Clipmarks | Perspective Clips

Swapped bodies Experiment

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:01:58 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: They provided male and female volunteers with sensory input to convince them that they had switched bodies with another person or"Neither male nor female participants had any trouble convincing themselves that they had entered the body of the male mannequin. Similarly, when male volunteers were given sensory input from the female experimenter, they readily believed that they had swapped bodies with her. And as surreal as the experience was, presenter Valeria Petkova reported that the subjects were ready for another go:

“Our subjects experienced this illusion as being exciting and strange, and often said that they wanted to come back and try it again.”

Clip Source: io9.com

Gender-Bending Body Swap Experiment Leaves Subjects Wanting More

neuroscientists at the Karolinska Institute have found a way to convince subjects that they’ve swapped bodies with another person. Men become women, humans become mannequins, and the participants are eager to try it again

Volunteers experienced the body-swap illusion by receiving simultaneous visual and motor input from another’s body

each participant stood across from a male mannequin, and in another experiment volunteers faced a female experimenter

A headset covering participants’ eyes displayed a three-dimensional view of the other’s visual perspective, transmitted from a small video camera positioned on the mannequin’s or the woman’s head

After 10 to 12 seconds of abdominal touch or hand-shaking, male and female participants spontaneously had the experience of looking out from the body of the male mannequin or the female experimenter

The Power of Dignity

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:42:00 GMT

clipped by: PolkaDot
clipper's remarks: This article is both pragmatic and powerful. When I read it, in ODE magazine, I retyped it and sent it to people. Now that it's available online, I'm posting it here for your consumption.

One of the things I most respect about Arch Bishop Tutu is his ability to see beyond normal constructs and into functional applied solutions. Ideas like "forgiveness" can be too large to embrace and too hard to embody. What if we let such overwhelming constructs go in deference to more concrete steps, like simply listening to the experience of our "enemies".

It's almost like a post-modern revision of Stockholm Syndrome -- to set out with the intention of viewing one's "enemy" as an empathetic character within his own context. It doesn't diminish the impact of my enemy's choices on my life, but it can change radically how I live in response to that -- by enriching my perspective and depolarizing our postures.

Becoming human to one another is the first and most important step.

Clip Source: www.odemagazine.com

The unforgiven

Reconciliation doesn't always take forgiveness, but asks us to treat former opponents with dignity. By Donna Hicks.

Tags: compassion, dignity, humanity

Life caused minerals to 'evolve'

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:13:27 GMT

clipped by: jimbo1000
clipper's remarks: more evidence for an anthropocentric view of the universe?

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Mineral Kingdom Has Co-evolved With Life

Evolution isn't just for living organisms. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have found that the mineral kingdom co-evolved with life

planet-sized bodies, especially those with volcanic activity and bearing significant amounts of water, could have given rise to several hundred new mineral species

What ultimately had the biggest impact on mineral evolution, however, was the origin of life

"For at least 2.5 billion years, and possibly since the emergence of life, Earth's mineralogy has evolved in parallel with biology,"

Stanford University geologist Gary Ernst called the study "breathtaking," saying that "the unique perspective presented in this paper may revolutionize the way Earth scientists regard minerals."

Tags: geology, science, evolution

Mixed bag ....

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:34:50 GMT

clipped by: ratcatcher2

Clip Source: yellowcakewalk.net

August 16 2008
Epic Fail of Neocon Aggression in Transcaucasia
The Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline

Israeli attack on Lebanon and the

Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline: A 2006 Perspective

One day before the Israeli air strikes, the main partners and shareholders of the BTC pipeline project, including several heads of State and oil company executives were in attendance at the port of Ceyhan.

White House Protest Corps in 1917.
Suffragettes protest for years

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine: Israeli scholar Ilan Pappe

Israeli spies in high position in the DOD

School of the Americas: USA training Latin American dictators against democracy

Ronald Reagan's sale of weapons to Iran ( Iran-Contra )

CIA overthrow of Iranian democracy, 1953: Operation AJAX

CIA overthrow of Guatemalan democracy: Operation PB Success

Creeping fascism under the reign of Bush Jr.

Ronald Reagan armed Saddam Hussein

Office of Special Plans: how BushCo lied America into Iraq war

Reagan and Bush Sr. pillage the Savings and Loans

Tags: photos

High Drama & High Finance

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:45:25 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Not only has Ferguson been described as 'the most brilliant historian of his generation' by The Times, he's been rated as 'one of the world's 100 most influential people' by Time magazine.

From the first coins of ancient Mesopotamia to the rise of China and the credit crunch, via the Medicis of Renaissance Italy, the Scottish clergymen who created the first insurance company and the dynasty started by the first Nathan Rothschild, Ferguson provides a clear and masterful financial history of the world. He shows, for example, how the high-financial scam of a Scottish murderer resulted in the French Revolution, how the bond market settled the outcome of the American Civil War, and, chillingly, how a previous era of globalisation and prosperity was ended almost overnight by the surprise catastrophe of World War I.

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

THE ASCENT OF MONEY by Niall Ferguson

Money. It's at the root not only of all evil, but of just about every major development in the past 3,000 years of human history - wars, revolutions, social and technological progress, the lot. The creation of money was every bit as important as the invention of the wheel, says Niall Ferguson, and one way or another high finance has been working away behind the scenes in every historical drama since; an argument that seems especially convincing right now.

Traders work on the floor of the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange 2008.

So, what's new?

The emphasis on dosh as the prime mover behind the scenes of human history, plus the bang-on-cue analysis of how the money markets work — and how they sometimes, as now, go completely haywire. A new perspective thanks to the author's unique combination of historical expertise and financial knowledge.

Professor Niall Ferguson

So he knows his stuff. And he teaches it rather brilliantly, too.

Tags: "the ascent of money", professor niall ferguson, historical expertise, financial knowledge

Our biggest challenge right now is fear

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:29:55 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: interesting perspective. Exactly now is the time to push forward, and not holding back.
And then again when is it not?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

It’s No Time to Forget About Innovation

BY its very nature, innovation is inefficient

few of the new products or processes that evolve from innovative thinking ultimately survive the test of time

Wild market gyrations, frozen credit markets and an overall sour economy herald a new round of corporate belt-tightening.

problem with innovation even before the economic crisis

focusing on the short term and we’re not planting the seeds for the future

Innovation has to be embedded in the daily operation, in the entire work force

bad times focus the mind

You always have to keep in mind the bigger picture that’s coming down the road in two or three years

Our biggest challenge right now is fear

The worst thing that a company can do right now is go into hibernation

Efficiency is for bean counters

It’s not for C.E.O.’s or inventors or founders

Creativity doesn’t care about economic downturns

Then and now, the companies that survive are those that keep creativity and innovation foremost

Tags: creativity, business, economics, strategy

Rachel Maddow

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:29:40 GMT

clipped by: prin1

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

[Video]

Two nights ago, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow showed a clip of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) complaining about being criticized by "some blogger" sitting "in their parents' basement." Maddow -- who later said she saw herself as "a blogger on TV"

Uh, Sarah….You Sure You Want To Go There?

For the record:

John Aravosis

I have a masters' degree in film business from USC, produced major motion pictures and wrote a best selling book.

How would Sarah feel if someone called her an ignorant, freeloading bubble headed piece of trailer park trash whose daddy told the AP she spent the weekend scrambling to return her stolen clothes to the RNC?

Just trying to keep a sense of perspective here.

Republican Anxiety

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:07:06 GMT

clipped by: darkeforce
clipper's remarks: And they wonder why the government needs to get AM Radio to broadcast a wider perspective to these people!! They need help if they're believing the bullshit Limbaugh's got to say.

Clip Source: www.cagle.com

Tags: limbaugh, bullshit, nonsense, republicans

Three Women Lose, Making South Carolina Senate All-Male

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:21:41 GMT

clipped by: dulios
clipper's remarks: In the same election cycle where New Hampshire became the first state with a female-majority legislature, South Carolina takes a step back.

Clip Source: www.thestate.com

South Carolina has earned a new dubious title: the only state with an all-male Senate.

Tuesday, all three female candidates vying for seats in the upper chamber were defeated.

Rep. Joan Brady, a Richland County Republican and incoming chairwoman of the Women Legislative Caucus, said Tuesday’s results were disappointing.

“Women do have a different perspective that is needed in the Legislature,” Brady said. “They look at the bigger picture. They look at issues from a family perspective.”

It’s also an equity issue. Women represent more than half of the state’s population.

Prior to Tuesday’s vote, South Carolina already ranked last among states in terms of women in elected office.

The 46-member chamber has not been all male since 1980, when Elizabeth Patterson, wholater served in the U.S. House of Representatives, took a seat in the state Senate. There are no women in federal or constitutional office in the Palmetto State.

Tags: gender equity

2nd September 2008 Evangelicals Give Sarah Palin a “Get Out of Values Free” Card

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:17:27 GMT

clipped by: lifecyce1898
clipper's remarks: "Palin embraces the God of our President and Party, a God who is more likely to fritter away His day romantically daydreaming about a $30 billion gas pipeline than plucking a victim of one of His hurricanes out of a capsized canoe. "

Put's this disgusting form of self absorbed Cult worship in perspective.

Clip Source: bettybowers.com

What I have enjoyed witnessing to a far lesser degree has been my fellow evangelical Republicans’ response to Palin’s energetic striptease of embarrassing information.

rendered a group of professional faultfinders and scolds mawkishly carefree, giddy in their eagerness to forgive. With a mix of opportunism and testosterone, habitual chiders like James Dobson are swooning over Palin, light-headedly jostling to anoint and absolve.

Yes, in many ways Sarah is our kind of gal. Her first priority when she began her contentious reign as the amusingly vindictive mayor of a small, snowy town? Try to ban books at the local library that contained the type of naughty words that so rudely besmirch the English language’s great literature! And, yes, Palin embraces the God of our President and Party, a God who is more likely to fritter away His day romantically daydreaming about a $30 billion gas pipeline than plucking a victim of one of His hurricanes out of a capsized canoe.

The net generation will be challenging

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:55:15 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: "Net-geners like to get things done through collaboration. It's part of their digital upbringing. They like to achieve something with other people and experience power through other people, not by ordering a gaggle of followers to do their bidding."

Interesting perspective.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Generation expects

They helped propel Barack Obama into power - and now the children of the digital age are about to change the way we work.

It already looks like a generation clash. In the US, a consortium that speaks for employers complained that young people were "woefully ill-prepared for work", while many Americans say that young people feel entitled to all kinds of perks without working for them.

this is a clash over how work should work.

I call them the "net generation" or net-geners because they're the first to grow up digital. This digital immersion, in the internet and all the gadgetry of the digital age, has given them the skills and the reflexes to collaborate online

The problem is not just technical. Too many organisations are still stuck in the old unproductive hierarchy, which divides the world into governors and the governed

this generation is not turned on by status or hierarchy

want to do challenging

don't necessarily want organisational responsibility.

Tags: networking, social networking, job, web 2.0

Is our emotions that make thought possible?

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:46:04 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "Before Damasio came onto the scene, most cognitive scientists assumed that emotions only interfered with rational thought. It was assumed that a person without any emotions would be a better thinker, since their “cortical computer” could process information without the hindrance of emotion. Damasio’s research challenged the assumption by showing that people who have suffered brain injuries which prevent them from perceiving their own feelings, are ineffective decision-makers. Most would spend hours deliberating over irrelevant details, such as where to eat lunch. Damasio’s research, among many other studies, is revealing that emotion is what enables us to make up our minds. It is pure reason- not feeling- that is the true hindrance to decision making. So take that, Mr. Spock!

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Vulcans Nixed: You Can’t Have Logic Without Emotion

Science is discovering that it is our emotions that make thought possible, not the other way around. We simply cannot understand thought without understanding emotion. This is a radical departure from the traditional perspective, which used to regard emotion as the antagonist of reason.

Cognitive psychologists have traditionally downplayed the importance of emotions to the thought process. "They regarded emotions as an artifact of subjective experience, and thus not worthy of investigation," said Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist at NYU.

In all fairness to cognitive psychologists, the field of cognitive psychology has always been criticized for being too “soft” of a science. The effect is that cognitive scientists have always felt compelled to “harden” the science up with logical facts, and less study of emotion and behavior. Ironically, “feelings” ARE the new “fact”, and the main determination of the choices we make- not logic.

SOmething rotten in the state of Minnesota

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:57:48 GMT

clipped by: sillysam
clipper's remarks: To put this change in perspective, that single precinct’s corrections accounted for a significantly larger net swing in votes between the parties than occurred for all the precincts in the entire state for the presidential, congressional, or state house races.

Indeed, the 504 total new votes for Franken from all the precincts is greater than adding together all the changes for all the precincts in the entire state for the presidential, congressional, and state house races combined (a sum of 482).

To many, it just seems like too much of a coincidence that Minnesota's one tight race just happens to be the race with the most "corrected" votes by far. But the real travesty will be to start letting election officials divine voter's intent. If you want to discourage people from voting, election fraud is one sure way of doing it.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

When voters woke up on Wednesday morning after the election, Senator Norm Coleman led Al Franken by what seemed like a relatively comfortable 725 votes. By Wednesday night, that lead had shrunk to 477. By Thursday night, it was down to 336. By Friday, it was 239. Late Sunday night, the difference had gone down to just 221 -- a total change over 4 days of 504 votes.

Amazingly, this all has occurred even though there hasn’t even yet been a recount. Just local election officials correcting claimed typos in how the numbers were reported. Counties will certify their results today, and their final results will be sent to the secretary of state by Friday. The actual recount won’t even start until November 19.

Virtually all of Franken’s new votes came from just three out of 4130 precincts, and almost half the gain (246 votes) occurred in one precinct

None of the other races had any changes in their vote totals in that precinct.

religion is a way to protect us from disease.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:41:35 GMT

clipped by: bbking13

Clip Source: www.nature.com

Religion arose to protect us from disease, US researchers claim. Philip Ball unpicks the idea.

Science and religion, anyone? Come now, stifle those yawns. A paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B¹ this week claims to offer a fresh perspective, with the startling suggestion that religion is a way to protect us from disease.

The general idea behind this theory — that religion is mainly a social construct — is actually much older than the authors, Corey Fincher and Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, acknowledge. It harks back to classic works by two of sociology’s founding fathers, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, who, around the start of the twentieth century, offered explanations of how religions around the world have shaped and been shaped by the societies in which they are embedded.

abortion history in catholic church

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:48:53 GMT

clipped by: the shark

Clip Source: faculty.cua.edu

A brief chronology cannot do justice to the twists and turns of theological thinking through the centuries. It can, however, put the abortion debate within the Catholic church into historical perspective and show the importance of continued debate and of open hearts and minds.

The campaign by Pope John Paul II to make his position on abortion the defining one at the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 was just one leg of a long journey of shifting views within the Catholic church. In the fifth century a.d., St. Augustine expressed the mainstream view that early abortion required penance only for sexual sin. Eight centuries later, St. Thomas Aquinas agreed, saying abortion was not homicide unless the fetus was "ensouled," and ensoulment, he was sure, occurred well after conception. The position that abortion is a serious sin akin to murder and is grounds for excommunication only became established 150 years ago.