Conventional Wisdom

Some may dismiss Neuro-Linguistic Programming as pseudoscience, but perhaps we’ve been asking the wrong question. Instead of measuring it solely by the yardstick of science, some consider it through the lens of modern psychology. Why not go even further and consider NLP through the timeless insights of philosophy and theology? This book invites you to take that very step. It dares to go deeper, exploring how certain NLP techniques align with the enduring truths found in the great philosophical and theological traditions.

If you put aside what you think you know about Jesus and approach the Gospels as though for the first time, something remarkable happens: Jesus emerges as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault is a masterful guide to Jesus' vision and to the traditional contemplative practices you can use to experience the heart of his teachings for yourself.

In The Wisdom of the Shire, Noble Smith sheds light on the life-changing ideas tucked away inside the classic works of J. R. R. Tolkien and his most beloved creation—the stouthearted Hobbits. Drawing on The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other tales of Middle-earth, Smith shows how a snug hobbit-hole is actually just a state of mind and how even the smallest person can have the valor of a Rider of Rohan.

For her 18th birthday, Alice Bonham takes a vacation to Australia only to have her trip cut short by an unexpected murder. While Alice tries to understand what happened, she regrets some of the choices she's made, especially the more permanent ones. On top of that, the child vampire is running loose, and its attracting some very unwanted attention.

Somehow, deeply conservative assumptions about how children behave and how parents raise them have become the conventional wisdom in our society. It's widely assumed that parents are both permissive and overprotective, unable to set limits and afraid to let their kids fail. We're told that young people receive trophies, praise, and A's too easily, and suffer from inflated self-esteem and insufficient self-discipline. However, complaints about pushover parents and entitled kids are actually decades old and driven, it turns out, by ideology more than evidence.

Heroes, gods, and mortals. The Greek myths are the founding narratives of Western civilization: to understand them is to know the origins of philosophy, literature, art, science, law, and more. Indeed, as Luc Ferry shows in this masterful book, they remain a great store of wisdom, as relevant to our lives today as ever before.

We all know that the government doesn’t generate money; it takes it. Yet, if we're investing our money into a qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k), then we're blindly entrusting the government to manage our future income. Conventional wisdom touts it as the best choice, the only choice really, if you want to have a retirement fund at all. Unfortunately, we discover too late that our hard-earned investment doesn't take us as far in our retirement as we thought it would.

What if the leadership practices we’ve worked so hard to master are now getting in the way? In fact, what if they are actually holding us down and preventing us from leading for growth and innovation? Forget “what if” - it’s happening. In Leadership Unchained, Sara Canaday offers a unique perspective that helps modern leaders break free from the chains of conventional wisdom and blaze new trails toward even greater success.

Do you feel that your life lacks meaning and purpose? Have you lost the idea of who you truly are? Do you avoid the real problems in your life? Fears and insecurities are completely normal, but how can we deal with them in a proactive and healthy manner? Think Different will answer this question. We've been told that positive thinking, repeating affirmations and "faking it till you make it" were the key to a happy, fearless, confident living. But do they lead to happiness?

China's rise is altering global power relations, reshaping economic debates, and commanding tremendous public attention. Despite extensive media and academic scrutiny, the conventional wisdom about China's economy is often wrong. Cracking the China Conundrum provides a holistic and contrarian view of China's major economic, political, and foreign policy issues. Yukon Huang trenchantly addresses widely accepted yet misguided views in the analysis of China's economy.

The Fall of Logic is a selection from Chase Chandler's new book, The Wealthy Family. The Fall of Logic details many of the flaws and solutions related to conventional financial thinking. The Fall of Logic takes the reader on a journey in which Chase Chandler describes the fundamental yet complex foundational philosophies one must understand to manage wealth prudently.