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Nihilism
- MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins
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Publisher's summary
When someone is labeled a nihilist, it's not usually meant as a compliment. Most of us associate nihilism with destructiveness and violence. Nihilism means, literally, "an ideology of nothing". Is nihilism, then, believing in nothing? Or is it the belief that life is nothing? Or the belief that the beliefs we have amount to nothing? If we can learn to recognize the many varieties of nihilism, Nolen Gertz writes, then we can learn to distinguish what is meaningful from what is meaningless. In this addition to the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Gertz traces the history of nihilism in Western philosophy from Socrates through Hannah Arendt and Jean-Paul Sartre.
Although the term "nihilism" was first used by Friedrich Jacobi to criticize the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Gertz shows that the concept can illuminate the thinking of Socrates, Descartes, and others. It is Nietzsche, however, who is most associated with nihilism, and Gertz focuses on Nietzsche's thought. Gertz goes on to consider what is not nihilism - pessimism, cynicism, and apathy - and why; he explores theories of nihilism; he considers nihilism as a way of understanding aspects of everyday life; and he reflects on the future of nihilism. We need to understand nihilism not only from an individual perspective, Gertz tells us, but also from a political one.
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Story
Our beliefs constitute a large part of our knowledge of the world. We have beliefs about objects, about culture, about the past, and about the future. We have beliefs about other people, and we believe that they have beliefs as well. We use beliefs to predict, to explain, to create, to console, to entertain. Some of our beliefs we call theories, and we are extraordinarily creative at constructing them. Theories of quantum mechanics, evolution, and relativity are examples.
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it's okay
- By Question Asker on 10-11-23
By: Nils J. Nilsson
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The Conscious Mind
- By: Zoltan Torey
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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How did the human mind emerge from the collection of neurons that makes up the brain? How did the brain acquire self-awareness, functional autonomy, language, and the ability to think, to understand itself and the world? In this volume in the Essential Knowledge series, Zoltan Torey offers an accessible and concise description of the evolutionary breakthrough that created the human mind.
By: Zoltan Torey
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Extremism
- By: J.M. Berger
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, J. M. Berger offers a nuanced introduction to extremist movements, explaining what extremism is, how extremist ideologies are constructed, and why extremism can escalate into violence.
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Good exploration of extremism
- By Sunshine on 08-02-24
By: J.M. Berger
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Auctions
- The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
- By: Timothy P. Hubbard, Harry J. Paarsch
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Although it is among the oldest of market institutions, the auction is ubiquitous in today's economy, used for everything from government procurement to selling advertising on the Internet to course assignment at MIT's Sloan School. Yet beyond the small number of economists who specialize in the subject, few people understand how auctions really work. This concise, accessible, and engaging book explains both the theory and the practice of auctions.
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Theoretical Review of Auctions
- By Jack Graham on 08-03-18
By: Timothy P. Hubbard, and others
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The Technological Singularity
- By: Murray Shanahan
- Narrated by: Tim Andres Pabon
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The idea that human history is approaching a "singularity" - that ordinary humans will someday be overtaken by artificially intelligent machines or cognitively enhanced biological intelligence, or both - has moved from the realm of science fiction to serious debate. Some singularity theorists predict that if the field of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop at its current dizzying rate, the singularity could come about in the middle of the present century.
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Simplistic. Unworthy.
- By Blair on 07-21-17
By: Murray Shanahan
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Synesthesia
- By: Richard E. Cytowic MD
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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A neurological trait that creates vividly felt cross-sensory couplings, synesthesia is examined in this illuminating audiobook by pioneering researcher Richard Cytowic who reminds us that each individual's perspective on the world is thoroughly subjective.
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Interesting read, well written & well narrated.
- By R W on 05-19-18
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The Internet of Things
- The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
- By: Samuel Greengard
- Narrated by: Derek Shetterly
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The Internet of Things is a networked world of connected devices, objects, and people. In this book Samuel Greengard offers a guided tour through this emerging world and how it will change the way we live and work. Greengard explains that the Internet of Things (IoT) is still in its early stages. Smartphones, cloud computing, RFID (radio-frequency identification), technology, sensors, and miniaturization are converging to make possible a new generation of embedded and immersive technology.
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Was expecting more
- By Chelsea on 10-14-16
By: Samuel Greengard
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Quantum Entanglement
- MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
- By: Jed Brody
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Quantum physics is notable for its brazen defiance of common sense. (Think of Schrödinger's Cat, famously both dead and alive.) An especially rigorous form of quantum contradiction occurs in experiments with entangled particles. Our common assumption is that objects have properties whether or not anyone is observing them, and the measurement of one can't affect the other. Quantum entanglement rejects this assumption, offering impeccable reasoning and irrefutable evidence of the opposite. Is quantum entanglement mystical, or just mystifying?
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gappy and devoid of rigor
- By Anonymous User on 05-03-20
By: Jed Brody
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Waves
- By: Fredric Raichlen
- Narrated by: Tim Andres Pabon
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In Waves, Fredric Raichlen traces the evolution of waves, from their generation in the deep ocean to their effects on the coast. He explains, in a way that is readily understandable to nonscientists, both the science of waves themselves and the technology that can be used to protect us against their more extreme forms, including hurricanes and tsunamis.
By: Fredric Raichlen
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Machine Learning: The New AI
- The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series
- By: Ethem Alpaydi
- Narrated by: Steven Menasche
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In this audiobook, machine learning expert Ethem Alpaydin offers a concise overview of the subject for the general listener, describing its evolution, explaining important learning algorithms, and presenting example applications. Alpaydin offers an account of how digital technology advanced from number-crunching mainframes to mobile devices, putting today's machine learning boom in context.
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Narrator not suited to the material
- By pandrenyc on 12-01-16
By: Ethem Alpaydi
What listeners say about Nihilism
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-05-20
very modern
this is the crux of ecoanxiety or mass extinction induced depression... very moving to see the analysis parrallel modern examples
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2 people found this helpful
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- Adam
- 01-01-21
A great book to escape reality for a few hours :-)
Decided to start learning about Philosophy with Nihilism and this was a very good overview of Nihilism and what it is/isn't.
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- Justin Hunter
- 03-13-22
thought provoking
At first the Narrator sounded dramatic, like the old man in the light house in the Rick and Morty episode "Look who's purging now!" It did kind of distract me at first. However, by the end of it, his cadence and intonation helped frame the ideas as he went along. Overall the narration made it easier to follow.
There's definitely a lot of vocabulary coming at you at once, so you might have to listen to this one while you're not as distracted doing other things.
I really enjoyed it overall and look forward to revisiting it once I've become more familiar with each of the philosophers.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Gregor
- 02-25-20
Great for understanding all things nihilism
I really enjoyed listening to this book on nihilism and look forward to reading his other book;
Nihilism and Technology.
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- Kindle-Kunde
- 08-27-23
Amazing
Brings together concepts from diferrent times and creates a big picture for the listener to review things we just accept as facts.
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- HonestBuyer
- 03-26-23
This should not be your first NIHILISM book
This should not be your first nihilism book.
The book gives a couple of philosophical ideas which are quite good so I enjoyed it about 50% of the time of reading.
The book first gives a glimpse into the history of nihilism which is good and interesting.
Then the book gives what Nihilism is NOT - which is okay, but it tries to define nihilism by it in not a good manner in my opinion.
Then the book tries to explain what nihilism IS - not in a successful manner in my opinion.
Then the book gives examples of nihilism in our life - which is good and interesting.
Then the book talk about nihilism for the future - which is also good and interesting, talking about slave mentality and master mentality of ancient Greece.
This should not be your first book on nihilism since in my opinion the definition of nihilism is not well explained and I need multiple reads to digest this book to really understand all the negative definitions it gives - trying to define nihilism by what it is not instead of what it is.
I would recommend reading about nihilism in the following manner:
1. Nothing & Everything Kindle Edition - Gives you why nothing you believe is actually "true" and the thinking dimension of nihilism.
by Val N. Tine
2. Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age - Gives you why too much nihilism can destroy us.
3. Nihilism: A Philosophy Based In Nothingness And Eternity - Enhance your nihilism thinking.
by Brett Stevens
4. Neo-Nihilism: The Philosophy of Power - (Very good) Gives you how using nihilism you see the power of others and how to have power.
by Peter Sjöstedt-H
5. This book.
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- Ronald
- 10-03-22
The text is decent, but the narration bad
If you have ever seen the Monty Python sketch "Whicker's World," you will understand what I mean when I say that the reading sounds just like the reporters. The text is decent, but it is hard for me to get past the bad reading, so much so that I will return it and use my credit elsewhere.
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- Larry
- 08-09-24
Disappointing
Book has obscurantist references to various philosophers and skiers around issue of nihilism as would be understood by most readers
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