The Hidden Message in Pixar’s Films | Science Not Fiction I love Pixar. Who doesn’t? The stories are magnificently crafted, the characters are rich, hilarious, and unique, and the images are lovingly rendered. Without fail, John Ratzenberger’s iconic voice makes a cameo in some boisterous character. Even if you haven’t seen every film they’ve made (I refuse to watch Cars or its preposterous sequel), there is a consistency and quality to Pixar’s productions that is hard to deny. Popular culture is often dismissed as empty “popcorn” fare. Buried within that constant and complex goodness is a hidden message. Now, this is not your standard “Disney movies hide double-entendres and sex imagery in every film” hidden message. What if I told you they were preparing us for the future? Before we begin, I ask you to watch the video below. People love these films. To understand Pixar films, one must first to go back to Disney before Toy Story was released – to be precise, The Lion King. The Lion King gives us a clean slate. Non-humans are sentient beings.
What You Can't Say January 2004 Have you ever seen an old photo of yourself and been embarrassed at the way you looked? Did we actually dress like that? We did. And we had no idea how silly we looked. It's the nature of fashion to be invisible, in the same way the movement of the earth is invisible to all of us riding on it. What scares me is that there are moral fashions too. If you could travel back in a time machine, one thing would be true no matter where you went: you'd have to watch what you said. It seems to be a constant throughout history: In every period, people believed things that were just ridiculous, and believed them so strongly that you would have gotten in terrible trouble for saying otherwise. Is our time any different? It's tantalizing to think we believe things that people in the future will find ridiculous. The Conformist Test Let's start with a test: Do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your peers? Trouble What can't we say? Heresy Prigs Why
How to create a self-fulfilling prophesy. (article) THERE IS A CIRCULAR, self-feeding loop in many aspects of human nature, and you can use them to your advantage — or disadvantage. In many of these self-feeding loops, your thoughts play a major role. For example, a person with indigestion (caused by stress) notices a pain in his stomach, and then worries that maybe something is seriously wrong with him. The worry increases his level of stress, which increases the pain in his stomach, which makes him worry all the more, etc. Now at first, there was nothing wrong with him. His thoughts have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. A few years ago, I was talking with a client named Stacy. When I was in high school, I had to take a speech class. By the time I was in high school, I was so afraid I might look like a fool that when I gave my first speech, I did look like a fool. "I'm really afraid to give speeches," I said. "But in my class last semester you had no problem at all speaking up." I knew he was right. I agree wholeheartedly.
The parable of the ox In 1906, the great statistician Francis Galton observed a competition to guess the weight of an ox at a country fair. Eight hundred people entered. Galton, being the kind of man he was, ran statistical tests on the numbers. He discovered that the average guess (1,197lb) was extremely close to the actual weight (1,198lb) of the ox. Not many people know the events that followed. A new problem emerged, however. Strict regulatory rules were introduced. Professional analysts scrutinised the contents of these regulatory announcements and advised their clients on their implications. Some brighter analysts realised that understanding the nutrition and health of the ox was not that useful anyway. Some, such as old Farmer Buffett, claimed that the results of this process were more and more divorced from the realities of ox-rearing. International bodies were established to define the rules for assessing the weight of the ox. And then the ox died.
OPINION: Will censoring the Internet stop child exploitation? NOTE: I got to put my thoughts to John Carr directly when I was invited to debate the issues raised on the JVS Show on BBC Three Counties radio on Monday morning. Here is the link to listen again. We come on at the 1 hour mark… I think the link is only live for seven days so grab it while it’s hot! Yesterday government advisor on child Internet safety, John Carr, called for search engines like Google to do more to restrict access to online pornography. But would censoring searches really stop paedophiles accessing child sex abuse images? I think this is a very naïve proposition. First of all there are over 17 billion pages on the indexed web and Google alone handled 1.2 trillion search queries in 2012. I know of at least one social site aimed at children that blocks the words rape, kill and cum – which of course are inappropriate words for minors to be using – but the filter also stops them using words like grape, skills and cucumber. We need to rely on education instead of prohibition.
Binaural Beats: Digital Drugs The science behind binaural beats: What they are, what they are claimed to do, and what they can actually do. by Brian Dunning Filed under Alternative Medicine, Consumer Ripoffs Skeptoid Podcast #147 March 31, 2009 Podcast transcript | Download | Subscribe Also available in Russian Listen: Today we're going to put on our headphones, kick back in the beanbag, and get mellow to the soothing sounds of the latest digital drug: binaural beats. First of all, I'm sure you're curious right off the bat to hear what binaural beats sound like, so let's take a listen: A binaureal beat is created by playing a different tone in each ear, and the interference pattern between the slightly differing frequencies creates the illusion of a beat. If you search the Internet for "binaural beats" you'll quickly find there's a whole industry built on the idea that listening to binaural beats can produce all kinds of desired effects in your brain. You don't have to buy one, though. By Brian Dunning Adams, C.
Myths, facts and statistics - NAS Facts and statistics about autism, including how many autistic people are in the UK, how many people have learning disabilities and autism, a breakdown by gender, an overview of studies into statistics of autism, and some common myths and facts about the condition. How does autism affect children, adults and their families? The term 'autism' is used here to describe all diagnoses on the autism spectrum including classic autism, Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism. Autism is a serious, lifelong and disabling condition. Without the right support, it can have a profound - sometimes devastating - effect on individuals and families. Autism is much more common than many people think. References 1 The NHS Information Centre, Community and Mental Health Team, Brugha, T. et al (2012). How many people in the UK are autistic? Around 700,000 people may be autistic, or more than 1 in 100 in the population. There is no register or exact count kept. Autism and learning disabilities References
El Salvador - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette What will you Learn in this Guide? You will gain an understanding of a number of key areas including: LanguageReligion and beliefsCulture and societySocial etiquette and customsBusiness culture and etiquette Facts and Statistics Location: Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras Capital: San Salvador Climate: tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands Population: 6,187,271 (2018 est.) Ethnic Make-up: mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1% Religions: Roman Catholic 57.1%, Protestant 21.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.9%, Mormon 0.7%, other religions 2.3%, none 16.8% (2003 est.) Government: republic The Catholic Church has had a long influence over the people of El Salvador. Language in El Salvador Society and Culture The People Machismo Machismo survives in a culture where traditional gender roles remain.The man is the breadwinner and the wife looks after the home. The cowboy spirit. Tipping