Philosophy of perception Do we see what is really there? The two areas of the image marked A and B, and the rectangle connecting them, are all of the same shade: our eyes automatically "correct" for the shadow of the cylinder. The philosophy of perception is concerned with the nature of perceptual experience and the status of perceptual data, in particular how they relate to beliefs about, or knowledge of, the world.[1] Any explicit account of perception requires a commitment to one of a variety of ontological or metaphysical views. Categories of perception[edit] We may categorize perception as internal or external. Internal perception (proprioception) tells us what is going on in our bodies; where our limbs are, whether we are sitting or standing, whether we are depressed, hungry, tired and so forth.External or Sensory perception (exteroception), tells us about the world outside our bodies. The philosophy of perception is mainly concerned with exteroception. Scientific accounts of perception[edit] See also[edit]
One Million Times Faster Than Current Technology: New Optical Computing Approach Offers Ultrafast Processing Ultrafast computer processing speeds are possible with optical chirality logic gates that operate about a million times faster than existing technologies. Processing devices based on polarized light run one million times faster than current technology. Logic gates are the basic building blocks of computer processors. Conventional logic gates are electronic, working by shuffling around electrons. However, researchers have been developing light-based optical logic gates to meet the data processing and transfer demands of next-generation computing. Aalto University scientists developed new optical chirality logic gates that operate about a million times faster than existing technologies, offering ultrafast processing speeds. The optical chirality logic gate is made of a material that emits lights with different circular polarization depending on the chirality of the input beams.
ParadigmOfComplexity The last few decades have seen the emergence of a growing body of literature devoted to a critique of the so-called “old” or “Cartesian-Newtonian” paradigm which, in the wake of the prodigious successes of modern natural science, came to dominate the full range of authoritative intellectual discourse and its associated worldviews. Often coupled with a materialistic, and indeed atomistic, metaphysics, this paradigm has been guided by the methodological principle of reductionism. The critics of reductionism have tended to promote various forms of holism, a term which, perhaps more than any other, has served as the rallying cry for those who see themselves as creators of a “new paradigm.” At the forefront of such a challenge, and in many ways the herald of the new paradigm, is the relatively new movement of transpersonal psychology. In taking seriously such experiences, transpersonal theory has been compelled to transcend the disciplinary boundaries of mainstream psychology. C.
Why are so many women living in separate homes from their partners and kids? Because it’s a win-win situation | Emma Brockes The model coupling – the dream, if you will – was always Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton, or Annie Leibovitz and Susan Sontag: maintaining a marriage, de facto or real, across two separate households, so that you got all the benefits with none of the gross bits. You could keep the magic alive, extend the honeymoon period indefinitely and, by protecting your space and rationing your time together, create a scenario in which you were actually happy to see each other. Trends originating with celebrities tend to be fake, meaningless or massaged, but the appeal of this model has lingered on. Overlooking the small matter of money, what, exactly, is there not to like? Or rather, what is there not to like for the women in any given couple? It’s well known that among straight couples, women initiate most divorces – by some reckonings 70% – and pushing for separate households is, I would imagine, a staging post towards this end for many of the numbers in this new trend.
The Experience and Perception of Time What is ‘the perception of time’? The very expression ‘the perception of time’ invites objection. Insofar as time is something different from events, we do not perceive time as such, but changes or events in time. But, arguably, we do not perceive events only, but also their temporal relations. So, just as it is natural to say that we perceive spatial distances and other relations between objects (I see the dragonfly as hovering above the surface of the water), it seems natural to talk of perceiving one event following another (the thunderclap as following the flash of lightning), though even here there is a difficulty. Kinds of temporal experience There are a number of what Ernst Pöppel (1978) calls ‘elementary time experiences’, or fundamental aspects of our experience of time. Duration One of the earliest, and most famous, discussions of the nature and experience of time occurs in the autobiographical Confessions of St Augustine. The specious present Here is one attempt to do so. Φ-β-κ
Louisiana Communities Show the Many Contours of Climate Migration Organizers are tackling climate displacement from all angles—advocating for climate-displaced people, providing them with resources, and making their communities more climate-resilient. Since he purchased his 311-acre property in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, in 1998, John Allaire has watched 60 acres of it disappear. He has witnessed a series of climate disasters rapidly wash away Louisiana’s coastline, devastating already-overlooked communities like his. In 2005, he lost his home to Hurricane Rita. He applied for federal assistance to rebuild his home but was rejected. Instead, he was compensated with a temporary trailer, which he then lost to Hurricane Ike in 2008. Climate events like these are becoming more frequent and higher in magnitude across the U.S. “We have to acknowledge that disaster outcomes exacerbate sociopolitical inequalities,” says Sara McTarnaghan, senior research associate at Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute.
Squeeze light to teleport quantum energy - physics-math - 23 January 2014 Putting the squeeze on light may be the key to teleporting energy across vast distances. Although the amount of energy that could theoretically be transmitted is tiny for now, it could be enough to power quantum computers that don't overheat. For years physicists have been smashing distance records for quantum teleportation, which exploits quantum entanglement to send encrypted information. Entangled particles remain linked no matter how far apart they are, and a change to one particle always affects its partner in a particular way. In experiments, for example, a pair of entangled particles is separated and each partner is sent to a different location. When someone measures the particle at point A, its quantum state is decided and that event immediately causes a corresponding change in the particle at point B. No physical matter is transmitted, and nothing is travelling faster than light. Physicists have done this with light and with matter, such as entangled ions. Quantum toothpaste
We can reduce homelessness if we follow the science on what works By Maia Szalavitz In the past few months, government officials across the US have announced initiatives to reduce homelessness, a problem that has become more widespread, visible and contentious since the start of the pandemic. Yet many of the proposals now being pushed ahead seem to ignore the evidence about what actually reduces homelessness, and instead perpetuate costly and ineffective strategies that are unlikely to make a difference in the long term. Half of US adults say the problem of homelessness is a major worry. This increased visibility does reflect a real rise in numbers in many places. A rise in homelessness isn’t just happening in the US, either. The response in the US has been a flurry of announcements about efforts to reduce homelessness – mainly by increasing policing and changing rules to make it easier to place homeless people into mental health facilities. Many of these new initiatives rely heavily on an old idea known as “treatment first”. More on these topics:
Scientific Proof Thoughts & Intentions Can Alter The Physical World Around Us Dr. Masaru Emoto, a researcher and alternative healer from Japan has given the world a good deal of evidence of the magic of positive thinking. He became famous when his water molecule experiments featured in the 2004 film, What The Bleep Do We Know? The rice experiment is another famous Emoto demonstration of the power of negative thinking (and conversely, the power of positive thinking.) Is this proof that consciousness and intention can affect the “physical” material world around us? Masaru Emoto’s Water Crystal Experiments The hypothesis that water “treated” with intention can affect ice crystals formed from that water was pilot tested under double-blind conditions. Consciousness has measurable effects on the geometric structure of water crystals. Thanks to: KarmaJello Additional Resources/credits:
Investigation of Tech Firm Accused of Colluding With Landlords to Hike Apartment Rents ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The senator tasked with overseeing federal antitrust enforcement is urging the U.S. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights, sent a letter to the DOJ’s Antitrust Division this month. “We are concerned that the use of this rate setting software essentially amounts to a cartel to artificially inflate rental rates in multifamily residential buildings,” the letter said. In mid-October, a ProPublica investigation documented how real estate tech company RealPage’s price-setting software uses nearby competitors’ nonpublic rent data to feed an algorithm that suggests what landlords should charge for available apartments each day. RealPage did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The DOJ declined to comment on the letter.
We need new stories on Climate Crisis - Win the popular imagination - Change the game Every crisis is in part a storytelling crisis. This is as true of climate chaos as anything else. We are hemmed in by stories that prevent us from seeing, or believing in, or acting on the possibilities for change. Some are habits of mind, some are industry propaganda. Sometimes, the situation has changed but the stories haven’t, and people follow the old versions, like outdated maps, into dead ends. We need to leave the age of fossil fuel behind, swiftly and decisively. In order to do what the climate crisis demands of us, we have to find stories of a livable future, stories of popular power, stories that motivate people to do what it takes to make the world we need. To change our relationship to the physical world – to end an era of profligate consumption by the few that has consequences for the many – means changing how we think about pretty much everything: wealth, power, joy, time, space, nature, value, what constitutes a good life, what matters, how change itself happens.
Homelessness has risen 70% in California’s capital. Inside the staggering emergency | California Sitting on the edge of a collection of about 60 tents pitched alongside the American River, Twana James is doing her best to comfort a friend at the end of her wits. All day, the woman says, she had been waiting for a caseworker from a Sacramento non-profit to come pick her up and put her on a list for housing. “You wait all day for somebody to come and get you and they don’t come,” she cries in despair. James offers her a ride to a shelter that provides food, showers and counseling. It’s the sort of thing James, 53, does often. Dubbed the Island, the tents stretch out on a picturesque plot of land along the American River. During the pandemic, the unhoused population has soared all over California, but the increase in Sacramento has been particularly stunning. The region has seen an almost 70% rise in homelessness since 2019, now counting more unhoused people than San Francisco. “None of us would be surprised [if] it passes because of the anger in the community. ‘Encampments everywhere’