“The simplest description of a black hole is a region of space-time from which no light is reflected and nothing escapes. The simplest description of consciousness is a mind that absorbs many things and attends to a few of them. Neither of these concepts can be captured quantitatively. Together they suggest the appealing possibility that endlessness surrounds us and infinity is within.”
Category: ideas
Mapping The World’s Tweets, By Language
“It’s as if someone took one of those composite satellite maps – you know, impossibly showing the whole world at night, the darkness broken by hubs and strings of artificial light – and gave it the power of speech. For the riot of colours on these maps correspond to the diversity of languages spoken, or rather: typed, on Twitter.”
Do The Humanities Really Need To Be Protected From The Encroachment Of The Sciences?
On the New York Times‘s philosophy blog, The Stone, German literature scholar William Egginton and philosophy professor Alex Rosenberg debate the issue – along with the question, “Can neurophilosophy save the humanities from hard science?”
Passport To The Past, Or Why I Collect Old Restaurant Menus
Jeff Weinstein: “[We] couldn’t really know if … anyone from the deep, dark past, moved and felt the same way we did. … That scary, childish doubt goes far to explain my lifelong search for some connection to a particular past, one that, were I able to visit, I could negotiate with confidence and treat as my own. For some reason I can’t explain, food has always seemed to be the most reliable constant, a true passport back.”
For Better Research, Stop And Smell The (Non-Existent) Horse Manure
“Just over a century ago the world’s greatest thinkers agreed that a big problem of the future would be the accumulation of horse dung, caused by the transport needs of a ballooning population: See how unimaginative we are in predicting genuinely new things and their effects on how we live?”
This Education Company’s So Successful, It’s Moving From The Internet To A Physical School
Online sensation Khan Academy has dramatically changed math instruction for many students, and some teachers. Now it’s moving to expand its topics and accessibility – and open a real, physical school.
You Might Play FarmVille For Hours, But Is It Fun? (Maybe)
“Put simply, fun games engage players’ curiosity, allow players to socialize with friends, challenge players to overcome obstacles to achieve goals and somehow relate to people’s lives in a meaningful way.” Do social games like FarmVille and CastleVille meet this definition?
Are Our Brains Wired To Dislike Inequality?
“Scientists speculate that people have a natural dislike of inequality. In fact, our desire for equal outcomes is often more powerful (at least in the brain) than our desire for a little extra cash. It’s not that money doesn’t make us feel good — it’s that sharing the wealth can make us feel even better.”
Ethical People More Satisfied With Life, Says Study
“[A] University of Missouri economist finds a relationship between life satisfaction and low tolerance for unethical conduct.”
When Mental Disorders Are A Cultural Product
“Back in the 1980s, multiple personality disorder was a thing. The thing. You don’t hear so much about it today; it’s like we all woke up one day and thought, right, probably not possible after all, let’s move on. But when MPD was hot, it wasn’t just … a problem to be overcome: It was something to be proud of.”