Human Culture

The Most Human Human is a provocative, exuberant, and profound exploration of the ways in which computers are reshaping our ideas of what it means to be human. Its starting point is the annual Turing Test, which pits artificial intelligence programs against people to determine if computers can “think.” Named for computer pioneer Alan Turing, the Tur­ing Test convenes a panel of judges who pose questions—ranging anywhere from celebrity gossip to moral conundrums—to hidden contestants in an attempt to discern which is human and which is a computer.

Once relegated to the fringes of society, transhumanism (the use of technology to enhance human intellectual and physical capability) is now poised to enter our cultural mainstream. It has found adherents in Silicon Valley billionaires Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis. Google has entered the picture, establishing a bio-tech subsidiary aimed at solving the problem of aging. In To Be a Machine, journalist Mark O'Connell takes a headlong dive into this burgeoning movement.

History is rife with drug use and drug users, and Human History on Drugs takes us through those highs (pun intended) and lows on a wittily entertaining ride that uncovers their seriously unexpected impact on our past.

We've been conditioned to separate our personal and professional selves, but work is fundamental to our human experience. Love and worth have a place in work because our humanity and authentic identities make our work better. This book integrates the findings of a quantitative study to better understand feelings of love and worth in the workplace and introduces three paths that allow individuals to create the professional experience they desire for themselves, their teams, and their clients.

Curious about AI but unsure where to start? Feeling overwhelmed by the rapid pace of AI advancements and left behind with every new trend? You’re not alone. Many aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs share your concerns—seeking a way to leverage AI for productivity and creativity without diving into technical complexities or compromising their values. Conversational Brilliance with ChatGPT is your definitive guide to mastering AI with confidence and ease. This book demystifies artificial intelligence, showing you how to seamlessly integrate it into your life and work.

Dive into the fascinating world of how both your brain and AI learn through supervised learning! In this engaging and accessible book, neuroscientist Dr. Tursun Alkam takes you on a journey to explore the incredible learning capabilities of the human brain and the revolutionary world of Artificial Intelligence.

This is Diablo's captivating fish-out-of-water story of her yearlong walk on the wild side, from quiet gentlemen's clubs to multilevel sex palaces and glassed-in peep shows. In witty prose she gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at this industry through a writer's keen eye, chronicling her descent into the skin trade and the effect it had on her self-image and her relationship with her now husband.

In Places of the Heart, Colin Ellard explores how our homes, workplaces, cities, and nature - places we escape to and can’t escape from - have influenced us throughout history and how our brains and bodies respond to different types of real and virtual space. As he describes the insight he and other scientists have gained from new technologies, he assesses the influence these technologies will have on our evolving environment and asks what kind of world we are, and should be, creating.

Mary Aiken is the world's leading expert in forensic cyberpsychology - a discipline that combines psychology, criminology, and technology to investigate the intersection where technology and human behavior meet. In this, her first book, Aiken has created a starting point for all future conversations about how the Internet is shaping development and behavior, societal norms and values, children, safety, security, and our perception of the world.

Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and has been little understood. As we learn more about the secrets of bird life, we are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, relationships, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself. The Thing with Feathers explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, and other mysteries.

Conventional product development focuses on the solution. Empathy is a mindset that focuses on people, helping you to understand their thinking patterns and perspectives. Practical Empathy will show you how to gather and compare these patterns to make better decisions, improve your strategy, and collaborate successfully.

Ever feel like you don’t even own the hardware and software you paid dearly for? Ever get the impression that you have to ask for permission before installing or changing a program on your device? Ever feel like Facebook and Instagram are listening to your conversations to show you relevant ads? You’re not alone. Half-baked products and services that chip away at your sense of ownership, independence and privacy are a part of a global wave of corporate indifference that micromanages and spies on honest, uniformed customers.

In 2015 Manoush Zomorodi, host of WNYC's popular podcast and radio show Note to Self, led tens of thousands of listeners through an experiment to help them unplug from their devices, get bored, jump-start their creativity, and change their lives. Bored and Brilliant builds on that experiment to show us how to rethink our gadget use to live better and smarter in this new digital ecosystem. In this fascinating new audiobook, Manoush explains the connection between boredom and original thinking.

One of the most important reasons people today choose to stay—or leave—a job is the culture of the company. As people become more socially conscious; focus more on wellness, self-care, and work-life balance; and seek jobs where they feel a real connection, it’s more important than ever to think about the elements of a job between the work itself. But how do you create a culture that people enjoy while staying productive and successful? In Happy at Work, you’ll first learn a bit more about why a happy workplace is so important and how it can benefit both employees and the company as a whole.

The topic of security culture is mysterious and confusing to most leaders. But it doesn't have to be. In The Security Culture Playbook, Perry Carpenter and Kai Roer deliver experience-driven, actionable insights into how to transform your organization's security culture and reduce human risk at every level. This book exposes the gaps in how organizations have traditionally approached human risk, and it provides security and business executives with the necessary information and tools needed to understand, measure, and improve facets of security culture across the organization.

Cynthia Shapiro is a former human resources executive who's pulling back the curtain on the way that companies really work. In Corporate Confidential, she unmasks startling truths and what you can do about them. Shapiro pulls no punches, giving listeners an inside look at a secret world of hidden agendas they would never normally see: a world of insider information and insights that can save a career.

Social psychologist and Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Brian Lowery argues for the radical idea that the “self” as we know it, does not exist. The self—that “voice in your head”—is a social construct, created in our relationships and social interactions. We are unique because our individual pattern of relationships is unique. We change because our relationships change. Your self isn’t just you, it’s all around you.

Can you be in HR for more than 30 years and still be geeked out about it? The answer is yes, you can! HR leader and popular Everyday People blogger Steve Browne takes a fresh look at HR through an engaging assortment of real-life examples, insights, and epiphanies and encourages practitioners to drop the preconceptions of what HR should be and instead look to what HR could be. Listen to this book to rekindle your passion for a field that is vibrant and vital and touch the lives of everyone you encounter with HR on Purpose!

The world has never been so unstable. Now, more than ever, we need to understand our history, learn from our mistakes, and embrace science and technology as we push into the future. In his debut book, New Thinking: The Technology and Science That Transformed Our World, Dagogo Altraide of YouTube's ColdFusion breaks down the history of gamechanger breakthroughs in the world of science and technology that have shaped our modern world and will impact the future.

In Sex Outside the Lines, Dr. Chris Donaghue describes the holes in society's definition of "normal", taking a sharp eye to institutions such as marriage, cheating, virginity, identity, and sexual orientation. He also examines all the ways that accepting society's "truths" have led to the demise of long-term relationships and sexual pleasure. All of this misinformation is showing up in your bedroom and preventing you from having the sex life you're entitled to.