Interesting study in perception.
930978
Interesting character study and how perception frames events.
3123432
I liked the points that were chosen and the manner in which they were articulated and explained, it makes us think and look closer at these behaviours which in turn improves our perceptions.
1764758
Noe convincingly makes the point that perception (especially vision) is not anything like what a camera does.  Vision is an activity of the whole organism, and what we see are meaningful affordances, not "snapshots" of scenes.  He makes much of the "hidden gorilla" experiments demonstrating change blindness to illustrate that we do not see everything that is there, only what we expect, want, and need to see.  Easy to read, mind-stretching ideas.  However, he is ultimately, like Gibson, a physicalist and a realist, appealing in the end to a neurological homunculus, as all physicalists must. So there isn't much to push the philosophy of perception. Gibson said all this in 1966 and 1979. But for a concise, empirically based definition of perception as action, this is it.
1794635
Myers does a magnificant job of depicting the human mind, and the surroundings that affect are daily lives. He brins up theories and thoughts that most would have never considered. It is a bit of a Higher Level book. Recommended to anyone who has ever had in interest in psychology, or social  psychology.
57428
Thoughtful study of what it means to be human (or sentient AI, for the picky), through a study of a trio of characters in a strange environment. Some might find the pacing slow. I found it perfect for the philosophical study of the three main characters and who they were coming into the movie, what they saw, how they reacted and what they became. [Minor spoiler follows] My only nitpick was the ending and how one of the characters was abandoned. Still not sure if that was a statement on what it is to be human, or something darker and more intentional by the character who did the abandoning.
1529015
Interesting  and enlightening analysis of the historical and political context in which these events take place .
Quite believable interpretation of the psychology and motivations of the protagonist .
I tend to believe that this novel is closer to reality than the official historical "truth " .
4645403
Very perceptive about those who have brains that experience the world differently.
2875880
Even though this book is well-written and organized, the facts within it may appear somewhat intellectual, which makes it vital for readers to browse through the lines a second time before the full meanings can sink into one's head. However, it teaches you how to use your intuitive senses to analyse things and gain a more in-depth perception of matters. Such a book will probably appeal to psychologists and readers who are interested in scientific facts.
1851869
This is a thought-provoking, psychological study of a boy turning the corner into adulthood, who is facing a moral decision that is bigger than he is. Where the story take place, or the mundane details of the society in which he lives, are not as important as the development of his character, which is the focus and intent of the film. It's not a movie for those who cannot recognize evil behind a smiling face, or violence without gore, or enemies without a chase. I did not find it "slow," I found it compelling. This film affected me much like The Pawnbroker, where the plot is not based on action, but rather on a character trying to come to grips with what life has dealt him.

There is much here for those who can look beneath the surface. The final scene is left intentionally ambiguous, but if your understanding evolves along with the boy's, you will have a good idea how it ends.
366692
Stephen Kern conducts an innovative examination of the way in which new perceptions of time and space influenced ideas, philosophies, art forms, behavior, politics, and foreign relations.  Kern is able to connect such seemingly unrelated topics as the sinking of the RMS Titanic and Friedrich Nietzche's evaluation of the present (an approach he calls "conceptual distance") to create a better understanding of the changing attitudes concerning time and space at the turn of the twentieth century.  As Kern points out, the study of such an array of diverse cultural elements in terms of temporal and spatial experiences is essential because time and space are universal.  All peoples experience time and space.  Ultimately, he explains how the changing notions of time and space culminated in the diplomatic breakdown which led to the First World War.
This study is very intriguing, but there are weaknesses in his many conclusions.  On the cinema, for example, certainly, it was exciting for viewers to see, for the first time, a man running backwards on the screen; however, it is difficult to take from such experiences the assertion that viewers changed their attitudes regarding time outside the theatre.  Although some memebers of the audience indeed ducked at the sight of an oncoming locomotive on the screen, one must assume that viewers were able to distinguish between what they saw in the theatres and their experiences in real life.  More convincing is Kern's argument that the cinema promoted a sense of temporal world unity (displaying a global sense of time through newsreels, etc.).
His main argument regarding the July crisis is also a little weak.  Briefly, Kerns maintains that the preoccupation with speed (especially with the fast, impersonal telegraph) caused diplomacy to fail due to rapid, ill-considered responses to events (the assassiantion of Archduke Ferdinand) and the short time limit given to the Serbian government to respond to Austria's ultimatum.  Certainly there were failures in diplomacy before the telegraph.  Moreover, it could be argued that the telegraph had the potential of making accidental conflicts less likely than before because it allowed for immediate decisions to be made by governments at home rather than by military officers and soldiers abroad (i.e. the Cuban Missile Crisis, although this was--of course--outside of Kern's period of study).  It is also a little hard to swallow that the wonderful technological, philosophical, cultural advances and changes of this period were steering the world to an irreversible path of destruction.
Despite these weaknesses, this work is a must have for students of this period because it covers such a broad range of topics and links them into an intriguing and ambitious theory.  It really prompted me to think about this period (my favorite period of history) with a very broad brush.
2078425
I have worked in television news, and my experiences have left me wondering about the parts of our culture that we embraced and that which we ignored.  So, as I began to do some graduate study research, I thought this book would be interesting.  Comparing the U. S. system to a different culture such as India's help us gain insight into what we do and why, so I enjoyed the book, as well as the author's style and insight.
3459514
Philosophers tell us that there is no way one person can every truly know how another experiences the world. You and I may both call a rose "red", but what proof do we have that we both experience the same phenomenological experience of red? Maybe what you experience when you see a rose is what I call blue. Given that gulf in understanding even within our own species, how can we ever know what it's like to be a bird?

We can't, of course. What author Tim Birkhead is giving us is something a bit less ambitious but just as interesting: What is the perceptual world of a bird like? How does it differ from ours, and how is it similar? He begins his investigation with a remark made by his mother when she was told that dogs see in black and white. How, she demanded, could a person know such a thing? It sounds just like the problem described above, but made even more difficult due to the lack of a common languages.

Luckily there's a way around this. I may not ever know what your inner experience of red is, but so long as we call the same things red, we know that we share a similar perceptual system. If I should run across someone who can't make the same distinctions I can between red and blue, or green and yellow, I would be justified in thinking they don't see those distinctions. Language is not necessary to do this sort of an investigation. I can put out six different colored bowls for a dog every day, switching the order, but always putting the food in the red bowl. If the dog doesn't go immediately to the red bowl after a few days, I might assume that it's because he can't see the difference. (To do this correctly would involve matching the luminance of each bowl exactly, of course, but we're just talking theory here.)

Birds, as it happens, can see into the ultraviolet, a portion of the spectrum that is denied to us. And it turns out that the natural world looks very different in ultraviolet than it does in our limited vision. A good many plants and animals have patterns that are only visible to one who can see in the ultraviolet region, and that has important consequences for both birds and the scientists who study them. If you're studying the feeding patterns of a particular bird, and you don't know that two otherwise identical appearing plants or butterflies look very different from one another in ultraviolet light, you may find yourself scratching your head wondering why they feed on one, and not the other. What may be very purposive behavior may appear totally random to you.

Some aspects of the bird's world, like ultraviolet vision, are best investigated behaviorally or ecologically. Others require a closer look. When the eyes of some birds known for having particularly acute vision were first dissected, it was discovered that each eye had two foveas. The fovea is the area where the concentration of receptors is highest, and having more than one fovea would give the possessor both increased light sensitivity and increased resolution.

I've only touched the surface here. Birkhead looks at a variety of species, and the whole perceptual universe- vision, smell, touch, taste, and things like birds' reputed ability to perceive magnetic fields. If you find this sort of thing as fascinating as I do, you will find this book an absolute delight. I certainly did.
3195807
Interesting and believable. Even though Emoto doesn't have  a million dollars to do all of the double blind studies that would satisfy (maybe) the skeptics) what he writes makes sense. And more studies will come in time.
1839144
This book provides an interesting view of life that could be useful to many people.
4491510
It interesting concept. Thought provoking in various ways. It is interesting to see how things can look from another perspective. Shows how we as people can often miss that. Same with case and effect. Well written but I did feel it was a bit slow and dry at times. While short I can't say it was a fast read for me.
3025376
Its not technique as title suggests, but a beautiful examination of how we can think and feel about capturing what we see. Memorable nuggets. Funny too.
4222177
Excellent read for those people wanting to discover there is more to life than what our 5 senses can observe.