Senses Books

Charles Brooks is a master.

And here he shares his mastery with us. I was struck by the clarity, preciseness of his instructions and the depth at which he integrates sensory awareness with his spiritual practice (zazen). This book breathes with compassionate awareness.

tgis book is not about reading only. It is about experiencing. Highly recommended.

Published in the seventies and based on the workshops of Charlotte Selver, this book celebrates the return to awarenes of the senses. Written in a critical time in American historical development, the book points out the pathway to natural and self-regulating ways for growth, for freeing and encouraging the correcting mechanisms that come from within, and for more constructive and fuller living.

The author of the book points out that how we treat ourselves and our immediate enviroment has far-reaching ramifications for how we feel about ourselves, and how others perceive us. It directly affects our orientation toward our loved ones, our work, the society that surrounds us, and how we function spiritually in a universe in which commitment to psychological health and well-being is essenntial.

Sensory Awareness deals with the basics that we must all relearn: touching, walking, self-awareness, working constructively and happily, and dealing with each other joyfully. By achieving a holistic re-orientation toward ourselves and our enviroment, the flow of life is altered in positive ways, and the basis for chronic problems that beset us is eliminated.
--- from book's back cover

Although Hayek's influence on economics and political science has been profound, his work in psychology, of which this book is the sole product, is still relatively unknown. This is unfortunate, not only because Hayek is a great psychologist, in the same league as Helmholtz, Fechner, and Freud, but also because his more influential work is often based on the conceptual framework established in The Sensory Order. I can think of several reasons for the neglect of this book. First, it is not easy to read. Despite a lucid style, the ideas contained are so complex and expressed in so compressed a form that several readings are required to fully appreciate them. Second, the ideas are so revolutionary that we still fail to grasp their implications, though even Hayek himself, it should be said, failed to address them adequately. Hebb's Organization of Behavior, the first explicit proposal of Hebbian learning and cell assemblies, and Gallistel's Organization of Action, a compilation of classic works on motor coordination, contained similar ideas, but they are nowhere as original and profound as this book.

The archives at the Hoover Institution in Stanford house the original manuscript in German that Hayek wrote when he was torn between pursuing psychology or economics. Decades later, that manuscript was published as The Sensory Order. Although this is the less known piece by Hayek among economists, it is considered by many pioneers in cognitive science (such as Gerald Edelman, see Neural Darwinism) as foundational in the development of this interdisciplinary study and the examinations into artificial intelligence. The principal thesis of Hayek's piece is that perception cannot be accounted for by means of physical laws, since the effect of sensory stimulus is the first aspect of the complex order of perception. Next, the mind maps the order of the external stimulus. This perceptual experience, however, is not identical to any other from a similar external stimulus since each has its own character in relation to the associations that the mind assigns to any particular sensory experience. Our perception of external objects are, Hayek writes, "never of all the properties which a particular can be said to possess objectively, not even only some of the properties which these objects in fact possess physically, but always on certain aspects, relations to other kinds of objects which we assign to all elements of the classes in which we place the perceived objects." This observation thus anticipates the monist framework presented by Maurice Merleau-Ponty in his Phenomenology of Perception. This fascinating book is a must read for anyone interested in the mind.

Big leather chairs, soft fluffy towels, candlelight-these are but a few examples of sensual living that Claire Lloyd incorporates into her book. This is not so much of a decorating how-to but a living how-to. She gives you ideas into adding things to your home that excite all your senses and allow you to be stylish and comfortable at the same time. Enjoyable from the first page to the last, don't let this one pass you by. A++

This book has revolutionised the way I relate to my environment. Claire Lloyd shows how the domestic and mundane can be transformed and integrated into a sensuous landscape that, without clutter or fuss, enhances your sense of being alive. Beautifully photographed and designed, this book is a graceful expression of the free-spirited lifestyle that is within reach of anyone with a penchant for all things sensual.

It would have been fantastic!! except for the fact that it's been two months and Amazon has yet to send me the book.

My husband and I read this book and we were amazed at the writer's ability to describe for us what we were unable to put into words. We had recently experienced some difficult times in our relationship and this book was a good source for us to begn to regain our ability to communicate with each other, to heal our inner wounds and to restore our intimacy with each other. We both felt as if the writer had been in our home and had wrote the book based on us personally. I highly recomend this book and we are looking forward to reading the authors other books.

I spent some time looking for a simple bedside aggregation of the various topics associated with the psychology of decision making and the various perceptual biases, without finding much. Most of the books are excellent; but, aside from this one (and Jon Baron's) they are usually compilation of original research. I like to have a readable consolidation of the material not far from my figertips. I was lucky to have found this book, which provides a wonderful and comprehensive coverage of the topics.
It is limpid, precise, illustrative, showing a wonderful clarity of mind.

Now the bad news. The author passed away recently at the age of 48.

The book--although poorly bound--is written very nicely. Kunda has a wonderful way of presenting the material objectively and respectfully while still engaging the reader. There are numerous, minor typos but this does not distract the reader terribly. A natural progression is found in Kunda's style, where she presents a topic, draws on some familiar day-to-day experiences, and presents the experiments and research that support it. She explains contradictions and allows the reader to make his/her own conclusions and inferences concerning topics like hot cognition, influences of mood on memory, subliminal processing, false-memories, and influences of culture on cognition. She, herself, did extensive work in the area of cognitive science and since her passing, will be missed by many as her work was incredibly innovative and interesting.

The book reads quickly and will be enjoyed by most. The only thing I wish was different about this book was its size (there is so much left over white space on each page--it's unnecessary). Most people with some experience or interest in cognitive science should find this book fascinating. Do not expect an in-depth or even moderate assessment of the biological or neurological underpinnings of cognition. This book explains cognition by reviewing social and cognitive experiments.

I had this book as a child and LOVED it. My kids like my old copy, but it finally fell apart, and I need a replacement. It's cute enough to buy twice. :)

My three children have all adored this book. After 7 years of use, mine is worn out, so I'm ordering a replacement! It is the best touch-and-feel book I have seen. My kids never grew tired of it!

I was a student of Murray when I was doing my master's in AI. He taught us a course titled 'Learning and Cognitive Robotics', which covered a classical 'logic-based' approach to robotics, starting from the 'Shakey' days to Event Calculus.

Much of the lecture notes we covered in the said course went into the book, which to my mind provides a comprehensive coverage to logic-based AI, its challenges and possible directions.

In classical AI, we assume that 'correct reasoning on correct representation' preceedes intelligence. The book starts from this 'first principle' and takes one through a wonderful journey, leading to an almost total solution to the Frame Problem.

In my mind, the book is not for naive readers. One has to have a fairy good understanding of relevant Computer Science/AI concepts to comprehend the material.

I was a student of Murray when I was doing my master's in AI. He taught us a course titled 'Learning and Cognitive Robotics', which covered a classical 'logic-based' approach to robotics, starting from the 'Shakey' days to Event Calculus.

Much of the lecture notes from the said course went into the book, which to my mind provides a comprehensive coverage to logic-based AI, its challenges and possible directions.

In classical AI, we assume that 'correct reasoning on correct representation' preceedes intelligence. The book starts from this 'first principle' and takes one through a wonderful journey, leading to an almost total solution to the Frame Problem, one of the biggest stumbling blocks for logic-based AI.

In my mind, the book is not for naive readers. One has to have a fairly good understanding of relevant Computer Science/AI concepts to comprehend the material.

For serious readers of AI, I would like to recommend another fantastic piece of work: Agent_Oriented Programming: From Prolog to Guarded Definite Clauses by Ringwood and Huntbach.

Enjoy!

Beth Roy's account of how a dispute between two neighboring farmers - cow grazes neighbor's crop - turns into a family conflict, then a village conflict, then a religious-ethnic conflict, then embroils the surrounding villages and finally an entire region. She went there, she spoke with the people most directly involved, and she uncovered the underlying national and international issues here being played out on a village level. It takes great insight and empathy to accomplish what Beth Roy has done. This is such a good book.

This is an academic study of social conflict. The author investigated a previously unreported riot in what is today the country of Bangladesh, though at the time of the riot was East Pakistan. Her methodology was to talk in detail to persons involved to understand what happened, and perhaps more importantly, their interpretation of what happened. Initially, the book is easy and engaging reading as she describes how she learned of the riot, and how the riot reportedly occurred. She then proceeds to explain the conflict in terms of the broader scholarship of social conflict. Roy's analysis of the power relationships in the village, the precipitation of the riot, and the meaning of the riot to Hindus and Muslims provide is a refreshing balance of the perception of common villagers, and academic social conflict theory. For persons interested in the social relationships in South Asia, and social conflict broadly, this is a terrific book.

You know when you read a really good story, how difficult it is
to put the book down?

Well, you don't expect to have the feeling when you read a book about financial planning and wealth creation do you?

Yet, that's just what happened to me. I picked up my copy of James' book and couldn't put it down until reading the very last page. Since then, I've read it over several more times and found some things I missed.

Bringing money in hasn't been the problem for me, keeping more
of it certainly has - James' has some great advice and practical techniques that worked for him - retired at 38 - NICE!

Highly recommended.

Jeff

I found Street Hockey Millionaire to be a great read as it is fun and engaging! This book has the potential to increase your net worth while motivating you to pursue what is most important to you. James has cleverly woven an inspirational and valuable message with Street Hockey Millionaire that everyone will appreciate. Your only goal should be to get a copy of this book right now.

This book should be passed out in proactive schools across the country; it reveals techniques bad guys (and gals) use to take advantage of female victims. It also provides insight on what the monsters out there are thinking as they size a female victim up. One of the best self-help books on crime I've ever read. Everyone's daughter should read this!

This is an excellent book very well written focusing on the techniques to prevent you from becoming the victim. I have been involved in Martial Arts for over 25 years and have been heavily involved in teaching this subject as well as Child Abduction Prevention and this is one of the best books I have read. It is worth taking your time to read it and for the price you couldn't ask for anything better.

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