Incredible - mind expanding ideas
596111
Even if you think "humans are the ultimate of creation" you need to read this book because it's an education about energy, and so many other possibilities.  This is a book you won't want to end.
4536421
From my perspective, "Self-Theories," is incredible. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating!  I guarantee that if you are not familiar with Dr Carol Dweck's work you will have the equivalent of an epiphany when you read this.  It is hard to believe that these theories have escaped popular culture and remained hidden.

Carol Dweck would deny it, but she is a genius. The proof of her theories are borne out in these pages. The light-bulb part is that when you read them; it's a real "Ah-Ha!" moment.  It is something that we see glimpses of in ourselves but precious few have truly understood.  Things become clearer and clearer with each chapter.

The crux of it is that there are people, children and adults, which have an attitude of mastery or growth mindset.  These people shrug off failures, mistakes and difficulty with subjects and work at incremental growth. They develop their abilities.  The rest of us, have this belief in their abilities and an attitude that if you are gifted then things will come naturally.  These people have a tendency to dislike effort, struggles and incremental growth because they see it as a weakness.  For the growth mindset people they see the big picture and develop new strategies to overcome.

It is similar to the two different schools of economic theory; either you believe that economies are STATIC and there is only so much wealth to go around and so legislate to equalize wealth; or you believe economies are DYNAMIC and grow, therefore increasing wealth through successful strategies and encourage risk and experimentation.  The static would be equivalent to ability or scarcity mindset and the dynamic would be equivalent to the mastery or growth mindset.

The thing is, when you look at raising children we all want them to succeed at whatever they try.  Parents look for any sign that their child might be gifted and have some inborn ability that shines above their peers. But this is folly, because they praise the exact opposite of what they should.  They praise the child's ability and not their effort.  From this the child gets the message that, "I am good at this without effort, and people like me for it."  The problem arises when it is time to move on from their juvenile abilities and grow stronger and more able, but they hold back.  They hold back because they don't want to destroy their image of a "natural" they don't want to loose the praise they once had.  This turns out to be a death spiral for any real gifts they might have had.  Too bad too, all it takes is a slight change of the phrases used with young people.

Parents, teacher and coaches alike should read and re-read this work.  It is the clinical stuff but in my opinion it is better than Mindset.  Mindset is also excellent stuff but is more anecdotal and less about the cases and discovery in the studies.
430378
Pinchbeck's book was absolutely riveting for me. While I have no experience whatsoever with hallucinogens, I have had similar experiences, albeit not quite as intense as he describes, as a practicing mystic. He has an engaging journalistic style. I picked up the book after watching the 2 hour Manifesting the Mind video; I found his thoughts there most curiosity piquing, and, along with this book, I am driven to research much more deeply on the subject.

I keep reading his final chapter over and over. It is creating a new paradigm shift for me, leading me to greater awareness and action. Reading his conclusion as well as the conclusions of other authors I have read subsequently, thanks to Pinchbeck's references, has been a huge Aha! experience for me. His book can be a "breaking open the head" kind of experience for anyone who approaches it with an open mind and a willingness to "test all things." The concepts to which this new thinking has led me reach back to my childhood, bringing many more pieces of the puzzle together for me.
2160761
I read this book in Hebrew, and I am waiting for more copies of the English translation to re-appear on Amazon, as I very much wish to send copies to many of my friends as presents for various occasions.  The book is brilliant:  It presents a few existing theories for each of the observations described in the different chapters, without pushing one over the other.  However, the emerging picture is that humans rose  to their undisputed rulers and controllers of earth by having the ability to imagine things that do not exist at all... Absolutely fascinating.  It is written very well  with humor, and after the first chapter, you will find it difficult to stop reading (unless you want to take a few minutes after every several pages  to contemplate the wealth of described facts and the new ideas!)
1408631
Although this book has been out quite some time now, I decided to post a review because I am today appreciating the effect that some of the concepts in this book have had on my life, literally every day, since I encountered them.  And I believe I have been a better person (certainly happier) for them.

All of us have pivotal moments in our lives, an event, an interaction; something that occurs and we are forever changed.  Whether for better or worse, the momentus impact of such events carry incredible power.  One of those moments occured for me with this terrific book, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.  I can remember everything about the moment.  I had driven to Texas to help my daughter move back to TCU for the up-coming semester.  Its a long drive (9 hours) and I knew I'd need to entertain myself on the way back, so I bought this book in audio form.  At this time of my life, I was struggling with a number of difficult things, and holding onto an enormous amount of resentment and anger.  As I traveled the Texas countryside, deftly avoiding hitting armadillos, I began to be captivated by the words being delivered by this man with, to my ear, a kinda funky accent.  And then he starting talking about the concept that struck me so powerfully I literally had to pull off the road and just listen and absorb.  Eckhart was discussing his notion that much of the time we are 'asleep', reacting out of habit to the events and people.  He talked about being angry at people when they are carrying out their mindless programming is as silly as being mad at an insane person.  They are simply unaware.  This was a life-altering moment for me, I shed an incredible burden of weight of anger and resentment, it happened so fast as my own eyes were opened.  And I have been grateful ever since.  The awareness evoked by the ideas in this book are incredible and timeless.
929922
When I initially agreed to read this book--I truly thought it was going to be another "self-help", "harness your brain's power" book.  I was still interested--as these concepts always intrigue me.  Then--the book wasn't that--and, I absolutely loved it.  Katz introduced us to his gifts of the mind through a fictional, suspenseful story.  This was a wonderful way to challenge our thought processes--and teach something without actually teaching or preaching.

I loved the author's writing style and I loved the character interaction.  Everyone was open to new experiences--and everyone had a curious spark for learning.  This was the perfect setting for this novel.  I couldn't put it down--and I found his perspectives interesting, and perhaps even feasible and reasonable for my own life.

Would I recommend Five Gifts for the Mind by Eran Katz?  I love learning about the mind and the brain's potential.  I love learning even more when I don't feel that I'm back in my college psych or sociology lectures.  This book is perfect for anyone--at any level of education--to consider the gifts and the possibilities of the mind.  The fictional story is interesting, well written and engaging--I had to follow the characters through their quest--and make my own discoveries and realizations along with them.  I loved this book.  While it's not a "self help" book--so to speak--I think the writing style and format makes it so accessible to such a wide audience that it suits its goals perfectly.  If you are interested in the mind and in harnessing its many powers--give this book a read.  The format will surprise you--but, the story will also enlighten you as you go.
1652094
The Einstein Factor is quite posiibly the most thought provoking book I have ever read.  It elicited a change in my veiw of intelligence and even the world.  Many reveiwers have complained about individual aspects of the book, but there so many different exercises written about nearly everyone should find the book helpful.  The main focus of the book is image streaming which is basically mental imagery.  If one were to simply think for a moment the thought of increased mental imagery would stimulate the brain.  The Einstein Factor just explains tested methods that found the best success.  The book is highly readable and can easily be digested in a couple days.  I bought the book being highly skeptical, but the book is introducing an unheard of outlandish principle, it is merely bringing to the readers attention.  I don't agree with everything the author says, but he provides such a large pallet to sample from the reader will find several useful cerebral exercises.

In other words buy the book.
1396573
For me, the ultimate evaluation of a non-fiction book comes from how much the reading of it changes the way you think or behave.  This book is like a peek into humanity from somewhere beyond time and space that is both inspiring and comforting.  In the final chapters, Wright paints an exciting future that is ripe with new possibilities and transcends the boundaries between science and religion.  He manages to explore ideas with incredibly profound religious and scientific implications in a way that is accessible and enjoyable for the reader.

Wright's ideas about an evolution towards increasing cooperation and "non-zero sumness" (and eventually possibly a shared global consciousness) are admittedly speculative.  But whether you believe his hypotheses or not, you can't help but be changed by thinking about them.  I think of this books as one of the best books of the past decade and think it is a must-read for anyone, but especially those working in science, religion or politics.
1785492
I devoured this book on my recent vacation. It is a book that explores ideas -- and the implicantions of those ideas on relationships and the world.  The main character, John Fast has a lot of ideas.  It is amazing just how many ideas he has, and how the ideas link to other great minds we have read about.

We all know people who live in the world of ideas and witness how this spills over to realtionshps in ways they sometimes struggle to understand, no matter how impressive are their ideas.  I felt drawn to Fast, and annoyed by him.  And isn't this push pill affect the very nature of relationships? Now that I know what happens to Fast and his ideas, I want to read it again and think more about the ideas he devoted his life to untangling.  This is a book you will want to read.... and reread. A facinating book!
1938645
This book is fantastic.  It really makes you think.  Very creative ideas combined with great writing make for a quick and mind-expanding read.
4765470
This is a wonderful read, with illuminating ideas that opened my mind to many possibilities. I strongly recommend the book.
2097879
I learned quite a bit from this book. The brain is even more amazing than I had ever imagined. Mr. Kaku explores the intricacies of the different areas of the brain, how memories are stored, how the eyes work with the brain to allow us to see a seamless picture of the world, and so many other things that I didn't know about. He discusses dreams, and how the mind uses sleep. He talks about telekinesis, and how the mind can make artificial limbs move.

Mr. Kaku then goes on to postulate different possibilities for the future of the human mind. He explores different methods to capture the whole of a human's mind, and store it, or transfer it to computer memory, or maybe even a light-beam. He says that a laser may be able to transfer the mind to the body of an avatar on a distant planet, at the speed of light. That way we wouldn't have to travel great distances in a slow rocket. He also talks about the alien mind. How we might be different, so different that we could come in contact and never even know. He compares our minds to alien minds, like how we see insects, or other animals in comparison to ourselves.

This was a very interesting science book. Mr. Kaku never talks down to you. He doesn't use a lot of scientific jargon. Everything is understandable, without feeling like a grade school science book. There is a lot of meat to this book. He brought up some ideas that seemed to be prefect science fiction plots. I will have to keep them in mind and see who uses them first.

This was a very well written, and entertaining scientific look at the human mind. I give The Future of the Mind 4 1/2 Stars out of 5 and A Big Thumbs Up. I recommend it to anyone who ever wondered what goes on inside their skull, how it all works so well, or maybe so badly.

I received this Digital Review Copy for free from edelweiss.com.
4858771
I received the book a few days ago. I have ben reading for hours and hours, with just a few necessary breaks for digesting, reflecting, accepting and bringing my own thoughts together. This is one of the few books that is not just interesting when it comes to theory and methods. What makes it special is the mixture of theories and the authors own thoughts, experiences and break through thinking.

It has ben hard to lay the book aside, because it is so intense. And I know this is a book that I will read over and over again - with longer breaks under way - in order to have time for my own thinking. Soon it is time for summer vacation - then I will have lots of time to read the book again - at a lower pace - with the time to let my thougts wander. This is the kind of book that easily trap ones mind up to its own thinking.

To be more precise, what I found so interesting about this book:

- The Blind Spot - our unability to see our own weaknesses, what we do not understand and what we hide from.
- And, what is even more interesting: How to illuminate thr Blind Spot and make it clear to us how it stands in our way of dealing with life in a constructive way. We all have these Blind Spots - and we are unaware about them. Otto Scharmers openness in reveling his own Blind Spots through true life anecdotes made me see some of my own Blind Spots and gave me the will, the commitment and the power to face them. Facing them and seeing how they stand in the way of my True Self gave me the Willpower and Leverage to Confront them without hesitation or fear.
- Behind the Blind Spot lies possibilites to understand what we may be - what kind of a future we can create - in our Full Potential. Otto Scharmer calls this Presencing, which is a good descrption for the process the book led me into.

If you are working with development of organsizations, employees or leaders this book gives you the understanding of  the limited outcomes of "Downloading" - which is the most common way of teaching - and what you get out of bringing people through experiences of opening, mind, heart and start to presence the possible future.

This book will probably be a milestone for understanding more of how teaching, laerning happens and that there is more to working with of people, organizations and social systems than we have understood so far.
3661824
I couldn't put this book down and was able understand what he was telling me as a reader.  Michio Kau is able to describe incredible science and technology inventions/discoveries so that the average person can understand their potential advantages to the world as we know it. We are truly living in amazing times and there are some incredible minds doing incredible things.  I will reread this book many times.  It's my bible.
4008089
Amazing inspirations and information. I highly recommend this book that will stir up
 Something inside of you and at the same time make you discover hidden abilities and potentials within.
20954
Fascinating and mind blowing! Certainly from that category of books - "you don't become literate until you have read this book."

Some examples of technological changes may seem a bit over-glamorized (particularly if you are engaged in tech job), however if you look past them and focus on their broader arguments and their subtle insights, you will find it persuasive, and beautifully written book. For this kind of topic it is remarkably easy to understand/follow and hard to put down.

You may have noted, unlike other reviews I haven't mentioned any of the ideas or examples from this book or what this book is about here in this review, this is intentional. There is no way I can write or summarize the remarkable ideas and insights from this book better than the authors. Please go read this book and do it now!
4120972
This book totally blew my mind when I first read it, maybe more than any other book since. Kundera has a way of looking at the world that is totally unique and pretty enlightening, and although I didn't understand everything he said at the time, I feel like his sharing that view with readers is an incredible gift. None of his other books grasp it quite as completely (although several other people I've talked to also say that the first one of his they read was the best, whatever it was). Read it, read it young, and let its ideas float around in your mind forever- you'll be a more complex thinker, I guarantee it. (I'm not sure how much my guarantee means to you, but it means a lot to me)