May 21, 2012
Jorge Luis Borges [bawr-hes] (1899 – 1986) was an Argentine writer whose work embraces the ‘character of unreality in all literature’; his most famous books, ‘Ficciones’ (1944) and ‘The Aleph’ (1949), are compilations of short stories interconnected by common themes such as dreams, labyrinths, libraries, mirrors, animals, fictional writers, religion, and God.
His works have contributed to the genre of science fiction and magic realism (a reaction against the realism/naturalism of the nineteenth century). In fact, critic Angel Flores, the first to use the term, set the beginning of this movement with Borges’s ‘Historia universal de la infamia’ (‘A Universal History of Infamy’) (1935). Scholars have also suggested that Borges’s progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. His late poems dialogue with such cultural figures as Spinoza, Camões, and Virgil.
Continue reading →
Posted in Art, Language, Politics |
Leave a Comment »
May 21, 2012
In philosophy, anamnesis [an-am-nee-sis] is a concept in Plato’s epistemological and psychological theory that he develops in his dialogues ‘Meno’ and ‘Phaedo,’ and alludes to in his ‘Phaedrus.’
In ‘Meno,’ Plato’s character (and old teacher) Socrates is challenged by Meno with what has become known as the sophistic paradox, or the paradox of knowledge: ‘And how are you going to search for [the nature of virtue] when you don’t know at all what it is, Socrates? Which of all the things you don’t know will you set up as target for your search? And even if you actually come across it, how will you know that it is that thing which you don’t know?’ Continue reading →
Posted in Death, Education, Philosophy |
Leave a Comment »
May 18, 2012
An anxiolytic [ang-zee-uh-lit-ik] is a drug used for the treatment of anxiety and its related psychological and physical symptoms. Anxiolytics have been shown to be useful in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Beta-blockers, although not anxiolytics, can be used to combat the somatic symptoms of anxiety (such as an elevated heart rate).
Anxiolytics are also known as minor tranquilizers. The term is less common in modern texts, and was originally derived from a dichotomy with major tranquilizers, also known as neuroleptics or antipsychotics. Continue reading →
Posted in Death, Drugs, Health |
1 Comment »
May 18, 2012
Selank is a nootropic (smart drug), anxiolytic (antianxiety) peptide (string of amino acids) based drug developed by the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian academy of sciences. Selank is a synthetic analogue of the immunomodulatory peptide tuftsin; as such, it mimics many of its effects, strengthening the immune system.
It is has been shown to influence the concentration of monoamine neurotransmitters (e.g. dopamine, serotonin) and induce metabolism of serotonin. There is evidence that it may also modulate the expression of Brain-derived neurotropic factor (which is related to nerve growth) in rats. Continue reading →
Posted in Drugs, Health, World |
Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2012
The silent majority is an unspecified large majority of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized (though not first used) by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a 1969, speech in which he said, ‘And so tonight—to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans—I ask for your support.’
In this usage it referred to those Americans who did not join in the large demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time, who did not join in the counterculture, and who did not participate in public discourse. Nixon along with many others saw this group of Middle Americans as being overshadowed in the media by the more vocal minority. The phrase was used in the 19th century as a euphemism referring to all the people who have died, and others have used it before and after Nixon to refer to groups of voters in various nations of the world.
Continue reading →
Posted in Language, Politics, World |
Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2012
Social desirability bias is the tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can take the form of over-reporting good behavior or under-reporting bad behavior. The tendency poses a serious problem with conducting research with self-reports, especially questionnaires. Topics of special concern are self-reports of abilities, personality, sexual behavior, and drug use.
When confronted with the question ‘How often do you masturbate?,’ for example, respondents may be pressured by the societal taboo against masturbation, and either under-report the frequency or avoid answering the question. Therefore the mean rates of masturbation derived from self-report surveys are likely to be severe underestimates.
Continue reading →
Posted in Politics, Science, Sex |
Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2012
Emotional intelligence is a thought model that claims that to be successful, people must be able to know their own feelings. They must also be able to guess and influence the emotions of other people, and of groups of other people. There are several different models that disagree about the exact definition of the term. Criticisms have centered on whether the construct is a real intelligence and whether it has incremental validity over IQ and the Big Five personality dimensions.
The earliest roots of emotional intelligence can be traced to Charles Darwin’s work on the importance of emotional expression for survival and, second, adaptation. In the 1900s, even though traditional definitions of intelligence emphasized cognitive aspects such as memory and problem-solving, several influential researchers in the intelligence field of study had begun to recognize the importance of the non-cognitive aspects. For instance, as early as 1920, American psychologist E.L. Thorndike used the term ‘social intelligence’ to describe the skill of understanding and managing other people. Continue reading →
Posted in Health, Science |
Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2012
A vulture fund is a private equity or hedge fund that invests in debt issued by an entity that is considered to be very weak or dying, or whose debt is in imminent default. The name is a metaphor comparing these investors to vultures patiently circling, waiting to pick over the remains of a rapidly weakening company or, in the case of sovereign debt, debtor country. Market practitioners refer to them as distressed debt or special situations funds.
Vulture funds have sometimes had success in bringing actions against sovereign debtor governments, usually settling with them before forced sales. Settlements typically are made at a discount in hard or local currency or in the form of new debt issuance. A related term is ‘vulture investing,’ where certain stocks in near bankrupt companies are purchased upon anticipation of asset divestiture or successful reorganization. A prime example in the US is K-Mart, where the real estate held by the company was the anticipated payout for investors who bought stock during their bankruptcy proceedings.
Posted in Money, Politics, World |
Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2012
L’enfant terrible [ahn-fahn te-ree-bluh] (‘terrible child’) is a French term for a child who is terrifyingly candid by saying embarrassing things to adults, especially parents.
The OED describes it as, ‘a child who embarrasses his elders by untimely remarks; transf. a person who compromises his associates or his party by unorthodox or ill-considered speech or behavior; loosely, one who acts unconventionally.’ Webster’s defines an enfant terrible as an unusual person who is strikingly unorthodox, innovative, and/or avant-garde.
Posted in Humor, Language |
1 Comment »
May 17, 2012
The Glock is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced in Austria. The company’s founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or manufacture at the time their first pistol, the Glock 17, was being prototyped in 1982.
Glock did, however, have extensive experience in advanced synthetic polymers, knowledge of which was instrumental in the company’s design of the first successful line of pistols with a polymer frame. Glock introduced ferritic nitrocarburizing, a form of case hardening, into the firearms industry as an anti-corrosion surface treatment for metal gun parts. Continue reading →
Posted in Money, Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
May 16, 2012
Verner Panton (1926 – 1998) is considered one of Denmark’s most influential 20th-century furniture and interior designers. During his career, he created innovative, funky and futuristic designs in a variety of materials, especially plastics, and in vibrant and exotic colors.
His style was very ‘1960s’ but regained popularity at the end of the 20th century; as of 2004, Panton’s most well-known furniture models are still in production (at Vitra, among others). Continue reading →
Posted in Art, Money, Technology |
Leave a Comment »
May 16, 2012
Martin Sharp (b. 1942) is an Australian artist, underground cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker. His famous psychedelic posters of Bob Dylan, Donovan, and others, rank as classics of the genre, alongside the work of Rick Griffin, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, and Milton Glaser.
His covers, cartoons and illustrations were a central feature of ‘Oz’ magazine, both in Australia and in London. Martin co-wrote one of Cream’s most famous songs, ‘Tales of Brave Ulysses,’ created the cover art for Cream’s ‘Disraeli Gears’ and ‘Wheels of Fire’ albums, and in the 1970s, he became a champion of singer Tiny Tim, and of Sydney’s embattled Luna Park.
Continue reading →
Posted in Art, Language |
Leave a Comment »
The Daily Omnivore 