Brain Scientists Haven’t Found Major Differences Between Women’s And Men’s Brains In Over A Century Of Trying

By Ari Berkowitz/The Conversation

People have searched for sex differences in human brains since at least the 19th century, when scientist Samuel George Morton poured seeds and lead shot into human skulls to measure their volumes.
Gustave Le Bon found men’s brains are usually larger than women’s, which prompted Alexander Bains and George Romanes to argue this size difference makes men smarter. But John Stuart Mill pointed out that, by this criterion, elephants and whales should be smarter than people.

Posted on August 15, 2020

Joan Mitchell’s City Landscape

By The Art Institute of Chicago

‘In City Landscape, painted in 1955, a tangle of various colors – pale pink, scarlet, mustard, sienna and black – evoke the streets of a bustling metropolis. The spontaneous energy conveyed in the composition is at odds with Mitchell’s slow and deliberate process.’

I paint a little, then I sit and look at the painting, sometimes for hours. Eventually, the painting tells me what to do.

Posted on August 10, 2020

History Of The U.S. Postal Inspection Service

By The U.S. Postal Inspection Service

An in-depth look at the rich history of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service – the oldest federal law enforcement agency.

Posted on August 8, 2020

Now You Can Speak At Your Own Funeral

By Speak At Your Own Funeral

Have you ever thought about writing your own obituary? How about speaking at your own funeral? Now the public can.
A new Utah company (www.SpeakatYourOwnFuneral.com) allows consumers to literally speak at their own funeral – virtually. They will come to the client’s home and create a five- to ten-minute video document that family can then show at the actual funeral or memorial service. They also give their clients a longer, less edited version with the additional details, stories and sometimes even humorous out-takes less appropriate for the funeral.

Posted on August 5, 2020

Suffering With Stoics & Cynics

By E.K. Mam

To mock or to remain indifferent? Convince the world they’re wrong or change what’s wrong about yourself? Cynicism and Stoicism are two ancient Greek philosophies that have a long history together, with the former influencing the latter. The colloquial terms “cynic” and “stoic” are both different from the classical meanings. Colloquial cynic refers to a distrusting and snarky individual, while colloquial stoic refers to a cold and emotionless individual. In this column, I’ll be focusing on the classical definitions.
The Stoics believed in self-mastery through wisdom, courage, justice and temperance. Unlike the modern interpretation, classical Stoicism is not meant to eradicate all feelings; however, it aims to control the irrational, toxic emotions that lead to suffering.
Cynicism is marked by its disdain and ridicule of society, particularly the socially accepted conventions of fame, money and power. According to Cynics, indulgence, desire and ignorance are the three main causes of human suffering.

Posted on August 1, 2020

Fixing The ADA

By Jill Richardson/Other Words

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrated its 30th birthday this July. Three decades ago, the ADA represented a huge step forward for the rights of people with disabilities. In 2020, it’s time to advance even further.

Posted on July 30, 2020

Henri Matisse’s Bathers By A River

By The Art Institute of Chicago

‘Started in 1909 and completed in 1917, Henri Matisse originally painted this work as a pastoral scene, but over the next decade transformed it into the cubist-inflected composition seen today. When the painting was acquired by the Art Institute in 1953, Matisse told the museum’s director that he viewed the painting as one of his five most pivotal works.’

Posted on July 29, 2020

Ahhh, So That’s Who Rosalind Franklin Is

By Richard Gunderman/The Conversation

What do coal, viruses and DNA have in common? The structures of each – the predominant power source of the early 20th century; one of the most remarkable forms of life on Earth; and the master molecule of heredity – were all elucidated by one person. Her name was Rosalind Franklin, and the story of her triumph over sexism and rise to scientific greatness is made even more remarkable by the fact that she lived only 37 years.
In Franklin’s day, sexism ran rampant in science. Her own father, judging science no career for a woman, actively discouraged her aspirations.
Her doctoral supervisor at Cambridge, eventual Nobel Laureate Ronald G.W. Norrish, called her “stubborn and difficult to supervise” and offered little support.
James Watson, whose Nobel Prize hinged in large part on her work, referred to her in his memoir as “Rosy” (against her preference), and stated that, because of her “belligerent moods,” colleagues knew she “either had to go or be put in her place.”
Despite the attitudes of those around her, Franklin maintained her scientific acumen and thirst for knowledge, crucially contributing to one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century.

Posted on July 27, 2020

Simply Cynicism

By E.K. Mam

Upon hearing “cynic,” what comes to mind? A snarky, arrogant, disillusioned person with a know-it-all-attitude, claiming that the thing preventing the world from being a better place is the greedy and corruptive nature of humans, perhaps? That’s one definition of “cynic,” but there are two. There’s the first, written with a lowercase c, that refers to a person with a pessimistic, distrusting view of society. This is the definition that’s used most colloquially, and the one we see most often in films, TV, and everyday life.
There is, however, one more definition. Capital c Cynics are those who follow the ancient Greek philosophy, Cynicism, described by Simply Philosophy as “a “natural way of life, asceticism, and individual virtue.” Cynics, SP says, felt “a demonstrative disdain for accepted norms and traditions that interfere with the solution of pragmatic tasks and those that are of little use in a practical sense.” Or, as the BBC 4 podcast In Our Time explains, Cynics wanted to “expose the meaninglessness of society.”

Posted on July 23, 2020

Jesus Was Not White

By Anna Swartwood House/The Conversation

The portrayal of Jesus as a white, European man has come under renewed scrutiny during this period of introspection over the legacy of racism in society.
As protesters called for the removal of Confederate statues in the U.S., activist Shaun King went further, suggesting that murals and artwork depicting “white Jesus” should “come down.”
His concerns about the depiction of Christ and how it is used to uphold notions of white supremacy are not isolated. Prominent scholars and the archbishop of Canterbury have called to reconsider Jesus’ portrayal as a white man.

Posted on July 20, 2020

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