18 books like The Black Swan

What to read after The Black Swan — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Age of A.I. Henry Kissinger · 2021 · ★ 3.4 · 272p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Three of the world’s most accomplished and deep thinkers come together to explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the way it is transforming human society—and what this technology means for us all. Generative AI is filling the internet with false information. Artists, writers, and many other professionals are in fear of their jobs. AI is discovering new medicines, running military drones, and… Shares: Forecasting, Aspect social, Social aspects, Philosophy

Car crime Claire Corbett · 2003 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Crime involving cars – whether involving offences by drivers or theft of and from cars – represents a substantial proportion of offences committed, and occupies an enormous amount of police time. But it is not always perceived as the serious crime that it is: many traffic offences cause enormous harm in terms of death and injury, but are often not regarded seriously by drivers, the criminal… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

The Inevitable Kevin Kelly · 2016 · ★ 3.9 · 328p · ≈ 10h · Moderate An expert tech writer discusses the forces and trends that will revolutionize daily life through the upcoming technological advances of the next thirty years. Shares: Forecasting, Social aspects, Business

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess Leonard Shlain · 1998 · ★ 4.2 · 480p · ≈ 16h · Moderate Making remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain anatomy and function, anthropology, history, and religion, Shlain argues that, with the advent of literacy, the very act of reading an alphabet reinforced the brain's left hemisphere - linear, abstract, predominantly masculine at the expense of the right holistic, concrete, visual, feminine. This shift upset the… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

Chaos James Gleick · 1987 · ★ 4.0 · 364p · ≈ 12h · Moderate The author describes how scientists studying the growth of complexity in nature are discovering order and pattern in chaos. He explains concepts such as nonlinearity, the Butterfly Effect, universal constants, fractals, and strange attractors, and examines the work of scientists such as Mitchell J. Feigenbaum, Edward Lorenz, and Benoit Mandelbrot. Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

The Windup Girl Paolo Bacigalupi · 2009 · ★ 3.8 · 365p · ≈ 12h · Moderate What Happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits? And what happens when said bio-terrorism forces humanity to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of "The Calorie Man"( Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and "Yellow Card Man" (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

Positive Youth Development Through Sport Nicholas L. Holt · 2007 · 160p · ≈ 5h · Moderate "Cutting through the political rhetoric about the power of sport as a tool for social change and personal improvement, this book offers insight into how and why participating in sport can be good for children and young people. As the first text to focus on the role of sport in positive youth development (PYD), it brings together high-profile contributors from diverse disciplines to examine… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

Theory of Fun for Game Design Raph Koster · 2004 · ★ 3.9 · 275p · ≈ 9h · Moderate It's about What fun is Why some games are fun and some games are boring How different people respond to different kinds of fun What makes a game fun or not How games fit into the wider human culture Whether games can be art What degree of social responsibility game makers need to have How games can develop At its core, though, it is about why games matter. Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects, Philosophy

Chair et métal Ollivier Dyens · 2000 · 172p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

The Human Use of Human Beings Norbert Wiener · 1950 · 199p · ≈ 6h · Moderate "Only a few books stand as landmarks in social and scientific upheaval. Norbert Wiener's classic is one in that small company. Founder of the science of cybernetics--the study of the relationship between computers and the human nervous system--Wiener was widely misunderstood as one who advocated the automation of human life. As this book reveals, his vision was much more complex and interesting.… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

And the Band Played on Randy Shilts · 1987 · ★ 4.5 · 640p · ≈ 21h · Moderate The blueprint of 20th century investigative journalism. Tracing the course of HIV/AIDS through society; from its earliest as then unknown incarnation, to the height of this 1980s hysteria – the death of Rock Hudson: Shilts's book should be in every High School's final academic examinations coursework reading list, as a compulsory item. An unregrettable read. Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

The Hidden Persuaders Vance Packard · 1957 · ★ 3.8 · 258p · ≈ 8h · Moderate An account of the motivation research people, the advertising agency psychologists who analyze consumer desires and find out how to make people buy the things the agencies are paid to promote. Personalities, techniques, symbols, and approaches are discussed and some of the leading ad psychologists are interviewed. Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

Artificial culture Tama Leaver · 2011 · 218p · ≈ 7h · Moderate "Artificial Culture is an examination of the articulation, construction, and representation of "the artificial" in contemporary popular cultural texts, especially science fiction films and novels. The book argues that today we live in an artificial culture due to the deep and inextricable relationship between people, our bodies, and technology at large. While the artificial is often imagined as… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

Masculinity, sexuality and illegal migration Ali Nobil Ahmad · 2011 · 230p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Masculinity, Sexuality and Illegal Migration makes use of extensive new empirical material to explore the phenomena of migration, human smuggling and illegal work, in order to develop a compelling account of international migration, linking it with irrational, risky economic behaviour and male sexual desire. Interviews conducted with successive waves of Pakistani immigrants in the UK and Italy,… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

Management Challenges for the 21st Century Peter F. Drucker · 1999 · ★ 3.7 · 208p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Peter F. Drucker discusses how the new paradigms of management have changed and will continue to change our basic assumptions about the practices and principles of management. Forward-looking and forward-thinking, Management Challenges for the 21st Century combines the broad knowledge, wide practical experience, profound insight, sharp analysis, and enlightened common sense that are the essence… Shares: Forecasting, Business

The pragmatics of literary testimony Chantelle Warner · 2012 · 219p · ≈ 7h · Moderate In this book, Warner examines a number of German-language literary autobiographies that are connected to diverse social movements of the last forty years. These books have all received critical attention from the popular press, topped bestseller lists, and have been pivotal in discussions of authenticity, subjectivity, and referentiality. Because of the thematic diversity of these works, scholars… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

Democracy and Education John Dewey · 1916 · ★ 4.0 · 218p · ≈ 7h · Challenging Publisher description: John Dewey (1859-1952) believed that learning was active and schooling unnecessarily long and restrictive. His idea was that children came to school to do things and live in a community which gave them real, guided experiences which fostered their capacity to contribute to society. For example, Dewey believed that students should be involved in real-life tasks and… Shares: Social aspects, Philosophy

Much Depends on Dinner Margaret Visser · 1986 · ★ 3.9 · 351p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Food. We spend a good part of every day buying, preparing, eating, and savouring it. Only sleep and work take more time out of our lives. Margaret Visser uses the ingredients of an ordinary meal as a jumping-off point for an engaging, thoroughly researched look into one of our essential obsessions. Did you know that lettuce is a member of the daisy family? That sea salt is cultivated in salt… Shares: Aspect social, Social aspects

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