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Heart Chains by Robert Cowlishaw (Mertonian)

12 3

Faith, the fundamental mode of sapiential knowing, is a knowing in darkness, an affirmative cognition of mystery. What is known is “the mystery,” and the knowing is consequently obscure even as it is certain.

-The Future of Wisdom: Toward a Rebirth of Sapiential Christianity, Bruno Barnhart, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Cyprian Consiglio

Theory is not an end in itself, it is only a key with a view to a cognition on the part of the Heart. by Traditional Quotes and Symbols

In a certain respect, the difference between philosophy, theology and gnosis is total; in another respect, it is relative. It is total when one understands by "philosophy" rationalism alone; by "theology", the explanation of religious teachings alone; and by "gnosis", intuitive and intellective, and thus supra-rational, knowledge; but the difference is only relative when one understands by "philosophy" the fact of thinking, by "theology" the fact of speaking from a dogmatic point of view about God and religious things, and by "gnosis" the fact of presenting pure metaphysics, for then the genres are interpenetrating.

It is impossible to deny that the most illustrious Sufis, while being "gnostics" by definition, were at the same time to some extent theologians and to some extent philosophers, or that the great theologians were both to some extent philosophers and to some extent gnostics, the last word having to be understood in its proper and not sectarian sense.

If we wish to retain the limitative, or indeed pejorative sense of the word philosopher, we could say that gnosis or pure metaphysics takes certainty as its starting-point, whereas philosophy on the contrary has doubt as its starting-point, and strives to overcome this only with the means that are at its disposition and which do not pretend to be more than purely rational. But since neither the term "philosophy" in itself, nor the usage that has been made of it since the earliest times, oblige us to accept only the restrictive sense of the word, we shall not consider criminal those who employ it in a wider sense than what may seem to be opportune.

Theory, by definition, is not an end in itself, it is only - and seeks only - to be a key with a view to a cognition on the part of the "heart".

If there is attached to the notion of "philosophy" a suspicion of superficiality, insufficiency and pretension, it is precisely because only too often - and indeed always in the case of the moderns – it is presented as being sufficient unto itself. "This is only philosophy": we readily accept the use of this turn of phrase, but only on condition that one does not say that "Plat'o is only a philosopher", Plato who said that "beauty is the splendor of the truth"; beauty that includes or demands all that we are or can be.

If Plato maintains that the philosophos should think independently of received opinions, he is referring to intellection and not to logic alone; whereas Descartes, who did everything to restrict and compromise the notion of philosophy, reaches such a conclusion from the starting-point of systematic doubt, so that for him philosophy is synonymous not only with rationalism, but also with skepticism.

This is a first suicide of the intelligence, inaugurated moreover by Pyrrho and others, in the guise of a reaction against what one looked on as metaphysical "dogmatism".

The "Greek miracle" is in fact the substitution of the reason for the Intellect, of the fact for the Principle, of the phenomenon for the Idea, of the accident for the Substance, of the form for the Essence, of man for God; and this applies to art as well as to thought.

The true Greek miracle, if miracle there be (and in this case it would be related to the "Hindu miracle”), is doctrinal metaphysics and methodic logic, providentially utilized by the monotheistic Semites ...

----

Frithjof Schuon: Tracing the Notion of Philosophy - Sufism, Veil and Quintessence

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Image: Hilma af Klint: The Swan

A lot has happened... by Philip Monahan

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since I last posted. So, I wanted to update all my Flickr friends and contacts (even if this does begin to get a bit long), starting in chronological order. This also serves as an excuse for why I've been such a terribile Flickr contact these past few months.

1. July 7, 2009: I accepted a three year post-doctoral job position at the new Basque Center on Brain, Cognition and Language. That means that beginning this January (2010), I will be moving to San Sebastián, Spain (located on the north coast of Spain, near the French border). It's at the foot of the Pyrenees, so there'll be plenty of photo opportunities. Plus, it's Spain... I'm super excited.

2. July 13, 2009: I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation here at the University of Maryland. If you're at all interested in what I do outside of photography, you can check out my "academic"/personal webpage here. This point took up a lot of time the past few months.

3. July 13, 2009: I receive my brand new Canon 5D Mark ii with the 16-35 f/2.8 and 24-105 f/4 (as well as a new Carbon Fiber Manfrotto tripod)... a little gift to myself ;-). This is seriously, without a doubt, THE BEST camera I've ever owned. It's absolutely incredible. It should go without saying that it blows away my Nikon D80. I know it's mostly about the person behind the lens, but this camera is pure quality. The full frame resolution and low noise are incredible. So, yes, I've made the switch!!! It's actually good I got some new gear, because my old 18-200 mm stopped focusing to ∞ past 35 mm. I don't know why!

4. July 15, 2009: I leave for Glacier Nat'l Park in Montana...

5. July 17, 2009: I get married on the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier area of Glacier Nat'l Park to Eri Takahashi (she has a Flickr page that is sometimes updated here).

6. July 23, 2009: After lots of hiking and photographing Glacier Nat'l Park in Montana, we head to Yellowstone and Grand Teton Nat'l Parks in Wyoming and I am continuted to be blown away by the new Canon. Best purchase I've ever made (I'd say getting married was the best decision :-P --> Or at leat that's what she'd want me to say!).

7. July 29, 2009: I return to the Washington DC area.

This photograph is of my wife in Redwood Nat'l Park in the Tall Trees Grove this past March [taken with my Nikon D80 and 18-200 mm]. I wanted to use a hiker for scale, and she was the easiest to corral into hiking through the grove countless times. I want to get all the Redwood and Japan shots up before I begin posting the Glacier, Yellowstone and Tetons shots. So, that may mean two or three a day. We'll see. And I can't wait to catch back up with all your Flickr photostreams. I'll actually have some time now! Single RAW exposure with slight level adjustments in Photoshop CS4. C-PL to bring out the greens in the ferns.

[ Most Interesting | Redwood Nat'l Park & Northern California Coast | View On Black ]

Experience_7.1 by Eye magazine

Experience: Culture, Cognition, and the Common Sense.

Edited by Caroline A. Jones, David Mather and Rebecca Uchill

(Endpages)

Photo by Mariam Dembele

SPECTRUM OF COGNITION - TRIBUTE TO MOTHER-NATURE by Eugene Freeman

Dr Tonmoy Sharma Discusses a Vision for Cognitive Assessment by Dr. Tonmoy Sharma

In a series of conversations recently held between Dr. Judith Ho and Dr. Tonmoy Sharma, CEO, Sovereign Health Group discussed the need for a paradigm shift in the way we are assessing and perhaps treating people with substance abuse addiction as well as mental health in this country. Dr. Sharma suggests that if this is a brain disorder let us assess cognitive function and assess brain function both in terms of the cognition as well as the psychophysiology. For instance, just as we would look at blood sugar in a diabetic patient, let’s look at how our brain waves are behaving as a tool for assessing brain disorders. We now have the tools to assess these and yet we don’t do so and they are not that expensive and they are reimbursable by insurance carriers. We can make a strong argument that these assessments are crucial to helping people suffering from addiction. Armed with this information we can then start treatment. We know that a lot of people with substance abuse also have mental health problems almost 80% of people have a dual diagnosis. At Sovereign Health Group we have expertise in-house to be able to treat both conditions. We can treat cognitive problems by cognitive remediation but let us first do the assessment. For instance, we might assess what we call the psychophysiology of the brain by doing a quantitative EEGs. It is not as complicated, there are automated methods of doing this. Now we talk about how you might change people’s thinking and you want to change behavior. You could change behavior but unless you change the way they think and the way their brain behaves and their deficits and their decision making process you are not going to change behavior. Currently, the entire industry is focused on changing behavior. We ask, “how did patients get into this in the first place?” Because their decision making process was impaired, they are aware that alcohol and drugs are bad for them yet they went ahead and did it anyway. This happened because there was a problem in what we call executive function planning and decision making. Unless we help people with addiction improve their planning and decision making we are going to discharge them they are going to do the same thing over and over again.

For more detailed information on Dr. Tonmoy Sharma, CEO of Sovereign Health Group go to LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/tonmoysharmaceo

Dr Judy Ho, Ph. D., ABPP is a licensed and board certified Clinical Psychologist based in Los Angeles. She lends her psychology expertise as a panelist on a variety of national television shows and provides professional services in Psychological Testing and Forensic Expert work. She is a tenured professor of psychology at Pepperdine University.

The Blue Butterfly is 33YO NOW by art2science

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Date: 11 Febr 2011 ( 11 - II - 11 )

Computer Mirror Image: "THE BLUE BUTTERFLY IS 33YO NOW"

The picture "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" made by Marcel Duchamp in 1912,

is widely regarded as a Modernist classic and has become one of the most famous of its time

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchamp

Using the computer program Photoshop, we can see from the picture a face to appear.

How is it made ?

Use a Photoshop computer-program with 2 layers.

1e Layer : picture "Nude Descending a Staircase".

2e Layer : negative Mirror picture "Nude Descending a Staircase".

Use the function DIFFERENCE between the layers.

This new "Work of Art" called "THE BLUE BUTTERFLY IS 33YO NOW",

can only be made visible on a computer

~Duchamp~ Artmaking is making the invisible, visible.

~ Aristotle ~ The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

UNMOVED MOVER

Motion is therefore "the actuality of any potentiality insofar as it is still a potentiality"

Aristotle describes the "Unmoved Mover" as being perfectly beautiful, indivisible, and contemplating only the perfect contemplation: itself contemplating, the Active Intellect.

1. There exists movement in the world.

2. Things that move were set into motion by something else.

3. If everything that moves were caused to move by something else, there would be an infinite chain of causes. This can't happen.

4. Thus, there must have been something that caused the first movement.

5. From 3, this first cause cannot itself have been moved.

6. From 4, there must be an "Unmoved Mover".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmoved_mover

Lady ”I have no sence of art” GaGa:

"I’m not fucking Duchamp but I love pissing with you”

style.com/stylefile/2010/07/r-mutt-meet-l-gaga/

"I don't want to be a part of the machine, I want the machine to be a part of me"

~AHRIMAN has the greatest possible interest in instructing men in mathematics, but not in instructing them that mathematical-mechanistic concepts of the universe are merely illusions. . . . that they are only points of view, like photographs from one side.

~Lucifer & AHRIMAN must be regarded as two scales of a balance and its we who must hold the beam in equipoise.

~'cosmic triad' - Lucifer, Christ and AHRIMAN.

~Electricity is AHRIMANIC light.

~AHRIMANIC "elemental spirits" inhabit our artificial machines.

~In the absolute sense, nothing is good in itself, but is always good or bad according to the use to which it is put.

adventofahriman.com

RIP Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Aum Shanti, shanti, shanti.

"Science must confine its inquiry only to things belonging to the human senses, while spiritualism transcends the senses. If you want to understand the nature of spiritual power you can do so only through the path of spirituality and not science. What science has been able to unravel is merely a fraction of the cosmic phenomena ..."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba

Date: 30 jan 2011

O(+> DEDICATED TO "science2art"

Because LOVE is Universal....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLpHdJQdhL8

Date: 11 Jan 2011 ( 11 - 1 - 11 )

Emergency Protection Sought for Disappearing Miami Blue Butterfly

biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2011/miam...

Date: 7 Aug 2009 ( 7 - 8 - 9 )

Human Butterfly Crop Circle Mystery

youtube.com/watch?v=MhqM7hXvX6k

Damien Hirst Butterflies

www.othercriteria.com/browse/hirst/

flickr.com/photos/daydreampilot/2628127181/

Watch my internet channels:

science2art.tumblr.com/

twitter.com/#!/Namirha11111

www.facebook.com/science2art

metacafe.com/channels/Namirha/

metacafe.com/watch/6066929

400x200pix

i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj508/Namirha/Butterfly400x2...

i41.tinypic.com/hv9ttg.jpg

i51.tinypic.com/mt7a7c.gif

In 1912 Impressionist Marcel Duchamp exhibited a

painting entitled NUDE DESCENDING A STAIRCASE.

The painting created a sensation. Worth millions today

it is held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

==========================================

The explanation of exactly why this painting

is so famous has always been a mystery.

==========================================

A number of art experts have pointed out that the painting

is similar to Edward Muybridge.

He is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion

in 1877 and 1878, which used multiple cameras to capture

motion in stop-action photographs

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Muybridge

This fact was even publicly acknowledged by Duchamp

himself according to the Wikipedia article:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase

Of course Duchamp's painting "impressionistically" adds

a sense of motion to the figure which is missing in

Muybridge's still-frame photos.

=========================================

HOWEVER..... the fact that Duchamp got his inspiration

from one of Muybridge's photographs IS NOT WHY

Duchamp's painting is WORLD FAMOUS.

THERE IS ANOTHER SCIENTIFIC REASON

FOR THE WORLD FAME OF

MARCEL DUCHAMP'S PAINTING---

FACT IS...... THE PAINTING IS A DIRECT

VISUAL CONFIRMATION OF THE

EXISTENCE OF GOD.................!!!!!

AND HERE I WILL EXPLAIN WHY:

=========================================

When you look at something new and unfamiliar,

your mind tries to "logically guess" what it is.... then

your mind imagines the object and tries to fit that image

to what it is seeing to see if they can be matched.

For instance, if you are out hunting and you see a

distant object which you think might be a deer, you

must check carefully before you shoot. Your mind

tries different possibilities... is it a man?.... so you try

to fit the object to the mental image of a man.... no...

it won't work.... is it a cow?.... so you try to fit the

object to a cow.... no, can't be.... is it a large dog....

so you imagine it as a large dog.... nope.... won't

work.....is it a scarecrow...so you try to imagine it as a

scarecrow..nope.... wrong again.... wait a minute.... it

could be a motorcycle parked on the side of a dirt road....

immediately you imagine a motorcycle... with a wind shield

and handle bars......... BINGO....... turns out that's

exactly what it is......... thank God you didn't pull that

trigger!

WELL.... it turns out almost all objects are "partially

invisible"..... as I have explained before, in fact about

20% of true reality is INVISIBLE to the average person

due to the Secular Trend Braingrowth Deficit... and

this is known as the "Invisible World" of Religion

(commonly called "Heaven").

What this means is that we are constantly using the

above described "GUESS AND COMPARE" method

of recognizing objects (and persons too by the way).

In fact it is this fundamental "guess and compare"

method which is what eventually leads the average person

to begin to suspect that there is an "unseen world"..

at least historically that is where Religion comes from.

Now... in fact.... the human visual system does this

automatically and very rapidly... trying in some

cases 3, 4 or half a dozen "guesses" before it

recognizes an unfamiliar object or person.

This (subconscious) process looks very much

like one of Muybridges "freeze motion" photos...

or like Duchamp's Nude Descending the Staircase

for that matter.

AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHY

the average person gets an overwhelming

sense of DEJA VUE the minute he first see's

Marcel Duchamp's famous painting.... he says to

himself... "hey..I've see that somewhere before.."

... and guess what.... he has.. in his subconscious mind,

and what it is is :

TWO PICTURES... ONE OF HEAVEN

(an extrapolated possibility) AND ONE OF

EARTH (a known reality).... BEING

QUICLY ALTERNATED FOR COMPARISON

BACK AND FORTH IN THE MIND !!!!

........... and that is

EXACTLY HOW

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

WAS DISCOVERED

NOT ONLY HISTORICALLY,

BUT BY AVERAGE PEOPLE

EVERY SINGLE DAY !

Of course Duchamp is also a pop psychologist and

that is why the figure is "descending a staircase"

because the vision of God is all about ascending

and descending (perceptually) and "stairs" are

a well known historical symbology (ladders too).

also... a "nude" is used to involve the basic

"perceptual ascension" involved in sexual

desire and attraction.

However... the "movie film sequence"

of the jittery "glimpses of heaven" that

we undergoe daily when perceiving

unfamiliar objects or scenes is BRILLIANTLY

captured by Duchamp's famous painting.

and that is why Marcel Duchamp's

painting is world famous !

Now George Hammond has proved all of this using

the Fusion Frequency of movie films to

prove the existence of the invisible world,

and has confirmed the proof to two decimal point

accuracy using 100 years of published Psychometry

data and showing that it is IDENTICAL to

Linearized Gravity and thus that the "invisible world"

is a simple classical Einsteinian Time and Space

dilation which makes as much as 20% of reality

INVISIBLE to the average person, thus explaining

both "God" and the "Invisible World" (Heaven).

HOWEVER..... a GENIUS like Marcel Duchamp

doesn't need theoretical Physics to explain God...

he can "paint God with a paint brush" and the

opinion of world has now confirmed the enduring

validity of his "1912 portrait of God

www.archivum.info/sci.psychology.theory/2006-09/00000/GOD...

Thomas argued that God, while perfectly united, also is perfectly described by Three Interrelated Persons. These three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are constituted by their relations within the essence of God. Thomas wrote that the term "Trinity" "does not mean the relations themselves of the Persons, but rather the number of persons related to each other; and hence it is that the word in itself does not express regard to another."[88] The Father generates the Son (or the Word) by the relation of self-awareness. This eternal generation then produces an eternal Spirit "who enjoys the divine nature as the Love of God, the Love of the Father for the Word."

This Trinity exists independently from the world. It transcends the created world, but the Trinity also decided to give grace to human beings. This takes place through the Incarnation of the Word in the person of Jesus Christ and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within those who have experienced salvation by God; according to Aidan Nichols.

(Nature of the Trinity)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas#Nature_of_the_Trinity

Substantial form (the human soul) configures prime matter (the physical body) and is the form by which a material composite belongs to that species it does; in the case of human beings, that species is rational animal. So, a human being is a matter-form composite that is organized to be a rational animal. Matter cannot exist without being configured by form, but form can exist without matter—which allows for the separation of soul from body. Aquinas says that the soul shares in the material and spiritual worlds, and so has some features of matter and other, immaterial, features (such as access to universals). The human soul is different from other material and spiritual things; it is created by God, but also only comes into existence in the material body.

Aquinas’s account of the soul focuses on epistemology and metaphysics, and because of this he believes it gives a clear account of the immaterial nature of the soul.

(The afterlife and resurrection)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas#The_afterlife_and_re...

In recent years, the cognitive neuroscientist Walter Freeman proposes that Thomism is the philosophical system explaining cognition that is most compatible with neurodynamics, in a 2008 article in the journal Mind and Matter entitled "Nonlinear Brain Dynamics and Intention According to Aquinas."

(Impact of Thomism)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomism#Impact_of_Thomism

Roope by Poupetta

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Roope and his girlfriend, Hanna, were amidst some 800 people who marched in downtown Helsinki this afternoon in solidarity with the Paris Climate Change Conference.

Roope & Hanna, 23 y/o, university students who care about the climate change and our planet.

Roope:

"I'm currently studying social policy in Helsinki university, specializing in environmental policy. At the moment I'm applying the finishing touches to my master's thesis on environmental philosophy and environmental cognition, i.e. how we perceive the natural environment and how it affects environmental action.

I'm a full time student, so I'm not working, other than minor course assistant/tutoring work at the university.

I'm graduating next spring and hoping to get on with a PhD as soon as possible.

"Hobbies include music--guitar, harmonica and singing; also an avid listener, reading--fact and fiction--and sports--football and general outdoors activities.

"Anything you'd like to share, Roope?"

"I think we'd all get along a bit better if we took ourselves a bit less seriously and appreciated the natural environment, humans included, a whole lot more. We should be less dogmatic and more pragmatic about pretty much everything.

"What is your struggle / challenge right now?"

"I think I'm having it quite easy right now, to be honest. That's not to say that I'm not bothered with what's going on in the world at the moment--I'm referring to both social and environmental concerns-- but that's too big a struggle to analyze here!

This is my 100th submission to The Human Family group.

Visit the group here to see more portraits and stories: www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily.

Surfing and the Zone of Proximal Development by hjl

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Sidney, from Weezer's Raditude to Yale by Jason Neely

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Sidney, who achieved fame a few years ago by getting into National Geographic Magazine and then making the cover of Weezer's Raditude album , is now a Yale scholar. He was accepted into the Yale Canine Cognition Center where he will participate in studies about how dogs perceive their environment, solve problems, and make decisions.

1G6A5417_BEFORE-AFTER-4K by artz. 'zigel' buʞa

If retouch is done the right way, faces look more natural after it. It's just how our cognition works - our mind puts together and 'retouches' everything we see, sorts everything by various properties and "plays back" the result to us, which is very distinct from what the camera "sees". Physically, our vision can sense even less than one megapixel - and this is real fact, you check it. Our eyes work it around by switching the focus extremely fast from one point to another in fractions of a second, building up the whole picture in that way.

Some links:

Seeing the world as it isn't | Daniel Simons | TEDxUIUC - www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Il_D3Xt9W0

The Brain with David Eagleman series - www.pbs.org/show/brain-david-eagleman/

BBC: Body Hits - Eyesight (www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/tv/humansenses/programme2... | www.google.com/search?q=BBC:+Body+Hits+-+Eyesight)

DaVinci Learning: The World Of The Senses - Seeing (www.davinci-learning.com/site/focus-senses | www.google.com/search?q=DaVinci+Learning:+TheWorld+Of+The...)

Naked Owl by s0ulsurfing

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What do you see?

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This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

-----------------------------------

Links to my website, facebook and twitter can be found on my flickr profile

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psychic space and inclusion by Eldon Underhill

11 8

figural cognition

Dawn of Cognition by Lach

7 62

A combination of smoke photography that I just got started with recently and brain slices done by Elizabeth Normand in the Mark Zervis Lab here at Brown University. The color in the brain slices comes from various different fluorescent proteins used to mark the cells.

Cerebral Cortex by Howard Duncan

21 14

A digital manipulation of the Mona Lisa. Memory, attention, perception, cognition, awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. Humanity.

www.flickriver.com/photos/28045633@N00

The Tibetan Buddha Ideal by Laurent Goldstein

20 22

The ideal goal of spiritual development in Tibetan Buddhism, a Mahayana tradition, is to achieve the enlightenment (Buddhahood) in order to most efficiently help all other sentient beings attain this state.

Buddhahood is sometimes partially defined as a state of omniscience.

"Omniscience" relates to the Buddhist principle that all things are created by mind.

When, in Buddhahood, one is freed from all mental obscurations, one is said to attain a state of continuous bliss mixed with a simultaneous cognition of emptiness, the true nature of reality.

In this state, all limitations on one's ability to help other living beings are removed.

It is said that there are countless beings who have attained Buddhahood.

Buddhas spontaneously, naturally and continuously perform activities to benefit all sentient beings.

However it is believed that sentient beings' karmas limit the ability of the Buddhas to help them.

Thus, although Buddhas possess no limitation from their side on their ability to help others, sentient beings continue to experience suffering as a result of the limitations of their own former negative actions.

I took this picture last afternoon while I was visiting Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar, the place of Gautama Buddha's attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment) and where stands the International Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony which will end the 10th of December .

"May you all be happy!"

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).

The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

HEURISTICS, BIASES, AND PHILOSOPHY... The basic version of the problem asks people to imagine that they see five passengers on a runaway trolley, headed for certain destruction. by Hughes Songe

12 2

The basic version of the problem asks people to imagine that they see five passengers on a runaway trolley, headed for certain destruction. They can save these five by throwing a switch that would divert the trolley to a safe course, saving the five passengers, but the diversion will end up killing one bystander who happens to be standing on the safe route. The problem thus asks people if they will act in a way that kills one but saves five. Most people struggle, but agree that they would divert the trolley. But if the hypothetical is altered so that the only way to stop the trolley is by pushing a portly individual off of a footbridge onto the tracks so as to stop the trolley, fewer agree to sacrifice the one to save the five. The hypothetical is designed to illustrate the greater moral dilemma associated with direct, forceful action. Moral Heuristicsis not such a piece. It brings some psychological research to bear on legal issues, but the piece is more ambitious than that. It provides a new way for both psychologists and legal scholars to think about the concept of heuristics. It then uses this new approach to challenge the basic epistemological assumptions of contemporary moral philosophy. The basic thesis of Moral Heuristics is that people rely on simple habits of the mind when thinking about moral issues. As in many areas of life, they do not adhere to principles of deductive logic. They resist relying on broad-based optimization strategies (such as cost-benefit analysis) as a means of addressing hard moral questions in favor of simple rules of thumb. For example, Sunstein argues that people avoid making decisions that they know will result in the death of another person. This is a good principle to follow, of course, but blind application of it can lead to paradox because some fatalities are more invisible than others. The principle can produce condemnation of those who account for less visible, indirect fatalities, as happens in cost-benefit analysis. Cost- benefit analysis makes indirect fatalities transparent, thereby making those who rely on it seem callous, even if they are trying to minimize the total fatality rate. Intuitions about moral issues, he contends, are no more apt to be coherent than intuitions about probability theory. Therefore, founding a normative theory of moral philosophy upon intuition is just as misguided as founding mathematics on intuition. And yet, that is exactly what contemporary moral philosophers undertake. The primary methodological approach at the time was to study the ways that memory and perception might go astray. For example, psychologists studying memory found that when they presented people with lists of words to memorize, people more easily remember them. From this pattern, psychologists inferred that memory includes a short-term storage buffer with limited capacity. At the beginning of the list, the short-term buffer is not yet fully engaged, and hence, it can be used for active rehearsal of the words. At the end of the list, the buffer is not clouded with subsequent words and can be used to facilitate the transfer of the words into long-term storage. The errors in memory, in effect, guide the cognitive theory ofhow memory works. Cognitive psychologists assumed that human memory does not work the same way as a tape recorder, but they also reasoned that the departures from the concept of human memory as a tape recorder could provide insights into the underlying cognitive systems supporting memory. Likewise, cognitive psychologists studying human judgment and choice rejected the idea that human judgment and choice perfectly followed deductive logic and rationality, but they also reasoned that departures from this vision of human judgment would give clues as to how these systems actually worked. And thus, the methodology that produced insights into

the understanding of memory and perception should produce insights into understanding ofjudgment and choice as well. The heuristics and biases approach to assessing human judgment has extraordinary strengths. It provides a simple, inexpensive methodology for studying human judgment and decision making. It also capitalizes on the enormous success of the cognitive psychology of memory and perception in documenting how the brain functions. But, it also inspires criticisms. It arguably fails to account for variations in human ability in judgment, fails to account for motivated reasoning processes, and simply makes people seem too inept. People with different cultural worldviews may well experience betrayal in different settings. The idea that people react negatively to betrayal itself allows for such variations, making it easier to see how this heuristic is compatible with the research on cultural cognition than the representativeness heuristic. Handgun owners might not feel the betrayal of a gun accident (or they might feel more betrayed because they see the gun as a precaution not as a weapon), whereas handgun opponents might deem a handgun accident an ironic betrayal (or might feel that the owner got what was expected). Research on the representativeness heuristic suggests that to the extent to which activities resemble dangerous undertakings, people treat them as if they are dangerous, regardless of the underlying risk. But such treatment fails to account for variations in how individuals assess risk. Betrayal aversion, by contrast, has variation built in. Furthermore, the idea of betrayal aversion is one that proponents of ecological rationality can support much more easily than the representativeness heuristic. Evolutionary psychologists, in particular, argue that humans have an ancestral need to be highly vigilant against betrayal. Cooperation was essential to the survival of hunter- gatherer bands of human ancestors, but cooperative undertakings are vulnerable to exploitation by a defector. Human ancestors who were known to react strongly and punish betrayal aggressively likely deterred defection, therebyfacilitating productive cooperation within their group. Ancestors known to tolerate defection would attract defectors who would destroy group cohesiveness. Such accounts might be little more than "just so" stories, but the idea of a universally strong reaction to betrayal at least seems to have some advantages in social settings. Thus, it is easier to square with an ecological rationality than some of the more general heuristics. Koehler and Gershoff, Like betrayal aversion, the prohibition against deliberately causing another's death fits well with ecological rationality. Only in a vastly more interconnected modem world do humans face the moral consequences of indirectly causing each other harm through action (voting for a political candidate who starts a war that produces collateral injury to civilians) and inaction (failing to donate to charity that cannot save lives as a consequence of lack of funding). The human brain evolved to process a much smaller social universe than we face today. But in ordinary social settings, the prohibition against directly causing death functions as a sensible way of deciding how to act. It has been a great puzzle for psychologists studying judgment and choice, in fact, that intuition about probability and deductive logic deviates so markedly from logical principles. The discrepancy between the answers people's intuition produces and the teachings ofdeductive logic underlies some ofthe backlash against the early literature on heuristics and biases. It has led many to embrace ecological rationality, as discussed above. But most have simply accepted that intuition and deductive logic are not the same, and conclude that it is extremely difficult to develop a unified theory of human judgment and choice that is both descriptively accurate and normatively logical. If that is correct, then relying on intuition to construct a system of logic, probability, or mathematics would be deeply misguided.

scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1...

the cognition by Marie Patsyuk

Oatmeal With Brown Sugar And Cinnamon by Chic Bee

21 7

If you look carefully, you can see a map of Greenland, North America, Central America, South America, and the Gulf of Mexico. That's called pareidolia.

Pareidolia is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one detects an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none. Pareidolia is a specific but common type of apophenia (the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things or ideas).

Common examples include perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations; seeing faces in inanimate objects; or lunar pareidolia like the Man in the Moon or the Moon rabbit. The concept of pareidolia may extend to include hidden messages in recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing voices (mainly indistinct) or music in random noise, such as that produced by air conditioners or by fans.[3][4] Face pareidolia has also been demonstrated in rhesus macaques.[5]

Etymology

The word derives from the Greek words pará (παρά, "beside, alongside, instead [of]") and the noun eídōlon (εἴδωλον, "image, form, shape").[6]

Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum introduced the German term Pareidolie in his 1866 paper "Die Sinnesdelierien"[7] ("On Delusion of the Senses"). When Kahlbaum's paper was reviewed the following year (1867) in The Journal of Mental Science, Volume 13, Pareidolie was translated into English as "pareidolia", and noted to be synonymous with the terms "...changing hallucination, partial hallucination, [and] perception of secondary images."[8]

Link to other conditions

Pareidolia correlates with age and is frequent among patients with Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.[9]

Explanations

Pareidolia can cause people to interpret random images, or patterns of light and shadow, as faces.[10] A 2009 magnetoencephalography study found that objects perceived as faces evoke an early (165 ms) activation of the fusiform face area at a time and location similar to that evoked by faces, whereas other common objects do not evoke such activation. This activation is similar to a slightly faster time (130 ms) that is seen for images of real faces. The authors suggest that face perception evoked by face-like objects is a relatively early process, and not a late cognitive reinterpretation phenomenon.[11]

A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in 2011 similarly showed that repeated presentation of novel visual shapes that were interpreted as meaningful led to decreased fMRI responses for real objects. These results indicate that the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli depends upon processes similar to those elicited by known objects.[12]

Pareidolia was found to affect brain function and brain waves. In a 2022 study, EEG records show that responses in the frontal and occipitotemporal cortexes begin prior to when one recognizes faces and later, when they are not recognized.[13] By displaying these proactive brain waves, scientists can then have a basis for data rather than relying on self-reported sightings. [clarification needed]

These studies help to explain why people generally identify a few lines and a circle as a "face" so quickly and without hesitation. Cognitive processes are activated by the "face-like" object which alerts the observer to both the emotional state and identity of the subject, even before the conscious mind begins to process or even receive the information. A "stick figure face", despite its simplicity, can convey mood information, and be drawn to indicate emotions such as happiness or anger. This robust and subtle capability is hypothesized to be the result of natural selection favoring people most able to quickly identify the mental state, for example, of threatening people, thus providing the individual an opportunity to flee or attack preemptively.[14] This ability, though highly specialized for the processing and recognition of human emotions, also functions to determine the demeanor of wildlife.[15][self-published source?]

Pareidolia and creative thinking

Pareidolia plays a significant role in creative cognition, enabling artists and viewers to perceive novel forms and meanings in ambiguous stimuli.[16] Joanne Lee highlights that this phenomenon has been harnessed in artistic practices for centuries (Da Vinci for example).[17] The phenomenon was particularly important to surrealism, where artists like Salvador Dali, influenced by André Breton, embraced pareidolic ambiguity to challenge rationalist perceptions and provoke new ways of seeing.[18]

Examples

Mimetoliths

A more detailed photograph taken in different lighting in 2001 clarifies the "face" to be a natural rock formation.

A mimetolithic pattern is a pattern created on rocks that may come to mimic recognizable forms through the random processes of formation, weathering and erosion. A well-known example is the Face on Mars, a rock formation on Mars that resembled a human face in certain satellite photos. Most mimetoliths are much larger than the subjects they resemble, such as a cliff profile that looks like a human face.

Picture jaspers exhibit combinations of patterns, such as banding from flow or depositional patterns (from water or wind), or dendritic or color variations, resulting in what appear to be miniature scenes on a cut section, which is then used for jewelry.

Chert nodules, concretions, or pebbles may in certain cases be mistakenly identified as skeletal remains, egg fossils, or other antiquities of organic origin by amateur enthusiasts.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Japanese researcher Chonosuke Okamura self-published a series of reports titled Original Report of the Okamura Fossil Laboratory, in which he described tiny inclusions in polished limestone from the Silurian period (425 mya) as being preserved fossil remains of tiny humans, gorillas, dogs, dragons, dinosaurs and other organisms, all of them only millimeters long, leading him to claim, "There have been no changes in the bodies of mankind since the Silurian period... except for a growth in stature from 3.5 mm to 1,700 mm."[19][20] Okamura's research earned him an Ig Nobel Prize (a parody of the Nobel Prize) in biodiversity in 1996.[21][22]

Some sources describe various mimetolithic features on Pluto, including a heart-shaped region.[23][24][25]

Clouds

Seeing shapes in cloud patterns is another example of this phenomenon. Rogowitz and Voss (1990) showed a relationship between seeing shapes in cloud patterns and fractal dimension.[clarification needed] They varied the fractal dimension of the boundary contour from 1.2 to 1.8, and found that the lower the fractal dimension, the more likely people were to report seeing nameable shapes of animals, faces, and fantasy creatures.[26] From above, pareidolia may be perceived in satellite imagery of tropical cyclones. Notably hurricanes Matthew and Milton gained much attention for resembling a human face or skull when viewed from the side.[27]

Mars canals

Map of Martian "canals" by Percival Lowell

Main article: Martian canals

A notable example of pareidolia occurred in 1877, when observers using telescopes to view the surface of Mars thought that they saw faint straight lines, which were then interpreted by some as canals. It was theorized that the canals were possibly created by sentient beings. This created a sensation. In the next few years better photographic techniques and stronger telescopes were developed and applied, which resulted in new images in which the faint lines disappeared, and the canal theory was debunked as an example of pareidolia.[28][29]

Lunar surface

Pareidolias in the moon

Many cultures recognize pareidolic images in the disc of the full moon, including the human face known as the Man in the Moon in many Northern Hemisphere cultures[30][31] and the Moon rabbit in East Asian and indigenous American cultures.[32][33] Other cultures see a walking figure carrying a wide burden on their back,[31] including in Germanic tradition,[34] Haida mythology,[35] and Latvian mythology.[36]

Projective tests

The Rorschach inkblot test uses pareidolia in an attempt to gain insight into a person's mental state. The Rorschach is a projective test that elicits thoughts or feelings of respondents that are "projected" onto the ambiguous inkblot images.[37] Rorschach inkblots have low-fractal-dimension boundary contours, which may elicit general shape-naming behaviors, serving as vehicles for projected meanings.[26]

Banknotes

Owing to the way designs are engraved and printed, occurrences of pareidolia have occasionally been reported in banknotes.

One example is the 1954 Canadian Landscape Canadian dollar banknote series, known among collectors as the "Devil's Head" variety of the initial print runs. The obverse of the notes features what appears to be an exaggerated grinning face, formed from patterns in the hair of Queen Elizabeth II. The phenomenon generated enough attention for revised designs to be issued in 1956, which removed the effect.[38]

Literature

Renaissance authors have shown a particular interest in pareidolia. In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, for example, Prince Hamlet points at the sky and "demonstrates" his supposed madness in this exchange with Polonius:[39][40]

HAMLET

Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in the shape of a camel?

POLONIUS

By th'Mass and 'tis, like a camel indeed.

HAMLET

Methinks it is a weasel.

POLONIUS

It is backed like a weasel.

HAMLET

Or a whale.

POLONIUS

Very like a whale.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a short story called "The Great Stone Face" in which a face seen in the side of a mountain (based on the real-life The Old Man of the Mountain) is revered by a village.[41]

Art

The Jurist by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1566. What appears to be his face is a collection of fish and poultry, while his body is a collection of books dressed in a coat.

Salem by Sydney Curnow Vosper (1908), a painting notorious for the belief that the face of the devil was hidden in the main character's shawl

See also

Clustering illusion – Erroneously seeing patterns in randomness

Conspiracy theory – Attributing events to improbable causes (another example of apophenia)

Eigenface – Set of eigenvectors used in the computer vision problem of human face recognition

Hitler teapot – Kettle perceived to resemble Adolf Hitler

Madonna of the Toast – 2007 book about pareidolia

Mondegreen – Misinterpretation of a spoken phrase

Musical ear syndrome – similar to auditory pareidolia, but with hearing loss

Optical illusion – Visually perceived images that differ from objective reality

Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena

Signal-to-noise ratio – Ratio of the desired signal to the background noise

References

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"pareidolia". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 6 December 2020.

Jaekel, Philip (29 January 2017). "Why we hear voices in random noise". Nautilus. Retrieved 1 April 2017.

Bauman, Neil (9 July 2015). "Apophenia, Audio Pareidolia and Musical Ear Syndrome".

Taubert, Jessica; Wardle, Susan G.; Flessert, Molly; Leopold, David A.; Ungerleider, Leslie G. (2017). "Face Pareidolia in the Rhesus Monkey". Current Biology. 27 (16): 2505–2509.e2. Bibcode:2017CBio...27E2505T. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.075. ISSN 0960-9822. PMC 5584612. PMID 28803877.

Rosen, Rebecca J. (7 August 2012). "Pareidolia: A Bizarre Bug of the Human Mind Emerges in Computers". The Atlantic.

Kahlbaum, Karl Ludwig (1866). "Die Sinnesdelirien". Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie und psychisch-gerichtliche Medizin. 23: 1–86.

[1] Sibbald, M.D. "Report on the Progress of Psychological Medicine; German Psychological Literature", The Journal of Mental Science, Volume 13. 1867. p. 238

Kurumada, Kentaro; Sugiyama, Atsuhiko; Hirano, Shigeki; Yamamoto, Tatsuya; Yamanaka, Yoshitaka; Araki, Nobuyuki; Yakiyama, Masatsugu; Yoshitake, Miki; Kuwabara, Satoshi (2021). "Pareidolia in Parkinson's Disease and Multiple System Atrophy". Parkinson's Disease. 2021: 2704755. doi:10.1155/2021/2704755. ISSN 2090-8083. PMC 8572613. PMID 34754412.

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Voss, J. L.; Federmeier, K. D.; Paller, K. A. (2012). "The Potato Chip Really Does Look Like Elvis! Neural Hallmarks of Conceptual Processing Associated with Finding Novel Shapes Subjectively Meaningful". Cerebral Cortex. 22 (10): 2354–64. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr315. PMC 3432238. PMID 22079921.

Thome, Ina; Hohmann, Daniela M.; Zimmermann, Kristin M.; Smith, Marie L.; Kessler, Roman; Jansen, Andreas (2022). ""I Spy with my Little Eye, Something that is a Face…": A Brain Network for Illusory Face Detection". Cerebral Cortex. 32 (1): 137–157. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhab199. PMID 34322712.

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Breton, André (1978). Rosemont, Franklin (ed.). What is surrealism? selected writings. New York: Monad. ISBN 978-0-87348-822-8.

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Gary (15 July 2015). "Pluto annotated (by xkcd)". D Gary Grady. Retrieved 30 July 2020.

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Keller, Erin (9 October 2024). "Hurricane Milton Satellite Image Shows 'Creepy' Skull Shape". Newsweek. Retrieved 19 November 2024.

[2] Kitchin, C. R. Astrophysical Techniques, Sixth Edition. Taylor & Francis (2013). ISBN 9781466511156 p. 3

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Da Vinci, Leonardo (1923). John, R; Don Read, J (eds.). "Note-Books Arranged And Rendered Into English". Empire State Book Co.

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"Niğde Alaaddin Camii 'nin Kapısındaki Kadın Silüetinin Sırrı?". Nevşehir Kentrehberim (in Turkish). 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

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"DİVRİĞİ ULU CAMİİ'NDE 'NAMAZ KILAN İNSAN' SİLÜETİ". Haberler (in Turkish). 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

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Emery, David (2 September 2018). "Does the Devil's Face Appear in the Smoke on 9/11?". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

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Sheen, Mercedes; Jordan, Timothy R. (July 2016). "Believing is Seeing: A Perspective on Perceiving Images of Objects on the Shroud of Turin". Archive for the Psychology of Religion. 38 (2): 232–251. doi:10.1163/15736121-12341320. ISSN 0084-6724. S2CID 147803332.

Sheen, Mercedes; Jordan, Timothy R. (December 2015). "Effects of Contextual Information on Seeing Pareidolic Religious Inscriptions on an Artifact: Implications for the Shroud of Turin". Perception. 44 (12): 1427–1430. doi:10.1177/0301006615607156. ISSN 0301-0066. PMID 26562867. S2CID 27845771.

Chalup, Stephan K., Kenny Hong, and Michael J. Ostwald. "Simulating pareidolia of faces for architectural image analysis." brain 26.91 (2010): 100.

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Deutsch, D. (1995). "Musical Illusions and Paradoxes". Philomel Records.

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Foye, P; Abdelshahed, D; Patel, S (July 2014). "Musculoskeletal pareidolia in medical education". The Clinical Teacher. 11 (4): 251–3. doi:10.1111/tct.12143. PMID 24917091. S2CID 206318208.

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Foye, Patrick (20 February 2021). "Baby Yoda: Pareidolia and Patternicity in Sacral MRI and CT Scans | Tailbone Doctor". tailbonedoctor.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.

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Kennedy, Victoria Phillips (18 April 2021). "Among Us Everywhere: Things That Look Like Among Us Crewmates". Screen Rant. Retrieved 16 August 2023.

Adams, Robert N. (8 February 2022). "The Coldest Spot in Space Looks Like an Among Us Crewmate". TechRaptor. Retrieved 16 August 2023.

Kooser, Amanda (3 June 2021). "McDonald's chicken nugget shaped like Among Us crewmate fetching $100,000 on eBay". CNET. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.

Ahlquist, Diane (2007). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Life After Death. US: Penguin Group. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-59257-651-7.

Carroll, Robert Todd (June 2001). "pareidolia". skepdic.com. Retrieved 19 September 2007.

External links

Look up pareidolia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Pareidolia

at Wikipedia's sister projects

Definitions from Wiktionary

Media from Commons

Data from Wikidata

Skepdic.com Skeptic's Dictionary definition of pareidolia

A Japanese museum of rocks which look like faces

Article in The New York Times, 13 February 2007, about cognitive science of face recognition

Article in Scientific American, 25 March 2022, "Does This Look like a Face to You?"

vte

Hidden messages

Main

Subliminal message

Audio

Backmasking

list Hidden track

list pregap list Phonetic reversal Reverse speech

Numeric

Chronogram Numerology Theomatics Bible code Cryptology

Visual

Fnord Hidden text Paranoiac-critical method Pareidolia Psychorama Sacred geometry Steganography Visual cryptography

Other

Apophenia Asemic writing Clustering illusion Cryptic crossword

Anagram Easter egg Observer-expectancy effect Pattern recognition Palindrome Simulacrum Synchronicity Unconscious mind

Categories:

Pareidolia1860s neologismsAuditory illusionsCognitive biasesOptical illusionsVisual perception

Seven Principles of Learning: Principle 7 by Darren Kuropatwa

23 1

These Seven Principles of Human Learning taken from the National Academies Press free ebook Learning and Understanding (2002).

"During the last four decades, scientists have engaged in research that has increased our understanding of human cognition, providing greater insight into how knowledge is organized, how experience shapes understanding, how people monitor their own understanding, how learners differ from one another, and how people acquire expertise. From this emerging body of research, scientists and others have been able to synthesize a number of underlying principles of human learning. This growing understanding of how people learn has the potential to influence significantly the nature of education and its outcomes."

Image licensed under Creative Commons by gordon (TK8316): www.flickr.com/photos/gordonator_sg/3227082487/

An Encircled Image of Buddha's Face Carved in Stone by buddhadog

12 1

A Haiku Note:

=========================

Showing a stone face;

but smiling within the heart

with the Eightfold Path

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The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.

1. Right View

Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble Truths. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.

2. Right Intention

While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.

3. Right Speech

Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.

4. Right Action

The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts.

5. Right Livelihood

Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.

6. Right Effort

Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavours that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.

7. Right Mindfulness

Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualise sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualisation in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena.

8. Right Concentration

The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels of concentration also in everyday situations.

voiceless by Melania Damianou

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a fully named world

paranoiac▲critical ego dis(re)cognition . . by jef Safi

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published as cover in

Cognition and Capital (인지와 자본) - Joe Jeong Hwan (조정환) (Publisher: Galmuri Press)

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Outlining a Theory of General Creativity .. on a 'Pataphysical projectory

Entropy ≥ Memory . Creativity ²

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Study of the day:

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"La propriété génère, pièce par pièce, la cuirasse de la subjectivité. Cette cuirasse est une coquille creuse, qui sépare le rien qui est le moi, du rien qui constitue les moyens qui lui sont extérieurs, et par lesquels il arrive à croire qu'il existe."

276

"The property generates, piece by piece, the armour of subjectivity. This armour is a hollow shell, which separates the nothing that is the "me", from the nothing that constitutes the external means, and by which it comes to believe it exists."

( Kenneth McKenzie Wark - Un Manifeste Hacker )

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What if I wake up one day and I'm not anxious anymore? by al shep

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A hypnopompic state (or hypnopomp) is the state of consciousness leading out of sleep, a term coined by the psychical researcher Frederic Myers. Its twin is the hypnagogic state at sleep onset; though often conflated, the two states are not identical. The hypnagogic state is rational waking cognition trying to make sense of non-linear images and associations; the hypnopompic state is emotional and credulous dreaming cognition trying to make sense of real world stolidity. They have a different phenomenological character. Depressed frontal lobe function in the first few minutes after waking – known as "sleep inertia" – causes slowed reaction time and impaired short-term memory. Sleepers often wake confused, or speak without making sense, a phenomenon the psychologist Peter McKeller calls "hypnopompic speech". When the awakening occurs out of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, in which most dreams occur, the hypnopompic state is sometimes accompanied by lingering vivid imagery. Some of the creative insights attributed to dreams actually happen in this moment of awakening from REM.

Pre-Cognition, Or The Mutual Incomprehension Of The Urban And The Rural by John Seven

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Lightbox here : www.flickr.com/photos/brancusi/8022709392/in/photostream/...

“The Mystery of Life isn’t a Problem to Solve but a Reality to Experience.” – Frank Herbert by Ganga Sunshine

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"Within the linear mode of consciousness, imagination is the generation of a series of thought pictures that have their relation only to the linear mode of cognition. But when the heart is the primary organ of perception, imagination is something else. It is the kind of thinking that is done with the heart. It has a particular nature, a particular form. It is a highly elegant form of seeing."

– Stephen Harrod Buhner “ The Secret Teachings of Plants : The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature “

The Mergence with God_184132 by Auksinis Kardas

The Mergence with God

The cognition of God is possible only against the background of intense love for Him.

It is so, because the emotions of sincere love are what bring consciousnesses together.

God can easily see any falsity in our emotions.

He Himself is Perfect Love; therefore, He does not allow those, who have defects in their love, to approach Him.

We are completely naked — in our actions, emotions, and thoughts — before Him, Who is observing every one of us from the depths of the multidimensionality.

God is not “somewhere out there” but directly under the cells of our bodies and under every one of us as souls. He sees, hears, and feels everyone in every moment; on the contrary, people usually do not perceive Him...

To achieve the Mergence with God, one should strive to eradicate one’s own egocentrism completely.

Besides, on the higher stages of the Path, it is necessary to master the state of “non - I”, in which one — during meditative trainings — only perceives transparent emptiness in that place where the feeling of oneself was before; the “I” in this case flows completely into the Divine Consciousness and merges with It.

After learning to stay in the subtlest Components of the Absolute and after the real cognition of Its Infinite Greatness — it becomes quite easy for us to subdue our egos completely. No matter how big is one’s self-awareness, when one realizes the Infinite Vastness of God in comparison with oneself, one sincerely surrenders by eliminating one’s “I” through flowing into Him.

connecting with giant pandas by woodleywonderworks

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Come closer, please! I took this picture of my son at the panda exhibit at Washington DC's national zoo. He is leaning against the glass in the exhibit and we were rewarded almost immediately by Mei Xiang walking towards us.

At the new Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat, two new yards feature several enriching features for both animal and visitor enjoyment and add more than 12,000 square feet to the pandas' outdoor exhibit. Additions to the indoor exhibit include a new room with a rocky outcrop and waterfall, another den, and more visitor viewing space and informational exhibits.

from Smithsonian Web Site

nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandaExhibit/defau...

Experience Asia Trail with an online and audio tour from Fujilfilm.

The creation of this state-of-the-art research facility and habitat is made possible in part by Fujifilm, who donated $7.8 million to the Zoo's giant panda program, the single largest sponsorship ever provided to the Zoo.

Many sustainable design strategies, such as planted â€œgreenâ€ roofs to reduce stormwater runoff, were incorporated into the new habitat. Other elements include a solar hot water system; natural tree-resin bound paving material, instead of petroleum-based asphalt, on the visitor paths; recycled rubber; sustainably harvested ipe wood, which is naturally resistant to pests and rot; and dried bamboo, because it is rapidly renewable resource and does not deplete the environment when harvested. more Asia Trail green elements

Outdoor Exhibit

The pandas' state-of-the-art Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat is designed to mimic the pandas' natural habitat of rocky, lush terrain in China. Each element has a purpose—from helping the pandas stay cool in hot weather to giving them a place to hide when they need privacy. There are rock and tree structures perfect for climbing; grottoes, pools, and streams for keeping cool; and shrubs and trees, including weeping willows, corktrees, and maples, and several species of bamboo.

Water-cooled grotto has cold-water pipes in the walls that provide a cool respite.

Low trees and shrubs provide shade and cover.

Fog grove creates a misty retreat from the heat.

Pools and streams offer refreshing dips on hot days.

Rocks and fallen trees allow for climbing and exercise.

Visitors can enjoy two levels from which to view the pandas, several areas where they may be just inches away from the bears, separated only by glass, and the new Clint Fields Conservation Plaza, where they can learn more about efforts to save pandas and their habitat through the stories of real people here and in China. At the Plaza's Decision Stations, people can get a sense of the complexity of conservation choices by watching videos about wildlife-people dilemmas and deciding which actions to take. Other features at the Plaza include a topographic map of the mountains of central China and exhibits about alternative economic activities to reduce habitat destruction. Portraits of villagers, scientists, park rangers, and others, with the real tools of their conservation work, will be highlighted. Multimedia displays of photos, video, and audio will give visitors a sense of place, introducing them to the sights and sounds of China's wilds.

As seen in Wired:

www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/seeing-animals/

Cognition by Lea Cook

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1st page of my Scrapbook Project 2013 for arthousecoop.com

Henri Matisse - Game of Bowls [1908] by Gandalf's Gallery

In creating this work in Paris in 1908 Matisse was probably inspired by watching the Parisians playing the traditional French game of boules, and certainly the boys are very concrete individuals, the artist's sons and nephew. The arrangement of the figures, the incline of the heads, the schematic facial features, all give us some idea of what each player is feeling: there is the total concentration of the boy about to throw his boule, the expectant interest in the result of the other boy, the calm of the seated figure.

But at the same time there is something strange, sad and mysterious in the composition. Some kind of primeval silence in which the earth, water, sky and man, the central elements in the world, are all sunk. The game is to be perceived as one manifestation of man's creativity. The "game" is in the highest sense a form of cognition, an instrument to use in understanding the "codes" of life. Matisse turns to man's mythological past, to times when the mystery of being was more central to everyday life. The participants in the "action" seem to have frozen, each "held" in the surface, although the sense of volume and mass has not totally disappeared.

[Oil on canvas, 115 x 147 cm]

gandalfsgalleymodern.blogspot.com/2011/08/henri-matisse-g...

Cognitive dissonance by Niels J. Buus Madsen

In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. The occurrence of cognitive dissonance is a consequence of a person performing an action that contradicts personal beliefs, ideals, and values; and also occurs when confronted with new information that contradicts said beliefs, ideals, and values.

In A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957), Leon Festinger proposed that human beings strive for internal psychological consistency in order to mentally function in the real world. A person who experiences internal inconsistency tends to become psychologically uncomfortable, and is motivated to reduce the cognitive dissonance. This is done by making changes to justify their stressful behavior, either by adding new parts to the cognition causing the psychological dissonance, or by actively avoiding social situations and/or contradictory information likely to increase the magnitude of the cognitive dissonance.

Don't be afraid it's only schizophrenia by al shep

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Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown of thought processes and by a deficit of typical emotional responses. Common symptoms include auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction. The onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood, with a global lifetime prevalence of about 0.3–0.7%. Diagnosis is based on observed behavior and the patient's reported experiences.

Genetics, early environment, neurobiology, and psychological and social processes appear to be important contributory factors; some recreational and prescription drugs appear to cause or worsen symptoms. Current research is focused on the role of neurobiology, although no single isolated organic cause has been found. The many possible combinations of symptoms have triggered debate about whether the diagnosis represents a single disorder or a number of discrete syndromes. schizophrenia does not imply a "split personality", or "multiple personality disorder" (which is known these days as dissociative identity disorder)—a condition with which it is often confused in public perception. Rather, the term means a "splitting of mental functions", because of the symptomatic presentation of the illness.

The mainstay of treatment is antipsychotic medication, which primarily suppresses dopamine (and sometimes serotonin) receptor activity. Psychotherapy and vocational and social rehabilitation are also important in treatment. In more serious cases—where there is risk to self and others—involuntary hospitalization may be necessary, although hospital stays are now shorter and less frequent than they once were.

The disorder is thought mainly to affect cognition, but it also usually contributes to chronic problems with behavior and emotion. People with schizophrenia are likely to have additional (comorbid) conditions, including major depression and anxiety disorders; the lifetime occurrence of substance use disorder is almost 50%. Social problems, such as long-term unemployment, poverty, and homelessness are common. The average life expectancy of people with the disorder is 12 to 15 years less than those without, the result of increased physical health problems and a higher suicide rate (about 5%).

AARP DEMO by Steve Jurvetson

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With Matt Marshall and Jody Holtzman, SVP of AARP yesterday.

Here are some of the points I shared:

The 50+ market is huge and a large untapped opportunity for entrepreneurs. In the U.S. alone, there are 100 million people over 50, and that number grows by 10,000 every day. By 2025, the entire nation will look like Florida does today. Demographics is destiny — the aging population is a perfectly predictable dynamic that will have massive economic repercussions. They already represent a disproportionate 45% of U.S. consumer spending, and healthy aging is already a $515 billion business (Furlong).

The boomers are qualitatively different as well, both from the generations that preceded them, and from common assumptions. Advertisers often focus on the 18-34 year old segment to find adopters of new products. Let’s compare that to the 50+ segments. The 50+ spend 2.5x as much, and dominate the entire market for some segments (60% of all CPG and automobiles, 80% of leisure travel). But are they laggards? They are 3x as likely to buy online as the 18-34 segment. They buy the most hybrid cars, iPads and even online dating services.

But are they looking to retire? Learn new tricks? Boomers are actually the most entrepreneurial age cohort. The per capita company formation rate for people over 50 is double that of 20-somethings and 30% higher than 30-somethings. Many of these businesses feed into the eBay economy, and in the future, when crowdsourcing companies like servio help create a marketplace for information services, then boomers could be America’s outsourcing alternative to off-shoring. (I testified to the White House Conference on Aging on that topic)

Matt asked me how we have invested in this segment. I mentioned Posit Science which reverses age-related cognitive decline with games that promote neural plasticity, especially in the sensory cortex (since that generalizes to many improvements in memory and cognition, since noisy inputs degrades the higher level constructs). They have found an average reversal of 10 years of cognitive decline, and in an auto insurance study, a 50% reduction in at-fault crashes!

And as I looked around the room, I pointed out that for those of us over 30, we are already in the long dive of cognitive decline (evolutionarily, there was not selection pressure for a life extended much beyond the breeding years, and our healthcare advances have done more for the body than the mind).

By almost every physical measure of brain function, the slope of cognitive decline is the same in the 30’s as in the 80’s. We just notice more accumulated decline as we get older, especially when we cross the threshold of forgetting most of what we try to remember.

But we can affect this progression. Prof. Merzenich at UCSF has found that neural plasticity does not disappear in adults. It just requires mental exercise. We will look back to the current day and marvel that we thought we could stay mentally fit without exercise. We will look at it like we do physical fitness. Few modern careers offer the degree of physical and mental exercise required to remain fit.

But the form of exercise differs. Physical exercise is repetitive; mental exercise is eclectic. Do something new. (Here’s my short HBR article on this). Lifelong learning is not just about enlightenment; it’s an economic imperative.

And since it was DEMO after all, I have to share a link to the beta version of the BrainHQ for anyone who read this far and would like to demo the latest from Posit Science. =)

Top photo by Stephen Brashear of DEMO.

Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus) by PHOTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

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The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus Elephas and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognised—E. m. maximus from Sri Lanka, E. m. indicus from mainland Asia and E. m. sumatranus from the island of Sumatra. Formerly, there was also the Syrian elephant or Western Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus asurus) which was the westernmost population of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). This subspecies became extinct in ancient times. Skeletal remains of E. m. asurus have been recorded from the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey from periods dating between at least 1800 BC and likely 700 BC. It is one of only three living species of elephants or elephantids anywhere in the world, the others being the African bush elephant and African forest elephant. It is the second largest species of elephant after the African bush elephant.

The Asian elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the population has declined by at least 50 per cent over the last three elephant generations, which is about 60–75 years. It is primarily threatened by loss of habitat, habitat degradation, fragmentation and poaching. In 2019, the wild population was estimated at 48,323–51,680 individuals. Female captive elephants have lived beyond 60 years when kept in semi-natural surroundings, such as forest camps. In zoos, Asian elephants die at a much younger age; captive populations are declining due to a low birth and high death rate.

The genus Elephas originated in Sub-Saharan Africa during the Pliocene and spread throughout Africa before expanding into the southern half of Asia. The earliest indications of captive use of Asian elephants are engravings on seals of the Indus Valley civilisation dated to the 3rd millennium BC.

Evolution

The genus Elephas, of which the Asian elephant is the only living member, is the closest relative of the extinct mammoths. The two groups are estimated to have split from each other around 7 million years ago. The earliest Elephas species, Elephas ekorensis, is known from the Early Pliocene of East Africa, around 5-4.2 million years ago. The oldest remains of the genus in Asia are known from the Siwalik Hills in the Indian subcontinent, dating to the late Pliocene, around 3.6-3.2 million years ago, assigned to the species Elephas planifrons. The modern Asian elephant is suggested to have evolved from the species Elephas hysudricus, which first appeared at the beginning of the Early Pleistocene around 2.6 million years ago, and is primarily known from remains of Early-Middle Pleistocene age found on the Indian subcontinent.

In general, the Asian elephant is smaller than the African bush elephant and has the highest body point on the head. The back is convex or level. The ears are small with dorsal borders folded laterally. It has up to 20 pairs of ribs and 34 caudal vertebrae. The feet have five nail-like structures on each forefoot, and four on each hind foot. The forehead has two hemispherical bulges, unlike the flat front of the African elephants. Its long trunk or proboscis has only one fingerlike tip, in contrast to the African elephants which have two. Hence, the Asian species relies more on wrapping around a food item and squeezing it into its mouth, rather than grasping with the tip. Asian elephants have more muscle coordination and can perform more complex tasks.

Cows usually lack tusks; if tusks—in that case, called "tushes"—are present, they are barely visible and only seen when the mouth is open.[citation needed] The enamel plates of the molars are greater in number and closer together in Asian elephants. Some bulls may also lack tusks; these individuals are called "filsy makhnas", and are especially common among the Sri Lankan elephant population. A tusk from an 11 ft (3.4 m) tall elephant killed by Sir Victor Brooke measured 8 ft (2.4 m) in length, and nearly 17 in (43 cm) in circumference, and weighed 90 lb (41 kg). This tusk's weight is, however, exceeded by the weight of a shorter tusk of about 6 ft (1.8 m) in length which weighed 100 lb (45 kg), and there have reportedly been tusks weighing over 150 lb (68 kg).

Skin colour is usually grey, and may be masked by soil because of dusting and wallowing. Their wrinkled skin is movable and contains many nerve centres. It is smoother than that of African elephants and may be depigmented on the trunk, ears, or neck. The epidermis and dermis of the body average 18 mm (0.71 in) thick; skin on the dorsum is 30 mm (1.2 in) thick providing protection against bites, bumps, and adverse weather. Its folds increase surface area for heat dissipation. They can tolerate cold better than excessive heat. Skin temperature varies from 24 to 32.9 °C (75.2 to 91.2 °F). Body temperature averages 35.9 °C (96.6 °F).

Size

On average, when fully-grown, bulls are about 2.75 m (9.0 ft) tall at the shoulder and 4.0 t (4.4 short tons) in weight, while cows are smaller at about 2.40 m (7.9 ft) at the shoulder and 2.7 t (3.0 short tons) in weight. Sexual dimorphism in body size is relatively less pronounced in Asian elephants than in African bush elephants; with bulls averaging 15% and 23% taller in the former and latter respectively. Length of body and head including trunk is 5.5–6.5 m (18–21 ft) with the tail being 1.2–1.5 m (3.9–4.9 ft) long. The largest bull elephant ever recorded was shot by the Maharajah of Susang in the Garo Hills of Assam, India, in 1924, it weighed an estimated 7 t (7.7 short tons), stood 3.43 m (11.3 ft) tall at the shoulder and was 8.06 m (26.4 ft) long from head to tail. There are reports of larger individuals as tall as 3.7 m (12 ft).

Asian elephants inhabit grasslands, tropical evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests and dry thorn forests, in addition to cultivated and secondary forests and scrublands. Over this range of habitat types elephants occur from sea level to over 3,000 m (9,800 ft). In the eastern Himalaya in northeast India, they regularly move up above 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in summer at a few sites.

In China, the Asian elephant survives only in the prefectures of Xishuangbanna, Simao, and Lincang of southern Yunnan. The estimated population is around 300 individual (in 2020).

In Bangladesh, some isolated populations survive in the south-east Chittagong Hills.[10] A herd of 20–25 wild elephants was reported as being present in the Garo Hills of Mymensingh in the late-1990s, being detached from a big herd in the Peack hills of India and prevented from returning by fences put up in the meantime by the Indian border security force. The herd was estimated at about 60 individuals in 2014.

In Malaysia's northern Johor and Terengganu National Park, two Asian elephants were tracked using satellite tracking technology. They spent most of their time in secondary or "logged-over forest" and travelled 75% of their time in an area less than 1.5 km (0.93 mi) away from a water source.

Asian elephants are crepuscular. They are classified as megaherbivores and consume up to 150 kg (330 lb) of plant matter per day. They are generalist feeders, and are both grazers and browsers. They are known to feed on at least 112 different plant species, most commonly of the order Malvales, as well as the legume, palm, sedge and true grass families. They browse more in the dry season with bark constituting a major part of their diet in the cool part of that season. They drink at least once a day and are never far from a permanent source of fresh water.They need 80–200 litres of water a day and use even more for bathing. At times, they scrape the soil for clay or minerals.

Cows and calves move about together as groups, while bulls disperse from their mothers upon reaching adolescence. Bulls are solitary or form temporary "bachelor groups". Cow-calf units generally tend to be small, typically consisting of three adults (most likely related females) and their offspring. Larger groups of as many as 15 adult females have also been recorded. Seasonal aggregations of 17 individuals including calves and young adults have been observed in Sri Lanka's Uda Walawe National Park. Until recently, Asian elephants, like African elephants, were thought to be under the leadership of older adult females, or matriarchs. It is now recognized that cows form extensive and very fluid social networks, with varying degrees of associations between individuals. Social ties generally tend to be weaker than in African elephants.

Unlike African elephants, which rarely use their forefeet for anything other than digging or scraping soil, Asian elephants are more agile at using their feet in conjunction with the trunk for manipulating objects. They can sometimes be known for their violent behavior.

Asian elephants are recorded to make three basic sounds: growls, squeaks and snorts. Growls in their basic form are used for short distance communication. During mild arousal, growls resonate in the trunk and become rumbles while for long-distance communication, they escalate into roars. Low-frequency growls are infrasonic and made in many contexts. Squeaks come in two forms: chirpings and trumpets. Chirping consists of multiple short squeaks and signals conflict and nervousness. Trumpets are lengthened squeaks with increased loudness and are produced during extreme arousal. Snorts signal changes in activity and increase in loudness during mild or strong arousal. During the latter case, when an elephant bounces the tip of the trunk, it creates booms which serve as threat displays: 142 Elephants can distinguish low-amplitude sounds.

Rarely, tigers have been recorded attacking and killing calves, especially if the calves become separated from their mothers, stranded from their herd, or orphaned. Adults are largely invulnerable to natural predation. There is a singular anecdotal case of a mother Asian elephant allegedly being killed alongside her calf; however, this account is contestable. In 2011 and 2014, two instances were recorded of tigers successfully killing adult elephants; one by a single tiger in Jim Corbett National Park on a 20-year-old young adult elephant cow, and another on a 28-year-old sick adult bull in Kaziranga National Park further east, which was taken down and eaten by several tigers hunting cooperatively. Elephants appear to distinguish between the growls of larger predators like tigers and smaller predators like leopards; they react to leopards less fearfully and more aggressively.

Reproduction in Asian elephants can be attributed to the production and perception of signaling compounds called pheromones. These signals are transmitted through various bodily fluids. They are commonly released in urine but in males they are also found in special secretions from the temporal glands. Once integrated and perceived, these signals provide the receiver with information about the reproductive status of the sender. If both parties are ready to breed, reproductive ritualic behavior occurs and the process of sexual reproduction proceeds.

Bulls will fight one another to get access to oestrus cows. Strong fights over access to females are extremely rare. Bulls reach sexual maturity around the age of 12–15. Between the ages of 10 and 20 years, bulls undergo an annual phenomenon known as "musth". This is a period where the testosterone level is up to 100 times greater than non-musth periods, and they become aggressive. Secretions containing pheromones occur during this period, from the paired temporal glands located on the head between the lateral edge of the eye and the base of the ear. The aggressive behaviors observed during musth can be attributed to varying amounts of frontalin (1,5-dimethyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane) throughout the maturation process of bulls. Frontalin is a pheromone that was first isolated in bark beetles but can also be produced in the bulls of both Asian and African Elephants. The compound can be excreted through urine as well as through the temporal glands of the bull, allowing signaling to occur. During musth, increased concentrations of frontalin in the bull's urine communicate the reproductive status of the bull to female elephants.

Similar to other mammals, hormone secretion in female elephants is regulated by an estrous cycle. This cycle is regulated by surges in Luteinizing Hormone that are observed 3 weeks from each other. This type of estrous cycle has also been observed in African Elephants but is not known to affect other mammals. The first surge in Luteinizing Hormone is not followed by the release of an egg from the ovaries. However, some female elephants still exhibit the expected mating protocols during this surge. Female elephants give ovulatory cues by utilizing sex pheromones. A principal component thereof, (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate, has also been found to be a sex pheromone in numerous species of insects. In both insects and elephants, this chemical compound is used as an attractant to assist the mating process. In elephants, the chemical is secreted through urination and this aids in the attraction of bulls to mate. Once detected, the chemical stimulates the vomeronasal organ of the bull, thus providing information on the maturity of the female.

Reproductive signaling exchange between male and female elephants are transmitted through olfactory cues in bodily fluids. In males, the increase in frontalin during musth heightens their sensitivity to the (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate produced by female elephants. Once perceived by receptors in the trunk, a sequence of ritualistic behaviors follow. The responses in males vary based on both the stage of development and the temperament of the elephant. This process of receiving and processing signals through the trunk is referred to as flehmen. The difference in body movements give cues to gauge if the male is interested in breeding with the female that produced the secretion. A bull that is ready to breed will move closer to the urine and in some cases an erection response is elicited. A bull that is not ready to breed will be timid and try to dissociate themselves from the signal.

In addition to reproductive communication, chemosensory signaling is used to facilitate same-sex interactions. When less developed males detect pheromones from a male in musth, they often retreat to avoid coming in contact with aggressive behaviors. Female elephants have also been seen to communicate with each other through pheromone in urine. The purpose of this type of intersex communication is still being investigated. However, there are clear differences in signaling strength and receiver response throughout different stages of the estrous cycle.

The gestation period is 18–22 months, and the cow gives birth to one calf, only occasionally twins. The calf is fully developed by the 19th month, but stays in the womb to grow so that it can reach its mother to feed. At birth, the calf weighs about 100 kg (220 lb), and is suckled for up to three years. Once a female gives birth, she usually does not breed again until the first calf is weaned, resulting in a four to five-year birth interval. During this period, mother to calf communication primarily takes place through temporal means. However, male calves have been known to develop sex pheromone-producing organs at a young age. Early maturity of the vomeronasal organ allows immature elephants to produce and receive pheromones. It is unlikely that the integration of these pheromones will result in a flehmen response in a calf. Females stay on with the herd, but mature males are chased away.

Female Asian elephants sexually mature around the age of 10~15 and keep growing until 30, while males fully mature at more than the age of 25, and constantly grow throughout their life. Average elephant life expectancy is 60 years in the wild and 80 in captivity, although this has been exaggerated in the past. Generation length of the Asian elephant is 22 years.

Asian elephants have a very large and highly developed neocortex, a trait also shared by humans, apes and certain dolphin species. They have a greater volume of cerebral cortex available for cognitive processing than all other existing land animals.[citation needed] Results of studies indicate that Asian elephants have cognitive abilities for tool use and tool-making similar to great apes. They exhibit a wide variety of behaviours, including those associated with grief, learning, allomothering, mimicry, play, altruism, use of tools, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and language. Elephants reportedly head to safer ground during natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes, but data from two satellite-collared Sri Lankan elephants indicate this may be untrue.

Several students of elephant cognition and neuroanatomy are convinced that Asian elephants are highly intelligent and self-aware. Others contest this view.

Threats

The pre-eminent threats to the Asian elephant today are the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its habitat, which leads to increasing conflicts between humans and elephants. Asian elephants are poached for ivory and a variety of other products including meat and leather. The demand for elephant skin has risen due to it being an increasingly-common ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

Human–elephant conflict

In some parts of Asia, people and elephants have co-existed for thousands of years. In other areas, people and elephants come into conflict, resulting in violence, and ultimately, the displacement of elephants.

Destruction of forests through logging, encroachment, slash-and-burn, shifting cultivation, and monoculture tree plantations are major threats to the survival of elephants. Human–elephant conflicts occur when elephants raid crops of shifting cultivators in fields, which are scattered over a large area interspersed with forests. Depredation in human settlements is another major area of human–elephant conflict occurring in small forest pockets, encroachments into elephant habitat, and on elephant migration routes. However, studies in Sri Lanka indicate that traditional slash-and-burn agriculture may create optimal habitat for elephants by creating a mosaic of successional-stage vegetation. Populations inhabiting small habitat fragments are much more liable to come into conflict with humans.

Human-elephant conflict can be categorised into:

ultimate causes including growing human population, large-scale development projects and poor top-down governance;

proximate causes including habitat loss due to deforestation, disruption of elephant migratory routes, expansion of agriculture and illegal encroachment into protected areas.

Development such as border fencing along the India–Bangladesh border has become a major impediment to the free movement of elephants. In Assam, more than 1,150 humans and 370 elephants died as a result of human-elephant conflict between 1980 and 2003. In India alone, over 400 people are killed by elephants every year, and 0.8 to 1 million hectares are damaged, affecting at least 500,000 families across the country. Moreover, elephants are known to destroy crops worth up to US$2–3 million annually. This has major impacts on the welfare and livelihoods of local communities, as well as the future conservation of this species. In countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the Asian elephant is one of the most feared wild animals, even though they are less deadly than other local animals such as venomous snakes (which were estimated to claim more than 30 times more lives in Sri Lanka than elephants). As a whole, Asian elephants display highly sophisticated and sometimes unpredictable behaviour. Most untamed elephants try to avoid humans, but if they are caught off guard by any perceived physical threat, including humans, they will likely charge. This is especially true of males in musth and of females with young. Gunfire and other similar methods of deterring, which are known to be effective against many kinds of wild animals including tigers, may or may not work with elephants, and can even worsen the situation. Elephants that have been abused by humans in the past often become "rogue elephants", which regularly attack people with no provocation.

Poaching

For ivory

The demand for ivory during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in East Asia, led to rampant poaching and the serious decline of elephants in both Africa and Asia. In Thailand, the illegal trade in live elephants and ivory still flourishes. Although the amount of ivory being openly sold has decreased substantially since 2001, Thailand still has one of the largest and most active black markets for ivory seen anywhere in the world. Tusks from Thai-poached elephants also enter the market; between 1992 and 1997 at least 24 male elephants were killed for their tusks.

Up to the early 1990s, Vietnamese ivory craftsmen used exclusively Asian elephant ivory from Vietnam and neighbouring Lao and Cambodia. Before 1990, there were few tourists and the low demand for worked ivory could be supplied by domestic elephants. Economic liberalisation and an increase in tourism raised both local and visitors' demands for worked ivory, which resulted in heavy poaching.

For skin

The skin of the Asian elephant is used as an ingredient in Chinese medicine as well as in the manufacture of ornamental beads. The practice has been aided by China's State Forestry Administration (SFA), which has issued licences for the manufacture and sale of pharmaceutical products containing elephant skin, thereby making trading legal. In 2010, four skinned elephants were found in a forest in Myanmar; 26 elephants were killed by poachers in 2013 and 61 in 2016. According to the NGO Elephant Family, Myanmar is the main source of elephant skin, where a poaching crisis has developed rapidly since 2010.

Handling methods

Young elephants are captured and illegally imported to Thailand from Myanmar for use in the tourism industry; calves are used mainly in amusement parks and are trained to perform various stunts for tourists.

The calves are often subjected to a 'breaking in' process, which may involve being tied up, confined, starved, beaten and tortured; as a result, two-thirds may perish. Handlers use a technique known as the training crush, in which "handlers use sleep-deprivation, hunger, and thirst to "break" the elephants' spirit and make them submissive to their owners"; moreover, handlers drive nails into the elephants' ears and feet.

Disease

The Asian elephant is listed on CITES Appendix I. It is a quintessential flagship species, deployed to catalyze a range of conservation goals, including habitat conservation at landscape scales, generating public awareness on conservation issues, and mobilisation as a popular cultural icon both in India and the West. A key aspect of Asian elephant conservation is connectivity, and preserving the preferred movement routes of elephants through areas of high vegetation cover and with "low human population density".

The World Elephant Day has been celebrated on 12 August since 2012. Events are organized to divulge information and to engage people about the problems that the Asian elephant is facing. August has been established as the Asian Elephant Awareness Month by zoos and conservation partners in the United States.

In China, Asian elephants are under first-level protection. Yunnan province has 11 national and regional nature reserves. In total, the covered protected area in China is about 510,000 km2 (200,000 sq mi). In 2020, the population of Asian elephants in Yunnan was estimated at around 300 individuals. As conflicts between humans and wild elephants have emerged around protected areas in the last years, the prefecture of Xishuangbanna built food bases and planted bananas and bamboo to create a better habitat.

In Thailand, Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary and Tham Than Lot National Park are protected areas hosting around 250–300 elephants, according to figures from 2013. In recent years the National Park has faced issues due to encroachment and over-exploitation.

In India, the National Board of Wildlife did a recommendation, allowing coal mining in the Dehing Patkai elephant reserve in April 2020. The decision raised concerns between students and environmental activists who launched an online campaign to stop the project.

In captivity

About half of the global zoo elephant population is kept in European zoos, where they have about half the median life span of conspecifics in protected populations in range countries. This discrepancy is clearest in Asian elephants: infant mortality is twice that seen in Burmese timber camps, and adult survivorship in zoos has not improved significantly in recent years. One risk factor for Asian zoo elephants is being moved between institutions, with early removal from the mother tending to have additional adverse effects. Another risk factor is being born into a zoo rather than being imported from the wild, with poor adult survivorship in zoo-born Asians apparently being conferred prenatally or in early infancy. Likely causes for compromised survivorship is stress and/or obesity. Foot problems are commonly observed in captive elephants. These are related to lack of exercise, long hours standing on hard substrates, and contamination resulting from standing in their dung. Many of these problems are treatable. However, mistreatment may lead to serious disability or death.

Demographic analysis of captive Asian elephants in North America indicates that the population is not self-sustaining. First year mortality is nearly 30 per cent, and fecundity is extremely low throughout the prime reproductive years. Data from North American and European regional studbooks from 1962 to 2006 were analysed for deviations in the birth and juvenile death sex ratios. Of 349 captive calves born, 142 died prematurely. They died within one month of birth, major causes being stillbirth and infanticide by either the calf's mother or by one of the exhibition mates. The sex ratio of stillbirths in Europe was found to have a tendency for excess of males.

In culture

Bones of Asian elephants excavated at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley indicate that they were tamed in the Indus Valley civilization and used for work. Decorated elephants are also depicted on seals and were modelled in clay.

The Asian elephant became a siege engine, a mount in war, a status symbol, a beast of burden, and an elevated platform for hunting during historical times in South Asia.

Asian elephants have been captured from the wild and tamed for use by humans. Their ability to work under instruction makes them particularly useful for carrying heavy objects. They have been used particularly for timber-carrying in jungle areas. Other than their work use, they have been used in war, in ceremonies, and for carriage. It is reported that war elephants are still in use by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to take control of Kachin State in northern Myanmar from Myanmar's military. The KIA use about four dozen elephants to carry supplies.

The Asian elephant plays an important part in the culture of the subcontinent and beyond, being featured prominently in the Panchatantra fables and the Buddhist Jataka tales. They play a major role in Hinduism: the god Ganesha's head is that of an elephant, and the "blessings" of a temple elephant are highly valued. Elephants are frequently used in processions where the animals are adorned with festive outfits.

The Asian elephant is depicted in several Indian manuscripts and treatises. Notable amongst these is the Matanga Lila (elephant sport) of Nilakantha. The manuscript Hastividyarnava is from Assam in northeast India.

In the Burmese, Thai and Sinhalese animal and planetary zodiac, the Asian elephant, both tusked and tuskless, are the fourth and fifth animal zodiacs of the Burmese, the fourth animal zodiac of the Thai, and the second animal zodiac of the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka. Similarly, the elephant is the twelfth animal zodiac in the Dai animal zodiac of the Dai people in southern China.

Dream Factory from the collective unconscious meld with cultural and experiential knowledge (present in the personal unconscious) to create the content of our dreams, and juxtapose this with modern neuroscience. by Hughes Songe

The distinction between fantasy and reality is basic to human cognition, reflecting a fundamental ontological divide between the non-real and the real. Children can imagine better future, caring a lot of hope.

Hope is the thing . . . "Facing Forward" by Betty Wilkins

32 117

The Sketchbook Project Moleskine . . .

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune--without the words,

And never stops at all . . ."

~Emily Dickinson

I knew this book would contain flocks of birds, as I love them dearly; and I knew I would work my favorite Emily Dickinson poem into the book at some point. This bird was sketched last week, using water soluble graphite.

This week I have been at the hospital every possible moment . . . my dear sweet Mom fell on Monday, fracturing her clavicle and pelvis. They've assured me that these broken bones, both "non-displacement fractures," will heal in six weeks' time. There was a simultaneous, serious "blow" to her memory and cognition. I pray and hope for that to make a recovery too. So now seems a "right" time for Ms. Dickinson's words.

Cow - Heifers (Bos Taurus) by PHOTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

Cattle (Bos taurus) are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus Bos. Mature female cattle are referred to as cows and mature male cattle are referred to as bulls. Colloquially, young female cattle (heifers), young male cattle (bullocks), and castrated male cattle (steers) are also referred to as "cows".

Cattle are commonly raised as livestock for meat (beef or veal, see beef cattle), for milk and dairy products (see dairy cattle), and for hides, which are used to make leather. They are used as riding animals and draft animals (oxen or bullocks, which pull carts, plows and other implements). Another product of cattle is their dung, which can be used to create manure or fuel. In some regions, such as parts of India, cattle is considered as a sacred animal. Cattle, mostly small breeds such as the Miniature Zebu, are also kept as pets.

Different types of cattle are common to different geographic areas. Taurine cattle are found primarily in Europe and temperate areas of Asia, the Americas, and Australia. Zebus (also called indicine cattle) are found primarily in India and tropical areas of Asia, America, and Australia. Sanga cattle are found primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. These types (which are sometimes classified as separate species or subspecies) are further divided into over 1,000 recognized breeds.

Around 10,500 years ago, taurine cattle were domesticated from as few as 80 wild aurochs progenitors in central Anatolia, the Levant and Western Iran. A separate domestication event occurred in the Indian subcontinent, which gave rise to zebu. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there are approximately 1.5 billion cattle in the world as of 2018. Cattle are the main source of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, and are responsible for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009, cattle became one of the first livestock animals to have a fully mapped genome.

Taxonomy

See also: Bos and Bovinae

Cattle were originally identified as three separate species: Bos taurus, the European or "taurine" cattle (including similar types from Africa and Asia); Bos indicus, the Indicine or "zebu"; and the extinct Bos primigenius, the aurochs. The aurochs is ancestral to both zebu and taurine cattle. They were later reclassified as one species, Bos taurus, with the aurochs (B. t. primigenius), zebu (B. t. indicus), and taurine (B. t. taurus) cattle as subspecies. However, this taxonomy is contentious and some sources prefer the separate species classification, such as the American Society of Mammalogists' Mammal Diversity Database.

Complicating the matter is the ability of cattle to interbreed with other closely related species. Hybrid individuals and even breeds exist, not only between taurine cattle and zebu (such as the sanga cattle (Bos taurus africanus x Bos indicus), but also between one or both of these and some other members of the genus Bos – yaks (the dzo or yattle[10]), banteng, and gaur. Hybrids such as the beefalo breed can even occur between taurine cattle and either species of bison, leading some authors to consider them part of the genus Bos, as well. The hybrid origin of some types may not be obvious – for example, genetic testing of the Dwarf Lulu breed, the only taurine-type cattle in Nepal, found them to be a mix of taurine cattle, zebu, and yak. However, cattle cannot be successfully hybridized with more distantly related bovines such as water buffalo or African buffalo.

The aurochs originally ranged throughout Europe, North Africa, and much of Asia. In historical times, its range became restricted to Europe, and the last known individual died in Mazovia, Poland, in about 1627. Breeders have attempted to recreate cattle of similar appearance to aurochs by crossing traditional types of domesticated cattle, creating the Heck cattle breed.

A group of taurine-type cattles exist in Africa. It is hotly debated whether they represent an independent domestication event or were the result of crossing taurines domesticated elsewhere with local aurochs, but it's clear that they are genetically quite distinct; some authors choose to name them as a separate subspecies, Bos taurus africanus. The only pure African taurine breeds remaining are the N'Dama, Kuri and some varieties of the West African Shorthorn.

Etymology

Cattle did not originate as the term for bovine animals. It was borrowed from Anglo-Norman catel, itself from medieval Latin capitale 'principal sum of money, capital', itself derived in turn from Latin caput 'head'. Cattle originally meant movable personal property, especially livestock of any kind, as opposed to real property (the land, which also included wild or small free-roaming animals such as chickens—they were sold as part of the land). The word is a variant of chattel (a unit of personal property) and closely related to capital in the economic sense. The term replaced earlier Old English feoh 'cattle, property', which survives today as fee (cf. German: Vieh, Dutch: vee, Gothic: faihu).

The word cow came via Anglo-Saxon cū (plural cȳ), from Common Indo-European gʷōus (genitive gʷowés) 'a bovine animal', cf. Persian: gâv, Sanskrit: go-, Welsh: buwch. The plural cȳ became ki or kie in Middle English, and an additional plural ending was often added, giving kine, kien, but also kies, kuin and others. This is the origin of the now archaic English plural, kine. The Scots language singular is coo or cou, and the plural is kye.

In older English sources such as the King James Version of the Bible, cattle refers to livestock, as opposed to deer which refers to wildlife. Wild cattle may refer to feral cattle or to undomesticated species of the genus Bos. Today, when used without any other qualifier, the modern meaning of cattle is usually restricted to domesticated bovines.

Terminology

In general, the same words are used in different parts of the world, but with minor differences in the definitions. The terminology described here contrasts the differences in definition between the United Kingdom and other British-influenced parts of the world such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United States.

An "intact" (i.e., not castrated) adult male is called a bull.

A father bull is called a sire with reference to his offspring.

An adult female that has had a calf (or two, depending on regional usage) is a cow. Steers and heifers are also colloquially referred to as cows.

A mother cow is called a dam with reference to her offspring. Often, mentions of dams imply cows kept in the herd for repeated breeding (as opposed to heifers or cows sold off sooner).

A young female before she has had a calf of her own and who is under three years of age is called a heifer. A young female that has had only one calf is occasionally called a first-calf heifer. Heiferettes are either first-calf heifers or a subset thereof without potential to become lineage dams, depending on whose definition is operative.

Young cattle (regardless of sex) are called calves until they are weaned, then weaners until they are a year old in some areas; in other areas, particularly with male beef cattle, they may be known as feeder calves or feeders. After that, they are referred to as yearlings or stirks if between one and two years of age.

Feeder cattle or store cattle are young cattle soon to be either backgrounded or sent to fattening, most especially those intended to be sold to someone else for finishing. In some regions, a distinction between stockers and feeders (by those names) is the distinction of backgrounding versus immediate sale to a finisher.

A castrated male is called a steer in the United States; older steers are often called bullocks in other parts of the world, but in North America this term refers to a young bull. Piker bullocks are micky bulls (uncastrated young male bulls) that were caught, castrated and then later lost. In Australia, the term Japanese ox is used for grain-fed steers in the weight range of 500 to 650 kg that are destined for the Japanese meat trade. In North America, draft cattle under four years old are called working steers. Improper or late castration on a bull results in it becoming a coarse steer known as a stag in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In some countries, an incompletely castrated male is known also as a rig.

A castrated male (occasionally a female or in some areas a bull) kept for draft or riding purposes is called an ox (plural oxen); ox may also be used to refer to some carcass products from any adult cattle, such as ox-hide, ox-blood, oxtail, or ox-liver.

A springer is a cow or heifer close to calving.

In all cattle species, a female twin of a bull usually becomes an infertile partial intersex, and is called a freemartin.

A wild, young, unmarked bull is known as a micky in Australia.

An unbranded bovine of either sex is called a maverick in the US and Canada.

Neat (horned oxen, from which neatsfoot oil is derived), beef (young ox) and beefing (young animal fit for slaughtering) are obsolete terms, although poll, pollard and polled cattle are still terms in use for naturally hornless animals, or in some areas also for those that have been disbudded or dehorned.

Cattle raised for human consumption are called beef cattle. Within the American beef cattle industry, the older term beef (plural beeves) is still used to refer to an animal of either sex. Some Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and British people use the term beast.

Cattle bred specifically for milk production are called milking or dairy cattle; a cow kept to provide milk for one family may be called a house cow or milker. A fresh cow is a dairy term for a cow or first-calf heifer who has recently given birth, or "freshened."

The adjective applying to cattle in general is usually bovine. The terms bull, cow and calf are also used by extension to denote the sex or age of other large animals, including whales, hippopotamuses, camels, elk and elephants.

Various other terms for cattle or types thereof are historical; these include nowt, nolt, mart, and others.

Singular terminology issue

"Cattle" can only be used in the plural and not in the singular: it is a plurale tantum. Thus one may refer to "three cattle" or "some cattle", but not "one cattle". "One head of cattle" is a valid though periphrastic way to refer to one animal of indeterminate or unknown age and sex; otherwise no universally used single-word singular form of cattle exists in modern English, other than the sex- and age-specific terms such as cow, bull, steer and heifer. Historically, "ox" was not a sex-specific term for adult cattle, but generally this is now used only for working cattle, especially adult castrated males. The term is also incorporated into the names of other species, such as the musk ox and "grunting ox" (yak), and is used in some areas to describe certain cattle products such as ox-hide and oxtail.

Cow is in general use as a singular for the collective cattle. The word cow is easy to use when a singular is needed and the sex is unknown or irrelevant—when "there is a cow in the road", for example. Further, any herd of fully mature cattle in or near a pasture is statistically likely to consist mostly of cows, so the term is probably accurate even in the restrictive sense. Other than the few bulls needed for breeding, the vast majority of male cattle are castrated as calves and are used as oxen or slaughtered for meat before the age of three years. Thus, in a pastured herd, any calves or herd bulls usually are clearly distinguishable from the cows due to distinctively different sizes and clear anatomical differences. Merriam-Webster and Oxford Living Dictionaries recognize the sex-nonspecific use of cow as an alternate definition, whereas Collins and the OED do not.

Colloquially, more general nonspecific terms may denote cattle when a singular form is needed. Head of cattle is usually used only after a numeral. Australian, New Zealand and British farmers use the term beast or cattle beast. Bovine is also used in Britain. The term critter is common in the western United States and Canada, particularly when referring to young cattle. In some areas of the American South (particularly the Appalachian region), where both dairy and beef cattle are present, an individual animal was once called a "beef critter", though that term is becoming archaic.

Other terminology

Cattle raised for human consumption are called beef cattle. Within the beef cattle industry in parts of the United States, the term beef (plural beeves) is still used in its archaic sense to refer to an animal of either sex. Cows of certain breeds that are kept for the milk they give are called dairy cows or milking cows (formerly milch cows). Most young male offspring of dairy cows are sold for veal, and may be referred to as veal calves.

The term dogies is used to describe orphaned calves in the context of ranch work in the American West, as in "Keep them dogies moving". In some places, a cow kept to provide milk for one family is called a "house cow". Other obsolete terms for cattle include "neat" (this use survives in "neatsfoot oil", extracted from the feet and legs of cattle), and "beefing" (young animal fit for slaughter).

An onomatopoeic term for one of the most common sounds made by cattle is moo (also called lowing). There are a number of other sounds made by cattle, including calves bawling, and bulls bellowing. Bawling is most common for cows after weaning of a calf. The bullroarer makes a sound similar to a bull's territorial call.

Characteristics

Anatomy

Cattle are large quadrupedal ungulate mammals with cloven hooves. Most breeds have horns, which can be as large as the Texas Longhorn or small like a scur. Careful genetic selection has allowed polled (hornless) cattle to become widespread.

Digestive system

Further information: Digestive system of ruminants

Cattle are ruminants, meaning their digestive system is highly specialized to allow the consumption of difficult to digest plants as food. Cattle have one stomach with four compartments, the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum, with the rumen being the largest compartment. The reticulum, the smallest compartment, is known as the "honeycomb". The omasum's main function is to absorb water and nutrients from the digestible feed. The omasum is known as the "many plies". The abomasum is like the human stomach; this is why it is known as the "true stomach".

Cattle are known for regurgitating and re-chewing their food, known as cud chewing, like most ruminants. While the animal is feeding, the food is swallowed without being chewed and goes into the rumen for storage until the animal can find a quiet place to continue the digestion process. The food is regurgitated, a mouthful at a time, back up to the mouth, where the food, now called the cud, is chewed by the molars, grinding down the coarse vegetation to small particles. The cud is then swallowed again and further digested by specialized microorganisms in the rumen. These microbes are primarily responsible for decomposing cellulose and other carbohydrates into volatile fatty acids cattle use as their primary metabolic fuel. The microbes inside the rumen also synthesize amino acids from non-protein nitrogenous sources, such as urea and ammonia. As these microbes reproduce in the rumen, older generations die and their cells continue on through the digestive tract. These cells are then partially digested in the small intestines, allowing cattle to gain a high-quality protein source. These features allow cattle to thrive on grasses and other tough vegetation.

Reproduction

Further information: Bull § Reproductive anatomy

On farms it is very common to use artificial insemination (AI), a medically assisted reproduction technique consisting of the artificial deposition of semen in the female's genital tract. It is used in cases where the spermatozoa can not reach the fallopian tubes or by choice of the owner of the animal. It consists of transferring, to the uterine cavity, spermatozoa previously collected and processed, with the selection of morphologically more normal and mobile spermatozoa. Synchronization of cattle ovulation to benefit dairy farming may be accomplished via induced ovulation techniques.

Bulls become fertile at about seven months of age. Their fertility is closely related to the size of their testicles, and one simple test of fertility is to measure the circumference of the scrotum: a young bull is likely to be fertile once this reaches 28 centimetres (11 in); that of a fully adult bull may be over 40 centimetres (16 in).

A bull has a fibro-elastic penis. Given the small amount of erectile tissue, there is little enlargement after erection. The penis is quite rigid when non-erect, and becomes even more rigid during erection. Protrusion is not affected much by erection, but more by relaxation of the retractor penis muscle and straightening of the sigmoid flexure.

The gestation period for a cow is about nine months long. The secondary sex ratio – the ratio of male to female offspring at birth – is approximately 52:48, although it may be influenced by environmental and other factors. A cow's udder contains two pairs of mammary glands, (commonly referred to as teats) creating four "quarters". The front ones are referred to as fore quarters and the rear ones rear quarters.

Weight and lifespan

The weight of adult cattle varies, depending on the breed. Smaller kinds, such as Dexter and Jersey adults, range between 300 and 500 kg (600 and 1,000 lb). Large Continental breeds, such as Charolais, Marchigiana, Belgian Blue and Chianina adults range from 640 to 1,100 kg (1,400 to 2,500 lb). British breeds, such as Hereford, Angus, and Shorthorn, mature at 500 to 900 kg (1,000 to 2,000 lb), occasionally higher, particularly with Angus and Hereford. Bulls are larger than cows of the same breed by up to a few hundred kilograms. British Hereford cows weigh 600–800 kg (1,300–1,800 lb); the bulls weigh 1,000–1,200 kg (2,200–2,600 lb). Chianina bulls can weigh up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb); British bulls, such as Angus and Hereford, can weigh as little as 900 kg (2,000 lb) and as much as 1,400 kg (3,000 lb).

The world record for the heaviest bull was 1,740 kg (3,840 lb), a Chianina named Donetto, when he was exhibited at the Arezzo show in 1955. The heaviest steer was eight-year-old 'Old Ben', a Shorthorn/Hereford cross weighing in at 2,140 kg (4,720 lb) in 1910.

In the United States, the average weight of beef cattle has steadily increased, especially since the 1970s, requiring the building of new slaughterhouses able to handle larger carcasses. New packing plants in the 1980s stimulated a large increase in cattle weights. Before 1790 beef cattle averaged only 160 kg (350 lb) net; and thereafter weights climbed steadily.

A newborn calf's size can vary among breeds, but a typical calf weighs 25 to 45 kg (55 to 99 lb). Adult size and weight vary significantly among breeds and sex. Steers are generally slaughtered before reaching 750 kg (1,650 lb). Breeding stock may be allowed a longer lifespan, occasionally living as long as 25 years. The oldest recorded cow, Big Bertha, died at the age of 48 in 1993.

Cognition

In laboratory studies, young cattle are able to memorize the locations of several food sources and retain this memory for at least 8 hours, although this declined after 12 hours. Fifteen-month-old heifers learn more quickly than adult cows which have had either one or two calvings, but their longer-term memory is less stable. Mature cattle perform well in spatial learning tasks and have a good long-term memory in these tests. Cattle tested in a radial arm maze are able to remember the locations of high-quality food for at least 30 days. Although they initially learn to avoid low-quality food, this memory diminishes over the same duration. Under less artificial testing conditions, young cattle showed they were able to remember the location of feed for at least 48 days. Cattle can make an association between a visual stimulus and food within 1 day—memory of this association can be retained for 1 year, despite a slight decay.

Calves are capable of discrimination learning and adult cattle compare favourably with small mammals in their learning ability in the closed-field test.

They are also able to discriminate between familiar individuals, and among humans. Cattle can tell the difference between familiar and unfamiliar animals of the same species (conspecifics). Studies show they behave less aggressively toward familiar individuals when they are forming a new group. Calves can also discriminate between humans based on previous experience, as shown by approaching those who handled them positively and avoiding those who handled them aversively. Although cattle can discriminate between humans by their faces alone, they also use other cues such as the color of clothes when these are available.

In audio play-back studies, calves prefer their own mother's vocalizations compared to the vocalizations of an unfamiliar mother.

In laboratory studies using images, cattle can discriminate between images of the heads of cattle and other animal species. They are also able to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics. Furthermore, they are able to categorize images as familiar and unfamiliar individuals.

When mixed with other individuals, cloned calves from the same donor form subgroups, indicating that kin discrimination occurs and may be a basis of grouping behaviour. It has also been shown using images of cattle that both artificially inseminated and cloned calves have similar cognitive capacities of kin and non-kin discrimination.

Cattle can recognize familiar individuals. Visual individual recognition is a more complex mental process than visual discrimination. It requires the recollection of the learned idiosyncratic identity of an individual that has been previously encountered and the formation of a mental representation. By using two-dimensional images of the heads of one cow (face, profiles, 3⁄4 views), all the tested heifers showed individual recognition of familiar and unfamiliar individuals from their own breed. Furthermore, almost all the heifers recognized unknown individuals from different breeds, although this was achieved with greater difficulty. Individual recognition was most difficult when the visual features of the breed being tested were quite different from the breed in the image, for example, the breed being tested had no spots whereas the image was of a spotted breed.

Cattle use visual/brain lateralisation in their visual scanning of novel and familiar stimuli. Domestic cattle prefer to view novel stimuli with the left eye, i.e. using the right brain hemisphere (similar to horses, Australian magpies, chicks, toads and fish) but use the right eye, i.e. using the left hemisphere, for viewing familiar stimuli.

Senses

Cattle use all of the five widely recognized sensory modalities. These can assist in some complex behavioural patterns, for example, in grazing behaviour. Cattle eat mixed diets, but when given the opportunity, show a partial preference of approximately 70% clover and 30% grass. This preference has a diurnal pattern, with a stronger preference for clover in the morning, and the proportion of grass increasing towards the evening.

Vision

Vision is the dominant sense in cattle and they obtain almost 50% of their information visually.

Cattle are a prey animal and to assist predator detection, their eyes are located on the sides of their head rather than the front. This gives them a wide field of view of 330° but limits binocular vision (and therefore stereopsis) to 30° to 50° compared to 140° in humans. This means they have a blind spot directly behind them. Cattle have good visual acuity, but compared to humans, their visual accommodation is poor.

Cattle have two kinds of color receptors in the cone cells of their retinas. This means that cattle are dichromatic, as are most other non-primate land mammals. There are two to three rods per cone in the fovea centralis but five to six near the optic papilla. Cattle can distinguish long wavelength colors (yellow, orange and red) much better than the shorter wavelengths (blue, grey and green). Calves are able to discriminate between long (red) and short (blue) or medium (green) wavelengths, but have limited ability to discriminate between the short and medium. They also approach handlers more quickly under red light. Whilst having good color sensitivity, it is not as good as humans or sheep.

A common misconception about cattle (particularly bulls) is that they are enraged by the color red (something provocative is often said to be "like a red flag to a bull"). This is a myth. In bullfighting, it is the movement of the red flag or cape that irritates the bull and incites it to charge.

Taste

Cattle have a well-developed sense of taste and can distinguish the four primary tastes (sweet, salty, bitter and sour). They possess around 20,000 taste buds. The strength of taste perception depends on the individual's current food requirements. They avoid bitter-tasting foods (potentially toxic) and have a marked preference for sweet (high calorific value) and salty foods (electrolyte balance). Their sensitivity to sour-tasting foods helps them to maintain optimal ruminal pH.

Plants have low levels of sodium and cattle have developed the capacity of seeking salt by taste and smell. If cattle become depleted of sodium salts, they show increased locomotion directed to searching for these. To assist in their search, the olfactory and gustatory receptors able to detect minute amounts of sodium salts increase their sensitivity as biochemical disruption develops with sodium salt depletion.

Hearing

Cattle hearing ranges from 23 Hz to 35 kHz. Their frequency of best sensitivity is 8 kHz and they have a lowest threshold of −21 db (re 20 μN/m−2), which means their hearing is more acute than horses (lowest threshold of 7 db). Sound localization acuity thresholds are an average of 30°. This means that cattle are less able to localise sounds compared to goats (18°), dogs (8°) and humans (0.8°). Because cattle have a broad foveal fields of view covering almost the entire horizon, they may not need very accurate locus information from their auditory systems to direct their gaze to a sound source.

Vocalizations are an important mode of communication amongst cattle and can provide information on the age, sex, dominance status and reproductive status of the caller. Calves can recognize their mothers using vocalizations; vocal behaviour may play a role by indicating estrus and competitive display by bulls.

Olfaction and gustation

Cattle have a range of odoriferous glands over their body including interdigital, infraorbital, inguinal and sebaceous glands, indicating that olfaction probably plays a large role in their social life. Both the primary olfactory system using the olfactory bulbs, and the secondary olfactory system using the vomeronasal organ are used. This latter olfactory system is used in the flehmen response. There is evidence that when cattle are stressed, this can be recognised by other cattle and this is communicated by alarm substances in the urine. The odour of dog faeces induces behavioural changes prior to cattle feeding, whereas the odours of urine from either stressed or non-stressed conspecifics and blood have no effect.

In the laboratory, cattle can be trained to recognise conspecific individuals using olfaction only.

In general, cattle use their sense of smell to "expand" on information detected by other sensory modalities. However, in the case of social and reproductive behaviours, olfaction is a key source of information.

Touch

Cattle have tactile sensations detected mainly by mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors and nociceptors in the skin and muscles. These are used most frequently when cattle explore their environment.

Magnetoreception

There is conflicting evidence for magnetoreception in cattle. One study reported that resting and grazing cattle tend to align their body axes in the geomagnetic north–south direction. In a follow-up study, cattle exposed to various magnetic fields directly beneath or in the vicinity of power lines trending in various magnetic directions exhibited distinct patterns of alignment. However, in 2011, a group of Czech researchers reported their failed attempt to replicate the finding using Google Earth images.

Behavior

Under natural conditions, calves stay with their mother until weaning at 8 to 11 months. Heifer and bull calves are equally attached to their mothers in the first few months of life. Cattle are considered to be "hider" type animals, utilizing secluded areas more in the hours before calving and continued to use it more for the hour after calving. Cows that gave birth for the first time show a higher incidence of abnormal maternal behavior.

In one study, beef-calves reared on the range were observed to suckle an average of 5.0 times every 24 hours with an average total time of 46 min spent suckling. There was a diurnal rhythm in suckling activity with peaks between 05:00–07:00, 10:00–13:00 and 17:00–21:00.

Reproductive behavior

Semi-wild Highland cattle heifers first give birth at 2 or 3 years of age, and the timing of birth is synchronized with increases in natural food quality. Average calving interval is 391 days, and calving mortality within the first year of life is 5%.

Dominance and leadership

One study showed that over a 4-year period, dominance relationships within a herd of semi-wild highland cattle were very firm. There were few overt aggressive conflicts and the majority of disputes were settled by agonistic (non-aggressive, competitive) behaviors that involved no physical contact between opponents (e.g. threatening and spontaneous withdrawing). Such agonistic behavior reduces the risk of injury. Dominance status depended on age and sex, with older animals generally being dominant to young ones and males dominant to females. Young bulls gained superior dominance status over adult cows when they reached about 2 years of age.

As with many animal dominance hierarchies, dominance-associated aggressiveness does not correlate with rank position, but is closely related to rank distance between individuals.

Dominance is maintained in several ways. Cattle often engage in mock fights where they test each other's strength in a non-aggressive way. Licking is primarily performed by subordinates and received by dominant animals. Mounting is a playful behavior shown by calves of both sexes and by bulls and sometimes by cows in estrus, however, this is not a dominance related behavior as has been found in other species.

The horns of cattle are "honest signals" used in mate selection. Furthermore, horned cattle attempt to keep greater distances between themselves and have fewer physical interactions than hornless cattle. This leads to more stable social relationships.

In calves, the frequency of agonistic behavior decreases as space allowance increases, but this does not occur for changes in group size. However, in adult cattle, the number of agonistic encounters increases as the group size increases.

Grazing behavior

When grazing, cattle vary several aspects of their bite, i.e. tongue and jaw movements, depending on characteristics of the plant they are eating. Bite area decreases with the density of the plants but increases with their height. Bite area is determined by the sweep of the tongue; in one study observing 750-kilogram (1,650 lb) steers, bite area reached a maximum of approximately 170 cm2 (30 sq in). Bite depth increases with the height of the plants. By adjusting their behavior, cattle obtain heavier bites in swards that are tall and sparse compared with short, dense swards of equal mass/area. Cattle adjust other aspects of their grazing behavior in relation to the available food; foraging velocity decreases and intake rate increases in areas of abundant palatable forage.

Cattle avoid grazing areas contaminated by the faeces of other cattle more strongly than they avoid areas contaminated by sheep, but they do not avoid pasture contaminated by rabbit faeces.

Temperament and emotions

In cattle, temperament can affect production traits such as carcass and meat quality or milk yield as well as affecting the animal's overall health and reproduction. Cattle temperament is defined as "the consistent behavioral and physiological difference observed between individuals in response to a stressor or environmental challenge and is used to describe the relatively stable difference in the behavioral predisposition of an animal, which can be related to psychobiological mechanisms". Generally, cattle temperament is assumed to be multidimensional. Five underlying categories of temperament traits have been proposed:

shyness–boldness

exploration–avoidance

activity

aggressiveness

sociability

In a study on Holstein–Friesian heifers learning to press a panel to open a gate for access to a food reward, the researchers also recorded the heart rate and behavior of the heifers when moving along the race towards the food. When the heifers made clear improvements in learning, they had higher heart rates and tended to move more vigorously along the race. The researchers concluded this was an indication that cattle may react emotionally to their own learning improvement.

Negative emotional states are associated with a bias toward negative responses towards ambiguous cues in judgement tasks. After separation from their mothers, Holstein calves showed such a cognitive bias indicative of low mood. A similar study showed that after hot-iron disbudding (dehorning), calves had a similar negative bias indicating that post-operative pain following this routine procedure results in a negative change in emotional state.

In studies of visual discrimination, the position of the ears has been used as an indicator of emotional state. When cattle are stressed other cattle can tell by the chemicals released in their urine.

Cattle are very gregarious and even short-term isolation is considered to cause severe psychological stress. When Aubrac and Friesian heifers are isolated, they increase their vocalizations and experience increased heart rate and plasma cortisol concentrations. These physiological changes are greater in Aubracs. When visual contact is re-instated, vocalizations rapidly decline, regardless of the familiarity of the returning cattle, however, heart rate decreases are greater if the returning cattle are familiar to the previously isolated individual. Mirrors have been used to reduce stress in isolated cattle.

Sleep

Further information: Sleep in non-human animals and Cow tipping

The average sleep time of a domestic cow is about 4 hours a day. Cattle do have a stay apparatus, but do not sleep standing up; they lie down to sleep deeply. In spite of the urban legend, cows cannot be tipped over by people pushing on them.

Genetics

Further information: Bovine genome

On 24 April 2009, edition of the journal Science, a team of researchers led by the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Agriculture reported having mapped the bovine genome. The scientists found cattle have about 22,000 genes, and 80% of their genes are shared with humans, and they share about 1000 genes with dogs and rodents, but are not found in humans. Using this bovine "HapMap", researchers can track the differences between the breeds that affect the quality of meat and milk yields.

Behavioral traits of cattle can be as heritable as some production traits, and often, the two can be related. The heritability of fear varies markedly in cattle from low (0.1) to high (0.53); such high variation is also found in pigs and sheep, probably due to differences in the methods used. The heritability of temperament (response to isolation during handling) has been calculated as 0.36 and 0.46 for habituation to handling. Rangeland assessments show that the heritability of aggressiveness in cattle is around 0.36.

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been found for a range of production and behavioral characteristics for both dairy and beef cattle.

Domestication and husbandry

Cattle occupy a unique role in human history, having been domesticated since at least the early neolithic age.

Archaeozoological and genetic data indicate that cattle were first domesticated from wild aurochs (Bos primigenius) approximately 10,500 years ago. There were two major areas of domestication: one in the Near East (specifically central Anatolia, the Levant and Western Iran), giving rise to the taurine line, and a second in the area that is now Pakistan, resulting in the indicine line. Modern mitochondrial DNA variation indicates the taurine line may have arisen from as few as 80 aurochs tamed in the upper reaches of Mesopotamia near the villages of Çayönü Tepesi in what is now southeastern Turkey and Dja'de el-Mughara in what is now northern Syria.

Although European cattle are largely descended from the taurine lineage, gene flow from African cattle (partially of indicine origin) contributed substantial genomic components to both southern European cattle breeds and their New World descendants. A study on 134 breeds showed that modern taurine cattle originated from Africa, Asia, North and South America, Australia, and Europe. Some researchers have suggested that African taurine cattle are derived from a third independent domestication from North African aurochsen.

Usage as money

As early as 9000 BC both grain and cattle were used as money or as barter (the first grain remains found, considered to be evidence of pre-agricultural practice date to 17,000 BC). Some evidence also exists to suggest that other animals, such as camels and goats, may have been used as currency in some parts of the world. One of the advantages of using cattle as currency is that it allows the seller to set a fixed price. It even created the standard pricing. For example, two chickens were traded for one cow as cows were deemed to be more valuable than chickens.

Modern husbandry

Further information: Animal husbandry

Cattle are often raised by allowing herds to graze on the grasses of large tracts of rangeland. Raising cattle in this manner allows the use of land that might be unsuitable for growing crops. The most common interactions with cattle involve daily feeding, cleaning and milking. Many routine husbandry practices involve ear tagging, dehorning, loading, medical operations, artificial insemination, vaccinations and hoof care, as well as training for agricultural shows and preparations. Also, some cultural differences occur in working with cattle; the cattle husbandry of Fulani men rests on behavioural techniques, whereas in Europe, cattle are controlled primarily by physical means, such as fences. Breeders use cattle husbandry to reduce M. bovis infection susceptibility by selective breeding and maintaining herd health to avoid concurrent disease.

Cattle are farmed for beef, veal, dairy, and leather. They are less commonly used for conservation grazing, or to maintain grassland for wildlife, such as in Epping Forest, England. They are often used in some of the most wild places for livestock. Depending on the breed, cattle can survive on hill grazing, heaths, marshes, moors and semidesert. Modern cattle are more commercial than older breeds and, having become more specialized, are less versatile. For this reason, many smaller farmers still favor old breeds, such as the Jersey dairy breed. In Portugal, Spain, southern France and some Latin American countries, bulls are used in the activity of bullfighting; In many other countries bullfighting is illegal. Other activities such as bull riding are seen as part of a rodeo, especially in North America. Bull-leaping, a central ritual in Bronze Age Minoan culture, still exists in southwestern France. In modern times, cattle are also entered into agricultural competitions. These competitions can involve live cattle or cattle carcases in hoof and hook events.

In terms of food intake by humans, consumption of cattle is less efficient than of grain or vegetables with regard to land use, and hence cattle grazing consumes more area than such other agricultural production when raised on grains. Nonetheless, cattle and other forms of domesticated animals can sometimes help to use plant resources in areas not easily amenable to other forms of agriculture.

Feral cattle

Feral cattle are defined as being 'cattle that are not domesticated or cultivated'. Populations of feral cattle are known to come from and exist in: Australia, United States of America, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, France and many islands, including New Guinea, Hawaii (see Hawaiian wild cattle), Galapagos, Juan Fernández Islands, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), Tristan da Cunha and Île Amsterdam (see Amsterdam Island cattle), two islands of Kuchinoshima and Kazura Island next to Naru Island in Japan. Chillingham cattle is sometimes regarded as a feral breed. Aleutian wild cattles can be found on the Aleutian Islands. The "Kinmen cattle" which are predominantly found on Kinmen Island, Taiwan is mostly domesticated while smaller portion of the population is believed to live in the wild due to accidental releases.

Other notable examples include cattle in the vicinity of Hong Kong (in the Shing Mun Country Park, among Sai Kung District and Lantau Island and on Grass Island), and semi-feral animals in Yangmingshan, Taiwan.

Economy

The meat of adult cattle is known as beef, and that of calves is veal. Other animal parts are also used as food products, including blood, liver, kidney, heart and oxtail. Cattle also produce milk, and dairy cattle are specifically bred to produce the large quantities of milk processed and sold for human consumption. Cattle today are the basis of a multibillion-dollar industry worldwide. The international trade in beef for 2000 was over $30 billion and represented only 23% of world beef production. Approximately 300 million cattle, including dairy cattle, are slaughtered each year for food. The production of milk, which is also made into cheese, butter, yogurt, and other dairy products, is comparable in economic size to beef production, and provides an important part of the food supply for many of the world's people. Cattle hides, used for leather to make shoes, couches and clothing, are another widespread product. Cattle remain broadly used as draft animals in many developing countries, such as India. Cattle are also used in some sporting games, including rodeo and bullfighting.

Meat production

Cattle meat production (kt)

Country2008200920102011

Argentina3132337826302497

Australia2132212426302420

Brazil9024939591159030

China5841606062446182

Germany1199119012051170

Japan520517515500

US12163118911204611988

Source: Helgi Library, World Bank, FAOSTAT

About a quarter of the world's meat comes from cattle.

Dairy

Main articles: Dairy cattle, Dairy farming, and Dairy

Certain breeds of cattle, such as the Holstein-Friesian, are used to produce milk, which can be processed into dairy products such as milk, cheese or yogurt. Dairy cattle are usually kept on specialized dairy farms designed for milk production. Most cows are milked twice per day, with milk processed at a dairy, which may be onsite at the farm or the milk may be shipped to a dairy plant for eventual sale of a dairy product. Lactation is induced in heifers and spayed cows by a combination of physical and psychological stimulation, by drugs, or by a combination of those methods. For mother cows to continue producing milk, they give birth to one calf per year. If the calf is male, it generally is slaughtered at a young age to produce veal. They will continue to produce milk until three weeks before birth. Over the last fifty years, dairy farming has become more intensive to increase the yield of milk produced by each cow. The Holstein-Friesian is the breed of dairy cow most common in the UK, Europe and the United States. It has been bred selectively to produce the highest yields of milk of any cow. Around 22 litres per day is average in the UK.

Hides

Most cattle are not kept solely for hides, which are usually a by-product of beef production. Hides are most commonly used for leather, which can be made into a variety of products, including shoes. In 2012 India was the world's largest producer of cattle hides.

Oxen

Main article: Ox

Oxen (singular ox) are cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult, castrated males of larger breeds, although females and bulls are also used in some areas. Usually, an ox is over four years old due to the need for training and to allow it to grow to full size. Oxen are used for plowing, transport, hauling cargo, grain-grinding by trampling or by powering machines, irrigation by powering pumps, and wagon drawing. Oxen were commonly used to skid logs in forests, and sometimes still are, in low-impact, select-cut logging. Oxen are most often used in teams of two, paired, for light work such as carting, with additional pairs added when more power is required, sometimes up to a total of 20 or more. Oxen can be trained to respond to a teamster's signals. These signals are given by verbal commands or by noise (whip cracks). Verbal commands vary according to dialect and local tradition. Oxen can pull harder and longer than horses. Though not as fast as horses, they are less prone to injury because they are more sure-footed.

Many oxen are used worldwide, especially in developing countries. About 11.3 million draft oxen are used in sub-Saharan Africa. In India, the number of draft cattle in 1998 was estimated at 65.7 million head. About half the world's crop production is thought to depend on land preparation (such as plowing) made possible by animal traction.

Climate change and economics of cattle rearing

See also: Economic impacts of climate change

Climate change increases heat stress, and even mild heat stress can reduce the yield of cow milk. Some researchers suggest that the already recorded stagnation of dairy production in both China and West Africa can attributed to persistent increases in heat stress.: 747 In China, daily milk production per cow is already lower than the average by between 0.7 and 4 kg in July (the hottest month of the year), and by 2070, it may decline by up to 50% (or 7.2 kg) due to climate change. In male cattle, severe heat can affect both spermatogenesis and the stored spermatozoa, and it may take up to eight weeks for sperm to become viable again. In females, heat stress negatively affects conception rates as it impairs corpus luteum and thus ovarian function and oocyte quality. Even after conception, a pregnancy is less likely to be carried to term due to reduced endometrial function and uterine blood flow, leading to increased embryonic mortality and early fetal loss. Calves born to heat-stressed cows typically have a below-average weight, and their weight and height remains below average even by the time they reach their first year, due to permanent changes in their metabolism. Heat stress can also be outright lethal, which is already seen during some heatwaves: in July 1995, over 4000 cattle perished in the mid-central United States heatwave, and in 1999, over 5000 cattle died during a heatwave in northeastern Nebraska.

By 2017, it was already reported that farmers in Nepal kept fewer cattle due to the losses imposed by a longer hot season.: 747 As of 2022, it has been suggested that every additional millimeter of annual precipitation increases beef production by 2.1% in the tropical countries and reduces it by 1.9% in temperate ones, yet the effects of warming are much larger. Under SSP3-7.0, a scenario of significant warming and very low adaptation, every additional 1 °C (1.8 °F) would decrease global beef production by 9.7%, mainly because of its impact on tropical and poor countries. In the countries which can afford adaptation measures, production would fall by around 4%, but by 27% in those which can't. Only a few exceptions have been identified to date: for instance, east and south of Argentina may become more suitable to cattle ranching due to climate-driven shifts in rainfall, but a shift to Zebu breeds would likely be needed to minimize the impact of warming. Other studies suggest that Brahman cattle and its cross-breeds are more resistant to heat stress than the regular bos taurus breeds, but on a global scale, it is considered unlikely that even more heat-resistant cattle can be bred at a sufficient rate to keep up with the expected warming.

Population

The cattle population of Britain rose from 9.8 million in 1878 to 11.7 million in 1908, but beef consumption rose much faster. Britain became the "stud farm of the world" exporting livestock to countries where there were no indigenous cattle. In 1929 80% of the meat trade of the world was products of what were originally English breeds. There were nearly 70 million cattle in the US by the early 1930s.

For 2013, the FAO estimated global cattle numbers at 1.47 billion. Regionally, the FAO estimate for 2013 includes: Asia 497 million; South America 350 million; Africa 307 million; Europe 122 million; North America 102 million; Central America 47 million; Oceania 40 million; and Caribbean 9 million.

As per FAS/USDA 2021 data, India had the largest cattle population in the world in 2021 followed by Brazil and China

India's cattle's population was reported at 305.5 million head in 2021, accounting for roughly 30% of the world's population. India, Brazil and China accounted for roughly 65% of the world's cattle population in 2021.

It has been estimated that out of all animal species on Earth, Bos taurus has the largest biomass at roughly 400 million tonnes, followed closely by Euphausia superba (Antarctic krill) at 379 million tonnes, and Homo sapiens (humans) at 373 million tonnes.

Cattle population

Environmental impact

See also: Environmental effects of meat production, Milk § Environmental impact, Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, Beef § Environmental impact, and Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture § Livestock

Meat from cattle has the highest emissions intensity of any agricultural commodity.

Gut flora in cattle include methanogens that produce methane as a byproduct of enteric fermentation, which cattle belch out. The same volume of atmospheric methane has a 72x higher (over 20 years) global warming potential than atmospheric carbon dioxide. Methane belching from cattle can be reduced with genetic selection, immunization against the many methanogens, rumen defaunation (killing the bacteria-killing protozoa), diet modification (e.g. seaweed fortification), decreased antibiotic use, and grazing management, among others.

A 2013 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) based on 2005 data states that the livestock sector is responsible for 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, 65% of which is due to cattle. The IPCC estimates that cattle and other livestock emit about 80 to 93 Megatonnes of methane per year, accounting for an estimated 37% of anthropogenic methane emissions, and additional methane is produced by anaerobic fermentation of manure in manure lagoons and other manure storage structures. Another estimate is 12% of global GHG. While cattle fed forage actually produce more methane than grain-fed cattle, the increase may be offset by the increased carbon recapture of pastures, which recapture three times the CO2 of cropland used for grain.

Mean greenhouse gas emissions for different food types.

Food TypesGreenhouse Gas Emissions (g CO2-Ceq per gram protein)

Ruminant Meat

Recirculating Aquaculture

Trawling Fishery

Non-recirculating Aquaculture

Pork

Poultry

Dairy

9.1

Non-trawling Fishery

8.6

Eggs

6.8

Starchy Roots

1.7

Wheat

1.2

Maize

1.2

Legumes

0.25

Mean land use of different foods

Food TypesLand Use (m2·year per 100 g protein)

Lamb and Mutton

185

Beef

164

Cheese

Pork

Poultry

7.1

Eggs

5.7

Farmed Fish

3.7

Peanuts

3.5

Peas

3.4

Tofu

2.2

One of the cited changes suggested to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is intensification of the livestock industry, since intensification leads to less land for a given level of production. This assertion is supported by studies of the US beef production system, suggesting practices prevailing in 2007 involved 8.6% less fossil fuel use, 16.3% less greenhouse gas emissions, 12.1% less water use, and 33.0% less land use, per unit mass of beef produced, than those used in 1977. The analysis took into account not only practices in feedlots, but also feed production (with less feed needed in more intensive production systems), forage-based cow-calf operations and back-grounding before cattle enter a feedlot (with more beef produced per head of cattle from those sources, in more intensive systems), and beef from animals derived from the dairy industry. A more controversial suggestion, advocated by George Monbiot in the documentary "Apocalypse Cow", is to stop farming cattle completely, however farmers often have political power so might be able to resist such a big change.

Estimated virtual water requirements for various foods (m³ water/ton

Hoekstra & Hung

(2003)

Chapagain & Hoekstra (2003)Zimmer & Renault

(2003)

Oki et al. (2003)Average

Beef15,97713,50020,70016,730

Pork5,9064,6005,9005,470

Cheese5,2885,290

Poultry2,8284,1004,5003,810

Eggs4,6572,7003,2003,520

Rice2,6561,4003,6002,550

Soybeans2,3002,7502,5002,520

Wheat1,1501,1602,0001,440

Maize4507101,9001,020

Milk865790560740

Potatoes160105130

Significant numbers of dairy, as well as beef cattle, are confined in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), defined as "new and existing operations which stable or confine and feed or maintain for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period more than the number of animals specified" where "[c]rops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility." They may be designated as small, medium and large. Such designation of cattle CAFOs is according to cattle type (mature dairy cows, veal calves or other) and cattle numbers, but medium CAFOs are so designated only if they meet certain discharge criteria, and small CAFOs are designated only on a case-by-case basis.

Mean eutrophying emissions (water pollution) of different foods per 100 g of protein

Food TypesEutrophying Emissions (g PO43-eq per 100 g protein)

Beef

365.3

Farmed Fish

235.1

Farmed Crustaceans

227.2

Cheese

98.4

Lamb and Mutton

97.1

Pork

76.4

Poultry

48.7

Eggs

21.8

Peanuts

14.1

Peas

7.5

Tofu

6.2

Mean acidifying emissions (air pollution) of different foods per 100 g of protein

Food TypesAcidifying Emissions (g SO2eq per 100 g protein)

Beef

343.6

Cheese

165.5

Pork

142.7

Lamb and Mutton

139.0

Farmed Crustaceans

133.1

Poultry

102.4

Farmed Fish

65.9

Eggs

53.7

Peanuts

22.6

Peas

8.5

Tofu

6.7

A CAFO that discharges pollutants is required to obtain a permit, which requires a plan to manage nutrient runoff, manure, chemicals, contaminants, and other wastewater pursuant to the US Clean Water Act. The regulations involving CAFO permitting have been extensively litigated.

Commonly, CAFO wastewater and manure nutrients are applied to land at agronomic rates for use by forages or crops, and it is often assumed that various constituents of wastewater and manure, e.g. organic contaminants and pathogens, will be retained, inactivated or degraded on the land with application at such rates; however, additional evidence is needed to test reliability of such assumptions . Concerns raised by opponents of CAFOs have included risks of contaminated water due to feedlot runoff, soil erosion, human and animal exposure to toxic chemicals, development of antibiotic resistant bacteria and an increase in E. coli contamination. While research suggests some of these impacts can be mitigated by developing wastewater treatment systems and planting cover crops in larger setback zones, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report in 2008 concluding that CAFOs are generally unsustainable and externalize costs.

Another concern is manure, which if not well-managed, can lead to adverse environmental consequences. However, manure also is a valuable source of nutrients and organic matter when used as a fertilizer. Manure was used as a fertilizer on about 6,400,000 hectares (15.8 million acres) of US cropland in 2006, with manure from cattle accounting for nearly 70% of manure applications to soybeans and about 80% or more of manure applications to corn, wheat, barley, oats and sorghum. Substitution of manure for synthetic fertilizers in crop production can be environmentally significant, as between 43 and 88 megajoules of fossil fuel energy would be used per kg of nitrogen in manufacture of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers.

Grazing by cattle at low intensities can create a favourable environment for native herbs and forbs by mimicking the native grazers who they displaced; in many world regions, though, cattle are reducing biodiversity due to overgrazing. A survey of refuge managers on 123 National Wildlife Refuges in the US tallied 86 species of wildlife considered positively affected and 82 considered negatively affected by refuge cattle grazing or haying. Proper management of pastures, notably managed intensive rotational grazing and grazing at low intensities can lead to less use of fossil fuel energy, increased recapture of carbon dioxide, fewer ammonia emissions into the atmosphere, reduced soil erosion, better air quality, and less water pollution.

Health

The veterinary discipline dealing with cattle and cattle diseases (bovine veterinary) is called buiatrics. Veterinarians and professionals working on cattle health issues are pooled in the World Association for Buiatrics, founded in 1960. National associations and affiliates also exist.

Digital dermatitis is caused by the bacteria from the genus Treponema. It differs from foot rot and can appear under unsanitary conditions such as poor hygiene or inadequate hoof trimming, among other causes. It primarily affects dairy cattle and has been known to lower the quantity of milk produced, however the milk quality remains unaffected. Cattle are also susceptible to ringworm caused by the fungus, Trichophyton verrucosum, a contagious skin disease which may be transferred to humans exposed to infected cows.

Public health

Cattle diseases were in the center of attention in the 1980s and 1990s when the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, was of concern. Cattle might catch and develop various other diseases, like blackleg, bluetongue, foot rot too.

In most states, as cattle health is not only a veterinarian issue, but also a public health issue, public health and food safety standards and farming regulations directly affect the daily work of farmers who keep cattle. However, said rules change frequently and are often debated. For instance, in the UK, it was proposed in 2011 that milk from tuberculosis-infected cattle should be allowed to enter the food chain. Internal food safety regulations might affect a country's trade policy as well. For example, the United States has just reviewed its beef import rules according to the "mad cow standards"; while Mexico forbids the entry of cattle who are older than 30 months.

Medicinal uses

Cow urine is commonly used in India for internal medical purposes. It is distilled and then consumed by patients seeking treatment for a wide variety of illnesses. At present, no conclusive medical evidence shows this has any effect. However, an Indian medicine containing cow urine has already obtained U.S. patents.

Effect of high stocking density

Stocking density refers to the number of animals within a specified area. When stocking density reaches high levels, the behavioural needs of the animals may not be met. This can negatively influence health, welfare and production performance.

The effect of overstocking in cows can have a negative effect on milk production and reproduction rates which are two very important traits for dairy farmers. Overcrowding of cows in barns has been found to reduced feeding, resting and rumination. Although they consume the same amount of dry matter within the span of a day, they consume the food at a much more rapid rate, and this behaviour in cows can lead to further complications. The feeding behaviour of cows during their post-milking period is very important as it has been proven that the longer animals can eat after milking, the longer they will be standing up and therefore causing less contamination to the teat ends. This is necessary to reduce the risk of mastitis as infection has been shown to increase the chances of embryonic loss. Sufficient rest is important for dairy cows because it is during this period that their resting blood flow increases up to 50%, this is directly proportionate to milk production. Each additional hour of rest can be seen to translate to 2 to 3.5 more pounds of milk per cow daily. Stocking densities of anything over 120% have been shown to decrease the amount of time cows spend lying down.

Cortisol is an important stress hormone; its plasma concentrations increase greatly when subjected to high levels of stress. Increased concentration levels of cortisol have been associated with significant increases in gonadotrophin levels and lowered progestin levels. Reduction of stress is important in the reproductive state of cows as an increase in gonadotrophin and lowered progesterone levels may impinge on the ovulatory and lutenization process and to reduce the chances of successful implantation. A high cortisol level will also stimulate the degradation of fats and proteins which may make it difficult for the animal to sustain

'TIME FOLD' statue by PETROC SESTI by Chris Brink

15 9

This is the description written next to the statue:

TIME FOLD, 2013 PETROC SESTI (B.1973-)

Petroc Sesti is a British artist based in London and currently representing Great Britain at the 9th Shanghai Biennale. His work pushes the boundaries between art and science and goes beyond both.

Once captured by the presence of the object its hard to be released from its seductive grasp. Sesti's work confounds cognition and kindles curiosity. This is an art of subtle motion and intense emotion, of stillness and transcendence. The work is an irresistible invitation to the body, brain and imagination. By tickling our mind's ability to mirror itself in the object, Sesti succeeds in seducing the viewer into a world of speculation and anxiety.

TIME FOLD bends light like a prism, hypnotizing the viewer by reflecting on its ever-changing spiral motion, the turning world underfoot is still. To look deeper into the dancing mirror, perhaps we can glimpse timelessness.

TIME FOLD, 2013 AEROSPACE POLYMER SPHERE 180 cm diameter

Taken with the canon EOS M and the 11-22mm lens @ 11mm

Dualistic cosmology...Nondualism...the basic state, the sublime, buddhanature, original nature, spontaneous presence, the oneness of being, the ground of being by Hughes Songe

Dualism in cosmology is the moral, or spiritual belief that two fundamental concepts exist, which often oppose each other. It is an umbrella term that covers a diversity of views from various religions, including both traditional religions and scriptural religions.

Moral dualism is the belief of the great complement of, or conflict between, the benevolent and the malevolent. It simply implies that there are two moral opposites at work, independent of any interpretation of what might be "moral" and independent of how these may be represented. Moral opposites might, for example, exist in a worldview which has one god, more than one god, or none. By contrast, duotheism, bitheism or ditheism implies (at least) two gods. While bitheism implies harmony, ditheism implies rivalry and opposition, such as between good and evil, or light and dark, or summer and winter. For example, a ditheistic system could be one in which one god is a creator, and the other a destroyer. In theology, dualism can also refer to the relationship between the deity and creation or the deity and the universe (see theistic dualism). This form of dualism is a belief shared in certain traditions of Christianity and Hinduism.[1] Alternatively, in ontological dualism, the world is divided into two overarching categories. The opposition and combination of the universe's two basic principles of yin and yang is a large part of Chinese philosophy, and is an important feature of Taoism. It is also discussed in Confucianism.

Many myths and creation motifs with dualistic cosmologies have been described in ethnographic and anthropological literature. These motifs conceive the world as being created, organized, or influenced by two demiurges, culture heroes, or other mythological beings, who either compete with each other or have a complementary function in creating, arranging or influencing the world. There is a huge diversity of such cosmologies. In some cases, such as among the Chukchi, the beings collaborate rather than competing, and contribute to the creation in a coequal way. In many other instances the two beings are not of the same importance or power (sometimes, one of them is even characterized as gullible). Sometimes they can be contrasted as good versus evil.[2] They may be often believed to be twins or at least brothers.[3][4] Dualistic motifs in mythologies can be observed in all inhabited continents. Zolotaryov concludes that they cannot be explained by diffusion or borrowing, but are rather of convergent origin: they are related to a dualistic organization of society (moieties); in some cultures, this social organization may have ceased to exist, but mythology preserves the memory in more and more disguised ways.[5]

Moral dualism[edit]

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Moral dualism is the belief of the great complement or conflict between the benevolent and the malevolent. Like ditheism/bitheism (see below), moral dualism does not imply the absence of monist or monotheistic principles. Moral dualism simply implies that there are two moral opposites at work, independent of any interpretation of what might be "moral" and—unlike ditheism/bitheism—independent of how these may be represented.

For example, Mazdaism (Mazdean Zoroastrianism) is both dualistic and monotheistic (but not monist by definition) since in that philosophy God—the Creator—is purely good, and the antithesis—which is also uncreated–is an absolute one. Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), Manichaeism, and Mandaeism are representative of dualistic and monist philosophies since each has a supreme and transcendental First Principle from which the two equal-but-opposite entities then emanate. This is also true for the lesser-known Christian gnostic religions, such as Bogomils, Catharism, and so on. More complex forms of monist dualism also exist, for instance in Hermeticism, where Nous "thought"—that is described to have created man—brings forth both good and evil, dependent on interpretation, whether it receives prompting from the God or from the Demon. Duality with pluralism is considered a logical fallacy.

History[edit]

Moral dualism began as a theological belief. Dualism was first seen implicitly in Egyptian religious beliefs by the contrast of the gods Set (disorder, death) and Osiris (order, life).[6] The first explicit conception of dualism came from the Ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism around the mid-fifth century BC. Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion that believes that Ahura Mazda is the eternal creator of all good things. Any violations of Ahura Mazda's order arise from druj, which is everything uncreated. From this comes a significant choice for humans to make. Either they fully participate in human life for Ahura Mazda or they do not and give druj power. Personal dualism is even more distinct in the beliefs of later religions.

The religious dualism of Christianity between good and evil is not a perfect dualism as God (good) will inevitably destroy Satan (evil). Early Christian dualism is largely based on Platonic Dualism (See: Neoplatonism and Christianity). There is also a personal dualism in Christianity with a soul-body distinction based on the idea of an immaterial Christian soul.[7]

Duotheism, bitheism, ditheism[edit]

When used with regards to multiple gods, dualism may refer to duotheism, bitheism, or ditheism. Although ditheism/bitheism imply moral dualism, they are not equivalent: ditheism/bitheism implies (at least) two gods, while moral dualism does not necessarily imply theism (theos = god) at all.

Both bitheism and ditheism imply a belief in two equally powerful gods with complementary or antonymous properties; however, while bitheism implies harmony, ditheism implies rivalry and opposition, such as between good and evil, bright and dark, or summer and winter. For example, a ditheistic system would be one in which one god is creative, the other is destructive (cf. theodicy). In the original conception of Zoroastrianism, for example, Ahura Mazda was the spirit of ultimate good, while Ahriman (Angra Mainyu) was the spirit of ultimate evil.

In a bitheistic system, by contrast, where the two deities are not in conflict or opposition, one could be male and the other female (cf. duotheism[clarification needed]). One well-known example of a bitheistic or duotheistic theology based on gender polarity is found in the neopagan religion of Wicca. In Wicca, dualism is represented in the belief of a god and a goddess as a dual partnership in ruling the universe. This is centered on the worship of a divine couple, the Moon Goddess and the Horned God, who are regarded as lovers. However, there is also a ditheistic theme within traditional Wicca, as the Horned God has dual aspects of bright and dark - relating to day/night, summer/winter - expressed as the Oak King and the Holly King, who in Wiccan myth and ritual are said to engage in battle twice a year for the hand of the Goddess, resulting in the changing seasons. (Within Wicca, bright and dark do not correspond to notions of "good" and "evil" but are aspects of the natural world, much like yin and yang in Taoism.)

Radical and mitigated dualism[edit]

Radical Dualism – or absolute Dualism which posits two co-equal divine forces.[8] Manichaeism conceives of two previously coexistent realms of light and darkness which become embroiled in conflict, owing to the chaotic actions of the latter. Subsequently, certain elements of the light became entrapped within darkness; the purpose of material creation is to enact the slow process of extraction of these individual elements, at the end of which the kingdom of light will prevail over darkness. Manicheanism likely inherits this dualistic mythology from Zoroastrianism, in which the eternal spirit Ahura Mazda is opposed by his antithesis, Angra Mainyu; the two are engaged in a cosmic struggle, the conclusion of which will likewise see Ahura Mazda triumphant. 'The Hymn of the Pearl' included the belief that the material world corresponds to some sort of malevolent intoxication brought about by the powers of darkness to keep elements of the light trapped inside it in a state of drunken distraction.

Mitigated Dualism – is where one of the two principles is in some way inferior to the other. Such classical Gnostic movements as the Sethians conceived of the material world as being created by a lesser divinity than the true God that was the object of their devotion. The spiritual world is conceived of as being radically different from the material world, co-extensive with the true God, and the true home of certain enlightened members of humanity; thus, these systems were expressive of a feeling of acute alienation within the world, and their resultant aim was to allow the soul to escape the constraints presented by the physical realm.[8]

However, bitheistic and ditheistic principles are not always so easily contrastable, for instance in a system where one god is the representative of summer and drought and the other of winter and rain/fertility (cf. the mythology of Persephone). Marcionism, an early Christian sect, held that the Old and New Testaments were the work of two opposing gods: both were First Principles, but of different religions.[9]

Theistic dualism[edit]

In theology, dualism can refer to the relationship between God and creation or God and the universe. This form of dualism is a belief shared in certain traditions of Christianity and Hinduism.[10][1]

In Christianity[edit]

The Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209. The Cathars were denounced as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church for their dualist beliefs.

The dualism between God and Creation has existed as a central belief in multiple historical sects and traditions of Christianity, including Marcionism, Catharism, Paulicianism, and other forms of Gnostic Christianity. Christian dualism refers to the belief that God and creation are distinct, but interrelated through an indivisible bond.[1] However, Gnosticism is a diverse, syncretistic religious movement consisting of various belief systems generally united in a belief in a distinction between a supreme, transcendent God and a blind, evil demiurge responsible for creating the material universe, thereby trapping the divine spark within matter.[11]

In sects like the Cathars and the Paulicians, this is a dualism between the material world, created by an evil god, and a moral god. Historians divide Christian dualism into absolute dualism, which held that the good and evil gods were equally powerful, and mitigated dualism, which held that material evil was subordinate to the spiritual good.[12] The belief, by Christian theologians who adhere to a libertarian or compatibilist view of free will, that free will separates humankind from God has also been characterized as a form of dualism.[1] The theologian Leroy Stephens Rouner compares the dualism of Christianity with the dualism that exists in Zoroastrianism and the Samkhya tradition of Hinduism. The theological use of the word dualism dates back to 1700, in a book that describes the dualism between good and evil.[1]

The tolerance of dualism ranges widely among the different Christian traditions. As a monotheistic religion, the conflict between dualism and monism has existed in Christianity since its inception.[13] The 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia describes that, in the Catholic Church, "the dualistic hypothesis of an eternal world existing side by side with God was of course rejected" by the thirteenth century, but mind–body dualism was not.[14] The problem of evil is difficult to reconcile with absolute monism, and has prompted some Christian sects to veer towards dualism. Gnostic forms of Christianity were more dualistic, and some Gnostic traditions posited that the Devil was separate from God as an independent deity.[13] The Christian dualists of the Byzantine Empire, the Paulicians, were seen as Manichean heretics by Byzantine theologians. This tradition of Christian dualism, founded by Constantine-Silvanus, argued that the universe was created through evil and separate from a moral God.[15]

The Cathars, a Christian sect in southern France, believed that there was a dualism between two gods, one representing good and the other representing evil. Whether or not the Cathari possessed direct historical influence from ancient Gnosticism is a matter of dispute, as the basic conceptions of Gnostic cosmology are to be found in Cathar beliefs (most distinctly in their notion of a lesser creator god), though unlike the second century Gnostics, they did not apparently place any special relevance upon knowledge (gnosis) as an effective salvific force. In any case, the Roman Catholic Church denounced the Cathars as heretics, and sought to crush the movement in the 13th century. The Albigensian Crusade was initiated by Pope Innocent III in 1208 to remove the Cathars from Languedoc in France, where they were known as Albigesians. The Inquisition, which began in 1233 under Pope Gregory IX, also targeted the Cathars.[16]

In Hinduism[edit]

The Dvaita Vedanta school of Indian philosophy espouses a dualism between God and the universe by theorizing the existence of two separate realities. The first and the more important reality is that of Shiva or Shakti or Vishnu or Brahman. Shiva or Shakti or Vishnu is the supreme Self, God, the absolute truth of the universe, the independent reality. The second reality is that of dependent but equally real universe that exists with its own separate essence. Everything that is composed of the second reality, such as individual soul (Jiva), matter, etc. exist with their own separate reality. The distinguishing factor of this philosophy as opposed to Advaita Vedanta (monistic conclusion of Vedas) is that God takes on a personal role and is seen as a real eternal entity that governs and controls the universe.[17][better source needed] Because the existence of individuals is grounded in the divine, they are depicted as reflections, images or even shadows of the divine, but never in any way identical with the divine. Salvation therefore is described as the realization that all finite reality is essentially dependent on the Supreme.[18]

Ontological dualism[edit]

The yin and yang symbolizes the duality in nature and all things in the Taoist religion.

Alternatively, dualism can mean the tendency of humans to perceive and understand the world as being divided into two overarching categories. In this sense, it is dualistic when one perceives a tree as a thing separate from everything surrounding it. This form of ontological dualism exists in Taoism and Confucianism, beliefs that divide the universe into the complementary oppositions of yin and yang.[19] In traditions such as classical Hinduism (Samkhya, Yoga, Vaisheshika and the later Vedanta schools, which accepted the theory of Gunas), Zen Buddhism or Islamic Sufism, a key to enlightenment is "transcending" this sort of dualistic thinking, without merely substituting dualism with monism or pluralism.

In Chinese philosophy[edit]

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The opposition and combination of the universe's two basic principles of yin and yang is a large part of Chinese philosophy, and is an important feature of Taoism, both as a philosophy and as a religion, although the concept developed much earlier. Some argue that yin and yang were originally an earth and sky god, respectively.[20] As one of the oldest principles in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are also discussed in Confucianism, but to a lesser extent.

Some of the common associations with yang and yin, respectively, are: male and female, light and dark, active and passive, motion and stillness. Some scholars believe that the two ideas may have originally referred to two opposite sides of a mountain, facing towards and away from the sun.[20] The yin and yang symbol in actuality has very little to do with Western dualism; instead it represents the philosophy of balance, where two opposites co-exist in harmony and are able to transmute into each other. In the yin-yang symbol there is a dot of yin in yang and a dot of yang in yin. In Taoism, this symbolizes the inter-connectedness of the opposite forces as different aspects of Tao, the First Principle. Contrast is needed to create a distinguishable reality, without which we would experience nothingness. Therefore, the independent principles of yin and yang are actually dependent on one another for each other's distinguishable existence.

The complementary dualistic concept seen in yin and yang represent the reciprocal interaction throughout nature, related to a feedback loop, where opposing forces do not exchange in opposition but instead exchange reciprocally to promote stabilization similar to homeostasis. An underlying principle in Taoism states that within every independent entity lies a part of its opposite. Within sickness lies health and vice versa. This is because all opposites are manifestations of the single Tao, and are therefore not independent from one another, but rather a variation of the same unifying force throughout all of nature.

In traditional religions[edit]

Samoyed peoples[edit]

In a Nenets myth, Num and Nga collaborate and compete with each other, creating land,[21] there are also other myths about competing-collaborating demiurges.[22]

Comparative studies of Kets and neighboring peoples[edit]

Among others, also dualistic myths were investigated in researches which tried to compare the mythologies of Siberian peoples and settle the problem of their origins. Vyacheslav Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov compared the mythology of Ket people with those of speakers of Uralic languages, assuming in the studies, that there are modelling semiotic systems in the compared mythologies; and they have also made typological comparisons.[23][24] Among others, from possibly Uralic mythological analogies, those of Ob-Ugric peoples[25] and Samoyedic peoples[26] are mentioned. Some other discussed analogies (similar folklore motifs, and purely typological considerations, certain binary pairs in symbolics) may be related to dualistic organization of society—some of such dualistic features can be found at these compared peoples.[27] It must be admitted that, for Kets, neither dualistic organization of society[28] nor cosmological dualism[29] has been researched thoroughly: if such features existed at all, they have either weakened or remained largely undiscovered;[28] although there are some reports on division into two exogamous patrilinear moieties,[30] folklore on conflicts of mythological figures, and also on cooperation of two beings in creating the land:[29] the diving of the water fowl.[31] If we include dualistic cosmologies meant in broad sense, not restricted to certain concrete motifs, then we find that they are much more widespread, they exist not only among some Siberian peoples, but there are examples in each inhabited continent.[32]

Chukchi[edit]

A Chukchi myth and its variations report the creation of the world; in some variations, it is achieved by the collaboration of several beings (birds, collaborating in a coequal way; or the creator and the raven, collaborating in a coequal way; or the creator alone, using the birds only as assistants).[33][34]

Fuegians[edit]

See also: Bhedabheda

Vishishtadvaita Vedanta is another main school of Vedanta and teaches the nonduality of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterized by multiplicity. It can be described as "qualified monism," or "qualified non-dualism," or "attributive monism."

According to this school, the world is real, yet underlying all the differences is an all-embracing unity, of which all "things" are an "attribute." Ramanuja, the main proponent of Vishishtadvaita philosophy contends that the Prasthana Traya ("The three courses") – namely the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras – are to be interpreted in a way that shows this unity in diversity, for any other way would violate their consistency.

Vedanta Desika defines Vishishtadvaita using the statement: Asesha Chit-Achit Prakaaram Brahmaikameva Tatvam – "Brahman, as qualified by the sentient and insentient modes (or attributes), is the only reality."

Neo-Vedanta[edit]

Main articles: Neo-Vedanta, Swami Vivekananda, and Ramakrishna Mission

Neo-Vedanta, also called "neo-Hinduism"[93] is a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in response to western colonialism and orientalism, and aims to present Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism"[94] with Advaita Vedanta as its central doctrine.[95]

Neo-Vedanta, as represented by Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan, is indebted to Advaita vedanta, but also reflects Advaya-philosophy. A main influence on neo-Advaita was Ramakrishna, himself a bhakta and tantrika, and the guru of Vivekananda. According to Michael Taft, Ramakrishna reconciled the dualism of formlessness and form.[96] Ramakrishna regarded the Supreme Being to be both Personal and Impersonal, active and inactive:

When I think of the Supreme Being as inactive – neither creating nor preserving nor destroying – I call Him Brahman or Purusha, the Impersonal God. When I think of Him as active – creating, preserving and destroying – I call Him Sakti or Maya or Prakriti, the Personal God. But the distinction between them does not mean a difference. The Personal and Impersonal are the same thing, like milk and its whiteness, the diamond and its lustre, the snake and its wriggling motion. It is impossible to conceive of the one without the other. The Divine Mother and Brahman are one.[97]

Radhakrishnan acknowledged the reality and diversity of the world of experience, which he saw as grounded in and supported by the absolute or Brahman.[web 4][note 8] According to Anil Sooklal, Vivekananda's neo-Advaita "reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism":[99]

The Neo-Vedanta is also Advaitic inasmuch as it holds that Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, is one without a second, ekamevadvitiyam. But as distinguished from the traditional Advaita of Sankara, it is a synthetic Vedanta which reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism and also other theories of reality. In this sense it may also be called concrete monism in so far as it holds that Brahman is both qualified, saguna, and qualityless, nirguna.[99]

Radhakrishnan also reinterpreted Shankara's notion of maya. According to Radhakrishnan, maya is not a strict absolute idealism, but "a subjective misperception of the world as ultimately real."[web 4] According to Sarma, standing in the tradition of Nisargadatta Maharaj, Advaitavāda means "spiritual non-dualism or absolutism",[100] in which opposites are manifestations of the Absolute, which itself is immanent and transcendent:[101]

All opposites like being and non-being, life and death, good and evil, light and darkness, gods and men, soul and nature are viewed as manifestations of the Absolute which is immanent in the universe and yet transcends it.[102]

Kashmir Shaivism[edit]

Main articles: Shaivism and Kashmir Shaivism

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Advaita is also a central concept in various schools of Shaivism, such as Kashmir Shaivism[42] and Shiva Advaita.

Kashmir Shaivism is a school of Śaivism, described by Abhinavagupta[note 9] as "paradvaita", meaning "the supreme and absolute non-dualism".[web 5] It is categorized by various scholars as monistic[103] idealism (absolute idealism, theistic monism,[104] realistic idealism,[105] transcendental physicalism or concrete monism[105]).

Kashmir Saivism is based on a strong monistic interpretation of the Bhairava Tantras and its subcategory the Kaula Tantras, which were tantras written by the Kapalikas.[106] There was additionally a revelation of the Siva Sutras to Vasugupta.[106] Kashmir Saivism claimed to supersede the dualistic Shaiva Siddhanta.[107] Somananda, the first theologian of monistic Saivism, was the teacher of Utpaladeva, who was the grand-teacher of Abhinavagupta, who in turn was the teacher of Ksemaraja.[106][108]

The philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism can be seen in contrast to Shankara's Advaita.[109] Advaita Vedanta holds that Brahman is inactive (niṣkriya) and the phenomenal world is an illusion (māyā). In Kashmir Shavisim, all things are a manifestation of the Universal Consciousness, Chit or Brahman.[110][111] Kashmir Shavisim sees the phenomenal world (Śakti) as real: it exists, and has its being in Consciousness (Chit).[112]

Kashmir Shaivism was influenced by, and took over doctrines from, several orthodox and heterodox Indian religious and philosophical traditions.[113] These include Vedanta, Samkhya, Patanjali Yoga and Nyayas, and various Buddhist schools, including Yogacara and Madhyamika,[113] but also Tantra and the Nath-tradition.[114]

Contemporary vernacular Advaita[edit]

Advaita is also part of other Indian traditions, which are less strongly, or not all, organised in monastic and institutional organisations. Although often called "Advaita Vedanta," these traditions have their origins in vernacular movements and "householder" traditions, and have close ties to the Nath, Nayanars and Sant Mat traditions.

Ramana Maharshi[edit]

Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950) explained his insight using Shaiva Siddhanta, Advaita Vedanta and Yoga teachings.

Main article: Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharshi (30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) is widely acknowledged as one of the outstanding Indian gurus of modern times.[115] Ramana's teachings are often interpreted as Advaita Vedanta, though Ramana Maharshi never "received diksha (initiation) from any recognised authority".[web 6] Ramana himself did not call his insights advaita:

D. Does Sri Bhagavan advocate advaita?

M. Dvaita and advaita are relative terms. They are based on the sense of duality. The Self is as it is. There is neither dvaita nor advaita. "I Am that I Am."[note 10] Simple Being is the Self.[117]

Neo-Advaita[edit]

Main article: Neo-Advaita

Neo-Advaita is a New Religious Movement based on a modern, western interpretation of Advaita Vedanta, especially the teachings of Ramana Maharshi.[118] According to Arthur Versluis, neo-Advaita is part of a larger religious current which he calls immediatism,[119][web 9] "the assertion of immediate spiritual illumination without much if any preparatory practice within a particular religious tradition."[web 9] Neo-Advaita is criticized for this immediatism and its lack of preparatory practices.[120][note 11][122][note 12] Notable neo-advaita teachers are H. W. L. Poonja[123][118] and his students Gangaji,[124] Andrew Cohen,[note 13], and Eckhart Tolle.[118]

According to a modern western spiritual teacher of nonduality, Jeff Foster, nonduality is:

the essential oneness (wholeness, completeness, unity) of life, a wholeness which exists here and now, prior to any apparent separation [...] despite the compelling appearance of separation and diversity there is only one universal essence, one reality. Oneness is all there is – and we are included.[126]

Natha Sampradaya and Inchegeri Sampradaya[edit]

Main articles: Nath, Sahaja, and Inchegeri Sampradaya

The Natha Sampradaya, with Nath yogis such as Gorakhnath, introduced Sahaja, the concept of a spontaneous spirituality. Sahaja means "spontaneous, natural, simple, or easy".[web 13] According to Ken Wilber, this state reflects nonduality.[127]

Buddhism[edit]

There are different Buddhist views which resonate with the concepts and experiences of non-duality or "not two" (advaya). The Buddha does not use the term advaya in the earliest Buddhist texts, but it does appear in some of the Mahayana sutras, such as the Vimalakīrti.[128] While the Buddha taught unified states of mental focus (samadhi) and meditative absorption (dhyana) which were commonly taught in Upanishadic thought, he also rejected the metaphysical doctrines of the Upanishads, particularly ideas which are often associated with Hindu nonduality, such as the doctrine that "this cosmos is the self" and "everything is a Oneness" (cf. SN 12.48 and MN 22).[129][130] Because of this, Buddhist views of nonduality are particularly different than Hindu conceptions, which tend towards idealistic monism.

In Indian Buddhism[edit]

The layman Vimalakīrti Debates Manjusri, Dunhuang Mogao Caves

According to Kameshwar Nath Mishra, one connotation of advaya in Indic Sanskrit Buddhist texts is that it refers to the middle way between two opposite extremes (such as eternalism and annihilationism), and thus it is "not two".[131]

One of these Sanskrit Mahayana sutras, the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra contains a chapter on the "Dharma gate of non-duality" (advaya dharma dvara pravesa) which is said to be entered once one understands how numerous pairs of opposite extremes are to be rejected as forms of grasping. These extremes which must be avoided in order to understand ultimate reality are described by various characters in the text, and include: Birth and extinction, 'I' and 'Mine', Perception and non-perception, defilement and purity, good and not-good, created and uncreated, worldly and unworldly, samsara and nirvana, enlightenment and ignorance, form and emptiness and so on.[132] The final character to attempt to describe ultimate reality is the bodhisattva Manjushri, who states:

It is in all beings wordless, speechless, shows no signs, is not possible of cognizance, and is above all questioning and answering.[133]

Vimalakīrti responds to this statement by maintaining completely silent, therefore expressing that the nature of ultimate reality is ineffable (anabhilāpyatva) and inconceivable (acintyatā), beyond verbal designation (prapañca) or thought constructs (vikalpa).[133] The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, a text associated with Yogācāra Buddhism, also uses the term "advaya" extensively.[134]

In the Mahayana Buddhist philosophy of Madhyamaka, the two truths or ways of understanding reality, are said to be advaya (not two). As explained by the Indian philosopher Nagarjuna, there is a non-dual relationship, that is, there is no absolute separation, between conventional and ultimate truth, as well as between samsara and nirvana.[135][136] The concept of nonduality is also important in the other major Indian Mahayana tradition, the Yogacara school, where it is seen as the absence of duality between the perceiving subject (or "grasper") and the object (or "grasped"). It is also seen as an explanation of emptiness and as an explanation of the content of the awakened mind which sees through the illusion of subject-object duality. However, it is important to note that in this conception of non-dualism, there are still a multiplicity of individual mind streams (citta santana) and thus Yogacara does not teach an idealistic monism.[137]

These basic ideas have continued to influence Mahayana Buddhist doctrinal interpretations of Buddhist traditions such as Dzogchen, Mahamudra, Zen, Huayan and Tiantai as well as concepts such as Buddha-nature, luminous mind, Indra's net, rigpa and shentong.

Madhyamaka[edit]

Main articles: Madhyamika, Shunyata, and Two truths doctrine

Nagarjuna (right), Aryadeva (middle) and the Tenth Karmapa (left).

Madhyamaka, also known as Śūnyavāda (the emptiness teaching), refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of philosophy [138] founded by Nāgārjuna. In Madhyamaka, Advaya refers to the fact that the two truths are not separate or different.,[139] as well as the non-dual relationship of saṃsāra (the round of rebirth and suffering) and nirvāṇa (cessation of suffering, liberation).[42] According to Murti, in Madhyamaka, "Advaya" is an epistemological theory, unlike the metaphysical view of Hindu Advaita.[54] Madhyamaka advaya is closely related to the classical Buddhist understanding that all things are impermanent (anicca) and devoid of "self" (anatta) or "essenceless" (niḥsvabhāvavā),[140][141][142] and that this emptiness does not constitute an "absolute" reality in itself.[note 14].

In Madhyamaka, the two "truths" (satya) refer to conventional (saṃvṛti) and ultimate (paramārtha) truth.[143] The ultimate truth is "emptiness", or non-existence of inherently existing "things",[144] and the "emptiness of emptiness": emptiness does not in itself constitute an absolute reality. Conventionally, "things" exist, but ultimately, they are "empty" of any existence on their own, as described in Nagarjuna's magnum opus, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MMK):

The Buddha's teaching of the Dharma is based on two truths: a truth of worldly convention and an ultimate truth. Those who do not understand the distinction drawn between these two truths do not understand the Buddha's profound truth. Without a foundation in the conventional truth the significance of the ultimate cannot be taught. Without understanding the significance of the ultimate, liberation is not achieved.[note 15]

As Jay Garfield notes, for Nagarjuna, to understand the two truths as totally different from each other is to reify and confuse the purpose of this doctrine, since it would either destroy conventional realities such as the Buddha's teachings and the empirical reality of the world (making Madhyamaka a form of nihilism) or deny the dependent origination of phenomena (by positing eternal essences). Thus the non-dual doctrine of the middle way lies beyond these two extremes.[146]

"Emptiness" is a consequence of pratītyasamutpāda (dependent arising),[147] the teaching that no dharma ("thing", "phenomena") has an existence of its own, but always comes into existence in dependence on other dharmas. According to Madhyamaka all phenomena are empty of "substance" or "essence" (Sanskrit: svabhāva) because they are dependently co-arisen. Likewise it is because they are dependently co-arisen that they have no intrinsic, independent reality of their own. Madhyamaka also rejects the existence of absolute realities or beings such as Brahman or Self.[148] In the highest sense, "ultimate reality" is not an ontological Absolute reality that lies beneath an unreal world, nor is it the non-duality of a personal self (atman) and an absolute Self (cf. Purusha). Instead, it is the knowledge which is based on a deconstruction of such reifications and Conceptual proliferations.[149] It also means that there is no "transcendental ground," and that "ultimate reality" has no existence of its own, but is the negation of such a transcendental reality, and the impossibility of any statement on such an ultimately existing transcendental reality: it is no more than a fabrication of the mind.[web 14][note 16] Susan Kahn further explains:

Ultimate truth does not point to a transcendent reality, but to the transcendence of deception. It is critical to emphasize that the ultimate truth of emptiness is a negational truth. In looking for inherently existent phenomena it is revealed that it cannot be found. This absence is not findable because it is not an entity, just as a room without an elephant in it does not contain an elephantless substance. Even conventionally, elephantlessness does not exist. Ultimate truth or emptiness does not point to an essence or nature, however subtle, that everything is made of.[web 15]

However, according to Nagarjuna, even the very schema of ultimate and conventional, samsara and nirvana, is not a final reality, and he thus famously deconstructs even these teachings as being empty and not different from each other in the MMK where he writes:[41]

The limit (koti) of nirvāṇa is that of saṃsāra

The subtlest difference is not found between the two.

According to Nancy McCagney, what this refers to is that the two truths depend on each other; without emptiness, conventional reality cannot work, and vice versa. It does not mean that samsara and nirvana are the same, or that they are one single thing, as in Advaita Vedanta, but rather that they are both empty, open, without limits, and merely exist for the conventional purpose of teaching the Buddha Dharma.[41] Referring to this verse, Jay Garfield writes that:

to distinguish between samsara and nirvana would be to suppose that each had a nature and that they were different natures. But each is empty, and so there can be no inherent difference. Moreover, since nirvana is by definition the cessation of delusion and of grasping and, hence, of the reification of self and other and of confusing imputed phenomena for inherently real phenomena, it is by definition the recognition of the ultimate nature of things. But if, as Nagarjuna argued in Chapter XXIV, this is simply to see conventional things as empty, not to see some separate emptiness behind them, then nirvana must be ontologically grounded in the conventional. To be in samsara is to see things as they appear to deluded consciousness and to interact with them accordingly. To be in nirvana, then, is to see those things as they are - as merely empty, dependent, impermanent, and nonsubstantial, not to be somewhere else, seeing something else.[150]

It is important to note however that the actual Sanskrit term "advaya" does not appear in the MMK, and only appears in one single work by Nagarjuna, the Bodhicittavivarana.[151]

The later Madhyamikas, states Yuichi Kajiyama, developed the Advaya definition as a means to Nirvikalpa-Samadhi by suggesting that "things arise neither from their own selves nor from other things, and that when subject and object are unreal, the mind, being not different, cannot be true either; thereby one must abandon attachment to cognition of nonduality as well, and understand the lack of intrinsic nature of everything". Thus, the Buddhist nondualism or Advaya concept became a means to realizing absolute emptiness.[152]

Yogācāra tradition[edit]

Asaṅga (fl. 4th century C.E.), a Mahayana scholar who wrote numerous works which discuss the Yogacara view and practice.

Main article: Yogacara

In the Mahayana tradition of Yogācāra (Skt; "yoga practice"), adyava (Tibetan: gnyis med) refers to overcoming the conceptual and perceptual dichotomies of cognizer and cognized, or subject and object.[42][153][154][155] The concept of adyava in Yogācāra is an epistemological stance on the nature of experience and knowledge, as well as a phenomenological exposition of yogic cognitive transformation. Early Buddhism schools such as Sarvastivada and Sautrāntika, that thrived through the early centuries of the common era, postulated a dualism (dvaya) between the mental activity of grasping (grāhaka, "cognition", "subjectivity") and that which is grasped (grāhya, "cognitum", intentional object).[156][152][156][157] Yogacara postulates that this dualistic relationship is a false illusion or superimposition (samaropa).[152]

Yogācāra also taught the doctrine which held that only mental cognitions really exist (vijñapti-mātra),[158][note 17] instead of the mind-body dualism of other Indian Buddhist schools.[152][156][158] This is another sense in which reality can be said to be non-dual, because it is "consciousness-only".[159] There are several interpretations of this main theory, which has been widely translated as representation-only, ideation-only, impressions-only and perception-only.[160][158][161][162] Some scholars see it as a kind of subjective or epistemic Idealism (similar to Kant's theory) while others argue that it is closer to a kind of phenomenology or representationalism. According to Mark Siderits the main idea of this doctrine is that we are only ever aware of mental images or impressions which manifest themselves as external objects, but "there is actually no such thing outside the mind."[163] For Alex Wayman, this doctrine means that "the mind has only a report or representation of what the sense organ had sensed."[161] Jay Garfield and Paul Williams both see the doctrine as a kind of Idealism in which only mentality exists.[164][165]

However, it is important to note that even the idealistic interpretation of Yogācāra is not an absolute monistic idealism like Advaita Vedanta or Hegelianism, since in Yogācāra, even consciousness "enjoys no transcendent status" and is just a conventional reality.[166] Indeed, according to Jonathan Gold, for Yogācāra, the ultimate truth is not consciousness, but an ineffable and inconceivable "thusness" or "thatness" (tathatā).[153] Also, Yogācāra affirms the existence of individual mindstreams, and thus Kochumuttom also calls it a realistic pluralism.[82]

The Yogācārins defined three basic modes by which we perceive our world. These are referred to in Yogācāra as the three natures (trisvabhāva) of experience. They are:[167][168]

Parikalpita (literally, "fully conceptualized"): "imaginary nature", wherein things are incorrectly comprehended based on conceptual and linguistic construction, attachment and the subject object duality. It is thus equivalent to samsara.

Paratantra (literally, "other dependent"): "dependent nature", by which the dependently originated nature of things, their causal relatedness or flow of conditionality. It is the basis which gets erroneously conceptualized,

Pariniṣpanna (literally, "fully accomplished"): "absolute nature", through which one comprehends things as they are in themselves, that is, empty of subject-object and thus is a type of non-dual cognition. This experience of "thatness" (tathatā) is uninfluenced by any conceptualization at all.

To move from the duality of the Parikalpita to the non-dual consciousness of the Pariniṣpanna, Yogācāra teaches that there must be a transformation of consciousness, which is called the "revolution of the basis" (āśraya-parāvṛtti). According to Dan Lusthaus, this transformation which characterizes awakening is a "radical psycho-cognitive change" and a removal of false "interpretive projections" on reality (such as ideas of a self, external objects, etc).[169]

The Mahāyānasūtrālamkāra, a Yogācāra text, also associates this transformation with the concept of non-abiding nirvana and the non-duality of samsara and nirvana. Regarding this state of Buddhahood, it states:

Its operation is nondual (advaya vrtti) because of its abiding neither in samsara nor in nirvana (samsaranirvana-apratisthitatvat), through its being both conditioned and unconditioned (samskrta-asamskrtatvena).[170]

This refers to the Yogācāra teaching that even though a Buddha has entered nirvana, they do no "abide" in some quiescent state separate from the world but continue to give rise to extensive activity on behalf of others.[170] This is also called the non-duality between the compounded (samskrta, referring to samsaric existence) and the uncompounded (asamskrta, referring to nirvana). It is also described as a "not turning back" from both samsara and nirvana.[171]

For the later thinker Dignaga, non-dual knowledge or advayajñāna is also a synonym for prajñaparamita (transcendent wisdom) which liberates one from samsara.[172]

Other Indian traditions[edit]

Buddha nature or tathagata-garbha (literally "Buddha womb") is that which allows sentient beings to become Buddhas.[173] Various Mahayana texts such as the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras focus on this idea and over time it became a very influential doctrine in Indian Buddhism, as well in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism. The Buddha nature teachings may be regarded as a form of nondualism. According to Sally B King, all beings are said to be or possess tathagata-garbha, which is nondual Thusness or Dharmakaya. This reality, states King, transcends the "duality of self and not-self", the "duality of form and emptiness" and the "two poles of being and non being".[174]

There various interpretations and views on Buddha nature and the concept became very influential in India, China and Tibet, where it also became a source of much debate. In later Indian Yogācāra, a new sub-school developed which adopted the doctrine of tathagata-garbha into the Yogācāra system.[166] The influence of this hybrid school can be seen in texts like the Lankavatara Sutra and the Ratnagotravibhaga. This synthesis of Yogācāra tathagata-garbha became very influential in later Buddhist traditions, such as Indian Vajrayana, Chinese Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.[175][166] Yet another development in late Indian Buddhism was the synthesis of Madhymaka and Yogacara philosophies into a single system, by figures such as Śāntarakṣita (8th century). Buddhist Tantra, also known as Vajrayana, Mantrayana or Esoteric Buddhism, drew upon all these previous Indian Buddhist ideas and nondual philosophies to develop innovative new traditions of Buddhist practice and new religious texts called the Buddhist tantras (from the 6th century onwards).[176] Tantric Buddhism was influential in China and is the main form of Buddhism in the Himalayan regions, especially Tibetan Buddhism.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nondualism

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and the Structure of My Self: A Robo-Woman and an All Seeing Man in me by Timothy Takemoto

1 15

The Truth is in Here!

I think that the structure of my self is rather like that of "The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" (Trailer,Trailer #2). I think I contain a fantasy of a controlled, hollow, abused Lisbeth/Nikita woman who works as the medium, or intermediary for a man with super-sight, who is trying to be a detective. The most horrible thing about the structure is that since these roles take place inside me (no wonder Lisbeth looks pissed off), it is also auto-erotic transsexualism, and then some. For this reason I think that the super duo of Lisbeth and Cal Lighthouse in the above photo, are generally accompanied by a sex criminal in many of the detective series in which detectives and their intermediaries feature. [Why is it that about 10 million Americans watch sex criminals get their come-uppance a week on one series, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, alone?]

First to recap, there are many US mystery series featuring men, and more frequently recently women, who are in contact with supernatural phenomena (The Dead Zone, The Listener, , The X-Files, Seeing Things, The Medium, Tru Calling, Ghost Whisperer), of women that act as intermediaries for men whose power of perception is almost supernatural (Lie to Me, Monk, The Mentalist, Millenium, The X-Files), and there are recently an increasing number of Nikita type violent, abused, hollow women controlled by men (Nikita, Nikita, Dark Angel, Alias, Dollhouse, etc). Many of these heroes kill or put greedy, especially sexually greedy, criminals behind bars.

In the USA there are many more types of television series. Here in Japan, these three genres stand out as being particularly well represented. I am of the opinion that these genres are well represented because they are the most popular in the US, rather than their being particularly popular in Japan.

The reason why I think that these television series may have something to do with the structure of myself is because I have seen them both. The structure of myself was far more horrifying and icky that even the nasties scenes in The Girl with a Dragon Tatoo, so I will try and be theoretical first.

The Self in Social Psychology

Factoring in William James, George Herbert Mead explains how the human self is formed, from three parts: the I or consciousness, the me, the idea we have of ourselves with whom we identify, and the internalised "generalised other" from which perspective we see the "me."

The first and second of these elements (consciousness, and my idea of me) are fairly easy to confirm. Mead's "generalised other" (Freud's "super ego", Bakhtin's "super adressee", Lacan's "Other," Adam Smith's "Invisible hand" and "impartial observer") is much more contraversial.

That there is consciousness, even if I can say nothing about it, seems pretty clear. When I am awake there is not nothing. When I dream, the lights come on as it were. I may be able to say very little about this "great blooming, buzzing confusion,” but I feel that I can not deny it. Generally speaking I am more inclined to think of consciousness as the world, or evidence of the world -- the lights, sounds, hot and cold -- but at the same time perhaps, especially but not only, as a child, "consciousness"may also be said to be who "I" really am.

And at the same time I have notions of who I am very separate from consciousness - a bald old Englishman living in Japan, which a certain age, family, house, and face. That is "me."

What is the "generalised other," and where is it hiding?

First of all Mead argues that in order to gain an idea who "me" is then I need to take an objective view point upon myself. Mead argues that unless we are carrying a mirror, or permanently in front of an audience, our ability to gain an objective idea of ourselves depends upon our ability to express who we are in language and understand our language from the point of view of other listeners.This ability to hear ones own self-referential, self addressed language, such as "I am bald" as said to myself, and to know when one has not said the truth, allows us to form a linguistic model of who we are. Language, Mead presumes, provides us with a mirror of internalised other. Mead argues, as do Hermans and Kempen (who base their analysis on the Bakhtin's linguistics), that we are always speaking to others in our heads. People talk to their friends, their family, their workmates, and all those that they are likely to meet, in their heads all the time. And we are able to judge when these our imaginary friends would not agree with what we are saying. In the complete absence of any audience, real or imagined, I could claim that "I have loads of hair", or anything, even that "I am Elvis Presley," and it would not matter because there would be no one there to disagree with me. But since we do speak to others even if they are imaginary others, we imagine our audience's understanding of our words, their reaction, and know when we are speaking bullshit.

But while many of us may accept that we often imagine that we are speaking to, or thinking to other people, what of the *generalised* other. As far as I am aware Mead only explains the need for a generalised as a cognitive requirement. If we see ourselves only from the viewpoints of our friends, then we will see ourselves as rather nicer than we are from the point of view of our enemies. If we see ourselves from the point of view of our enemies, we see ourselves rather more negatively than our friends see us, and rather more negatively than we in fact are, because presumably we are that person at the intersection of these various viewpoints rather than as understood from any one subjective position.

So far so good. We may be able to accept that we address ourselves to a variety of imaginary friends. And that unless we understand our self speech from the point of view of a view from an objective, generalised position then we will not have an ongoing objective understanding of ourselves. However this explanation would not prevent us from "generalising" after the fact, or "off line". In other words we might model the understanding of our friends and family, our detractors and various people in the street, and perform some sort of averaging only afterward. Is it clear that we need to model a generalised other, in real time?

Bakhtin argues that even as we are speaking to real or imaginary friends and all manner of second person addressees, we also imagine that there is another person listening to what we have to say, since otherwise our meaning would be limited by the understanding of our real or imagined listener. Being so limited to specific others (be they real or imagined) would be, he argues, hellish. We would be trapped in web of relationships unable to be anyone but that which our others understand us to be. To escape from this hell, which is other people, we continually model a super-addressee (Bakhtin, 1986. p126) which corresponds I believe to Mead's generalized other.

Bakhtin's "hell" starts to sound more persuasive but all the same, phenomenologically where is the generalized other in my head? I can feel myself simulating my friends. Why can't I feel myself simulating a generalised other?

I think that theists may find the answer to this question very easy. Theists typically feel that they are addressing a generalised other, who sees them from an objective viewpoint, in the form of their God. Of course for a theist it is not a question of simulating a generalised listener, but rather that there is one, and as such perhaps theists are always conscious of the meaning of their words, truthfully and honestly in the understanding of an ever present "impartial spectator." This latter term was that used by the economist (of Lutheran upbringing) Adam Smith. This is all very well for theists but, when I am not dabbling in theism, and even when I do, I do not find myself aware, or strikingly aware, of a God as generalised other, impartial spectator, or super-addressee. If this super-addressee was felt ever present, then for instance, would there be so many atheists and agnostics, and would they be so militant in their denial of God? If a super-addressee were clearly ever present in our psyche then the atheists among us would be more likely to say "Oh, yeah, that. (S)he is only my simulation of a generalised other, not any supernatural being." Calling that entity God or a mental simulation would become almost a question of nomenclature. It seems to me however that most atheists are not aware of any such "super-addressee," listening in on their thoughts, modelled by themselves, far less directly and supernaturally bugging their brain.

To Bakhtin's "hell", and Mead's need for objective self awareness, I think that there are a couple of other reasons why we need a generalised other and why it should be something that we are commonly unaware of it.

First of all applying Arimasa Mori's cultural theory, it may become clear that a generalised other is a requirement for my identification with my "me". That we should identify (and it is not clear what "identify" means) which any idea or conception that we have of ourselves is strange. Why would anyone identify with a self-concept if they are aware that it is a conceptualisation?

This kind of question has been asked for instance by philosophers and psychologists in the field of narrative psychology. It is clear that we do narrate ourselves, do think to and narrate ourselves, about who we are and what we are doing, but why should we, or do we, identify with that which is described in the narrative? Why does our self-cognition not remain on the level of self-hypothesis, a fiction about ourselves that may or not be correct. Why do we believe in that our self0narration, or the me therein described is ourselves? Or why do we believe that there is a underlying, ongoing entity that conforms to some static linguistic cognition of self?

Arimasa Mori argues the way in which first person pronouns and first person self-representations depend on the second person of Japanese speech - that there is no "third person" (Mori's word for the generalised other), results in an absence of self on ongoing and independent self among Japanese. IF being is to be understood, and self-understanding is dependent upon other understanding, then in the radical absence of others would, not our ability to identify with an ongoing independent self be switching on and off. Hence, if we believe in an ongoing self independent of social situation, then this may imply the presumed presence of a "third person perspective."

Here ends my attempt at theoretical analysis.

Finally, while the connection is somewhat tenuous, the structure of the television series outlined above remind me of my experience of the structure of my self, which fell apart and became visible about a quarter of a century ago when I felt (and I think I did) go mad. I have written this before, but I think that it is a good idea to write it again.

My experience was momentary and my memory is not as good as it used to be, but I still find it instructive. I think that I should have tried harder to share the experience with other people. The reason why I have not blogged or otherwise written about the experience is because I found the experience particularly disgusting. As I said above, and this is the first part of the analogy between "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and the structure of myself, they both appeared to have very harrowing elements. The movie was stressful, but watching the movie was a walk in the park by comparison to my experience of the parts of myself. After that fleeting experience 25 years aog, I found myself traumatised for about 6 months afterwards, and indeed for the rest of my life. Here I am an old man, still talking about an experience I had when I was about 22. And at the same time, the reason why I am still talking about the experience was because it was, and to an extent remains, so difficult, so disgusting as to make it difficult to talk about.

Of course, my experience may have been of only the structure of my particular self, but as I see these often extremely violent, and sexually twisted television series and movies proliferate I wonder if, at last, my experience was more universalisable than I had initially thought. I thought I was just simply a mad **** at the time. But here lies, the most important thing about what I have to say: it is possible that the self appears to be a unity to most people, and its structure indivisible, and invisible, because that structure is, or would be, to most people, so utterly disgusting. Far more so than the worst scenes in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

So here is my experience again. I find it easiest to explain my experience with the analogy of a ventriloquist since in retrospect it seems very similar. When my self fell apart, into its parts, I felt that I was experiencing a ventriloquism act with the following parts: (1) an enormous consciousness of proportion so vast as to be other-worldly (2) a listening persona (2) A speaking persona.

I felt the enormous consciousness, for a flash of an instant, to be my true self. It seemed that this enormous consciousness was engaging in something similar to a ventriloquism act in that he was throwing his voice and pretending to hear that voice from the perspective of a third person.

When looking at a ventriloquist's stage act we can forget that ventriloquists are pretending to be two people. ventriloquists fabulate two people. We notice that they are "throwing their voice" and giving their dummy a life of its own. We may forget however, even as we are watching a ventriloquist, that the real stage performer is usually pretending to be not only the dummy, but also pretending to be another persona by putting on feigned belief in the dummy, and fabulating or feigning a character that listens to and banters with the dummy's remarks.

The experience thus far can largely be understood by reference to one of Nina Conti's ventriloquism acts, where she makes it clear that one need not use a dummy to perform ventriloquism, and even suggests that the dummy-less-dummy or voice, is as real as the listener.

And so it was with my experience. It was *not* that I became aware of the "dummy". The "dummy" or rather just my interior narrative was myself, the self that I generally (these days and then) thought myself to be. I heard myself speak/think in much the same way as I always speak/think. The difference was that I suddenly realised who I was speaking to and why. I became aware of the act that the massive ventriloquists putting on, the listener that feigns interest. The worst part about it was the act that I was performing, for myself, "in my head", was auto-erotic, transsexual, and then some -- it was also incestuous.

"The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo," stopped short of portraying real incest and of course the incest that I discovered in my head (my soul/psyche/self) was not real. Lisbeth was a ward of the state and she was raped by her guardian. The Lisbeth-gardian parent-child relationship was in name only, but their sex was real. I found that I was chatting up a woman, not unlike a Listbeth or Nikita, that I was simulated in my head who was clearly based upon my own mother. I was cross-dressing as it were mentally and feigning a female listener to my self-narrative. While this listener never spoke, her (my) unspoken reaction to my self speak was clearly sympathetic, loving, in a mother-child and at the same time romantic way. I felt like the murderer in the famous Hitchcock movie, Psycho except that instead of dressing up as my mother, I was creating her in my brain.

The enormous consciousness that was witnessing the whole event was entirely aware of what was going on and he was disgusted, with me the speaker that I guess he was also inventing. Somehow, strangely, in that experience the blame fell on the narratival voice (me) despite the fact that, presumably, it was the consciousness that was pulling all the strings, and behind all the parts. Nonetheless that enormity was disgusted and angry with the nasty little voice and the hollow woman that he had in his mind.

That was most of my experience. Does my experience have anything other than one warped individual, or does it bear any similarity with the structure of the programs I am analysing, other than the fact that popular television series often have sexually twisted antagonists?

The greatest similarity for me between my experience and the television series is not the detectives but the women as mediums, intermediaries and Nikitas. The woman that I was fabulating, as my internal listener, was disgusting only because she turned out to be myself. I loved that fantasy with an expectant longing brighter and purer than the sun. It was only when she turned out to be myself that the passion and purity of my love, precisely because it was felt to be so passionate and pure, that the whole thing became so disgusting. My internal doll, my cranial perfect woman, had a distinct similarity to the characters portrayed in my previous blog posts -- to the Lisbeth's and Nikita's of modern fiction. It may help a little, perhaps, that I remembered my mother as a young woman as a rather spiky, depressive, and in some senses dark individual. The important point is not the reality but how I fabulated my mother. I think to a large extent I fabulated her as a Nikita, killa, wild, abused, fighting girl. In my experienced I realised that my listener was a fantasy and in that sense, hollow, programmed, a sort of doll, or robot, or alias, like many of the Nikita types that are seen on TV.

It seems to me that I have identified in my experience of 1/4 of a century ago, a sort of sex criminal and a hollow, programmed intermediary of a Nikita type figure.

Finally what of the super-sighed genius "Monk," or "Patrick Jane." To an extent the giant person that I discovered was a bit like that, the all seeing consciousness, the supernatural being (supernatural only in so far as he was not a voice-puppet) upon which Nikita was superimposed upon as a mask, that Nikita acted as a "Medium" for that entity which Nikita hid, just as she alone saw.

So I wonder if anyone else has a psyche as disgusting as mine, or whether I am just seeing coincidences where there aren't any.

Addendum

Having reread it seems to me that there is no way that I am going to persuade anyone that my self-structure is anything but an anomaly unless I give more reasons as to why it should be universal for theoretical reasons and or by seeking links between the genres of video that I am analysing.

There are several things that do not match up.

My female fantasy listened rather than spoke, but the female Medium or intermediary is often the spokesperson for the super or supernatural male.

The sex-criminal in my self-fantasy was felt to by speech (made human) or perhaps my giant consciousness self. The criminals in US television series do not necessarily speak, the Monk-like all seeing consciousness like detectives do not involve themselves in sex at all.

The other thing is, that my experience of the breakdown of myself was accompanied by my realisation that I was gay. I assumed therefore that non-gay persons would have different persona in their selves. I thought that heterosexual men might be modelling their father rather than their young, Nikita-like fantasy mother. The fact that I felt myself to be gay at the time I had my falling apart experience may reduce the applicability of the structure that I became aware of. I am not sure how.

The take-home conclusion of this post is, imho, we watch so many TV series about hollowed out abused girls, who are mediums and intermediaries for super savant males, that kill sex criminals because The Truth is in Here.

I have had another idea about why the woman is a murderer based upon Graham Swift's novel "The Light of Day," another book in this genre. Obvious really.

Images are copyright their respective copyright holders. Please please comment below or contact me via nihonbunka.com to have my remove any of these images.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech Genres and Other Late Essays. (V. W. McGee, Trans., C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Eds.) (Second Printing.). University of Texas Press. pubpages.unh.edu/~jds/BAKHTINSG.htm

Addendum (Big Mistake)

"My head" is inside my narrative and field of view, not the other way around! This is a very important point and the danger of the scientific worldview. The scientific world is a product of our narration as even some scientists a vow (Wheeler, Mach). Our head is also something we see in our field of view in mirrors, or our nose and brow directly. Our perceptions (including of our whispers) are not inside "me" or my body. To think so would be double death.

Seven Principles of Learning by Darren Kuropatwa

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These Seven Principles of Human Learning taken from the National Academies Press free ebook Learning and Understanding (2002).

Image licensed under Creative Commons by *Blunight 72*: www.flickr.com/photos/blunight72/164070593/

Eating block by Pigankle

16-bit RGB layered PSD w/max. compatibility file, 3504x2336 pixels (7.30x4.87 inches) @ 480.00 pixels/inch, written by Adobe Photoshop CS2

The Tao of the Sky in the Eye: Cosmic Background Radiation Anomalies and Asymmetries of the Visual Field by Timothy Takemoto

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The above top two images are pictures of cosmic background radiation, one provided the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and the second from top, a more recent image, is from the Planck probe in even higher resolution. WMAP and Planck were small spacecraft equipped with microwave telescopes, or receivers, sent out into deep space by NASA and the European Space agency respectively. The bottom two images show how the visual field is construed from two overlapping monocular fields (‘Visual Field’, n.d.), and a representation of my subjective visual field as I watch a detail from Van Gogh's Starry Night, complete with the occluding nose(s).

Recently, over the past 10 years, increasing evidence has been found that there are a number of anomalies in the cosmic background radiation that deviate, in structured ways, from a random (Gaussianly) distributed universe (see Trosper, 2014, for an excellent layman's introduction).

The universe appears to have a preferred alignment with which even our solar system conforms (Huterer, 2007). Groeneboom and Eriksen's (2009; see also Carroll, n.d.) analysis of the US WMAP data found two poles (shown as red dots in the image second from top).

More recent analyses of WMAP and Planck space probe data have found an jokily named "axis of evil" (Land & Magueijo, 2005; Aron, Jacob, 2013) which is shown in the second image above as a white line through the cosmic background radiation data. On each side of this axis there are statistically significant asymmetries in overall temperature (Yoho, Copi, Starkman, & Kosowsky, 2014), quasar light polarisation (Hutsemekers, 2014, slide 53-56), and right/left galaxy spin (Longo, 2007, 2008) prompting the latter author to suggest that the universe has a "handedness" about this "axis".

Since the WMAP and Planck probe data correspond with each other, even though collected from difference coordinates in different ways, it is unlikely that this is some "foreground" distortion produced by the measurement apparatus, or local interference such as the effect of our sun. This article will argue that the previous research has not considered the "foreground" at close-quarters enough.

These anomalies have seriously challenged the way that physicists see the universe, prompting one team to ask "Is everything we know about the universe wrong?" (Sawangwit & Shanks, 2010).

(Skip this bit till the line of asterisks ********** if you have read my other posts on this topic )

As already discussed, Ernst Mach, as well as Buddhist philosophers and Aristotle, have hypothesised that the stuff of the universe is our sensations (mind, soul) and specifically our visual field (Mach, 1897). According to this view, "things", "matter", "galaxies", "particles" are the theories and hypotheses that we have to explain sensations.

After reading Mach's phenomenalism, and the closely related Humian empiricism, Einstein postulated his theory of special relativity and the principle of invariant light speed (see Norton, 2010). As a consequence, there is a prohibition of motion faster than light. That the speed limit of the whole universe just so happens to be that of the fastest sense of recently evolved carbon based life form called "humans" on a cosmic speck called "the Earth" is no coincidence. This fortuitousness - which would otherwise be preposterous -- can easily be explained from a Machian holistic perspective (Takemoto, 2014). If the stuff of the universe is our sensations, then it is a tautology that nothing can go faster than the speed of our fastest sensation, light. As an interpretation of our visual field, the universe is of course made of this "light". Phenomenalist, empiricist reasoning of this type be used to explain other properties of the universe.

Particularly, (as discussed here) recent advances in string theory have suggests that the universe is flat, or "holographic," (Susskind, 1995) again, as is our visual field. The hypothesis that we live in a holograph is now being tested by the Fermi lab (Hogan, 2013) and the results are expected soon, but the fact that the universe is within 0.4% of flat has already by demonstrated by the WMAP CBR data (NASA/WMAP Science Team, 2012). If the universe is genuinely flat and three dimensionality an "emergent property" then for me this can not be explained in any non-Machian way: a flat "holographic universe" can only be an interpretation of our, human sensations. But there is still more evidence.

Still more recent research to explain the anomalies in the Cosmic Background Radiation data suggest that one way of of explaining some of the anomalies is to conclude that the universe is not spherical but ellipsoidal (Campanelli, Cea, Fogli, & Tedesco, 2011; Cea, 2014, see my earlier post). This theory does not seem to have caught on because physicists -- still convinced of a "The Matrix"-like, Kantian 'real world' out there, behind appearances, I presume -- can see no explanation as to why the universe should be elliptical. NASA astrophysicist Gary Hinshaw is quoted as saying, "It is actually difficult to understand how an ellipsoidal model would arise 'naturally' in cosmology, so the burden switches from explaining a very mild 'anomaly' to explaining a fundamentally new feature of our universe,"(Choi, Charles, Q, 2006).

*******************************************************************************

If the "universe" is our interpretation of our sensations and in particular the visual field, that vast ellipse of light that we find before (or engulfing) us, then it seems appropriate that the theory and data regarding the universe should conform to the subjective experience shown in the bottom image. Van Gogh's swirls suggest that he may have been able to see asymmetries in his visual perception. I am subjectively unaware of them, but research on visual perception demonstrates that such asymmetries exist.

I suggest therefore, that the anomalies in the cosmic background radiation data may be explained by consideration of asymmetries of the human visual field and visual cortex. Our visual field is formed from the unification of two roughly circular monocular two dimensional fields which means that is approximately elliptical.

Furthermore, it has been known for some time to psychologists and neuroscientists that there the visual field has horizontal and vertical asymmetric properties. For example there is left-right asymmetry in the processing of local and global visual information. Navon figures such as that below

T T T T

are processed faster globally (as in this case an L) in the left visual field and processed faster locally (as in the above case as a T) in the right visual field (Yovel, Yovel, & Levy, 2001; McKone et al., 2010).

This asymmetry in local and global processing parallels asymmetries in low versus high visuo-spatial frequency. "Spatial frequency refers to the number of dark-light cycles per unit of space - the more cycles per unit of space, the higher the spatial frequency (Hellige, 1996, p487)."

There are also differences in visual processing between the upper and lower parts of the human visual field (Genzano, Di Nocera, & Ferlazzo, 2001).

These vertical asymmetries sometimes match those found in the left-right asymmetry (e.g. Christman, 1993) where recognition of local features (the Ts in the above) of Navon figures is better in the upper left visual hemifields, than in the lower right.

In a different type of discrimination task Berardi & Fiorentini, (1991) found the opposite difference in ability but the same morphology. They write "The data shown in Fig. 1, A and B, confirm the previously observed asymmetry between the left and the right visual hemified, probably reflecting hemispheric specialization (Fiorentini & Berardi, 1984). A superiority of the lower hemifield with respect to the upper hemifield was also observed in the present discrimination task."

This and other results finding visual processing differences separated along an axis including the left and lower, as opposed to the right and upper quadrants of the visual field, presents a pattern of processing ability in the shape of a rotated 'S' axis or Taoism symbol similar to an inverted form of the CBR "axis of evil," where the left side is extended across the top, and the right side extended across the bottom. In other words, the Taoism symbol morphology appears to be shared by both the cosmos and human visual field/cortex. I argue that the morphological similarities between the visual field and the universe are in all cases, no coincidence. These asymmetries of the visual field may explain the different "temperature" of the hot and cool "lobes of the universe" (Huterer, 2007) on either side of the CBR "axis of evil."

I am probably imagining the similarity between the asymmetry of the laminar distribution in the human visual cortex (Eickhoff, Rottschy, Kujovic, Palomero-Gallagher, & Zilles, 2008) and the asymmetry of the WMAP and Planck CBR power spectrum (see Bennett et al., 2013, pp 37-38 and Francis, 2013 respectively), but the point of this article is that both are asymmetrical, have a similar morphology, and this is predicted by a phenomenalist, empiricist or holistic interpretation of both, really the same, sets of data (Takemoto, 2014). I don't seriously entertain this notion but perhaps the "cold spots" occluded by "supervoids" (Szapudi et al., others, 2015) found in the CBR map of the universe, might correspond to the blind spots in our visual field.

In other research on visual field asymmetries in mental rotation abilities, (Burton, Wagner, Lim, and Levy (1992) found that clockwise mental rotations are performed faster in the left visual field were counterclockwise rotations are performed faster in the right visual field. These visual processing asymmetries parallel the galaxy rotation asymmetries found by Longo (2007, 2008).

Finally to test this hypothesis I attempt to find a novel feature of the cosmic background data, predicted by research on the visual field. One of the most cited evolutionarily sound asymmetries in visual field processing, and the reason perhaps why bifocal glasses are so easy to adapt to, is that proposed by Previc (1990): the upper visual field is more adept at processing distant stimuli than the lower visual field. Is there a similar phenomena is present in the cosmic background data? I was initially unaware of any such parallel.

It would seem that the answer is very possibly yes. An anomalous "dark flow" (Kashlinsky, Atrio-Barandela, Kocevski, & Ebeling, 2009) of galaxies away from us into the distance. This happens to occur, fortuitously or not, in the upper half of diagrams of the cosmic background radiation. Some cosmologists are arguing that dark flow suggests the presents of another universe sucking galaxies into the distance. Others have argued that the movement suggests that the universe is at a tilt (Atrio-Barandela, Kashlinsky, Ebeling, Kocevski, & Edge, 2012). If part, and in some sense the "upper part" of the universe were to found to be tilted away then this might correspond to the way in which the visual field is titled in its specialization toward foreground and distant visual processing. The dark flow anomaly remains controversial but one of the main proponents Dr. Kashlinsky is quoted as saying "This flow suggested that the universe had somehow become lopsided, as if space-time itself was behaving like a tilted table and matter was sliding off" (Maggine, McKee, 2013). I rest my case.

Conclusion

In any event, as science finds more similarities between experience and the universe as a whole, we shall perhaps be persuaded that the distant stars are, in a sense, not so distant at all. I am not of course suggesting that will suddenly be able to touch the stars. But to be realistic, there should be a reversal in our understanding of the nature of the universe. Sensations are often thought of as data to help us understand the rational scientific universe "out there" (e.g. Jackson, 1986) . It is really rather the case that, as Mach (1897) and Hume (1739) argued, that the rational scientific universe is a matrix of information and hypotheses, blather not matter, that serves to facilitate our understand our sensations, the stuff, the being of the universe.

Afterword

As always, I end by asking, what keeps the the stars out there? What separates us from the world? I suggest it is because we think we have someone with us as we watch our sensations, the stars. This convinces us that the Kantian 'thing it itself' is more than a hypothesis, more than a kind of simulation or role playing game .

This suggestion may seem a very depressing solipsism each being trapped inside our own private black hole. But it could also be argued, on the contrary, that the unreal "spirit of gravity" (Nietzsche, 2006) with whom I pretend to converse, prevents me from realising that universe of which I am a part, is itself part of the multiverse (Good, 1972), and that we are connected. In the words of Terrence Mallick, (Malick, 1999) we each stand in the others light.

Image second from bottom

www.vision-and-eye-health.com/visual-field.html

Should you wish that I cease and desist please be so kind as to comment below or contact me via the email link at nihonbunka.com

Bibliography

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Bennett, C. L., Larson, D., Weiland, J. L., Jarosik, N., Hinshaw, G., Odegard, N., … Wright, E. L. (2013). Nine-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Final Maps and Results. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 208(2), 20. doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/208/2/20

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Campanelli, L., Cea, P., Fogli, G. L., & Tedesco, L. (2011). Anisotropic dark energy and ellipsoidal universe. International Journal of Modern Physics D, 20(06), 1153–1166. doi.org/10.1142/S021827181101927X

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Eickhoff, S. B., Rottschy, C., Kujovic, M., Palomero-Gallagher, N., & Zilles, K. (2008). Organizational Principles of Human Visual Cortex Revealed by Receptor Mapping. Cerebral Cortex, 18(11), 2637–2645. doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhn024

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Groeneboom, N. E., & Eriksen, H. K. (2009). Bayesian analysis of sparse anisotropic universe models and application to the 5-yr WMAP data. The Astrophysical Journal, 690(2), 1807–1819. doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/690/2/1807

Hellige, J. B. (1996). Hemispheric asymmetry for visual information processing. Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis, 56, 485–497. Retrieved from www.rozjec.ane.pl/pdf/56056.pdf

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Philosophical Thoughts of Mindfulness by buddhadog

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A Couple of Haiku Notes:

==============================

Intuitive thought

the beginning of wisdom

learn how to use it

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It's all intrinsic

thoughts about the eightfold path

having mindfulness

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1. Right View

2. Right Intention

3. Right Speech

4. Right Action

5. Right Livelihood

6. Right Effort

7. Right Mindfulness

8. Right Concentration

Szondi Test with Pictures That Will Reveal Your Deepest Hidden by Hughes Songe

Creepy despite everything beautiful

Szondi Test with Pictures That Will Reveal Your Deepest Hidden Self BY ANNA LEMIND MAY 22, 2014 PSYCHOLOGY & HEALTH, SELF-KNOWLEDGE & PERSONALITY TESTS The test was designed in the 20th century by the Hungarian psychiatrist Leopold Szondi. The aim was to explore the deepest repressed impulses of a person on the basis of sympathy or aversion caused by the specific photos of psychopaths. The test is based on the general notion that the characteristics that bother us in others are those that caused aversion to ourselves at an early stage of our life and that’s why we repress them. Here are some psychology terms you need to know before starting the test: Repression: According to the psychoanalytic concept, this is the most important psychological defense mechanism we have. Its most important function is to transfer thoughts and desires we are uncomfortable with to our unconscious. Denial: It is a mental process by which we absolutely refuse our deepest impulses (ie things we want), adopting the exact opposite pattern of the desired behavior. Sublimation: the process of transfer of our repressed choices, states or behaviors to the ones that are socially acceptable or useful, such as artistic activities, hobbies, professional choices, harmless little habits etc. Instructions Look at the portraits of these eight people and choose the one you would never want to meet at night in the dark, because his or her appearance causes disgust and fear in you. Then read the interpretation that corresponds to the number of the portrait you chose. IMPORTANT: please don’t misunderstand the results of the test, which don’t imply that you have a kind of mental disorder, since the test was designed to make an assumption about the possible repressed impulses of each type of personality in accordance with the psychoanalysis theory. The original test included 6 sets of 8 portraits of people, each of whom had been classified as homosexual, a sadist, an epileptic, an hysteric, a katatonic, a schizophrenic, a depressive and a maniac. Here is a minor version of the test, which includes only one set of portraits, since it is very difficult to provide the full version of it with all the possible interpretations in one blog post. Interpretations 1) Sadist Repression You are likely to have repressed some experiences from the first years of life associated with authoritarianism in your behavior, a need to dominate and a propensity for bad intentions. If you chose the portrait of this teacher may have repressed some offensive or demeaning to other behaviors in your unconscious. Denial You are likely to be a completely harmless and peaceful creature, always ready to help others. If you are an office worker, your superiors may find it difficult to handle you. When you do not want to do something, you create barriers (for example, getting late to work or showing that you are in a bad mood). Often, when you have to defend yourself, you choose passive resistance and defiance, which in the long term exhaust those who created problems for you. 2) Epileptic Repression When we talk about personality disorders associated with brain disease, damage and dysfunction (as occurs in some cases of epilepsy), some of the diagnostic features can be impulsiveness, irritability, the outbursts of anger and aggression. If this stout gentleman with a round head caused revulsion and fear in you, it is likely that early in your childhood you repressed some of such feelings and behaviors to your subconscious. Denial It is most likely that you are a kind and peaceful person. Being meek and friendly, you give the impression of a responsible and self-controlled person. You are stable in your feelings and easily bond with people, ideas and objects. 3) Katatonic Repression Some features of this mental disorder is the excessive stimulation of imagination and cognition in general and negativism. If this unshaven but smiling gentleman caused negative feelings in you, you may have repressed some hyperactivity of your mind, which could make you lose touch with reality if it had not been transferred to your unconscious. Denial You tend to adopt stereotypical behaviors and do not like innovations and changes. Maybe you’re the type of timid and diffident person, who finds it particularly difficulte to adapt to new situations. Your biggest fear is to lose self-control. You are a bit stiff, often defensive and perhaps inhibited person who never deviates from the ‘behavior codex’. 4) Schizophrenic Repression The schizophrenic personality is characterized by intense apathy, distortions of thought and incompatible emotions. If this impassive gaze and poker face gave you goose bumps, you probably repressed a feeling of indifference towards others and withdrawal from things and events at an early stage of your childhood. Denial You are probably quite a sociable person. You believe in socializing and communication with others, enjoying your companies and going out often. The sociability is rather misleading and perhaps hides an isolated person who lives with the feeling of being always alone. Your relationships may seem impersonal and superficial, as if they lack the true feeling. Deep down, you may feel that you do not need others and coexistence with them. 5) Hysteric Repression Some personality traits of hysterical people are superficial and unstable emotions, narcissism and exhibitionism. If chose this strange lady with heavy eyelids as the person that scares you most of all, maybe it’s because you have repressed an insatiable desire to captivate attention and a thirst for approval. Denial You give the impression of a modest person with intense inwardness. However, in reality, seeming a quiet and shy person, you may be possessed of an overpowering and excessive desire to charm others. You meticulously take care of your appearance and behavior. For example, you always try to be elegant and well-dressed, complementing your clothes with accessories that attract the attention of others. Sublimation Such people are likely to choose a rare/extravagant profession or hobby. 6) Depressive Repression Lack of self-esteem, feelings of inferiority and guilt are the main symptoms of depression. The fact that this harmless being is an incarnation of aversion for you may mean that you are a deeply depressed person who manages to have these symptoms under control. Denial Perhaps you are an outgoing and carefree person. You always show dynamism, confidence and optimism. Sometimes, of course, you get upset and can manifest dysthymia and melancholy (“sad clown syndrome”). You can also be suspicious and morose. Sublimation It is very likely that shift your depressive tendencies to assuming the role of everybody’s psychologist, searching for solutions to other people’s problems. 7) Maniac Repression Some diagnostic features of mania are extroversion, overstimulation, overestimation of self and a waste of money and emotions. If this kind face seems disgusting to you, it probably means that inside you there is a kind of excitement which, if not controlled, would transform you into a fanatic mystic. Denial You are very likely to be a person who does not want to provoke with his/her behavior and who detests noise, extremes and excesses. You are an example of discretion, restraint and measure. Being logical and thrifty, you always have a fully controlled behavior. 8) Dissociative identity disorder Repression This kind of personality is expressed in a person’s desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex. If this young man seems dangerous and depraved to you, perhaps early in your childhood you repressed an identity problem or more specifically a problem about your gender identity. Denial If the defense mechanism of denial worked, you may have a tendency to emphatically confirm your biological sex. In this case, your behaviors, maners and appearance emphasize that you are a real man or a real woman. If you’re a man, you are very “macho”, and if you are a woman, you always try to look sexy and seek to flirt and attract men.

www.learning-mind.com/szondi-test-with-pictures-that-will...

Cybernetic Systems Theory by buddhadog

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Cybernetics and Systems Science (also: "(General) Systems Theory" or "Systems Research") constitute a somewhat fuzzily defined academic domain, that touches virtually all traditional disciplines, from mathematics, technology and biology to philosophy and the social sciences. It is more specifically related to the recently developing "sciences of complexity", including AI, neural networks, dynamical systems, chaos, and complex adaptive systems. Its history dates back to the 1940's and 1950's when thinkers such as Wiener, von Bertalanffy, Ashby and von Foerster founded the domain through a series of interdisciplinary meetings.

Systems theory or systems science argues that however complex or diverse the world that we experience, we will always find different types of organization in it, and such organization can be described by concepts and principles which are independent from the specific domain at which we are looking. Hence, if we would uncover those general laws, we would be able to analyse and solve problems in any domain, pertaining to any type of system. The systems approach distinguishes itself from the more traditional analytic approach by emphasizing the interactions and connectedness of the different components of a system. Although the systems approach in principle considers all types of systems, it in practices focuses on the more complex, adaptive, self-regulating systems which we might call "cybernetic".

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Cybernetics is a transdisciplinary approach for exploring regulatory systems, their structures, constraints, and possibilities. In the 21st century, the term is often used in a rather loose way to imply "control of any system using technology;"

Cybernetics is relevant to the study of systems, such as mechanical, physical, biological, cognitive, and social systems. Cybernetics is applicable when a system being analyzed incorporates a closed signaling loop; that is, where action by the system generates some change in its environment and that change is reflected in that system in some manner (feedback) that triggers a system change, originally referred to as a "circular causal" relationship.

System dynamics, a related field, originated with applications of electrical engineering control theory to other kinds of simulation models (especially business systems) by Jay Forrester at MIT in the 1950s.

Concepts studied by cyberneticists include, but are not limited to: learning, cognition, adaptation, social control, emergence, communication, efficiency, efficacy, and connectivity. These concepts are studied by other subjects such as engineering and biology, but in cybernetics these are abstracted from the context of the individual organism or device.

Norbert Wiener defined cybernetics in 1948 as "the scientific study of control and communication in the animal and the machine." The word cybernetics comes from Greek κυβερνητική (kybernetike), meaning "governance", i.e., all that are pertinent to κυβερνάω (kybernao), the latter meaning "to steer, navigate or govern", hence κυβέρνησις (kybernesis), meaning "government", is the government while κυβερνήτης (kybernetes) is the governor or the captain. Contemporary cybernetics began as an interdisciplinary study connecting the fields of control systems, electrical network theory, mechanical engineering, logic modeling, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, anthropology, and psychology in the 1940s, often attributed to the Macy Conferences. During the second half of the 20th century cybernetics evolved in ways that distinguish first-order cybernetics (about observed systems) from second-order cybernetics (about observing systems). More recently there is talk about a third-order cybernetics (doing in ways that embraces first and second-order).

Fields of study which have influenced or been influenced by cybernetics include game theory, system theory (a mathematical counterpart to cybernetics), perceptual control theory, sociology, psychology (especially neuropsychology, behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology), philosophy, architecture, and organizational theory.

.................................................................................. Wikipedia

What if I wake up one day and I'm not violent anymore? by al shep

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Enhancement of our mental powers belongs to highly evolved age by Hughes Songe

Goethe's approach to understanding nature: quotes from his writings

“After what I have seen of plants and fish in Naples and Sicily, I would be tempted — were I ten years younger — to undertake a journey to India, not to discover something new, but to view in my way what has been discovered.”Goethe (CH; Letter to Knebel, summer 1787)

“If we want to behold nature in a living way, we must follow her example and becomes as mobile and malleable as nature herself.”Goethe (CH; in Miller, p. 64)“There is a delicate empiricism that makes itself utterly identical with the object, thereby becoming true theory. But this enhancement of our mental powers belongs to a highly evolved age.”Goethe (in Miller, p. 307)“... Dr. Heinroth speaks favorably of my work; in fact, he calls my approach unique, for he says that my thinking works objectively. Here he means that my thinking is not separate from objects; that the elements of the object, the perceptions of the object, flow into my thinking and are fully permeated by it; that my perception itself is a thinking, and my thinking a perception.”Goethe (in Miller, p. 39)“If I look at the created object, inquire into its creation, and follow this process back as far as I can, I will find a series of steps. Since these are not actually seen together before me, I must visualize them in my memory so that they form a certain ideal whole.”At first I will tend to think in terms of steps, but nature leaves no gaps, and thus, in the end, I will have to see this progression of uninterrupted activity as a whole. I can do so by dissolving the particular without destroying the impression ...“If we imagine the outcome of these attempts, we will see that empirical observation finally ceases, inner beholding of what develops begins, and the idea can be brought to expression.”Goethe (in Miller p. 75)“[Morphology's] intention is to portray rather than explain.”Goethe (in Miller p. 57)“We conceive of the individual animal as a small world, existing for its own sake, by its own means. Every creature is its own reason to be. All its parts have a direct effect on one another, a relationship to one another, thereby constantly renewing the circle of life; thus we are justified in considering every animal physiologically perfect. Viewed from within, no part of the animal — as so often thought — is a useless or arbitrary product of the formative impulse.”Goethe (in Miller, p. 121) Goethe on Experimentation and Making Judgments (From “The Experiment as Mediator Between Object and Subject,” written in 1772; in Miller pp. 11-17.) “We can never be too careful in our efforts to avoid drawing hasty conclusions from experiments or using them directly as proof to bear out some theory. For here at this pass, this transition from empirical evidence to judgment, cognition to application, all the inner enemies of man lie in wait: imagination, which sweeps him away on his wings before he knows his feet have left the ground; impatience; haste; self-satisfaction; rigidity; formalistic thought; prejudice; ease; frivolity; fickleness — this whole throng and its retinue. Here they lie in ambush and surprise not only the active observer but also the contemplative one who appears safe from all passion.”

“I would venture to say we cannot prove anything by one experiment or even several experiments together, that nothing is more dangerous than the desire to prove some thesis directly through experiments. ... Every piece of empirical evidence we find, every experiment in which this evidence is repeated, really represents just one part of what we know. ... Every piece of empirical evidence, every experiment, must be viewed as isolated, yet the human faculty of thought forcibly strives to unite all external objects known to it. ...”

“We often find that the more limited the data, the more artful a gifted thinker will become. As though to assert his sovereignty he chooses a few agreeable favorites from the limited number of facts and skillfully marshals the rest so they never contradict him directly. Finally he is able to confuse, entangle, or push aside the opposing facts and reduce the whole to something more like the court of a despot than a freely constituted republic.”

natureinstitute.org/about/who/goethe.htm

Pica pica by Timur Sungurtekin

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Pica pica

Avrasya saksağanı

Eurasian magpie or common magpie

Pie bavarde

Elster

The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, and it is believed to be one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals. The expansion of its nidopallium is approximately the same in its relative size as the brain of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans. It is the only bird known to pass the mirror test, along with very few other non-avian species.

The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies. In Europe, "magpie" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the Eurasian magpie: the only other magpie in Europe is the Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki), which is limited to the Iberian Peninsula.

The Eurasian magpie is almost identical in appearance to the North American black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia) and at one time the two species were considered to be conspecific.[ In 2000, the American Ornithologists' Union decided to treat the black-billed magpie as a separate species based on studies of the vocalization and behaviour that indicated that the black-billed magpie was closer to the yellow-billed magpie (Pica nuttalli) than to the Eurasian magpie

Etymology

The prefix "mag" dates from the 16th century and comes from the short form of the given name Margaret, which was once used to mean women in general (as Joe or Jack is used for men today); the pie's call was considered to sound like the idle chattering of a woman, and so it came to be called the "Mag pie". "Pie" as a term for the bird dates to the 13th century, and the word "pied", first recorded in 1552, became applied to other birds that resembled the magpie in having black-and-white plumage.

Feeding

The magpie is omnivorous, eating young birds and eggs, small mammals, insects, scraps and carrion, acorns, grain, and other vegetable substances.

Intelligence

The Eurasian magpie is believed to be not only among the most intelligent of birds, but also among the most intelligent of all animals. Along with the western jackdaw, the Eurasian magpie's nidopallium is approximately the same relative size as those in chimpanzees and humans and significantly larger than the gibbons. Like other corvids, such as ravens and crows, their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to most great apes and cetaceans. A 2004 review suggests that the intelligence of the corvid family to which the Eurasian magpie belongs is equivalent to that of the great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans) in terms of social cognition, causal reasoning, flexibility, imagination and prospection.

Magpies have been observed engaging in elaborate social rituals, possibly including the expression of grief. Mirror self-recognition has been demonstrated in European magpies, making them one of only a few species known to possess this capability. The cognitive abilities of the Eurasian magpie are regarded as evidence that intelligence evolved independently in both corvids and primates. This is indicated by tool use, an ability to hide and store food across seasons, episodic memory, and using their own experience to predict the behavior of conspecifics. Another behaviour exhibiting intelligence is cutting their food in correctly sized proportions for the size of their young. In captivity, magpies have been observed counting up to get food, imitating human voices, and regularly using tools to clean their own cages. In the wild, they organise themselves into gangs and use complex strategies hunting other birds and when confronted by predators.

Status

The Eurasian magpie has an extremely large range. The European population is estimated to be between 7.5 and 19 million breeding pairs. Allowing for the birds breeding in other continents, the total population is estimated to be between 46 and 228 million individuals. The population trend in Europe has been stable since 1980. There is no evidence of any serious overall decline in numbers, so the species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of Least Concern.

Reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_magpie

MFA Project: "The Ohio" Quarter Progess by Abdul Sharif

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The Ohio River stretches nearly one thousand miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cairo, Illinois and is home to more than one-hundred and sixty species of fish. As the second largest river in the United States, the Ohio River travels through areas populated by nearly twenty-five million people.

Over the years, the Ohio River has changed drastically. A lot of the fishing spots that existed when I was young have been transformed into high priced marinas, and construction has forever changed the face of the river I once knew. Many of the negative cognitions associated with the Ohio River are also due to the environmental issues that plague it. And while it is true that the Ohio River tops the nation for the most contaminated discharge, I have discovered that the river still possesses an immeasurable beauty and plays a critical role in the growing economy of the Ohio Valley region.

The purpose of this work is to create portraits of the many facets of the Ohio River—including urbanization, industry and the many people who utilize the river recreationally and agriculturally. It is my hope that this work can show how the Ohio River continues to thrive despite the many environmental issues that affect it.

This series is dedicated to my father, Hassan Sharif

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