The Limits of Perception (Paperback)
Language: English
Published by John S. Pritchett, 2026
- Softcover
- New
Seller: CitiRetail, Stevenage, United KingdomCitiRetail
AbeBooks seller since June 29, 2022
Condition: New
£ 16.49
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Paperback. Change rarely begins when we notice it. By the time it becomes visible, it may have been developing for far longer than we realize.he Limits of Perception: Why Change Feels Sudden explores why individuals, organizations, and entire societies can experience long periods of apparent stability followed by moments when everything seems to shift at once.John S. Pritchett begins with a simple insight: human perception captures only a narrow portion of what is happening. Changes that remain below our sensory or informational thresholds continue without entering awareness. When they finally become noticeable, we often mistake the moment of recognition for the beginning of the change itself.The book then extends this idea beyond the senses. Modern life is increasingly understood through measurements, dashboards, alerts, categories, forecasts, scores, and shared digital signals. These tools allow us to observe more-but they also select, simplify, translate, and combine information before it reaches us.What appears to be the system itself is often only a compressed representation of it.Through clear examples involving personal behavior, infrastructure, financial markets, traffic, supply chains, power grids, technology, and social communication, the book explains how gradual change can remain hidden beneath stable averages and familiar appearances. Systems may continue functioning only because they are working harder, using more capacity, and sacrificing the margins that once made them resilient.The danger increases when many people rely on the same signals. Awareness becomes synchronized. Decisions that once occurred gradually begin happening together. Individual actions that would be manageable in isolation can combine into bank runs, traffic waves, shortages, market shifts, institutional stress, or widespread failure.Yet not every crisis is a chain reaction caused by one dramatic event. Sometimes several systems have been approaching their limits independently-and simply reach those limits within the same narrow window.What looks like sudden collapse may actually be hidden accumulation becoming visible all at once.The Limits of Perception also offers a practical response: spacing. By using multiple signals, noticing changes earlier, slowing decisions, and allowing actions to occur in stages, people and institutions can create the time needed to adjust before pressure becomes overwhelming.Accessible, concise, and thought-provoking, this book offers a new way to understand instability, surprise, and the uncomfortable distance between what is happening and what we are able to see.Nothing changes suddenly. What changes suddenly is our awareness of what has already been changing. We mistake the moment of recognition for the start of a revolution, failing to see the slow erosion beneath the surface. This book reveals how hidden shifts accumulate until they explode into sudden, overwhelming reality. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.…
Seller Inventory # 9798256197070
- Title
- The Limits of Perception (Paperback)
- Author
- John S. Pritchett
- Publisher
- John S. Pritchett
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- new
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 13
- 9798256197070
Change rarely begins when we notice it. By the time it becomes visible, it may have been developing for far longer than we realize.
he Limits of Perception: Why Change Feels Sudden explores why individuals, organizations, and entire societies can experience long periods of apparent stability followed by moments when everything seems to shift at once.
John S. Pritchett begins with a simple insight: human perception captures only a narrow portion of what is happening. Changes that remain below our sensory or informational thresholds continue without entering awareness. When they finally become noticeable, we often mistake the moment of recognition for the beginning of the change itself.
The book then extends this idea beyond the senses. Modern life is increasingly understood through measurements, dashboards, alerts, categories, forecasts, scores, and shared digital signals. These tools allow us to observe more-but they also select, simplify, translate, and combine information before it reaches us.
What appears to be the system itself is often only a compressed representation of it.
Through clear examples involving personal behavior, infrastructure, financial markets, traffic, supply chains, power grids, technology, and social communication, the book explains how gradual change can remain hidden beneath stable averages and familiar appearances. Systems may continue functioning only because they are working harder, using more capacity, and sacrificing the margins that once made them resilient.
The danger increases when many people rely on the same signals. Awareness becomes synchronized. Decisions that once occurred gradually begin happening together. Individual actions that would be manageable in isolation can combine into bank runs, traffic waves, shortages, market shifts, institutional stress, or widespread failure.
Yet not every crisis is a chain reaction caused by one dramatic event. Sometimes several systems have been approaching their limits independently-and simply reach those limits within the same narrow window.
What looks like sudden collapse may actually be hidden accumulation becoming visible all at once.
The Limits of Perception also offers a practical response: spacing. By using multiple signals, noticing changes earlier, slowing decisions, and allowing actions to occur in stages, people and institutions can create the time needed to adjust before pressure becomes overwhelming.
Accessible, concise, and thought-provoking, this book offers a new way to understand instability, surprise, and the uncomfortable distance between what is happening and what we are able to see.
Nothing changes suddenly. What changes suddenly is our awareness of what has already been changing.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
CitiRetail
Stevenage, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since June 29, 2022
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 7 to 14 business days | 7 to 60 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 37.00 | £ 37.00 |
Payment methods
Store description
Online business
Seller's business information
ABC BOOKS LIMITED
10 John Street
London, United Kingdom WC1N 2EB
Terms of sale
Orders can be returned within 30 days of receipt.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to CitiRetail, Stevenage, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Please note that titles are dispatched from our US, Canadian or Australian warehouses. Delivery times specified in shipping terms. Orders ship within 2 business days. Delivery to your door then takes 7-14 days.