Poetry, Dignity and Art

 Art is a daughter of freedom

Friedrich Schiller

At a time when I had tasked myself to learn world literature and focus on the best and greatest humanity has produced, I learned about Friedrich Schiller, a German poet, philosopher, physician and humanist who lived during Germany's enlightenment movement in the 18th century. A time when art and beauty and its pursuits influenced society.

"Schiller (1759–1805) and his close friend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were the primary proponents of Weimar Classicism (roughly 1786–1805). This movement was a form of Neohumanism that synthesized the strict rationalism of the Enlightenment and the emotional intensity of Sturm und Drang, with a focus on classical aesthetic principles, harmony, and humanistic ideals"

There was a slight countermovement called German Romanticism that glorified nature,mysticism to an idealized point. Casper DavidFriedrich was but one of its painters. 

Geniuses of their time, who also pursued morals and ethics as human goals.

When I initially traveled to many of the most stunning places in Europe I tried to retrace these heavy weights of literature and the arts.

Among them was a building with a statue of Schiller in front of it and the inscription:

Spa building

"The dignity of mankind has been placed in your hands. Preserve it! It sinks with you! With you it will ascend!"

Friedrich Schiller

I remember that I was moved and motivated. The inscription was placed there in or about 1907. I was inspired to continue to celebrate the arts and human dignity and that the intervening years had brought incremental positive changes. The building had served as a theater in a city known for its healing thermal water and baths. I left happy and impressed with a feeling that somehow everything was moving toward a positive future.

When I revisited several years ago, I had lost the idealism of my youth. The world had changed. The inscription had turned into words that no longer moved me. I felt demoralized. A building that was beautiful was just a building. The site no more than a tourist spot. The beautiful entrance led to a casino (built in 1949). In the past I would have learned about which muse the sculptures represent. It seemed pointless and irrelevant.

There is a statue of Schiller in Lincoln Park Chicago placed there in the late 19th century. 

Despite Schillers words and the sentiment of his time, I thought of how a political party had twisted the beauty and art of German thinkers poets and artists to represent their ideology, using German Romanticism as the representation of its ideology. Blemished and diminished so much achievement. Decades later, AI is reproducing imagery of gaudy idealism, reminiscent of Otto Runge and his cherubs.

Here we are again.

The inscription seemed meaningless, the caution unheaded. I walked away watching people with little baskets carry groceries and flowers. Others walking their dogs, while I was feeling cognitive dissonance.

History repeats itself, eventually it swings back in its cycle. I hang on to that. After all the beautiful building still stands. The inscription still exists. Older, I did get to revisit. Maybe, meaning will return as well.

Ageing and brain health

 This is a decent article based on a new study:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgl6klez226o

I attended a neuroscience class in which the neuroscientists asked at what age neurons start to die. Students raised their arms and guessed mostly 20s. I raised my arm and guessed 40s. Self-satisfied the scientist declared it was shortly after birth. That was some time ago and it turned out that I was more right than him.

Knowledge changes as new studies and new technology add to previous knowledge. I have not read the actual Cambridge study yet, but it's heading in the right direction. However, it's only 4000 people and 100000 is the general minimum to reflect society. How many where healthy? How many were retired at 65? How many were lifelong learners? How many continued to learn new things? How was their nutrition to build those neurons? (Including glucose, the brain loves sweets to think and grow).

Science fact: While the brain is not a muscle it needs to be exercised. People who were polymaths as children and engaged in hobbies that ranged widely are less likely to get dementia and even less likely to get Alzheimers. So someone who knits their entire life and then takes a woodworking class would force new neuronal connections and it generally takes three months to do so. They would benefit more than someone who starts crocheting after knitting.

The brain is hardwired to learn languages. Especially at an early age. For reasons that are still not understood speaking three or more proficiently is also a protective factor. Of note is that cognitive decline in the older population (80 and above) causes many to revert to their native language which actually requires less effort.

Whatever the new activity is it needs to be challenging.

The brain unfortunately prunes neurons that have not been used in a while and it may be the reason that we see a cognitive decline with aging. We also have a tendency to be less motivated, so it turns into chicken vs. egg scenario. People who enjoy hiking will continue to do it into old age, but might not be inclined to pick up something that they have not done before.

Complete myth: A very irritating and persistent myth is that we only use 20% of our brains and can unlock the potential..blah blah blah. If we used all of it at once it would be like jogging while figureskating at the same time painting and composing music while listening to a Playlist and reading a book. Neither possible nor desirable.

How intelligent someone is depends on a number of factors, but it is believed that it has a blue print where certain functions go, which vary from individual to individual. In highly intelligent people and individuals like Einstein or DaVinci the brain had more convolutions (increased number of folds). It was confirmed in Einsteins brain who donated his body to science.

Something that was discovered in the last decade is that memories are formed and stored all over the brain and likely closer to the area that usually processes that information. It goes beyond the basics listed here:

https://qbi.uq.edu.au/memory/where-are-memories-stored

The important thing is to learn new skills throughout one's life.

Men

 

I could not find the image that was in my old sociology book; a line drawing where the little boy yells at a dog in what is called anger transference so this 1954 one will have to do.

I've never understood it and later in life I did not experience it. The person you're with should be someone that isn't getting yelled at because socks aren't mended, but someone who listens to your bad day, comforts, gives solutions or gives you space.

November is End Vaw month. And the internet which is slowly turning into Jenga is silent. Nothing on blogs, which is disappointing. The statistics are bad and getting worse and I wonder about the lack of engagement because the laws are getting better. (I'm only talking about the western world).

I took bystander intervention, a course or workshop that anyone can take (albeit not as fun as an art or pottery class). A couple of years ago I intervened. I was walking down the street heard a women scream, then obvious sounds of harm. An older woman (feisty Italian as it turned out) was walking toward me. She figured out which apartment it was while I called the cops. Long story short, the young male was brought out, we also waited to be interviewed and overheard him whine about his stress. He admitted it but there was no remorse. The typical BS sobstory. Coward.

I have chosen to ignore a certain small but powerful group. There is no masculinity of any kind in beating someone smaller than you or insulting someone less powerful than you. Its actually quite small. There's a lot more masculinity in helping. Much more heroic, so why discuss people that I don't associate with? Besides the fact that they are the true "other" with behavior that is too disturbing to discuss.

It led me to thinking about the YA fantasy Twilight, which I skip read just to know what the hype was about and the problem I've always had with vampire romance. Why on earth would a 200 year old (male) being find a teeny even remotely attractive or interesting? What is there to talk about. It was written by a woman, if she can make vampire skin sparkle in the sun, I'm sure she could have imagined something more progressive. Literature does influence a child's mind.

But this is not about fiction, but reality and ending vaw in all its forms. One tiny step at a time.

To complete the circle of life, thought this was hilarious

Everyone is a psychologist.

 I'm not a therapist. And neither are your friends, family or those who know you. But it was part of my training and the same problems that plague that field are worse today.

Over the last decade the amount of information on psychology and behavior has increased online and the arm chair psychologist are coming out of the woodwork.

To begin with, it's one of the soft sciences, based on communication and rarely on hard science. This is not to say that it's not extremely useful and helpful. Addressing and openly talking about behaviors that are a little different so that we as a society can support and accept is a giant leap forward.

One of the most innocuous examples is the trend that teens are taking their plush toys public as their comfort animal. Well, why not?

Not so innocuous is the mass diagnosis because the public has read or heard some talk show/media/journalist describe someone as having a neurodivergent disorder. About a decade ago it was Aspergers the example given was Sheldon Cooper in Big Bang. No. The character is a stereotypical highly intelligent socially awkward physics student. Then it was Bill Gates. Also no. It's also no longer called that but ASD, since it's a spectrum. The term came up again in recent years because of Hans Asperger and I'll leave it up to readers to look him up (ugh) and come to their own conclusions.

Someone quite interesting is Temple Grandin who is on the Autism spectrum.

Then came everyone is a narcissist, when they are in fact describing psychopathology and the currently very cool and trendy ADHD. Currently trending in Hollyweird. An astronomer who I enjoy reading, diagnosed himself with it because he needs coffee shops and background music to write his books. As do I, helps me focus, doesn't mean it's ADHD.

It takes away from the people who do suffer from it. Overdiagnosis and too much self analysis also minimizes what actual victims and survivors go through.

Please share your thoughts.

If there's any further interest please let me know and I'll provide more info in future posts.

Robots again

 Something that should concern everyone but is barely written about is AI. I've hinted at the serious risks in past posts but people (in general) are barely reacting.

As a child I devoured any scifi that I could get my hands on. Something I wanted was a robot. Something I never wanted was anything resembling human thought or appearance.

The only movie that has ever dealt with it appropriately and presented a robot (TARS) as it should be was in Interstellar. Nolan created a machine that was instantly programmable, carried out orders could be spoken to as a buddy in the loneliness of space, but was not "your buddy". Function was more important than making it look human and when the human crew needed less humor or sarcasm it could immediately be told to be less humorous. Realistically, that's what a robot should be.

When I watched Interstellar the first time, the design was disappointing. Years later when I watched it the second time it made sense: It's an object, an IT. There is nothing to humanize it, it's a highly functional personal computer that cannot feel because it doesn't and should not.

I thought rather than give examples, here is a cartoonist who illustrated his opinion followed by IBM discussing the dangers. At this time it doesn't look like it will improve; coding it to copy the most popular opinions is already laying the groundwork for bad programming.

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art

https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/10-ai-dangers-and-risks-and-how-to-manage-them

Update: Decided to give some examples. It will hit the fine art sector first. (Drawing and painting). Many end up in graphic design for video games or movies. Architects who design buildings, set design.

Also most science labs employ grad students to do tedious data collecting. There was a company (went viral), that replaced the order taking with AI (someone ordered 99 bottles of water at the drive thru. Quite funny, the AI went into a loop). A prof. went online because students are handing in AI and missing the point that they are taught to think.

Hollywood already went on strike, but screenwriters, authors, voice actors, actors starting out in commercials. Designers, decorators. Translators, editors etc. 

All potentially replaceable.

All the cute cat videos I enjoy watching. If it becomes completely life like AI it's no longer cute or funny.

Music. I admire Mozart. But an AI that composes like Mozart? I find that disturbing.

Some good news about books

 

Livraria Lello bookstore, Portugal 

Some uplifting news. About books. The book market is a 250 billion dollars a year industry. I did not think it was that much. I'm very much a member of the generation that watched nice independents disappear, replaced by the big chains, which I got used to because their initial concept was arm chairs, fake fire places and coffee shops, which then disappeared as well. I adapted by previewing books at the library, then only ordering and buying the ones I wanted to keep.

My guilty pleasure are tech thrillers which I borrow from the library, speed read and once the mystery is solved there is no reason to reread them.

Bookstores are pretty much the only store that I like spending time in and if I walk by one, the inner conversation is usually do I have time to go in? I'll be late...well maybe just a quick peek. 

Generally speaking, people that work in bookstores enjoy working there, are avid readers themselves and can recommend something beyond the current bestsellers. I like that some book stores started to offer anything from bookmarks, pens, daily planners, reading lights and fun stuff. If the only way to survive against A. is to include a home decor section, I can just walk through it. I found a daily planner with three colored ribbons that worked so well for me that I couldn't believe someone had not thought of it before. The big chain stores also introduced the bargain tables that had some wonderful coffee table books and books of poetry that I could not pass up, as opposed to smaller book stores that would mark down, well, crap that no one wants: 10 steps to becoming a psychic.

It is a very good sign that a private equity company bought Barnes and Noble is opening 60 stores and bought independents which it is leaving alone to operate as before with the same staff. In addition, store managers will get autonomy to adjust their store to the community that frequents it. How neat is that? It sounds to good to be true, but maybe listening to what people and customers want is a profitable business concept after all.

I hope it materializes and that other businesses follow suit.

Here's a newish book called Temples of Books

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2023/05/temples-of-books/

Ode to Things (and collectibles)

Ode To Things

I have a crazy,

crazy love of things.

I like pliers,

and scissors. 

I love

cups, 

rings,

and bowls – 

not to speak, or course,

of hats.

I love

all things,

not just

the grandest, 

also

the 

infinite-

ly

small – 

thimbles, 

spurs,

plates,

and flower vases.

Oh yes,

the planet 

is sublime!

It’s full of pipes

weaving

hand-held

through tobacco smoke,

and keys

and salt shakers – 

everything,

I mean,

that is made 

by the hand of man, every little thing: 

shapely shoes,

and fabric,

and each new

bloodless birth

of gold,

eyeglasses

carpenter’s nails,

brushes,

clocks, compasses, 

coins, and the so-soft

softness of chairs.

Mankind has 

built 

oh so many

perfect

things!

Built them of wool

and of wood, 

of glass and

of rope: 

remarkable

tables, 

ships, and stairways.

I love

all

things,

not because they are

passionate

or sweet-smelling

but because,

I don’t know,

because

this ocean is yours,

and mine; 

these buttons

and wheels

and little

forgotten

treasures,

fans upon

whose feathers

love has scattered

its blossoms,

glasses, knives and

scissors – 

all bear

the trace

of someone’s fingers

on their handle or surface,

the trace of a distant hand

lost

in the depths of forgetfulness.

I pause in houses,

streets and 

elevators

touching things,

identifying objects

that I secretly covet; 

this one because it rings,

that one because 

it’s as soft

as the softness of a [cat's fur],

that one there for its deep-sea color,

and that one for its velvet feel.

O irrevocable 

river

of things: 

no one can say

that I loved

only

fish, 

or the plants of the jungle and the field, 

that I loved

only

those things that leap and climb, desire, and survive.

It’s not true: 

many things conspired

to tell me the whole story.

Not only did they touch me,

or my hand touched them: 

they were

so close

that they were a part

of my being,

they were so alive with me

that they lived half my life

and will die half my death.

Pablo Neruda

Stuff, trinkets, collections, treasures, clutter. They come by many names. The things we collect and keep that tell the history of our lives and those that passed through it.

On a deeper level they offer a tangible permanence to our existence. On a superficial level, acquiring coveted objects is fun and rewarding. On a psychological level? Well, eff that. Im tired of analyzing and justifying why we do the things we do.

I collected early. An active child with an active imagination, my earliest memory is of a box (I must have seen this in some children's program), where I collected found objects. One was a big red bead that I'd fed a red ribbon through and if I combined the pieces in the right way they would offer clues to some magical place. My father found the box and the contents were discarded.

Later came geological and semi-precious stones. Posters of animals and the solar system were subsequently replaced by fine art prints. An evolution of early interests that remained. 

Of course I'm also of a generation were upcycling and sustainability make one hang on to even more stuff in direct opposition of a certain Buddhist mentality to not be attached to materialism. But those unused chopsticks in the junk drawer came in handy when I had to remove something from a narrow container.

But it matters. Stuff and things matter. A lot. My father recently passed. In the same way that I stared at the Mona Lisa (OMG DaVinci actually touched this), objects transport one back in time and while they cannot replace the person, looking at my father's tool box immediately evokes the memory of the very serious business of measuring and leveling, my mom and I laughing because he would make this whistling sound of concentration, and getting angry if interrupted.

 

Mom:"Shhhhh. Your dad is building something" Me:"No, I think he's just hanging a picture" Dad:"Why don't you two hold this instead of laughing." (Turning around so we wouldn't see him smirk). Who knew that a hammer, pliers and his organizational skills of a tool box would make me smile.

I am not referring to junk or found objects, but items that may have been gifted by a loved one

and despite their style are kept regardless. I am referring to some strange societal norm imposed on many that our homes (especially living rooms) must look magazine ready, with select items on coffee tables instead of looking lived in.

This was actually meant to be a post on collections, but turned into something else. One of the things I sort of collect are bookmarks. Sort of, because the really nice metal ones are not useable and anything with a bead or a metal pendant bangs against the book. I have art ones from exhibits and even some carved wood scented ones that one of my teachers gifted me when I graduated. Then I made a few of my own. I had to relearn how to make tassles, which we learned as a craft project in elementary and simply cut out some interesting patterns that I glued onto cardboard. I hand them out like candy. (Particularly to my mom, who keeps misplacing them but loves the soft wool tassle).

Interesting, quirky or unique collections? I'd love to hear about it.

Science: Dance your PhD. Literally.

 

As some may recall from reading my past posts, I used to sing and dance hip-hop. Then came science. Some of my favorite songs from a beat and music perspective did not have lyrics that I enjoyed and the problem with my type of brain is that I automatically memorize; however singing along to gangsta rap or relationships was not what I could relate to when listening to these songs.

It was when I rented the movie Dangerous minds and while listening to Coolio's song that I thought as important as this message is about education, why are there no songs of any kind with science lyrics? When they do exist they are aimed at children. Where is any interdisciplinary effort? Well. As of 2008 there is the successful science award Dance your PhD. Literally.

Leave it to physicists to write a very catchy song on Quantum physics. (Grinning from ear to ear)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LPrySGu0SOc&pp=0gcJCR4Bo7VqN5tD

If you're wondering about the red and blue protective glasses, it's quite clever (he is a quantum physicist after all), they're either just a nod to the Matrix red/blue pill or more likely the complementary color of the laser wavelengths he works with; green and orange, respectively. A lot of money is being invested in quantum computing, which is at least a decade away if it ever happens. One of the biggest problems is cooling that much heat down.

For those interested in child development (wink), here is the brilliant 2019 winner. This research has been done extensively with Rhesus monkeys decades ago, but the visuals are really well done:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nUQvJOSCoi4

There are all types of submissions from plant biology to neuroscience. A lot of group behavior (trendy because AI is modeled on it.) Most of the videos are zero budget, some have interpretative dance, one features tango to illustrate the behavior of protons; it's quite eclectic. Here is more information including the 2025 winners:

https://www.science.org/content/article/winner-2025-dance-your-ph-d-contest?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ScienceAdviser&utm_content=distillation&et_rid=1070475110&et_cid=5604760

Time to bring arts and science together as a permanent discipline and put the fun back into science education for adults.

Ode to chocolate

 I was going to post something about science, but Halloween just passed and I would rather talk about...CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate, a character in the warm, sweet and lighthearted movie Chocolat which taught me that the ancient Mayans used Chilli pepper in their hot chocolate and which led to hunting down a chocolaterie which made it. The closest I encountered was a coffee shop which had countless brands of fresh roasted coffee and gourmet chocolates that a friend of mine and I splurged on. The Chilli Chocolate was a one time event, but those other little square masterpieces (two at a time) were incredibly good.

Here's a micro history on chocolate:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zngsqp3

A friend of mine, who can only be described as a chocolate addict, once had a great idea and I am still waiting for the invention. Chocolate made into delicate strings of spaghettini. Imagine the crispy crunch. The same friend introduced me to white chocolate, which contains no cacao, but was worth a try.

I used to really enjoy Belgian chocolates, but found that they have become too sweet. I am guessing that this is a recent trend to reduce cost.

While in Europe, I discovered chocolate pralines made with coffee, Baileys, liquors and other combinations that came closer to a more adult palate and included chocolate pralines with sea salt or sesame seeds.

Standing in front of those displays, overwhelmed by choices while I select pieces with exotic names evokes a memory of childlike indulgence and anticipation. I love the whole theatrical experience of watching the sales person grab my choices with those little silver tongs and putting even just four of them into a little golden box with a ribbon around it.

The best chocolate I have ever eaten were homemade chocolate truffles that a friend makes; golf ball size delights rolled in cocoa powder and so rich that I need to cut them in half. I anticipate her annual event when she makes a big batch for friends.

My simple Ode and gratitude to chocolate; even when it's bad it's good.

Feel free to share your own chocolate adventures and experiences.