All posts tagged: nature

12 riveting wildlife images from Nature inFocus Photography Awards

12 riveting wildlife images from Nature inFocus Photography Awards

Published by skeptic

In Kolsa, Tadoba, India, photographer Anirudh Laxmipathy catches the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment that a powerful tigress named Kuwani lunges at an unsuspecting wild boar. At age 14, Kuwani still boasts impressive hunting skills and the boar doesn’t stand a chance. Laxmipathy’s stunning image (seen above) took Special Mention honors in the Animal Behavior category of this year’s Nature inFocus Photography Awards. The competition drew a record-breaking 14,180 entries from 42 countries and awarded winners across multiple categories, including Animal Behaviour and Conservation Photography. Supun Dilshan nabbed the prestigious title of Photographer of the Year Portfolio for his powerful series (two images seen below) documenting the struggles of Sri Lankan elephants. “It’s heartbreaking to see development at loggerheads with the places these wild animals call home,” Anish Andheria, President of Wildlife Conservation Trust, said in a statement. “Their habitat is already shrinking at an alarming rate due to multiple anthropogenic factors. But with the rise of linear infrastructure, especially in regions like India and Sri Lanka, we’re only going to see more of these come up. This …

The Nature of Human Stupidity Explained by The 48 Laws of Power Author Robert Greene

The Nature of Human Stupidity Explained by The 48 Laws of Power Author Robert Greene

Published by José

It’s prac­ti­cal­ly guar­an­teed that we now have more stu­pid peo­ple on the plan­et than ever before. Of course, we might be tempt­ed to think; just look at how many of them dis­agree with my pol­i­tics. But this unprece­dent­ed stu­pid­i­ty is pri­mar­i­ly, if not entire­ly, a func­tion of an unprece­dent­ed­ly large glob­al pop­u­la­tion. The more impor­tant mat­ter has less to do with quan­ti­ty of stu­pid­i­ty than with its qual­i­ty: of all the forms it can take, which does the most dam­age? Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Pow­er and The Laws of Human Nature, address­es that ques­tion in the clip above from an inter­view with pod­cast­er Chris Williamson. “What makes peo­ple stu­pid,” Greene explains, “is their cer­tain­ty that they have all the answers.” The basic idea may sound famil­iar, since we’ve pre­vi­ous­ly fea­tured here on Open Cul­ture the relat­ed phe­nom­e­non of the Dun­ning-Kruger effect. In some sense, stu­pid peo­ple who know they’re stu­pid aren’t actu­al­ly stu­pid, or at least not harm­ful­ly so. True to form, Greene makes a clas­si­cal ref­er­ence: Athens’ lead­ers went into …

Loneliness and Human Nature | Blog of the APA

Loneliness and Human Nature | Blog of the APA

Published by skeptic

John Dewey, in his 1938 essay, “Does Human Nature Change?”, answered in a way consistent with his presupposition of Darwin’s theory of evolution, i.e. yes. Human nature is malleable, insofar as the current iteration of humanity is itself a product of an extremely long period of adaptive change. The label “unnatural,” attached by conservatives to stigmatize certain behaviors, is just an artificial limitation on a flexible and self-transcending human nature. Yet, in spite of Dewey’s thin conception of human nature, he did believe in certain universals and constants. The common theme of these constants, which I will unpack here, is a kind of loneliness, not one that is not only an aberrant state of social isolation, but one that is inherent to the human condition. Even a minimalist about human nature like Dewey draws near, though not explicitly, to a root drive of human nature to transcend the self, and to remedy a loneliness basic to our condition. Dewey identifies the following universals in human nature in his 1938 essay: 1) needs for food and …

Buddhist group says Army Corps’ Everglades project violates religious freedom

Buddhist group says Army Corps’ Everglades project violates religious freedom

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — Each year, thousands of members of an influential Buddhist group journey to a retreat center tucked away in the Florida wetlands seeking tranquility and spiritual enrichment. Established in 1996 by Soka Gakkai International-USA, the Florida Nature & Culture Center sits on 118 acres sparsely populated with red-roofed buildings, where adherents pray and attend sessions on Buddhist study surrounded by the property’s 40-acre wetland conservation area. But the center and Soka Gakkai have sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in federal court, saying a planned Corps of Engineers conservation project will dwarf the center in violation of the 1996 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, arguing that a peaceful natural environment is vital to their Buddhist practice.  The project would include an above-ground reservoir that would cover over 1,000 acres and a seven-story pump station near their property, according to the retreat center. “The recitation of mantras (prayers) aiming to harmonize oneself with one’s environment (including the natural environment) and awaken to the inseparability of life and the environment are core tenets of Nichiren Buddhism,” …

Healthier Cities Will Require a Strong Dose of Nature

Healthier Cities Will Require a Strong Dose of Nature

Published by skeptic

If current global trends are correct, in 2025, around 41 million people will die from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—which include cancer, heart disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory illness, and severe mental illness—representing around 74 percent of all deaths globally. Despite major advances in medicine over the past few decades, the numbers dying from NCDs are still on the increase. One of the main factors for the rise of NCDs is urbanization: Research clearly shows that people who live in urban areas without access to green spaces have a higher incidence of NCDs. Given that by 2050, two out of every three people are likely to be living in cities, these trends are extremely worrying. On the other hand, a number of recent population-level studies in cities across the globe indicate that people who live in greener areas not only present a lower rate of NCDs but also have significantly better physical and mental health. This relationship remains statistically strong regardless of the individual’s socio-economic status, age, or gender. In fact, the evidence for this association is so …

Feeling connected to nature may ease mental health struggles after losing a loved one

Feeling connected to nature may ease mental health struggles after losing a loved one

Published by José

A study of individuals who experienced the death of a loved one due to COVID-19 found that complicated grief following such a loss can lead to adverse mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety. However, feelings of connectedness to nature were found to mitigate this link, potentially serving as a protective factor. The findings were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Complicated grief is a prolonged and intense form of grief that persists for an extended period, interfering with an individual’s ability to function in daily life. It goes beyond typical bereavement, involving persistent yearning or longing for the deceased, difficulty accepting the loss, and feelings of disbelief or emotional numbness. People experiencing complicated grief may feel stuck in their mourning, preoccupied with memories of their loved one, or unable to engage in activities they once enjoyed. This condition can also lead to physical symptoms, social withdrawal, and an increased risk of depression and anxiety. The 2021-2022 COVID-19 pandemic claimed 2.6 million lives worldwide, leaving a profound impact on their …

What delusions can tell us about the cognitive nature of belief

What delusions can tell us about the cognitive nature of belief

Published by skeptic

Beliefs are convictions of reality that we accept as true. They provide us with the basic mental scaffolding to understand and engage meaningfully in our world. Beliefs remain fundamental to our behaviour and identity, but are not well understood. Delusions, on the other hand, are fixed, usually false, beliefs that are strongly held, but not widely shared. In previous work, we proposed that studying delusions provides unique insights into the cognitive nature of belief and its dysfunction. Based on evidence from delusions and other psychological disciplines, we offered a tentative five-stage cognitive model of belief formation. When faced with an unexpected sensory input or social communication, we seek to account for this based on existing beliefs, memories, and other social information. We then evaluate our account in terms of how well this explains our experiences and how consistent it is with our prior beliefs. If it passes these criteria, the belief is accepted. It then guides what we pay attention to and what other ideas we may consider. We propose that delusions can arise at …

At Nature: What Is So Special About the Human Brain?

At Nature: What Is So Special About the Human Brain?

Published by skeptic

Nature (founded 1869), proceeding from the completely materialist assumption that the human mind is simply what the brain does, offers a look recently at some of the more remarkable aspects of the human brain. The article features amazing graphics but three information items stand out: Researchers can now snoop on what happens inside millions of brain cells by cataloguing the genes, RNA and proteins they produce. And by studying brain tissue, scientists are learning key lessons about how the organ develops and functions. One is that the differences between human brain cells and those of other species are often subtle. Another is that the human brain develops slowly compared with other animals. But how these features give rise to our cognitive skills is still a mystery — although researchers have plenty of promising leads. Kerri Smith and Nik Spencer, “What’s so special about the human brain?” October 31, 2024 Do they? Can these features, as described, really explain what made Aristotle. (384– 322 BC) or Einstein (1879–1955) different? Even from other human beings? Because that’s …

The Return of Trump—V | Astra Taylor, Michael Greenberg, Coco Fusco, Verlyn Klinkenborg, Thomas Powers, Anne Enright

The Return of Trump—V | Astra Taylor, Michael Greenberg, Coco Fusco, Verlyn Klinkenborg, Thomas Powers, Anne Enright

Published by skeptic

Astra Taylor • Michael Greenberg • Coco Fusco • Verlyn Klinkenborg • Thomas Powers • Anne Enright Astra Taylor On election night, before Harris’s loss set in, some exit polls showed that “democracy” was a top concern for voters. Many liberals took the result as an auspicious sign. But what is democracy? That was the title of a documentary I made during the 2016 presidential campaign. As I conducted dozens of interviews across the United States over many months, I learned that there was hardly a consensus over the word’s meaning. Ordinary people struggled to define it; a recent college graduate asked me if democracy was when “they tell you what to do.” Others, usually men, scoffed that we actually live in a republic, not a democracy, as though that settled the matter. Still others—many of them—found the American political system exasperatingly corrupt: rigged by special interests, permeated by racism, and almost or already irredeemable. I also spoke to young conservatives and attended Donald Trump’s rallies, where he railed against the War on Terror, Wall …