Clipmarks |

The Lie of Memory

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:09:07 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Eric D. Lehman

Memory works in strange ways. Scientists are still unsure how it is stored, and even more baffled by the fact that it seems to change over time. How do events we perceive as objective reality become muddled fantasy? Why do people forget something for years, and then suddenly it pops into their minds? What makes certain neurons fire and not others? Where? When? Scientists don’t like chaos.

The worst element of our unreliable neural nets is their seeming ability to lie to us

fluctuation depends on the everchanging perspective and mood of the mapmaker.

Why could two people possibly have the same perspective? How could they? We do not step into the same river twice, and the infinite deceits that memory practices could lead to infinite divergences between people.

But they do not. And those slight adjustments we make, those subtle fictions that dispute the lie of memory,

Tags: memory

The Biology of Imagination

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:05:08 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.entelechyjournal.com

In what sense might something as intrinsically human as the imagination be biological? How could the products of the imagination – a novel, a painting, a sonata, a theory – be thought of as the result of biological matter? After all, such artefacts are what culture is made of. So why invoke biology? In this essay, I will argue that the content of the imagination is of course determined more by culture than biology. But the capacity to imagine owes more to biology than culture.

by Simon Baron-Cohen

Tags: imagination, brain hardwiring

The female brain:Facts about the neurochemical make-up of women

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:53:22 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth

Clip Source: www.divinecaroline.com

The female brain is much more adept at reading subtle facial and verbal emotional expressions. Men, on the other hand, cannot read emotions—it’s only when they see actual tears that they realize that something is wrong. This is why women have evolved to cry four times more than men do, to signal distress that men cannot ignore.

Clip Source: www.divinecaroline.com

The switch from the giddy intensity of romance to the calmer, less passionate long-term relationship state is nature’s way of decreasing a couple’s focus on each other so that they can care for a new child.

Clip Source: www.divinecaroline.com

Love hurts—literally. Romantic rejection triggers the same circuits in the brain, as does physical pain.

Clip Source: www.divinecaroline.com

Women are not prone to fidelity any more than men are.

Clip Source: www.divinecaroline.com

Women are only half as likely to be gay as men. An estimated 5-10 percent of the female population is estimated to have same-sex attraction, but the female brain is only half as likely to be wired for same sex attraction as the male brain.

Poverty and Hardship

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:49:44 GMT

clipped by: dmegivern

Clip Source: www.cbpp.org

POVERTY AND HARDSHIP AFFECT TENS OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS

15.4 million Americans live in extreme poverty. In other words, their family’s cash income is less than half of the poverty line, or less than about $10,000 a year for a family of four.

Food: Some 12.6 million households, containing 35.5 million people, lacked access to adequate food at some point during the year because they didn’t have enough money for groceries.

Shelter: 16 million low-income households either paid more for rent and utilities than the federal government says is affordable or lived in overcrowded or substandard housing.

Nearly 9 million children are uninsured, and the number of uninsured children has risen for two straight years.

Assistance Programs Reduce Poverty and Hardship, But Serious Gaps Remain

Many households do not qualify.

Some people are eligible for programs but do not participate.

Some programs provide inadequate benefits.

Programs that can improve employment and earnings receive inadequate funding.

B&W Ancient HOLLYWOOD STARS

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:04:36 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: Specially for us old fogies.

Clip Source: www.younggalleryphoto.com

Brigitte Bardot, St. Tropez, Juillet 1958

Marylin Monroe, Jerry Strasberg (Actor's Studio), New York, Mars 1961

Caroll Baker, Cannes, Mai 1965

Claudia Cardinale, St. Germain des Prés, "Aux 2 Magots", Paris, Septembre 1961

Jane Fonda et Michael Caine, Baton Rouge, Louisiane, USA, Août 1966

Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin avec Charlotte et Kate, chez eux, Verneuil, Paris, Septembre 1976

Frederico Fellini et Marcello Mastroiani, Cine Cita, Rome, Juin 1962

De Gaule et J.F. Kennedy, Palais De L' Elysée, Paris, Mai 1961

Peter O' Toole, Paris, Avril 1963

Jane Fonda, Baton Rouge, Louisiane, USA, Août 1966

Jane Mansfield, Nice, Octobre 1957

Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, Juillet 1963

For an access to the entire collection please click here

Tags: history, photos

Penelope & Scarlett Play Lesbians In New Woody Allen Film

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:37:38 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: I thought debbyski might enjoy this.

Clip Source: www.topsocialite.com

God bless Woody Allen.

His new movie features Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz engaging in a steamy lesbian sex scene that Page Six says is “extremely erotic. People will be blown away and even shocked. Penelope and Scarlett go at it in a red-tinted photography dark room, and it will leave the audience gasping.”

We all pretty much owe a debt to Woody Allen that can never be repaid. His new movie is called Vicky Cristina Barcelona and will be out early next year according to IMDB. Pretty sure I’ll be seeing this one on release day.