In a milieu of polarization, an era of claims to supremacy – “and nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong” – perhaps complexity can moderate pride. Complexity that resonates like a prayer.
There’s the wider stage of complexity – from the atomic to the cosmic scale. Ecosystems. Culture. But there’s the complexity right in our skulls. Our brain.
• Dictionary.com > Humbling > “causing a person to feel less proud, especially through awe, admiration, or gratitude.”
The incredible complexity of our global ecosystem … at so many levels …
Well, then there’s “better living through chemistry” … the plastic ocean, plastic in our food chain, and PFAS in our tap water (and blood).
Here’s one of many articles in the news cycle this week prompted by a recent study from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) – which “analyzed water collected from over 700 taps and kitchen faucets in homes, offices and schools across the country.”
Continue reading The future of forever chemistry
MORE LESSONS … (from gerbil poems)
these beasts at the end of my desk,
these gerbils, my living phylacteries,
busy themselves in front of me, as if to say,
“what is there more than eat, work, sleep, and sex?
what is this talk of symbols in decay?”
midstream
I
we are suddenly
one that needs care.
germinating in a culture,
located within a history,
of lives living midstream,
even as we do
Can space travel – at least orbiting the Earth – cause cognitive shifts? Really be transformative – have lasting impact? [1]
Generally, studies note variability in the experience. And not all astronauts experience the overview effect.
(Wiki) Author [“space philosopher”] Frank White, who in the 1980s coined the term overview effect after interviewing many astronauts, …
Yaden et al. observed that cultural differences, including differences in religious and social identity, affect the ways in which the effect is experienced and interpreted. Expressions range from the religious, to the “vaguely spiritual”, to the naturalistic, to calls to social duty.
Wiki even notes that there’s some research on whether immersive virtual reality simulations might “induce the overview effect in earthbound participants.”
This Big Think article is a personal perspective by astronaut Ron Garan.
Continue reading The overview effect
I’ve read online articles about gaslighting. By publishers such as Psychology Today, Washington Post, Wired, Huffpost. Hopefully most everyone understands what this is about – in personal & social relationships, corporate PR, and politics. Misleading communications, misinformation, manipulation, abuse.
As Carl Sagan discussed regarding critical thinking skills, a good “baloney detection kit” protects against false narratives, especially in unequal power relationships.
This article includes some historical recap. As well as mentioning the rest of the year’s Top 10 words.
• AP News > “‘Gaslighting’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022” by LEANNE ITALIE (November 28, 2022)
(quote) Merriam-Webster’s top definition for gaslighting is the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, that “causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.”
“It’s a word that has risen so quickly in the English language, and especially in the last four years, that it actually came as a surprise to me and to many of us,” said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s unveiling.
Well, sort of …
• Matter
• It matters
• What matters
• Mattering – you matter
• YouTube > University of Queensland > Denial101x: Making Sense of Climate Science Denial > FLICC – The Techniques of Science Denial Part 1 (Mar 9, 2020)
A titan’s quest
years from now, after all,
will we aptly recall
throughout many seasons
the road of our reasons
which pushed electric cars
and pilgrimage to Mars?
Room Pasadena *
[Revised 4-9-2022]
on a bright sunny morning
no clouds in the sky,
in the hall nearby his room,
i decided to drop by
behind the door (i) heard motion,
i knocked to say hi,
the way cracked a tad open,
a dim voice spoke by-and-by
“you’re welcome to pass,
but step quickly inside,
you’re letting out the darkness
which i hope you can abide”