Genius Health

For decades, Adam Gopnik has been one of our most beloved writers, a brilliantly perceptive critic of art, food, France, and more. But recently, he became obsessed by a fundamental matter: How did the people he was writing about learn their outlandish skill, whether it was drawing a nude or baking a sourdough loaf? In The Real Work, Gopnik apprentices himself to an artist, a dancer, a boxer, and even a driving instructor (from the DMV), among others, trying his late-middle-age hand at things he assumed were beyond him.

To be a great poker player you need to stay calm and focused on whatever is happening. Regardless of whether you are playing online or in person, cash poker or tournament poker, it's vitally important to avoid losing control of your emotions. When a player gives in to their emotions they start playing irrationally; this is a state of mind known in the world of poker as ‘"tilt". Tilt describes the state of mind a poker player slides into when their emotions take over their decision-making process and they begin playing based on their feelings rather than on their strategy.

As a technology pioneer at MIT and as the leader of three successful start-ups, Kevin Ashton experienced firsthand the all-consuming challenge of creating something new. Now, in a tour-de-force narrative 20 years in the making, Ashton leads us on a journey through humanity's greatest creations to uncover the surprising truth behind who creates and how they do it.

Bestselling author Leonard Shlain explores the life, art, and mind of Leonardo da Vinci, seeking to explain his singularity by looking at his achievements in art, science, psychology, and military strategy (yes), and then employing state of the art left-right brain scientific research to explain his universal genius. Shlain shows that no other person in human history has excelled in so many different areas as Da Vinci and he peels back the layers to explore the how and the why.

Literature is a technology like any other. And the writers we revere - from Homer, Shakespeare, Austen, and others - each made a unique technical breakthrough that can be viewed as both a narrative and neuroscientific advancement. Literature’s great invention was to address problems we could not solve: not how to start a fire or build a boat, but how to live and love; how to maintain courage in the face of death; how to account for the fact that we exist at all.

In The Talent Code, award-winning journalist Daniel Coyle draws on cutting-edge research to reveal that, far from being some abstract mystical power fixed at birth, ability really can be created and nurtured. In the process, he considers talent at work in venues as diverse as a music school in Dallas and a tennis academy near Moscow to demonstrate how the wiring of our brains can be transformed by the way we approach particular tasks.

In this timely and essential audiobook that offers a fresh take on the qualms of modern day life, Professor Alan Lightman investigates the creativity born from allowing our minds to freely roam, without attempting to accomplish anything and without any assigned tasks. With In Praise of Wasting Time, Professor Alan Lightman documents the rush and heave of the modern world, suggests the technological and cultural origins of our time-­driven lives, and examines the many values of "wasting time".

In the dark, no one can see you scream... Josh Matthews is a typical guy in a typical world. A 'doer' and a 'dreamer,' doing more dreaming than doing. Until one night, when this lonesome web developer's dreams become nightmares... Now Josh must fight the fight of his life. People are dying, disappearing, dead in the streets as a black fluid pours from their withered physiques. And Josh, no matter what he does or where he goes, remains immune. It's time to stop this. It's time to find out why. It's time, to see what happens: When the lights go out...

In our 24-7 global economy, rest feels like a luxury at best and a weakness at worst. We see work and rest as competitors - but what if they're actually partners in a productive, balanced life? Blending rigorous scientific research with examples of writers, painters and thinkers - from Darwin to Stephen King - Silicon Valley futurist and business consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang exposes how we've underestimated the power of rest for our success. Though it's as natural as breathing, it's also a skill we can all learn to boost our creativity and productivity.

Don't die before you make your dent in the universe. Do you ever feel like you have something special to offer the world? Something that only you can bring to the table? With your unique talents, past experiences, and passions, you can make something totally new. Is it a novel? Is it a screenplay? A Michelin-star restaurant? Maybe it's the next billion-dollar app, or a world-changing non-profit. Whatever it is, it's your art. And it's just waiting to get out of you. All you have to do is start.

Generating and executing great ideas is the key to staying ahead in a rapidly changing world. It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses - or none at all. There has to be a better way. In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his proven FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution) Method to dig deeper and get back to asking the right questions - the ones all companies must ask to survive.

Secrets of the Mind reveals Ralph Waldo Emerson’s keys for accessing the expansive powers of the “one mind.” The sequel to Living from the Soul, this book rephrases and remixes Emerson’s writings on the principles and powers of thought. It concludes with practical advice on work, money, and success.

The national best seller that defines a new economic class and shows how it is key to the future of our cities. The Rise of the Creative Class gives us a provocative new way to think about why we live as we do today - and where we might be headed. Weaving storytelling with masses of new and updated research, Richard Florida traces the fundamental theme that runs through a host of seemingly unrelated changes in American society: the growing role of creativity in our economy.

At a time when we are all confronted by not one, but many crossroads in our modern lives - identity, technology, trust, politics, and a global pandemic - celebrated mythologist and wilderness guide Martin Shaw delivers Smoke Hole: three metaphors to help us understand our world, one that is assailed by the seductive promises of social media and shadowed by a health crisis that has brought loneliness and isolation to an all-time high.

Suffering from writer's block? Wish you were more inventive? Perhaps, like most of us, you were taught to think vertically - to solve problems by going from one logical step to the next. In this international best seller, Dr. de Bono shows how lateral thinking can free your creative mind. Learn to hone your thinking skills and discover powerful yet simple techniques to help you generate idea after idea.

Do you want to learn how to learn absolutely anything as quick as possible? Of course you do, who wouldn't? There's a way to do it, and this book has all the secrets. This book is about learning how to learn. Whether you want to improve your grades at school, or you want to pick up a new subject quickly, this book will detail methods to learn any kind of subject matter lighting fast. Today, it is commonly said that in order to master a subject, you must dedicate a minimum of 10,000 hours, whether it’s to learn a musical instrument, a sport, or to master a video game.

In this audiobook, Ellen Langer uses her innovative theory of mindulness, introduced in her influential earlier book, to dramatically enhance the way we learn. Mindful learning takes place with an awareness of context and of the ever-changing nature of information. Learning without this awareness, has severely limited uses and often sets on up for failure. With stunning applications to skills as diverse as paying attention, CPR, investment analysis, psychotherapy, or playing a musical instrument, this audiobook is for all who are curious and intellectually adventurous.

One phone call. That's all it took to change Stephanie Wittels Wachs's life forever.... Her younger brother Harris, a star in the comedy world known for his work on shows like Parks and Recreation, had died of a heroin overdose. How do you make sense of such a tragic end to a life of so much hilarious brilliance? In beautiful, unsentimental, and surprisingly funny prose, Stephanie Wittels Wachs alternates between her brother's struggle with addiction, which she learned about three days before her wedding, and the first year after his death, in all its emotional devastation.

In The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Dr. Joseph Murphy gives you the tools you will need to unlock the awesome powers of your subconscious mind. You can improve your relationships, your finances, your physical well-being. Once you learn how to use this unbelievably powerful force there is nothing you will not be able to accomplish. Join the millions of people who have already unlocked the power of their subconscious minds.

These secret principles of genius have been hidden, lost, or even forgotten through time. They have played a critical role in the greatest achievements of humanity, yet most of us are unaware of them. Now, they are finally revealed. Internationally best-selling author I. C. Robledo has profiled the brightest minds to demonstrate why these secret principles are so important. Their lives range from time periods that span millennia and include a wide range of cultures, professions, and personalities.