CAUTION ! READING THIS BOOK CAN MAKE YOU THINK

This is a very different kind of book. It explores an extremely broad range of tantalizing topics, and intentionally interleaves its challenging chapters with humorous ones. It will make you smarter, a witty conversationalist, a lot more attractive, a better athlete, and (possibly) able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Its varying subjects, unique format, and tongue-in-cheek humor are all cleverly crafted to capture and hold your interest, allowing you to sharpen the skills required to survive in modern society. The survival of primitive societies depended upon the skills of their members to avoid being eaten (or stepped on) by large beasts. When societies grow larger, members typically become more interdependent; and skills of fewer individuals have a greater effect upon the survival of their society as a whole. Throughout history, rather advanced societies haven't survived catastrophic events simply because there weren't enough members with critical skills left to rebuild them; and ensuring the survival of such societies is considerably more complicated than simply stockpiling bottled water, freeze-dried food, and ammunition in bunkers buried on the outskirts of places like West Bugshuffle, Idaho. As numbers of dangerous beasts dwindled, their threats got replaced by ones from within societies themselves. Major ones today include: greed, ignorance, and apathy; and if you question their seriousness, consider these quotes from some fairly famous folks: "There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need, but not for man's greed." - Mahatma Gandhi “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who do not do anything about it.” - Albert Einstein Self-centered greed destroys the mortar that holds societies together, and it has caused a number of them to crumble. It often breeds anarchy, and is particularly threatening when coupled with naive ignorance. Irresponsible apathy may be the most insidious of all three; because it can spread undetected throughout modern societies until it is extremely difficult to overcome. The seeds of greed, ignorance, and apathy are planted when societies begin to lose respect for those traits (e.g., honor, integrity, leadership, patriotism) that once distinguished them from more primitive groups; and unless eradicated they will overtake and destroy a society. Today's threats are every bit as real and dangerous as the ones posed by those large, hungry, or clumsy, beasts, but critical survival skills have migrated to the opposite end of our bodies and involve more brains than brawn. Self-centered people are more concerned with what they legally can do instead of what they morally should do, and many members of modern societies seem to be unable (or willing) to: tell fact from fiction, communicate effectively, question what they read or hear, learn the valuable lessons offered by history, or think that clearly. There are plenty of books on physical exercise, but no advanced society ever survived solely because its members had rock-hard abs or low body-fat ratios. This is an exercise program for flabby modern minds, and it applies the same strategies as successful physical fitness routines. It starts with simple warm up exercises to prevent brain strain, and varies subjects to avoid mental monotony. To be more effective, some of its elements are intentionally designed to require extra concentration, and its seemingly silly sections provide "cool down periods" in between controversial Chapters. Topics that appear to be arbitrarily chosen subtly serve as building blocks to develop critical, independent thinking skills needed for our society's survival. So do you have what it takes?