This classic is arranged as follows: Preface 1. The Question of Practical Application. 2. The Question of Natural Science. 1. Introduction and Orientation I. The Selection of a Path II. The “Singleness of the Superlative” III. The Principle of Least Effort IV. The Scope of the Principle: “Tools-and-Jobs” V. Previous Studies VI. Prospectus 2. On the Economy of Words I. In Medias Res: Vocabulary Usage, and the Forces of Unification and Diversification II. The Question of Vocabulary Balance III. The Orderly Distribution of Meanings IV. The Integrality of Frequencies V. The Integrality of Rank VI. The Length of Intervals Between Repetitions VII. The Problem of Spreading Work Over Time (The Even Distribution of Work Over Time) 3. Formal Semantic Balance and the Economy of Evolutionary Process I. The “Minimum Equation” Of Arrangement II. The Law of Abbreviation of Words III. The Law of Diminishing Returns of Tools IV. The Law of Diminishing Returns of Words 4. Children’s Verbalizations and the “Origin of Speech” I. The Problem II. Quantitative Data III. Theoretical Discussion of the “Origin” Of Speech IV. Summary 5. Language as Sensation and Mentation I. The Comparative Conservatism of Tools in the Risks and Opportunities of the Environment II. The Economy of Sensation III. Mentation: The Correlation of Sensory Data IV. A Mind as a Unit Semantic System V. Intellectual Rigidity and Death: Miscellanea V. Summary: The N Minimum 6. The Ego as the “Origin” Of a Frame of Reference I. A Definition of an Organism II. The Biosocial Population of Organisms III. The Economy of Procreation IV. The Synchrony of the Biosocial Continuum 7. Mind and the Economy of Symbolic Process: Sex, Culture, and Schizophrenia I. Human Sexual Activity II. The Economy of Symbolic Process (Substitution III. Culture, Society, and the Superego IV. Autism and the Confusion of Kinds of Reality V. On Schizophrenic Speech VI. Semantic Dynamics: Summary VI. Language and the Structure of the Personality 8. The Language of Dreams and of Art I. The Language of Dreams II. The Language of Art III. Language and the Structure of the Personality: Mary of Part One 9. The Economy of Geography I. A Lemma in Which a Number of Human Beings Becomes Increasingly More Organized II. The Hypothesis of the “Minimum Equation” III. Empiric Tests IV. Concluding Remarks 10. Intranational and International Cooperation and Conflict I. Canadian Data II. Unstable and Stable Intranational Conditions III. Stable and Unstable International Equilibria 11. The Distribution of Economic Power and Social Status I. Theoretical Considerations II. Empiric Data III. The Interaction Between Individuals: Dominance and Submission IV. Summary 12. Prestige Symbols and Cultural Vogues I. Theoretical Considerations II. Pioneer Empiric Data III. Musical Composers and Compositions IV. Samples of Congressional Action V. Summary

2012 Reprint of 1949 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. The principle of least effort is a broad theory that covers diverse fields from evolutionary biology to webpage design. It postulates that animals, people, even well designed machines will naturally choose the path of least resistance or "effort." This is perhaps best known or at least documented among researchers in the field of library and information science. Their principle states that an information seeking client will tend to use the most convenient search method, in the least exacting mode available. Information seeking behavior stops as soon as minimally acceptable results are found. This theory holds true regardless of the user's proficiency as a searcher, or their level of subject expertise. The principle of least effort is analogous to the path of least resistance. The principle was studied by linguist George Kingsley Zipf, author of this classic treatment of the subject. He theorized that the distribution of word use was due to the tendency to communicate efficiently with least effort and this theory is known as Zipf's Law.

The psychology classic—a detailed study of scientific theories of human nature and the possible ways in which human behavior can be predicted and controlled—from one of the most influential behaviorists of the twentieth century and the author of Walden Two. “This is an important book, exceptionally well written, and logically consistent with the basic premise of the unitary nature of science. Many students of society and culture would take violent issue with most of the things that Skinner has to say, but even those who disagree most will find this a stimulating book.” —Samuel M. Strong, The American Journal of Sociology “This is a remarkable book—remarkable in that it presents a strong, consistent, and all but exhaustive case for a natural science of human behavior…It ought to be…valuable for those whose preferences lie with, as well as those whose preferences stand against, a behavioristic approach to human activity.” —Harry Prosch, Ethics

SUMMARY: This book is If you’ve ever wondered about human behavior, wonder no more. In The Laws of Human Nature, Greene takes a look at 18 laws that reveal who we are and why we do the things we do. Humans are complex beings, but Greene uses these laws to strip human nature down to its bare bones. Every law that he presents is supported by a real-life historical account, with an insightful twist to drive the point home. As you read the book, don’t be surprised if you get the feeling that everyone you know, including yourself, is described in the book! DISCLAIMER: This is an UNOFFICIAL summary and not the original book. It is designed to record all the key points of the original book.

A leading artificial intelligence researcher lays out a new approach to AI that will enable people to coexist successfully with increasingly intelligent machines.

This volume covers the current status of research in the neurobiology of motivated behaviors in humans and other animals in healthy condition. This includes consideration of the psychological processes that drive motivated behavior and the anatomical, electrophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms which drive these processes and regulate behavioural output. The volume also includes chapters on pathological disturbances in motivation including apathy, or motivational deficit as well as addictions, the pathological misdirection of motivated behavior. As with the chapters on healthy motivational processes, the chapters on disease provide a comprehensive up to date review of the neurobiological abnormalities that underlie motivation, as determined by studies of patient populations as well as animal models of disease. The book closes with a section on recent developments in treatments for motivational disorders.

As I begin to write this Preface, I feel a rush of excitement. I have now finished the book; my gestalt is coming into completion. Throughout the months that I have been writing this, I have, indeed, been intrinsically motivated. Now that it is finished I feel quite competent and self-determining (see Chapter 2). Whether or not those who read the book will perceive me that way is also a concern of mine (an extrinsic one), but it is a wholly separate issue from the intrinsic rewards I have been experiencing. This book presents a theoretical perspective. It reviews an enormous amount of research which establishes unequivocally that intrinsic motivation exists. Also considered herein are various approaches to the conceptualizing of intrinsic motivation. The book concentrates on the approach which has developed out of the work of Robert White (1959), namely, that intrinsically motivated behaviors are ones which a person engages in so that he may feel competent and self-determining in relation to his environment. The book then considers the development of intrinsic motiva tion, how behaviors are motivated intrinsically, how they relate to and how intrinsic motivation is extrinsically motivated behaviors, affected by extrinsic rewards and controls. It also considers how changes in intrinsic motivation relate to changes in attitudes, how people attribute motivation to each other, how the attribution process is motivated, and how the process of perceiving motivation (and other internal states) in oneself relates to perceiving them in others.