To what extent do we have "photographic memory?" In an experiment described by Discover Magazine, researchers showed 14 people nearly 3,000 images (at three seconds per image) and then immediately asked the subjects to point out what they had seen. They tested participants’ memories in comparisons of increasing difficulty. First,…
The story is famous and might be just a bit apocryphal, how Galileo turned his new telescope on the sky and offered to show many important people what he had found. They refused to look, afraid to compromise the world view that bound them to their place and time. Afraid,…
Tonight I’m feeling anxious about the possibility of an immense economic collapse. I’ve been reading about lots of people being laid off. Most of us with 401K’s are afraid to even look at our quarterly statements. The country is running out of fossil fuel and there isn’t anything realistic to…
Here is a link to an excellent essay by two of my best friends. It talks about how labeling plays out in both art and real life and how labels are both irrelevant and destructive. I attended that workshop they refer to, Clarion, and that's where I met them. That…
Why are humans so repulsed by the idea that they are animals? Perhaps "Terror Management Theory" can shine some light on this important issue. When I started this blog in 2006, one idea that motivated me was that human beings simply can't deal with the idea that they are animals.…