Wired youth

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Michael Harris

"Only one generation in history (ours) will experience life both with and without the Internet. For everyone who follows us, online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives. Michael Harris chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we've gained--and lost--in the bargain. In this eloquent and thought-provoking book, Harris argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself--of silence, wonder, and solitude. It's a surprisingly precious commodity, and one we have less of every year. Drawing on a vast trove of research and scores of interviews with global experts, Harris explores this "loss of lack" in chapters devoted to every corner of our lives, from sex and commerce to memory and attention span. The book's message is urgent: once we've lost the gift of absence, we may never remember its value"--

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Pascal Bruckner

Happiness today is not just a possibility or an option but a requirement and a duty. To fail to be happy is to fail utterly. Happiness has become a religion--one whose smiley-faced god looks down in rebuke upon everyone who hasn't yet attained the blessed state of perpetual euphoria. How has a liberating principle of the Enlightenment--the right to pursue happiness--become the unavoidable and burdensome responsibility to be happy? How did we become unhappy about not being happy--and what might we do to escape this predicament? In Perpetual Euphoria, Pascal Bruckner takes up these questions with all his unconventional wit, force, and brilliance, arguing that we might be happier if we simply abandoned our mad pursuit of happiness.

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Doris Pronin Fromberg, Doris Bergen

This Encyclopedia presents 62 essays by 78 distinguished experts who draw on their expertise in pedagogy, anthropology, ethology, history, philosophy, and psychology to examine play and its variety, complexity, and usefulness. Here you'll find out why play is vital in developing mathematical thinking and promoting social skills, how properly constructed play enhances classroom instruction, which games foster which skills, how playing stimulates creativity, and much more.

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Ron Pevny

"As the baby boomer population begins to retire healthier than any generation before them, retirement is about to look a whole lot different. No longer are seniors satisfied with their retirement years being defined by wasting away their days on the porch or puttering around the house. In Conscious Living, Conscious Aging, Ron Pevny presents an empowering vision and practical tools that help one to age consciously for a passionate, fulfilling second half of life. This contemporary model for aging focuses on the potential for growth, passion, purpose, service, and spiritual exploration while also offering wisdom for dealing with inevitable losses. Conscious Living, Conscious Aging helps readers: -Identify unfulfilled goals; -Find ways to contribute their skills to society; -And, spend their retirement years as a time of profound personal development. Today, retirement presents a whole new opportunity to engage with life, community, and the world with vigor. Don't merely grow old, age consciously"--