Nissan LEAF - SPECS →
nissan.ca
100% electric
March 2010
48 posts
Listen
via hypem & mostlyghostly:
The Black Keys - Tighten Up
Play
Arundhati Roy | Gandhi, but with guns | Part One | Books | The Guardian
→
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/27/arundhati-roy-india-tribal-maoists-2
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/27/arundhati-roy-india-tribal-maoists-3
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/27/arundhati-roy-india-tribal-maoists-4
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/27/arundhati-roy-india-tribal-maoists-5
A brief overview of the development of Western Philosophy →
spinnoff.com
This is too good to just sit there on a semi-obscure forum. This basically traces the entire history of Western Philosophy. Although you may object to the label “brief”, when you consider the amount of material covered, it’s hard to disagree. I haven’t digested it all, but from what I’ve seen, it’s both accurate and interesting. You can skip a lot of the discussion and jump to the meat: the pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the Cyrenaics and Cynics, the Stoics and Epicureans, the Skeptics, the Academics and the Platonists and basically all of the Middle Ages, Descartes, Spinoza… And it goes on. Wonderful.
Fleeing Rebels Kill Hundreds of Congolese - NYTimes.com →
nytimes.com
TAPILI, Congo — Depleted by an American-backed offensive and seemingly desperate for new conscripts, the Lord’s Resistance Army, one of the most infamous armed groups in Africa, has killed hundreds of villagers in this remote corner of Congo and kidnapped hundreds more, marching them off in a vast human chain, witnesses say.
Meditation’s Influence on Brain Activity →
psychcentral.com
“…Spontaneous wandering of the mind is something you become more aware of and familiar with when you meditate,” continues Ellingsen, who is an experienced practitioner.
“This default activity of the brain is often underestimated. It probably represents a kind of mental processing that connects various experiences and emotional residues, puts them into perspective and lays them to rest.”
Delta waves are characteristic of sleep. There was little delta during the relaxing and meditative tasks, confirming that nondirective meditation is different from sleep. Beta waves occur when the brain is working on goal-oriented tasks, such as planning a date or reflecting actively over a particular issue. EEG showed few beta waves during meditation and resting.
“These findings indicate that you step away from problem solving both when relaxing and during meditation,” says Ellingsen.
Several studies indicate better relaxation and stress management by meditation techniques where you refrain from trying to control the content of the mind.
“These methods are often described as nondirective, because practitioners do not actively pursue a particular experience or state of mind.
“They cultivate the ability to tolerate the spontaneous wandering of the mind without getting too much involved. Instead of concentrating on getting away from stressful thought and emotions, you simple let them pass in an effortless way.”
Nondirective meditation yields more marked changes in electrical brain wave activity associated with wakeful, relaxed attention, than just resting without any specific mental technique.
(Source: Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
World Light
I came across World Light (1937) in Argo Bookshop one day; there was this huge rainstorm so I ducked in, vainly waiting for the rain to stop. I ended up buying a bunch of books, of course.
It was written by Hallldor Laxness, a prolific Icelandic novelist who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1955 for notably for Independent People (1946) and The Atom Station (1948),among other works. World Light appears to be less well known, at least in the English speaking world. This is the first book of his that I’ve read.
World Light tells the story of a luckless poet in rural Iceland from his childhood as an orphan right through to the end of his life. The poet, Olaf Karason of Ljosavik, spent his entire life on the outside looking in. It was if he were possessed by his creative spirit; the ordinary everyday world that we live in was almost completely outside of his understanding and perception. This led to great poetic output, but unfortunately no ability to get himself published. If the novel were to focus on the poet’s life alone, it would be nothing but the unchanging drudgery of the deepest poverty, unreadable. But the author uses the poet’s ability to look in (at everyday life) from the outside to paint his world, even if the poet himself doesn’t understand it. We can see and feel the everyday life of rural Iceland, including the machinations of corrupt, greedy local officials. The ending was the best part of the book, a pure artist becoming part of the pure beauty of nature.
Did I get anything out of this book? What will stay with me are the many uses of the word ‘really’. I’d never noticed what a flexible word it is.
Dan Gurewitch: Do Not Be Fazed By This Post →
dangurewitch.tumblr.com
So, you know how everyone is always writing “I was not phased by [this or that]?” Why wouldn’t they? It looks like the correct spelling. But hold onto your pantaloons bitches because it’s not! It’s “fazed.” Really. Preach it, Dictionary.com:
Faze: (v) to cause to be disturbed or…
