Human beings are immensely complicated creatures, living simultaneously in a half dozen different worlds. Each individual is unique and, in a number of respects, unlike all the other members of the species. None of our motives is unmixed, none of our actions can be traced back to a single source and, in any group we care to study, behavior patterns that are observably similar may be the result of many constellations of dissimilar causes.
Bridging the Island Universes of Our Experience: Aldous Huxley on Making Sense of Ourselves and Each Other
“To see ourselves as others see us is a most salutary gift. Hardly less important is the capacity to see others as they see themselves.”
Crikey has found Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s private Facebook and Instagram accounts using publicly available information.
The accounts, while partially locked down, reveal information about Morrison and his close contacts, making them a potential national security issue.
Earlier this year, Crikey uncovered Morrison’s Spotify account. The details in this public profile — which has been confirmed to belong to Morrison — led to the discovery of his other social media accounts.
We found the PM’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. That’s a national security risk
When we think of what a good life entails, we might imagine one that is filled with happiness or defined by a sense of purpose. Perhaps we imagine a life of contentment and stability, supported by a close-knit group of friends and family, or one in which we spend our years working toward a meaningful goal, with all the long hours and sacrifices that requires.
However, as important as happiness and purpose are, we may be overlooking another important component: an openness to new and different experiences. In a recent paper published in the American Psychological Association’s journal Psychological Review, two psychologists make the argument that our conception of what a good life looks like should include a consideration of whether it is “psychologically rich,” which they define as being, “characterised by a variety of interesting and perspective-changing experiences.”
The Most Important Thing for Living a Fulfilling Life, According to Psychologists
How much exercise we need to live longer
PopSci Best eReaders for every type of book lover: “The latest and greatest ebook readers cram an entire library of content into one device that’s as easy to read as it is to carry. The best eReader is more than a convenient way to carry an entire collection of James Paterson novels onto an airplane. Today’s eReaders are sophisticated tablets capable of displaying text and images in a wide variety of eye-friendly ways. The screens are stunning, with sharp text that looks just like real ink and paper. These displays separate eReaders from tablets, making them the best way to read digital books. With advances in e-ink tech and touch screens, the problems of first-generation eReaders are all but gone. There are no more weird visual artifacts and lag when turning a page. You won’t need to struggle with dark screens that are impossible to see at night. And unlike the early 2000s, you have more than one or two eReaders to choose from. But with so many eReaders on the market, it can be difficult to find the device that suits your needs and your reading habits. Do you want an eReader with a clean, simple interface? Do you want an eReader with a lot of file options? Do you want an eReader for teens or younger children? Today’s best eReaders are friendly and inviting. They not only encourage reading but provide services and apps you won’t find on traditional smartphones and tablets. With the best eReader, you’ll access books, audiobooks, magazines, and more in a format dedicated to useability and your eyes…”
I love the duality of water and how it can serve as a metaphor for life,” she says. “It’s beautiful and healing, and I feel weightless and unburdened in it. But at the same time, it can be dangerous as well as restorative: historically, black people have always had a complicated relationship with water.” (This is for a variety of reasons, such as the Middle Passage, when enslaved people were taken from Africa to the Americas, and segregated beaches and pools.)
Bodies of Water: Calida Rawles: ‘I use soft colours people wouldn’t associate with black men’
RealClearPolitics: “How often are books and bookshelves seen on television news? The timeline below used AI to scan every second of news programming across BBC News London, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News since the start of last year to count how many seconds per day a book was visible somewhere onscreen. Pre-pandemic, books were seen just a few minutes a day on each channel, but in the middle of March 2020, as lockdowns spread and television news presenters, personalities and guests were suddenly forced to present from home, many positioned their cameras in front of their bookshelves.
Animals ‘shapeshifting’ in response to climate crisis, research finds
The Guardian: “Animals are increasingly “shapeshifting” because of the climate crisis, researchers have said. Warm-blooded animals are changing their physiology to adapt to a hotter climate, the scientists found. This includes getting larger beaks, legs and ears to better regulate their body temperature. When animals overheat, birds use their beaks and mammals use their ears to disperse the warmth. Some creatures in warmer climates have historically evolved to have larger beaks or ears to get rid of heat more easily. These differences are becoming more pronounced as the climate warms. If animals fail to control their body temperature, they can overheat and die. Beaks, which are not covered by feathers and therefore not insulated, are a site of significant heat exchange, as are ears, tails and legs in mammals if not covered by fur…”
- “Interrogating the obscurity of Holst’s audacious book exposes a dark side to the German Enlightenment that, until recently, has largely been overlooked” — Andrew Cooper (Warwick) on how the German Enlightenment failed women
- “As a professional philosopher, I will move from ad hoc and pop-up politics to a comprehensive approach to the good life” — former Loyola Marymount University philosophy professor James Hanink is running for governor of California
- “What would happen if we would only accept to review papers that we knew we could/would/were willing to read within a week?” — thoughts on speeding up refereeing in philosophy, from Ingrid Robeyns (Utrecht)
- “A densely argued and damning portrait of Socrates as soldier-citizen-philosopher” — Dan Little (UM-Dearborn) on the puncturing of an image “entirely based on the philosophical texts without serious attention to historical details”
- When the word “is aired for pedagogical purposes, there is no good reason to feel hurt” — Randall Kennedy (Harvard) on professors mentioning a notorious racial slur in class
- Consider a series of versions of a song, starting with the original, A. B is a cover version of A. C is a cover of B. D is a cover of C, etc., down to Z — if Z bears no musical resemblance to A, is it a cover of A? P.D. Magnus (Albany) looks at a cover song paradox created by Andrew Kania (Trinity)
- “A genuine reckoning with the history of American torture remains unlikely” — Jessica Wolfendale (Marquette) on the erasure of American torture