May 23, 2023
Vicarious embarrassment (also known as secondhand, empathetic, or third-party embarrassment and also as ‘Spanish shame’ or Fremdschämen in German) is the feeling of embarrassment from observing the embarrassing actions of another person.
Unlike general embarrassment, vicarious embarrassment is not caused by participating in an embarrassing event, but instead by witnessing (verbally and/or visually) another person experience an embarrassing event. These emotions can be perceived as pro-social, and some say they can be seen as motives for following socially and culturally acceptable behavior. Vicarious embarrassment is often seen as an opposite to schadenfreude, which is the feeling of pleasure or satisfaction at misfortune, humiliation or embarrassment of another person.
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Posted in Art, Science |
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May 19, 2023
Balconing is the name given in Spain to the act of jumping into a swimming pool from a balcony or falling from height while climbing from one balcony to another, performed by foreign tourists during holidays. The term was formed through a combination of the Spanish-language word balcón (‘balcony’) and the English-language suffix ‘-ing,’ in reference to the origin of most practitioners.
In 2010 and 2011, a spate of injuries and deaths attributed by the Spanish press to ‘balconing’ occurred among tourists in the Balearic Islands (including Mallorca and Ibiza). Videos of people jumping into pools from balconies were posted on video sharing websites such as YouTube, which were alleged to have played a role in the spread of the phenomenon. A similar phenomenon has been described in college-related events in the United States.
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May 19, 2023
Pale Male (1990-2023) was a red-tailed hawk that resided in and near New York City’s Central Park from the 1990s until 2023. Birdwatcher and author Marie Winn gave him his name because of the unusually light coloring of his head. He was one of the first red-tailed hawks known to have nested on a building rather than in a tree and is known for establishing a dynasty of urban-dwelling red-tailed hawks.
Each spring, bird watchers set up telescopes alongside Central Park’s Model Boat Pond to observe his nest and chicks at 927 Fifth Avenue. Although it has been suggested that over the years that Pale Male could have died and been replaced by a similarly colored bird without the change being observed, there is no strong evidence to confirm or deny this possibility.
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May 16, 2023
Kudzu [kuhd·zoo] (also called Japanese arrowroot or Chinese arrowroot) is a group of climbing, coiling, and trailing deciduous perennial vines native to much of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands, but invasive in many parts of the world, primarily North America.
The vine densely climbs over other plants and trees and grows so rapidly that it smothers and kills them by blocking most of the sunlight and taking root space. The plants are in the genus Pueraria, in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Kudzu is edible, but often sprayed with herbicides.
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May 15, 2023
In machine learning, reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) is a method of training AI models by learning from responses by humans about its performance. If an AI model makes a prediction or takes an action that is incorrect or suboptimal, human feedback can be used to correct the error or suggest a better response.
Over time, this helps the model to learn and improve its responses. RLHF is used in tasks where it’s difficult to define a clear, algorithmic solution but where humans can easily judge the quality of the AI’s output (e.g. if the task is to generate a compelling story, humans can rate different AI-generated stories on their quality, and the AI can use their feedback to improve its story generation skills).
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May 11, 2023
Plate smashing is a Greek custom involving the intentional smashing of plates or glasses during celebratory occasions. While it occurs more rarely today, it continues to be seen on certain occasions, such as weddings, although plaster plates are more likely to be used. The custom probably derives from an ancient practice of ritually ‘killing’ plates on mourning occasions, as a means of dealing with loss.
Breaking plates may also be related to the ancient practice of conspicuous consumption, a display of one’s wealth, as plates or glasses are thrown into a fireplace following a banquet instead of being washed and reused. 1969, the autocratic military dictatorship of Georgios Papadopoulos, banned plate smashing. Another modern variation on the custom is for diners at small Greek restaurants or tavernas to buy trays of flowers that they can throw at singers and each other.
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