Meme - Criticism Of Memetic Theory - York, Oxford, Press, Memetics, Human, and Memes Despite the cult popularity of the idea, memetic theory is hardly discussed in recent texts on evolutionary psychology and linguistics. The prevailing consensus seems to be that the meme is a nice metaphor but one that has perhaps been taken too far. Memes, after all, are hard to define, quantify, and measure; their very existence is somewhat nebulous, inferable but not scientifically verifiable. Some have also assailed memes not only as bad science but as reactionary politics. The complexity of human development is overly reduced into nonmaterialist, quasi-mystical, pseudo-scientific terms, which in turn are only a new Kabbalah, a recasting of age-old ideas of angels and demons and magic words that can control reality. Aunger, Robert. Blackmore, Susan. Boyd, Andrew. Dawkins, Richard. Gardner, James. Journal of Memetics. Ridley, Matt. Stephenson, Neal.
Encephalitis lethargica Encephalitis lethargica or von Economo disease is an atypical form of encephalitis. Also known as "sleepy sickness" (though different from the sleeping sickness transmitted by the tsetse fly), it was first described by the neurologist Constantin von Economo in 1917.[1][2] The disease attacks the brain, leaving some victims in a statue-like condition, speechless and motionless.[3] Between 1915 and 1926,[4] an epidemic of encephalitis lethargica spread around the world; no recurrence of the epidemic has since been reported, though isolated cases continue to occur.[5][6] Symptoms[edit] Encephalitis lethargica is characterized by high fever, sore throat, headache, lethargy, double vision, delayed physical and mental response, sleep inversion and catatonia.[3] In severe cases, patients may enter a coma-like state (akinetic mutism). Cause[edit] The cause of encephalitis lethargica is not known for certain.[9] Research in 2004 suggested that the disease is due to an immune reaction.
Benjaman Kyle "Benjaman Kyle" was the alias chosen by an American man who has severe amnesia. On August 31, 2004, he was found, naked and injured, without any possessions or identification, next to a dumpster behind a Burger King restaurant in Richmond Hill, Georgia. Between 2004 and 2015, neither he nor the authorities had determined his real identity or background, despite searches that had included television publicity and various other methods. In late 2015, genetic detective work, which had gone on for years, led to the discovery of his prior identity, as William Burgess Powell (born August 29, 1948), although a gap of more than 20 years in his life history still remains without any documented records. With the rediscovery of his Social Security number, he has again become eligible for ordinary employment and has received public assistance.[1] Incident and post-amnesia[edit] Kyle believed he was passing through Richmond Hill, Georgia, either on U.S. Search for identity[edit] Recorded memories[edit]
Memetic Engineering memes mind seen idea To add to the confusion, the modern world has seen an unprecedented multiplication and proliferation of memes, with mass media being the preeminent transmission vector. Some of these memes are devised with rational ends, such as advertising consumer products; others are devised solely as play; others are "junk" memes. Hula hoops, the Burma Shave billboards of the 1950s, the slogan "There's always room for Jell-O," the synthesizer intro to the 1984 song "Jump" by Van Halen, or the three-note "by Men-nen" jingle, while of no use to those they infect, are excellent examples. Thus the idea of memetic engineering consists not only in choosing which memes to be influenced by but also in counterpropaganda and countersloganeering designed to purge from the meme pool those ideas deemed deleterious to society at large.
Oliver Sacks Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE (born 9 July 1933) is a British-American neurologist, writer, and amateur chemist who is Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine. Between 2007 and 2012, he was professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also held the position of "Columbia Artist". Before that, he spent many years on the clinical faculty of Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also holds the position of visiting professor at the United Kingdom's University of Warwick.[1] Early life[edit] Sacks was the youngest of four children born to a North London Jewish couple: Samuel Sacks, a physician (died June 1990),[3] and Muriel Elsie Landau, one of the first female surgeons in England.[4] Sacks has a large extended family, and his first cousins include Israeli statesman Abba Eban, writer and director Jonathan Lynn, and economist Robert Aumann. Career[edit] Writing[edit] Honors[edit] Personal life[edit]
The Girl Who Loves to Levitate (14 photos) Natsumi Hayashi is a sweet-looking Japanese girl who, one day, decided to take self-portraits..of herself levitating. She can be spotted in and around Tokyo, equipped with her SLR and her self-timer. When she feels the moment strike, she presses the shutter button down and then, quite literally, "jumps" into place. What I love most about her shots is that they don't feel forced. When I asked her how others react to her jumping around Tokyo, here is a funny story that she shared. "So I stopped jumping and apologized to them by saying, 'I am taking jumping photos for my wedding party's slide show.' "Then, I took one of the best levitation shots of the entire series." "We are all surrounded by social stress as we are bound by the forces of earth's gravity," Natsumi says when asked why she took on the series. Natsumi Hayashi's website
Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel (/ˈbæbəl/ or /ˈbeɪbəl/; Hebrew: מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל, Migddal Bāḇēl) is a story told in the Book of Genesis of the Tanakh (also referred to as the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament) meant to explain the origin of different languages.[1][2][3][4] According to the story, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar (Hebrew: שנער). There they agreed to build a city and tower; seeing this, God confounded their speech so that they could no longer understand each other and scattered them around the world. The Tower of Babel has been associated with known structures according to some modern scholars, notably the Etemenanki, a ziggurat dedicated to the Mesopotamian god Marduk by Nabopolassar, king of Babylonia (c. 610 BCE).[5][6] The Great Ziggurat of Babylon was 91 metres (300 ft) in height. Story German Late Medieval (c. 1370s) depiction of the construction of the tower. Themes
Milgram experiment The experimenter (E) orders the teacher (T), the subject of the experiment, to give what the latter believes are painful electric shocks to a learner (L), who is actually an actor and confederate. The subject believes that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual electric shocks, though in reality there were no such punishments. Being separated from the subject, the confederate set up a tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played pre-recorded sounds for each shock level.[1] The experiments began in July 1961, three months after the start of the trial of German Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. The experiment[edit] Milgram Experiment advertisement Three individuals were involved: the one running the experiment, the subject of the experiment (a volunteer), and a confederate pretending to be a volunteer. The subjects believed that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks. Results[edit] Criticism[edit] Ethics[edit]
Rule of thirds This photograph of a sunset taken in the Thousand Islands region demonstrates the principles of the rule of thirds The rule of thirds is a principle of the Golden ratio with broad application as a "rule of thumb" or guideline which applies to the process of composing visual images such as designs, films, paintings, and photographs.[1] The guideline proposes according to the principle of the Golden section search that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.[2] Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject.[citation needed] The photograph to the right demonstrates the application of the rule of thirds. Use[edit] a typical usage of the rule of thirds History[edit]
Legends surrounding the papacy The papacy has been surrounded by numerous legends. Among the most famous are the claims that the Papal Tiara bears the number of the beast inscriptions, that a woman was once elected pope, or that the current pope will be the last Pope. The two former claims have been independently determined to be false. The latter claim has been shown to be false for every known pope barring the incumbent; but it remains theoretically possible. Vicarius Filii Dei[edit] One misconception surrounding the Papal Tiara suggests that the words Vicarius Filii Dei (Latin for "Vicar of the Son of God") exist on the side of one of the tiaras. Further, Vicarius Filii Dei is not among the titles of the Pope; the closest match is Vicarius Christi ("Vicar of Christ", also rendered in English as "Vicar of Jesus Christ"), the numerical values of which do not add up to 666, but to 214. Pope Joan[edit] The claim that a woman, often called Pope Joan, became pope first appeared in a Dominican chronicle in 1250.
Make A Cheap & Easy Solar USB Charger With An Altoids Tin Photos by Joshua Zimmerman The craftster behind the very popular $3 solar-powered emergency radio is back with a new awesome project: a cheap solar battery charger with a USB plug. Zimmerman wrote, saying that he saw a lot of small solar powered chargers being talked about over Earth Day, but there was a big problem: "They're all quite nice, but also quite expensive. So, he came up with his own, using one of our favorite reusable items -- the ever wonderful Altoids tin. In looking for the cheapest way to accomplish the task, Zimmerman found that he could build a USB solar charger for under $30 (or $10 if be buys parts in bulk, though it's not likely you'll be buying bulk solar cells and DC-to-USB converter circuits). Zimmerman states, "The central brain of our project is a DC to USB converter circuit. It can be done with a Minty Boost kit, a premade circuit off of ebay, or grabbing one from a cheap USB charger.