“The vast majority of humans are ‘born believers’, naturally inclined to find religious claims and explanations attractive and easily acquired, and to attain fluency in using them. This attraction to religion is an evolutionary by-product of our ordinary cognitive equipment, and while it tells us nothing about the truth or otherwise of religious claims it does help us see religion in an interesting new light.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
What’s More, Religion Is What Made Civilization Possible
“Up until about 12,000 years ago all humans lived in relatively small bands. Today, virtually everyone lives in vast, cooperative groups of mostly unrelated strangers. How did this happen? … [Religion] forged anonymous strangers into moral communities tied together with sacred bonds under a common supernatural jurisdiction.”
You Can’t Copyright Pi, Says US Federal Judge
“On 14 March, which commemorates the constant that begins 3.14, US district court judge Michael H. Simon dismissed a claim of copyright infringement brought by one mathematical musician against another, who had also created music based on the digits of pi.”
That’s All, Possums! Dame Edna Everage To Retire From Touring
“[Barry] Humphries has in fact announced he is retiring not just Edna but his full retinue of characters – Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone among them. Edna, and perhaps some of the others, may yet crop up on TV occasionally.”
Dancing About The Painter Obsessed With Jack The Ripper
Walter Sickert, who painted a notorious series of four images of dead women titled Camden Town Nudes as well as a work titled Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom, is the subject of choregrapher Liam Scarlett’s upcoming piece for the Royal Ballet.
Is This The Weirdest-Ever Idea For A Ballet?
“Sir Robert Helpmann’s first work for the fledgling Australian Ballet, in 1964, was inspired by a dream in which he saw a naked Katharine Hepburn on a dais surrounded by lyrebirds.”
Want Everyone To Think Your Museum Is Awesome? Get An Acquisitions Fund
“Although acquiring art is a core mission, private collectors donate 80 to 90 percent of what is on view in American art museums. Fewer than two dozen museums have sizable nest eggs to buy the art they choose.”
A Delicate Balance: Finding The Right Partners In Ballet
“Actors play romantic duos for one movie or so, or for a theatrical run, and then go their separate ways. So do opera singers. But ballet dancers unite for season after season, sometimes for years, and their teamwork involves a physical intimacy and mutual reliance shared only by the likes of ballroom superstars, figure skaters and stars of long-running TV romances.”
Planned SAG-AFTRA Merger Gets Held Up In Courts
“Attempts to merge the two major US acting unions – the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists – have been referred to the California courts. Ballots have been sent out to members to vote on the proposal. However, in a complaint filed against SAG and several of its officers, more than 60 actors have sought to prevent the ballots being counted.”
Matilda The Musical Dominates Olivier Award Nominations
“Not only did Matilda have more nominations than any other production, it was shortlisted in every possible category.”