Discover why learning is good for us and how to develop a 'Beginner's Mindset'
For many of us, the last time we learned a new skill was during childhood. We live in an age which reveres expertise but looks down on the beginner. Upon entering adulthood and middle age, we begin to shy away from trying new things, instead preferring to stay nestled firmly in our comfort zones.
Beginners asks the question: why are children the only ones allowed to experience the inherent fun of facing daily challenges? And could we benefit from embracing new skills, even if we're initially hopeless? Bestselling author Tom Vanderbilt sets out to find the answer, tasking himself with acquiring several new skills under the tutelage of professionals, including drawing, juggling, surfing and much more. Witty and often surprisingly profound, Beginners is an uplifting exploration of the science of brain plasticity and how we can learn how to learn anew.
"Beginners belongs on the list of books that have changed the way I understand my own limitations." MALCOLM GLADWELL
Why do we get so embarrassed when a colleague wears the same shirt? Why do we eat the same thing for breakfast every day, but seek out novelty at lunch and dinner? How has streaming changed the way Netflix makes recommendations? Why do people think the music of their youth is the best? How can you spot a fake review on Yelp? Our preferences and opinions are constantly being shaped by countless forces - especially in the digital age with its nonstop procession of thumbs up and likes and stars. Tom Vanderbilt, bestselling author of Traffic, explains why we like the things we like, why we hate the things we hate, and what all this tell us about ourselves. With a voracious curiosity, Vanderbilt stalks the elusive beast of taste, probing research in psychology, marketing, and neuroscience to answer myriad complex and fascinating questions. If you've ever wondered how Netflix recommends movies or why books often see a sudden decline in Amazon ratings after they win a major prize, Tom Vanderbilt has answers to these questions and many more that you've probably never thought to ask. From the Hardcover edition.
The abridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Tom Vanderbilt's informative work, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What it Says About Us), read by David Slavin.
Why does the other lane always seem to be moving faster? What does the way you drive say about you? Is the road a microcosm of society or an autonomous republic that functions according to its own set of rules? Does traffic work the same all over the world? Traffic Signals answers these and many other questions, plunging head-on into traffic, viewing it not simply as a social ill or as a design problem, but as a leading cultural indicator and a living, organic model of what physicists call 'emergent collective behavior', of things which often happen for no discernible reason...
Downloadable audiobook edition. Running time approx 6 hours. Abridged.
Would you be surprised that road rage can be good for society? That most crashes happen on sunny, dry days? Or that you can gauge a nation's driving behavior by its levels of corruption? These are only a few of the remarkable dynamics that Tom Vanderbilt explores in this fascinating tour through the mysteries of the road. Based on exhaustive research and interviews with driving experts and traffic officials around the globe, Traffic gets under the hood of the everyday activity of driving to uncover the surprisingly complex web of physical, psychological, and technical factors that explain how traffic works, why we drive the way we do, and what our driving says about us. Vanderbilt examines the perceptual limits and cognitive underpinnings that make us worse drivers than we think we are. As Vanderbilt shows, driving is a provocatively revealing prism for examining how our minds work and the ways in which we interact with one another. Ultimately, Traffic is about more than driving: it's about human nature. This audiobook will change the way we see ourselves and the world around us. And who knows? It may even make us better drivers. From the Compact Disc edition.
