"The neuroscience supports the claim that self is constructed. For example, Michael Gazzaniga demonstrated that split-brain patients presented with inconsistent visual information would readily confabulate an explanation to reconcile information unconsciously processed with information that was conscious. They would make up a story. Likewise, Oliver Sacks famously reported various patients who could confabulate accounts to make sense of their impairments. Ramachandran describes patients who are paralyzed but deny they have a problem. These are all extreme clinical cases but the same is true of normal people. We can easily spot the inconsistencies in other people’s accounts of their self but we are less able to spot our own, and when those inconsistencies are made apparent by the consequences of our actions, we make the excuse, “I wasn’t myself last night” or “It was the wine talking!” Well, wine doesn’t talk and if you were not your self, then who were you and who was being you?"—Bruce Hood (link)
"The problem lies in the structure of our minds: we don't learn rules, just facts, and only facts. Metarules (such as the rule that we have a tendency to not learn rules) we don't seem to be good at getting. We scorn the abstract; we scorn it with passion."—Nassim Nicholas Taleb (page xxi)
"This is the central illusion in life: that randomness is risky, that it is a bad thing— and that eliminating randomness is done by eliminating randomness."—Nassim Nicholas Taleb (page 84)
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Breezy
"The sea breeze accounts for 70 percent of annual rainfall in the state of Florida. Central Florida is located in a prime spot to receive a sea breeze from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. In light wind regimes, two sea breezes typically form. However, prevailing winds can blow these toward one another, forming one intense thunderstorm line down the middle of the state. Thanks to a higher tropical tropopause, Florida's thunderstorms easily grow to heights greater than 10 miles. When coupled with abundant moisture and slow movement, it is not uncommon for Florida thunderstorms to drop four or more inches of rain in less than one hour."—H. Michael Mogil (link)
"Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. Tampa has about 50 cloud-to-ground flashes per square mile per year, the highest of any U.S. location. When coupled with an active, outdoor lifestyle, lightning can be a major killer. Ron Holle, a renowned lightning expert, noted that 74 deaths occurred in Florida during the period from 1998- 2007. Florida ranks fifth in lightning deaths when data is adjusted for population but first in actual fatality numbers."—H. Michael Mogil (link)
"The sea breeze circulation reverses at night and becomes the land breeze. The land becomes cooler than the water and thus the placement of the low and high pressure areas reverse. Locally, when the land breeze encounters the warm Gulf Stream, a line of nocturnal thunderstorms is often observed offshore of the coast."—NOAA (link)
"Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. Tampa has about 50 cloud-to-ground flashes per square mile per year, the highest of any U.S. location. When coupled with an active, outdoor lifestyle, lightning can be a major killer. Ron Holle, a renowned lightning expert, noted that 74 deaths occurred in Florida during the period from 1998- 2007. Florida ranks fifth in lightning deaths when data is adjusted for population but first in actual fatality numbers."—H. Michael Mogil (link)
"The sea breeze circulation reverses at night and becomes the land breeze. The land becomes cooler than the water and thus the placement of the low and high pressure areas reverse. Locally, when the land breeze encounters the warm Gulf Stream, a line of nocturnal thunderstorms is often observed offshore of the coast."—NOAA (link)
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Gay
"All men, to varying degrees, have the ability and desire to form affectionate ties with other men. Women have a corresponding ability and desire to form affectionate ties with other women. Attraction to members of the same sex and expression of that attraction is in no way contrary to or an alternative for attraction to members of the other sex. Homosexuality is an emergent quality of individual selection for same-sex affiliation and has been a part of the human experience, perhaps all primate experience, since its inception."—R.C. Kirkpatrick (link)
"Although homosexuality is a widespread phenomenon, in some societies homosexuals confront repression or ridicule. In parts of the United States, for example, public displays of same-sex affection between men in particular are often looked upon as distasteful or even disgusting. One nationwide exception is the football field, where an extreme measure of rough-and-tumble masculine behavior makes it possible for players to pat each other on the behind, exchange celebratory hugs, and even leap into each other's arms without bringing their sexual orientation into question."—William A. Haviland (link)
"Among the most thoroughly homosexual societies known are the Etoro of New Guinea. As reported by anthropologist Raymond Kelly, the Etoro believe that semen is a precious life-giving fluid which each man possesses in limited supply. Without semen, a man withers and dies. They believe that semen can be acquired only as a gift that one male bestows on another. To ensure that semen is properly distributed and used for worthy social purposes, older Etoro men are expected to transfer their semen to young boys. This is done by penis-to-mouth intercourse (fellatio) between seniors and juniors respectively, who sleep together in a village men’s quarters—a separate large house—from which all females are barred."—Marvin Harris (link)
"Although homosexuality is a widespread phenomenon, in some societies homosexuals confront repression or ridicule. In parts of the United States, for example, public displays of same-sex affection between men in particular are often looked upon as distasteful or even disgusting. One nationwide exception is the football field, where an extreme measure of rough-and-tumble masculine behavior makes it possible for players to pat each other on the behind, exchange celebratory hugs, and even leap into each other's arms without bringing their sexual orientation into question."—William A. Haviland (link)
"Among the most thoroughly homosexual societies known are the Etoro of New Guinea. As reported by anthropologist Raymond Kelly, the Etoro believe that semen is a precious life-giving fluid which each man possesses in limited supply. Without semen, a man withers and dies. They believe that semen can be acquired only as a gift that one male bestows on another. To ensure that semen is properly distributed and used for worthy social purposes, older Etoro men are expected to transfer their semen to young boys. This is done by penis-to-mouth intercourse (fellatio) between seniors and juniors respectively, who sleep together in a village men’s quarters—a separate large house—from which all females are barred."—Marvin Harris (link)
Friday, May 31, 2013
Icarus
"Allan had a way of treating fellow homosexuals like mere employees and straight male friends like the brothers he never had. Despite Kleiser and Joel Thurm's exemplary work on Grease, it was the film's cinematographer, Bill Butler, whom Allan sought to adopt as an honorary brother of sorts, and he rewarded Butler in ways that went far beyond the dollars of his contract."—Robert Hofler (link)
"Allan allocated days, not hours, to searching every gym and athletic field in the Los Angeles area to find just the right 1,000 or so male contestants who could be whittled down to no fewer than 250 specimens of absolute masculine perfection. Allan envisioned something similar [to the gym scene from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes] for the “Y.M.C.A.” production number, only he jettisoned the lead female and radically multiplied the number of men, using split screens to cram as many glutes, pecs, and abs as possible into each frame.—Robert Hofler (link)
"The great thing he wanted in his life was [to host the Oscars], and he got that job and then would spend the rest of his life trying to recover from it."—Gary Pudney
"The Oscars is the one night Hollywood has no sense of humor."—Lorna Luft (pages 244-6)
"Allan allocated days, not hours, to searching every gym and athletic field in the Los Angeles area to find just the right 1,000 or so male contestants who could be whittled down to no fewer than 250 specimens of absolute masculine perfection. Allan envisioned something similar [to the gym scene from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes] for the “Y.M.C.A.” production number, only he jettisoned the lead female and radically multiplied the number of men, using split screens to cram as many glutes, pecs, and abs as possible into each frame.—Robert Hofler (link)
"The great thing he wanted in his life was [to host the Oscars], and he got that job and then would spend the rest of his life trying to recover from it."—Gary Pudney
"The Oscars is the one night Hollywood has no sense of humor."—Lorna Luft (pages 244-6)
Addiction
"Everything goes back to this: If addiction is a disease, there's a system that we know to rely on: the medical model. You go to the doctor when you're sick. But if addiction is about morals and choices, then it's a completely different universe. This goes back forever: Addicts look like bad people; they’re the criminals. Most crimes in America are related to drugs and alcohol. There’s a whole treatment system that built up over the years based on this model that people need to be chastised."—David Sheff (link)
"Somebody with cancer, you’re treated for a month. They evaluate, do you need more time? Maybe you need to stay another month. After two months, you’re doing better, you go home, keep seeing your doctor. Then it hits again. You go back into the hospital and insurance is there; it has to be. With addiction, that doesn’t happen."—David Sheff (link)
"He said "I cannot believe what I did. I was at someone's house. I opened up the medicine cabinet, and there was a bottle of Vicodin. I took one. I thought to myself, just one."—which for addicts is the first thing they say to themselves and us—"and soon the bottle was gone. I woke up this morning and realized if I don't do something, I am going to be back on the streets within a week." So he got on the phone and called the treatment center in Minnesota. He was on a plane that day. To me, it's possible to look back on this and say the treatments were a failure: here he was sober for such a long time and he relapsed. But to me, it's the opposite: It shows the treatments had helped him so much that he was able to recognize he was in a free fall and that it was very dangerous."—David Sheff (link)
"Somebody with cancer, you’re treated for a month. They evaluate, do you need more time? Maybe you need to stay another month. After two months, you’re doing better, you go home, keep seeing your doctor. Then it hits again. You go back into the hospital and insurance is there; it has to be. With addiction, that doesn’t happen."—David Sheff (link)
"He said "I cannot believe what I did. I was at someone's house. I opened up the medicine cabinet, and there was a bottle of Vicodin. I took one. I thought to myself, just one."—which for addicts is the first thing they say to themselves and us—"and soon the bottle was gone. I woke up this morning and realized if I don't do something, I am going to be back on the streets within a week." So he got on the phone and called the treatment center in Minnesota. He was on a plane that day. To me, it's possible to look back on this and say the treatments were a failure: here he was sober for such a long time and he relapsed. But to me, it's the opposite: It shows the treatments had helped him so much that he was able to recognize he was in a free fall and that it was very dangerous."—David Sheff (link)
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Urination
Stan: He abused me! He did drugs, he had sex, he paid a woman to pee on my body. He beat up a cop, and then somehow he paid off the cop, and then he peed on me too!
Hayley: Wait, who peed on you?
Stan: Everyone!—American Dad! "Da Flippity Flop" 5/12/2013
Carter: Peter, what are you doing here? You're not a member! And that means me and the other jocks get to throw you in the pool! Hey Banks, Duffy, get over here! This guy's going for a swim, grab him! Alright, you're kind of heavy so we're gonna pee on you. Not happening. All right, we'll just spit on you. Nothing we have works.—Family Guy "No Country Club for Old Men" 5/19/2013
Donna: I don't have to do anything but rain Hater-Ade on all you fools. Woosh! That's Hater-Ade!—The Cleveland Show "Wheel! Of! Family!" 5/19/2013
Carter: Peter, what are you doing here? You're not a member! And that means me and the other jocks get to throw you in the pool! Hey Banks, Duffy, get over here! This guy's going for a swim, grab him! Alright, you're kind of heavy so we're gonna pee on you. Not happening. All right, we'll just spit on you. Nothing we have works.—Family Guy "No Country Club for Old Men" 5/19/2013
Donna: I don't have to do anything but rain Hater-Ade on all you fools. Woosh! That's Hater-Ade!—The Cleveland Show "Wheel! Of! Family!" 5/19/2013
Pressure
"When astronauts take a leak while on a mission and expel the result into space, it boils violently. The vapor then passes immediately into the solid state, and you end up with a cloud of very fine crystals of frozen urine."—Straight Dope (link)
"When the breathing ventilation valve opened at a height of 168 kilometers, the gradual but steady loss of pressure was fatal to the cosmonauts within about 30 seconds. By 935 seconds, the cabin pressure had dropped to zero and remained there until 1,640 seconds when the pressure began to increase as the ship entered the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The extent of tissue damage to the bodies of the cosmonauts caused by the boiling of the blood during the 700 seconds they were exposed to the vacuum could have been misinterpreted initially as being the result of a more catastrophic and instantaneous decompression."—NASA (link)
"Four divers in a compression chamber system were suddenly decompressed from 9 atmospheres to 1 atmosphere. One of the divers was about to close the door between the chamber system and the trunk when the accident happened. He was shot out through the door and severely mutilated. The three others died on the spot. The autopsy results are described. The most conspicuous finding was large amounts of fat in the large arteries and veins and in the cardiac chambers, as well as intravascular fat in the organs, especially the liver. This fat can hardly have been embolic, but must have "dropped out" of the blood in situ. It is suggested that the boiling of the blood denatured the lipoprotein complexes, rendering the lipids insoluble."—Giertsen, et al (link)
"When the breathing ventilation valve opened at a height of 168 kilometers, the gradual but steady loss of pressure was fatal to the cosmonauts within about 30 seconds. By 935 seconds, the cabin pressure had dropped to zero and remained there until 1,640 seconds when the pressure began to increase as the ship entered the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The extent of tissue damage to the bodies of the cosmonauts caused by the boiling of the blood during the 700 seconds they were exposed to the vacuum could have been misinterpreted initially as being the result of a more catastrophic and instantaneous decompression."—NASA (link)
"Four divers in a compression chamber system were suddenly decompressed from 9 atmospheres to 1 atmosphere. One of the divers was about to close the door between the chamber system and the trunk when the accident happened. He was shot out through the door and severely mutilated. The three others died on the spot. The autopsy results are described. The most conspicuous finding was large amounts of fat in the large arteries and veins and in the cardiac chambers, as well as intravascular fat in the organs, especially the liver. This fat can hardly have been embolic, but must have "dropped out" of the blood in situ. It is suggested that the boiling of the blood denatured the lipoprotein complexes, rendering the lipids insoluble."—Giertsen, et al (link)
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