Virginia Woolf on How to Read a Book by Maria Popova “Do not dictate to your author; try to become him. Be his fellow-worker and accomplice.” “The mind, the brain, the top of the tingling spine, is, or should be, the only instrument used upon a book,” Vladimir Nabokov wrote in his treatise on what makes a good reader. Woolf begins with the same disclaimer of subjectivity that John Steinbeck issued half a century later in his six timeless tips on writing. The only advice … that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions. She cautions against bringing baggage and pre-conceived notions to your reading: [F]ew people ask from books what books can give us. Woolf reminds us of the osmotic skills of reading and writing: Perhaps the quickest way to understand the elements of what a novelist is doing is not to read, but to write; to make your own experiment with the dangers and difficulties with words. Donating = Loving
Improving your reading stamina - How to read at university when you've finished this page you will be able to... plan how to improve your reading stamina If you're going to fit in all the reading you need to do, you'll need to be able to read for relatively long periods of time, and this means you'll need to increase your reading stamina. Environment To read for long periods of time, you need to get into 'the zone', so it's important to give some thought to the best place to read - somewhere comfortable and free from distractions. After a consideration of the costs and benefits of each location, decide on where you'll do most of your reading. Concentration Concentration spans vary widely between individuals. Taking breaks is a great way of improving your ability to concentrate. As the graphs clearly show, concentration and memory come and go in peaks and troughs. Once you've worked on improving your reading stamina, you'll be better able to deal with the challenges of deep reading, which you will encounter on the next page.
18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently This list has been expanded into the new book, “Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind,” by Carolyn Gregoire and Scott Barry Kaufman. Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process. Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they’re complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. While there’s no “typical” creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people. They daydream. According to Kaufman and psychologist Rebecca L. They observe everything.
8 movies about memory manipulation, and how they inspired neuroscience Total Recall, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inception. In today’s talk, MIT neuroscientists Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu admit that their latest study Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu: A mouse. A laser beam. A manipulated memory. — in which they located a specific memory in a mouse’s brain and designed a system to activate and deactivate it at will — might remind people of these movies. And there is a good reason for that: because the experiment was, in part, inspired by them. “We began touching on these ideas mainly because all of us are huge fans of movies like Inception … For me personally, looking to Hollywood is a great source of questions,” Ramirez said in a recent interview with Fast Company Labs, about the study he describes in this talk. In today’s talk, given at TEDxBoston, Ramirez and Liu share more about their motivation for studying memory manipulation. Watch this banter-filled talk for more detail on the process, and to hear the fascinating implications of the research.
An Antidote to the Age of Anxiety: Alan Watts on Happiness and How to Live with Presence by Maria Popova Wisdom on overcoming the greatest human frustration from the pioneer of Eastern philosophy in the West. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” Annie Dillard wrote in her timeless reflection on presence over productivity — a timely antidote to the central anxiety of our productivity-obsessed age. Indeed, my own New Year’s resolution has been to stop measuring my days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence. But what, exactly, makes that possible? This concept of presence is rooted in Eastern notions of mindfulness — the ability to go through life with crystalline awareness and fully inhabit our experience — largely popularized in the West by British philosopher and writer Alan Watts (January 6, 1915–November 16, 1973), who also gave us this fantastic meditation on the life of purpose. If to enjoy even an enjoyable present we must have the assurance of a happy future, we are “crying for the moon.” Thanks, Ken
56 Things To Do Instead of Spending Money - And Then We Saved Not spending money? No need to worry there’s lots to do! 56 Things To Do Instead of Spending Money… 1. We all have our favorite blogs and websites; see what the beginning was like by digging through the archives. 2. Even if you have no kids (and don’t know any) you can throw some sheets over a few chairs and a table, toss in some blankets and pillows and pretend like you’re a kid again. 3. If you’re one of the 104.4 million Pinterest users then this one is for you. 4. Break out of any food rut that might be building and come up with some new meal ideas using only the foods that you already own. 5. That hem that’s come loose, the hole that needs patching, the button that’s hanging on my literally 2 thin threads; nows the time to get that pile of To-Do’s taken care of. 6. Check out all of their movies from the library or watch them all on Netflix. 7. Have old gift certificates that have sat around since the last holiday season or from your last birthday? that you’ll actually use! 8. 9. 10.
Cele patru lucruri care ucid o relaţie De peste 40 de ani, psihologul John Gottman analizează relaţiile de cuplu, bune sau rele. A studiat ce tipuri de comportamente ale partenerilor prezic dacă aceştia vor rămâne împreună pe termen lung sau sunt destinate instanţelor judecătoreşti de divorţ, pe termen scurt. Printre factorii identificaţi în investigaţiile sale, patru au ieşit în evidenţă, de fiecare dată. Când Gottman vede comunicarea unui cuplu afectată de aceşti factori, estimează că cei doi vor divorţa în medie după aproximativ şase ani de la căsătoria lor. Reţeta lui Gottman pentru divorţ: critică, dispreţ, defensivă şi blocaj. 1. Desigur, cu toţii avem ceva de reproşat celorlalţi – partenerii cuplurilor căsătorite mai mult decât toţi ceilalţi - dar există un anumit tip de critică corozivă pe care Gottman a identificat-o ca fiind deosebit de distructivă. Acest lucru se întâmplă atunci când cineva critică fiinţa în aspectele ei centrale, personalitatea sa. 2. 3. 4.
Top 5 Designer Bathrooms - The Chromologist Got a decorating plan for 2015? Tempted to tackle a bathroom maybe? Speaking as the slightly gloomy voice of experience, can we gently advise you to delay your supermarket sweep of the showrooms in the sales until after you’ve formed a few ideas in your mind? Working out, at the very least, your likes and dislikes ahead of this sort of shopping trip can make it easier to avoid making rash decisions or worse, having arguments with your loved ones, both easy outcomes when faced with a bargain. The pattern-clashing bathroom God bless India Mahdavi for creating the wonderful drinking den that is the Coburg Bar at The Connaught. A few more details to note for this look to work: Have a thread of continuity in your prints – here it’s black and red – because without it your pattern clash will look a careless mess. The dark bathroom that makes us love brown Dark colours enthusiast Abigail Ahern keeps on making us like things we didn’t think we liked. The cool black bathroom
Moartea la Zidul Berlinului Nu se cunoaște cu exactitate numărul persoanelor care au murit încercând să fugă din Berlinul de Est trecând Zidul. Reprezentanții Muzeului Checkpoint Charlie vorbesc de cel puțin 200 de victime, în timp un centru de cercetare al istoriei contemporane de la Postdam a confirmat până acum doar 136. Pentru că sistemul de apărare din zona Zidului nu era suficientă pentru a-i opri pe oameni să încerce să evadeze, autoritățile est-germane au acordat soldaților de la graniță dreptul de a folosi armele de foc dacă depistează tentative de evadare. Printr-un ordin din octombrie 1973, soldaților li se spunea că cei care încearcă să treacă Zidul erau criminali și că trebuie împușcați; de asemenea ordinul specifica în mod clar că soldații aveau dreptul și chiar trebuiau să folosească armele și în cazul femeilor și copiilor. Primii morți în căutarea libertății Prima persoană care a murit încercând să ajungă în Berlinul de Vest a fost Ida Siekmann, o femeie de 58 de ani. Cazul lui Peter Fechter Surse:
5 Great Ideas for Adding Colour to your Kitchen - The Chromologist Your kitchen is often a big investment, and so unsurprisingly it’s one of the bits of a home where people play safe. That deep red colour you’re so passionate about now may not, after all, look so great on your kitchen units in five years time. never mind it affecting the resale value should you wish to move. But a colourful kitchen is a joy – it can enhance the warmth and vibrancy of this most central space in our homes. 1. The easiest way to inject some colour, painting a wall in your kitchen is simple, affordable and, if you go off the colour, easy to undo again. 2. Painting a wood floor not only covers a multitude of imperfections but it is also an incredibly versatile option. 3. Of course coloured tiles are hardly new. 4. Conventional wisdom says that wallpaper and steamy, humid areas like the kitchen don’t mix. 5. After years of high-gloss finishes being the in thing for kitchens, painted wood units are making a comeback.
Should we care that smart women aren't having kids? | Sadhbh Walshe It seems that women these days are too clever for their own good, at least when it comes to making babies. Research emerging from the London School of Economics examining the links between intelligence and maternal urges in women claims that more of the former means less of the latter. In an ideal world, such findings might be interpreted as smart women making smart choices, but instead it seems that this research is just adding fuel to the argument that women who don't have children, regardless of the reason, are not just selfish losers but dumb ones as well. Satoshi Kanazawa, the LSE psychologist behind the research, discussed the findings that maternal urges drop by 25% with every extra 15 IQ points in his book The Intelligence Paradox. If any value is deeply evolutionarily familiar, it is reproductive success. I'm not sure why he dismisses the link between higher education and fewer kids as there's census data that shows women with advanced degrees are less likely to have children.
8 motive pentru a demisiona in 2013 Nu mai aveti de ales. Mitul construirii carierei si securitatea muncii in corporatii s-a sfarsit. Si nu din cauza ca economia este in declin. Ci din cauza faptului ca noile tehnologii si globalizarea ne dau mai multe posibilitati decat oricand. Iata 8 motive pentru care ar trebui sa renunti la munca intr-o corporatie chiar acum: 1. Nu demult redactorul unei importante publicatii de stiri mi s-a plans: “In randul autorilor nostri este moda de a-si indica contul propriu de twitter la sfarsitul articolului. Cu alte cuvinte, munca lui consta in a distruge aspiratiile carieristice ale propriilor colaboratori. 2. Studiile arata ca adaosul la venituri mareste nivelul fericirii doar intr-o masura foarte mica. Nu stati la un loc de munca doar pentru adaosul la salariu. 3. Daca sunteti angajat, atunci, cel mai probabil, este doar o singura persoana de care depindeti – seful dumneavoastra. 4. Mie nu-mi pasa cate fonduri am adunat pentru pensie. 5. “Sunt prea batran”. 6. Incepeti cu o lista. 7. 8.
Ai biroul dezordonat? Iată ce spune asta despre tine! Ai biroul dezordonat? Iată ce spune asta despre tine! (Foto:Shutterstock.com) + zoom Galerie foto (1) Mediul de lucru ordonat şi mai ales biroul curat, promovează alimentaţia sănătoasă, generozitatea şi convenţionalismul. „Cercetări anterioare au descoperit că mediul de lucru curat le aduce oamenilor beneficii. Coordonat de psihologul Kathleen Vohs, studiul a inclus mai multe experimente. Rezultatele au indicat că atunci când indivizii stăteau într-o cameră curată ei erau încurajaţi să reacţioneze aşa cum credeau că se aşteptă cei din jur să o facă. Cu toate acestea, specialiştii au presupus că dezordinea s-ar putea să aibă virtuţile ei, motiv pentru care au realizat un al doilea experiment în care participanţilor li s-a cerut să găsească o nouă întrebuinţare pentru o minge de ping pong De data aceasta s-a concluzionat că cei care fuseră repartizaţi într-o cameră dezordonată avuseseră un număr mai mare de idei originale, comparativ cu restul participanţilor. Sursa: EurekAlert
SINUCIDEREA LUI ODOBESCU Date biografice. Născut în 1834 la București ca fiu al colonelului, apoi general, Ioan Odobescu. Alexandru Odobescu a murit la 10 noiembrie 1895, sinucigîndu-se cu o supradoză de morfină pentru o femeie cu 30 de ani mai tînără, Hortensia Racoviță ( Keminger – ca fata, n. Brăila,1864 ). Acesta este pe scurt dosarul. Doamna nu era chiar o naivă. Personajul lui Odobescu este f. interesant. Azi dă impresia că nu își găsea locul. v pentru ceva anume - scris, arheologie, politică, diplomație. S-a căsătorit în 1858 , la 24 de ani, cu Alexandra ( Sașa ) Prejbeanu, o femeie frumoasă, cu nume și avere. ți cu Ruxandra Băleanu. Cei doi Odobești, Sașa și Alexandru, au avut un singur copil, Ioana. O altă chestiune care a existat între cei doi era dependența lui de morfină. cel mai indiscret și bîrfitor din cîte există. mințile probabil de la morfină, din pasiune, de la hăituitul continuu al creditorilor, de bătrînețe. În noaptea de 5 spre 6 noiembrie 1895, încearcă să se sinucidă. eri.