The identification of the present, not as a hectic shimmer of zeptoseconds but a series of temporal clearings where one might deeply linger, originates in the Buddhist concept of “sati”, understood as “moment to moment awareness of present events”. - The Guardian
About two million people call Mecca home, and while there are concessions to the city's sacredness — no movie theaters, no loud music at celebrations, and the malls are small by Gulf standards — Meccans live much like other Saudis. - AP
When did the so-called narrative turn—the doctrine of narrative supremacy—go mainstream? “At a certain point in history, people started saying, ‘We are born storytellers,’ ” the novelist Amit Chaudhuri said at a 2018 symposium he convened called “Against Storytelling.” - The New Yorker
The ideal of nature as it used to be before human intervention and before we introduced what we now call “invasive species” is one that Western urbanites created in the late nineteenth century, chiefly as a foil for their own modernity. - The New Atlantis
Remember when it was a sign of, like, total rebellion to blow a huge bubble on screen? Well, that time is long gone - and the pandemic has helped kill off what was left. - The Atlantic
Sure, you can blame ChatGPT etc., but: "The pressure to sell one’s race and race-based adversity to colleges will compel students to write like chatbots. Tired platitudes about race angled to persuade admissions officers will crowd out more individual, creative approaches." - The Atlantic
Fortunately, there is a formula to solve this problem without unrealistically suggesting that we dispense entirely with our competitive urge: Instead of always going for gold, shoot for the bronze. - The Atlantic
The study showed that "while people with higher intelligence scores solved the easy problems quicker, they took longer to solve the difficult ones, apparently because they spent more time inferring hidden rules before reaching the correct solution." - Big Think
Readers interested in isms—feudalism, imperialism, capitalism, etc.—won’t find these subjects explicitly discussed. Rather, the author addresses the faceless structures of human existence by writing about who advocated for and implemented them, and who benefited from or suffered under them. - Wall Street Journal
The science of bioacoustics opens up a novel window into worlds of sound unheard by human ears. Across our planet, sound is a primordial form of conveying complex ecological information; a vast range of species — even those without ears — are remarkably sensitive to sound. - Noema
People have believed in this moral decline at least since pollsters started asking about it in 1949, they believe it in every single country that has ever been surveyed (59 and counting), they believe that it’s been happening their whole lives and they believe it’s still happening today. - The New York Times
Despite a vast effort, researchers still don’t understand how our brains produce it, however. “It started off as a very big philosophical mystery. But over the years, it’s gradually been transmuting into, if not a ‘scientific’ mystery, at least one that we can get a partial grip on scientifically.” - Nature
It's now clear that practically everything Web technology touches starts down the path to gratis. Basic economics tells us that in a competitive market, price falls to marginal cost. There's never been a more competitive market than the Internet, and every day the marginal cost of digital information comes closer to nothing. - Wired
Travel gets branded as an achievement: see interesting places, have interesting experiences, become interesting people. Is that what it really is? - The New Yorker
Elizabeth Alexander: Art "has to start from a place of finding the truth: What is the light that you’re trying to share? Then, what does your craft allow you to do with it? I think what is beautiful contains within it human exchange." - Fast Company
