Sleep is a magical phenomenon. When you are a good sleeper, you close your eyes and, before you know it, you go on a journey into a wonderful world beyond full consciousness.

Sleep has hardly changed since Paleolithic humans snoozed soundly in their caves. While sabre-toothed tigers were their biggest night-time worry, today it’s stress and social media …

Superagency offers a roadmap for using AI inclusively and adaptively to improve our lives and create positive change. While acknowledging challenges like disinformation and potential job changes, the book focuses on AI’s immense potential to increase individual agency and create better outcomes for society as a whole.

In this book, Reid Hoffman shares his unique insider’s perspective on an AI-powered future, making the case for its potential to unlock a world of possibilities.

Imagine AI tutors personalizing education for each child, researchers rapidly discovering cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, and AI advisors empowering people to navigate complex systems and achieve their goals. Hoffman and co-author, tech and culture writer Greg Beato envision a world where these possibilities, and many more, become a reality.Superagency challenges conventional fears, inviting us to view the future through a lens of opportunity, rather than fear. It’s a call to action – to embrace AI with excitement and actively shape a world where human ingenuity and the power of AI combine to create something extraordinary.

Big ideas from SuperAgency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future by Reid Hoffman

The book "Superagency" frames AI's future impact through a techno-humanist lens, emphasizing the integration of technology with human values and agency. This perspective suggests that technology and humanism are not opposing forces, but rather, they are integrative, with each new technology shaping what it means to be human. Reid Hoffman argue that a techno-humanist approach should actively steer us toward paths where technologies augment individual and collective agency. Here are some key aspects of this framework:

* Prioritizing Human Agency: The core focus of the book is on maintaining and expanding human agency, which refers to the ability of individuals to make choices and exert influence on their own lives. The authors pose the question of whether humans can continue to control their lives and destinies in a world increasingly influenced by AI. They believe that AI should be developed to extend human will, empowering people to act on their choices.

* Iterative Deployment: The book champions iterative deployment as a key strategy for AI development. This approach involves bringing AI products into the world gradually, allowing for flexibility, adaptation, and course correction based on real-world feedback. It also ensures that the public is involved in shaping AI development, rather than leaving it to experts.

* Augmenting Human Capabilities: Instead of viewing AI as a replacement for humans, the book posits that AI should be used to amplify human capabilities, functioning as a tool to assist in various tasks. This includes leveraging AI to process and utilize the vast amounts of information humans are generating, transforming "Big Data" into "Big Knowledge".

* Addressing Global Challenges: The techno-humanist approach also emphasizes that AI can help address global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and resource depletion. The authors suggest that technology contributes significantly to effective solutions for such problems, and that AI can play a pivotal role in these solutions.

* Democratization of AI: The book argues for equitable, hands-on access to AI for billions of people worldwide so that they can experiment and use AI in ways that are meaningful to them. This ensures that the benefits of AI are not limited to a small group of techno-elites.

* Navigating with a Techno-Humanist Compass: The authors describe their approach as navigating with a techno-humanist compass, which helps to orient, reorient, and find a path forward. This compass is not a static blueprint but a dynamic guide that emphasizes the importance of human values and agency in the development and deployment of AI.

* Balancing Innovation and Safety: The book promotes the idea that innovation and safety are not opposing forces. Instead, they are synergistic, meaning that innovation itself can contribute to safety. By actively pursuing a better future, we can prevent worse outcomes.

* Trust and Transparency: Developing trust in AI technologies, as well as in the developers and regulators of these technologies, is a central concern. The authors believe that access to and use of AI can help build trust through experience, and that transparency is critical in this process.

* Open and Collaborative Approach: The authors advocate for an open and collaborative approach to data sharing to maximize the value of the "private commons," while also developing robust privacy protections. They suggest that this approach to AI can lead to a new era of abundance and progress.

* Continuous Public Feedback: The book also highlights the importance of continuous public feedback in the development of AI. This feedback is a key component of iterative deployment and is a way to ensure that AI is developed in a manner that reflects the values and needs of society.

In summary, the techno-humanist framework in "Superagency" envisions a future where AI is not a threat to humanity but a powerful tool for enhancing human agency, solving global problems, and creating a more equitable and fulfilling world, so long as it is developed and deployed with human values and broad participation in mind.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO RIGHT?

The Mental Health Imperative

Mental health disorders have massive negative impacts on global wellbeing. An ongoing shortage of mental health professionals means hundreds of millions go untreated. AI can bring Big Knowledge to the "black box of psychotherapy" by assessing millions of interactions to determine what approaches work best.

The Democratization of Care

AI systems can help train more human practitioners than we're capable of training now. They can support practitioners to interact with more patients than they currently manage. Most importantly, they can enable millions who are underserved by current approaches to obtain abundant and affordable care.

The Human Touch

The recurring theme in the internet age is that technologies that often seem decidedly flawed and even dehumanizing at first usually end up being exactly the opposite. AI models simulating empathy can end up having profound impacts, helping us collectively become kinder and more emotionally generous.

The Compounding Effect

Not only will you benefit from your newly accessible superpowers, but you'll also benefit from the fact that millions of other people and institutions will have access to these new superpowers too. The overall effect is not just convenience, but a systemic shift in how people invest their attention and efforts.

The procrastination cure by Keith Hammond

Get the book: https://amzn.to/3PFshLC

Let's face it, you're probably reading this book as an excuse not to do something else. Whether that's an excuse not to do the pile of laundry, or to go to sleep we all do it. Procrastination is normal, in fact, it's unlikely that anyone will tell you they have never done it. Everyone procrastinates. Sometimes procrastination can even be good for us, by taking time to decide if we really need to do something we are, in fact, prioritizing other things. Bet you didn't know that? You are demonstrating a variety of useful and powerful skills by procrastinating, they're just a little mismanaged. That's all.

Procrastinators come in many different sizes and forms, there are those who do it because they strive for perfectionism and know the future task will likely not end up perfect, and also those who put a task off because it's not important. Procrastination at its root is simply time management - making or taking the time to do something.

Just because you procrastinate it does not mean you're lazy, many times we put off actions because we know they're unpleasant or that the outcome won't make us happy. It's human nature to seek happiness so it's not surprising that we put off tasks in the hope of eventually getting out of them.

Often, we're aware of our procrastination; but what if you're not? Sometimes time slips away without even noticing and before you know it the day has gone and you've done nothing you had planned on.

This book covers the following topics:

* Understanding procrastination

* Thief of time

* Setting your mind right; overcoming procrastination

* How serious of a problem can procrastination be?

* Understanding who you are and what your purpose is

* Sort your daily tasks right

* Your brain on procrastination

* How to beat procrastination?

* How to keep these habits around

...And so much more!!!

As humans have evolved it has become easier to procrastinate. Machines do our jobs for us, computers have made work and play into very similar mechanics so that our brains often forget which is which. We don't pay attention because we are bombarded with so many things at once that total focus has become an inconvenience and something we perceive as holding us back from being as productive as possible. In fact, it's this very tendency to try and do everything that makes us procrastinate and causes us to be less productive.

There is a big difference between someone who is a chronic procrastinator and someone who simply puts off things on occasion. Serial procrastination can be debilitating. It can hurt your bank account, your home, and even your health. Procrastination becomes a problem when it noticeably affects your life.

Finding out the root cause of your procrastination is the key to making yourself more productive and achieving that goal of perfectionism. To appease our own ego we have to come to terms with what we have put off until now.

The ultimate hidden truth of the world by David Graeber

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"The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently," wrote David Graeber. A renowned anthropologist, activist, and author of such classic books as Debt and the breakout New York Times bestseller The Dawn of Everything (with David Wengrow), Graeber was as well-known for his sharp, lively essays as he was for his iconic role in the Occupy movement and his paradigm-shifting tomes.

There are converging political, economic, and ecological crises, and yet our politics is dominated by either business as usual or nostalgia for a mythical past. Thinking against the grain, Graeber was one of the few who dared to imagine a new understanding of the past and a liberatory vision of the future--to imagine a social order based on humans' fundamental freedom. In essays published over three decades and ranging across the biggest issues of our time-- inequality, technology, the identity of "the West," democracy, art, power, anger, mutual aid, and protest--he challenges the old assumptions about political life. A trenchant critic of the order of things, and driven by a bold imagination and a passionate commitment to human freedom, he offers hope that our world can be different.

During a moment of daunting upheaval and pervasive despair, the incisive, entertaining, and urgent essays collected in The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World . . ., edited and with an introduction by Nika Dubrovksy and with a foreword by Rebecca Solnit, make for essential and inspiring reading. They are a profound reminder of Graeber's enduring significance as an iconic, playful, necessary thinker.

The shock doctrine by Naomi Klein

Get the book: https://amzn.to/3DWgJkl

Around the world in Britain, the United States, Asia and the Middle East, there are people with power who are cashing in on chaos; exploiting bloodshed and catastrophe to brutally remake our world in their image. They are the shock doctors.

Exposing these global profiteers, Naomi Klein discovered information and connections that shocked even her about how comprehensively the shock doctors' beliefs now dominate our world - and how this domination has been achieved. Raking in billions out of the tsunami, plundering Russia, exploiting Iraq - this is the chilling tale of how a few are making a killing while more are getting killed.

The tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell

Geet the book: https://amzn.to/4g4ty9A

In this brilliant and original book, Malcolm Gladwell explains and analyses the 'tipping point', that magic moment when ideas, trends and social behaviour cross a threshold, tip and spread like wildfire. Taking a look behind the surface of many familiar occurrences in our everyday world, Gladwell explains the fascinating social dynamics that cause rapid change.

Factfulness by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund

Get the book: https://amzn.to/4jdnWgh

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World - and Why Things Are Better Than You Think is an insightful book by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Rönnlund that challenges our preconceived notions about global progress. With a hopeful and data-driven approach, the authors present ten compelling reasons why the world is improving in ways we often overlook.

This thought-provoking read encourages us to move past our inherent biases and embrace a factful worldview. By examining trends in areas like poverty, health, and education, Factfulness offers a refreshing perspective on humanity's advancements. With its engaging narrative and eye-opening statistics, this book is a must-read for anyone seeking a more nuanced understanding of the world we live in.

Here are 7 key lessons from Factfulness:

* The World Is Improving: Contrary to popular belief, many global indicators like health, education, and poverty are improving over time.

* Beware of the “Gap Instinct”: People often divide the world into extremes (rich vs. poor), ignoring the majority who fall in the middle.

* Data, Not Drama: Relying on sensational headlines can lead to misconceptions. Base your understanding on facts and data.

* Slow Change Matters: Gradual progress is often overlooked because it doesn’t make headlines, but small changes lead to significant improvements over time.

* Don’t Generalize: Assuming one story or one example applies to an entire population leads to stereotyping and false beliefs.

* Fear Distorts Reality: Fearful events like terrorism or natural disasters are overemphasized, while everyday risks like health or poverty are underestimated.

* Acknowledge Your Biases: Understanding cognitive biases can help you think more clearly and view the world more accurately.

A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson

Get the book: https://amzn.to/40kylhp

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us.

Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. As a result, A Short History of Nearly Everything reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.

Here are 7 big ideas from A Brief History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson:

* The Universe is Vast and Mysterious: The book explores the enormity of the universe, emphasizing that our understanding is limited despite scientific advances. The scale of the cosmos is beyond human comprehension.

* Earth’s Formation Was a Miracle: The Earth formed under extraordinary conditions. Its perfect position in the solar system, stable orbit, and protective atmosphere make it uniquely suited for life.

* Life is Unbelievably Resilient: Life has survived mass extinctions, ice ages, and catastrophic events. From microbes to mammals, nature is incredibly adaptive and resourceful.

* The Role of Chance in Evolution: Bryson highlights that life’s development is full of random events, from asteroid impacts to genetic mutations, which have shaped the course of evolution.

* Scientists Build on Each Other’s Work: Scientific discoveries are rarely made in isolation. Progress is cumulative, with scientists building on ideas, correcting errors, and expanding knowledge over centuries.

* We Know Very Little About Our Planet: Despite advancements, much of Earth remains unexplored, particularly the deep ocean. The book emphasizes how much there is still to learn about our own world.

* Humans Are Fragile and Temporary: Humans occupy a tiny fraction of Earth’s timeline and are highly vulnerable to natural forces. Our existence depends on maintaining the delicate balance of our environment.

The book of humans by Adam Rutherford

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WHAT MAKES US HUMAN? Waging war?Sex for pleasure?Creating art?Mastery of fire?

In this thrilling tour of the animal kingdom, Adam Rutherford tells the story of how we became the unique creatures we are today. Illuminated by the latest scientific discoveries, THE BOOK OF HUMANS is a dazzling compendium of what unequivocally fixes us as animals, and reveals how we are extraordinary among them.

There′s no such thing as crypto crime by Nick Furneaux

Get the book: https://amzn.to/40lXB6P

In There’s No Such Thing as Crypto Crime: An Investigators Guide, accomplished cybersecurity and forensics consultant Nick Furneaux delivers an expert discussion of the key methods used by cryptocurrency investigators, including investigations on Bitcoin and Ethereum type blockchains. The book explores the criminal opportunities available to malicious actors in the crypto universe, as well as the investigative principles common to this realm.

The author explains in detail a variety of essential topics, including how cryptocurrency is used in crime, exploiting wallets, and investigative methodologies for the primary chains, as well as digging into important areas such as tracing through contracts, coin-swaps, layer 2 chains and bridges. He also provides engaging and informative presentations of:

* Strategies used by investigators around the world to seize the fruits of crypto-related crime

* How non-fungible tokens, new alt-currency tokens, and decentralized finance factor into cryptocurrency crime

* The application of common investigative principles—like discovery—to the world of cryptocurrency

An essential and effective playbook for combating crypto-related financial crime, There’s No Such Thing as Crypto Crime will earn a place in the libraries of financial investigators, fraud and forensics professionals, and cybercrime specialists.