A wise friend, something of a mystic and a channeler, recently described to me an encounter she had with a non-sentient being who passed through her consciousness some time earlier. In the midst of this mystical encounter with an energy that can only be described as “other” and yet not, she heard a voice in […]
Science
Old is Old, Dude (and Other Gender Curiosities)
Every once in a while I find a news bit that makes me feel that there may be some justice after all. This is particularly true in regard to the biological destiny (imperative?) that differentiates males and females. This piece, originally from the New York Times magazine, addresses how the perceived differences in prime breeding […]
The (un)Greening of our Brains
This is a very long article by Jon Gertner from the Sunday Times, but it is full of fascinating insights and worth the read if you have the time. I’ve included the first section but to continue reading, go to the Times site link at the bottom. Two days after Barack Obama was sworn in […]
All About the Gist
God bless Natalie Angier. One of the Times’ best science writers, her topics are so, well, topical. She reassures me time and time again by stepping up and owning her mental failings—which often correspond to those I possess as well—and thereby soothing my concerns that if she can still be scintillating and bright in spite […]
Context is King
Last week I ran into two separate articles, more scientific than philosophical, that open up much larger questions for consideration. Below are some salient extracts from each. The first is an article from Newsweek by Sharon Begley: Alas, poor Darwin. By all rights, 2009 should be his year, as books, museums and scholarly conclaves celebrate […]
Catching Some Happy
OK. This is just a bit hard for me to swallow. My friends’ friends’ friends are impacting my happiness quotient? Are social contagions real, like obesity and smoking? And if these findings are in fact “true” (whatever that means) is there a moral obligation in all this as well? Weakened from my bout of FP […]
The Big E
Very interesting article on Slate about the emotion I crave most from everything in life—politics, friendships, painting, food, sex—and with a wonderful name all its own: Elevation. (I always did love that song by Bono of the same name…) And near the end there is a discussion of elevation’s counterweight, disgust. This is particularly poignant […]
- Architecture
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Renzo Piano’s Latest Hit: California Academy of Sciences
Renzo Piano’s California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco has all the makings of a destination building. Think of this as the Bilbao of the science museum world. Legends about its remarkable genesis are already circulating: One we heard was that when Piano visited the existing structure in Golden Gate Park (a building I remember […]
Schooled by Sand
I just returned from three days in Maine. My friend Katie is part of a family that has been going to the same hidden spot–Maine’s largest stretch of undeveloped shoreline–for four generations, and it is through her that I came to know and love this exquisitely unpopulated, shimmeringly pristine beach. Everything here revolves around the […]
Gender Blues
This presidential campaign year has seen a morphing of many of the gender issues that have circulated in our culture for nearly 40 years. I have watched this play out in the political arena with feelings of anger, amazement, frustration and, most recently, a profound sense of hopelessness. As a topic, gender is still radioactive. […]