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Free Download Thinking, Fast and Slow By Daniel Kahneman
2011 | 499 Pages | ISBN: 0374275637 | EPUB | 1 MB
The guru to the gurus at last shares his knowledge with the rest of us. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's seminal studies in behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and happiness studies have influenced numerous other authors, including Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman at last offers his own, first book for the general public. It is a lucid and enlightening summary of his life's work. It will change the way you think about thinking. Two systems drive the way we think and make choices, Kahneman explains: System One is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System Two is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Examining how both systems function within the mind, Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities as well as the biases of fast thinking and the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and our choices. Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, he shows where we can trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking, contrasting the two-system view of the mind with the standard model of the rational economic agent. Kahneman's singularly influential work has transformed cognitive psychology and launched the new fields of behavioral economics and happiness studies. In this path-breaking book, Kahneman shows how the mind works, and offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and personal lives--and how we can guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble.

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Free Download Thinking about Consciousness By David Papineau
2004 | 168 Pages | ISBN: 0199271151 | PDF | 1 MB
-I give four stars (out of five) to this book because I think consciousness is a topic that deserves a lot of attention, and reflections on it, when dealt with in a scholarly manner, deserve full support. Also because this book does bring priceless contributions in some topics (especially in Papineau's "history of the completeness of physics," and in his "pessimism" about brain research finding the precise "spot" of consciousness). On the other hand, I cannot help directing (regretfully) acid criticism towards this work, for I think Papineau failed in many different fronts.The Four Cardinal Sins of this work, IMO, are:1- Papineau denies consciousness property status. He embraces ontological monism (i.e. "everything" is matter), conceptual dualism (material concepts are different from experiential/phenomenal concepts; i.e., not everything is part of the afore mentioned "everything"...), and, above all, no dualism of property! So, water may have the property of being (1) transparent, (2) fluid, (3) electro-conductive, and these properties may have different ontological histories, different structures, and different places in the Universe's causal-effect chain. Similarly, a living human body may have the property of being (1) opaque, (2) "hot" (i.e. somewhat above zero degrees Celsius), and (3) not liquid (I avoided saying "solid"...), but this very same body does not have the property of (4) having its brain-cortical neurons acting in ABC manner and (5) being conscious. Properties 4 and 5 are not different properties. They are the same!...2- Papineau does not analyze the "turning on" of consciousness, and its "turning off." To me, this is the most mysterious thing about consciousness, and it deserves an in-depth analysis, especially in its bio-physical dynamics (biology, physiology, physics). That is, what happens to a physical system at the very moment it becomes conscious? We have physical accounts for similar transitions: liquid to solid; opaque to transparent; cold rock to hot rock; etc. What about the moment when consciousness sparkles?3- Papineau does not deal with the issue of why consciousness came to be in this Universe of ours to begin with. That would be essential for trying to understand, from the point of view of evolutionary biology, why Humans are conscious and why Chips are not (yes, I meant chips, and not chimps ;-) ). What is the evolutionary advantage that consciousness bestows upon those who have it? As far as anyone knows, none whatsoever... Add to it that even Papineau himself does not trust the "mouthings" of those claiming to have consciousness (except when they are humans, though I am not sure why he accepts human mouthings in this regard...) and we are just up "rose" creek in our attempt of an evolutionary account of the emergence of consciousness!4- He does not theorize solidly and compellingly on the main thesis of his book, that is, explaining why the intuition of distinctness (i.e. brain is different from mind) is false. His hunch is that phenomenal (experiential) concepts (like "the redness of the red color") instantiate the things they refer to (that is, we bring to mind the very experience of seeing the red color), whereas material concepts (like "neurons in A-K-W arrangement") do not instantiate their referents. But in fact, he says (in my terms), "the redness of the red color" and "neurons in A-K-W arrangement" are one and the same material property! (though they are two different CONCEPTS). I think it is hardly plausible that this is the key to the intuition of distinctness. Water has many very different properties: it is fluid, it is cold sometimes, it is electro-conductive, it is made of H2O, and, in a very robust way, I do instantiate some of these properties (in my imagination) while thinking about them. Yet, I have no difficulty in merging all these "properties" into one entity. If I can easily merge two very different PROPERTIES into one identity (water), how come I have such difficulty in merging two different CONCEPTS? (of just one property!).It is easy to be a materialist if we sweep under the carpet these four items above... But, as it seems, even Papineau himself is having some trouble in hiding under his carpet the mighty dust and the dust mites (he too claims to be still kind of haunted by the intuition of distinctness).I think Papineau was weak or wanting in many other items too. I really missed actual brain-research data, and deep reflection upon this data, for instance: the bizarre dissociations reported by Susan Blackmore in mindfulness states, or in OBE states too (Dying to Live, 1993); and a deeper analysis of Libet's findings, and of Libet-like findings (Claxton, 1999, The Volitional Brain). His categorization of concepts as "referring directly" vs "referring by description" seemed to me somewhat artificial and mistaken. I felt a "begging-the-question flavour" when he said that no amount of book learning would make Mary "know" (experience) the redness of red, and in this I ended up (much to my own surprise!) agreeing with... Dennett!!! (that is, Dennett's view is, IMO, more coherent than Papineau's). Again I scented "begging the question" when he used as one of his three premisses (of his Definitive Materialist Argument) the idea that conscious states (volition) cause physical states (free willed behaviour). Some other times I found him rather incoherent or shallow. For instance, in his chapter on zombies, it seems that he declares zombies impossible because phenomenal concepts refer directly and there would, then, be no actual possibility that a being would have all my physical properties and yet lack my phenomenal ones. That would be ok for perfect clones. Anything less than "Godly crafting cloning perfection" would be, arguably, left out of this "impossibility"... In one curious passage, he claimed God Almighty Himself (omniscient) could not tell if an octopus has phenomenal consciousness (agreed), just as God can't tell whether he, Papineau, is...bald! (bewilderment!). (many pages onward he softened his claim, saying the Lord cannot tell who is balder, Papineau or his neighbour). In another instance we have, on the one hand, Papineau saying that phenomenal concepts are not associated with causal roles, and, on the other hand, him saying that phenomenal concepts are tools to track human experience (tools, but not role-performing...). A little bit confusing. Also, we get to learn that phenomenal concepts are vague, to the point of making it probably impossible to pinpoint what is the exact neuronal counterpart of them. However, these concepts are not so vague as to make the idea of human zombies possible... Philosophers!The bottom line is that I ended up not being able to get past my present panpsychist persuasion. It seems to me that there is a difference in a physical system (brain or whatever) before vs after it gets conscious. Consciousness is, then, something new in the scenario. Something rather like 1 + 1 = 3. And I am left with the feeling that the materialist account of consciousness leads us to a violation of energy conservation, or perhaps to something even worse than that... That is why I think we have only two options to keep our hearts at ease. Either we deny the existence of consciousness altogether, or we claim that it never comes or goes, it is always present. The latter view is that of panpsychism. However, beings like us, who "experience" interruptions of consciousness (by the way: how on Earth can anyone experience unconsciousness??!!...) are not likely to be fans of panpsychism. Perhaps it takes the wisdom of creatures like dolphins, that never sleep (they always keep half brain awake, in turns), to fully appreciate the virtues of this philosophy. As to its being the correct answer to the puzzle of consciousness, well, that is another story...Julio Siqueira-

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Free Download Thinking Like a Staff Software Engineer: A Career Guide to Technical Leadership, Pragmatic Growth, and Long-Term Impact (The Agentic AI Engineering Series Book 3)
English | December 17, 2025 | ASIN: B0G7ZWYN7Z | 237 pages | EPUB (True) | 598.37 KB
Most software engineers are taught how to work hard. Very few are taught how to think differently as responsibility grows. At some point in an engineering career, effort alone stops explaining outcomes. The problems become less clear. The feedback becomes vague. Expectations shift quietly-from delivering tasks to shaping outcomes. Thinking Like a Staff Software Engineer is written for that moment. This book is not about tools, frameworks, or promotion checklists. It is about the judgment, leverage, and decision-making that experienced engineers are expected to develop-but rarely receive explicit guidance on. Drawing from real patterns seen across teams and organizations, this book explores why capable engineers stall, why traditional career advice breaks down, and how senior contributors learn to operate effectively when clarity is incomplete and authority is limited. You'll learn how experienced engineers: Interpret problems instead of simply executing tasks Move forward responsibly when requirements are unclear Balance speed with judgment and timing Make impact visible without self-promotion Influence decisions without formal authority Choose work that changes outcomes, not just fills time Build trust through consistency, follow-through, and predictability Design careers that compound over years, not review cycles The chapters focus on common anti-patterns -such as over-reliance on busyness, heroics, waiting for permission, or avoiding conflict-and show how effective engineers correct them through better framing, communication, and system-level thinking. This book is especially relevant for engineers navigating the transition from mid-level to senior , senior to staff , or anyone operating in ambiguous, cross-team, high-leverage roles. Titles vary across companies, but the underlying expectations are remarkably consistent. If you are early in your career, this book may feel aspirational. If you are already senior, it will likely give language to experiences you recognize but haven't fully articulated. Thinking Like a Staff Software Engineer is a practical guide to growing impact without abandoning technical depth-and to becoming the kind of engineer others rely on when the work truly matters. Who this book is for Senior software engineers seeking greater impact Engineers operating without formal authority Individual contributors who want to remain technical Professionals focused on long-term career growth Who this book is not for Beginners learning programming fundamentals Readers looking for step-by-step promotion checklists Management or people-leadership handbooks If you're ready to move beyond execution and start shaping outcomes, order your copy today .

Free Download Think like an AI : The comprehensive beginner's playbook
English | December 23, 2025 | ASIN: B0GC7XT2GJ | 551 pages | Epub | 135.32 KB
'Think Like an AI' The Comprehensive Beginner's PlaybookBy S K SelwalIn an era where artificial intelligence transforms every aspect of our lives, understanding AI is no longer optional. Yet for most beginners, AI seems intimidatingly complex, filled with technical jargon and mathematical challenges. Think Like an AI: The Comprehensive Beginner's Playbook changes everything.This groundbreaking guide is designed for students, professionals, career switchers, and self-learners standing at the threshold of their AI journey. Whether you have zero technical background or some coding experience, this playbook meets you where you are and guides you toward genuine AI literacy and practical competence.The book begins by cutting through hype and confusion. You will gain crystal-clear understanding of what AI actually is, how it differs from machine learning and deep learning, and what it can and cannot do today. You will discover why AI is exploding now and recognize countless ways it touches your daily life, from social media recommendations to smart assistants and search algorithms.Building on this foundation, you will master core mental models underpinning all AI systems. You will understand how AI converts everything into data, why AI systems are pattern machines rather than magic brains, and how they learn through trial and error. These concepts are presented without intimidating mathematics, using clear analogies that make abstract ideas concrete.The book includes gentle coverage of essential foundations with a zero-fear approach to mathematics, covering only what you truly need. An optional Python introduction is designed for absolute beginners, while no-code tools let you experiment immediately without programming.You will explore both classic machine learning and modern deep learning comprehensively yet accessibly. From linear regression to neural networks, you will develop intuitive understanding of how each model thinks and when to use which approach. The book explains transformers, large language models like ChatGPT, and image generation, including honest discussion of limitations like hallucinations and bias.One invaluable section addresses how to use AI as a student, leveraging AI as a powerful study partner while avoiding over-dependence. You will discover strategies for using AI to explain concepts, summarize readings, write essays, conduct research, and manage time, with clear guidance on academic integrity.For hands-on learners, the playbook includes extensive guidance on building first AI projects and creating portfolios. You will find carefully designed project ideas from no-code options to code-based projects, with step-by-step guidance on datasets, models, evaluation, and professional documentation.Ethics receives thorough treatment. You will understand why AI ethics matters for beginners, how bias enters systems, privacy considerations, and broader societal implications. Practical ethical checklists apply to any project.The book concludes by helping you chart your ongoing journey, understanding different career paths in AI and what each requires. Throughout, Playbook Extras transform passive reading into active learning with quizzes, checklists, exercises, templates, and skill-tracking tools.Flexible structure accommodates different goals through three learning paths, with study plans ranging from four-week crash courses to six-month mastery programs.

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Thinking, Fast and Slow

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Thinking about Inequality Personal Judgment and Income Distributions

Thinking about Consciousness

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Thinking With ChatGPT A Practical Guide for Beginners Who Don't Know What to Ask

Thinking Like a Staff Software Engineer A Career Guide to Technical Leadership, Pragmatic Growth, and Long-Term Impact

Think like an AI The comprehensive beginner's playbook

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