A Prayer In Hebrew Dating To The 8th Or 9th Century. This Document Was Found In Dunhuang China, Which

(Image caption: The maturation of fibres of a brain structure called the arcuate fascicle (green) between the ages of three and four years establishes a connection between two critical brain regions: a region (brown) at the back of the temporal lobe that supports adults thinking about others and their thoughts, and a region (red) in the frontal lobe that is involved in keeping things at different levels of abstraction and, therefore, helps us to understand what the real world is and what the thoughts of others are. Credit: © MPI CBS)

The importance of relating to others: why we only learn to understand other people after the age of four

When we are around four years old we suddenly start to understand that other people think and that their view of the world is often different from our own. Researchers in Leiden and Leipzig have explored how that works. Publication in Nature Communications on 21 March.

At around the age of four we suddenly do what three-year-olds are unable to do: put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig and at Leiden University have shown how this enormous developmental step occurs: a critical fibre connection in the brain matures. Senior researcher and Leiden developmental psychologist Nikolaus Steinbeis, co-author of the article, took part in the research. Lead author, PhD candidate Charlotte Grosse-Wiesmann, worked under his supervision.

Little Maxi

If you tell a 3-year-old child the following story of little Maxi, they will most probably not understand: Maxi puts his chocolate on the kitchen table, then goes to play outside. While he is gone, his mother puts the chocolate in the cupboard. Where will Maxi look for his chocolate when he comes back? A 3-year-old child will not understand why Maxi would be surprised not to find the chocolate on the table where he left it. It is only by the age of 4 years that a child will correctly predict that Maxi will look for his chocolate where he left it and not in the cupboard where it is now.

Theory of Mind

The researchers observed something similar when they showed a 3-year-old child a chocolate box that contained pencils instead of chocolates. When the child was asked what another child would expect to be in the box, they answered “pencils”, although the other child would not know this. Only a year later, around the age of four years, however, will they understand that the other child had hoped for chocolates. Thus, there is a crucial developmental breakthrough between three and four years: this is when we start to attribute thoughts and beliefs to others and to understand that their beliefs can be different from ours. Before that age, thoughts don’t seem to exist independently of what we see and know about the world. That is, this is when we develop a Theory of Mind.

Independent development

The researchers have now discovered what is behind this breakthrough. The maturation of fibres of a brain structure called the arcuate fascicle between the ages of three and four years establishes a connection between two critical brain regions: a region at the back of the temporal lobe that supports adult thinking about others and their thoughts, and a region in the frontal lobe that is involved in keeping things at different levels of abstraction and, therefore, helps us to understand what the real world is and what the thoughts of others are. Only when these two brain regions are connected through the arcuate fascicle can children start to understand what other people think. This is what allows us to predict where Maxi will look for his chocolate. Interestingly, this new connection in the brain supports this ability independently of other cognitive abilities, such as intelligence, language ability or impulse control.

Dau lun o weithwyr G P Lloyd & Co, Dumballs Rd, Caerdydd, gwneuthurwyr coesau pren i offer, c. 1930, ond beth yw'r gwahaniaeth rhwng y ddau?

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Two photos of workers at G P Lloyd & Co, Dumballs Road, Cardiff, manufacturers of wooden tool handles, c. 1930. Can you spot the difference?

From the archives at St Fagans National Museum of History.

Southeast Asia before ASEAN: An ASEAN 50 Commemorative Post

Ironically, the region of Southeast Asia was not an Asian concept. It was a Western one. It was perceived primarily through Western eyes as maps were created during the colonial rush to Asia from the 16th to the early 20th century. Hence, it originated as a geographical concept, having been rendered in different words by Western scholarship, especially before the Second World War– words such as “south east Asia”, “southeast Asia” or “south-east Asia.” In the 1930s for example, Southeast Asia was referred to as “Further India” (as if to allude that it’s near the Bay of Bengal, when it is not) or “Asia of the Monsoons” (to refer to the typhoons that frequently ravage the area.” The regional name’s gradual standardization (no longer in the lowercase “southeast”) and the dropping of the hyphen resulted in the name “Southeast Asia.” It was first used and asserted by the Americans, with its U.S. State Department’s “division of Southeast Asian Affairs” and came to be used frequently by the media as the Second World War sparked in the Pacific in 1941.

After the war, the term “Southeast Asia” transformed from a geographic entity to be referred to, to a complex and inchoate group of nations trying to redefine themselves in the world. As each one dropped their colonial fetters and became independent–Indonesia from the Dutch (17 August 1945), Vietnam from the British (2 September 1945), the Philippines from the United States (4 July 1946), Myanmar from the British (4 January 1948), Laos (22 October 1953) and Cambodia (9 November 1953) from the French, Singapore and Malaysia from the British (16 September 1956), Brunei from the British (1 January 1984), with Thailand successfully retaining its sovereignty, each one has tried to redefine their identities apart from their colonial past. With ideological conflicts in parts of Asia, a Southeast Asian integration seems far off. 

*Front page of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, 8 September 1954, from the Archives New Zealand. The first attempt at a Southeast Asian cooperation was done in 1954. The United States initiated an alliance that was meant to contain Communism in Asia, and hence, on 8 September 1954, the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty (or the Manila Pact) was signed by only two Southeast Asian countries–the Philippines and Thailand–and joined by the United States, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, and Pakistan. This established the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization or SEATO, where all member countries agree that if any one of them were attacked, all the other member countries would come to its defense–very similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). But SEATO would end as a failure, for the simple reason that it was seen suspiciously by the rest of Southeast Asia as “a fig leaf for the nakedness of American policy.” Pakistan withdrew in 1972, and France in 1975.

*Philippine President Macapagal, Indonesian President Sukarno and Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman signing agreements forming the MaPhiLindo on 5 August 1963 at the Juan Luna Hall of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, from the Malacañang Presidential Museum and Library.

*The Philippine Commonwealth Government-in-Exile proposed a union with Indonesia in 1943, a Pan-Malayan principle reflected in this part of an American 1942 map entitled “Outline of the Post-War New World Map,” a proposed political boundary map at the event that the Allied forces would win World War II. The one marked in blue are the proposed American protectorates of the post-war world.

At almost the same time, another effort was put in at the time of President Diosdado Macapagal. Coming from our commonality as Malays (with the vision of the late President Manuel L. Quezon for a Pan-Malayan nationhood), President Macapagal envisioned a cooperation with other Malay countries. Hence, Macapagal convened a summit in Manila, together with Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and Indonesian President Sukarno, where they signed the Manila Accord on 5 August 1963, addressing controversial issues over North Borneo and Sarawak joining the Federation of Malaysia. The Accord established the Maphilindo, striving for “Asian solutions by Asian nations for Asian problems.” However, this was also seen as a move by the Philippines and Indonesia to stall or halt the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, which eventually happened on 16 September 1963. Indonesia pulled out of the organization, in reaction to Malaysia’s formation which was seen by Indonesia as a threat to its sovereignty, hence the org’s dissolution.

*The five “Founding Fathers” of the ASEAN, signing the Bangkok Declaration, also known as the ASEAN Declaration, on 8 August 1967. From the ASEAN Archive.

This explains the tensed environment that the five Foreign Ministers of Southeast Asia found themselves in on 8 August 1967 in the Thai Department of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, Thailand. Carefully, and diplomatically, these representatives from Indonesia (Adam Malik), Malaysia (Tun Abdul Razak), Singapore (S. Rajaratnam), Philippines (Narciso Ramos) and Thailand (Thanat Khoman), sat down together, chose their words carefully, patiently wrestled on their issues through dialogue, and bravely met on common ground. It entailed a larger vision, one that did not only concern each of their nation’s concerns, but one that gave space to regional unity in spite of their differences. Rajaratnam said to his counterparts on that day:

We must think not only of our national interests but posit them against regional interests: that is a new way of thinking about our problems. And these are two different things and sometimes they can conflict. Secondly, we must also accept the fact, if we are really serious about it, that regional existence means painful adjustments to those practices and thinking in our respective countries. We must make these painful and difficult adjustments. If we are not going to do that, then regionalism remains a utopia.

“Painful adjustments” indeed. After all was said and done, the five Foreign Ministers, representing their heads of state, after months of negotiations and compromise, finally and unequivocally signed the two-page ASEAN Declaration, establishing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and committing themselves to resolving disputes by peaceful means and through hard but committed mutual accommodation. Bereft of the colonial baggages of the previous southeast asian intergovernmental organizations, it was Southeast Asian, from the inception of the idea to its founding. 

The founding of the ASEAN in 1967 led to the diplomatic reconciliation between Malaysia and Indonesia, and Malaysia and Singapore. And while a year later, Malaysia temporarily severed its diplomatic relations with the Philippines due to claims over Sabah, this kind of issues never impeded the commitment the two nations have in ASEAN, so was with the other member-states with similar problems. Since then, ASEAN has grown into a 10-member-state organization. This probably explains why ASEAN is “the most successful inter-governmental organization in the developing world today.”

In the occasion of the Philippine Chairmanship of the ASEAN and its 50th founding anniversary, Happy ASEAN 50th!

*Banner from ASEAN 50 Facebook. 

*Post-script: The deafening silence of the Philippines with its unprecedented win in the arbitration ruling in the ASEAN meetings ought to make people question our foreign policy. Insisting on our sovereign rights over our EEZ does not mean war-mongering. Vietnam, on the other hand, the nation that defeated the United States in the Vietnam War, still insists the rule of law thus challenging Chinese encroachment diplomatically. It exemplifies a fair and “independent foreign policy.” The Philippines should follow Vietnam’s example. 

*Map above: “South-east Asia” map made by Polish Army Topography Service as featured in Pergamon World Atlas in 1967, the year ASEAN was founded. From the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. 

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im putting together a couple of scottish folk mixes bc that’s what i do and im honestly curious if anyone in my country has ever been unequivocally happy about anything ever

IT’S NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

HUZZAH! It is National Library Week, bookworms and library cats!! 

And that means it is the perfect time of year to show some love to your local (and not local) Libraries, both in person and online. So, just as we took time to make a special post on Follow a Library Day last year, we’ve created ANOTHER master post to honor all the libraries we know so far on tumblr so that you can #followalibrary!! 

Check out their tumblrs below and show them some love, bookworms! (Alphabetical by url)

@alachualibrary (The Alachua County Library District)

@alt-library (By Sacramento Public Library)

@aplibrary (Abilene Public Library)

@austinpubliclibrary (Austin Public Library)

@badgerslrc (The Klamath Community College’s Learning Research Center)

@bflteens (Baker Free Library’s Tumblr For Teens)

@bibliosanvalentino (Biblioteca San Valentino [San Valentino Library])

@biodivlibrary (Biodiversity Heritage Library)

@bodleianlibs (Bodleian Libraries)

@boonelibrary (Boone County Public Library)

@brkteenlib (Brookline Public Library Teen Services Department)

@californiastatelibrary (California State Library)

@cheshirelibrary (Cheshire Public Library)

@cityoflondonlibraries (City of London Libraries)

@cmclibraryteen (Cape May County Library’s Teen Services)

@cobblibrary (Cobb County Public Library System)

@cpl-archives (Cleveland Public Library Archives)

@cplsteens (Clearwater Public Library Teens)

@darienlibrary (Darien Library)

@dcpubliclibrary (DC Public Library)

@decaturpubliclibrary (Decatur Public Library)

@delawarelibrary (Delaware County District Library)

@detroitlib (Detroit Public Library Music, Arts & Literature Department)

@douglaslibraryteens (Douglas Library For Teens)

@dplteens (Danville Public Library Teens)

@escondidolibrary (Escondido Public Library)

@fontanalib (Fontana Regional Library)

@fppld-teens (Franklin Park Library Teens)

@friscolibrary (Frisco Public Library)

@gastonlibrary (Gaston County Public Library)

@glendaleteenlibrary (Glendale Public Library Teens)

@hpldreads (Havana Public Library District)

@hpl-teens (Homewood Public Library For Teens)

@kingsbridgelibraryteens (Kingsbridge Library Teens Advisory Group)

@lanelibteens (Lane Memorial Library Teen Services)

@lawrencepubliclibrary (Lawrence Public Library)

@marioncolibraries (Marion County Public Library System)

@mrcplteens (Mansfield/Richland County Public Library Teen Zone)

@myrichlandlibrary (Mansfield/Richland County Public Library)

@necclibrary (Northern Essex Community College Libraries)

@novipubliclibrary (Novi Public Library)

@nplteens (Nashua Public Library Teens)

@orangecountylibrarysystem (Orange County Library System)

@othmeralia  (Othmer Library of Chemical History)

@petit-branch-library (Petit Branch Library)

@pflibteens (Pflugerville Public Library Teenspace)

@plainfieldlibrary (Plainfield Public Library District)

@royhartlibrary (RoyHart Community Library)

@safetyharborpubliclibrary (Safety Harbor Library Teen Zone)

@santamonicalibr (Santa Monica Public Library)

@schlowlibrary (Schlow Centre Region Library)

@smithsonianlibraries (Museum Library System)

@smlibrary (Sheppard Memorial Library)

@southeastlibrary (Southeast Branch Library)

@tampabaylibraryconsortium-blog (Tampa Bay Library Consortium)

@teenbookerie (Erie County Public Library For Teens)

@teencenterspl (The Smith Public Library Teen Center)

@teensfvrl (Fraser Valley Regional Library)

@teen-stuff-at-the-library (White Oak Library District)

@therealpasadenapubliclibrary (Pasadena Public Library)

@ucflibrary (University of Central Florida Library)

@uwmspeccoll (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Libraries Special Collections)

@vculibraries (Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries)

@waynecountyteenzone (Wayne County Public Library’s Teen Space)

@wellingtoncitylibraries (Wellington City Libraries)

@widenerlibrary (Harvard’s Widener Library)

Whew! There’s a LOT of you. :) But we now this list is just getting started! Feel free to keep the library love going by adding any libraries we missed/don’t know of yet! (And if you’re not following US already, well, what better time to start than this week? ;) Eh? Eh?) And, of course, never hesitate to visit your Library in person. We love seeing you! :) 

Happy National Library Week, library cats!

Don’t play, play - Singlish is studied around the globe

Blogger Wendy Cheng’s Web video series Xiaxue’s Guide To Life and Jack Neo’s Ah Boys To Men film franchise are well-known shows among Singaporeans. For one thing, they are filled with colloquial terms, local references and copious doses of Singlish terms such as “lah” and “lor”.

But they are not merely for entertainment. In recent years, such shows have found a place in universities around the world, where linguists draw on dialogues used in these local productions to introduce to undergraduates and postgraduate students how Singlish has become a unique variety of the English language.

This comes even as concerns have been raised over how Singlish could impede the use of standard English here.

From Italy and Germany to Japan, at least seven universities around the world have used Singlish as a case study in linguistics courses over the past decade. This is on top of more than 40 academics outside of Singapore - some of whom were previously based here - who have written books or papers on Singlish as part of their research.

Mae’s Millinery Shop

Photo: Photograph of Mae Reeves and a group of women standing on stairs, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Mae Reeves and her children, Donna Limerick and William Mincey, Jr.

African American women have been wearing fancy hats for generations to church. In 1940, Mae Reeves started Mae’s Millinery Shop in 1940 in Philadelphia, PA with a $500 bank loan. The shop stayed open until 1997 and helped dress some of the most famous African American women in the country, including iconic singers Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne. 

Reeves was known for making all of her customers feel welcomed and special, whether they were domestic workers, professional women, or socialites from Philadelphia’s affluent suburban Main Line. Customer’s at Mae’s would sit at her dressing table or on her settee, telling stories and sharing their troubles. 

Photo: Pink mushroom hat with flowers from Mae’s Millinery Shop, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In our Power of Place exhibition, we recreated a portion of Reeves’ shop to showcase this African American tradition. Our shop includes its original red-neon sign, sewing machine, antique store furniture and hats. View artifacts from Mae’s Millinery Shop in our collection: s.si.edu/2oVlbFj 

The Cuban Missile Crisis

At this time in 1962, the U.S. was in the thick of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here’s a brief recap of what exactly happened during those thirteen days.

It’s not hard to imagine a world where at any given moment, you and everyone you know could be wiped out without warning at the push of a button. This was the reality for millions of people during the 45-year period after World War II, now known as the Cold War. As the United States and Soviet Union faced off across the globe, each knew that the other had nuclear weapons capable of destroying it. And destruction never loomed closer than during the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

In 1961, the U.S. unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Cuba’s new communist government. That failed attempt was known as the Bay of Pigs, and it convinced Cuba to seek help from the U.S.S.R. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev was happy to comply by secretly deploying nuclear missiles to Cuba, not only to protect the island, but to counteract the threat from U.S. missiles in Italy and Turkey. By the time U.S. intelligence discovered the plan, the materials to create the missiles were already in place. 

At an emergency meeting on October 16, 1962, military advisors urged an airstrike on missile sites and invasion of the island. But President John F. Kennedy chose a more careful approach. On October 22, he announced that the the U.S. Navy would intercept all shipments to Cuba, but a naval blockade was considered an act of war. Although the President called it a quarantine that did not block basic necessities, the Soviets didn’t appreciate the distinction.

Thus ensued the most intense six days of the Cold War. As the weapons continued to be armed, the U.S. prepared for a possible invasion. For the first time in history, the U.S. Military set itself to DEFCON 2, the defense readiness one step away from nuclear war. With hundreds of nuclear missiles ready to launch, the metaphorical Doomsday Clock stood at one minute to midnight. 

But diplomacy carried on. In Washington, D.C., Attorney General Robert Kennedy secretly met with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. After intense negotiation, they reached the following proposal. The U.S. would remove their missiles from Turkey and Italy and promise to never invade Cuba in exchange for the Soviet withdrawal from Cuba under U.N. inspection. The crisis was now over. 

While criticized at the time by their respective governments for bargaining with the enemy, contemporary historical analysis shows great admiration for Kennedy’s and Khrushchev’s ability to diplomatically solve the crisis. Overall, the Cuban Missile Crisis revealed just how fragile human politics are compared to the terrifying power they can unleash.

For a deeper dive into the circumstances of the Cuban Missile Crisis, be sure to watch The history of the Cuban Missile Crisis - Matthew A. Jordan

Animation by Patrick Smith

Dolphins beat up octopuses before eating them, and the reason is kind of horrifying

Generally speaking, it’s best if your food doesn’t kill you. This isn’t usually a problem in the animal kingdom, as prey tends to be dead and limp by the time it hits the gullet. But not all creatures are harmless after death: consider the octopus.

Read more

I just completed the finishing touches on my new poster, a detailed map of the Mandelbrot Set in a vintage style. I’m calling it the Mandelmap.

The Mandelbrot Set is a fractal shape with infinite detail that you can zoom in on. I often explore the Mandelbrot Set to find trippy patterns to create gifs with, but when I started I felt like I was just poking around at random. So I wanted to create a printed guide for myself to find my way around… I soon realized this was going to be a lot of work, so I decided I might as well take it to the next level and make an awesome poster that would be not just for myself but for everyone else to enjoy too.

What you see here is the result of more than a year’s research, planning, and execution. It’s a 36x24 inch poster rendered fully at 300 dpi, and everything you see was created from scratch. I will be posting more updates and information as I get the test prints in, and I hope to have this poster available to buy within the next couple months!

www.mandelmap.com