Peter Boghossian

James Lindsay

Whether you're in a classroom, an office, a town hall -- or just hoping to get through a family dinner with a stubborn relative -- here is a guide to having effective, civil discussions about today's most divisive issues. In our current political climate, it seems impossible to have a civil conversation with someone who has a different opinion. Dialogue is shut down when perspectives clash. Heated debates on Facebook and Twitter often lead to shaming, hindering any possibility of productive discourse. How to Have Impossible Conversations guides readers through the process of having effective, civil discussions about any divisive issues -- not just religious faith but climate change, race, gender, poverty, immigration, and gun control. Coauthors Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay distinguish between two types of conversations: those that are oriented toward arriving at truth, and those that may require changing the beliefs of people who do not want their beliefs changed (interventions). They then guide readers through the straightforward, practical, conversational techniques necessary for every successful conversation, up to expert- and master-level techniques to deal with hardliners and extremists. With key principles like the "Seven Fundamentals Necessary for Good Conversations," this book is the manual everyone needs to foster connection and empathy with anyone.

A Very Practical Guide

How to Have Impossible Conversations

Helen Pluckrose

How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody

How Universities Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity - And Why this Harms Everybody

Cynical Theories

"Race Marxism exists to tell the truth about critical race theory in unprecedented clarity and depth. Across its six weighty chapters, Lindsay explains what Critical Race Theory is, what it believes, where it comes from, how it operates, and what we can do about it now that we know what we're dealing with. It exposes critical race theory for what it is by ranging widely across its own literature and a survey of some of the darkest philosophical currents of the last three hundred years in Western thought. Readers will come away understanding critical race theory and be able to speak the truth about it with authority: Critical race theory is race Marxism, and, like all Marxist theories before it, it will not work this time."-- Provided by publisher.

The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis

Race Marxism

Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller!Times, Sunday Times, and Financial Times Book-of-the-Year Selection! Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Have you read that certain people shouldn't practice yoga or cook Chinese food? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only white people can be racist? Are you confused by these ideas, and do you wonder how they have managed so quickly to challenge the very logic of Western society?In this probing and intrepid volume, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma that informs these ideas, from its coarse origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields. Today this dogma is recognizable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media dogpiles, as by its tenets, which are all too often embraced as axiomatic in mainstream media: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous. As Pluckrose and Lindsay warn, the unchecked proliferation of these anti-Enlightenment beliefs present a threat not only to liberal democracy but also to modernity itself.While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how this often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalized communities it claims to champion. They also detail its alarmingly inconsistent and illiberal ethics. Only through a proper understanding of the evolution of these ideas, they conclude, can those who value science, reason, and consistently liberal ethics successfully challenge this harmful and authoritarian orthodoxy--in the academy, in culture, and beyond.

How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity--And Why This Harms Everybody

Suleiman Mourad

The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology provides an account of the preaching of a revitalized vision of jihad in Crusader-era Syria by Sunni scholars, including Ibn ʿAsākir, as a major propaganda tool of the Counter-Crusade and Sunni revival.

Ibn ʿAsākir of Damascus (1105–1176) and His Age, with an Edition and Translation of Ibn ʿAsākir’s The Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad

The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period

The novel follows a double narrative in alternating chapters: one strand describes the events after these inexplicable acts of violence from the viewpoint of Chris s father, Tommy; the other, from Chris s viewpoint, traces the events leading up to Jim s death and his own bungled suicide attempt. As the two narratives converge, father and son must face shocking new insights into themselves, each other, and their own responsibility for what has happened. In the final chapter we catch a fleeting glimpse of how this family may ultimately be able to heal. By dispassionately confronting the unspeakable, "Brutal Music" moves beyond the headlines to forge a compelling portrait of our violent crime culture in our baffling times."

A Novel

Brutal Music

Rebecca Christiansen

This is a book about ideas. Specifically, this is a book about the evolution of a certain set of ideas, and how these ideas have come to dominate every important discussion about race, gender, and identity today. Have you heard someone refer to language as literal violence, or say that science is sexist? Or declare that being obese is healthy, or that there is no such thing as biological sex? Or that valuing hard work, individualism, and even punctuality is evidence of white supremacy? Or that only certain people—depending on their race, gender, or identity—should be allowed to wear certain clothes or hairstyles, cook certain foods, write certain characters, or play certain roles? If so, then you've encountered these ideas. As this reader-friendly adaptation of the internationally acclaimed bestseller Cynical Theories explains, however, the truth is that many of these ideas are recent inventions, are not grounded in scientific fact, and do not account for the sheer complexity of social reality and human experience. In fact, these beliefs often deny and even undermine the very principles on which liberal democratic societies are built—the very ideas that have allowed for unprecedented human progress, lifted standards of living across the world, and given us the opportunity and right to consider and debate these ideas in the first place! Ultimately, this is a book about what it truly means to have a just and equal society—and how best to get there. Cynical Theories is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller. Named a 2020 Book of the Year by The Times, Sunday Times, and Financial Times, it is being translated into more than fifteen languages.

Why Many Popular Answers to Important Questions of Race, Gender, and Identity Are Wrong--and How to Know What's Right: A Reader-Friendly Remix of Cynical Theories

Social (In)justice

Fatima Jibrell

Fatima iyo James waxaa ay ku dadaaleen in Buugga Nabad iyo Caano ay ku soo bandhigaan quruxda iyo bilicda dhulkeenu leeyahay, masiibada ku habsatay iyo dadaalka dadkiisu ku jiraan. Waxaa kale oo ay noo iftiimiyeen waxtarka dhulku leeyahay iyo firfircoonida baacmushtarka soomaalida. Fikirka aan buuggan ka qaatay waxaa weeye hodontinimada iyo muuqaalka qurxoon ee dhulkeena oo ay ku gadaaman yahiin iftiinka bilicda leh ee Bada cas iyo Bada Hindia, iyo sida ay u baabi'inayaan tuugada caalamiga ah ee Badaha xaaqa ugaarsadana khayraadkeena. Nabad iyo Caano waxaa uu ka mid yahay dadaalada ay wadaan dadka ilaaliya khayraadka iyo barwaaqada Eebe uu dhulkeena ku manastay. Fatima iyo James, waxaan uga mahadinayaa daymadooda aragtida qurxoon, iyo sida ay noola wadaageen muuqaalada ilwaada leh oo dalkeena yo dadkeenu leeyihiin, barnaamijkaanina waxaa naga mudan yahay in aan siino gacan aan kala har lahayn.

NABAD IYO CAANO: Muuqaalo Laga Soo Qaaday Gobolada Waqooyi Bari Ee Soomaaliya

Recent Advances in Theistic Philosophy of Religion

'Exposes the surprisingly shallow intellectual roots of the movements that appear to be engulfing our culture' - Steven Pinker Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Have you read that certain people shouldn't practise yoga or cook Chinese food? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only white people can be racist? In Cynical Theories, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution and the dogma behind these ideas. While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how this often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalised communities it claims to champion. They also detail its alarmingly inconsistent and illiberal ethics. Only through a proper understanding of the evolution of these ideas, they conclude, can those who value science, reason and consistently liberal ethics successfully challenge this harmful and authoritarian orthodoxy - in the academy, in culture and beyond.

How Universities Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity - and Why This Harms Everybody

Marc Lindsay

The Elder Trials

The Raven's Prophecy

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Psychology of Belief

Peter Boghossian Dr.

In den Zeiten von Trump, AfD und Social-Media-Shitstorms scheint es fast unmöglich geworden zu sein, ein vernünftiges Gespräch mit einem Gegenüber zu führen, das eine andere Meinung vertritt. Hitzige Debatten über kontroverse Themen führen oft zu Beschimpfungen und Schuldzuweisungen, was jede Möglichkeit eines produktiven Diskurses verhindert. In Die Kunst, schwierige Gespräche zu meistern zeigen die Kommunikationsexperten Dr. Peter Boghossian und Dr. James Lindsay originelle Wege, wie Sie effektiv diskutieren, schlichten, behutsam überzeugen und so konstruktive Diskussionen führen können – auch wenn die Geister gespalten sind. Die Autoren erklären, wie Sie auch mit dem stursten Gegenüber eine offene und gelungene Debatte führen können. Mit sieben Grundprinzipien für ein gelungenes Gespräch, fünf Möglichkeiten, jemanden umzustimmen, und fünf Kompetenzen für emotional aufgeladene Themen sind Sie künftig für jede Diskussion gewappnet – ob mit Experten, Extremisten, Spinnern oder Politikern. Dieses Buch ist das unverzichtbare Handbuch für jeden, der ein Klima von Respekt, Verbundenheit und Empathie aufbauen und überzeugend auftreten will.

Effektiv argumentieren, hitzige Diskussionen entschärfen und Gesprächspartner überzeugen

Die Kunst, schwierige Gespräche zu meistern

Watch a funnel cloud pick a fight with a Ferris wheel! Visit ghost towns of Ontario and China! Tour the reclaimed Goldrush Hotel! Meet the genius who realized windows are the opposite of mirrors! Witness critics who wrangle yeti! Learn about worms that like to be watched! With fantastical imagery and sharp pacing, these lines pull you into a carnival world where Stephen Harper might walk you to school, and Gordon Lish takes over a poem. In the pages of James Lindsay's incredible new book, Our Inland Sea, you will discover all these marvels and many more.

Our Inland Sea

Does God exist? Does He do anything in this world? Famous authors like Richard Dawkins suggest strongly that it is very unlikely, but how unlikely is it? God Doesn't; We Do brings James A. Lindsay's mathematical expertise to the question and is able to put the matter under a microscope only available through an understanding of abstract mathematics, which he makes accessible to any reader. Because of that, this book will change the conversation about the existence of God. The central theme of this book, though, points out that even if there were a God, we have no reason to believe He does anything at all in this world. Thus the responsibility is on us, as it always has been, to make our world what it will be. From the back cover: Our world is one that is full of difficult challenges, and many people still turn to God for solutions or credit Him with ones that they find. The time for that kind of superstition is long passed. God Doesn't; We Do seeks to address the topic on philosophical grounds, making appeals to a scientific mindset and evidence-based decision making in fields where religion has dominated for centuries, including morality, politics, and even spirituality. The title really says it all- God Doesn't; We Do: Only Humans Can Solve Human Challenges.

Only Humans Can Solve Human Challenges

God Doesn't; We Do

BOOK OF THE YEAR in The Times, the Sunday Times and the Financial Times Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only white people can be racist? Are you confused by these ideas, and do you wonder how they have managed so quickly to challenge the very logic of Western society? Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma behind these ideas, from its origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields. Today this dogma is recognisable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media pile-ons, as by its assertions, which are all too often taken as read: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous. As they warn, the unchecked proliferation of these beliefs present a threat to liberal democracy. While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalised communities it claims to champion.

Life is short, and it can be sweet. Contemplating death is looking into a mirror that allows us to see these simple facts clearly, as if for the first time. We have every reason to believe that we have but one life to live—and no good reasons to believe otherwise—and death marks the termination of each life. Examining this reality opens doors to understanding ourselves, each other, connection, love, and life itself in an entirely new way. Life in Light of Death offers a short exploration of the sweetness and opportunity available to those who understand and embrace this fact. By looking at life as reflected by death, we can see what really matters and how best to live.

James Lindsay

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