Honest Signals

Author : Alex Pentland
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262261049
Total Pages : 205 pages
Book Rating : 4.43/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Honest Signals written by Alex Pentland and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010-09-24 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How understanding the signaling within social networks can change the way we make decisions, work with others, and manage organizations. How can you know when someone is bluffing? Paying attention? Genuinely interested? The answer, writes Alex Pentland in Honest Signals, is that subtle patterns in how we interact with other people reveal our attitudes toward them. These unconscious social signals are not just a back channel or a complement to our conscious language; they form a separate communication network. Biologically based “honest signaling,” evolved from ancient primate signaling mechanisms, offers an unmatched window into our intentions, goals, and values. If we understand this ancient channel of communication, Pentland claims, we can accurately predict the outcomes of situations ranging from job interviews to first dates. Pentland, an MIT professor, has used a specially designed digital sensor worn like an ID badge—a “sociometer”—to monitor and analyze the back-and-forth patterns of signaling among groups of people. He and his researchers found that this second channel of communication, revolving not around words but around social relations, profoundly influences major decisions in our lives—even though we are largely unaware of it. Pentland presents the scientific background necessary for understanding this form of communication, applies it to examples of group behavior in real organizations, and shows how by “reading” our social networks we can become more successful at pitching an idea, getting a job, or closing a deal. Using this “network intelligence” theory of social signaling, Pentland describes how we can harness the intelligence of our social network to become better managers, workers, and communicators.

Author : William A. Searcy
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400835720
Total Pages : 285 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Evolution of Animal Communication written by William A. Searcy and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gull chicks beg for food from their parents. Peacocks spread their tails to attract potential mates. Meerkats alert family members of the approach of predators. But are these--and other animals--sometimes dishonest? That's what William Searcy and Stephen Nowicki ask in The Evolution of Animal Communication. They take on the fascinating yet perplexing question of the dependability of animal signaling systems. The book probes such phenomena as the begging of nesting birds, alarm calls in squirrels and primates, carotenoid coloration in fish and birds, the calls of frogs and toads, and weapon displays in crustaceans. Do these signals convey accurate information about the signaler, its future behavior, or its environment? Or do they mislead receivers in a way that benefits the signaler? For example, is the begging chick really hungry as its cries indicate or is it lobbying to get more food than its brothers and sisters? Searcy and Nowicki take on these and other questions by developing clear definitions of key issues, by reviewing the most relevant empirical data and game theory models available, and by asking how well theory matches data. They find that animal communication is largely reliable--but that this basic reliability also allows the clever deceiver to flourish. Well researched and clearly written, their book provides new insight into animal communication, behavior, and evolution.

Author : Brian Skyrms
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199580820
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.28/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Signals written by Brian Skyrms and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-08 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brian Skyrms offers a fascinating demonstration of how fundamental signals are to our world. He uses various scientific tools to investigate how meaning and communication develop. Signals operate in networks of senders and receivers at all levels of life, transmitting and processing information. That is how humans and animals think and interact.

Author : Amotz Zahavi
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190284587
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Handicap Principle written by Amotz Zahavi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999-06-03 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since Darwin, animal behavior has intrigued and perplexed human observers. The elaborate mating rituals, lavish decorative displays, complex songs, calls, dances and many other forms of animal signaling raise fascinating questions. To what degree can animals communicate within their own species and even between species? What evolutionary purpose do such communications serve? Perhaps most importantly, what can animal signaling tell us about our own non-verbal forms of communication? In The Handicap Principle, Amotz and Ashivag Zahavi offer a unifying theory that brilliantly explains many previously baffling aspects of animal signaling and holds up a mirror in which ordinary human behaviors take on surprising new significance. The wide-ranging implications of the Zahavis' new theory make it arguably the most important advance in animal behavior in decades. Based on 20 years of painstaking observation, the Handicap Principle illuminates an astonishing variety of signaling behaviors in animals ranging from ants and ameba to peacocks and gazelles. Essentially, the theory asserts that for animal signals to be effective they must be reliable, and to be reliable they must impose a cost, or handicap, on the signaler. When a gazelle sights a wolf, for instance, and jumps high into the air several times before fleeing, it is signaling, in a reliable way, that it is in tip-top condition, easily able to outrun the wolf. (A human parallel occurs in children's games of tag, where faster children will often taunt their pursuer before running). By momentarily handicapping itself--expending precious time and energy in this display--the gazelle underscores the truthfulness of its signal. Such signaling, the authors suggest, serves the interests of both predator and prey, sparing each the exhaustion of a pointless chase. Similarly, the enormous cost a peacock incurs by carrying its elaborate and weighty tail-feathers, which interfere with food gathering, reliably communicates its value as a mate able to provide for its offspring. Perhaps the book's most important application of the Handicap Principle is to the evolutionary enigma of animal altruism. The authors convincingly demonstrate that when an animal acts altruistically, it handicaps itself--assumes a risk or endures a sacrifice--not primarily to benefit its kin or social group but to increase its own prestige within the group and thus signal its status as a partner or rival. Finally, the Zahavis' show how many forms of non-verbal communication among humans can also be explained by the Handicap Principle. Indeed, the authors suggest that non-verbal signals--tones of voice, facial expressions, body postures--are quite often more reliable indicators of our intentions than is language. Elegantly written, exhaustively researched, and consistently enlivened by equal measures of insight and example, The Handicap Principle illuminates virtually every kind of animal communication. It not only allows us to hear what animals are saying to each other--and to understand why they are saying it--but also to see the enormously important role non-verbal behavior plays in human communication.

Author : John Maynard Smith
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780198526858
Total Pages : 184 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Animal Signals written by John Maynard Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-11-06 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reliability of animal signals is a central problem for evolutionary biologists. This text argues that it is maintained in several ways, relevant in different circumstances, and that biologists must learn to distinguish between them.

Author : Alex Pentland
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262515121
Total Pages : 205 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Honest Signals written by Alex Pentland and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010-09-24 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How understanding the signaling within social networks can change the way we make decisions, work with others, and manage organizations. How can you know when someone is bluffing? Paying attention? Genuinely interested? The answer, writes Alex Pentland in Honest Signals, is that subtle patterns in how we interact with other people reveal our attitudes toward them. These unconscious social signals are not just a back channel or a complement to our conscious language; they form a separate communication network. Biologically based “honest signaling,” evolved from ancient primate signaling mechanisms, offers an unmatched window into our intentions, goals, and values. If we understand this ancient channel of communication, Pentland claims, we can accurately predict the outcomes of situations ranging from job interviews to first dates. Pentland, an MIT professor, has used a specially designed digital sensor worn like an ID badge—a “sociometer”—to monitor and analyze the back-and-forth patterns of signaling among groups of people. He and his researchers found that this second channel of communication, revolving not around words but around social relations, profoundly influences major decisions in our lives—even though we are largely unaware of it. Pentland presents the scientific background necessary for understanding this form of communication, applies it to examples of group behavior in real organizations, and shows how by “reading” our social networks we can become more successful at pitching an idea, getting a job, or closing a deal. Using this “network intelligence” theory of social signaling, Pentland describes how we can harness the intelligence of our social network to become better managers, workers, and communicators.

Author : Peter A. Gloor
Publisher : Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1787142000
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.08/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Swarm Leadership and the Collective Mind written by Peter A. Gloor and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2017-04-26 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future of business is swarm business – whether it’s at Uber, Airbnb, Tesla, or Apple, it’s not about being a fearless leader, but about creating a swarm that works together in collective consciousness to create great things and reinvent your business.

Author : Allan Pease
Publisher : Bantam
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.66/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Signals written by Allan Pease and published by Bantam. This book was released on 1984 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Jay Phelan
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9781429223188
Total Pages : 694 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book What Is Life? A Guide to Biology W/Prep-U written by Jay Phelan and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2009-04-30 with total page 694 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jay Phelan's What is Life? A Guide to Biology is written in a delightfully readable style that communicates complex ideas to non-biology majors in a clear and approachable manner. After reading Phelan's book, students will understand why they would want to know and talk about science. His skillful style includes asking stimulating questions (called Q questions) which encourage the student to keep reading to find the answer and will illuminate just how relevant science is to their life.

Author : Brad Smith
Publisher : New Hope Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1596690453
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book City Signals written by Brad Smith and published by New Hope Publishers. This book was released on 2008 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether you work with the urban poor or the urban powerful; volunteer in a ghetto; work as CEO of a business; live in the "hood"; or focus your ministry on a few people, a neighborhood, or a city to transform the social structure of society--this study will give you new ideas and tools to pursue your calling.