Thinking Like a Computer

The Amazing Zoo in My Backyard

Schoolhouse Burning

They Died on My Watch

Who was the actress who died just before Christmas? She was the voice of …..... in …......
Did Hitler commit suicide, or was he shot by Russian troops?
Do you remember what year Princess Diana died in that car crash in Paris?
How many husbands did Elizabeth Taylor divorce in her lifetime?
What was that well known British actor who passed away right after David Bowie died?

Questions you might hear at the next table of your favourite eatery. Questions you may or may not know the answer to. They Died on My Watch can answer these and many more. It is a comprehensive reference work that should prove itself indispensable to any household. Most certainly a book to sustain interest when cruising at 35,000 feet between London and New York. It might be seen as the ultimate ‘umpire’ to settle any argument that may arise within a discussion involving a deceased celebrity, recent or not.

The Judas Kiss

Embark on an epic journey that defies genre, seamlessly blending elements of dystopian and historical fiction while traversing time, from Eden’s ancient gardens to the enduring enclaves of the USSR, and even further, to celestial chambers scattered among the stars.

The Judas Kiss offers you a spellbinding odyssey that navigates through epochs and landscapes, unified by the presence of a mysterious child. Could he be an Armenian boy orphaned by the Spitak earthquake, a Yazidi warrior lost in a maze of time, or even an angel on a divine mission?

Witness the biblical wanderings of Moses and the poignant tribulations of a Soviet émigré. Explore clandestine labs and remote Central Asian villages suspended in the mountains. Meet a cast of eccentric scientists and cryptic sorcerers, each wielding enigmatic powers. As the narrative unfolds, humanity faces existential threats: a virulent virus and cosmic rifts that could annihilate the world.

Set against a backdrop that is both hauntingly recognizable and captivatingly otherworldly, The Judas Kiss invites you to confront the boundaries of loyalty and betrayal in a cosmos as awe-inspiring as it is perilous.

The Enemies of Excellence

Excellence is the ultimate human power and the source of our greatest inventions, most successful businesses, deepest insights, furthest explorations, best performances, and most profound art.

Yet some people and companies fear, hate, or are otherwise opposed to excellence. Why?

In this book George Adams answers the question based on his many years of experience as a CPA, MBA, small business owner, and survivor of countless difficult life experiences.

The Coming Singularity

As we approach 2050, it is projected that human consciousness will encounter a superior intelligence for the very first time: artificial machine intelligence. It is important for us to understand the evolutionary impact of this event, but also that we are being altered from the inside out for the singularity to arise.

Are we ready?

Will we be adaptive?

How will we change?

The Coming Singularity explores the psychological impact of the changes coming our way and the many adaptations we will have to make.

We are transitioning to a world of one degree of separation, with only the illusion of privacy, autonomy and anonymity. All of us are undergoing a transition to an electronic identity, one that can reach back and change the real you. The question going forward will be, who is the real you?

A cluster of psychological symptoms are evolving from our technology interface––Identity Diffusion. Its key feature is the de-realization of life.

Direct brain-to-technology interfaces will soon render our brains an open-source forum. We need to discuss who is in there and why!

The impact of e-technology on human identity will be profound, but it is also a prerequisite for machine intelligence to arise. We need to discuss this.

We humans reside in complex, dynamical networks. The goal of artificial intelligence will be to evolve and stabilize these networks. And we may not be the priority.

Radical Resilience

In this incredible world of diversity, there is a darkness that blinds us from recognizing the beauty and value of all humanity. We are held hostage by our misconceptions, prejudices and fears.

How do we break free?

There is hope in the darkness. Beacons of light shine amongst us revealing the goodness of mankind. These courageous ones are moved by the people before them. They see into the human heart and respond with compassion. They understand their responsibility to partner for justice, creating a Radical Resilience that causes people to rise above their circumstances to thrive.

May the power of partnership create a Radical Resilience that changes the world.

Nurturing Creativity Through Poetry Writing

After a few years of teaching high school English, Michael was disillusioned with uninspiring conventional curriculum. Good students simply tolerated the boring content-driven curriculum better than the less academically inclined students. He started reading about an old concept, through a new term: Emotional Intelligence. An epiphany struck: If emotional intelligence (EQ) development was more of an indication of future success than IQ and was vastly more teachable, why did schools not emphasize the development of emotional intelligence?

For the next 25 years as a high school English teacher, Michael drew and learned from vast resources to better understand, articulate, and embed Healthy Habits of the Mind in his everyday lessons. He developed a list of Healthy Habits of the mind which he could discuss with students. Appreciating a curriculum that became relevant and engaging, students invested energy and often discovered their own creativity and voices.

Eventually, Michael understood how developing writing skills and Emotional Intelligence strengthen and reinforce each other. Students who took more risks, succumbed to fewer fears, and developed a revision mentality were better at all life’s tasks, not just writing.

Futurecide

Every civilization in history has faced moments of overwhelming existential crises, and they all eventually collapsed. Was this failure inherent in the evolution of civilization, something within the human species, or a combination of both? More importantly, was it predictable and unavoidable? Most civilizations believed they had a special relationship with the divine and were beyond the laws of nature. Our current economic civilization is now global and interdependent. Today’s economy is responsible for the most rapid mass extinction in Earth’s history. We face imminent catastrophic climate change and environmental disruption, yet the same sense of exceptionalism and hubris clouds humanity’s judgement and ability to act rationally.

Environmental disruption is making the planet uninhabitable. No economy can consume its way out of scarcity. This law of nature conflicts with many longstanding economic theories. Sheltered and self-absorbed elitists promote lies and prey on humanity’s most vulnerable instincts of pecking order, conformity, and obedience to authority. These primal instincts may be maladapted to civilization in its current form. Today’s elitists are choosing mass extinction in a false belief in their own invincibility. To survive, humanity can no longer follow delusional leaders to self-destruction.

In non-technical language, the author explores common phases in the development of past civilizations, and the critical junctures and decisions that made collapse inevitable. He investigates the linkages and contradictions between human social behavior, the economy, and the environment. In the closing pages, he identifies a clear path to redemption.

Economic Myths and Economic Realities

The world’s ten richest countries have about 60 times the income per capita of the bottom ten. Nobel Prize-winning economists have acknowledged their ignorance regarding the sources of economic growth. This explains why, despite considerable financial assistance, the gap between poorer and richer countries has grown year after year, both globally and within countries like the USA and Europe.

Using straightforward statistical diagrams, this book explains approximately 90% of the variance in income among countries or states. First, it empirically demonstrates what does not work – the myths – from reindustrialization to Keynesianism. Then, it examines the real drivers of growth by evaluating whole countries (public, social and private sectors combined, including the non-working population) as companies, assessing their business administration across areas like marketing, work culture, strategy and operations. After all, numerous multinationals are larger than countries.

The lessons are twofold: First, nothing is more pointless than perfecting the irrelevant. Second, there are no underdeveloped countries, only undermanaged ones (P. Drucker). The wealthiest countries are, overall, the best-run companies.

Discover the Matrix

The most dangerous move in business is the failure to see the space between. What's the greatest crisis among Leaders today? According to Harvard Business Review (Apr 2020), leaders are living in crisis with no modern-day precedent. Governments, corporations, hospitals, schools, and other organizations need now, more than ever, are "real leaders" people who "help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own."

Like most, real leaders are not born; having the ability to help others see the space between is not written into their genetic code. Many leaders are forged in crisis. Prime Minister Winston Churchill encouraged his people to keep the faith: "We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools, and we will finish the job."

This book provides today's leaders with the tools to get the job done; the skills to see the space between. Challenging conventional wisdom, self-imposed limitations, and abstract obstacles, global business coach and leading keynote speaker Angela Cusack dares you to Discover the Matrix.