RAGDOLL parade
There is hope in honest error; none in the icy perfections of the mere stylist.
- J. D. Sedding
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A friend shared this on Facebook. Had to share it further.
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This is the Critical Decade.
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‘Spine 3 Narrative Drawing - Site Plan and Section’
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Reading Fiction Makes People Comfortable With Ambiguity
Are you uncomfortable with ambiguity? It’s a common condition, but a highly problematic one. The compulsion to quell that unease can inspire snap judgments, rigid thinking, and bad decision-making.
Fortunately, new research suggests a simple antidote for this affliction: Read more literary fiction.
A trio of University of Toronto scholars, led by psychologist Maja Djikic, report that people who have just read a short story have less need for what psychologists call “cognitive closure.” Compared with peers who have just read an essay, they expressed more comfort with disorder and uncertainty—attitudes that allow for both sophisticated thinking and greater creativity.
“Exposure to literature,” the researchers write in the Creativity Research Journal, “may offer a (way for people) to become more likely to open their minds.”
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That last reblog, about the Sagada burial sites in the Philippines, reminded me of similar burial sites in Madagascar. The Bara people place their dead in brightly painted wood or (more recently) metal coffins which are then placed in small caves & under overhangs, high up on the cliff faces in what is now the Parc National de l’Isalo.
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The Hanging Coffins of Sagada
The people of Sagada in the Philippines follow a unique burial ritual. The elderly carve their own coffins out of hollowed logs. If they are too weak or ill, their families prepare their coffins instead. The dead are placed inside their coffins (sometimes breaking their bones in the process of fitting them in), and the coffins are brought to a cave for burial.
Instead of being placed into the ground, the coffins are hung either inside the caves or on the face of the cliffs, near the hanging coffins of their ancestors. The Sagada people have been practicing such burials for over 2,000 years and some of the coffins are well over a century old.
(via humanisticscience)
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Ancient Roman Concrete Is About to Revolutionize Modern Architecture
Modern concrete, aka Portland Cement, degrades much faster than Roman concrete, especially when in contact with seawater. Engineers analysing the chemical makeup of Roman concrete, have found volcanic ash & lyme & believe this is the secret to it’s durability. The Roman recipe, & method, is also likely to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with the production of concrete (currently 7% of industry related CO2).
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(via believe-in-aasha)
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(Source: bewhoyouareandbehappy, via believe-in-aasha)
