex activity in which we unconsciously invest enormous amounts of psychic energy every day of our lives. Awakening is the product of a simple act of withdrawing that investment, which automatically re-energizes of our minds and lives. Or as Casspriano cleverly phrases it when closing Chapter Three, "Waking Up":
"Unweave the tapestry of the dream, and awakening happens."
Anyone can do this. Spiritual awakening, in Casspriano's view, may be hard work, but it is not complicated work. The path to enlightenment is really rather shockingly simple. Fall out of love with the dream. Reclaim your psychic energy. Wake up to reality.
The ten "Key Questions" Casspriano explores in the second section of the book are designed to put the theory laid out in Part I to practical and immediate use. Essentially, I think Casspriano sees these ten issues - why we treat enlightenment as an "airy-fairy" ideal instead of a measurable transformation of brain functioning, the excuses we make for avoiding personal responsibility and integrity along the lines of Castaneda's "impeccability," the fallacy of belief in a "separate self," etc. - as pillars of both our personal and collective human dreams. They are by no means an exhaustive listing of the memes twisting our minds. But they are primary keystones on which layers upon layers of the grand illusion are built. Topple these ten baseline pillars and the larger structure crumbles.
Casspriano explores some "Keys" more successfully than others. One downside to the book is that, especially in the "Keys," Casspriano's own memetic prejudices shine at times rather glaringly through, as when, in his discussion of the American "What Would Jesus Do?" religious fad, he characterizes the Evangelical Christian purveyors of WWJD as, "ultra-conservative, right wing ideologues." Even should the reader personally agree with such pronouncements, its hard to resist thinking, "Hey Vince! Your memes are showing!" But where he nails his point, Casspriano's prose can be downright inspiring, as with the "Key" cosmological study "Is Earth the Center of the Universe?," which explores the gap between what we know, scientifically, about the Universe and what our daily choices and behavior says we really believe, about the cosmos and about ourselves. His closing "Key" "Are We Alone?" so poetically frames the true stakes of our global human predicament - species survival VS extinction - that its hard to imagine anyone keeping their gaze glued squarely to their own self-involved navel in the wake of reading it. Of course we are not alone. There are six and a half billion of us on Planet Earth, and whether we awaken to what's best in us or follow our darkest drives over History's cliff into oblivion, we do so as one. One planet, one fate.
This notion of "oneness" and of a common, intertwined human spiritual and biological destiny is a core theme in The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND that sets it apart from any spiritual book in recent memory. My final quotation from the book returns us to the opening lines of Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":
"We are all aware of the challenges facing us as we enter together into the 21st Century:
· World oil supplies are running out.
· Global warming is transforming the Earth into a steamy greenhouse.
· Even as our technology connects the world, ideological extremism, terrorism and militarism divide us as never before.
· Headlines bombard us with news of war, famine, pestilence and death until we feel overwhelmed and unable to respond.
· Time is running out..."
Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Transformation, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" does not offer easy escape from these very pressing real-world human ills, but rather, a down to Earth, workable prescription for their cure. Yes, we must awaken as individuals, and, rest assured, "The Simplest Path" shows spiritual seekers exactly how to do that. But a prime message of "The Simplest Path" is that, for personal awakening to have meaning, it must occur within the context of a complete re-visioning of global culture, and a mass wrenching away of the wheel of History from the control of viral memes, that we might create a common cosmic human destiny worthy of our highest potential as a species.
Now that's a meme worth feeding.
Book Description
In Just Enough, top Harvard professors offer a revealing, research-based look at the true nature of professional success, helping people everywhere live more rewarding and satisfying lives. True professional and personal satisfaction seems more elusive every day, despite a proliferation of gurus and special methods that promise to make it easy. They conclude that many of the problems of success today can be traced back to unrealistic expectations and misconceptions about what success is and what constitutes it. The authors show where the happiest and most well-balanced among us are focusing their energy, and why, to help readers find more balance and satisfaction in their lives.
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Top Harvard professors offer a revealing, research-based look at the true nature of professional success
Just Enough introduces a revolutionary new definition of success. Written by two veteran authors from Harvard Business School, and based on extensive research that includes interviews with hundreds of professionals, Just Enough explores why true satisfaction seems more elusive all the time. The authors show where exceptionally successful people focus their energy and why-helping readers to not only understand success, but to achieve it.
Laura Nash (Cambridge, MA) is Senior Research Fellow at Harvard University Business School. She is the author of Good Intentions Aside and Church on Sunday, Work on Monday.
Howard Stevenson (Cambridge, MA) is Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate for External Relations at Harvard University Business School.
Customer Reviews:
When is "just enough" enough?.......2005-12-27
Everyone wants to succeed. But in a world where corporate CEOs carve out multimillion dollar contracts and Britney Spears is front-page news, society's view of success is entirely skewed. Authors and Harvard faculty members Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson take a hard look at idealized celebrity success and adopt a view that is the opposite of the popular attitude that promotes going for the maximum. Instead, they advocate learning how to be satisfied with "just enough." Through careful self-examination and structured fulfillment exercises, the authors explain how to obtain success in four main areas of your personal and professional life: happiness, achievement, satisfaction and legacy. Ironically, for a book titled `Just Enough,' it supplies way too much verbiage and analysis. But we find the topic timely and well researched. Those who are striving for balance and just the right amount of success will find this self-help book extremely useful, although those who deeply want it all may be tougher to dissuade.
I've had enough.......2005-08-29
I don't know. I want to like this book. But it is just so long-winded! The brief stories about how others have found balance are inspiring, but are few and far between. Their concept is good, compelling, even motivating, yet it is overwhelmed by gads of unnecessary and distracting jabs at people who base their success on the "wrong" things (aren't these folks their audience?), as well as at the media for touting these people as successes. Skim it at the bookstore -- you'll get the overall (good) idea without wading through hours of self-grandizing text.
Wonderful message for the modern business people.......2005-06-11
Nash and Stevenson suggest us a nice wisdom that all of us can apply in our lives. Especially, this book reminds us how to balance our lives between materialistic value and eternal legacies. As a current MBA student, I recommend this book to all other MBA students who want to balance their lives.
A realistic metaphor for enduring success.......2005-04-26
Even as we are constantly being pulled in several directions due to competing responsibilities, we all struggle to achieve balance in our lives. Some people seek quiet time to keep things in perspective- they read spiritual books, some meditate while others engage in an enduring hobby- there is a sense that we need to do something more than just our daily jobs in the best possible way or earning the highest possible bonus!
This book acknowledges the challenges of everyday life- about conventional notions of success in terms of achievement and money and seeks to suggest a way- a lens to help us navigate through our struggles at different stages of our lives. The kaleidescope is a very realistic metaphor to look at different responsibilities we have at different times not as competing but in some way complementing each other to add to the richness of our experience. The authors contend that enduring success is all about keeping four levers in balance- happiness, achievement, significance and legacy. Too often, we concentrate only on the first two and find our success having a 'hollow' ring to it!
After a long time, I have come across a book that is not overtly 'preachy' but addresses the challenges of everyday life in a pragmatic manner. Good work!
"Just Enough" is more than enough............2004-07-14
"Just Enough" is more than enough: A turgid, pretentious, strident, and wholly unoriginal piece of work. Its framework neither breaks any new ground in the study of the sociology of business or organization behavior, nor is it a particularly useful addition to the realm of self-help pop-business literature. At best, this might have been a reasonable ten page article in the Harvard Business Review, but surely not enough material for 280 pages! Better to read "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow : Discovering Your Right Livelihood," by MARSHA SINETAR, and call it a day.
Book Description
THREE SIMPLE STEPS FOR TRANSFORMING YOUR WORKPLACE. Every office has them: the ever-complaining colleague...the co-worker who is constantly late for meetings...the boss who either blows up at you or blows you off...or the one person who drives everyone else totally crazy. The problem is, the conventional methods -- like repeated warnings, threats, and heartfelt discussions -- for dealing with this negative behavior often don't seem to work. Drawing on a wealth of professional experience as well as forty years of research, Lucy Gill exposes the futility of these common practices and replaces them with a three-step strategy for creating a productive, conflict-free workplace: 1. Get to the heart of the matter by focusing on what the real problem is. 2. Determine what problem-solving methods to avoid so that you don't perpetuate the conflict. 3. Choose a different and even surprising approach that will solve the problem and keep it solved. Whether you're just starting out in your career or you already have an office along the executive corridor, How to Work with Just About Anyone provides the key to success, satisfaction, and sanity in the workplace.
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The staff member who is always late to meetings...the co-worker who constantly complains...the boss who blows up at everyone. Every workplace has at least one person who drives other people crazy. Drawing on forty years of research conducted by the Mental Research Institute of Palo Alto and her own extensive experience as a management consultant, Lucy Gill explains what works -- and what doesn't -- when dealing with problems that undermine a productive, conflict-free workplace atmosphere. Gill exposes the futility of common practices -- like repeated warnings, threats, and heartfelt attempts to persuade someone to perform a specific task -- and replaces them with effective solutions. Her simple, three step strategy teaches readers how to: -- Get to the heart of the matter by focusing on what the actual problem is -- Determine what problem-solving methods to avoid so you don't perpetuate the problem -- Choose a different (and often surprising approach that will solve the problem and keep it solved This book is full of anecdotes that will resonant with all office workers, whether they toil in the mail room or along the executive corridor.
Customer Reviews:
Powerful perspective that you can't find elsewhere.......2002-05-30
Lucy Gill presents a new approach to dealing with problem people at work that is simple, fresh and extremely useful. The bottom line? Stop using the same old methods that don't work for you. If you want to see new results, you've got to employ some of the new tricks put forth here. This book will help you, whether you are stumped on dealing with a boss or employee. If you have ever felt frustrated by a bully, nerd, lightweight, arrogant or some other problem-causing co-worker, then here is your book.
This well-written book is a quick, enjoyable read that will give you more power in those moments when you feel powerless.
Pretty good.......2002-05-09
I read a great deal of personal growth/self help books. This one has some good ideas, but it's not as good as alot of ones I've read. I must admit that Gill is a good, clear writer, and that she obviously understands the underlying theory that her suggestions are based on. She uses alot of examples to illustrate her points. The book is well laid out and easy to follow. I particularly like that it contains a summary of the steps at the end. The author also provides a (too brief) bibliography to give readers a chance to get more information and support in using the techniques presented.
Despite the fact that the book does have good points, and some people will probably find it useful, I didn't find it particularly helpful for me overall (although I did agree with certain points -- notably, the idea that people have a tendency to repeat the same mistakes). It's too short, and I find that the techniques she suggests, which are based on the work of Brief Therapists such as Paul Wazlawick, are too cognitively based -- I have an admitted bias against cognitive behaviourism. In my experience, some of the techniques she suggests are superficial and they don't lead to long term change. They don't get to the root of the issues between people and really allow you to connect and improve the relationship. If you want to do that, this book won't help.
If you just want to get along well enough to achieve a task, and aren't really interested in the long term health of the relationship or achieving true communication, some of the ideas here might work. But this approach deals with the symptoms, it doesn't get to the root of problems. Some would go so far as to say it involves being manipulative -- I'm not sure.
If you have some familiarity with solution focused therapy/thinking, and you generally believe in the benefits of that orientation, you will find this book of value. If, like me, you prefer a more humanistic, person-centred theory, you likely won't get as much out of this book. I'm glad I read it, and I did take a few ideas from it, but I've already put it in my "to give away" bag.
Original and practical.......2001-05-15
I recommend this book highly. As an IT manager I can testify to its practical tips for getting to the heart of a difficult situation and resolving it effectively. It's insightful, clever, witty and useful. The techniques presented can provide relief when dealing with a difficult colleague, superior or subordinate. I was particularly impressed with the methodologies for determining what the real problem is, instead of just complaining and "horribleizing." The solutions may well make you laugh, but they work.
Mental Aikido for Solution-Oriented People.......2000-11-08
Lucy Gill's realistic strategies add a significant number of new tools to the communication toolkit. The problem-solutions presentation is like mental aikido: you can see how to use the situation to help correct the situation.
I'm a project management consultant and coach for Internet startups. My clients can usually handle the technical problems; it's the people that challenge them, especially in hectic "instant company, instant culture" environments.
Lucy Gill's examples really tap an individual's "response-ability" to change their role in a situation and create solutions. I give my clients a copy of the book to reinforce our discussions - so they can take with them answers to the question "What do I say when I get back to my office?"
Good practical approach.....I'll be ready next time.......1999-10-25
Lucy Gill's "How to Work with Just About Anyone" hit close to home with me. Wish I had read this book before I gave up on a couple of projects because of people I couldn't work with. Hasn't happened to me often but when it did, I went half nuts fruitlessly trying those things that worked so well for me before with others, but now they didn't work at all. Lucy Gill is exactly on the mark, the harder I tried the worse things got.............the circular dance, she calls it. The book is too late for those particular projects but next time I'll be armed and ready. The first step of getting the problem clear with the "who is doing what to whom and how it is a problem" approach will not be forgotten. I'm half hoping I do get stuck in one of Ms Gill's feedback dance loops with someone again soon, just to try out her "doing the opposite" gambit.
One other thing, this book definitely should be read before your kids reach their teenage years.
Book Description
Profiling more than 40 innovative and unorthodox schools, COOL COLLEGES is the only guide that reveals which colleges don't require SAT scores, which ones don't give grades, and even which ones are totally free--as well as which ones reject more than 90 percent of their applicants. Independently minded students are sure to find the college of their dreams, whether they want to take classes outdoors, design their own degree, or explore other ways to get the most out of their education.
Customer Reviews:
Good Information Lost To Bad Layout and Filler.......2007-06-22
My daughter is starting the process of looking at colleges, so I am in the process of obtaining information about various colleges. As a somewhat unusual teen, with unusual tastes, I am particularly looking for colleges that are unique or off beat.
While this book does have some good information, it was difficult to find due to the incredibly poor layout. It was more like reading a catalog than a book about schools.
In addition, while many kids may not know about these schools, many others may. My daughter has been contacted by almost all of the colleges in the book that would interest her. How? By filling out the ACT and SAT questionnaires and letting the colleges that matched her desires find her.
My recommendation would be to check this out of the library or the guidance office and see if it might help you. If so, go ahead and buy it.
Helpful advice / Unique Perspective.......2007-05-30
While Asher's advice and opinion may seem a bit heavy-handed or biased to some, he does provide a unique perspective about the college experience, from admissions all the way to post-graduation. The author went beyond the usual "K.Y.O.O.T." principle (Keep Your Options Open, Tiger) and described some pretty unique individual schools and programs. Most notably, he gives mention to the Robert E. Cook Honors College, a program about which people in some higher-level institutions are beginning to speak with respect and admiration. I would recommend this book to any college-bound student who may want to look beyond the usual horizons and try something different.
Cool Colleges...Cool Book.......2007-05-29
When I was looking into colleges, it would have been invaluable to have Cool Colleges to help me find the college that was right for me. Luckily, I stumbled upon one of the many colleges included in this book on a "college search road trip" with my parents. Asher does a great job describing colleges around the country that appeal to the "hyper-intelligent, self-directed, late blooming, and just plain different" students looking for a college to go to that will fit their unique personalities. This book paints a picture through interviews, lists, and essays of college life at each institution. You are sure to find a college in this book that is uniquely you.
RECHC: A cool college indeed.......2007-05-08
Asher describes the good, the bad and the ugly about each college reviewed in this book. He gives readers the "real deal" about colleges that are often overlooked, usually because they are not the big-name schools most people assume offer the best educations. One jewel: the Robert E. Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The RECHC education is priceless; the book is affordable.
A must-read for all college-bound students.......2007-04-27
Unlike many pretentious books designed to assist in choosing a college, this one is both a great read as well as helpful. Asher presents a very down-to-earth perspective of many of the colleges, making them seem like real institutions of learning, rather than just a great name. And, there is something for every college-bound student in this book.
The formatting of this text is interesting and fun and the notes along the pages contain some great tips and ideas without being overly "busy." If you are serious about choosing a college that's a right fit for you, I would definitely recommend this book.
Book Description
"An ethical man is a Christian holding four aces." So said Mark Twain. But practicing Christians, at least, want to be ethical in all areas of life and work--not just when they are holding four aces. To those faced with the many questions and quandaries of doing business with integrity, Alexander Hill offers a place to begin.Hill carefully explores the foundational Christian concepts of holiness, justice and love. These keys to God's character, he argues, are also the keys to Christian business ethics. Hill then shows how some common responses to business ethics fall short of a fully Christian response. Finally he turns to penetrating case studies on such pressing topics as employer-employee relations, discrimination and affirmative action, and environmental damage.
Just Business is an excellent introduction to business ethics for students and a bracing refresher for men and women already in the marketplace.
Customer Reviews:
i would not recommend you to read this book.......2003-02-14
I was assigned to read this book for social religion class. I did not find it very interesting to read. most of the stories are business stereotype. The book itself is very confusing. It seems that it keeps repeating itself- over and over.
just business a great look at Christian business.......2003-02-04
This book is clear, concise, and draws from numerous well-regarded sources. The examples are enjoyable and the discussion questions are thought provoking.
Theologically ill-informed.......2001-09-23
I am a theologian-philosopher looking for a decent book on CHRISTIAN ethics in the marketplace, which this book claims to be. But I found the arguments and conclusions in this book to be based on some very shaky premises.
The author seems to be knowledgeable about the business world, and have read much from business texts and journals. However, since this is a CHRISTIAN ethic, proficiency with the Scripture is necessary. This I find lacking in the author. And so, many of his conclusions are in fact based on the "common sense" out there instead of the Scripture, although he tries to force his conclusions to say that they are in accordance with Christianity.
One who writes on Christian ethics should be proficient in both theology and philosophy, besides being informed about business situations as well. I lack the last of these three, and was hoping to remedy that partly with this book, but the author is so deficient on the first two that this book is not helpful at all.
I would instead recommend books by Gordon Clark and Vincent Cheung. Search the web for "trinity foundation" and "vincent cheung", and I think you will find them. Cheung's books are free for download.
Christian ethics and business practices.......1999-05-23
Good book, descriptive, inspiring and easy to read
Books:
- Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
- Corporate Warriors (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
- e-Business: Organizational and Technical Foundations
- Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data
- Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
- Economics: Private & Public Choice, 11th Edition
- Elements of Dynamic Optimization
- Emc & the Printed Circuit Board: Design, Theory, & Layout Made Simple
- Encyclopedia of Appalachia
- Evaluating Practice: Guidelines for the Accountable Professional (5th Edition)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Volume VI: Advocate of the Social Gospel, September 1948-Marc
- Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric: The Use of Reason in Everyday Life
- Blue and White Japan
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- Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy with Starry Nights Pro CD-ROM
- History: Fiction or Science
- Mortal Causes
- 100 Turn-of-the-Century House Plans
- Charted Classic Samplers
- Catalogue of Salmonella First Isolations 1965-1984
General
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Children Just Like Me: Celebrations!
A Life Like Mine
Houses and Homes (Around the World Series)
Children from Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World
If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People
