From one of America's most brilliant writers, a New York Times bestselling journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness.

At the heart of Buddhism is a simple claim: The reason we suffer--and the reason we make other people suffer--is that we don't see the world clearly. At the heart of Buddhist meditative practice is a radical promise: We can learn to see the world, including ourselves, more clearly and so gain a deep and morally valid happiness.

In this sublime (The New Yorker), pathbreaking book, Robert Wright shows how taking this promise seriously can change your life--how it can loosen the grip of anxiety, regret, and hatred, and how it can deepen your appreciation of beauty and of other people. He also shows why this transformation works, drawing on the latest in neuroscience and psychology, and armed with an acute understanding of human evolution.

This book is the culmination of a personal journey that began with Wright's landmark book on evolutionary psychology, The Moral Animal, and deepened as he immersed himself in meditative practice and conversed with some of the world's most skilled meditators. The result is a story that is provocative, informative and...deeply rewarding (The New York Times Book Review), and as entertaining as it is illuminating. Written with the wit, clarity, and grace for which Wright is famous, Why Buddhism Is True lays the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age and shows how, in a time of technological distraction and social division, we can save ourselves from ourselves, both as individuals and as a species.

One of the most provocative science books ever published--a feast of great thinking and writing about the most profound issues there are (The New York Times Book Review).

Fiercely intelligent, beautifully written and engrossingly original. --The New York Times Book Review

Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animaled one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics--as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies. Illustrations.

In this sweeping narrative that takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archaeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy. He explains why spirituality has a role today, and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest. And this previously unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued religious extremism, but future harmony.

Nearly a decade in the making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking re-examination of the past, and a visionary look forward.

From bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright comes a sweeping new view of artificial intelligence that argues this revolution will challenge us spiritually and could restore a missing ingredient in modern life--our sense of purpose.

The God Test is the first book that sees AI not just as a technological tool with good and bad applications, but as an evolutionary force that will alter the trajectory of humanity itself. Written by one of our foremost public intellectuals, and informed by his decades of chronicling the digital age, the book boldly asserts that the current wave of AI progress is just the beginning. The changes we are about to witness will bring the most abruptly dramatic transformation in the history of our species.

Wright provocatively suggests that to truly understand the significance of the AI revolution, we need to expand our perspective beyond the last century or even the whole history of technology and look back billions of years, across the entire history of life on Earth. All along, he says, evolution has been pushing life toward this technological threshold, which now confronts our species with a climactic challenge: Can we muster the political, moral, and spiritual resources needed to guide this technology wisely?

If we fail this challenge, the consequences for the whole planet could be grave. But if we meet the challenge--if we pass the God test--we can live in a world where humanity thrives, finding not just happiness but deeper meaning and purpose. We can be enriched and uplifted by, rather than imperiled by, awesomely intelligent machines.

After retirement from the military in 2006 and Civil Service in 2008, I spent the next 4 years as an artist, painting murals and other commissions.

My job since 2012 was with the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) as an engineer on a commuter train.

In May 2017, the Veterans Affairs(VA) diagnosed me with an 80 percent disability, most of which was post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), along with burn pit asthma, tinnitus, and sleep apnea. And still open is a further investigation into the effects of agent orange. The PTSD portion was apparent in my expressed anger.

In July 2017, my wife, Carol, was diagnosed with cancer, and I decided to quit work on September 29 to support her. A week before leaving UTA I was given an assignment by a VA therapist to address the PTSD portion of the diagnosis. The assignment was to review the four wars for a single event that gave rise to PTSD. This assignment at the end of September coincided with the last week at the UTA.

While operating the train for the last week, I'm revisiting each of the wars looking for the prime cause of my PTSD. This book will speak to anyone underneath a cloud of PTSD. It's not just for those that served in the military. Rather for anyone connected with anyone living with PTSD. This book looks at the political triggers that set PTSD in motion and the spiritual when trying to recover.

After retirement from the military in 2006 and Civil Service in 2008, I spent the next 4 years as an artist, painting murals and other commissions.

My job since 2012 was with the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) as an engineer on a commuter train.

In May 2017, the Veterans Affairs(VA) diagnosed me with an 80 percent disability, most of which was post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), along with burn pit asthma, tinnitus, and sleep apnea. And still open is a further investigation into the effects of agent orange. The PTSD portion was apparent in my expressed anger.

In July 2017, my wife, Carol, was diagnosed with cancer, and I decided to quit work on September 29 to support her. A week before leaving UTA I was given an assignment by a VA therapist to address the PTSD portion of the diagnosis. The assignment was to review the four wars for a single event that gave rise to PTSD. This assignment at the end of September coincided with the last week at the UTA.

While operating the train for the last week, I'm revisiting each of the wars looking for the prime cause of my PTSD. This book will speak to anyone underneath a cloud of PTSD. It's not just for those that served in the military. Rather for anyone connected with anyone living with PTSD. This book looks at the political triggers that set PTSD in motion and the spiritual when trying to recover.

The Indigenous nations of the valley of the Rio Grande that is now centered upon Ojinaga, Chihuahua, and Presidio, Texas--the La Junta valley in colonial times--had a long and unique history with Hispanics during the colonial period.

Their valley was the initial route to New Mexico and West Texas explored by Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s. In the mid-1600s, the Juntans began engaging in long-distance migrant labor in Nueva Vizcaya, and in the 1680s they began inviting Franciscan missionaries and serving as important military allies to Hispanic troops.

Yet for seventy-five years only the missionaries, without any Hispanic military or civilians, lived among them, due to both the remoteness of their valley from Hispanic settlements and the Juntans' insistence upon their autonomy. This is unique in Spanish colonial annals on the northern frontier of New Spain.

This detailed research study adds much new information and many corrections to the rare previous studies.

In his bestselling The Moral Animal, Robert Wright applied the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of the human mind. Now Wright attempts something even more ambitious: explaining the direction of evolution and human history-and discerning where history will lead us next.

In Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, Wright asserts that, ever since the primordial ooze, life has followed a basic pattern. Organisms and human societies alike have grown more complex by mastering the challenges of internal cooperation. Wright's narrative ranges from fossilized bacteria to vampire bats, from stone-age villages to the World Trade Organization, uncovering such surprises as the benefits of barbarian hordes and the useful stability of feudalism. Here is history endowed with moral significance-a way of looking at our biological and cultural evolution that suggests, refreshingly, that human morality has improved over time, and that our instinct to discover meaning may itself serve a higher purpose. Insightful, witty, profound, Nonzero offers breathtaking implications for what we believe and how we adapt to technology's ongoing transformation of the world.

In the dead of night in 1894, a trembling, wide-eyed 13-year-old boy assisted with his first surgery--an experience that changed his life. Robert H. Wright attended medical school, then returned home to Hailey, Idaho, to marry Cynthia Beamer, his childhood sweetheart, and to practice in the frontier west--a choice that required both rugged courage and devoted compassion. Called to risk his own life on multiple occasions, he remained composed during a crisis, and his gentle confidence calmed traumatized victims. At times, he performed operations by lantern light and traveled by buggy, dog sled, or Studebaker to reach remote patients. In 1917, he led the rescue effort at the North Star mine avalanche disaster.

Eventually, the doctor welcomed a grandson, also named Robert Wright, who eagerly absorbed thrilling tales of a pioneer past. Yet despite their close relationship, the younger Wright sensed mysterious secrets and unspoken heartbreak, and he began to probe for the untold stories. In Rugged Mercy, he unravels and celebrates the lives of his beloved grandparents. Alternating between accounts of the doctor's decades of medicine and his own memories of growing up in Hailey, the author provides an intimate glimpse of challenges faced by rural physicians in the first half of the 1900s, of significant events in the history and evolution of the Wood River Valley and Sun Valley resort, and of family life in a small Idaho community.

Some photographic slices of life taken from the journey of Dr. Robert M. Wright during his Caribbean Journey. These are the cultural images that have left an impression on both the photographer and the man. We invite you share in the truth and beauty that a Black & White photograph speaks with. Hurricanes in the region destroyed a lot, but the worst of nature can never destroy the best of man.

This work shares the stops along the way of something that began in the year 1995 in The British Virgin Islands (Natures Little Secret) and moments in various places in the Leeward islands.

Dr. Robert M. Wright aka Storm holds a Masters in Divinity (Trinity Evangelical Christian University Graduate School of Theology) and a PHD in Religious Studies - Theology (Trinity Seminary) . Dr. Wright is the current host of The Break Through 72830 broadcast on local radio station ZKING and has served as the director of British Virgin Islands Prison Fellowship since the organizations inception. He is the founder of RRD Outreach Ministries International, an outreach ministry with branches in Florida, Baltimore and Tortola.

A former boxer and an avid fan of the sport, Dr. Wright is also the holder of an Associate's degree in Professional Photography from The Center for the Media Arts. Excerpts from his 1999 exhibition Sometimes the Silence Screams (A work on those LIVING with HIV/Aids) still hang in NY.

Dr. Wright is married to Mrs. Maris Hodge Wright for 26 years and together they own and operate Tortola Memorial Services/Davis Funeral Home. The union has produced a beautiful blended family of 9 children and 4 grandchildren.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

The night of October 30, 1995, was like no other in Canadian history. The young, modern nation that the UN Human Development Index had ranked #1 for the two previous years now faced its greatest challenge: the possibility of fracturing as Quebecers made a fateful decision--whether to separate from Canada--in a referendum that pollsters estimated would be as close as close could be.

The Quebec-sovereignist juggernaut that began with the creation of the Parti Quebecois in 1968 climaxed in the provincial referendum on October 30th. On that extraordinary evening, Canadians from all walks of life, in every region of the country, sat glued to their television screens as polling results trickled in from across Quebec. Unlike the 1980 referendum, when the victory of the federalist No vote led by Pierre Trudeau was a foregone conclusion, the 1995 race was a dead heat. All evening, the returns pitched and rolled, and anxious Canadians pitched and rolled along with them. In the end, the No vote won by the narrowest of margins, 50.58% to 49.42%. This was no euphoric victory, no easy vindication of Sir John A. Macdonald's federalist dream. Never before had the country come face to face with its own imminent extinction.

In The Night Canada Stood Still, Robert Wright revisits the drama and intrigue that brought Quebecers, and indeed all Canadians, to the very edge of this watershed event.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1864. Founded on original documents and illustrated by his correspondence.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1864. Founded on original documents and illustrated by his correspondence.

Today's financial crisis is the result of dismal failures on the part of regulators, market analysts, and corporate executives. Yet the response of the American government has been to bail out the very institutions and individuals that have wrought such havoc upon the nation. Are such massive bailouts really called for? Can they succeed?

Robert E. Wright and his colleagues provide an unbiased history of government bailouts and a frank assessment of their effectiveness. Their book recounts colonial America's struggle to rectify the first dangerous real estate bubble and the British government's counterproductive response. It explains how Alexander Hamilton allowed central banks and other lenders to bail out distressed but sound businesses without rewarding or encouraging the risky ones. And it shows how, in the second half of the twentieth century, governments began to bail out distressed companies, industries, and even entire economies in ways that subsidized risk takers while failing to reinvigorate the economy. By peering into the historical uses of public money to save private profit, this volume suggests better ways to control risk in the future.

Additional Columbia / SSRC books on the privatization of risk and its implications for Americans:

Health at Risk: America's Ailing Health System--and How to Heal ItEdited by Jacob S. Hacker

Laid Off, Laid Low: Political and Economic Consequences of Employment InsecurityEdited by Katherine S. Newman

Pensions, Social Security, and the Privatization of RiskEdited by Mitchell A. Orenstein

A Memoir of General James Oglethorpe is a book written by Robert Wright in 1867. The book is a biography of General James Oglethorpe, who was one of the earliest reformers of prison discipline in England and the founder of Georgia in America. The book provides a detailed account of Oglethorpe's life, starting from his childhood and early education, to his military career and his role in the founding of Georgia. The book also covers Oglethorpe's efforts to improve the conditions of prisoners in England, which led to the establishment of the first penitentiary in the country. It explores the various challenges Oglethorpe faced during his military career, including his involvement in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Battle of Bloody Marsh. The book provides a comprehensive overview of Oglethorpe's life and achievements, and sheds light on his contributions to the fields of prison reform and colonialism. It is a valuable resource for historians, scholars, and anyone interested in the life and legacy of General James Oglethorpe.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

The Flood of Noah is confirmed in the geology of the world. A Flood of Hope reveals the evidence provided by geology, biology and anthropology. Noah was saved because of obedience to God, and his trust in Him. Learn how the lessons of Noah provide hope for us today, as our world heads toward a new judgement.

(P/V/G Composer Collection). Lyricists, composers and adaptors Robert Wright and George Forrest created songs for 24 stage productions and a whopping 62 films, sung by dozens of performers, including Joan Crawford, Jeanette McDonald, Nelson Eddy and Howard Keel. Wright and Forrest received the distinguished Richard Rodgers/ASCAP Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to the American Musical Theatre. This collection presents 19 of their most memorable songs, with a full list of stage, film, radio and television credits. Includes: Always and Always * And This Is My Beloved * Baubles, Bangles and Beads * The Grand Tango * Night of My Nights * Now * Shadows on the Sand * Stranger in Paradise * What You Need * Willow, Willow, Willow * and more

The dots of prophecy are the various beliefs, ideas, theories, views, schools of thought, etc. ascribed to what the imagery of Revelation 12, 13 and 17 including Daniel 7 mean among Christians today. Many become weary with the variety of seemingly confusing and disjointed views and are turned off and away from a serious investigation of apocalyptic symbolism the study of which is critical and necessary to understanding the everlasting gospel in its fullness. This book is a guide for individuals studying the imagery of Revelation and helps connect the dots between the dragon of chapter 12, the leopard-like beast of chapter 13, and the scarlet beast of chapter 17. The writer provides evidence that these three symbols are elements that help establish the profile of a killer, a modern day superpower as it developed in stages over time into the single most imposing religious system the world has ever known. A system one writer described as a masterpiece of Satan's power--a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will. Please be warned. This book is not for everyone. It is written for Bereans - those among the believers who it can be said, like the saints of Berea in Paul's day, These were nobler than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Act 17:11) This study is for individuals who have been in the habit of searching the Bible for themselves and weighing evidence. It is for anyone who comes to the investigation of God's word with a contrite heart, a teachable and prayerful spirit.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.