Social Consciousness

Matter and Memory, (Matière et Mémoire), published in 1896, was the second book written by Henri Bergson (1859-1941), one of the leading French philosophers of his age. It followed Time and Free Will (1889) and helped to establish him as a major force in anti-mechanistic thought, opposing the trend towards uncompromisingly secular and scientific views. However, when Matter and Memory appeared, Bergson was 39 and had yet to become the hugely influential figure he became in the first decades of the 20th century.

Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was the leading French philosopher of the first half of the 20th century. Near the end of his life when he was forced to register with the police in Nazi occupied France he wrote: ‘Academic. Philosopher. Nobel prize winner. Jew.’ Time and Free Will, his doctoral thesis, was published as a book in 1889 and attacks and rejects the mechanistic view of causality described in Kant’s version of space and time and proceeds to attempt to define free-will and consciousness by separating space and time.

The modern materialist approach to life has conspicuously failed to explain such central mind-related features of our world as consciousness, intentionality, meaning, and value. This failure to account for something so integral to nature as mind, argues philosopher Thomas Nagel, is a major problem, threatening to unravel the entire naturalistic world picture, extending to biology, evolutionary theory, and cosmology. Since minds are features of biological systems that have developed through evolution, the standard materialist version of evolutionary biology is fundamentally incomplete.

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is one of the world’s most beloved books on philosophy and enlightenment. We hope that by repeated listening to the story, you gain wisdom and insight, as well as mastery of a foreign language. We recommend you use the version of the story that leads with your native language, so you hear each sentence in your native language, followed by the language you are learning. For example, if you are a native English speaker learning Spanish, then you would use the English and Spanish edition.

Whether it's the Protestant work ethic or the capitalist need for productivity, most of us in the English-speaking world believe that in order to achieve anything worthwhile, we must first expend huge amounts of effort and energy. In fact, just the opposite is true, as French philosopher Ollivier Pourriol shows in The French Art of Not Trying Too Hard.

Stupidity is all around us, from the coworker who won't stop hitting "reply all" to the former high-school classmate posting conspiracy theories on Facebook. But in order to vanquish it, we must first understand it. In The Psychology of Stupidity, some of the world's leading psychologists and thinkers - including a Nobel Prize winner and best-selling authors - will show you: why smart people sometimes believe in utter nonsense; how our lazy brains cause us to make the wrong decisions; why trying to debate fools is a trap; and more!

In this book, Katie Brindle teaches listeners how to harness this powerful natural healing system to improve every aspect of their life. Yang Sheng fits and works brilliantly in modern life. Some of the techniques may seem unusual, but they are all simple, quick and effective. Even more appealing, a key principle of Chinese medicine is balance; that means not being perfect or excluding foods or having too many rules or pushing yourself to exhaustion with overwork or over-exercise.

In trying to understand the atom, physicists built quantum mechanics, the most successful theory in science and the basis of one-third of our economy. They found, to their embarrassment, that with their theory, physics encounters consciousness. Authors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner explain all this in nontechnical terms with help from some fanciful stories and anecdotes about the theory's developers. They present the quantum mystery honestly, emphasizing what is and what is not speculation.

As a neuroscientist, Marjorie Woollacott had no doubts that the brain was a purely physical entity controlled by chemicals and electrical pulses. When she experimented with meditation for the first time, however, her entire world changed. Woollacott's journey through years of meditation has made her question the reality she built her career upon and has forced her to ask what human consciousness really is.

Inspired by Sri Atmananda (Krishna Menon), the Direct Path is a "pathless path". It simply articulates the being of you and the world as loving, open, clear awareness. If this truth is realized as your experience, then nothing need be done. The path disappears, and life is lived in sweetness and celebration! But if there are still questions or doubts, the Direct Path contains unique and powerful resources that stabilize this truth as your everyday reality.

Our human energy “blueprint” is in a constant state of flux as we grow and change. As our creative ability expands, and our ability to fulfill the potential for a peaceful, just, and sustainable world grows, knowing about the new Global Cycle we’re about to enter has never been more important.

The effects of spiritual practices are now being investigated scientifically as never before, and many studies have shown that religious and spiritual practices generally make people happier and healthier. In this pioneering book, Rupert Sheldrake shows how science helps validate seven practices on which many religions are built, and which are part of our common human heritage: meditation, gratitude, connecting with nature, relating to plants, rituals, singing and chanting, and pilgrimage and holy places.

There is perhaps no modern psychic more fascinating than Edgar Cayce and no better authors to explore the intricate details and eye-opening stories of the people who received his readings than Sidney and Nancy Kirkpatrick. The Kirkpatricks, with decades of experience and research, take us on a journey into the archives and history of these psychic passages, finding the most interesting case studies and exploring the most astounding results of the Cayce work in so many people's lives.

In his first audiobook, As Many Reps as Possible (AMRAP), Jason reveals the invaluable principles that helped him and his wife dedicate every minute of their lives to Ava's battle against leukemia.

Sharing his more than three decades of research into the afterlife and paranormal phenomena, award-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Drasin shows that the continuity of human consciousness beyond the physical body and after death constitutes a legitimate area of scientific inquiry and that it can be objectively demonstrated. Drasin begins by revealing how our belief in materialism—through its effects on our social norms, taboos, and even language—has deeply constrained our civilization’s understanding of the nature of space, time, life, death, and consciousness.

How can we live longer? Do we live in a simulation? Does free will actually exist? The Curious Ape is an exploration of the most powerful ideas from guests on the Joe Rogan podcast. These guests include some of the world’s finest scientists, philosophers, investigative journalists, athletes, and even whistle-blowers. These guests are often contrarians, and their ideas challenge conventional wisdom.

When trying to deal with our current troubles and anxieties, it can be deeply irritating to be asked to consider our childhoods. They happened so long ago; we can probably barely remember, let alone relate to, the little person we once were. But one of the most powerful explanations for why we may, as adults, be struggling, is that we were denied the opportunity to fully be ourselves in our earliest years. This book is a guide to better understanding our younger selves in order to shape who we wish to be in the future.

Stepping beyond the shape of a footprint and into the unseen story of the track, veteran wilderness guide Tamarack Song takes you inside the eyes and mind of an intuitive tracker, with intimate stories where Frogs show the way out of the woods, scat reveals life histories, and Bears demonstrate how to find missing people.

En Cabaret místico se da estructura a los encuentros que, desde hace años, Alejandro Jodorowsky viene manteniendo con el público que acude a sus conferencias. Más de un centenar de chistes e historias iniciáticas le sirven de base para analizar al ser humano sin su «máscara», con sus problemas, miedos, inseguridades y carencias. El amplio número de ejemplos y comentarios, que el autor ofrece sobre las causas que impiden nuestra felicidad y nuestro desarrollo hacia una Consciencia plena, ayudará al lector a sanar la relación consigo mismo, con los demás, con la vida y con su entorno.

A new field of collective intelligence has emerged in the last few years, prompted by a wave of digital technologies that make it possible for organizations and societies to think at large scale. This "bigger mind" - human and machine capabilities working together - has the potential to solve the great challenges of our time. So why do smart technologies not automatically lead to smart results?