This just in — a display of our beautiful Collected Works of C.G. Jung series has been spotted at Librarie Galignani in Paris, which was the first bookshop for English-speakers on the European continent! If you find yourself strolling down the rue de Rivoli any time soon, pop in and have a look for yourself. If Paris is not in your near future, check out some of the lovely past window displays on the bookstore’s website!
“It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.”
We were thrilled to read Jennifer Schuessler’s terrific story on the popular phenomenon of bar lecturing (and not in an intoxicated way, but a learned way!) Check out her story here. It looks like alcohol and science is a powerful (and successful) formula.
The Press is pleased to have had the pleasure of working with the Secret Science Club as they’ve hosted talks for a handful of our science authors. In particular, I was delighted to see friend-of-the-Press Dorian Devins at the SSC getting a mention!
The New York Times Book Review says: ” Soul Dust, Nicholas Humphrey’s new book about consciousness, is seductive–early 1960s, ‘Mad Men’ seductive. His writing is as elegant, and hypnotic, as that cool jazz stacked on the record player. His argument feels as crystalline and bracing as that double martini going down, though you might find yourself a little woozy afterward. And his tone is as warm and inviting as that big, crackling fire, even if the dim flicker does leave things a bit obscure in the corners.”
– Alison Gopnik
Nicholas Humphrey, author of Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness, spoke to journalist Kenneth Baker about his original view on consciousness: Humphrey claims that vivid consciousness makes us happy to be alive. This perspective is a result of Humphrey’s specific approach to the “consciousness problem”:
I’ve tried to understand the function of consciousness. Let’s not think about it as a cognitive skill but as a kind of theater, something we lay on in our own heads about who we are and the world in which we’re living. Let’s ask how does consciousness as we experience it affect people’s attitudes toward life… I say that consciousness is a performance we put on, and philosophers who have disparaged the so-called Cartesian theater of the mind have misunderstood the nature of theater. I think the world we make is in no way a simulacrum of the world.
Daniel Hamermesh, UT Economist and author of Beauty Pays, created a series of five videos describing his research. This first is on the relationship between beauty and Happiness–check back for more on the PUP blog!
According to this web site, Jung and Freud are tops when it comes to academic fist-fights:
Probably one of the most famous rivalries in all of “Western” philosophy and science, Sigmund Freud started out as one of Carl Jung’s most beloved mentors before their close relationship soured. Now considered psychoanalysis’ two daddies, the intellectual juggernauts split mainly because of one massive disagreement — specifically, regarding the human unconscious. Jung didn’t believe his veritable Mr. Miyagi of all things psychological took it seriously enough. Their theories about suppressed and repressed thoughts and emotions lurking in the unconscious existed in harmony, but once Jung proposed the collective unconscious, everything began unraveling. His mentor proposed a structure involving some degree of collectivism, of course, though Jung considered it far bigger and more significant. Freud, on the other hand, saw the unconscious as a supplement to the overall psyche rather than its own unique, influential entity.
Which is good news for PUP as we will publish a new paperback titled Jung Contra Freud: The 1912 New York Lectures on the Theory of Psychoanalysis in December. These lectures, give in the autumn of 1912 are the pivotal moment that ignited this famous feud. This is where C. G. Jung set out his critique and reformulation of the theory of psychoanalysis. He challenged Freud’s understandings of sexuality, the origins of neuroses, dream interpretation, and the unconscious, and also became the first to argue that every analyst should themselves be analyzed.
While some parts of this material have previously appeared in Jung collections, the lectures in their entirety have never before been published as a separate volume. And as if that wasn’t enough, the book also features an introduction by Sonu Shamdasani, Philemon Professor of Jung History at University College London, and editor of Jung’s Red Book.
FACT: Among the slaughtered remains found in the Drakensberg Mountains is a now-extinct giant buffalo Pelovoris antiquus, which weighed almost 2000 kilograms and whose modern-day (smaller) descendant is one of the most dangerous game animals in Africa (Milo1998).
In A Cooperative Species, Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis—pioneers in the new experimental and evolutionary science of human behavior—show that the central issue is not why selfish people act generously, but instead how genetic and cultural evolution has produced a species in which substantial numbers make sacrifices to uphold ethical norms and to help even total strangers.
Using experimental, archaeological, genetic, and ethnographic data to calibrate models of the coevolution of genes and culture as well as prehistoric warfare and other forms of group competition, A Cooperative Species provides a compelling and novel account of how humans came to be moral and cooperative.
“Bowles and Gintis stress that cooperation among individuals who are only distantly related is a critical distinguishing feature of the human species. They argue forcefully that the best explanation for such cooperation is altruism. Many will dispute this claim, but it deserves serious consideration.”—Eric Maskin, Nobel Laureate in Economics
When confronted with an ethical dilemma, most of us like to think we would
stand up for our principles. But we are not as ethical as we think we are. This week’s book giveaway, Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do about It by Max H. Bazerman & Ann E. Tenbrunsel, examines the ways we overestimate our ability to do what is right and how we act unethically without meaning to. From the collapse of Enron and corruption in the tobacco industry, to sales of the defective Ford Pinto and the downfall of Bernard Madoff, the authors investigate the nature of ethical failures in the business world and beyond, and illustrate how we can become more ethical, bridging the gap between who we are and who we want to be.
“When we think of unethical behavior, the images that often come to mind are those of robbers, thieves, the executives at Enron, or Bernie Madoff. Blind Spots is not just about these criminals, but about a much larger problem—the dishonest actions that we all take while still thinking of ourselves as wonderfully moral people. In this important book, Bazerman and Tenbrunsel show us how we fail to see our own immoral actions in an objective light, and the trouble that this biased view gets us into.”—Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational
The random draw for this book with be Friday 6/24 at 11 am EST. Be sure to “Like” us on Facebook if you haven’t already to be entered to win!
Our author and psychologist Nicholas Humphrey explored the purpose and meaning of consciousness in his new book SOUL DUST: The Magic of Consciousness on Wisconsin Public Radio’s terrific show Veronica Rueckert Show last Friday, May 13. They explore how consciousness is possible, what biological purpose it serves, And why we value it so highly in this absorbing interview.
We’re all hypocrites. Why? Hypocrisy is the natural state of the human mind. In his new book, Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite, Robert Kurzban shows us that the key to understanding our behavioral inconsistencies lies in understanding the mind’s design. Don’t miss your chance to see Professor Kurzban at these two upcoming events, where he will explain to you the roots and implications of our inconsistent minds, and why it is perfectly natural to believe that everyone else is a hypocrite.
Date: Tomorrow, Thursday, March 31.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Avenue, Seattle, WA.
The Invisible Hand is one of the best podcast shows available online for in-depth interviews with smart people. It is a lot of fun to dip into their archives. For example, I see they recently spoke with Elizabeth Currid, a former PUP author, about her new book Starstruck.
Featuring commentary and interviews from Princeton University Press authors, the PUP Blog is a highly respected, timely and indispensable source for learning, understanding and reflection.
I've now read the full Cato Journal immigration issue cover-to-cover. Leaving aside my lead article, here are my brief reactions:1. Gordon Hanson, "Immigration and Economic Growth." Pretty good, especially on the interaction between high-skilled native labor and low-skilled immigrant labor:One contribution of low-skilled immigrants is to mak […]
It’s being called the “negative salary”: Due to austerity measures in Greece, it’s being reported that up to 64,000 Greeks will go without pay this month, and some will have to pay for having a job. Numbers in austerity reports have usually reflected figures in the millions, since they reflect industry-wide cuts (i.e. a 537-million euro cut to […]
1. New Carl Zimmer project on science eBook reviews. 2. Empirical tests of how much “cold start” is a problem in labor economics. From this general blog on on-line labor markets and their implications. 3. Markets in everything: dog TV. 4. NYT symposium on the farm bill, including yours truly. 5. Whorfian economics. 6. CrookedTimber […]
In our Freakonomics: What Went Wrong article, Kaiser and I wrote: Levitt’s publishers characterize him as a “rogue economist,” yet he received his Ph.D. from MIT, holds the title of Alvin H. Baum Professor at the University of Chicago, and has served as editor of the completely mainstream Journal of Political Economy. Further “rogue” credentials […]
More than 8.5 million workers are now collecting disability insurance, in other words almost 6% of the labor force is officially disabled. Perhaps not surprisingly, disability applications shot up just as unemployment benefits started to exhaust. Applications are often denied so disability beneficiaries do not follow applications immediately. Denied applican […]
A showdown over the ALP leadership, and therefore the Prime Ministership, has been inevitable for some time, and Kevin Rudd has finally brought it on, resigning as Foreign Minister in the face of direct personal attacks from Simon Crean (himself, apparently, a covert contender for the top job) and others. Readers won’t be surprised to […]
From Scott Sumner, but endorsed by me in full: Take the current situation in the UK. If I’m not mistaken, the British political system is different from that in America. British governments are basically elected dictatorships, with no checks and balances. Even though the Bank of England is independent, the government can give it whatever […]
I’ve just finished reading Nicholas Wapshott’s enjoyable book I’ll be writing a full review for The Business Economist, so will save the detail for then. But one thing that struck me was actually a striking similarity between the two of … Continue reading → […]
According to this amusing diagram in Cracked, facial tattoos mean "I will never have a job that pays taxes." Many economists would presumably insist, "It's not causal. The kind of people who tattoo their faces just have low productivity." I admit that selection is part of reason why people with face tattoos rarely make the big buc […]
This just in — a display of our beautiful Collected Works of C.G. Jung series has been spotted at Librarie Galignani in Paris, which was the first bookshop for English-speakers on the European continent! If you find yourself strolling down the rue de Rivoli any time soon, pop in and have a look for yourself. If Paris is not in your near future, check out some of the lovely past window displays on the bookstore’s website!
Our author and psychologist Nicholas Humphrey explored the purpose and meaning of consciousness in his new book 
