(Part 2) Best reference books according to redditors
We found 16,058 Reddit comments discussing the best reference books. We ranked the 6,500 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
You inspired me to bust out my copy of the ant bible, The Ants, as I realize I know less about the nuptial flight than any other aspect of ant life.
E.O. Wilson & Bert Holldobler write:
> It follows that the brief intervals between leaving the home nest and settling into a newly constructed nest is a period of intense natural selection among queens, a dangerous odyssey that must be precisely timed and executed to succeed. We should expect to find an array of physiological and behavioral mechanisms that enable the young queens simultaneously to avoid enemies, to get to the right habitat on time in order to build a secure nest, and to mate with a male of the same species.
Then, I was dismayed to discover that they dedicated 20 oversized pages to mostly male and female sexual selection and how colonies time and coordinate their mating flights (ants mate in midair). I'm going to have to leave this one to Google, and more recent research. I'm sure someone has performed experiments about nest site selection.
Last thing I'll add more anecdotally from my readings, is that myrmecologists usually emphasize great urgency during this period of a queen's life (even in the above passage). Therefore, if I were conducting an experiment, I would hypothesize that queens will stop at the first viable site and not "shop around," as the risk to their lives is so high.
$130 on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759
It's really an amazing book though. Hardcover, full size, images, drawings, everything you'd ever want to know about ants. Great coffee table book for weirdos (like me) who love ants
The best route is to take up a course on Logic.
Study introductory predicate logic. Break statements into predicates - identify their antecedent and consequent. Identify the differences between a predicate's negation, inverse, converse, and contrapositive; more importantly, how they can be used to derive logical Truth. Familiarize yourself with Gödel's completeness theorem.
Next, learn to identify a fallacy; study up on logical fallacies.
Cognitive Biases are the next most important step. Being aware of your own cognitive biases will help you identify when your analyses are being skewed.
Study everything about everything. More information about your domain of concern will granter you further insight for analysis.
Lastly, take care of yourself. Get lots of sleep, eat healthy, and exercise; your judgement will be impaired if you don't.
Some books to help:
Edit: Added book suggestions.
Psh. That book runs you $129 new, $80 used.
>http://www.amazon.com/The-Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759
Have you heard of the Nicaraguan Sign Language? A number of deaf Nicaraguan students, unable to communicate with other hearing-abled people, began to develop a crude sign language when placed in a community together. The younger students further refined the pidgin into complex syntax structures. It's, near as we can tell, the most recent natural birth of a new language.
Also, I suggest reading The Language Instinct. Although some ideas in Pinker's book are debatable, he makes an extremely good case for the instinctual nature of language—that it is a biological cognitive adaptation of humans on the level of dam-building in beavers.
I think philosophy still has a lot to offer. Especially in the fields of morality, epistemology, and psychology. I have a minor in Philosophy of Science, so I'm practically an expert ;).
EDIT:
>Which explains why philosophy hasn't came up with anything new on the last 2 x centuries
Hell, I would argue that some of the most philosophically important ideas were had in the 20th century (Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is a great example) and in many ways, those ideas have shaped science into what we know it as today. I hate to say it but it seems to me that if they said "philosophy is dead," they are saying it in ignorance of modern philosophy's very important contributions to science and society.
The power to defend yourself is having the capability and they state of mind to use it. Your gun is just a tool to help you. You need to get training and prepare yourself if you ever have to use it. A little Ayoob is a good start.
Edit: You'll also want to look into a weapon light and possibly frangible ammunition if you live near other people ( like in an apartment)
The Utah Concealed Firearm Permit (CFP) is administered by the Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) in Taylorsville. Here is their website, with all the information you need in order to apply. You must first take the approved Utah training course from a Utah-certified instructor. You can find an instructor here.
A good EDC pistol will vary. My recommendation is to spend some range time renting pistols, preferably along with an experienced but non-judgmental friend, and don't decide to carry a gun until you absolutely fall in love with it (and you know you're accurate with it, too). The right EDC handgun for you will not be the right EDC handgun for someone else. Since you're on a budget, but you will be trusting your life to this gun, spend the 60-80 days you're waiting for your CFP to arrive to save up and have enough cash to get a gun from a reputable manufacturer. Read reviews online and talk to people at the range. You can still get a great carry gun from a quality manufacturer for less than $500.
Before you start to carry, read something that will prepare you mentally and also guide your training (yes, training--dry-fire practice, drawing from concealment, situational awareness, etc). I recommend this book as a starter guide, and this one for exploring the deeper concepts of carrying. Anything by Ayoob is excellent, really.
From your physical description, I'd say you're not looking for anything smaller than a compact gun (subcompact or pocket guns likely won't fit your build or hands). Of course the actual size and grip style of "compact" varies from make to make. Like I said, shoot a bunch of guns and fall in love with one. That way you know that you'll practice with it, and you won't be subject to buyer's remorse.
The Utah-approved CFP course will teach the basics of gun design, but brushes over cleaning. Ask your instructor(s) for details on anything you want more info on. They got into this because they want to educate you. For a good resource on this, check out the Gun Digest Book of Gun Care for handguns.
But what are the odds that you'd actually do that.
This has been done. A French scientist during the age of the guillotine would take the heads of freshly-executed prisoners and attach them to the bodies of dogs. The heads were pretty brain dead by the time he could get it hooked up though, as the state required that prisoners pass the gates of the cemetery before being public property. He did, however, find that the fresher heads could respond to the sound of their name. The head would inevitably be rejected by the dog's immune system though.
I read it in this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939
tldr; There are millions of us that feel the same way. I hope you don't forsake Christ in name in response to those around you who are forsaking Christ in deed.
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I'm writing this during a break at work. Since I have to make it quick, I'll be recommending a lot of books. There is really too much here anyway to do justice to all of the questions you've put up, so even if I were to give a real, detailed response, I would probably have to resort to suggesting books anyway.
> 1.) I don't think that all of the Bible can be taken literally. I strongly believe in the sciences, so I think that Genesis was written either metaphorically or simply just to provide an explanation for creation. Are there others here that believe that or something similar? How do others respond to your beliefs?
There are many, many, many others who believe similarly. And not just recent people responding to evolution, there has long been a tradition of taking Genesis metaphorically. For a good group of scholars and prominent Christians that take a stand for a reading of Genesis that respects the way that science currently understands origins, see the Biologos Forum.
For a good book that shows the error of inerrancy, how it stunts your growth as a Christian and a moral agent, and how inerrancy limits either human free will or God's sovereignty see Thom Stark's excellent new book The Human Faces of God.
> 2.) Why does it seem that Christianity is such a hateful religion? I am very disappointed in many Christians because they spew hatred towards other instead of spreading love. I think that the energy that is going into the hatred that many spew could be used for good. Why aren't we putting these resources towards helping others? This would help bring people in instead of deter them away.
Again, millions of us feel the same way. It makes me sick as well. However, I don't think the answer is forsaking Christ in name in response to others forsaking Christ in deed.
There are many strands of the Christian faith that have strongly opposed violence of any sort. Look into the Anabaptists, the Mennonites. Podcasts from Trinity Mennonite are pretty good.
For a good book about Jesus and nonviolence see Jesus and Nonviolence by Walter Wink.
> 3.) How can people be against gay rights still? This is clearly religious issue and not an issue of morality. If you choose to follow the parts of the Bible that are against homosexuality, then why do you not feel the need to follow many of the other ridiculous laws that are in the Old Testament?
I'd like to stress that, again, there are millions of us that feel the same way. And many, many of those who still believe it's a sin think that we have no place emphasizing that in a world where LGBT teenagers are killing themselves from the humiliation. There are many, many of us that think that whether their lifestyle is "sinful" or not the only thing we should show them is love.
For more about interpreting the Bible in light of today's social issues, see Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis by William J. Webb and Sex and the Single Savior by Dale B. Martin.
> Do you believe that the government has the right to say who can and cannot get married? Why can't this just be left up to each individual church?
I'm actually strongly in favor of civil unions for everyone. I wholeheartedly agree that I don't want the government defining marriage... and the only way for the government not to define marriage is for the government to take its hands off marriage altogether; whatever the sexual orientation of those getting married.
> 4.) This was a question that I was asked in my other post that I was unable to answer.
Yes, the penal satisfaction view of atonement has its shortcomings. It's not a completely bankrupt idea, but it takes a lot of nuance to convey it in a way that isn't altogether abhorrent and senseless.
The first Christians believed something similar to what we call today "Christus Victor" atonement.
For a picture of the varied atonement theories available for understanding what Jesus did on the cross, see A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight. For a list of ways to understand atonement in a contemporary context, see Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross by Mark D. Baker. For more on a view of God that is consistent with the love of God as revealed in Jesus, see Rob Bell's Love Wins: A book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person that ever lived.
> 5.) I asked this in the other post, so I feel that I should ask it here. How many of you do or will teach your children about other religions? Will you present them as options or will you completely write them off?
I'd be wholeheartedly open to exposing them to other religions. And I'd want to do it in a way that does them justice. Most Christian "worldviews" books frustrate me due to the way they portray other's religions. In the long run if you don't accurately portray the rest of the world and you try to shelter your children from it, they'll simply feel betrayed when they grow up and finally learn what's out there.
I believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. I actually believe this. Why wouldn't I try to raise my children as Christians?
But again, I wouldn't want to misrepresent the other religions and I certainly wouldn't want to shelter my children from them. For a book that I feel shows the good from many of the world's most prominent religions, see Huston Smith's The World's Religions.
Aren't we all? But no..just an evolution fanatic which led to ant obsession. Literally read "the book" ... "The Ants". It's 7 pounds! I carefully read about 85% of it...it is huge with oversized pages like 13' x 10'. then you have the small print...you are sometimes not turning a page for like a half hour.
I am against all bans on information. Yes, I am pro-free speech. And you can buy books on Amazon right now that have bomb making tutorials.
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1539810245&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Dictionary&dpPl=1&dpID=51l4qdV0vEL&ref=plSrch
I suggest starting with "radical", "make up", and "vile". Then maybe branch out a bit and try "nickname".
I mis-spoke when I said no known effect. It has some effect, but in healthy people it's minimal and often goes unnoticed. It can cause a slight fever and mild flu-like symptoms while the parasites are 'in bloom'. But in everything I've read(remember I'm a layman, I've just read a bunch of books and articles about parasitic evolution) the consensus is that a healthy person, with nothing to compromise the immune system, will not be able to tell when the parasites are active. Also, once you have Toxoplasmosis, you pretty much have it for life. You can look forward to those blooms every few years(I can't remember if there's a regular period they bloom, but I remember 7 years being mentioned in one of the books), but otherwise they hibernate and do nothing to you physically. If the woman is otherwise infected and the parasites are hibernating, I don't believe it would do anything to the fetus.
Now, there is some discussion about what this parasite does to the human brain in terms of psychology. Nothing has been proven, and it's all theoretical(highly debated theories, at that), but it's been proven that in rats it lowers risk aversion. Rats bred in captivity, even rats that are several generations removed from ever seeing a cat, will instinctually avoid the smell of cat urine. If you put rags with cat urine on them in a maze with rats, the rats will run from them. A rat infected with toxoplasmosis will express curiosity in the rags, and even go so far as to use them for nesting material.
There's evidence that it does something similar to people. According to some psychological studis, Toxoplasmosis carriers are less risk-averse, less likely to worry about social norms, and more likely to be individualistic, and more likely to engage in extreme activities like sky-diving. This is far from conclusive, though, and people like to grasp onto that fact when looking for a sensational story.
But yeah, parasites are known to influence their hosts, whether that's noticeable or a gradual evolution. We aren't separate from any of this. If life is an ocean, mankind isn't an island, it's a current.
Sorry for the wall of text. If any of this is interesting, I highly recommend the book Parasite Rex. It's really interesting and entertaining.
I found a book with all of the words that are censored on ROBLOX.
That was a compelling story! This is crazy:
>Remarkably, Palmer had taken 22 hits from Soulis' .40-caliber Glock, 17 of which had hit center mass. Despite the fact that the weapon had been loaded with Ranger SXTs considered by many to be one of the best man-stoppers available Palmer lived for more than four minutes after the last shot was fired.
I recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/In-Gravest-Extreme-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001
I can't remember the details exactly but there is a story where two officers unloaded 12 shots of .38spl into a man and he still fought them. He only stopped after the second hit of 12ga. hit him. Unfortunately there are hundreds of stories like this.
I fucking love it! (I just started though, so my viewpoint might change in a few years, haha.) I finally get to be around people who share the same passion and interests as I do. Are there moments where I hate my life? Sure, but stress in life is a given. All I know it that I'd rather be doing this than anything else (housewife, office job, retail, etc.). Here's a book I recommend that helped me conceptualize grad school better before I committed: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777
Forget about the practice tests. Try reading these 3 books and they're different from those traditional Kaplan/Princeton books cuz this is more effective and to the point. Look at the reviews if you don't believe me.
Reading - The Critical Reader, 3rd Edition: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997517875/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CocTCbC509HKK
Writing- The College Panda's SAT Writing: Advanced Guide and Workbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/098949649X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jncTCb8VQQDG7
Math - The College Panda's SAT Math: Advanced Guide and Workbook for the New SAT https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989496422/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-ncTCb0K4SM2Y
There's also a dude on this website called 1600.io and he spends a ton of time going over every question on those practice tests you took so he'll tell you the right way to do it. It's free for practice tests 1-4
Greg Wyshynski's new book "Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look") will probably be helpful. I can't say for sure because I just started reading it last night and am only a handful of pages in.
The decision is up to you, and your final choice should pertain to your situation/interests, but if you do choose to learn Japanese, then I can give you some pointers:
Learning Material
Start by learning Hiragana and Katakana. This should take you 2 weeks tops. You can learn it through apps like Dr. Moku (apple and android), and practice with Drag-n-Drop.
After that, use the Genki textbooks I and II (make sure that it's the 2nd edition, which has more features added to it), which are the most popular by far within the Japanese learning community.
Japan Times, the company behind the books, also made some pretty neat apps to side with the book. Available for apple and android. There's also a workbook, which is a bit of a drag to buy after buying two $50 textbooks, so I uploaded the PDFs here.
Supplement your studies with Anki SRS (Spaced-repetition-system), which is essentially virtual flash cards.
There's also Tae Kim's Grammar Guide, which is pretty good as a reference, but not so much a sole learning material. His website is another good reference resource.
Please realize that it's okay to forget words and grammar points, and you're definitely going to have to revisit some of them along the way.
I should probably mention Kanji. Kanji are characters imported from China during the 5th century, although many have divulged from their modern Chinese equivalent. Genki I+II will teach you 317 kanji (image for scale (sorry for bad quality!!)), and Tobira (the textbook I'm about to mention) will teach you another. There are officially 2136 "Jouyou Kanji", or kanji used in everyday life (e.g. a newspaper). Some people use Heisig's Remembering the Kanji, which I wouldn't recommend since it only teaches you the meaning (which it sometimes lies about), and doesn't even teach the reading or any words that use it. I'd recommend learning words and then the kanji that they use. That way you're getting more bang for your buck. While I personally don't use WaniKani to learn kanji, I have used it in the past, and it's really good. Sleek interface, gets the job done, forums for questions. All the good stuff you'd expect out of a kanji learning site. The first couple of lessons are free, and then it's something like $8/month. Despite WaniKani and all its greatness, the creator behind it (named Koichi) also made an "online Japanese textbook" called Tofugu, which I definitely wouldn't recommend. It waaaay too much around the bush, and half of it is just "motivational talk" (which I'm pretty sure is just trying to get you inspired for a night or two, pull out your wallet, pay for a lifetime subscription, and then give up once you get to the 〜ます forms).
Edit: I also feel the need to mention that, despite what pop culture might tell you, only a tiny portion of kanji are truly pictograph (e.g. 川 (river), 山 (mountain), 人 (person), and 大 (big)). The more conceptual ones have almost no tie to their actual meanings, which is why kanji teaching resources that use mnemonics fall apart pretty quickly. After being written with a chisel on turtle shells (called "oracle bone script"), imported to Japan 1500+ years ago, written 1,000,000s of times from people in prefectures miles away, and reformed numerous times, almost all of them lost their original pictographic quality. Just take a look at 働, 色, and 起. What do you think those mean? The answer is: to work, color, and to get up (in the sense of waking up).
Edit 2: Learn the stroke order for the kanji, since it makes them much easier to break down in the long run. For that matter, learn the radicals, or parts, of the kanji. There's a list here.
To clear up any more misconceptions, Japanese is not like Chinese in the sense that a character alone can be a verb. The kanji "起" doesn't mean "to wake up" on its own; only when you add the "き" and "る" hiragana does it turn into the verb. This is called "おくりがな" (okurigana). There are also many different readings for each character, unlike Chinese where there's usually only one or two. For example, the character "日" (day, sun) can be read ひ (or び), にち, or じつ. One kind of reading is called 音読み (onyomi), literally meaning "sound reading" because when the Japanese came into contact with the Chinese, they didn't yet have a writing system (their language was called "和語" (lit. "native Japanese language"). So, they "borrowed" their characters and transcribed the Chinese pronunciation based on their phonetic system. The other kind of reading is called 訓読み (kunyomi), which literally means "riverside reading". This type of reading is native to Japan and was prescribed to the kanji that corresponded with the meaning. On the more extreme side, some kanji can have 10+ readings. Don't sweat it though (心配ないよ！), as you'll learn all of these different readings through context in your vocabulary.
Now to bridge the gap between "beginner"-ish to "intermediate"-ish, use Tobira (which literally means "bridge"). The book assumes you to have a certain level of knowledge, some of which might overlap with Genki and other words/grammar that you may have to look up. It's an uphill battle, but you'll come out triumphant in the end.
On a side note, I'd recommend Jisho.org as your go-to online dictionary, even if some of the example sentences are riddled with errors. "Imiwa?" is a great Jp<->Eng dictionary for android and iOS. If you're really serious, then get "Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary".
Also check out /r/learnjapanese. There's a lot of great questions/resource links on there, and you can ask any questions you might have.
Duolingo has opened up alpha testers for its Japanese course as well. I'm so-so on the quality of Duolingo, since it doesn't even really teach you grammar, but just in case.
There are a lot of great resources posted up on the Kanji Koohii forums, which is where I found ヨミちゃん for Google Chrome.
To go further, read 4chan's /int/ guide.
Oh, and in case you didn't know, stay away from Rosetta Stone!!
Native Material
After Genki II, give a go at よつばと！ (Yotsuba!), a simple children's manga with furigana, which is kana above the kanji (intended for little kids). There's quite a bit of slang in it, and almost always uses the casual form. Even in a simple manga like Yotsuba, there will still be words and advanced grammatical constructs you haven't even touched yet. You can get the "Yotsuba Learning Pack", which consists of an Anki deck and vocabulary list here.
You can practice speaking with native speakers on a wonderful app called HelloTalk (available for apple and android). It's pretty great.
There's also iTalki, where you can write journal entries in your target language (so you can do this for Italian too) and have them be corrected by native speakers. You can also correct journal entries in English.
About the JLPT
The "Japanese Language Proficiency Test [Number X]", commonly referred to as "JLPT N[X]", is the standard Japanese test. N1 (Number 1) is the highest and most advanced, while N5 is the most basic. You can see how ready you are for each one here. Honestly, N5 and N4 are so easy, they're really not worth the money you have to pay to take it. N3 is a good warm up to N2. Passing N2 will look pretty damn good on any business related Japanese job. I wouldn't worry about these tests until a good way into your studies.
Conclusion
While Japanese might not be the easiest language for an English speaker to learn (far from it, it in fact), and quite daunting due to the scores of kanji you're required to learn, the rewards are numerous. For one thing, you get 130,000,000 more people to converse with on this planet. You're also opened up to the world of anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese cartoons), and the original language of the haiku (俳句). Not only that, but you're also introduced to the literature world Haruki Murakami and other such Japanese writers. Most importantly, you should enjoy it. After all, nobody who doesn't enjoy learning something gets very far into it. If you ever feel incredibly discouraged, take a break for as long as you need. Revisit the material when you feel ready. Never study something if it pains you to do so. PM me if you have any more questions.
I'm a PhD student in philosophy, and one of the areas I'm beginning to research is effective methods for training students to properly use evidential support in arguments (obviously this isn't my main area of research, but I have thought about it a bit).
Many universities now offer an Introduction to Critical Reasoning course. Their quality does vary depending on who teaches it (like any course), but I know the one offered at my university is fantastic. If you can't take a course, then there are plenty of books and textbooks aimed at teaching the kind of skills you are looking for. I honestly don't know which are considered the best, but these three all seem fine: 1 2 3.
I'd like to talk about some more specific things. You mentioned in another post studying predicate logic. I love symbolic logic. I wish more students took it. I will probably be teaching it for a long time. But, I think for your stated goals, studying critical reasoning will be much more efficient than studying formal logic.
Another posted suggested reading Spinoza, Kant, and Heidegger. This is terrible advice. These are three of the most difficult philosophers to read in the entire history of philosophy (Spinoza is actually quite fun to read in TPT, but nobody reads that, so I'm sure the poster was referring to The Ethics). Reading Heideger won't help your ability to use logic and reason. It just won't.
Students' biggest problem is that they often fail to understand the reading. For example, a very large chunk of students in Intro to Philosophy classes every year think that Descartes actually believed in an evil demon who was deceiving him, and was thus a skeptic. Critical reading is not an easy skill. Lots of intelligent people aren't that great at it (when an article gets posted on Reddit, look at some of the responses). The best way to improve this skill is to identify your friends who you think are especially good at critical reading, read the same thing as them, and then discuss it.
Students' second biggest problem is not understanding evidential support. For example, almost every intro to philosophy and intro to ethics course includes a day or two going over the Euthyphro. A modern slant on Socrates' main question in this dialogue goes like this: Does God command certain actions because they are morally right, or are certain actions morally right just because God commands them? The right way to respond to this argument is to draw out the implications of each position, and see whether they have any problems or not. Instead, most students will say things like "I'm a Christian so I believe in Divine Command Theory" - and then they will use the rest of the essay to misquote Bible verses at you. The best way to improve your use of evidential support is to study critical reasoning texts - they all have large sections on it - and to practice using it in discussions with people who will challenge you.
Outside of students, many experts (and dare I say) even scientists still make mistakes with reasoning. The most common mistake that I see is when people ignore or don't give proper attention to alternative interpretations of data.
For example, consider this really neat little article. The author (a researcher in cognitive science) describes some really cool experiments where people screw up even simple rule-following tasks (e.g. they recognize and correctly identify 400 as an even number immediately, but take longer to recognize 798 as an even number, and in some cases actually respond that it is odd). The author of the article then makes the claim that "The human mind is ill-suited to carry out rules." However, the data discussed doesn't support this claim - people aren't getting the even / odd tests wrong a majority of the time. The weaker (and less interesting claim) is that the human mind is not perfect at carrying out rules. Or, even better, that the human mind is mostly fine at carrying out rules, but frequently when we should use rule-based thinking, we use heuristics instead).
So yeah. My advice. Don't read Heidegger to try to improve your critical thinking abilities. Read some critical reasoning textbooks. Some of them are fantastic. Talk with your friends who you think are really good at using logic and reason. A lot. Argue with them. Using reasoning is a skill, and you have to practice it to get good at it.
Upvotes for helping educate folks.
In addition to practical training, you should point Bob & Anne towards more education on the legal ramifications of owning and using firearms. I recommend reading Massad F Ayoob's book
A link to the listing for any skeptical folks
Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct is a strong layperson's introduction to lingistics.
Ohio State has a huge undergraduate linguistics program and publishes an omnibus introductory linguistics textbook to boot. I've heard good things about it: Language Files.
That's one of my favorite popular science books, so it's wonderful to hear you're getting so much out of it. It really is a fascinating topic, and it's sad that so many Christians close themselves off to it solely to protect their religious beliefs (though as you discovered, it's good for those religious beliefs that they do).
As a companion to the book you might enjoy the Stated Clearly series of videos, which break down evolution very simply (and they're made by an ex-Christian whose education about evolution was part of his reason for leaving the religion). You might also like Coyne's blog, though these days it's more about his personal views than it is about evolution (but some searching on the site will bring up interesting things he's written on a whole host of religious topics from Adam and Eve to "ground of being" theology). He does also have another book you might like (Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible), though I only read part of it since I was familiar with much of it from his blog.
> If you guys have any other book recommendations along these lines, I'm all ears!
You should definitely read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, if only because it's a classic (and widely misrepresented/misunderstood). A little farther afield, one of my favorite popular science books of all time is The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker, which looks at human language as an evolved ability. Pinker's primary area of academic expertise is child language acquisition, so he's the most in his element in that book.
If you're interested in neuroscience and the brain you could read How the Mind Works (also by Pinker) or The Tell-Tale Brain by V. S. Ramachandran, both of which are wide-ranging and accessibly written. I'd also recommend Thinking, Fast and Slow by psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Evolution gets a lot of attention in ex-Christian circles, but books like these are highly underrated as antidotes to Christian indoctrination -- nothing cures magical thinking about the "soul", consciousness and so on as much as learning how the brain and the mind actually work.
If you're interested in more general/philosophical works that touch on similar themes, Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach made a huge impression on me (years ago). You might also like The Mind's I by Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett, which is a collection of philosophical essays along with commentaries. Books like these will get you thinking about the true mysteries of life, the universe and everything -- the kind of mysteries that have such sterile and unsatisfying "answers" within Christianity and other mythologies.
Don't worry about the past -- just be happy you're learning about all of this now. You've got plenty of life ahead of you to make up for any lost time. Have fun!
http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939
This book detail the dog experiments and the resulting scientific discoveries.
Here you go: The Anarchist Cookbook
Hammer's German Grammar and Usage (HRG) - simply, the best and most comprehensive grammar I've ever read (but certainly not simple...)
If you haven’t read Parasite Rex, please do. Lots of beautiful horror inside, and it’s a fascinating read!
Don't forget The Anarchist Cookbook.
>increase my likelihood of getting hired abroad
Getting hired doing what? Where abroad?
Why do you want a minor in French? There are at least a few million other Haitians who are bilingual in French, so how are you bringing extra value to the marketplace with that minor? Wouldn't a Spanish/German/Russian/Chinese/etc. - Haitian bilingual be a rarer commodity?
This all really depends on where you want to go and what you want to do.
As for books:
My intro to ling. class used the book Language Files.
The Language Instinct is pretty good.
I really liked The Unfolding of Language.
The Power of Babel doesn't get too technical, but is an introduction to language change.
The reason you can't do this is because there is a cutoff point of child language acquisition. Essentially, children acquire language without any real instruction (no one is really sitting their kids down and going over conjugation rules). Around the time of puberty though, this critical period of language acquisition shuts off, and it's at that point that you now have to actively learn a new language through study and practice.
I would suggest taking a look at Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct for a more in depth look at it all.
Replacing words counts as an argument now alibix?
You might want to buy this book mate.
The best advice though is to find a senior philosophy student or a generous professor or TA who is willing to give you direct feedback.
Psst.
yo m8 i found a book you might wanna read
This book helped me immensely when I first wanted to know what was actually happening on the ice.
buy and read this book
I would have to strongly caution against both Bill Bryson and Bragg's The Adventure of English. I like Bryson as much as the next guy--he's super easy to read--but PumpkinCrook's on the money with this one. As for Bragg... oof, what can I say? I read it before I had ever taken a Linguistics course and even then it bothered the hell out of me. The style is unscholarly to a fault and it's also mind-numbingly anglocentric (didn't you know that English is the most versatile and resilient language?!). It's fine, I guess, but you could do so much better.
I'd recommend The Origins and Development of the English Language or The Stories of English. The former is more of a textbook; and the latter is daunting in its size, I know, but it's so lovingly done that you can't fault him--with both books, you can more or less hop around according to your fancies.
As for general background, I'd second Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct. It's over 15 years old by now and assuredly outdated, but it reads so easily and you learn so much (without devolving into the sloppiness of Bryson or Blagg!) that I must recommend it almost with affection.
Then question, search, and (hopefully) find. That doesn't mean discard.
I'd suggest starting with this book by Huston Smith which is a sympathetic overview of what the major religions are striving for. Just as an introduction, before you start delving into too much frustrating and often misrepresented material from each. Then, for Christianity, this book is a good read for an overview. Namer98 may be able to provide similar for Judaism, and somebody else for Islam?
Then decide if it matters. I'm of the mind that it doesn't matter that much, for various reasons.
Good luck!
Philosophy is a big field, and without good guidance it's really difficult to make progress. Thus, if you're really interested in the subject I recommend eventually taking classes. You don't need to be enrolled in a University to take classes; there are many online courses available. For example, Shelly Kagan and Tamar Gendler (both excellent teachers, as well as first-rate researchers in their sub-disciplines) teach online philosophy classes through Open Yale Courses. iTunes U has some good stuff too; you can search around for particular topics that might interest you.
As for books, I recommend starting with something accessible, like Bertrand Russell's Problems of Philosophy. Depending on your interests, you might also enjoy Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions and A.J. Ayer's Language, Truth, and Logic. In all cases, though, I recommend having some guidance as you read, which would require some kind of teacher, as in the online resources I mentioned above.
For any who are interested, Mary Roach's book Stiff is a great, in-depth look at this subject, partially through the eyes of medical/lab students but from many other perspectives as well.
There is an excillend documentary that features one of both of the "prophets of The Ants" (I call them that 'cause they wrote our "bible" The Ants).
Ants: Nature's Secret Power features Bert Hölldobler. (< my fav to show students/friends/family)
Lord of the Ants features E. O. Wilson.
FWIW, I've never heard of Moleneux in my life and I think you're probably one of the least literate people I've ever seen.
You keep repeating yourself over and over, as if your conclusions are sound without any perceivable evidence (here's a hint: they're not). You're not responding to the actual content of the posts, rather continuing along with your own shitposts and direct attacks against your opponents rather than their statements. You're projecting your own insecurities on your opponent and arguing against them, rather than arguing using real logic.
It's time for you to grow the fuck up. You keep blaming millennials for your problems, but you're either a self-hating millennial or you're from an older generation but act like one, and I'm honestly not sure which is worse.
You keep telling people to try reading a book. I've got a reading suggestion for you. I hope you look into it.
Amazon: Anarchist Cookbook $19.96 for soft cover lol
http://www.amazon.com/Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1196275431&amp;sr=8-1
Well first you have to look at what the subscores are; if you're doing 26/40 on Reading/Writing, then my advice will obviously be to focus on Reading. For argument's sake, let's say you're at 33/33. This suggests you probably know both Reading and Writing pretty intuitively and just need some gaps filled up and additional practice.
For Reading, Erica Meltzer is recommended, but I would suggest sticking to practice tests and doing deep analyses of your mistakes and all the answer choices (know WHY every wrong answer is incorrect). Reading is a lot less concept-heavy than Writing or Math, so you'll benefit more from exposure to the way the CollegeBoard asks questions. Train yourself from the beginning to look for an answer 100% supported by the text; you MUST NOT introduce outside assumptions EVEN when a question is asking about an "inference" or "suggestion." If you're afraid of running out of the tests, maybe use PSATs in the beginning.
For Writing, you've got Erica Meltzer if you want a very thorough writing style or College Panda if you like things more to-the-point. Meltzer also has a separate workbook of practice tests for after you're done drilling concepts. Give yourself an official section every few concepts to see how much of it you are retaining when forced to deal with the concepts all together without the benefit of being told what to look for. Know your grammar concepts cold but also realize that this section tests some reading too; you'll need to draw from context to determine the best place to put a sentence, identify the most relevant details, or even determine what word is most appropriate. As with Reading, analyze your errors thoroughly; take particular care in trying to tie back errors to concepts.
On the online resource front, you can use Khan Academy (free) for different types of reading passages and grammar concepts and Uworld (requires subscription) solely as a question bank. Feel free to also download the free official SAT Question of the Day App for daily questions (every other day will have an English question).
You can obtain good explanations of practice tests with 1600.io (only first 4 tests are free).
Good luck!
Top score is a 1600, lowest score is a 400. Theres 3 sections (Math, Reading, & Writing/Language) and an optional essay (max score is a 24). The average score is a 1060, most colleges are okay with just about anything between an 1100-1300, though more selective colleges will have an average of 1350, and top colleges usually have an average of 1520 or so.
Practice is always the best way to prepare: The Official SAT Study Guide is the most realistic practice you're going to get. It includes 8 full-length tests (though you can get those for free on the CollegeBoard website) and review of all the topics on the test.
I'm going to be taking the June SAT tomorrow and I've been using Erica L Meltzer's Grammar and Reading Guides (which are worshiped on this subreddit, for good reason), as well as the QAS Released Tests on this subreddit (scroll down and you'll see "Prep Materials" on the right-hand side. They're real tests!)
One thing that helps is identifying my mistakes and reviewing them, making sure they don't happen again the next time I practice. Typically a (responsible) person will begin preparing for the SAT about 3 months in advance, and they'll take the test about 3 times.
I hope this helps!
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Erica Meltzer: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3QJ7NNDCFZME1YAVRHE4
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https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/143-3214858-8357969?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0997517867&pd_rd_r=a2f63509-83e3-11e9-b0f3-5fc5494b71c2&pd_rd_w=5Oxt6&pd_rd_wg=XSG76&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=961V20KBVK1215JA12QN&psc=1&refRID=961V20KBVK1215JA12QN
Yesyes! The latest edition is here: http://www.amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Anthony-Weston/dp/0872209547/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1324869183&amp;sr=1-1. Marvelous book! Im nearing the end of my philosophy b.a. but I still turn to this book when writing a paper or preparing a presentation.
Hammer's German Grammar and Usage is excellent.
http://www.amazon.com/Hammers-German-Grammar-Usage-Fifth/dp/1444120166/
I (typically) write in sessions ranging from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. In that window, I put down between 800 and 2400 words. The initial 500 or so are always slower than the rest.
At that pace, and using your six sessions per week, it would take between 7 and 21 weeks to write a 100,000 word novel. That seems like a perfectly reasonable pace to me.
Perhaps the issue is one of organization, rather than time?
Wyshynski wrote a book like that. Take Your Eye Off The Puck: How to Watch Hockey by Knowing Where to Look
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Comprehension-Success-Minutes-Day/dp/1576854949
Do you want to become a theist (start believing in one or more gods) or just find a community and set of rituals? I think you can have either one without the other, depending on what your goals are. There are things like the Unitarian church as well as Sunday Assembly (essentially church for atheists).
For me personally, I didn't feel like I had found purpose in life until after I became an atheist and had to discover for myself what I found important in life. Having a family also helps provide purpose :)
That all said, I really enjoyed the textbook we used in my World Religions course in college (note, I linked to the "smile" version of the Amazon link, which is a small way you can have 'purpose' by having Amazon contribute a portion of a purchase price to a charity of your choice)
The (now classic) book to read is Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. by Robert Peters. I remember reading this in grad school but don't remember too many of the details. https://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1519058671&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=grad+school+phd+guide+book
There are mixed opinions out there on The Professor Is In, so don't use that as your only source, but she has a lot of free information available on preparing for the job market, giving job talks, and interviews, etc. http://theprofessorisin.com/
Good luck! Play the long game. Try to have some fun. Take care of your body.
Check out The Ants by E.O. Wilson. Probably my favorite insect book.
Have you seen their Highlights for High School feature?
Also, there are sites like Academic Earth that might be useful.
Here are a few blogs with potential. You'll have to decide for yourself if they have inappropriate content.
Here are a few book recommendations covering various fields, in no particular order (though they should all read #1):
And here's a video interview with Richard Feynman they might enjoy.
>I am specifically looking at writing systems, vis-à-vis Right to left and Left to right and their role in development or impairment of cognitive skills like empathy, humaneness and certain emotional attributes.
There is no evidence for this. However, there is considerable evidence about a more basic difference in languages: the subject verb order. People whose mother tongue has one SVO like Japanese or Chinese, find it very difficult to learn the opposite kind like English. It should be the same for Hindi/English but speaking multiple languages helps overcome the SVO divide. Secondly if Hindi speaking children are exposed to English between ages of 4-6 they will find it easier to learn multiple languages.
The part about symmetrical facial development is crap. Must of the muscles used for speaking are invisible. Whether children smile in their childhood has a much larger impact on their facial structure.
Speakers of one language having accent in another is due to similar phonemes having subtly different sounds. For example the Hindi
र phoneme is very different from the 3 different phonemes represented by the English R, which is again different from the spoken R in French. The Chinese Ri phoneme falls in between
र and ड़. But the speakers typically use the more familiar tongue position making them sound different giving people an accent.
Incidentally in most languages R represents a range of sounds that are in Hindi covered as
य र ल व
If you are actually interested in linguistics, instead of just bakchodi, then try reading Steve Pinker's The Language Instinct
You should read Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, arguably the most important work in the philosophy of science (yes, this is a real and respected field of study within the discipline of philosophy) of the last century. It won't undercut or jeopardize your confidence in the utility of science as a practice, but it will give you a much better understanding of how science is practiced and why science is useful. It's not very long and you'll be a better scientist for having read and understood it, as well as a better thinker in general.
To follow up on the atmospheric effects thing, the amount of radioactive carbon in the atmosphere is critical for radiocarbon dating. Notice the plot of carbon in the atmosphere. Compare it with this (possibly paywalled, sorry if it is) paper on carbon since the early 1900s here. This kind of bump should be noticeable if our ancestors were engaged in large scale nuclear weapon use.
Even small scale use should be noticeable as well. Uranium ore is relatively noticeable, due to its radioactive properties. If our ancestors were mining it, we probably would have noticed (information on the ore here). Furthermore, Nuclear weapons require pretty pure isotopes, particularly of uranium. The process of isotope separation is a long and complex, requiring complex devices such as distillers and centrifuges that probably need to be made out of metal. Considering the scale and complexity of the operation, it is difficult to believe mines and distilleries would go unnoticed.
And last of all, the technology required for producing nuclear weapons has other uses as well. The distillation process is key in the creation of almost every chemical we use, from alcohol to polymers to dies to soaps. If our ancestors were so skilled at this process that they could create nukes, why not create nylon too?
Our ancestors were most certainly not stupid, but we stand on the shoulders of giants. Our knowledge today is built on the knowledge of those before us. It is a long discussion to catalog all the scientific advances that led us to where we are today, here and here are a couple decent books to start.
Yeah, just lay the groundwork to get them later.
The book Getting What You Came For will give you a timeline if you're concerned about hitting all of the requisite benchmarks for graduate school applications. Good luck!
I agree that you should finish it. Once you have, you shouldn't have that many problems getting hired. From what you've told us, you already know programming and algorithms. That's what you'll need to survive in the wild. The rest will be changing in no time anyhow.
Oh this might be a useful book for you: Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. While it focuses on the situation in the USA, it also deals with some of the more generic challenges of graduate school.
You're reading Stiff, aren't you? Hot damn, I loved that book!
Not specific to algorithms or even to CS, but Douglas Hofstadter (Gödel, Escher, Bach, I Am a Strange Loop) touches on many of the logical fundamentals in a relatively layman-digestable manner.
I wouldn't call him easy reading compared to Sagan or Kaku, and don't know a "pop computer science" equivalent to those two, but you definitely don't need a CS or math degree to get through GEB. Whether it's on-topic enough here is definitely questionable.
---
Edit: I haven't read it, but from the description this one by Thomas Cormen looks like it might be close to what you're looking for: Algorithms Unlocked.
"This is a unique book in its attempt to open the field of algorithms to a wider audience. It provides an easy-to-read introduction to an abstract topic, without sacrificing depth."
From the TOC, it looks like it's probably fairly light on math but gets into code or pseudocode relatively quickly. I still wouldn't call it pop-CS, but if that sounds like a fit, maybe give it a shot!
If you're serious about wanting to learn a LOAD of awesome stuff about ants, go straight to the authoritative source: E.O. Wilson and Bert Holldobler's The Ants.
ASPPH | Summer of Public Health: Reading Recommendations
Not on the list:
The Blue Death
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Parasite Rex
The Coming Plague
Spitting Blood
I'll just leave this here.
A good way to increase your knowledge base is reading. Here are some books I have read and would recommend.
A. Navy Seal Shooting by Chris Sajnog.
Probably the best book to learn about the fundamentals. Chris covers the mental mastery of shooting better than any other book I am aware of.
B. In The Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob.
If you own guns for self defense I would recommend this book. While this was written in the 1980's it is still relevant today. It is the definitive work on deadly use of force law in the United States.
C. Combat Shooting (Or any other book) by Massad Ayoob
Ayoob has established himself as perhaps the authority on defensive handgun use through his extensive use of case studies.
D. The Book of Two Guns by Tiger Mckee.
This was written primarily revolving around the AR-15 and 1911. However, It's principles are applicable to any fighting rifle or handgun.
This is pulled straight from the wiki on that book:
"In 2007, a 17-year-old was arrested in Britain and faced charges under Terrorism Law in the UK for possession of this book, among other things. He was cleared of all charges in October 2008, after arguing that he was a prankster who just wanted to research fireworks and smoke bombs.
More recently, in County Durham, UK in 2010, Ian Davison and his son were imprisoned under anti-terrorism laws for the manufacturing of ricin, and their possession of the Anarchist Cookbook, along with its availability, was noted by the authorities.
In 2013, renewed calls were made in the United States to ban this book, citing links to a school shooting in Colorado by Karl Pierson."
In America this book is not and has not been banned by the feds. Full stop. Publishing ceased for a while (not by court order) but it is in print again and older copies are also perfectly legal.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1396669778&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=anarchist+cookbook
I have personally only used Meltzer's english book, CP's english book, and CP's math book and can vouch that all of these are amazing, but others on this sub also recommend other books. Here is a list of many of them. I hope they serve you well :] (Edit: I apologize for how huge this post is, lol)
English
https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1519610454&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=erica+meltzer+sat+writing
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Writing-Advanced/dp/0989496430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1519610514&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=college+panda+writing&amp;dpID=41iRh%252BJb19L&amp;preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
Reading
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1519610443&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=erica+meltzer+sat+reading&amp;dpID=51cR4Uh0YBL&amp;preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
Math
https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1519610506&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=college+panda+math
https://www.amazon.com/Dr-John-Chungs-Math-Fourth/dp/197452602X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1519610536&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dr+chungs+sat+math&amp;dpID=51gqq9mu0XL&amp;preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
For Reading: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875
For Writing: https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Writing-Advanced/dp/098949649X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=college+panda+sat+writing&amp;qid=1563901164&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=college+panda&amp;sr=8-3 or https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867/ref=pd_aw_fbt_14_img_2/133-6279214-8476330?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0997517867&amp;pd_rd_r=b1b3ba1b-4d03-4aef-8534-fb724df88793&amp;pd_rd_w=tVeGd&amp;pd_rd_wg=AG0DL&amp;pf_rd_p=3ecc74bd-d08f-44bd-96f3-d0c2b89f563a&amp;pf_rd_r=S0E4J8G00TRD6F0ZY1ZK&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=S0E4J8G00TRD6F0ZY1ZK
For Math: https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=pd_aw_fbt_14_img_2/133-6279214-8476330?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0989496422&amp;pd_rd_r=6bc275dd-8dee-497b-aa49-17576266463e&amp;pd_rd_w=YjIig&amp;pd_rd_wg=Pc71l&amp;pf_rd_p=3ecc74bd-d08f-44bd-96f3-d0c2b89f563a&amp;pf_rd_r=P3X7H8SAQZT59M5F6FNV&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=P3X7H8SAQZT59M5F6FNV or https://www.amazon.com/PWN-SAT-Guide-Mike-McClenathan/dp/1523963573/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=pwn+sat+math&amp;qid=1563901232&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=pwn+sa&amp;sr=8-1-spons&amp;psc=1
For Essay (if you’re taking it): https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Essay-Battle-tested/dp/0989496465/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=college+panda+essay&amp;qid=1563901277&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-3
For General Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/SAT-Prep-Black-Book-Strategies/dp/0692916164/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=sat+black+book&amp;qid=1563901330&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=sat+bla&amp;sr=8-1-spons&amp;psc=1
For Practice Tests: https://www.amazon.com/Official-SAT-Study-Guide-2020/dp/1457312190/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=college+board+sat+2020&amp;qid=1563901505&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=college+board+&amp;sr=8-3 (NOTE: These practice tests are available online but I prefer having them on paper, which is why I bought this book.) and https://amp.reddit.com/r/Sat/comments/9544rw/all_qas_tests_and_scoring_in_pdf_form/
Good online resources include Khan Academy, UWorld, and 1600.io. Also, I recommend taking a timed practice test often to follow along with your progress and see what you need to work on. Make sure to do the practice test all at once (don’t break it up into section) and try to do it in the morning like you would in the real SAT. Then, go over your mistakes very carefully (this is VERY IMPORTANT) until you truly understand the mistake so that you won’t make it again in the future. This is the most important step. If you skip this, it’s unlikely that you see any meaningful score improvement. Also, It’s up to you which resources you buy/use based on what sections you need help with. Good luck!
This seems relevant.
Wow, I had no idea this was actually for sale.
I picked up some finer points watching the game live, pretty close to the benches. Finally the whole When Do They Do Line Changes and Why made sense (especially as a soccer player, it's weird to watch a game that they don't blow the whistle to make changes)
This book was helpful.
I went looking and couldn't find much. There's its web site, which has an overview (incl. contents) and videos about it (note: these start in Japanese, but students talk in English later), but I couldn't find actual sample pages. There's this video review where she shows a few pages and talks about it, but that's it really.
It's been a while since I used it, but basically each chapter is somewhat self-contained and tend to be on a general topic. So I'll take Chapter 1 as an example.
Chapter 10 has the topic 日本の便利な店. The chapter starts with some preparatory stuff before going to the reading about vending machines (自動販売機大国ニッポン), which is deliberately low on furigana apart from some difficult words, but has a list down the bottom of key kani compounds. The reading is about two pages long (earlier ones are shorter) but not especially difficult. Next is a detailed wordlist with the word, its reading, type of word (verb, noun, etc.) and English meaning indexed with its location in the reading passage.
Up next is the transcript of a conversation about convenience stores and how they're different between countries (Japan and America, specifically), the audio of which is online. This also has key kanji compounds at the bottom of the page and is followed by another wordlist. After that there are a series of questions relating to what was in the reading and conversation. Then there's an exercise to write your own conversation based on prompts and paying attention to politeness and stuff. Then there's a conversation with partner roleplay type exercise.
After that is one of the things I found best about this book, the grammar notes. This chapter has 17 grammar points lifted from the readings (with references to where it was from), with explanations of when you might use it, ways that it's translated into English, how it's actually used and example sentences. One issue is that the sentences from the reading and example sentences don't have English translations, but I didn't really have much trouble with that myself. The explanation in English was usually enough to understand what the examples mean, and you can of course look it up online if you're really struggling.
Following that is a table of kanji split into "things you should learn to read and write" and "things you should learn to read", again with where they were. This pretty closely follows the kanji compound lists at the bottom of readings.
The chapter then ends on a "Grammar note" explaining a general grammar principle (as opposed to the specific points in the grammar section). This one talks about dialects and has a little map of Japan with how they say すごくおいしい in different places.
With copyright I don't really want to include scans of pages (seeing as I can't find them anywhere I'm assuming you can't upload them), but the videos at least put up shots of the pages. If you really need to check it out before buying, see if you can find it at a local library or even better find out if any university libraries near you have a copy and check it there. I really like this text myself, and the grammar pages in particular are way better than any other text I've seen.
EDIT: There's a sample chapter on Amazon JP, just click on the picture of the cover.
I recommend picking up a used copy of Greg Wyshynski's book.
https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Puck/dp/1629371203
Have not read Chris Fox but I did read Rachel Aaron's e-book and I thought it was good.
https://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS
For 99 cents it's certainly not going to bankrupt you. However if you're really cheap you should know it's basically an expanded version of the article she wrote here:
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html
2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love is a great ebook, for a dollar, that walks you through how to prepare for writing, and talks about why each step helps. It has some great advice that will help you be confident by the time you sit down to write.
If $0.99 is too rich for you (or you're skeptical), you can read the author's blog post, which was later adapted into the above ebook. It's shorter and doesn't go into as much detail but still gives the core advice from the book.
Read my second reply to you
You might also want to look at this https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Comprehension-Success-Minutes-Builders/dp/1576854949
A very good book on this (has been the most popular introduction to comparative religions for over 50 years now) is The World's Religions, by Huston Smith
>Or a book that compares religions thoroughly.
I'd suggest The World's Religions by Huston Smith.
In some ways institutions are like people. (They are, after all, made up of people.) Imagine that you personally had been giving incorrect advice for fifty years, and the correct advice turns out to be almost the opposite of what you've been saying. You are approaching retirement, and you are being asked to admit that your whole career was based on a lie, to admit that you have been giving advice that kills people this whole time. You'd be in denial. You would fight with the new studies. You would point to ambiguities in the data. You would look for any alternative before, finally, admitting that your life was worse than a waste, because it caused immense harm to thousands, millions, of people. I don't disagree with other comments that money is part of the issue, but I believe it goes much deeper than that.
Thomas Kuhn wrote a famous book about how difficult it is for science to shift from one "paradigm" to another. Sometimes a whole generation of old scientists must die before the new model can be accepted. The classic example is believing that the Earth goes around the Sun. (Also see here.)
Also, much of the science is apparently not as clear cut as it seems. Gary Taubes has probably done as much to promote the carb/insulin/obesity hypothesis than anyone, but even admits that more studies need to be done to really prove the hypothesis. That's why he started, with Peter Attia, The Nutrition Science Initiative to fund those studies.
The bad news is, it could be many years before the national nutritional institutions come around. The good news is, we don't have to wait! I'll be really curious to see how this plays out, when it finally comes time for the old fogies to admit that they've been giving exactly the wrong advice for fifty years.
Ah Group Theory... one of those big boy maths I always heard about. Sounds cool tho, basically smooshing up fractals into different ones right? It was all stats, calc and number theory for me, but I had an amazing multivar professor that was a topology guy so he talked to us about it some.
I commend your bravery for trying to survive academia. I read the first couple chapters of this book and ran away to the private sector with my CS degree. Wasn't brave enough for all that.
Check out this book before you apply/commit to a program. I know it's not that helpful for someone to throw a book at you when you asked a question, but I think it's pretty useful for someone considering entering a PhD program.
One other quick piece of advice I'd give is to forego choosing a lab that does the sexiest research in lieu of a lab that
A. Is a fun place to be with good people around you
B. Has a PI that cares about what is best for YOU first and foremost, even if it is different from a traditional academic career.
C. Has projects that involve day-to-day activities that you'd actually enjoy doing (working on nobel-winning work that's really boring and monotonous is still boring and monotonous)
D. Has stability in funding for the entirety of your PhD
Old but still worth reading early in the process of you are interested in possibly getting a phd.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-For/dp/0374524777
lawl, that's a fun one.
>You had no choice.
Some fun with semantics: This isn't going to fit into words right, so you're going to have to explore it to understand it, but you do have a choice, but control isn't quite what it seems to be. You obviously get the bit about control, but calling it a choice is misleading. I made the same mistake for a while, until I tried explaining it to people and realized the misunderstanding:
A choice is when there are multiple options, and you pick the best option. You're still picking that option, despite the delusion of control. Even if there is no you, and control is made up, there is still a choice.. a decision, a process. It just isn't real; choice is formless, it is language, it is psychological.
Have you explored consciousness yet? If you're the type that likes to nerd out and go beyond simple teachings checkout I Am a Strange Loop and it's more advanced cousin Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.
Yes he is.
https://www.amazon.com/Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759
If you liked that, you'll love The Red Queen by Matthew Ridley. A popular science book about exactly that. There are things to gripe about in that passage, but I understand it's an aside in a novel that's not about biology, so I won't.
EDIT Not directly related, but a fascinating book on parasites can be found courtesy of Carl Zimmer.
The standard around these parts is the John M. Cooper. The Complete Works is a handsome volume.
Here
edit: "These parts" refers to where I went to school... several good sized Canadian departments.
Check out Massad Ayoob's In the Gravest Extreme for info on the legal use of deadly force. The hardware section is quite dated. Shooting to wound is absolute nonsense. If you're not in fear for your life or that of an innocent party, you have no business shooting the threat.
The vital organs lie surprisingly high in the torso. I was taught to aim for a triangle comprised of the nipples and Adam's apple. This covers the heart and lungs and gives you a chance at the spine. Below that you start hitting the digestive organs, which aren't going to bleed much during an adrenaline dump. Keep in mind that the body is three-dimensional and you need to change your aiming point if your opponent is standing at an angle to you.
The human skull is quite thick, small, designed to deflect blows. It's an exceptionally hard target if both of you are moving.
Keep shooting until the threat is down. This can take quite some doing based on talking to friends who have been there and done that. Shot placement and the threat's mental state can have a tremendous impact. If someone collapses due to blood loss, the horizontal position can lead to reperfusion of the brain and the threat regaining consciousness.
The Anarchist's Cookbook on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0974458902/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1526544401&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&amp;keywords=the+anarchist%27s+cookbook&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=41ObDdoCMtL&amp;ref=plSrch
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=erica+meltzer&amp;qid=1562576286&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1
If they want to make a big fort they should get 'Fifty-Thousand Shades Of Grey' by S. Ashens.
If you don't care, don't bother.
Many of us find the subject fascinating. Many of us find it important.
Some people write poetry, I think about gods.
If I'm enjoying myself, am I still wasting my time?
I'm also reading a book about parasites. It's good stuff, check it out.
Parasite Rex
It's about how parasites rule the world. It'll make your skin crawl.
I have one more that is most definitely not academic, but was my introduction to paleopathology as an amateur interest: Rosalie David's Conversations With Mummies. Another one I picked up one sale close to fifteen years ago, which had a profound effect on me. She talks about some of the most important cases that shaped the field, and several chapters are more comprehensive studies of a single person. It covers some of the processes involved in paleopathology, and how the field has developed, with technology allowing archaeologists to study people and specimens while still preserving their integrity. It's starting to get a little bit old, but it's still a fascinating read with lots of pictures. Sorry these are Amazon UK links; I'm not sure where you are, and it's probably a good idea to cross-reference with Amazon US. British books look deceptively affordable, but the last time I made a major order for thesis-related reading materials, I spent over $100 without even thinking about it!
Oh, and if parasitology is your thing too, David's book has a fair bit about it. A friend of mine who's a marine parasitologist (I'm not sure if that's his official title, but he studies marine parasites) recommended Parasite Rex to me, and I devoured it in a few days (poor choice of words, I know). It's more pop than academic but I enjoy reading anything that will bolster my understanding of something else.
And thank you, for your recommendation. Hubby started med school this year and I'm on the hunt for possible Christmas presents. This looks like something both of us would enjoy.
Treatise On The Gods by H. L. Mencken.
Art Of War by Sun Tzu.
Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer.
Here's a link for an authoritative translation: https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492.
We used this during my undergrad studies. Hackett is a solid publisher for anything philosophical, FYI. As far as commentary goes, this text has intros to each work and annotations throughout. SEP will be a good second hand resource outside of that.
I'm going to echo /u/Jake_Lukas and (strongly) recommend the Cooper edition. The translations are more up to date and reflect additional decades of scholarship; the translators have generally at least one substantial work/commentary on their respective dialogue; and you get all the pseudoplatonica.
We used the Cooper edition in all my upper-division undergraduate and graduate philosophy courses and even consulted the translations found in that edition in my classics courses when we needed to.
So for a "deep dive," I think you want to go with Cooper's Complete Works over Jowett.
Typical intro to Philosophy courses start with The Republic as a starting point for reading Plato. It's generally a good introduction to Plato's philosophy and it contains themes that Plato revisits and expands on in other dialogues. After that, you can follow the death of Socrates story arc which unfolds over the course of four dialogues, starting with Euthyphro, which is one of the first (if not the first) of Plato's dialogues, followed by Crito, then the Apology, and then finally the Phaedo.
If you just want to read them all but don't know where to start, there is a complete works that has all of the dialogues in the suspected chronology in which Plato wrote them, this is the edition I have:
http://www.amazon.ca/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492
Hello! I assume you are looking to read Plato, unfortunately Socrates left us no written material himself. Stanford University maintains a brilliant and well documented encyclopedia of Philosophy where you can read about both the historical Socrates and the Socrates as presented in Plato's dialogues. If you'd prefer something written the most popular translation is John Coopers Plato the Complete Works.
Socrates - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/
Plato - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/
Cooper's Plato Complete works - https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1504990440&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=plato+cooper
It sounds to me that the times in which you are unhappy with your ability to be assertive come from when you lack confidence. You say when pushed too far, you react in unbalanced ways, that you feel shitty when you have successfully presented your case, that you let others make decisions since you worry about the outcomes if you do, and that your attempts at assertiveness are often desperate. It seems to me, in these situations, you fear being wrong--you aren't confident that you are right.
Confidence during conflicts, arguments (since arguments aren't always conflicts), and decision making comes from a couple of difference places, in my opinion.
First, the ability to clearly articulate your own position. If your own position isn't clear to you, you're likely to fumble your words, miscommunicate, contradict yourself, etc. It also makes it more difficult for you to change your position if you are confronted with a good argument against it. Also, sometimes in arguments, there needs to be a give-and-take, meaning, your point may be lacking or overextending on something, and if you acknowledge that, your point can then be all the more stronger.
Second, your ability (and recognition of this ability) to competently analyze the situation and/or the counter-arguments. Now, I say this as a philosophy major, but a formal study of logic can aid enormously in this (here is a good, short book I would recommend if you were so inclined). However, I find that most people are already quite capable of this, since everyday language is composed of numerous analyses of situations and arguments. Sometimes all it takes is slowing yourself down. For example, I used to rush into conclusions and see things narrowly, which lead me to make a lot of mistakes and had an impact on my confidence. Slowing down just a little bit to contemplate other options can make a big difference. This can be practiced outside of arguments, too, which helps, since it is far less stressful that way.
Third, patience and self-control. Staying calm, striving for clear communication, being receptive to feedback, and being emotionally honest can all have a big impact on the ways your confidence is felt. A lot of people think that emotions are antithetical to reason, and for women, this is a particularly pernicious misconception. But the reality is that emotions are integral to the ways we come to understand the world around us, and being clear and honest about the way you feel with other people, and they to you, sheds a lot of clarity on a situation.
I hope some of this is helpful. You say that you are otherwise a confident person, so you know that side of yourself already. You just need to work it in to being assertive about something when you want to be. Best of luck!
Here are the links!
Hope it helps!
You failed to acknowledge that you said "Bullshit" in response to my statement about what I was providing. Your insistence on referencing OP only serves to demonstrate your inability to sustain a logical argument. Might I suggest you purchase the following?
https://www.amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Hackett-Student-Handbooks/dp/0872209547
This is a good, short introduction that you can read in an hour or two. It is well written and it explains the basic rules for constructing an argument or writing an essay. It also recommends several longer texts on critical thinking at the end, if you're interested in pursuing the issue further.
https://www.amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Hackett-Student-Handbooks/dp/0872209547
OP Please educate yourself and read THIS book. I don't believe it's the ultimate training guide but it has a very good discussion of mindset. Also THIS book might be even a better starting point.
I get your point about being able to carry but you need to listen to the comments in this thread.
>I tell her no it's my cellphone, I'm trying to get used to having something in my waistband so when my permit comes I'm use to carrying
I'm not sure how you're doing this, but if you're going to be carrying IWB, you need a good IWB holster. If you need advice on holsters, feel free to create a new thread or ask an experienced friend or instructor.
Having a cell phone in your waistband will feel nothing like a properly concealed firearm carried in a proper holster.
(And IWB may not even be the way you want to carry. Plenty of folks carry plenty of other ways.)
>I don't want you to hurt yourself.
Are you worried that I'll hurt myself driving? Far more people are killed in automotive accidents than are killed in firearms accidents, though there are about 200 million firearms in the US.
(Note: Total gun deaths are approximately equal to automotive deaths, but this figure includes homicides and suicides, which comprise the lion's share. Accidents are infrequent and have been getting less frequent.)
You should also consider taking NRA Basic Pistol if you haven't already, especially if your CCW course was a four hour job.
>I don't want you to pull the gun out in anger. How do I know you won't shoot me when I piss you off?
This is a common misconception that people who have never handled a gun have.
The gun does not change who you are.
Question: Have you ever been having a heated discussion at dinner, and then gotten so upset you stabbed them in the throat with your steak knife?
Why not?
Have you ever gotten impatient with an old lady in the crosswalk, and run her over?
Why not?
A gun does not transform a reasonable person into a murderer.
>I don't want you to accidentally shoot someone if the gun were to go off.
Take her shooting and teach her the basic rules of gun safety. Muzzle pointed in a safe direction, know your target and what is beyond, finger off the trigger until you are in the very act of discharging the firearm, the gun is always loaded.
People who don't understand gun safety tend to get the idea that it is impossible to be safe with guns.
>Why do you need to carry?
Why do you need to keep a fire extinguisher in the house?
Why do you need to wear a seat belt when you drive?
The firearm is a safety tool that cuts a path to safety in the event of a lethal threat.
An individual's lifetime odds of becoming a victim of violent crime are greater than 50% (Koppel, “Lifetime Likelihood of Victimization”, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1987).
>I don't like the idea of you having a gun on you everyday all day.
Fear comes from ignorance. Take her shooting, teach her.
>I have taken a 6 hour safety course before I filed for my permit
Take a couple more. NRA Basic Pistol, or Personal Protection Inside the Home (and the subsequent PPoTH)... it's all very good training.
>She thinks I have anger issues.
Independent of her, you need to sit down and take a long, hard, honest look in the mirror and think about any anger issues you may or may not have.
As an armed citizen, the way you deal with conflict must radically change.
Read In the Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob. It is imperative that you read this book.
It will help a great deal with mindset.
>"I've never even lifted a hand at her, but she has at me
End the relationship. End it.
People who are willing to abuse their partners do not make good partners.
In my opinion, women in particular who abuse their partners tend to be more willing than other folks to use police as an instrument of abuse.
Meaning: She gets into a fight with you. She begins striking you. You try to protect your face or defend yourself as you're leaving, and she ends up with fingerprints on her forearms or a scratch somewhere (this is bound to happen in a scuffle).
She calls the cops, says you hit her. Goodbye permit, forever.
She calls the cops, says you threatened her with your gun. Describes your gun in accurate detail. Hello aggravated assault charge. Possible felony rap, goodbye gun ownership forever.
Let this one go.
I'm taking my CHL class this Saturday, and have been doing a ton of reading.
The Ayoob book you linked, The Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry is excellent. I also got a lot out of his Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery. Highly recommended. I also picked up In the Gravest Extreme, but haven't read it yet.
Lessons From Armed America by Kathy Jackson and Mark Walters was pretty good. It follows the format "one chapter anecdote, one chapter analyzing the issues from the anecdote". It's less than $5 for the Kindle edition.
More Guns, Less Crime is a very, very detail oriented book wherein John Lott undertakes a statistical analysis of the effect on crime rates of all kinds when states enacted concealed carry laws. Extremely thorough, though unfortunately not so readable unless you're a lawyer, statistician, or savant. Around $5 for the Kindle edition, so not much lost there.
I got Understanding Oregon's Gun Laws by the Oregon Firearms Federation. It's direct and to the point, and not only explains the laws, but has plenty of the author's commentary on what he thinks of them (for better or worse). Obviously no good to you if you don't live in Oregon, but finding something similar for your state would be a good idea.
Hope that helps! I'm obsessively reading all the good books I can on the subject before I buy my first gun and get my CHL, so I'm looking forward to what other recommendations pop up in this thread. Thanks for posting it!
Massad Ayoob's "In The Gravest Extreme" is a really good book about CCW from the private citizen perspective.
It's definitely dated, but a lot of it is still relevant today.
http://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1376033653&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=in+the+gravest+extreme
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/virginia.pdf
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/northcarolina.pdf
Go take a good class from a reputable local instructor and ask questions.
> From what has been implied, but not outright said to me, I can carry hollow points (in VA where I live) and I wanted to confirm this.
Yes.
> Can I also carry them in NC (my parents live there and I travel there semi-regularly)?
Yes.
> When I am driving (in both states) can I have my gun holstered still?
Yes.
> In both states, when carrying, can I have a round chambered?
Yes.
Edit: Your questions also lead me to believe you should read some books/ watch some videos on the use of deadly force. Ayoob's "In the Gravest Extreme" is a good start.
Luttwak is short, simple and effective. I think there was a re-release a couple of years ago to account for new technologies. Read it in conjunction with [The Anarchist Cookbook] (https://www.amazon.com/Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902), and [Expedient Homemade Firearms] (https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&amp;field-keywords=expedient+homemade+firearms&amp;sprefix=expedient%2Cstripbooks%2C440&amp;crid=1KTLTAKJK85P3). If you have an open mind, it'll give you a good tickle.
Good luck with the coup.
Hey you can use any or all of the below mentioned resources:
WEBSITES:
BOOKS:
Hope this helps. If liked, please don't forget to up-vote. And all the best for your preparation and test.
> Meltzer’s book
For the reading book, is this the book youre referring to? and thanks for the reply!
Haha it's ok, I'm not a native English speaker myself.
r/W: I got Erica Meltzer's Reading and Writing guides. I got the writing workbook but the practices inside are lackluster compared to UWorld or Khan.
Maf: Can't really help, my practice materials are in Chinese, but feel free to PM me for details if you can understand the bloody language.
I did get the Official SAT Guide but it sucks & I only used it for the practice tests, which are free to download from Khan/Collegeboard.
Barron's book for SAT I is shit. Do NOT get them. Their questions are off topic.
The best tip I can give you is to study as much as you can and understand your mistakes. You're not doing a part-time job here so studying for hours without thinking is useless: you'll just repeat your mistakes. I jot down the reasons for choosing the incorrect answers each time I found one wrong. I literally wrote careless mistakes if I made one, it sounds stupid but trust me, it helps.
Also, use practice tests as benchmarks for your progress and take it in real settings (e.g. same break time as real tests.) They're pretty accurate. I got 1410 on my first practice test and 1400 on my first real test.
If you don't have time, try doing bits by bits on the smartphone app. It's not ideal but at least you can do them when using public transportations or have bits and pieces of free time.
Edit: go subscribe to a newspaper, I recommend The New York Times. Read them when you want to take a break from questions and just do some normal reading. I think frequently reading is one of the main reasons I'm able to score 750.
Edit: fuck the new Reddit comment box
i have this and im very satisifed.
&#x200B;
also swedish is indeed nice to know due to it sharing many similar words with german. (im swedish)
Does anyone have a recommendation for a book dealing with Swiss German, preferably the Zürich dialect. I'm looking for a grammar reference of sorts (ideally a Swiss version of Hammer's German Grammar and Usage), not a dictionary.
Merci vielmal.
I'm not sure what reader is, but have you considered the following:
Hammer's German Grammar and Usage is the definitive grammar reference, and the Practising German Grammar workbook is based on the grammar book.
Not at all.
It's modern, it's real, it's in English, it's no bullshit, no messing around.
There's so much nonsense talked about "immersion" and "diving in" by people for whom learning is a distant memory, or who want their achievement to remain mysterious and unattainable. This book, written in English, takes you by the hand, waves all the bullshit away and tells you straight, in plain language how it all works. It's not dry, and is honest about what's really used and what isn't and where.
I bought it on a whim, and being the owner of several other textbooks, was blown away. I've read it cover to cover twice now, it's full of "Ah.." moments. A total cheat-sheet of a book. Look at the reviews too, it's well worth getting a copy and ending the struggle.
I primarily use German Grammar Drills and Hammer's German Grammar and Usage. Also look up Practice Makes Perfect series on German.
Now put it on Amazon.
It's just a rip-off of this.
Actually, it's more like fifty thousand shades of grey...
Here , try this first. Then report back.
Reading comprehension would tell you that I was able to take a string of replies by you on this thread, look at your history, and infer that you are a whiny ass person that pours hate nearly on anything Dany related -- especially if it has any nice "feelz" to it. I think related this to you more than likely mirroring your current life situation or character -- thus stating your life is probably shit like the stuff you spout on this forum.
Now what you are trying to do is discredit my stance by stating I am emotional, all the while completely avoiding really arguing the true debate: You are a whiney shitty person. Instead, you are just saying I am hysterical, blah blah blah blah.
That help? If not, please visit this link: https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Comprehension-Success-Minutes-Day/dp/1576854949
How about this book? I just read it and I really liked it alot
The book is Take Your Eye Off the Puck by Greg Wyshynski
I've found that Japanese textbooks do tend to go cheaper on amazon.co.jp then else where. Just make sure the ISBN of the book in question is the same and go for it! Some items wont be able to ship out of japan but most books that I've seen do!
I would switch the language from Japanese to English on the site just to ease the purchase (日本語 with the globe under it, just hover over it.)
And even if you've used the free prime trial on regular amazon you can get the trial again on the Japanese version, so free shipping!
EDIT:
For example this book and this book on the Japanese site both have the same ISBN
4874244475which you can see in theProduct Detailsso they are exactly the same book.There's a pretty good book called Take Your Eye Off the Puck which is pretty good at explaining hockey rules and culture on and off the ice.
Take Your Eye off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look by Greg Wyshynski
>Has anyone used this method before?
Kinda sorta, I write dialogue-heavy on the first pass with very minimal descriptions, then ink that shit in on the second pass. It can help knowing what the scene looks like for dialogue (pro tips can be found in Aaron's 2K to 10K book) and related actions, but a dialogue-rich approach helps your characters step from the page.
Also, you avoid painful exposition :)
If you can track down a copy, Enough Is Too Much Already is a book written entirely in dialogue, and it's superb. I lent my copy out, never to be seen again, so don't make that mistake.
You're already doing two of the best things you can do. The video games will help you learn the rules and going to the live games delivers the excitement. If you enjoy reading, I'd also recommend Take Your Eye Off The Puck by Greg Wyshynski.
I followed some of the suggestions in Rachel Aaron's 2k to 10k, to boost my output.
In the very beginning of a story, I use very rough outlines, kinda similar to the method discussed in James Lofquist's Tell, Don't Show!
Basically, I just throw it all on the page (I mean even the shittiest idea) and come back to edit it later. Saw a thing somewhere on reddit yesterday that said "You can edit a bad page; you can't edit a blank page", and that's pretty much been my philosophy since the start.
I have never taken a class, save for the basics that are required for any degree in college. I find workshops (in my area, anyway) to be full of people who just want to critique the shit out of your stuff, but who aren't actually pulling in any money from their writing. I read a lot, though, and I think that's pretty key to being able to internalize (and then naturally emulate) style, plot patterns, etc.
As for the distractions, I will usually put on a headset and crank up some kind of white noise (I have a whole host of websites that I visit, but a favorite is rainymood.com). My boyfriend knows that this is a source of income for us, and gives me the free time that I require -- if you are not in a similar situation, you may have to be firm about setting your boundaries, or just lock yourself away for a bit each day.
If I'm really not into it that day, I'll read instead. Sometimes I just need a break from the story.
Oh man, that's tough. I was lucky during my first book. I've always been in writing (as a journalist) and have thought about writing a novel for a very long time. That meant I had a lot of ideas stored up, and writing this first book was like opening the floodgates. Admittedly, I took it very slow, writing it out over a year or so.
During that time, I read From 2k to 10k a Day by Rachel Aaron. She has a great system for writing faster. She makes a strong case for plotting, and has totally converted me. I think that's what has kept me from suffering from writers' block. If ever I doubt where I'm going, I just go back to the outline and reassess what I'm doing. The added benefit to that is, I always know where I'm going, giving me time to focus more on prose, which has helped my writing tremendously.
Here you go bud
"Is there a particular scene or moment in the story that is giving you trouble?"
This. Nine times out of ten this is my problem. There's not enough conflict or I'm trying to force a character deviation or my idea for the scene doesn't fit the trope or something. (And when it happens, 90% of those instances can be attributed to not enough conflict. My own personal cross to bear, maybe.) I doubt it's a personal failing on your part, OP. You already knocked out 50K... that's no small amount of work.
Rachel Aaron Bach's 2K to 10K helped me learn to step back and look at a scene if I was having a hard time. You already got suggestions for Cold Turkey Writer and I saw StayFocusd mentionded at some point -- both of those work for me as well.
Good luck with the book!.
i haven't read [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Puck/dp/1629371203) because I'm a cheap bastard but the author is a pretty respected guy I think and it looks like its not too expensive.
>This guy would have you think that men don't experience emotions
You can thank me later.
book
I'm not a newbie to the sport or anything, but just for the Hell of it I picked up the following book: Take Your Eye Off the Puck by Greg Wyshynski
It's just a fun read and it'll give you some insight into things you might not pick up just by watching the surface. The author is a blogger for Yahoo! and he does a pretty decent job.
If you're looking for a more academic counter argument, Steven Pinker is a loud advocate for "common use defines language" in linguistics, and he's not exactly radical (he agrees with Chomsky on a lot of things). There's a pop-psychology/lay book with a few chapters that touch on it called The Language Instinct.
It's okay for other people to ID however they will. If it has a negative impact on your access to care and your social transition, it might be a problem, but self determination is very important.
I did my master's degree thesis on this when I graduated from university -specifically, my topic was "The evolution of language in homo sapiens". Most of what I posting here is from research papers that I read at the time; but I also read a lot of books on the topic. I highly recommend Kanzi: The Ape at the Brink of the Human Mind for information about Kanzi, How Monkeys see the World for information about vervet monkeys, and Steven Pinker's excellent book The Language Instinct for an overview of some of the best science dealing with human language. I basically agree with Pinker's view (and indicentally, the view that ecaward posted a little higher) that primates and some other animals are capable of communicating with symbols; but that the real power of language lies in our ability to recombine symbols through syntax and so alter the meaning, and this escapes primates: it's a uniquely human evolutionary adaptation.
Recommended these a while back, great, assessable reads.
The Language Instinct by Stephen Pinker
http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-Instinct-Mind-Creates/dp/0061336467/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1343383543&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+language+instinct
Patterns in the Mind by Ray Jackendoff
http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Mind-Language-Human-Nature/dp/0465054625/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1343383561&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=patterns+in+the+mind
And if you are into etymology, check out
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way, by Bill Bryson
http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Tongue-English-How-That/dp/0380715430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1343383614&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+mother+tongue
The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour Through Mankind's Greatest Invention, by Guy Deutscher
http://www.amazon.com/The-Unfolding-Language-Evolutionary-Invention/dp/0805080120/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1343383676&amp;sr=1-2-fkmr0&amp;keywords=guy+deucher+language
Again, all superb books.
Such an experiment was done (unintentionally) with deaf children. In absence of an official program, they invented their own sign language.
Noam Chomsky and Universal Grammar suggest all humans are born with grammar built in. The concept of number, noun, action/being verbs, past and future tense, and descriptors are part of all but one known language (and that's a weird culture). This suggests we evolved some communication early on in human evolution.
An interesting book on the topic is The Language Instinct
> The idea that the mind is in some way non-physical.
The mind is a product and an element of the physical brain. It may not be concretely tangible (i.e., you can't hold a mind), but that does not mean it is not a part of the physical universe. Physics explains the mind quite well, actually. The neurons in our brain are developed in compliance to the laws of physics and biology, the neurochemicals in our brain are physical substances, and the electric currents in our brains that communicate signals between neurons operate in compliance to the laws of physics.
Evolution also provides insight into the development of consciousness. While, sure, humans are the only terrestrial species with advanced enough consciousness to develop religious and philosophical ideas, we know now that many animals have forms of consciousness and proto-consciousness like what we would expect if humans evolved consciousness from simple origins. The mind is perfectly explainable through naturalistic sciences, and our naturalistic model of human consciousness makes predictions that are falsifiable.
I'd suggest reading Steven Pinker's How The Mind Works. Here's a talk he gave on the book. I'd also suggest his The Stuff of Thought, The Language Instinct, and The Blank Slate.
I'd also suggest Sam Harris' The Moral Landscape. While it's main thrust is to show how science can inform morality, it offers some pretty decent layperson explanation of consciousness, and it is written by an accomplished neuroscientist (whatever your opinion on his religious works may be). His pamphlet-esque Free Will also covers some good ground here.
> All able-bodied humans are born with the ability to learn language.
Not at all true. You can be able-bodied and learning disabled. There was a nonverbal autistic student at my middle school years ago who ran track. Trivial point, but still incorrect.
> I would argue humans also have a Spiritual Acquisition Device.
I would argue that this argument is SAD. (pun; sorry.)
You're positing a massively complex hypothetical neurological infrastructure to link human brains to a divine alternate universe or dimension that has never been shown to exist. Not only has this neural uplink never been observed, but it is entirely unnecessary, as neuroscientists and psychologists have a perfectly functional, testable model of consciousness without it. You're adding a new element to that model that is functionally redundant and untestable. Occam's Razor would trim away your entire posited element out of extraneousness and convolution.
Very good book is Huston Smith's The World’s Religions.
It's "the definitive classic for introducing the essential elements and teachings of the world's predominant faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as regional native traditions".
The World's Religions (Plus) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061660183/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gR8CDbZGYCSRP
This is one of the better books of religions of the world. I have an older copy..... somewhere. This explains well and has great reviews. Check it out.
May I ask why use that book, and not the older and more popular one by Huston Smith? Your flair says you are a TA, so I suppose you just use whatever book the department instructs you to use, but would you know why they prefer that book?
Reading a bunch of Nietzsche and then psychology. He can be interpreted in support of that position too, so you have to be careful how you read him. Find some secondary sources and check them after coming up with your own interpretations so you're not too off base. Fundamentally he hated nihilism and saw it everywhere, and was trying to find ways around it. If you struggle with it at all, he's the go to guy. He gets the fundamental problem down really well. His solutions are a bit untenable, as he had this idea of creating your own values. That's pretty much impossible because you're biologically and culturally programmed to have specific arbitrary values and there's nothing you can do about it. That's where the psychology comes in, as you learn what they are and what to do with them. Specific books that helped a lot:
Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil, Genealogy of Morals, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Twilight of Idols
I'd also read some Kierkegaard for good measure. The west of western philosophy builds up to and later refutes Nietzsche's ideas. Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Aquinas and Hegel are probably the biggest people I can think of that he is responding to, so you'd want to be familiar with the gist of what they were saying or Nietzsche won't make much sense. After him you can go to Heidegger who expanded on a lot of his ideas. There are tons of good overviews of this stuff online if you don't feel like wading through primary texts for months. You just need to know enough to get the references.
Psychology books:
Interpretation of Dreams Freud;
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker;
Man and His Symbols, and Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious by Jung; Maps of Meaning by Jordan Peterson
Also a book I really liked was Saving the Appearances by Owen Barfield. It's mostly psychology with a little christian apologetics tacked on, but it lays out a phenomenological case for what is real and what isn't in a way that's simple and unique. I think about that book pretty much all the time.
Also check out this book on religion. This book is dense and cuts right into the philosophy of each religion. A grounding in all the major religious philosophies does wonders for this kind of thinking. Buddhism only goes so far. Assuming you're a westerner I'd learn as much about Christian philosophy as possible, since most of your values (probably) come from there. It's a very dark religion and people have been thinking about these exact problems for a very long time. The book of Ecclesiastes and the book of Job in particular are insightful. The meditation practice of Christian monks also comes to the same conclusions as the Buddhists but with a little more philosophical sophistication. Read "The Cloud of Unknowing" if you're interested in that.
I think the gist of the position is just to take your own values seriously, since they're the fundamental makeup of reality. Your reaction against them is just a language game. The rest of the philosophical construct is just a way of refuting that language game. Eventually you get to the point where the thought process seems a bit absurd to you (since you spent hundreds of hours painstakingly figuring out why), and you wonder why you had any issue in the first place.
> They point me to foundations and think tanks that publish "creation science" and credentialed scientists who don't agree with the "mainstream" conclusions in their field.
I challenge you to read On the Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. In his book, Kuhn presents his theory on Scientific Revolutions, how they start, how they end, and all the in-between. Kuhn is not a Creation Scientist, but a secular philosopher. What I'm about to suggest is not my own personal view, but I do find it interesting and challenging. I'm not a proponent of Creation Science nor am I a denier of Climate Change.
What I think Kuhn's book will do is show you a different way of looking at Science and challenge what you think you may know about how it works. His thesis somewhat goes like this: In the past Science always works within a certain paradigm, or worldview, but at some point the most recent research begins to contradict the paradigm, leading to a crisis. Some new "revolutionary" idea comes along that makes sense of the crisis and a new paradigm is established, leading to a Scientific Revolution. A good example is when Galileo proposed a Heliocentric model of the Solar System. Previously, the paradigm proposed a Geocentric model, but Galileo's idea was revolutionary. He was greatly persecuted because of his break with "Established" science. However, today we know that Galileo was indeed correct.
Some proponents of Creation Science use Kuhn's theory to show that this movement by many credentialed scientists in opposition to Darwinism indicate that we're on the verge of a crisis. They're betting that Creation Science could be the next Scientific Revolution as theorized by Kuhn. The big takeaway here is a different way of looking at current science and the scientists that oppose it. Now, this does not mean that any or all "unorthodox" scientists are right, but when a large body of them openly oppose the established paradigm and a large body of research exists that contradict it, one can rightly say that a crisis is at hand.
> Why is climate change any different?
What makes climate change different is that there is not a large body of science that contradicts the mainstream views nor a large body of scientists that oppose it. This could be argued in the case of Darwinism, but not so in the case of climate change.
I'd encourage anyone interested in the topic to read The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn.
You'd be surprised. Take it from a PhD physics student that is also interested in history. I recommend this book (link to Amazon page) for a short overview.
> knowledge of philosophy, so I was thinking that reading in that area may be helpful but I wouldn't know where to start.
If you're looking for a primer on the philosophy of science, Oxford University Press has a great introductory book (in fact, many of the "Very Short Introductions" are worth a read).
There is also, of course, the classic "Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn that questions the supposed linearity of scientific progress.
For two of the most well know (albeit conflicting) looks at how science changes over time, you can check out Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge by Karl Popper and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Khun.
See also the Philosophy of Science, Science Studies, and the History of Science.
And there are also subreddits devoted to /r/PhilosophyofScience, this is a good introductory post
Also, this comic
A Ph.D. is not Enough-Peter J. Feibelman
Getting What You Came For-Robert Peters
Sounds like you are into some interesting stuff! I'm a math PhD student. One of the most useful things I did to prepare for grad school was to read this book. Seriously, you can't start reading it soon enough, as it helps you set the stage for grad school even before you get there. It's a great book.
As for programming, I'd recommend MatLab, Fortran 77 or Fortran 90/95, and C++.
Also, every summer, try to work for a lab, such as a national physics lab or (ITER in a few years, since you are interested in plasma). You will get payed a lot of money, and you will work with some of the best researchers in the world. Talk to your professors and look online to see if you can find a way to spend your summer doing lab work.
Read this book -- https://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/0465030793
This guy eats poultry and fish...the explanation he gives in his book for giving up mammal meal is really striking.
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/0465030793
These are castings of species you can find in the US. Somewhere there are probably better quality photos but these are the best I could find. I saw these in a presentation given by Dr Tschinkel and he had a bunch of really awesome high quality shots that might not have made it to the web.
I actually met him and Dr. Holldobler (mentioned in the linked video) one summer in Arizona.
For anyone interested the book Journey to the Ants by EO Wilson and Holldobler is the laymen version of their seminal book The Ants... which is pretty much the bible for anyone that studies ants.
Interesting factiod: You can find some interesting species just about any place in the world... in the US there are about 400+ species including army ants, fungus growers, slave making ants, etc.
In The Ants, researchers Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson estimate that there are upwards of 10,000,000,000,000,000 individual ants alive on Earth at any given time.
For comparison, there are roughly 7,000,000,000 people on earth.
10,000,000,000,000,000
7,000,000,000
That's a difference of 7 0s.
That's approximately 1,428,571 ants PER HUMAN.
And if that isn't enough, read this.
tl;dr Ants stomp bad.
Ants are caught in gridlock all the time. What the hell is this writer smoking? Does no one read The Ants before they make claims in the NYT?
This is a great question, but it's so complex and there's so much going on, I'm not sure if it can be sufficiently answered in an ELI5 thread. If you're interesting in the topic of language in general (which, imho is extremely fascinating), I highly recommend The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker. It's a very accessible book and, at the very least, would make anyone appreciate how awesome the human's ability to communicate really is.
I have heard good things about The Language Instinct from a friend of mine. But I haven't read it myself though.
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk - A fashion model gets her jaw shot off in a terrible situation, and so the silent protagonist must reclaim her life. (Highly recommend reading the first chapter in the preview on Amazon. Also highly recommend Haunted by Palahniuk as well.)
The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker. Wonderful book that delves into the psychology behind language. Incredibly informative while maintaining entertainment.
Read "The Language Instinct" by Steven Pinker. He does an amazing job of explaining how humans learn language. I read it when my daughter was about your son's age and it made me a better parent, appreciate smaller milestones, and really understand how amazing those first years of life are.
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (P.S.) (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061336467/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_L-A6CbG9QS34T
Is that the same Steven Pinker that wrote The Language Instinct? Just curious; that's the only Steven Pinker book I've read. I don't have anything to add to the discussion on that point. But just looking at the titles of some of his other books, man I need to go find some!
> when given a choice between super amazing paranormal things that cant be proven by science or the much more simple explanation of a massive brain fart you choose paranormal? makes no sense to me.
There's a lot that's been explained and proven by science. But we're always learning, discovering, and explaining new things. Is it impossible to believe that at least some of what has been called "paranormal" actually does have some scientific explanation that no one has discovered yet?
There are many sporadic things in this world that can be difficult to repeat on demand. I sometimes get psychogenic tremors. We (a combination of me, my doctors, family, and friends) have been able to find no exact cause or situation that sets them off. They get worse with stress, but usually only if they've already been occurring recently. My tremors can also occur without any stress at all. There are a number of things that make them worse and a few that make them better, but nothing to really explain why they're happening in the first place. That doesn't mean they actually happen just randomly, just that we can't find a trigger. My first doctor didn't believe I had them at all and told me to stop wasting his time because I couldn't demonstrate the problem, and it didn't happen again when I had access to a camera for months so I couldn't get proof, but it was most definitely a problem.
Ugh, I'm not sure I'm making my point clear. I'm trying to say, there are sporadic things that can't necessarily be done on demand and don't have any clear cause, but which do exist. Some of these, like my tremors, probably have a mundane explanation, while others are classified as "paranormal".
Steven Pinker's "The Language Instinct" is a very entertaining read. The thesis (language is innate) and style have received the kind of criticism that all science-popularizers get, but it's hard to know how much of that is sour grapes over the book's commercial success.
Check out Huston Smith's The World's Religions.
Smith is not a Dawkins or a Hitchens. He's probably not even an atheist. What he is (as I remember the book anyway) is objective and fair.
The World's Religions is exactly that--a (light) history of major world religions with a more in-depth look at the tenets and practice of each. He's not out to convince anyone of anything, and for some people that's a very good thing.
When I read it (going on 10 years ago), it really gave me a lot of perspective and helped me step outside the bubble of christianity that I'd been raised in.
The World's Religions, by Huston Smith. It covers: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confusianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and various aboriginal religions. It comes in at under 400 pages for 11 bucks at Amazon.
You might also like reading The World's Religions by Huston Smith. It's used as a textbook in many university comparative religion classes and should help you understand the similarities and differences in the major world religions. (the good news is that its only $10 too :-) )
First thing that comes to mind is this: https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Religions-Plus-Huston-Smith/dp/0061660183
But I'm sure there are other recommendations that other people could make.
Exploring the world's many religions is a fun and enriching activity. I'll tell you what I tell everyone who makes this post here:
First, you should start out by perusing one or both of the following websites - [BBC Religions] (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/) and [Harvard University's Pluralism Project] (http://pluralism.org/religions/). Both of these sites offer high-quality, scholarly yet accessible introductions to most of the world's major traditions. These sites alone can keep you occupied for days.
Once you're ready to jump into books, you have two options. Your first option is to find a book that offers an overview of what's called "comparative religions." The classic is Huston Smith's [The World's Religions] (https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Religions-Plus-Huston-Smith/dp/0061660183/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1536540983&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=huston+smith+the+world%27s+religions). There are others that are newer and probably more up-to-date, but this is a beloved book for a reason, and won't disappoint.
Your other option is to dig into one particular tradition that you've identified as of special interest from your internet search. If you go that route, which has its advantages and disadvantages, I'd encourage you to do some research online (including on the tradition's individual subreddit) to see what books are recommended. If you have specific questions on this, I may be able to help as well.
Hope this was helpful - good luck!
It was suggested I post here. I have to say it's pretty outside of my location and timeframe. Most of my reading is centered around Buddhism and what I know about India that's not political in nature is mostly centered around Buddhism. Even the concepts I know of Hinduism are usually through a Buddhist lens.
What I do know about the development I also can't provide a source. I studied at the Royal Thimphu College and once sat down with a Bengali professor who explained her own dissertation to me about the development of the Varna system in India, which ended up being a primer on "Brahmanism." (Which then led to a long discussion on the inaccuracy of the term "Hinduism" which was developed post-independence as a response to the development of Pakistan for Muslims, India for Hindus. When I presented the irony that "India" and "Hindu" both stem from the "Indus River" which is currently in Pakistan, Runa, aforementioned professor, winked at me and said "Exactly. Hindus are political, Brahmanists are religious." The logic being that Brahmanists derive religious authority from the Brahmin Varna, just as Christians derive religious authority from Christ, and Muslims from submission to God.)
Anyway, I'll just point out some of the books that have helped me in understanding this complex religion and maybe you can go on with your search from there.
Originally I was interested in Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History but found out it was full of selective information and skewed perspectives. I was more interested in a general history of India and fell upon John Keay's India: A History which he describes as "A historiography of India as well as a history." And he does go over developments of Brahmanism threaded with the rise and fall of conquerors through the region.
My introduction to Brahmanism (though he DOES refer to it as Hinduism) was Huston Smith's The World's Religions which doesn't go over the history as much of any of the religions, but is a nice starting point, especially when comparing say Buddhism with Brahmanism, which most people regularly do. It's also a good outliner for the different Brahmanist traditions (or at least the major trends in Brahmanism).
Finally, probably the most accurate to your original question though it has a broader focus and a point to make, Karen Armstrong's *The Great Transformation remains one of my favorite books on the Axial Age in which she covers the religious shifts that occurred more or less simultaneously in Greece, the Levant, India, and China. Of interest to you would be the Vedic response to the growth of Buddhism and Jainism, the development of the Mahabharata, and the changing understandings of the Vedas and Upanishads. It's a pretty great book, and Karen Armstrong can of course lead you further down the path of Indian religious history.
Hope that helps at all.
I have this one and it's great if you don't know about other religions:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061660183/
No problem. I recommend The Structure of Scientific Revolutions if you want some insight into how ideas in science change and how old theories are replaced with new ones. Honestly, that correspondence is so so so so so so so so wrong.
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>The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962; second edition 1970; third edition 1996; fourth edition 2012) is a book about the history of science by the philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn. Its publication was a landmark event in the history, philosophy, and sociology of scientific knowledge. Kuhn challenged the then prevailing view of progress in "normal science". Normal scientific progress was viewed as "development-by-accumulation" of accepted facts and theories. Kuhn argued for an episodic model in which periods of such conceptual continuity in normal science were interrupted by periods of revolutionary science. The discovery of "anomalies" during revolutions in science leads to new paradigms. New paradigms then ask new questions of old data, move beyond the mere "puzzle-solving" of the previous paradigm, change the rules of the game and the "map" directing new research.[1]
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>For example, Kuhn's analysis of the Copernican Revolution emphasized that, in its beginning, it did not offer more accurate predictions of celestial events, such as planetary positions, than the Ptolemaic system, but instead appealed to some practitioners based on a promise of better, simpler solutions that might be developed at some point in the future. Kuhn called the core concepts of an ascendant revolution its "paradigms" and thereby launched this word into widespread analogical use in the second half of the 20th century. Kuhn's insistence that a paradigm shift was a mélange of sociology, enthusiasm and scientific promise, but not a logically determinate procedure, caused an uproar in reaction to his work. Kuhn addressed concerns in the 1969 postscript to the second edition. For some commentators The Structure of Scientific Revolutions introduced a realistic humanism into the core of science, while for others the nobility of science was tarnished by Kuhn's introduction of an irrational element into the heart of its greatest achievements.
I took two phil of science courses during undergrad. The first covered Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues by Cover, Curd, and Pincock. The second (by a different instructor) covered Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction followed by The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, The Scientific Background of Modern Philosophy, and more readings from the Cover, Curd, and Pincock book. Though it required more reading, the second was more beneficial and clarified issues brought up in the Cover, Curd, and Pincock book. I hope that helps.
Thomas Kuhn explored the subjectivity of science in this seminal work 50 years ago.
Ever heard the word "paradigm" thrown around by idealogues? The concept of paradigm thought came from this book about science, not from post-modern social sciences.
This was one of the chief books in my contemporary political theory course in college.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is the go-to for Kuhn's ideas.
While these are not all specifically about religion, here are a few things that I think everyone should read at some point in their lives.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (this is where the term 'paradigm shift' came from).
Karl Popper on politics
Karl Popper on science
Get some historical perspective on the philosophy of science
The Power of Myth
A History of God
They are tricky questions to answer because the process and people's experience are likely to vary a fair bit and the funding options are different for different countries. I am a PhD candidate in Education in Australia, so I can share my experience finding a supervisor/funding and what I have seen of other student's experiences, your experience could be completely different. I'd recommend borrowing/getting a book that discusses how to find and apply for a PhD program or looking for guidelines/suggestions for applying a PhD on the website of the institution you would like to do your PhD at. I found Getting What You Came For really useful. However, that book is fairly old, targeted towards US programs which you may not be applying for, and is pretty 'real' (bleak) about how tough a PhD can be and the lack of academic jobs. Someone else may be able to provide a better recommendation for a similar book.
What country are you in and planning to do your PhD in? In the institution I am in (in Australia) most Education PhD students seem to be either funded through a government scholarship (called an RTP here) or do not have any funding. I would not say an RTP is easy to obtain, they are pretty competitive here and I was lucky to have research experience and a publication when I applied for one, which would have helped me get it. It seems like PhDs funded through projects are not as common in Education as they would be in the natural sciences, engineering etc but they are out there. If you find a scholarship advertised as part of a project, then it would probably be easier to apply for that then finding funding for your own PhD project but then you don't have much choice about what topic to research. At my institution, when you apply for a PhD, you have to submit a short proposal about the topic you intend to research and a brief research plan. If you don't have particular researchers listed on the application then the university would allocate you supervisors. This may be different in your country though.
As for approaching supervisors, there is probably a few different ways you could do this. The book I mentioned above has some suggestions. I worked for my current PhD supervisor as an undergraduate student and knew that they would take me on as a PhD student when I applied, so I didn't have to seek other people out. One of the most important things was that they are interested in my research topic and we can collaborate well, so we work on projects/papers together. I know other students that have been allocated supervisors rather than choosing their own when they have started and that can not work out, particularly when the student's research interests don't align with the supervisor's research interests or they don't have a good working relationship. I would suggest looking up different researchers at your local institution/s (assuming you want to stay where you are) and see if anyone researches in the topics you are interested in. If the university's faculties don't have a list of the academic staff, you can try looking up the institution and faculty on researchgate. You can reach out to staff with similar research interests and let them know what you're interested in and ask them what your options are.
Also, I think with your background and qualifications, you will be a valuable person to have around an Education faculty as well. In my experience, there is a need for Educational researchers with mathematical skills (particularly expertise in Statistics). You could try reaching out to staff from Education faculties or keeping on your eye on the jobs at your local university/ies and seeing if there are opportunities to help out with data collection and analysis. This could be a good way to 'dip your toe' in research before committing to a PhD and it may help you meet potential supervisors.
I thought I'd post a link to the most helpful book I've found on applying to grad school, and to grad school its self.
Getting What You Came For by Robert Peters.
Not math specific, but recommended to me by certifiable polymath genius Rob Knight, at CU Boulder.
Read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-For/dp/0374524777
There are some books that give good insights into navigating the grad school process, including useful advice about how to map out important milestones (e.g. how to publish, navigating conferences, and most importantly setting yourself up early to be successful on the job market.)
1
2
3
[4] (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-For/dp/0374524777/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=41H6-kRMd5L&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&amp;refRID=07NB1JFQT1BE3E6NARD9)
Read this
In the book "Stiff" They talk about this. Apparently, a brain transplant was performed with a monkey. Thing is, as sotek pointed out in another comment "When we transplant other organs, we mainly have to reconnect tubes (blood vessels, intestine, etc.)" So when they transplanted this monkey brain, they didn't connect it to anything except the blood vessels in this other monkey.
So it's kind of like plugging in a gaming system to a powersource and turning it on, but not connecting the monitor or the controls. The brain was "on" and alive, but no information was going in or out of it because all the nerves had been severed. They had an EEG connected to it, so they knew thoughts were being produced and the brain was still alive, there was just no way to know what exactly was going on. They suspected the monkey brain probably went insane with having no outside stimulation coming in.
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers was incredibly humorous and I also learned a lot of gross and interesting facts I can never bring up at dinner parties.
Stiff, Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
You may want to read this just before Gross Anatomy.
http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939
Everything you've ever wanted to know, and then some, about corpses.
> Basically people from Forensics dept's around the world come to America and dig up donated bodies then figure out what killed them..
http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939
Highly recommended book. Amusing, yet dealing with an interesting subject.
Stiff.
http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939
>I do enjoy myself some Alan Watts, truly a wise man.
Coincidentally, right after I asked my questions about free will in relation to the self, I got to the part in wisdom of insecurity where he speaks on free will. It seems he takes a compatiblist approach.
>I'd recommend reading the book "I Am a Strange Loop" by Douglas Hofstadter; In it he talks about feedback loops, specifically ones which are self-referential. He then goes on to make the case that our sense of "I" is an side effect of the way we perceive.
This makes a lot of sense. I don't know if it was you or another poster I was reading, but they used the phrase "_____ unto itself" which I had to look up and discovered basically refers to what one could call a feedback loop. I'm going to go check the book out as soon as I'm done typing this, so thank you!
>As per your edit:
>That user states "If the self is an illusion, then who experiences the illusion?"
>I think that may be a loaded question, it is assuming a 'who'. Perhaps it is rather a 'what'. "What is experiencing the illusion?" I'd answer the same mind that created it. I believe that our minds operate within many linking feedback loops.
While I wouldn't have been able to articulate further as you did, the first thing that caught my eye was his intentional use of "who" rather than "what" as well.
I Am A Strange Loop
Douglas Hofstadter's I Am A Strange Loop. A modern, mathematical approach which piggy backs (with no need to read it) on a previous book of his called Godel, Escher, Bach.
>There is no conceivable mechanism by which the brain could generate consciousness, yet I am conscious.
Yes there is, check out I am a strange loop..
>There is no conceivable mechanism by which the universe and everything came into existence, yet here it is.
Yes there is check out A Universe from Nothing or The Grand Design.
You can argue these all you want, but (here's the important bit), even if there weren't conceivable mechanisms for these things, and even if our prior probability was really low for these things, we have roughly 10^500 times more evidence for our existance, and for our consciousness (ignoring the semantic problem with this word), than we have for things like para-psychology.
If I walked around every day, communicating with others psychically, and, when I ask the neighbor for sugar psychically, she comes over with some sugar, and when I psychically scream "Stop!" everyone stops and stares at me, then yes, I would be a fool to dismiss psychic communication.
This is exactly what happens with consciousness. I notice that people behave exactly as they would as if they are conscious (myself especially). If they weren't conscious, they (and I) would behave differently, so their behavior is a testing mechanism.
This is exactly what happens with existence. I notice that things... exist, and behave as if they exist. If something didn't exist, I wouldn't expect everyone to behave as if it did.
It's all about probabilities. nd with para-psychology, the probability is simply really, really tiny.
>He that will only believe what he can fully understand has either a very short creed or a very long head.
Your leaving out the other half here. While it may be stupid to only believe thing you completely understand (by the way, I believe many things that I only partially understand, advanced mathematics, for example), the alternative, believing everything you don't understand, is far more "stupid. (really, personal attacks, is that necessary)."
[I am a Strange Loop by Hofstadter](
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/0465030793) explains the idea, my claim is that the way the prefrontal cortex cortical columns loop back a part of their output into the Thalamus could be a hint that consciousness arises from this feedback loop.
And I don't believe anyone has ever come back from having no electrical activity in the brain. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think this is the case. Even when scientists argue against flat-EEG being equal to brain death, their arguments are that EEG does not capture electrical activity deep enough in the brain, just in the higher cortex.
And by wave function, I mean it in the literal mathematical sense. We are the state function generated by the brain. What happens is that I also believe this function is a continuous, wave-like function (generated by the delay in the loop between prefrontal cortex and thalamus). It is electrical by nature, obviously.
The only claim I'm making is that consciousness is not only generated by the brain, but that it is the continuous generation of electrical activity by the brain and the state of that electrical activity at every point in time. A way to simplify it, if you are mathematically inclined, is that we are a continuous wave function, f(x, t). This means that for consciousness to be transferred, one would have to move this function somewhere else. Maybe it is possible to do it gradually, but I don't think it will be as easy as some think.
The thought experiment in the link you sent obviously has no change on the fact that I believe I am the wave function generated by my brain. In fact, I would cease to exist simply because my wave function would be destroyed. The person in Mars would not be me.
And I disagree that the claim that I am the electrical pattern is like the claim that a computer is made by electricity.
A computer has no feedback loops that spontaneously generate the operating system via emergence. It is a very linear system with precise inputs and outputs, all controlled by software and hardware.
The architectures of brains and computers work so differently that arguing that they are in any way similar is pointless.
Even von Neumann argued that the brain may not even be digital, therefore, trying to emulate it via digital computers could be an insurmountable task.
Anyways, hopefully this clarifies a bit of my thoughts on the matter. They come from my own blending of mathematics, neuroanatomy and computer science. I may be wrong, but I also think people that equate computers with brains are wrong. It would be interesting to know the answer either way.
I Am a Strange Loop
Consciousness by Christof Koch is an excellent short read. The author is the chief science officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Research, which makes it feel a little more credible than other pop-neuroscience books.
I am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter Covers a lot of the same ideas as GEB, but more succinctly.
+1 for Vision by David Marr and The Computer and the Brain by von Neumann mentioned by others.
Also it's definitely a more technical book, but I've really enjoyed reading Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms by David MacKay. It explains many of the relationships between
info theory, Bayesian statistics, machine learning, and computational neuroscience.
ya. I am a strange loop is a bit more accessible, but still probably too hard for a 13 year old. keeping with the hofstadter bent, maybe metamagical themas would work.
Time for a funny story. I actually know the author, and he told me he once got on a plane to discover that his seat neighbor was reading it. "Oh, I wrote that book!" "You read the whole thing?"
Yes, it's very long. It took me several tries to get through it. I finally did it on a long vacation where I had a lot of plane travel and downtime. I am a Strange Loop is somewhat shorter and easier to get through.
> One more question I would like to present is how did I get awarded the conscious of xSaintJimmy, and not somebody else, such as Barack Obama, or a citizen of Zimbabwe in poverty?
Well, it seems to me that one of the simplest things we would have to say about a consciousness is that it is a thing which can have thoughts - in fact, how else could we differentiate one consciousness from another if not be the thoughts which they each have? Now memory certainly seems to involve thought right? If we consider memory-thoughts and other thoughts (and memories of other thoughts, and thoughts about memory-thoughts, and so on) to all be particular thoughts held by some consciousness, it appears as if two people's thoughts and memories would differentiate them. But hang on, what is that consciousness if not something which has just those thoughts? What would it mean for you to be 'awarded' the consciousness of the impoverished Zimbabwean? Would that still be 'you?' If 'you' (as in 'your consciousness') is just that thing which has your thoughts and memories, and having the Zimbabwean's consciousness meant having his thoughts and memories - well how could 'you' be both 'you' and 'him'?
On top of all this, if consciousness is being 'awarded', whoever's doing the awarding certainly has a peculiar selection process; we don't see rocks, trees, or the number three getting this award - just people (arguably, maybe some animals too). But all people all the time? What about infants or embryos? Perhaps the former is arguable, but would the latter really be 'conscious'? Between this, our considerations on memory, and evidence like this, consciousness seems less 'awarded' than gradually developed; intellectually, personally, and biologically - after all, for 15-24 months of your life, your consciousness didn't even involve a 'you'.
If you're interested in this sort of thing, I would definitely recommend Hofstadter's 'I Am a Strange Loop' - compared to most philosophy it's a great read, and while not exactly comprehensive, it's an engaging treatment of this sort of philosophy of mind.
Douglas Hofstadter's I am a Strange Loop.
Read naturalist explanations of decision-making, the image of the self, how thoughts work, qualia, etc. You probably want to start with I am a Strange Loop, then Consciousness Explained, and work your way to Godel Escher Bach. There are also many essays online about the non-supernatural nature of the mind, this one being one that atheist Redditors link to often. Also see Wikipedia articles about the mind, free will, etc.
Even after I became an atheist, I could not shake the feeling that consciousness could not be just patterns of atoms. Even in a universe that follows rules and that was not deliberately created as part of a plan, I thought that maybe there's some kind of "soul stuff" that interacts with our brains and is responsible for consciousness. But then, if I can tell that I am conscious, then 1) the soul stuff impacts the natural world and is thus observable and not supernatural, and 2) I am no different from a computer that understands itself well enough to say it is conscious. (It helped me to think of AIs from fiction, like HAL and Data, and try to think of what it would be "like" to be them. Books like The Mind's I are full of such thought experiments). So after thinking about it for a while, I was able to shed that last and most persistent bit of supernaturalism and embrace the naturalistic view of the mind.
This is my kind of question. I will play the hell out of this game when you finish it!
If you can find this book in a library (or pay iron price) then it's by far the most complete and fascinating book on ants, with incredible detail on a lot of genera. Unfortunately it's getting on a little bit in age, so some parts are inaccurate or gaps have been filled. Wilson has written a bunch of books on social insects, most of which are pretty good.
There are so many species you are not likely to get a complete account from any books though, so if you have some journal access try reading papers on species that interest you. For best results you could stick to really well studied species like S. invicta.
For just general cool facts and probably the best macro photos online I read Alex Wild's blog myrmecos.
Um if you think of questions about a specific species we could also try to answer. In general for all of your numbered questions there are multiple species that fit that could be really interesting to play with.
edit: Actually, because not that many non-Aussies are familiar with this badass genus, maybe check out Myrmecia. They hunt by leaping onto the backs of prey like tiny stinging panthers. Also they are vicious bastards that will chase you for some meters when disturbed.
The Ants by EO Wilson and Bert Holldobler is an excellent read for this. They have a few other books on ants and other eusocial insects as well.
Edit: formatting
I really liked Parasite Rex, but I am a bit of a Bio nerd.
Linky if you want to check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/Parasite-Rex-Bizarre-Dangerous-Creatures/dp/074320011X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1220029229&amp;sr=1-1
> medical virology/parasitology
I mean, it sounds like you've got enough on your plate, but you ever read Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer? AWESOME book on parasites.
Parasites are really fascinating. If you want a neat book on them, check out Parasite Rex. It sucks to be an insect.
This is an awesome book on parasites
Parasite Rex
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074320011X
book by Carl Zimmer
...goatse bookcover?
That one is also contained in the Hackett edition of Plato's complete works edited by John Cooper, which is really good and only $50
The Republic
I recommend buying this if you're serious about reading Plato.
Hmm, that's a good question. A combination of Republic and Laws would certainly be a great distillation of Plato's ideas, but it could be difficult to parse if you aren't familiar with the format of the Socratic dialogue and some basic background on Socrates himself.
Personally, I'd recommend starting by reading a short dialogue like Euthyphro to familiarize yourself with the format, moving on to the Apology to get some background on Socrates, and then finishing with Theaetetus to get a firm grasp on the ideas behind the dialogue format.
That shouldn't take too long if you're a good reader, and it'll make a reading of The Republic and/or Laws much more enjoyable and fruitful.
As far as translations go, this collection is my personal recommendation. (That is quite expensive, but I happen to know there are several editions available on Library Genesis, including a Kindle edition. If you don't know what Library Genesis is, shoot me a PM and I'll get you a copy on pdf or however you prefer it.)
Hope this helps, cheers!
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I have this version of Plato: Complete Works if that appeals to you. Sorry to say Kierkegaard not for trade :).
I found a couple books for you :) This one and thiiis one!!!
All whales are iguanas.
No iguanas live under the sea.
Therefore, no whales live under the sea.
Hey! You said nothing about soundness :) I hope this works
Weston's A Rulebook for Arguments is clear and concise.
Heinrichs' Thank You for Arguing is more informal with lots of pop culture references.
Sagan's Demon Haunted World is a paean to science & critical thinking and Whyte's Crimes Against Logic is good as well
I would definitely recommend practicing with real LR questions. Consider purchasing Fox’s Logical Reasoning Encyclopedia. It’s a huge collection of questions organized by type and from easiest to hardest so that you can work your way up.
That being said, if you are looking to read something that will make LR easier, consider a book like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0872209547/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=0K40QP66SXTM0BKQAHBS&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=61X5ctUve8L
I literally just typed “fallacies” into amazon, but a book like this will basically cover every wrong argument you could see on the LSAT. I took a class on Critical Reasoning my freshman year and I know it gave me a head start on LR.
For reading comp, I’m a philosophy major so I have the opposite problem you do. Scientific articles throw me off a hair. If you want some interesting reads, check out the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online. It’s free, the language is very formal and sophisticated, and you can read about basically anything and everything you’d want. The LSAT seems to like bringing up utilitarianism relatively often, so maybe check out their page on that. Also the LSAT mentions Kant pretty frequently, so you can also check out the page on him.
Of course this isn’t necessary to get a perfect LSAT score; the test, as you know, does not presuppose any prior knowledge about these topics. However, I’m sure you have found, as I did, that it’s easier to read about things you know something about. Read some philosophy, but drill drill drill those RC passages!
As for getting a 170, I can’t say. My diagnostic was 155, and I got a 164 in February. My last two PTs were over 170, but obviously the only one that counts is the official.
You’ve got this!!!
More like this one.
What specific political purpose was it made for?
The only reasons I can find are purely linguistic, such as the inclusion of the word "ain't". A focus on how words should be used, rather than how they are used. Basically removing what was considered slang.
The dictionary was introduced in 1969. Is your problem that it was updated in 2016? Because Webster updated theirs in 2016 too. I would be very surprised if their website wasn't updated more frequently than that.
I hear this one is good.
Possibly this one, it's worth a try.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/087779295X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1466703276&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=SY200_QL40&amp;keywords=webster+dictionary&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=51dO1tc6GRL&amp;ref=plSrch
Or it can mean marginalized. Buy a dictionary.
Here's a link
I would second Mas Ayoob's stuff. Some of it is a bit dated, but still great stuff especially for the application of deadly force. His book In the Gravest Extreme is sort of considered the de-facto "self defense firearms 101" by most people.
Judicious Use of Deadly Force, and Shoot to Live are on youtube and are very fascinating, especially the Judicious Use of Deadly Force.
I'd also recommend checking out videos by Clint Smith, the operator of Thunder Ranch.
Coming into firearms from martial arts I quickly noticed that the mindset is exactly the same. That is, from a self defense stand point and not a sport fighting stand point. Martial artists who try to learn "not to die" as opposed to "win" have exactly the same mindset as defensive firearms proponents. Notions such as de-escalation, only acting when you are basically justified in stopping another human and possibly removing their right to live and things like that. The whole pride fighting, bar fights, etc have no place there. And just like martial artists, skilled firearms instructors across the board teach situational awareness above everything else and emphasize that the gun is simply a tool in the repertoire of a person seeking to not be a victim.
I really agree with swilkeni in that it is a martial art all its own. Throughout history the martial fields concerned with actual defense (and in this case offense and defense are practically the same thing), save a few small examples, are primarily concerned with the use of weapons. You can see that in any culture's history, from Japan where modern martial arts concerned with unarmed fighting are entirely a modern invention, to Europe and where ever else. People who want to survive learn to use weapons, simply put, and in America we have the right to carry the most effective single weapon a modern human can get: a gun. =D
It's all good dood. I learned a new legal term. It's a fascinating case, especially considering I own quite a few guns.
I recently read In the Gravest Extreme which talks about when it is appropriate to use deadly force, so I am very interested in learning the minutia of Florida law, which seems to dictate that Zimmerman getting out of his car with his gun is not relevant. That type of action is usually bad. It's worth a read, and very informative.
http://www.amazon.com/In-Gravest-Extreme-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001
I'd recommend an XD-40 by Springfield Armory. It's light, accurate, and safe yet fast. Safe = two safeties: one on the trigger and one on the handle - no accidental discharges if you're smart and keep your finger out of the guard until you're ready to shoot something, yet no "extra" safety to flip - it's ready to go when you are.
It's also got several of nifty features that indicate the weapon's current status: a chamber indicator (a small piece of metal that pops up top-center of the chamber) to tell you if a round is chambered, and a striker indicator (small silver pin at the back of the slide) that tells you if the weapon is cocked. Both indicators are visual if there's enough light, but also physical so you can check the weapon's status just by feel. Checking the current magazine capacity is easy: the magazines have small holes drilled in the back so you can quickly eject the magazine, glance at the holes to see which are covered by a round, and pop it back in. It's also extremely fast and easy to strip for cleaning. And the price is right: $450-600, depending on the specific model.
If you like those features but need something smaller in size, check out their compacts and sub-compacts. Of course, the shorter the barrel, the shorter the effective range. I'd recommend sticking with a smaller round size. I don't generally notice a significant difference in recoil between a .40 caliber and 9mm round, but .45 has enough kick to seriously reduce your speed and/or accuracy. .40 caliber has a little better stopping power than 9mm, and is still about as easy to handle. A lot of folks are going to tell you how great .45 are, how manly they'll make you feel, etc. Forget all that. If you can shoot 500 rounds through a .45 and your hands don't shake afterward, fine; get a .45. If not, stick to .40. Find a weapon and caliber that work for you, that you can shot quickly, accurately, and don't shy away from. If you are uncomfortable with it in any way, you will not be accurate with your weapon.
Re: "carrying", don't until you know what you're doing. Your idea of trying before you buy is a great one - that's how I chose mine. I found some of the Glocks to be overly large and heavy... and of course there's the Kaboom factor, but this is extremely rare and from what I've heard, only happens with reloaded and/or lead ammunition. In other words, buy all of your ammo new, and stay away from reloads. But back to practice, PRACTICE. Shoot at least once a week for several months before you start to carry a lethal weapon that can be taken from you and used to kill you, others, and commit crimes. And DO NOT stop practicing just because you "know how now". Shoot at least once a month, or stop carrying. Yes, it's that important.
Also, READ THIS BOOK before you ever take your weapon out of your home. It's called In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, and it's written by Massad F. Ayoob, a firearms instructor (for civilians and police), a police officer (almost four decades, if I remember correctly), and has written a number of books, excellent articles, tutorials and other instruction materials. This book will not teach you how to shoot. It will teach you when to shoot and why to shoot, and what the consequences will be. It isn't a fun read. It won't make you happy about owning a gun. It might even make you a little afraid. But it will teach you what you need to know, or at least, give you a little insight into what you don't know.
Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:
Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902
|Country|Link|
|:-----------|:------------|
|UK|amazon.co.uk|
|Spain|amazon.es|
|France|amazon.fr|
|Germany|amazon.de|
|Japan|amazon.co.jp|
|Canada|amazon.ca|
|Italy|amazon.it|
|China|amazon.cn|
This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting).
> if you are a public figure and insult a group of people that has nothing to do with free speech.
But it does, it's just not protected speech in your country. In some countries blasphemy isn't protected speech, and people in those countries would argue that insulting the prophet has nothing to do with free speech.
Westbro Baptist would be locked up in much of Europe for saying what they say about gay people, as would Malcom X for inciting racial violence. The USA doesn't have that restriction because speech is constitutionally protected. I'm not American but from what I understand they permit everything just shy of criminal conspiracy.
Here in the UK mere possession of The Anarchist Cookbook is a crime, selling it is a crime in much of Europe, but Americans are free to compare notes on what type of pipe bomb has the most effective killing power.
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=VZ5P4KXH47TXQJ2V3S6P
One of the best SAT books for reading. Probably THE best.
Reading: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1523859178&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=sat+reading
Math: https://www.amazon.com/College-Pandas-SAT-Math-Advanced/dp/0989496422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1523859257&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=math+college+panda
Those are both great.
Have you tried The Critical Reader: The Ultimate Guide to SAT Reading by Erica Meltzer? I recently bought it after seeing many recommendations and great reviews. While I haven’t used it yet, I’ve looked over it and its seems pretty helpful, goes over many areas I’m struggling with and has lots of examples and explanations etc. Most people will recommend this so if you haven’t already, I suggest you give this a try. Good luck!
Erica Meltzer's The Critical Reader 3rd Edition
2 Free SAT Reading e-books
Guide to SAT Reading: Literature Passages
Guide to SAT Reading: Global Conversation Passages
> How would you tackle the psat reading and writing portion? I'm currently missing around 5-7 reading questions and 4-5 writing questions. I've read both Barron's and Princeton's review books on how to answer reading questions. Barron's suggests to read the whole passage and focus on the introductary sentences, while Princeton's method is to use the questions to guide you to the answers from the reading section, so I'm a little confused on which method is better than the other.
Both Barron's ("Barron's's?") and The Princeton Review's SAT Reading strategies are rather simplistic and designed for the average student, not the high scorer. I would suggest that you simply find the method that works best for you, and that you buy an SAT Reading guide by a true professional such as Erica Meltzer.
For more information on SAT Reading strategies, check out my free e-book, Master the SAT.
I got 3rd edition reading
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875
And 4th edition grammar
https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867
Here is the link to the reading book: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875
Here is the link to the grammar book: https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867
> If you're stuck on this, do some more reading on the different uses of the imperfect and perfect tenses. My favourite, the one I refer to all the time and the one I refer my students to, is Durrell's pretty much definitive Using German, which I've used for 20 years but looks quite pricey now sadly.
That's good. But I really love this book. If you own that, you know you have the father of all German grammar books written in English, the one that their writers have looked through and tried to simplify into two or three hundred pages.
For beginners: http://www.amazon.com/English-Grammar-Students-German-Learning/dp/0934034389/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413161749&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=german+english+grammar
Beginning to intermediate: http://www.amazon.com/Schaums-Outline-German-Grammar-4ed/dp/0071615679/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413161727&amp;sr=1-6&amp;keywords=german+grammar
Beginning to intermediate: http://www.amazon.com/Hammers-German-Grammar-Usage-Edition/dp/1444120166
Intermediate to advanced: http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Grammar-German/dp/3190272557/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413161823&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=hueber+practice+grammar+german
At least it isn't Fifty Thousand Shades Of Grey.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifty-Thousand-Shades-Of-Grey-Ashen/dp/1479215430/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1348530870&amp;sr=8-1
If u can, try to get this book. Its a good book.
https://www.amazon.com/Jpn-Tobira-Japanese-English-Mayumi-Oka/dp/4874244475/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1517496852&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=tobira
Try satori reader, from the guys who made human japanese.
If you really need a textbook you should probably go with Tobira, it covers more advanced stuff than genki but you can probably handle it since you finished Human Japanese.
I can also recommend ["Making Sense of Japanese"] (https://www.amazon.com/Making-Sense-Japanese-What-Textbooks/dp/156836492X) by Jay Rubin, it's a short read but gives you a deeper understanding of a few different topics.
Imabi is probably the most complete japanese resource in english and it's free, definitely give it a try.
Is the tobira book you're describing the one listed below:
https://www.amazon.com/Tobira-Japanese-English-Mayumi-Oka/dp/4874244475/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1499474116&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=tobira
Also, what's the difference between this tobira and tobira "grammar power?"
Try some other schools? Usually you don't need to come in at rank beginner level if you already know a lot of Japanese. (I haven't been to one, but I am going to one in October).
The advantage of a school is that it offers you a 2 year visa. If there are other visa options, I'd recommend those - working holiday visa is available for some countries, etc. Then you can self-study and practice conversation. Assuming you're sufficiently motivated!
As for books, I did this book. It overlaps a bit with Genki 2 but it's a natural step up. Towards the end it gets quite difficult as it uses native texts. I'm now doing Tobira which is really fun and is placed between N3 and N2.
One shouldn't have to read something a second time because you can't find the comma on your keyboard. It's also quite ironic that you start using punctuation once you're called out on it. What happened to prose?
It was also completely in context. If you think that it wasn't, I have a book for you. Unfortunately, it was written in proper English, not prose.
Can't really say for an actual order between all of the books but you should learn hiragana and katakana before doing anything else (it's not so intimidating to do), and you can probably go on to use Genki 1 then Genki 2 after that.
That said you did pick several well recommended books so assuming you can get a study plan going (and stick with it) you should be on a good footing.
As far as other recommended resources, I've heard (but not tried it myself) Tobira mentioned as a good way of moving on after finishing Genki. For Kanji and (to a lesser extent) vocab you could also use Anki (free) or Wanikani (subscription / one off payment), or if you prefer textbooks KKLC.
The full title is Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese and I think it's pretty good.
http://www.amazon.com/Tobira-Advanced-Japanese-Learning-Multimedia/dp/4874244475
ISBN 978-4874244470
This is the method that many fiction writers use to keep themselves going. See a nifty little book called 2K to 10K.
Pretty sure she not only tracked how many words per date, but also did an hourly breakdown, and discovered that she wrote as much in her two or three most productive hours as she did in the other five or six. Cut her workday in half when she figured that out.
I go to the coffeeshop and write 2000 words every day in the morning, that's my minimum. I've broken 10k in a day before, but it's usually hard for me to get through the 5k mark. Hopefully when I drop my full time job (later this year) I'll be able to work my way up.
When I first started writing, I could only do like 200-300 words an hour. Now I'm up to more like 1000-1500. Practice, practice, practice.
Also, the 2k to 10k thing helped me, like, a LOT: http://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS
Joining a weekly writing group has helped me immensely. Like you, my work-life schedule is completely full, but my hubby and I managed to find a 2-3 hour window during the week when I could go write OUTSIDE of the house. Tuesday night is my time to write. My kiddos know I have writing group, and Daddy gets home from work and holds down the fort so I can go be creative without distractions.
Knowing that I have three other people waiting for me to show up at the Barnes & Noble and write at the same table holds me accountable. I've found that I'm extremely productive during that time (sometimes 2,000+ words/hour). If I find myself with any free time during the week (a rarity), I try to get on my laptop and write, even if it's just notes or vague ideas that I can refer to on Tuesday night. Ten minutes here, 250 words there--it does add up.
I also carry a small notebook for that purpose. Driving home last Tuesday, for example, I had a sudden idea for a change that solved a major plot issue in my current book. Every time I sat at a red light I scribbled my thoughts about the change in my notebook. Yes, my penmanship was atrocious due to my hurried pace, but it was legible. I got home in time to read a story, sing a lullaby, and spend time with my hubby. He watched Netflix, and I snuggled next to him on the couch with my laptop and made those changes.
TL,DR: Work with your wife to find a small window of time once or twice a week where you can leave the house and do nothing but write without distractions. It will help with productivity and isn't an unreasonable request.
EDIT: I also found Rachel Aaron's book to be quite helpful.
I've never read it, but it's this one: https://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS
Rachel Aaron/Rachel Bach. She writes [several thousand words] (https://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS) per day and, since 2010, has written thirteen novels and other various works.
I read a lot - books, short stories, graphic novels, screenplays, plays. Not only do you learn from studying how other writers construct their work, but by studying different mediums you tend to strengthen specific writing muscles. For example, when studying screenplays you learn how to craft better dialogue. When studying graphic novels you become better aware of how to utilize your setting.
A trick I stole from college is mimicking the style of a writer, or book, you admire (I actually do this after every good book I read). You'll inevitably pick up at least one cool thing you can use in your own writing, and it's a great way to hone your own style.
I recently bought this book on Amazon, which gives tips on how to write faster. It's only .99 and, personally, I think it's aimed towards amateur writers but the one thing I got out of it was planning before you write. It sounds like a no-brainer but I used to hate outlining. But the way she describes it, it's more thorough than traditional outlining and I've been able to write 10,000 words in one sitting without becoming frustrated.
I recommend reading Rachel Aaron's book, 2000 TO 10000. It's basically a instruction manual for how she become more disciplined in writing. I've gotten some great ideas from it.
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html
And the buy link--it's $1 right now:
http://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS/ref=la_B004FRLQXE_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1349882755&amp;sr=1-9
It's not exactly what you are looking for but I've enjoyed what I've read of Greg Wyshinski's Book. It's a guide to the game, it breaks down the game and some of the things you wouldn't think of - the little moves to get an open shooting lane for another player, etc.
Greg is a good writer, and a funny guy. Check it out!
The book Take Your Eye Off The Puck does a good job of explaining some of the finer points.
If you're really serious about getting to understand the details of the game, this is a fantastic book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1629371203/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-PSzybKJWY4KB
I read this book for general hockey info - it is beyond fantastic as a primer for all parts of the game https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Puck/dp/1629371203/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1520231712&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=take+your+eye+off+the+puck
Then you can read this one if you want to go deeper in the game mechanics - yes it is about advanced stats, but it really helps you understand the way the game works as they go through how these are effective: https://www.amazon.com/Hockey-Abstract-Presents-Stat-Shot/dp/177041309X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=177041309X&amp;pd_rd_r=95WZ602VZZPEVN4HHYXW&amp;pd_rd_w=W2ZUk&amp;pd_rd_wg=F2J4k&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=95WZ602VZZPEVN4HHYXW
These two are great books about the sport.
If you just started following the sport, don't concern yourself with learning players from a mock draft. Sure, some will land on your team but just wait it out a bit. Also, read this: https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Puck/dp/1629371203
if you're into reading, I received this book as a gift recently and it's supposed to help with getting a better understanding of the game
If you have an Amazon account, give this a try. I think you might find it useful.
(Hint: trying reading my first post again. Carefully this time. Don't just look at the words. Try to understand them. Good luck!)
As far as I can tell, there aren't any other editions.
Japanese Amazon doesn't even make mention of the edition on the page:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E4%B8%8A%E7%B4%9A%E3%81%B8%E3%81%AE%E3%81%A8%E3%81%B3%E3%82%89-%E2%80%95%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%86%E3%83%B3%E3%83%84%E3%81%A8%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AB%E3%83%81%E3%83%A1%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%A2%E3%81%A7%E5%AD%A6%E3%81%B6%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E-Advanced-Japanese-Multimedia/dp/4874244475/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1518034431&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=%E3%81%A8%E3%81%B3%E3%82%89
Thanks to this nifty book I've been doing a daily writing log where I chart my word count, time spent writing, words per hour, etc. It's helped me tremendously in making me more productive and keeping me on track. I find that I'm most productive either early in the morning or really late at night.
I don't bother much with KDP select anymore, as the changes in Amazon's affiliate program has made free giveaways less appealing to book bloggers; their affiliate codes don't bring in the cash anymore.
Unfortunately even if you're not in it for the money a steady production schedule is the only way to keep visible. Amazon heavily weights its search results towards new releases. If it takes you a year to publish another book, well, by the time that year has past your first book has been hidden in search obscurity for 10 months.
There are only really two things I can suggest.
Anyway, good luck.
Not Kings-specific, but if you're just getting into the sport, Greg Wyshynski's book Take Your Eye Off the Puck is a great place to start.
https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Puck/dp/1629371203
This is the first book I've read by Rachel Aaron, but as it happens I have read her writing help book (2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love - also available on Kindle Unlimited) and quite liked her style. In fact I wonder now why I didn't pick up any of her other books at the time ...
Anyway! This book is a solid urban fantasy story, low on the romance and high on the morbid humor. Although it is the first in a series, it does not end on a cliffhanger.
>So... you're saying a man that slaps a woman is slapping all women while a woman that slaps a man is slapping one man?
I didn't even come close to saying that. This might help you out.
I grew up in Tennessee (family in Hunstville and Selma, though!) and moved here about ten years ago. I got dragged to a Sabres game and they beat the Leafs 8-1, it was fucking great and I was hooked on hockey. What has helped me is watching a ton of games and seeing who is playing with who, who was on the "top" line versus the fourth, etc. The most confusing thing to me was understanding line changes and trying to see that since you miss the transition on tv sometimes. /r/nhl is a pretty great sub. I keep meaning to buy this: https://smile.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Puck/dp/1629371203/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1466940939&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=wyshinski too, since even a decade in I sometimes feel lost.
With the exception of my first two books (which each were written over sequential one month periods), my writing output has pretty much been even across 13 year - right around 1,500 - 2,000 words a day. The reason those first two books came out so quickly is the story had been building for her a decade, and when I decided to write it, the damn broke and I barely ate or slipped while I purged them from my brain.
That pace is more than good for most writers (and also the most common word count of those who write daily. Now that said, Rachel Aaron, is a writer who is quite talented and she wrote a book called 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love. I've not read it because I have no desire to increase my writing to that pace, but, knowing her, I think there is probably some good stuff in there.
Well, this might be for you then.
That obviously depends on the day. If I have nothing else to do I would expect 5K at least. If I'm busy I might not get anything done.
Anybody interested in writing faster might benefit from reading Rachel Aaron's 2K to 10K at $1 for the Kindle edition.
Main lessons from that: Take a couple of minutes before starting to write a short outline, be really excited and interested in the scene you want to write (if something bores you, it will bore readers as well), keep records of your progress.
Nice job buddy, sounds like you've really got my worldview figured out: you caught me! And I thought I'd almost gotten away with being a closet feminist worshipper. Darneedoodle.
Since you enjoy writing things so much more than reading them, here's a book I think you might profit from:
http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Comprehension-Success-Minutes-Day/dp/1576854949
I generally write, then map, then write, then re-map, repeat. (I also have a giant file of ideas and snippets.)
If you're interested in different types of plotting/mapping, check out Dan Wells' YouTube videos on the 7 point plot structure, Rachel Aaron's book 2k to 10k, and everything the Writing Excuses podcast has under their plot tag.
Edit: added links.
your pdf doesn't contradict my claim.
There are two effectiveness rates I discussed, one for perfect use and another for the actual real world rate. Perfect use means exactly that, the user made no mistakes in the use of that contraception. For condoms this means having the right size, lubricating sufficiently, etc to minimize risks of tears. For the birth control pill, this means taking it everyday and at the same time. The effectiveness of the BC pill is greatly diminished if you don't take it at the same time everyday.
&#x200B;
This is why I made the distinction between perfect use and real world effectiveness, because dumb people like you who don't pay attention to the details are inevitably going to fuck it up.
&#x200B;
Condoms, when used 100% perfectly, have a maximum effectiveness of 98%. In your PDF it gives the real world rate of 82% (in my original claim I said 85% for condoms, close enough).
The pullout method, when used 100% perfectly, has a 100% maximum effectiveness. I also said that the real world effectiveness of pullout is likely less than condoms. In your PDF it says 78% effectiveness.
&#x200B;
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Comprehension-Success-Minutes-Builders/dp/1576854949 for you.
It's at thirty bucks on amazon.co.jp.
Is this the correct version of Tobira to order? I'm looking to finish Genki II in about 6ish weeks (hopefully) and I wanted to ahead and get this book on order.
https://www.amazon.com/Jpn-Tobira-Japanese-English-Mayumi-Oka/dp/4874244475/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1519529443&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=tobira
A lot of people move on to Tobira. That's what my college does, too.
Genki is the most commonly recommended beginners textbook over on /r/learnjapanese (definitely use this sub). Other options like Minna No Nihogo pretty much require a teacher or don't have the same availability genki has.
Tobira is an intermediate textbook that's pretty popular. The other option is An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese which is published by the same company as Genki, basicaly a Genki 3, but doesn't follow quite the same format. Personally I think Tobira is better but maybe is a little harder to use at the start for someone straight of Genki 2.
TBH The easy news can be too easy, and it's not really going to launch you much further in reading comprehension. It's not a bad resource by any means, but if it isn't challenging you, look for something that will. Reading will require you to know a ton of kanji (RIP), so I advise just getting books and going to town. There's also several styles of writing, so academic/news/similar read pretty differently from manga/light novels/etc. I am personally quite fond of the Gakken elementary school books. They cover science, autobiography, folktales, so on. They run from 1st~6th grade on the Japan scale, so the content and furigana are all in line with what's expected at that grade level. For reference, the 4th grade list. The 5th grade book I'm reading covers why we have a belly button, why albino rabbits are different from non-albino, why humans can't breathe underwater, why stinkbugs stink, and a ton of others. It's pretty easy to read, and it definitely challenges my vocabulary. Plus, it's a lot of things I'm at least vaguely familiar with in English, so it's easier to catch on.
I definitely recommend the Tobira textbook. I much prefer reading from paper (computer eye strain 2 real), so I have a lot of books. Concerning Tae Kim, I haven't treated it as a text by any stretch of the imagination: I use the search function and ctrl+F to get what I need and close the tab.
Also, the JLPT is... a test. And if you get 50%-ish of the material, you pass. IMO, it's not really worth anything unless you need the N2 or above to get a job in Japan (or where ever). I just passed N3 and I was genuinely surprised at my results. It's a good resume builder, but it doesn't test your ability to use Japanese, just if you understand it. It doesn't really help you much with anything besides reading.
Honestly, in my opinion, unless it's a very specialised language institution, don't even bother with traditional classes. The majority of them will do little more than go through the beginner textbooks at a pace 10x slower than you could on your own. All the information you need to learn the language is freely available as long as you have the discipline to go through it without being forced to.
The first step will be to learn hiragana, then katakana. After that you'll want to tackle grammar basics, beginner vocabulary and kanji, and then begin getting exposure to simple native content while exploring the more intermediate and advanced material.
---
For kana:
Use mnemonics to familiarise yourself with hiragana and katakana.
Then drill yourself with a tool like DJT Kana until they are burned into your brain.
-
For grammar:
The single free resource I most recommend in the beginning would be Wasabi's online reference, but there are plenty of other resources out there, including Tae Kim, Imabi, Maggie Sensei, Cure Dolly, etc...
For paid resources the most commonly recommended beginner textbook would be Genki. And then Tobira for more intermediate material. My most recommended resources to purchase would be a book called Making Sense of Japanese and the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar series, with emphasis placed on the first volume.
-
For kanji and vocab:
Wanikani will automate the process for you if you have the cash to pay for a yearly subscription.
If not you can use Anki with either Kodansha's Kanji Learner's Course or with Remembering The Kanji.
---
All my Japanese knowledge was acquired through self-study, starting with resources similar to these. After I had sufficient experience with the basics I went on to learn primarily through reading native material and using native linguistic resources.
It took around 3 years before I was able to begin reading light novels.
Missing two big ones imo:
http://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-Better-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS
I read this book and he did an AMA in /r/hockey not too long ago. I cant remember the exact percentage that a dump and chase ends up into a goal, but its bad.
Picking a team, I would just watch games and see who you like. Maybe pick up one of the NHL video games and do the same. I know it's not the best advice but nobody else can really tell you who to root for. I agree to pick a team in your time zone so you can watch the games. A good book is Take your Eye off the Puck, although it might be better once you know the basics already
There's a few different textbook options for continuing after げんき, but it seems that the most common choice here is とびら. I use it myself and I know several other members do as well, and I've found it to be quite comprehensive. Just a warning though: it is a pretty big leap in difficulty from what げんき had you doing, so be prepared to struggle a bit in the beginning.
So I'm going to acknowledge that I feel dumb in asking this, is this the workbook for Tobira?
I want to order Tobira but I also want to get the workbook in the same order (so that way they ship together) and there's a couple Tobira books. Also, does anyone else recommend the Tobira kanji book?
And in case this causes any questions, where my understanding that it has a workbook is from is from this post.
Japanese textbook. I thought I could get away with not spending money on textbooks this semester. I thought horribly wrong.
It's only $40 on Amazon though
Just found it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4874244475/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=4874244475&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=xedi-20
It's a relatively new book. It seems that my school imported it in bulk and sold it to us. Hopefully the price will go down as more classes use the book and more copies hit the used books market.
I was on mobile before and couldn't answer as thoroughly as I'd have liked.
Basically, I take the approach that my kid hasn't read the books and doesn't know how they're "supposed" to act regarding sleep or potty training or anything else. So I read as many books on as many subjects as I can, figuring that there will be something useful from every expert. So for example I read all the big sleep books out there, from Ferber to Pantley to Sears, and I picked and chose what worked for me. I read about attachment parenting AND Babywise. I read Baby-Led Weaning and Super Baby Food. And it's ALL come in handy - my oldest hasn't fit a single mold perfectly, but having all those tools in my toolkit helped me help her (and myself).
For baby development, one of my favorites is [Baby Meets World] (http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Meets-World-Journey-Through/dp/0312591349) because it talks about what happens in the baby's first year but also gives a really good historical overview of different practices like feeding (from wet nursing to pabulum to the current breast/bottle debate), which helps me stop freaking out about the latest trends - basically, it gave me perspective. Touchpoints is another great development book, and The Language Instinct is a fascinating read on how language and cognition develop.
For blogs, I like Ask Moxie's archives.
Isaac Asimov wrote quite a few books on physics, some more textbook-y than others.
Cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker actually argues for "I could care less" in his book The Language Instinct and in this related article. His argument is that "I could care less" is sarcastic: You're essentially saying "Well yeah, sure, I guess I could care less, but I really don't care much".
If you want to just know buzzwords to throw around, spend a bunch of time clicking around on Wikipedia, and watch stuff like Crash Course on YouTube. It's easy to absorb, and you'll learn stuff, even if it's biased, but at least you'll be learning.
If you want to become SMARTER, one of my biggest pieces of advice is to either carry a notebook with you, or find a good note taking app you like on your phone. When someone makes a statement you don't understand, write it down and parse it up.
So for instance, write down "Social Democracy", and write down "The New Deal", and go look them up on simple.wikipedia.com (Put's all of it in simplest language possible), it's a great starting point for learning about any topic, and provides you a jumping board to look more deeply into it.
If you are really curious about starting an education, and you absolutely aren't a reader, some good books to start on are probably:
"Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words" by Randall Munroe
"A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
"Philosophy 101" by Paul Kleinman, in fact the ____ 101 books are all pretty good "starter" books for people that want an overview of a topic they are unfamiliar with.
"The World's Religions" by Huston Smith
"An Incomplete Education" by Judy Jones and Will Wilson
Those are all good jumping off points, but great books that I think everyone should read... "A History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell, "Western Canon" by Harold Bloom, "Education For Freedom" by Robert Hutchins, The Norton Anthology of English Literature; The Major Authors, The Bible.
Read anything you find critically, don't just swallow what someone else says, read into it and find out what their sources were, otherwise you'll find yourself quoting from Howard Zinn verbatim and thinking you're clever and original when you're just an asshole.
i know a professor and she did give this multiple book series for history a pass, the author is not an orientalist as well, the Venture of Islam:
https://www.amazon.com/Venture-Islam-Classical-Age/dp/0226346838/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1523804477&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+venture+of+islam&amp;dpID=51KRFoNyv9L&amp;preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
Quran.com you can read, also see the text and listen as well.
Oh, a friend also used this when researching religions:
https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Religions-Plus-Huston-Smith/dp/0061660183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1523804928&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=huston+smith+world%27s+religions
In case anyone is wondering this is from Huston Smith's "The World's Religions" in the section about Religious Taoism
My "Philosophy of Asian Thought" class used this. The professor might've just been a fan of Smith, but it's a good book for your collection, regardless.
Huston Smith. He was the biggest influence in my walk back to faith. He was so passionate about teaching the world about religion; it was truly inspiring. His book, The World's Religions, is a wonderful primer for anyone looking to expand their knowledge of their own faith and the faiths of the world.
Logged comment posted by /u/Genesisbook1 at 01/31/15 03:51:22:
> I believe in god not that kike Jesus was a savior
... in response to comment posted by /u/US_Hiker at 01/31/15 03:04:15:
> > Still love god though
>
> Jesus is God is a Jew. Still love God?
____
Removed comment posted by /u/Genesisbook1 at 01/31/15 06:35:37:
> I don't know. I'm still going to go you church because I love church even though I don't fit in or talk to anybody but I don't know. I have to talk to god tonight. Appreciate it brother
... in response to comment posted by /u/US_Hiker at 01/31/15 04:54:23:
> >What do you mean by fringe beliefs?
>
> Well, anti-semitism isn't that rare, but it's not mainstream. It's less common yet to talk to somebody who unapologetically identifies with it, much less is willing to leave a religion for it.
>
> I suggest you get this book: http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Religions-Plus-Huston-Smith/dp/0061660183
>
> A local library should have it if you can't afford it. It's a good, scholarly but sympathetic look at the major religions in the world.
>
> Many religions may give you solace for this personal hell of yours, but do remember that each demands much of you, often quite similar things.
>
> I'm off to bed for the night. I'd welcome any more details you're willing to share, by PM or otherwise. Cheers.
There's a pretty great book called "World Religions" by Houston Smith (not an affiliate link) that goes over all of the major faiths with a great deal of fairness. His empahsis is on foundational beliefs and not on 'church institutions'. I found it to be one of the most well-written books on the subject, ever.
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The most influential philosophy book I ever read was "The Structure of Scientific Revoloutions" by Thomas Kuhn.
This single book affected my worldview more than any other book or course. It deals specifically with the nature and process of scientific revolution, but reaches much further than the title claims. I highly recommend this book.
Edit: Added author
This really depends upon your interests, but my own "Hey read this" list includes:
Sophie's World for a general and accessible introduction to various philosophical systems.
Ethical Theories: A Book of Readings with Revisions for a survey of ethical works.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions for some history and philosophy of science.
Consciousness Explained for some philosophy of mind.
A more traditional, analytical, list might include:
Plato's Republic
Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, Metaphysics
Aquinas' Summa Theologica
Descartes' Meditations
Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Mill's Utilitarianism
Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Prolegomena to Any
Future Metaphysics
Nietzshe's Beyond Good and Evil, The Birth of Tragedy
Ok, so before I get into everything I have to preface this with some details about me.
I debated for 4 years in college and have been a debate judge ever since, this means I have 7 years of continued debate experience and most of my friends are debaters. The type of debate I did was called British Parliamentary which is perfectly tuned to train you to do well on the writing portion of the GRE. It was all about encountering impromptu topics and being able to make well structured and well sourced arguments while having no physical evidence at your disposal. This taught me to think of very complex and detailed arguments very quickly, I think this is the key to getting a six on the exam.
So, look up BP debate online or on youtube and watch some of the debates and you'll get an understanding on how people like me think about arguments. If you expose yourself to these ideas/habits you'll be fine. I did about 45 minutes of preparation for the test in total not including the 3-4 practice essays I wrote in the practice tests I took leading up to the test.
You can also go to intelligencesquaredus.org and they have a bunch of great debates with experts that also think in the same fashion.
Now to the pointers. First, if you want to learn how to use the Toulmin model to structure your arguments, cut down on fluff and bring your salient points to the table feel free to PM me since it's an entirely different post all by it self.
Before you even get to the test, I would suggest you familiarize yourself with some science philosophy because questions about scientific institutions or fields of inquiry or business come up all of the time and the lessons taught in these books teach you content you can use in the argumentative section, and things to look out for in the assumption/logic section. I based the bulk of my argument section on "The Structure of Scientific revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn. I would also highly suggest checking out [The Logic of Scientific Discovery, by Karl Popper] (https://www.amazon.com/Logic-Scientific-Discovery-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415278449/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1474048437&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=karl+popper). Both of these texts not only give you a great picture of how science functions, they also give you substantial insight into the reasoning behind science and other ventures. This is crucial to pull from in the logic/assumption section.
Before we go on, I'll give you the essay topic that I recently encountered, I'll refer back to it throughout the post: "In regards to fields of inquiry, younger professionals are more likely to make massive contributions to their fields than older professionals".
Before I start actually writing the essay, I take scratch paper and outline my argument. I give myself about 7-8 minutes for this (we used to get 15 minutes to make a 7 minute argument in BP, which includes getting to your room, you can practice this ability by looking up BP topics. If you can't find some, PM me and I'll send you some). I don't put together all of my arguments in full form, I just write "tag lines" pertaining to the gist of my argument. For example, in my essay I would write:
I: Kuhn, structure of sci revs: Paradigm. How young=better
A. What is paradigm
B. Young scientists unique to push paradigm
a. Older scientists base livelihood on old assumption/paradigm
This is more words than you need. You're not going to refer back to this word for word, instead it's a mental exercise to keep you organized. You came up with the ideas, so you're not going to forget why you put something in the linear order if it is linearized. I wouldn't forget what I was going to talk about in regards to assumptions/paradigms if I put down old scis base livelihood on old stuff.
This model helps organize your thoughts so you don't have to waste time thinking of what's coming next, you can just throw a narrative down on the page. I think I wrote about 1000 words per essay this way. Most guides say you need to write above 600 words to get above a 5.
When I'm thinking of arguments, I put myself in the shoes of the people I'm being asked to discuss. I think about the obstacles that an old or young professor or business owner confronts when trying to make a massive contribution. I think about what their crisis is, along with what their strengths are. I balance the strengths and weaknesses of the competing parties. I also think about the people in their environments, how are they going to treat the people in question. Will their peers respect them, not respect them, will they engage with them or let the researchers show that they should be paid attention to first. There's a lot to think about with this, but if you put yourself in their shoes, all of these characteristics play themselves out in front of you very quickly. This is why practicing those debate topics are so important, it trains your mind to think quickly about these alternatives.
At the top, I used a phrase to begin that was relevant to the topic at hand. I probably started off saying something along the lines of "the life of a researcher is chaotic, the notion of publish or perish lies in wait, hovering over everything you do". This is preferable to simply restating the prompt. Remember that graders only spend a couple minutes on each essay, and if you seem boiler-plate from the get go, you're going to get a boiler-plate grade.
Like many debaters, I like to do an overview at the top of my essay. Once I get my introduction finished with a hint of where I'm going to go with my arguments, I then make just the claims of my arguments and perhaps the impacts/solvency (check out Toulmin) in the second paragraph. This provides the reader with a clear line of what he/she expects to see in my essay and it makes the arguments seem more clear to them because they know what to expect.
This was something along the lines of: "The arguments present in this paper will consist of analysis of the notion of the paradigm and how it contributes to advancement of the entire pursuit of science. Following this, the ramifications of tenure on a scientists career will be expressed and critiqued. Finally, the idea on how infrastructure access could hamstring younger scientists and thus, allowing for older researchers to take command will be discussed." This takes very little time to write, but it's very helpful for the grader because now they know where to look for, for development of arguments and the power of your reasoning. If you don't do this, it's possible that the grader will overlook some of your points and you may get a worse grade by human error.
The rest of the paper writes itself if you have a solid outline. You just need to make sure that all of your points have a "why" to them. Why is your claim (assumption at the beginning of your argument) correct, you should use reason and substance to make these seem true. Don't leave anything as an assumption.
Furthermore, I think the single most important characteristic in making a great argument is establishing what we call uniqueness. This is establishing why the thing you say is happening is actually CAUSING the thing to happen. You make it clear through your arguments that there are no other justifications for what your saying is true is actually true. I have a couple arguments on this one. First that older scientists have built their livelihood and careers on the assumptions and paradigms that they helped create/maintain, so they have developed a unique myopia to other alternatives that younger scientists haven't yet developed. Furthermore, young scientists are in a unique position to need to see things differently so they can make the contributions that lead to tenure. My entire second argument is about how tenure forces younger scientists to make big contributions and how it makes older scientists lazy because I ground the discussion in terms of publish or perish, up until you get tenure. The emphasis here is on mutual exclusivity, if "this" happens "that" can't happen. If a person doesn't have tenure, they're not safe and they have to publish exciting new things. If a person has developed or instilled a paradigm, they (I would argue) can't find another paradigm because it threatens everything they've worked for so they develop a selective myopia. Now this may not be the objective truth, but it comes across as a solid argument.
> Science. Religion has been fighting it for thousands of years.
I'm afraid that to even assume that science and religion existed as distinct concepts or endeavours thousands of years ago is a bit naïve, and this idea that they are eternally opposed is a very simplistic view that reflects the biases of anticlerical 19th Century historians more than the actual facts—it's only really been defended by people with a grudge against religion since a reappraisal of the subject in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s (and especially since the reappraisal by James Moore in The Post-Darwinian Controversies). Here are a few books that could help you develop a richer understanding of the historical relationship between science and religion.
These would probably be illuminating reading as well.
> Here is just another surrender by a guy at the top of the money chain.
No one interested in the subject should be under the impression that what the Pope has said is anything new. Eminent Catholic theologians like John Henry Newman found Darwin's theory of natural selection consistent with Christianity when it was published, and Pope Pius XII very famously affirmed that there was no intrinsic conflict between them in his 1950 encyclical Humani generis. As for the Big Bang, it is downright foolish to characterise the Church as "surrendering" to a theory that was formulated by a Catholic priest in the first place.
https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Software/dp/0735611319
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0226458121
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0226750213
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0201835959
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393306763
https://www.amazon.com/dp/039331152X
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393061329
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
Wikipedia article
Amazon
If you are going to go around the internet insulting people over something you don't understand, at least read a book on the topic
https://www.amazon.com/Structure-Scientific-Revolutions-50th-Anniversary/dp/0226458121/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1521034395&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+structure+of+scientific+revolutions
You may discover that science doesn't actually demand blind devotion to its theories, it doesn't respond to scrutiny of measurements with insults, and trying to shout down people who disagree with your interpretation of a dataset is not only unscientific, it's a sad and pathetic way to waste of time (especially when you clearly don't even understand the measurements themselves, you just think "measurements=science=ultimate unquestionable truth"). Quite the opposite, science is composed of people questioning things that are supposed to be taken for granted, trying to break theories, and trying to falsify ideas so that those theories can pull an Obi-Wan "if you strike me down I will only become more powerful" and we build a better theory out of the ashes of the old one. and if someone disagrees with a widely accepted theory, that can be a good thing because it forces those who do accept that theory to stay on their toes and to keep their shit straight.
My guess is that born in another time and era, you'd be the religious type, eager to force whatever belief was passed onto you down someone else's throat, despite having a tenuous and superficial grasp on its core tenets.
By being persistent... oh wow I never thought a day would come when I get to say these words! But yeah, persistence, and of course, proper treatment of ADHD symptoms.
I put about 10~20% of my time and resource into managing ADHD. This includes maintenance of current coping systems, reading up on related topics, trial and errors of new systems and medications... Currently, I am mostly working on self-awareness and social skills. (I was forced to, because I got sucked into department politics and suffered big time for being naive and unaware.) My diagnosis was less than a year ago. I hope to decrease the time and energy sucked into ADHD management soon.
If you are there, you belong there. Period. The program accepted you because they saw that you are capable of it. You know how grad school admissions work, right? Also, even those few hotties in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology - those who get right into tenure-track faculty positions at top research universities right after just one postdoc - used to be told "you are incapable and stupid, your research doesn't work, you do not fit here" during their graduate school years, repeatedly.
I recommend you to:
Good book on all aspects of grad school, including choosing a school, getting in, etc: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777
You need to get and read the book "Getting What You Came For." -- http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777
This is a great resource on all things grad school and your consideration of the graduate school life.
As far as graduate school goes - you need to contact the department that offered you the admission - and ask about the other things that come with that. First off - is there a tuition waiver and stipend? Generally, with many Ph.D. programs, there is with an expectation that you will work as a Research Assistant or Teaching Assistant during your graduate school timeframes.
Many STEM Masters degree programs do NOT offer this, as the expectation is that you are improving your employability rather than pursuing an academic career.
However, you said you're interested in coding rather than engineering. Have you considered the Penn State IST Ph.D. program? I'm not saying you're a great fit for it -- but it's something you might consider looking into for the future.
Also, consider the online MPS programs. An MPS is a different kind of degree than an MS or MA. It's more geared toward professionals.
So that gets down to the "real" question -- why is it that you want to do graduate school? If you're in it for "More Sh*t" and you're thinking it's just more school that will help you get employed later -- then skip it. Don't do it. You'll suffer and you'll hate it. Instead, once you figure out work and what you want to do in life -- THEN come back for a Masters degree -- if that's what you want.
If you're considering a further academic career - then the Ph.D. programs are what you want -- earning a Masters along the way.
Otherwise -- go get a job and figure out some things in life. Take the coding academy things -- online tutorials for whatever you want. You don't need a degree is something to do that thing (well, for a lot of things you don't). Just having SOME degree checks off that box... and a degree in a technical field is good -- but if you want to work in a different technical field - you just need to find someone to hire you who knows you'll be able to ramp up a bit.
Now, in terms of your transcript - many places don't know or care what was on your transcript - what grade you got in this or that class - doesn't matter as much as you FINISHED. Yeah, some places do care, but you'll figure out who that is. For everyone else - at this stage, it's about "I finished" and "I got an OK GPA." and "It was a technical program." That proves you can learn and do technical stuff. Civil engineering ain't a cakewalk. However, if that kind of work isn't really your calling -- then go do something else... whatever you want to set your mind and time to. You're an engineer dammit.... you can do it.
I feel your pain. One: I recommend studying the GRE now. Unfortunately, the new format just went into affect. Take two or at the most three months (gotta remember deadlines) to study for the GRE.
I'm picking up these books today after work:
http://www.amazon.com/Graduate-Admissions-Essays-School-Choice/dp/1580088724/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1313012024&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1313012024&amp;sr=8-1
Plug
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1486958682&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=getting+what+you+came+for
It seems that your comment contains 1 or more links that are hard to tap for mobile users.
I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!
Here is link number 1 - Previous text "bk"
----
^Please ^PM ^/u/eganwall ^with ^issues ^or ^feedback! ^| ^Delete
I would suggest getting Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or Ph.D..
This book is very easy to read, down to earth, and provides invaluable advice.
My first instinct was to scream "OH GOD, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT." But I was once like you too, and I should know that wouldn't be helpful. So instead, I'll recommend that if you're going to choose this, you'd better get your head in the game. When I hear, "I'll work hard; I think it'll work itself out," that gets me worried. There's more to succeeding in grad school and beyond than just getting into the most prestigious school that you can and grinding away in lab, and I'd rather you realize and prepare for that now rather than at the end of your PhD like a lot of my former colleagues.
To start, these books may be helpful to you:
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/
http://www.amazon.com/PhD-Not-Enough-Survival-Science-ebook/dp/B004EHZDE8/
I'm going to reiterate what randoguy_16 says below. Be careful when you choose a lab and PI. Google tells me a lot has been written about the subject in general, so I won't get into this long topic. But regarding employment and since your long term goal seems to be getting into industry, I think his specific advice is spot on. Again, I saw and am seeing a lot of my former colleagues trying to get non-postdoc jobs, with PI essentially saying, "oh, that's nice, good luck!" Most of PI's connections (and interest) is in academia. Now to be fair, I don't have much data on how common that attitude/situation is, but I'd be wary of it.
This is a super short reply, but I hope it helps you out. Good luck.
I am finishing a masters in environmental toxicology in the fall. My undergrad is in environmental science and chemistry. I'm starting a PhD in toxicology next year.
I'm not sure what you want to know in terms of my experience.. I think tox is a really great interdisciplinary field that has a place for everyone. One thing that worried me going into the program is that I didn't have much of a biology background but I found it easy enough to keep up. Most people in my cohort have general biology or ecology undergrad degrees.
Some courses I took required animal testing (with fish) as did my research project. I think this very much depends on the program you choose and the type of research you do.
I recommend this book to anyone thinking about grad school: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777
Try to find a 12 to 16 month internship, ASAP. You need the work experience and perspective (you don't get deep into a project in 4 months).
I am just wrapping up my thesis for my MSEE. I worked for a few years after my BSEE before going back to school (seemed like a good idea in the recession).
I would say that if your end goal is to work in industry, try to get experience in a good job. If that doesn't work, go to grad school. It took me a few working years to get the perspective of why I should do grad school, and what I wanted to study. It's not like undergrad, it's not structured as well and all the motivation has to come from you.
Also, read this book (it's the best one of half a dozen that I read):
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-What-You-Came-Students/dp/0374524777/
Go read this book. I could care less what happens to my body. I'm gone. Same for you regardless of your beliefs your are done with your body when you die. Maybe somebody else can use parts. Become an organ donor and know that someday you may help someone after you're gone.
http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939
If any of you are further interested in the topic of burials and how we treat the dead, eco-friendly options, and/or the tradition of burial, I HIGHLY suggest Stiff, by Mary Roach. I had to read this for a Anthropology of Death class in college. It is an amazing read. Good stuff.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about this and the history of cadavers/medicine/ethic of the dead while NOT being a med student. Highly humorous at times and very informative.
Stiff?
Good book. Love Mary's stuff. Stiff is also great.
You can donate your face so aspiring plastic surgeons can reconstruct your dead nose -- see book Stiff. I want to be composted. I used to want my corpse dropped in an active volcano from a helicopter but that's totally impractical, probably not legal (but you can probably chop my parts up and get away with it).... not to mention it's such a to-do for someone who doesn't really think about the afterlife too much. Composting though, that sounds useful. David Cross will do this
I highly recommend this book -- http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393050939 -- it's a very well researched discussion of all of the possibilities for cadavers. You'll be quite surprised at what "donating your body to science" can mean. My favorite part was the need for human bodies to calibrate crash-test dummies.
I just finished The Emperor of All Maladies and just shortly before that Stiff. I really enjoyed both of them! Emperor is a long read, but well written and very thorough. Stiff is a quick, enjoyable read that's a less academic, but still really interesting. I'm about to start My Sister's Keeper. The PI across the hall recommended it. And I'm reading Introduction to Statistical Thought by Lavine for a class. I added a few of the books other people listed here to my to-read list
I do enjoy myself some Alan Watts, truly a wise man.
I'd recommend reading the book "I Am a Strange Loop" by Douglas Hofstadter; In it he talks about feedback loops, specifically ones which are self-referential. He then goes on to make the case that our sense of "I" is an side effect of the way we perceive.
As per your edit:
That user states "If the self is an illusion, then who experiences the illusion?"
I think that may be a loaded question, it is assuming a 'who'. Perhaps it is rather a 'what'. "What is experiencing the illusion?" I'd answer the same mind that created it. I believe that our minds operate within many linking feedback loops.
For example: You see something you want, your hand reaches out to grab it, you see the hand reaching out and grabbing it. Your mind combines the 'want' and the movement of the hand and bundles them together. You then believe that: "I" wanted that and so "I" reached out for it. After enough time, this "I" begins to seem very real to us.
Douglas Hofstadter has a very interesting book called I Am a Strange Loop in which he argues that consciousness is a self-referential loop.
What do we mean when we say "I"? Can thought arise out of matter? Can a self, a soul, a consciousness, an "I" arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here? I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the "strange loop"--a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. Deep down, a human brain is a chaotic seething soup of particles, on a higher level it is a jungle of neurons, and on a yet higher level it is a network of abstractions that we call "symbols." The most central and complex symbol in your brain or mine is the one we both call "I." The "I" is the nexus in our brain where the levels feed back into each other and flip causality upside down, with symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse. For each human being, this "I" seems to be the realest thing in the world. But how can such a mysterious abstraction be real--or is our "I" merely a convenient fiction? Does an "I" exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the all-powerful laws of physics? These are the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas R. Hofstadter's first book-length journey into philosophy since Godel, Escher, Bach. Compulsively readable and endlessly thought-provoking, this is a moving and profound inquiry into the nature of mind; the book Hofstadter's many readers have long been waiting for.
https://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/0465030793
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123471.I_Am_a_Strange_Loop
The book "I am a strange loop" [1] goes into idea of "living on in others" in great detail. It's easy to see this as a huge cop-out compared to "a real afterlife" but it's not. It's a super deep and interesting, and it's also 100% literally true.
Even while they are alive we all have mental models of those we know well, and we "run" those models all the time. How often have you thought "Person X would love this!" and then you send them a link or something. Or "Person Y would not approve of this!". Those models will still run when they are not alive. And if the've influenced hundreds or thousand of people in their life, their model is running in all those places, in varying degrees of fidelity. None of those models blink out the day the person dies, far from it they might become bolder and stronger at that point knowing the original is no more.
The deeper answer to why it doesn't matter that there is no traditional "afterlife" is that we don't exist today, not as individuals. All there is is a giant soup of quarks, or of vibrating strings. We draw a loop enclosing zillions of these quarks and call it Bob. And then another loop and call in Mary. But there is no Bob and there is no Mary, except in the mind of the person that drew the loops. So Bob can't die and Mary can't die. That particular pattern of matter and energy might start to degrade, even degrade rapidly, but Bob and Mary's influence on the universe is diffuse, and it's been expanding since they were 1 second old. You cannot contain the universe inside some silly little lines.
[1] - https://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/0465030793
"I am a strange loop" Douglas Hofstadter
My dreams are always multiplayer.
I suppose technically it's still myself making up the other people -- or maybe it's a copy of their thinking patterns that made it into my brain's subconscious? (Not sure if this book is related.)
If you like ants read this book. http://www.amazon.com/Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759
These two have devoted their entire lives ,Wilson from the age of 10 in order to study these creatures all over the world.
It's narrated by Harrison Ford, if that flutters your geek flag. E.O. Wilson also helped write a pretty definitive ant book.
If you want to know EVERYTHING about ants, I recommend E.O. Wilson's The Ants.
However, this book is quite expensive and very dense. Journey to the Ants,also by Wilson, is a much better option for laypeople. It has almost all the information you're looking for, nice pictures, and is honestly very exciting to read. It captures the imagination and is very... inspirational! Check it out from a library if you can.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759
I got this at home. Don't mess with me.
> I believe people do act selflessly everyday but I don’t think I makes rational sense to live this way. Why would I ever serve anyone’s ends other than my own
To put it bluntly, this isn't what the word "rational" means. Rationality is about taking the optimal path to a specified goal. It doesn't say anything about what that goal is. And that goal is always subjective and arbitrary, regardless of whether you are rational about achieving it.
So, in economics, they often talk about the rational, profit-maximizing business strategy. But "rational" and "profit-maximizing" are totally different things - maximizing profit is a subjective goal, and there are less and more rational ways to achieve it. I could just as easily talk about the rational cost-minimizing business strategy, which is a different objective that recommends a different path. Or an irrational profit-maximizing strategy that is clearly inferior for that goal.
So I dismiss your implicit claim that you are being more "rational" than an altruist who gives away all his money to the poor, because that's conflating the objective idea of rational decision-making with a subjective goal.
As a result, there's not really much for us to argue about, because it's not clear exactly how you've gotten to your conclusion, besides a misunderstanding of the word rational.
If you want to get into an empirical argument about humans, I think there's plenty of evidence that can change your view.
It's no good to say people who jump on hand grenades or donate blood are "really" selfish because it makes them feel better or something, because you've essentially defined "selfish" to be "anything people do". If you take a stricter, more commonplace definition of selfish like "consistently chooses one's own material benefits at the expense of others'", then no, humans are exceptionally non-selfish among organisms on our planet.
Nice, a reference to Parasite Rex! That's a must read.
"These parasites are unquestionably designed for their purpose, and designed with extraordinary ingenuity. They kill millions of children every year."
If you think that's weird you should check out this book. It's a really good read and full of WTF parasites.
Why in the world would you pick on parasites? We need those!
Got any book recommendations on the subject? I heard Parasite Rex was good but I haven't gotten around to buying it.
According to this author 75% of all animal species are parasites
http://www.amazon.com/Parasite-Rex-Bizarre-Dangerous-Creatures/dp/074320011X
Would like to get Skullgirls. Thanks for the giveaway! You could give folks some idea of what sort of books you like, e.g. fiction (and what genres), or non-fiction (and what topics).
I was reading Parasite Rex a while ago. It's about parasites and all sorts of crazy things they can do, and make their hosts do. Like evading immune systems. And mind control. (Real-life zombies! Almost.) It goes into a lot of detail, but is relatively easy to read.
Read Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer and you'll gain a new, albeit weird, appreciation for the complexity of parasites.
Now, mosquitoes aren't parasites, but it'll answer/complicate your question as to "do they serve any purpose in the ecosystem" [Spoiler: yes]
And you'll definitely not want to read Parasite Rex. 320 pages of NOPE by Carl Zimmer. Actually, you'll be glad you did. Fascinating book.
For more about parasites, you might enjoy Parasite Rex.
What about human mind control?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis#Behavioral_changes
Suicide by parasites?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw&amp;eurl=http%3A%2F%2Feducatedearth.net%2Fvideo.php%3Fid%3D2770
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGSUU3E9ZoM&amp;NR=1&amp;feature=fvwp
evo-frickin-lution man. And parasites are fascinating. http://www.amazon.com/Parasite-Rex-Bizarre-Dangerous-Creatures/dp/074320011X
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Book Reviews
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Plato, John M. Cooper (ed.) (1997):Complete Works reviewed by Seth Bernadete (registration needed)
Plato, Malcolm Schofield (ed.), Tom Griffith (tr.) (2009): Gorgias, Menexenus, Protagoras, reviewed by C.C.W. Taylor
Plato, Bruce Alexander (narrator) (2001): The Trial and Death of Socrates: Apology, Phaedo (audiobook), reviewed by Gerald Fenech
------------------------------
Neel Burton (2009): Plato's Shadow: A Primer on Plato, reviewed by Gareth Southwell
Bettany Hughes (2011): The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life, reviewed by David Evans
Berel Lang, Charlton Heston (narrator) (2006): Giants of Philosophy: Plato (audiobook), reviewed by Justin Marley
Robin Waterfield (2009): Why Socrates Died, reviewed by Charlotte Higgins
I already have Penguin classics' version of The Republic and Wordsworth Edition's version of The Symposium and the Death of Socrates. However, I haven't read them yet. Also I know it's quite a hefty investment, but do you reckon it would be good a idea to just get Plato's complete works? (http://www.amazon.com/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1405360481&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=plato+complete) I've also heard that John Cooper's translations and notes are good for a beginner (according to A LOT of Amazon reviews). Thanks a lot.
So the "Grube-translation-edited-by-Reeve" version is the one in 1997 Hackett Publishing, edited by Cooper and Hutchinson?
I had to get this version for a class I'm taking: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0872203492/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_EsWbKIhPrvLKy
I'd say avoid Jowett--it's freely available, sure, but the translations are old and tricky to read.
/u/wokeupabug recommends an excellent book (I got it myself recently--I'm loving it).
Amazon link here.
Grube is my personal favorite. To take the Republic as an example, I think Grube’s translation (put out by Hackett) is the most academic/literal. I think Bloom’s translation isn’t bad, but it’s actually best if you want a more politically motivated commentary. It is also rather nice to have the Loeb (Shorey as translator) – that way, even if you don’t know the Greek, you can find it and look it up to see for yourself the various translations and changes in context. Reading a few translations is a good idea to get a handle on differences of opinion – but I’d start with Grube. Also, you should consider http://www.amazon.com/Plato-Complete-Works/dp/0872203492/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1334595563&amp;sr=1-1 - the translations used are generally pretty good and it also includes texts under dispute, which can be interesting (I’m not sure if there are other editions that are so “complete”).
Warning: The Complete works of Plato (encompassing both Socrates and Plato) is ~1800 pages. However, if you are inclined, this is the translation you should read.
If you'd like a more digestible Plato read, perhaps find a best collection/textbook.
If you are interested in philosophy, perhaps pick a specific field and find an anthology of readings for that field. For example, the philosophy of religion. You could also search the field on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and find some primary source work.
The Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic philosophers. Reading everything would be good - if you want to read less than everything we'll probably have to know what sorts of stuff you're looking for. Just saying "I want to go back to the basics" doesn't tell us whether we should recommend metaphysics or ethics or what.
Rather than The Republic, I would recommend Cooper and Hutchinson's Complete Works, which is probably the best collected Plato out there.
People on reddit seriously need to read this short book Rulebook for Arguments
It takes like a few hours to read and would inform soo many people on how to make an argument and identify bad ones.
I usually keep everything "in-house" in my courses, but some professors that I respect use this book in their classes: A Rulebook for Arguments.
However, this is for argumentation. I'm not sure if Anthony Weston has written any books about reading philosophy.
This is what you are looking for. It's short, cheap, clear, and handy.
Anthony Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments
>Linking to relevant books is much more helpful than willful ignorance.
So if I link to a bunch of books peripherally related to a topic at hand, and you refuse to read them, does that make you willfully ignorant?
>You asked the question, and if you are actually interested in hearing thoughtful responses to it, you might want to consider picking up a book about it.
His books do not begin to answer the question of the OP.
>If you've been on reddit for any amount of time you surely know that it's a terrible forum for meaningful debate.
Then, by your own admission, you are here for meaningless debate.
>The issues you raised cannot be settled by a few short comments.
I disagree.
Read the following books about debate before you respond. Otherwise, I will have to assume you are willfully ignorant.
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Debating-Leverett-Samuel-Lyon/dp/B003VQRXDC/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1376830361&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=debate
http://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Debate-Ph-D-Richard-Edwards/dp/1592576931/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1376830385&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=debate
http://www.amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Anthony-Weston/dp/0872209547/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1376830385&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=debate
You need to work on your debate/argument basics. Fallacies everywhere!
I recommend this book or this.
lol you cant formulate a logical reply so you go on the offensive with belittling remarks. That's Intellectually-dishonest debate tactic 101 which clearly subverts your effort when its recognized and lets the opposing conversationalist know you can't back up your side and that they won the argument. May I recommended some light reading on the art of debating, I think you will find it immensely helpful if you plan on continuing to post here.
https://www.amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Hackett-Student-Handbooks/dp/0872209547
> Like I said before, it was a smartass response that you're reading too far into.
Like I said before, it was a very basic inference. You're looking way too much into what I was saying.
> Saying "a mix of both idiots and intellegent people who are idiotic" rather than "idiots" doesn't have the same ring to it.
You're reading your own use of the word into his statement. Maybe that is what he meant, but that's not what the logic of his statement said, which is why I was asking him about it.
Here are a couple texts that I think you would benefit from.
The first one is really solid, but it's expensive. The second one isn't as robust, but it gets the job done, and it's significantly cheaper.
> i'm out.
Cheers :)
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1485769569&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dictionary+english
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1468929659&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=merriam+webster+dictionary
Do yourself a favor and buy one of these.
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=Websters+dictionary&amp;qid=1567991363&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1-spons&amp;psc=1&amp;spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFBTFpXVUdZOUM2UFomZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5NDYzMTZRSzZFMVRKRlFUVEYmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDc0MzM0NDEzUTdUNFlTMUNXNFgmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
Are you dense or purposely trolling? Only one using "feels over reals" are the morons saying "undocumented" over ILLEGAL ALIEN, and the morons who think ~~"undocumented" ILLEGAL ALIENS have "legal status". No they don't you bleeding heart Marxist. They're criminal garbage as soon as they ILLEGALLY enter/border hop.
> wishing
Do you seriously think that someone who border hops and enters he country ILLEGALLY is anything other than an ILLEGAL ALIEN. Words have meaning. You should invest in a dictionary instead of donating to Bernie. You can get a Merrian Webster dictionary for $6 with tax on amazon. It'll be very useful for you. Perhaps then you can understand meanings of words instead of making them up.
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/
"an amount of something left over when requirements have been met; an excess of production or supply over demand."
Ahh, I see your problem. I highly recommend picking up one of these.
Holy fuck. You do not know words.
Go buy this. You need it.
Am I posting fake social media news to push an agenda?
Seriously though, PM me your address and I'll ship you a copy.
Maybe check out some logic 101 courses too. Tu Quoque is important.
If you give me your address, I'll send you a free one of these, on the house: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary New Edition (c) 2016 https://www.amazon.com/dp/087779295X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KKWWzbB1ZJ4J
Focus on your contractions too. Something we learned in the 1st grade over here. Good luck.
I would advice investing in this
Maybe "lifestyle" can be interpreted in different ways; carrying a gun does require a different, more serious, "mindset" than simply carrying a phone, and it deserves more careful consideration about how to carry it than how you decide to carry your phone.
People are different, but I'll share from my personal experience. When I was coming of age, I had that typical attitude of a young, single man, always thinking I was right, that I would always win, that nobody could touch me, and if anybody tried anything—BOOM!—I'd take care of them. I was treating it irresponsibly, like a casual fling. And that's the wrong attitude for a person carrying around the power of life and death.
By reading Boatman's essay and Massad Ayoob's In the Gravest Extreme, I learned the seriousness of the matter and how I needed to fix my attitude towards carrying. I needed to make changes to my mindset and to my habits. The decision to start carrying a gun led me to really actually "grow up" and stop acting like a kid.
Now married, I can barely convince my wife to come to the range with me, let alone convince her to change her mindset or habits. As you suggest, it is far too much to ask everybody to start out by upending their lifestyle for the sake of carrying a gun. But, in the long term, I think the responsible carrier eventually realizes that he has made changes. And so, I offered the quote to the OP as food for thought: while he shouldn't go tell his wife, "Hey, this is so important that you need to change your entire wardrobe," when she asks for help or expresses frustrations with carrying, he may think about suggesting different types of clothing.
http://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323049320&amp;sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Digest-Book-Concealed-Carry/dp/0896896110/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323049320&amp;sr=1-1
i also recommend these books to help you figure CCW out. However I hope you will take my last bit of advice to heart.
Do not kid yourself about carrying a large gun if you have the slightest doubt that you wont do it. I personally have a snub nose and a g30 for when I don't feel like carrying my 21. And it happens quite a bit. Just going to the gas station for a pop can quickly turn bad. But Im not going to spend 10 minuets gearing up for an 8 minuet trip. I know that, and Im ok with it. It takes ALOT of personal discipline to carry such a big gun. Its uncomfortable at times, its harder to travel, it limits the wardrobe, it can make hugs very awkward if your not used to it, etc. Please dont waste your money on a gun that you wont carry. By all means get the 30. I own one, they're great! You can LEARN to overcome its difficulties and short comings much easier than you can learn to always put on your beast no matter what.
let me know if you have any questions comments or concerns
Some additional free sources of info are
defensivecarry.com and ar15.com under handguns and carry issues.
Read a book.
http://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001
This one is called In the Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob.
He is an unusual author in that he is at once a firearms expert and trainer, a police officer who has served as a prosecutor and an expert witness in numerous trials, and a gun writer who knows the capabilities of various cartridges in detail.
Secondarily, study the Box of Truth.
http://www.theboxotruth.com
The site contains numerous real-world tests of ammunition vs various materials, and should be taken as factual info on what cartridges work best in what situations.
If you haven't heard of Massad Ayoob, he has a book that should be required reading for gun owners.
read this first : https://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Found this to be a great read when starting to carry. https://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001 it's more for mental awareness and handling a firearm than physical technique. It's a bit outdated but easy to get through. You could probably find a PDF as well.
Get a gun(most of the ones mentioned already are great), a good solid holster(kydex or good leather), a good gun belt, and training. LOTS of training. Not just a one or two day CCW class. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is learning the laws of self-defense. Books by Massad Ayoob and Andrew Branca are great ones to start with. https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Force-Understanding-Right-Defense/dp/1440240612/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1536779297&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=massad+ayoob&amp;dpID=51WYSSJTfLL&amp;preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
https://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1536779297&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=massad+ayoob&amp;dpID=51886MD5PDL&amp;preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
https://www.amazon.com/Law-Self-Defense-Indispensable-Citizen/dp/1943809143/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1536779464&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=laws+of+self+defense&amp;dpID=51M9dKSERKL&amp;preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
This sounds exactly like what you are told in the book, In the Gravest Extreme.
https://www.amazon.com/Gravest-Extreme-Firearm-Personal-Protection/dp/0936279001
Kids playing with dart guns is not the gravest extreme.
I'm of the opinion that I would rather not have people know if I'm armed if I were to carry my weapon. If I ever have to use my gun, it's only because I've exhausted all other opinions. I rather have it hidden so who ever I'm dealing with isn't put into a heightened state of mind by seeing my weapon.
(An excellent book on this is In the Gravest Extreme. It's a pro-gun book, but isn't gun nut. It argues that your firearm should always be the last thing you use in a dangerous confortation in public.
Then again, I'm blessed to live in an area that is safe enough that I don't need to signal to others that I can defend myself.
> I want to get my CCW, and I really enjoy shooting at the range, but I'm not sure if I'd actually carry all that often. It seems like an immense responsibility knowing that I'd have a tool that could literally end a life strapped to me, as well as that somebody could disarm/steal it from me.
Good. You should be thinking about this. You should be thinking twice before considering carrying or firing. Go read In the Gravest Extreme and consider carefully if you want that responsibility. And then, if you do, start practicing. Practice carrying. Practice shooting, both at the range and, if possible, at some defensive shooting course. Most defensive shooting situations aren't range-style shooting; they're "Oh, shit! I'd better pull and get this guy who's <3 yards away from me"-style shooting. It's fast, it's stressful, and it's not at all what most people practice. Go learn about the laws in your state, and memorize them. If your state says that "no guns" signs have the force of law, consider carefully what you plan to do in such a situation. Leave your gun in the car? Okay, do you have a way to lock it up out of sight? Bring it with you? Okay, better make sure it's concealed deep, and that you're absolutely okay with getting arrested and charged with an unlawfully-carried weapon. Avoid the business entirely? Okay; make sure you're aware of any political/familial ramifications this may have with the people you're with. Etc. Etc.
> I'm also not sure if I could even conceal the gun I want to buy (Glock 19) without it being painfully obvious.
Concealing most handguns is fairly straightforward, and while I don't have specific experience with the Glock 19, others in this thread have said it isn't a problem. Worst-case scenario, you could always get an easier-concealed gun. Subscribe to /r/gundeals - I see concealable handguns on sale for cheap all the time.
> I'd like to have the license (as well as learn from the class you need to take) for the off occasion I'm going somewhere I'd feel safer carrying. Thoughts?
Being comfortable carrying is really more about repetition and familiarity than just taking a class and suddenly being comfortable with it. You have a lot to learn and it's going to take time. Some of it is physical (the aforementioned range time and practical application classes) and some of it is mental (reading, getting yourself in the right mindset, learning to avoid conflict unless there's no other way, etc.), but there's a lot there. Plan for that, and you'll be all right. I mean it. I know it sounds like a brush-off: "Oh, you'll be fine." But seriously; it really is just getting used to a few things.
> are there alternative guns that could be used that would be less deadly in the hands of a less responsible (maybe even troubled) gun owner.
Again, good question.
The question of "less deadly" guns just doesn't work in practice, so no. In a logical sense, a bullet has to have enough kinetic energy to penetrate skin and therefore potentially kill a person. There is plenty of uncertainty about whether or not it kills after penetration, but there is no sure way to mitigate that possibility.
"Less deadly" in terms of safety features? Again, we need it to work, guaranteed, when we need it. When we send a bullet for the purpose it is designed for -- stopping a threat -- it is by nature deadly. There is no such thing as a bullet with butterfly wings.
Let's try a quick choose-your-own-adventure to explore this concept: It's the middle of the night, you're startled awake, and trembling with fear because someone just busted a window into your house. They're on drugs, and they need money for more drugs. Doesn't matter if you get killed. Doesn't matter how they do it. You are in their way, and if they find you, they will kill you. Do you try to talk them out of it? Do you want to risk dying by doing that? They're trying to kill you, and they're high on drugs. In your house. You're dead after the first few words come out of your mouth. Do you want to try to taser them? You miss, you die. You hit and they go right through it because, again, they're on drugs. You die. Pepper spray? They're unfazed on drugs. Dead. Do you want a single-shot, small caliber gun so you can just warn them with a bee sting? Again, you're dead, assuming you even hit them with that one shot. Do you want something with a bunch of safeties on it? Too late to fiddle with the safeties. You're dead. Do you choose the gun with a limited capacity magazine, government approved usage for inside-the-home-defense? You shoot two rounds into your TV first because you are stumbling and not-quite-awake yet. One more round wizzes by the bad guy's ear, and the last two rounds hit him in his belly and left leg. He keeps going, because he's on drugs. He has a baseball bat that doesn't run out of ammunition and he bludgeons you to death in front of your TV. Final option, you pick up your rapid firing, high capacity magazine semi-automatic rifle, and shoot until the bad guy stops coming at you. There is a lot of blood splattered everywhere. You pick up your phone, hands trembling, heart pounding out of your chest, and you dial 911 to report that there is an intruder in your house, and he is currently unconscious, on the floor, in front of your TV.
The moral of the story is: When you don't know what the threat will be, you need to have at least as much, if not more firepower available to you than the bad guy might possibly have. That's why we have semi-automatic rifles with so-called "high capacity magazines".
I would highly recommend you read In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection by Massad Ayoob to get a better understanding of why we choose appropriate tools for the task of personal protection.
https://www.amazon.com/Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902
don't click!
Don't believe everything you hear.
https://smile.amazon.com/Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1524190007&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=anarchist+cookbook
Anarchist Cookbook on Amazon.
The banned book list is not a government thing. Many schools (including mine) will assign Catcher in the Rye as required reading. The Anarchist Cookbook is not illegal, although some independent groups were calling for it to be banned. You can still buy it on Amazon.
I think you might like this
>...and publishing this data without ensuring it won’t injure others...
I'll just leave this here.
It is a play on the Anarchist's Cookbook, but the Anarchist's Cookbook is not banned. Here it is on Amazon.
Be warned; it was written and edited by an edgy teenager and contains so much bad information it has been accused of being a FBI plant to make potential terrorists blow themselves up before they become a problem. Among other things, it claims you can get high by smoking banana peels and contains instructions to boil gasoline over an open flame.
Back in 2007 or so I was involved in an effort to compile a version with the bad information edited out or corrected. You may be able to find a .pdf of our edit floating around older forums under the title "the anarchest cookbook".
Yep.
Buy a copy or Google for the free plain text version.
The Critical Reader, 3rd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997517875
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If you want, you can also get her Grammar one as well, she is just as good in Writing as she is in Reading: https://www.amazon.com/4th-Ultimate-Guide-SAT-Grammar/dp/0997517867/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/132-1800003-9892148?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0997517867&pd_rd_r=704ad00b-9cdc-11e9-8f2e-7b657eb7b6fa&pd_rd_w=p9yLW&pd_rd_wg=S9kup&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=D1AEY435E7KTTF4HRTBA&psc=1&refRID=D1AEY435E7KTTF4HRTBA
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/
Erica Meltzer's The Complete Guide to SAT Reading
Link to amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=meltzer&amp;qid=1571322174&amp;sr=8-1
my top recommendation would be this book: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Reader-3rd-Complete-Reading/dp/0997517875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1520783812&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=erica+meltzer
4th Edition, The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997517867/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2g7SDbCADK738
The Critical Reader, 3rd Edition: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997517875/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_uh7SDb4SK8C3G
These are some rather expensive books but they really do work. Good luck!
The Critical Reader, 3rd Edition: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading by Erica L. Meltzer and if needed,
4th Edition, The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar by Erica L. Meltzer
If you need a grammar book, I highly recommend Hammer's German Grammar and Usage, along with Practising German Grammar if you want a workbook.
I was totally blown away by the quality of these books, it's super complete and easy to use.
If what you want to achieve is A1 and nothing beyond, you best bet would be getting one of the many course books:
A arguably better alternative would be the free online course offered by Deutsche Welle (http://deutschkurse.dw.de/KursPlattform/WebObjects/KursPlattform.woa/wo/6.1). Do register and try it. Really valuable resource. Together with Deutsch – warum nicht? (http://www.dw.de/deutsch-lernen/deutsch-warum-nicht/s-2163) you can go far. (In case you didn't realise already, both the sound files and pdf notes can be found on the right, featuring four series.)
Maybe the only problem you would encounter is speaking. The speaking test is actually like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGNd-6pDkEI), and you may panic if you don't already speak in German for a several hours. Try to find someone who speaks German and wants to do a language exchange with you. (http://www.language-exchanges.org/) is one of them. You may as well find one on Reddit.
By the way, if you really want to have a strong command of German sooner or later, there are some good, though popular (popular doesn't always mean bad) books for foundation, apart from your already awesome German for Reading:
If you insist on getting a grammar book, a nice start would be:
And eventually you may want to take down the boss:
Finally I recommend you to take a look at my favourite reading material when I started, Studien und Plaudereien (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22160), freely offered by Project Gutenberg.
Any book written to prepare you for the DSH will have these exercises and more.
I took the DSH (and passed with a level 2) at my current Uni and it's considered one of the hardest to pass in Germany. So my opinion may differ slightly than other people's so take the following with a grain of salt:
I strongly suggest you work on your writing style and your grammar basics (especially endings and vocabulary). The best way to improve the former is to read copious amount of German texts, especially news from like Tagesshau. I mean, read this level of material until your eyes bleed. The DSH prep books will have tons of texts for your to read and reading comprehension exercises to solve, and additionally reading news articles or random internet articles for C1 will bolster your effort.
For the latter, use these series of books:
If you do intend on buying these, make sure to buy the Answer Book to correct yourself. Every single professor I ever encountered, used these books to some capacity to practice German grammar. Every. Single. One. I abused the hell out of mine, I'll tell you that. Not to mention, they are cheap for how effective they are.
For a more in depth explanation(s) in English check out Hammer's German Grammar Bible. If it wasn't for this book, I would have been lost for much longer when it came to things like Passive.
Good luck on your exam.
the books that I have are:
Hammer's German Grammar and Usage - it's a huge comprehensive in-depth look at everything grammatical, breaks everything down completely. good as a reference book but not really to go through and study
English Grammar for Students of German - it's a really brief overview comparing English grammar to German grammar with examples, but doesn't get really specific
Berlitz Self Teacher: German - some of the vocab is a little outdated but it's a cute concise book that's really good to carry on the subway or whatever and read in short spurts. there's special parts dedicated to helping you "think in german" which is important for fluency. it's a pretty good book for beginners I think.
I also have Barron's 501 German verbs but I actually haven't started looking through it yet.
and then if we add an audio section to this list is highly recommend Pimsleur's audio courses, though they're pricey so you may want to try and obtain them ahem another way.
This is the one I've been using for the last few months and I love it https://www.amazon.com/Handbuch-deutschen-Grammatik-World-Languages/dp/1439082782/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1494806172&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=rankin+wells+handbuch+zur+deutschen+grammatik
I've also heard good things about the Hammer Grammar books.
https://www.amazon.com/Hammers-German-Grammar-Usage/dp/1444120166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1494806291&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=hammer+grammar+german
Viel Glück!
that's a fine point - textbooks do tend to assume the frequent availability of at least one other person.
so what OP looking for would probably be less of a textbook and more of a book aimed at the individual learner.
at my level it's difficult to find good no-cost stuff for self study (where "good" generally means "not so beginner it bores me and not so advanced i'm lost), for a beginner looking for two months' worth of learning material, i think that's available in the subreddit sidebar alone.
I haven't heard anything about Schaum's, but Hammer's is an excellent resource. There's also a companion workbook which is intended for self-study, and I think I'll be using that first in light of your insight.
edit - add link to hammer, clarity
If you are planning of getting Hammer's Grammar, be sure you also get Practicing German Grammar. You can get it as a bundle just like i did, and i believe the price was around 50-60 euro range.
Hammer's German
Practicing German Grammar
You'll need a solid grammar, and I wholeheartedly recommend Hammer's. Very comprehensive, easy to use, clearly written, tons of examples, great at pointing out differences between formal, colloquial, and regional uses.
The list of verb principal parts could be a little longer, that's what Wiktionary or "500 German Verbs" are for. Otherwise, it's a very solid resource for you. Find grammar points that are tricky for you and work on those.
Hammer's German and Usage
Hammer's German and Usage Workbook
German Grammar drills
Secondary grammar book
Personally, Hammer's Grammar book is quite enough. It is around 500 pages of dry grammar. It is very well constructed and very easy to understand, get it with workbook. It is logical, as it teaches you from the most essential and easiest structures. Nouns -> genders, -> cases, that way it is easier to learn.
Secondary Grammar book is not necessary.
Advice her to use Anki, its a very helpful tool i think for the most easiest words to learn. Especially it helps a lot with German genders.
/r/German might be a better place to ask. The community there is excellent, I've found. But I'm going to second the recommendation of the guy who said Hammer's. It's a tome with all the Grammar you'll ever need. It's great for looking up individual rules and situations, but is probably too in-depth for a beginner student.
Hammer's German Grammar and Usage is comprehensive. Sometimes I find it perhaps even too comprehensive - I'll dive in to find an answer to some question that pops into my mind and not emerge till an hour later when I've finished reading just about every exception and caveat. But If you already understand the basics or you have a simpler grammar book as well, I've found that this is the one that answers every question I have, no matter have obscure or minor a point.
Fifty-Thousand Shades Of Gray has been pulled from Amazon as of about a week ago, there goes my dad's birthday present, unless anyone's got £150 just lying around somewhere...
http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Thousand-Shades-Of-Grey-Ashen/dp/1479215430
Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey
Reminds me of Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey by S.C. Ashen. It's literally just the words "Shades of Grey" repeated 50,000 times in various shades of grey.
Fifty Thousand Shades of Grey
Kind of reminds me of this: https://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Thousand-Shades-Grey-Parody-Fifty/dp/1479215430 (read the product description for the joke)
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifty-Thousand-Shades-Grey-Parody-Fifty/dp/1479215430](Fifty-Thousand Shades Of Grey)
I prefer Fifty-Thousand Shades Of Grey.
>There are two main problems with this point, the first is simply that saying "well what about this particular example?" doesn't affect the reality of the other, majority examples.
A counterexample is a case that does not fit the general conclusion. Providing a counterexample is a valid way to refute a person's argument. (p. 16-17 in "A Rulebook for Arguments").
>The second point is rather more semantic, in that many wouldn't describe zen buddhism as a religion at all. Since there is no real doctrine to follow etc.
Certainly if you define religion as doctrine then Zen is not a religion. But religion is not defined by having doctrine. A religion: (1) defines the human condition, (2) defines the Ultimate/Reality/Truth; (3) says there is a way to bridge the gap between the two; and (4) provides teachings and practices to bridge the gap.
>and especially not that similar to any religion as we know it, and as affects us on a daily basis.
Regardless of your familiarity with it, it's a religion, and if it doesn't fit your general statements about religion, you should limit those statements to religions that fit, e.g. theistic religions or faith-based religions.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, New Edition (c) 2016 https://www.amazon.com/dp/087779295X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vPqzDbVPGY6WH
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
edit: might I recommend this to avoid future snafus with the language?
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1466097896&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dictionary
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/087779295X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459084551&amp;sr=1-1&amp;pi=SY200_QL40&amp;keywords=dictionary&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=51dO1tc6GRL&amp;ref=plSrch
How good does it feel to slam the down vote button on my posts? You're totally the best at making your point clear and concise. I can see you've upped your game and are totally not repeating yourself like a broken record.
>How much does the person engage in broad generalizations, saying that all Muslims are X or Y? (Less is better.)
To say that we will not let Muslims into the country temporarily is nothing against the group as a whole, that's simply a statement of physically what will happen. Since your grasp of words is not the greatest, you might want to think about buying that dictionary.
I suppose I would care a lot less about the country if I just sat around and made videos of me playing old video games. Moms basement is already pretty safe so who cares about our borders.
>It's harder (and more expensive) to get a Chevy Express and he couldn't have driven that through the halls... You need incredible expertise and help to make an IED, Internet searches and buying things required in the store will trigger FBI watch lists and again.
A person could easily go on [Amazon to purchase the Anarchist Cookbook] (https://www.amazon.com/Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1518701150&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=anarchist+cookbook) or google it and do it without the FBI catching them or at least do it before the FBI really caught on.
Plus I doubt someone committing an attack would be against saving a few dollars up in order to carry out their attack.
We're all on a giant "watchlist" anyways. Just remember to say goodnight to the NSA and President Obama every night when you send your last e-mail or end your last phone call for the day.
Here you go: http://www.amazon.com/The-Anarchist-Cookbook-William-Powell/dp/0974458902
A good start.
Folio Weekly is well known for being an alarmist paper. Just because a book is on a banned list doesn't mean a kid can't buy it themselves or check it out at the local library. However, I'm somewhat surprised that the Anarchist Cookbook isn't on the list.
Get the greatest revenge book ever written
500? How about 50,000?
> You were implying that I said "their" content referring to black people. I wasn't. The sarcastic sentence in all caps was making fun of your stupid racist joke.
Well I can see where your head's at. Maybe you should reflect on your own racist thoughts if that's the place you take that sentence.
Also, only $16 used. You really should pick one up.
Holy fucking shit I can't even believe this conversation just happened. Learn to fucking read, dipshit.
I have read the Quran and I disagree with your assessments.
Here, this may help you.
Buy Rachel Aaron's book of writing advice. It is actually very helpful.
Also check out the snowflake method.
See what other famous, prolific writers do. Try a bit. See what you do best with.
If something gives you a headache, either it's not for you, or you're doing it wrong.
Up to you to figure that one out.
Rinse, repeat. :)
here you go. It even has free shipping!
>Yeah probably I have no problems admitting that! But then again people much smarter than me who have studied philosophy/kant at the doctorate level struggle to wrap their head around Kant and some of his arguments. Are you going to claim you have it all figured out? If you do, get it published. Not even kidding.
lol I'm not an academic. For me, knowledge is a tool, not an intellectual exercise :)
>What is your background anyways? I am going to guess that maybe you double majored in psych and philosophy. Very common. Or one was your major and the other was your minor.
Yep. Psych was my major, Phil was my minor. Switched majors a couple times too, Poli Sci (father had his Masters from Yonsei, mother had Ph.d from U of M) and Sociology were my original majors. Masters was Labor-Industrial Relations. Whole family was deep into the liberal arts, my sister double majored in English and Political Science at UChicago and is currently studying Public Policy for her Masters at Berkeley. All of them are highly opinionated and disagree on basically everything. I don't mind disagreement, I have respect for different opinions, but not stupid opinions ;P
>noumena - The way things actually are - not necessarily observable or understood by us
>phenomena - the world as experienced through our observations and senses - the observable manifestations of the noumena
Yep, and phenomena are what's most important to us as human beings. Objectivity exists within subjectivity, that's why levels of analysis are so important. Good book by Doug Hofstadter that talks about this concept in physics:
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Strange-Loop-Douglas-Hofstadter/dp/0465030793
At the human level, the level where we see, experience, and interact with phenomenal objects, those objects appear to follow rules (causal relations). Human knowledge is just a sum of approximate guesses at these rules. The rules themselves may not actually be True (capital T), but they are true in the sense that they allow us to predict events on our subjective, phenomenal, human level. That's where the "useful" criterion comes into play (and Nietzsche said this too). Human knowledge is not a collection of truths, but a constellation of guesses based on fundamental axioms (see Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem) that shifts from generation to generation based on changing social mores (what Kuhn called "paradigms"). If human knowledge is not a forward march towards Truth (Feyerabend) because of the limitations of human reason, but instead ever-changing constellations of theories and ideas, what is the purpose? To predict phenomenal events.
That is where the "useful" element comes into play. Human knowledge is actually a tool for predicting the relations between phenomenal objects with the ultimate aim of manipulating our phenomenal reality. Knowledge, quite literally, is POWER -- the ability to influence our phenomenal world. Spinoza made a similar claim for the sanctity of the Bible (its holiness lies not in the accuracy of its pages, but the divine feeling it inspires in readers).
So when we say we know something, or we're arguing about issues within the realm of human existence, the measuring stick is accuracy in prediction. That's why empiricism is the only language for human beings to describe our phenomenal world (we take from the Rationalists the Cartesian belief that we do not live in a hostile simulacrum due to a higher power -- many Western philosophers resort to God as a justification device for skepticism, see Camus). Unfortunately, human beings are not wired to think empirically (we are actually wired to generalize off of extremely limited data sets -- n=3 is all it takes, see Kahneman) and we have a whole host of cognitive biases because again, consciousness is an emergent phenomenon arising from a lump of meat ;). Psychology has discovered a whole host of more limitations on pure reason.
Therefore, when discussing the nature of any phenomena, more evidence is always better than less. You can argue interpretations of studies (the causal relations offered up as best guesses), but given the limitations of the human minds, you accept those findings unless new findings arise that provide counter examples in a sufficiently statistical way (edit: i.e., NOT ANECDATA :P). THAT'S AN OPINION. OPINIONS ARE BEST GUESSES AT CAUSAL RELATIONS BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE INFORMATION, not concern trolling of studies based on motivated reasoning. There's Truth (which we cannot know), human knowledge (body of ideas that help us grapple with and predict phenomenal reality -- schemas, which as you correctly pointed out, are usually tinged with value judgments, but again, the criterion is DOES IT WORK), and ignorance. Fuck ignorance, I don't tolerate it :)
We can talk more in depth if you want (I didn't even touch on morality) tho I don't know if this is the best forum for it. But don't concern troll me pls kthnx <3
> I'm sorry but mystical experiences ARE lesser. Mystical experiences are an extremely poor tracker of truth.
I think you misunderstood the context in which mystical experiences are applicable. They are not greater or lesser. They simply are.
> It has wildly inconsistent and contradictory results.
Can you qualify that statement? My own research has brought me to the belief that there is a convergence of the 'truths' that can be derived from mystical experiences across mystical traditions and history.
> It is fueled by emotion, a slew of chemicals which measurably impair sober thought.
It is a slippery slope to dismiss altered forms of consciousness as resulting from mere 'chemicals'. The entirety of your conscious experience is resulted from the complex action of your brain, which includes neurotransmitters even in a 'sober' state. This does not make it any less real. This is how our consciousness is brought about. I invite you to read I Am A Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter or perhaps listen to this clip from an interview with Dennis McKenna
> One doesn't have to put science on a pedestal to realize that mysticism deserves to be in the gutter.
I fail to see the reason this would be a good idea.
> I wouldn't go so far to say that science has authority in philosophy, as philosophy asks why. Science answers how.
Can it though? Can you give an example of this?
What the fuck?
I acknowledged the nepotism angle in my last sentence.
This Link Might Help You
Well, that would be true if that's what I was saying, or even inferring, but since I meant those who actively choose to go there to do that, their death would be a great honor for us.
Here: https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Comprehension-Success-Minutes-Day/dp/1576854949/191-9218521-7640923?ie=UTF8&amp;*Version*=1&amp;*entries*=0
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0872203492
This is a personal favorite for me.
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/
Yikes, looks like you'll need this as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=dictionary&amp;qid=1566450288&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-2
I'd go with Fifty-Thousand Shades of Grey by S.C. Ashen
Can I recommend this program. It's pretty great.
http://www.harryhiker.com/lc/
And this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Rulebook-Arguments-Hackett-Student-Handbooks/dp/0872209547/ref=pd_sim_14_4?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=51zkr-cqNHL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&amp;refRID=0F6NT3RSWM0V9P6YXHSZ
forcing others to say it is. Also here is something you need to read before you try to make any sensible comment on reddit
I'm in the middle of a Destiny (Xbox One) transaction for $45 bucks on craigslist. As for books, I just bought this hardcover book for $50 after almost buying the digital version. The digital price was $14 bucks cheaper and enticing, but I almost forgot that after I read the book, I can easily resell it on half.com for $40.
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1500394491&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=websters+dictionary
https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webster-Dictionary-New-2016/dp/087779295X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1473909201&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=dictionary
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Comprehension-Success-Minutes-Day/dp/1576854949