Books (June 2012)

David Brooks became a New York Times Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. He has been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, a contributing editor at Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly, and he is currently a commentator on "The Newshour with Jim Lehrer." He is the author of "Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There" and “On Paradise Drive : How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense,” both published by Simon & Schuster. His most recent book is “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement,” published by Random House in March 2011.

This is the story of how success happens. It is told through the lives of one composite American couple, Harold and Erica—how they grow, push forward, are pulled back, fail, and succeed. Distilling a vast array of information into these two vividly realized characters, Brooks illustrates a fundamental new understanding of human nature. A scientific revolution has occurred—we have learned more about the human brain in the last thirty years than we had in the previous three thousand. The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind—not a dark, vestigial place but a creative and enchanted one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, personality traits, and social norms: the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made.

The main idea is that there are two levels of the mind, one unconscious and the other conscious, and that the first is much more important than the second in determining what we do. It must be said immediately that Brooks has a terminological problem here. He describes the contents of the unconscious mind as “emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, character traits and social norms,” and later he includes “sensations, perceptions, drives and needs.” A majority of the things on this list are “conscious,” in the usual sense of the word, since they are parts of conscious experience. The sense in which they are unconscious, which is what Brooks has in mind, is that they are not under direct conscious control. I may consciously choose from a menu, but I do not consciously choose what foods to like.

It is obvious, without the need for scientific research, that vastly more of the work of the human mind is unconscious or automatic in this sense than conscious and deliberate. We do not consciously construct a visual image from sensory input or consciously choose the word order and produce the muscle movements to utter a sentence, any more than we consciously digest our food. The huge submerged bulk of the mental iceberg, with its stores of memory and acquired skills that have become automatic, like language, driving and etiquette, supplies people with the raw materials on which they can exercise their reason and decide what to think and what to do.

New York Times journalist David Brooks has written a book called "The Social Animal". In this discussion, he talks about the power of the unconscious mind and its impact on our lives, also that the type of relationship a child forms with its mother is indicative of future relations a child will form. He also believes in the value of emotional, rather than logical, decisions, which be ascertains, form the foundation of who we are.

Tapping into the findings of his latest book, NYTimes columnist David Brooks unpacks new insights into human nature from the cognitive sciences -- insights with massive implications for economics and politics as well as our own self-knowledge. In a talk full of humor, he shows how you can't hope to understand humans as separate individuals making choices based on their conscious awareness.

David Callahan is a Senior Fellow at Demos and editor of CheatingCulture.com.

Demos is a United States-based research and policy center founded in 2000 that presents a liberal[1] viewpoint on economic issues. Based on its widely cited work in the media and growing impact on national and state policy, Demos continues to influence the national debate on election reform and economic security, with a particular emphasis on the development of a broad, stable future middle class in the United States.[2] More recently, it has branched into issues of sustainability and alternative measures of economic progress.

According to their website, Demos maintains a non-partisan role in their policy change and reform work to revitalize American democracy. These efforts include opening up the electoral process to encourage high voter turnout, addressing financial instability in American households, engaging a public dialogue on ethics and values related to democracy and the economy, developing a shared national vision of effective government, and promoting the sustainable consumption of our natural resources.

In Fortunes of Change, David Callahan contends that something big is happening among the rich in America: they’re drifting to the left. When Callahan set out to write a book on the new upper class, he expected to profile a greedy and reactionary elite—the robber barons of a second Gilded Age. Instead, he discovered something else. While many of the rich still back a GOP that stands against taxes and regulation, liberalism is spreading fast among the wealthy.

In Fortunes of Change, we meet an upper class increasingly filled with super-educated professionals and entrepreneurs who work in “knowledge” industries and live in the bluest parts of America. This cosmopolitan elite takes for granted such key liberal ideas as multiculturalism and active government, and have ever less in common with an extremist GOP based in small-town America and dominated by Tea Party activists and the likes of Sarah Palin. Fortunes of Change explores:

Why some of America’s wealthiest people backed Barack Obama’s presidential bid and are pouring record sums into the Democratic Party and liberal organizations, even though they stand to see their taxes go up.
How a few big donors have spent millions to create the modern gay rights movement and how environmental activists have tapped a river of new liberal cash.
Why Hollywood, rolling in new profits thanks to globalization, has more money than ever to back Democratic candidates and push politics to the left.

Why Silicon Valley is turning more liberal and how tech money—including Bill Gates’s vast fortune—is funding a growing array of liberal groups and politicians.

How the upper class is likely to get more liberal as young heirs are inculcated with liberal ideas in America’s most elite prep schools and universities.

David Callahan is a co-founder of the think tank Demos, where he is now a senior fellow. He is author of the Cheating Culture, among other books, and his articles have appeared in such places as USA Today, the New York Times, the Nation, and the Washington Monthly.

David Callahan is a co-founder of the think tank Demos, a public policy group based in New York City, where he is currently a Senior Fellow. He is also an author, commentator, and lecturer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the books The Cheating Culture and The Moral Center. Callahan is a graduate of Hampshire College and holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University. He is the son of Daniel Callahan, the bioethicist and healthcare expert, and Sidney Callahan, who writes about religion and psychology.

The Fire Starter Sessions is an apathy-kicking, integrity-infusing guide to defining success on your own terms.

As the creator of DanielleLaPorte.com--deemed “the best place online for kick-ass spirituality,” Danielle LaPorte’s straight-talk life-and-livelihood sermons have been read by over one million people. Bold but empathetic, she reframes popular self-help and success concepts:

: Life balance is a myth, and the pursuit of it is causing us more stress then the craving for balance itself.
: Being well-rounded is over-rated. When you focus on developing your true strengths, you enter your mastery zone.
: Screw your principles (they might be holding you back).
: We have ambition backwards. Getting clear on how you want to feel in your life + work is more important than setting goals. It's the most potent form of clarity that you can have, and it's what leads to true fulfillment.

How is the book different from “The Spark Kit” e-program that you self-published?
The hardcover edition is richer in content, a strikingly well-designed 328 pages, and available with many e-tailers for only $15. It’s more “life” inspiration and a less marketing-how-to than The Spark Kit was. I’ve got new success stories, more anecdotal lessons, refreshed worksheets and entirely new Sessions that round out the entire experience.

Even if you have The Spark Kit, THE FIRE STARTER SESSIONS will feel like a new, sensory experience, like when The Wizard of Oz goes from black & white to vivid technicolor. Ya, like that.

Learn more on http://www.DanielleLaPorte.com Connect: http://www.DanielleLaPorte.com/Facebook Tweet this!

The Fire Starter Sessions has 77 ratings and 19 reviews.

Looking for some magical help for those unpredictable curveballs that life throws your way? Spells for Tough Times is a unique and comprehensive toolkit for coping with and rising above just about any difficulty—whether it’s a minor annoyance, embarrassing quandary, or unexpected crisis.

Refreshingly positive and practical, this magic book features over 150 easy-to-perform spells and rituals that address specific problems we all commonly face. Organized by major areas of concern, you’ll find customizable spells related to personal habits and emotions, family and children, relationships, pets, health, house and home, career, finances, legal disputes, world events, death, and handling grief.

Compatible with all spiritual paths and levels of spellwork experience, these simple yet potent spells will help you find peace, let go of stress, and survive every bump in the road.

Kerri Connor is the author of The Pocket Spell Creator: Magickal References at Your Fingertips , The Pocket Guide to Rituals: Magickal References at Your Fingertips , The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Potions, and Goodbye Grandmother.

Her latest book, Spells for Tough Times: Crafting Hope When Faced With Life’s Thorniest Challenges, is NOW AVAILABLE!

A graduate from the University of Wisconsin, Kerri holds a B.A. in Communications. Kerri lives in rural Illinois. She loves reading, writing, gardening and the Chicago Bears.