On Guns, Mental Hygiene, and Resilience

It may surprise people who know me that I am not completely anti-gun. It seems like something I might be.  I don’t like loud noises and I don’t like violence, and killing hurts me. I have to avert my eyes form a lot of TV and movies. But the gun thing is no longer simple for me.  The last time I was stridently anti-gun was while lecturing my father about the dangers of guns. He happened to be holding off a midnight intruder with a hammer and wanted me to go get his gun.  I was a senior in high school and I knew everything and I refused . . .

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Another reason I know that I’m an animal

Goose Bumps. What are they? Radiolab informs us:

1. It traps heat! The air your body heats up gets trapped more effectively when all those hairs are erect, so you've got yourself a nice warm layer of air to prevent against the advancing cold. Mmmm. Cozy town. 2. It makes you look bigger to predators. Poof. I'm giant. I swear. Rowr.
But there's more to the story. Why would an emotional passage in a piece of music cause goose-bumps? Maybe (Radiolab suggests) because the awesomeness of the passage makes us feel small, maybe a little too small, which gets us feeling a big defensive and helpless, making us bring out the goose bumps for reasons #2 above.

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The actual war on women, the supposed “war on religion,” and the fallout

George Lakoff writes about the actual Republican war on women and the supposed "war on religion"

A recent Gallup Poll has shown that, in the US, 82 per cent of Catholics think that birth control is "morally acceptable." 90 per cent of non-Catholics believe the same. Overall, 89 per cent of Americans agree on this. In the May 2012 poll, Gallup tested beliefs about the moral acceptability of 18 issues total, including divorce, gambling, stem cell research, the death penalty, gay relationships, and so on. Contraception had by far the greatest approval rating. Divorce, the next on the list, had only 67 per cent approval compared to 89 per cent for contraception.

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How discriminating are you? With regard to musical tones, that is.

How discriminating are you? With regard to pitch, that is. I have performed music much of my life, and I ended up doing quite well on this 3 minute test (better than 99.4% of those who take it). But I felt like I was guessing on quite a few of these micro intervals. If you think you have a discriminating ear, you might find this test interesting.

Continue ReadingHow discriminating are you? With regard to musical tones, that is.