Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra & William Shakespeare

Many highly creative people [display] personal behavior [that] sometimes strikes others as odd. Albert Einstein picked up cigarette butts off the street to get tobacco for his pipe; Howard Hughes spent entire days on a chair in the middle of the supposedly germ-free zone of his Beverly Hills Hotel suite; the composer Robert Schumann believed that his musical compositions were dictated to him by Beethoven and other deceased luminaries from their tombs; and Charles Dickens is said to have fended off imaginary urchins with his umbrella as he walked the streets of London. […] In fact, creativity and eccentricity often go hand in hand, and researchers now believe that both traits may be a result of how the brain filters incoming information. Even in the business world, there is a growing appreciation of the link between creative thinking and unconventional behavior, with increased acceptance of the latter. … In the past few decades psychologists and other scientists have explored the connection using empirically validated measures of both creativity and eccentricity. [The latter is measured] using scales that assess schizotypal personality … which is among a cluster of personality disorders labeled ‘odd or eccentric’ in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. […] A brain-imaging study, done in 2010 by investigators at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, suggests the propensity for both creative insights and schizotypal experiences may result from a specific configuration of neurotransmitter receptors in the brain. Using positron-emission tomography, Örjan de Manzano, Fredrik Ullén and their colleagues examined the density of dopamine D2 receptors in the subcortical region of the thalamus in 14 subjects who were tested for divergent-thinking skills. The results indicate that thalamic D2 receptor densities are diminished in subjects with high divergent-thinking abilities, similar to patterns found in schizophrenic subjects in previous studies. The researchers believe that reduced dopamine binding in the thalamus, found in both creative and schizophrenic subjects, may decrease cognitive filtering and allow more information into conscious awareness.

Fascinating Scientific American article on why creative people tend to be eccentric. For real-life case studies, look no further than the odd habits and eccentric behaviors of famous writers. (via explore-blog)

—Jessica Greenbaum, Poetry, July/August 2012 At the Los Angeles Review of Books, Lisa Russ Spaar reviews Greenbaum’s The Two Yvonnes, mentioning “the abecedarian ‘A Poem for S.,’” above.

A quiet spring weekend was suddenly shattered on Sunday when news of the “Panama Papers” investigation broke.

Bill Gates’ Global Agenda and How We Can Resist His War on Life - Independent Science News | Food, Health and Agriculture Bioscience News

The pandemic is not a war. The pandemic is a consequence of war. A war against life.

The pandemic is not a war. The pandemic is a consequence of war. A war against life.

अनन्त का छंद - 1

अनन्त का छंद – 1 एक तत्वशास्त्रीय विमर्श प्रसन्न कुमार चौधरी एक पूर्वावलोकन 1. बीसवीं सदी में जहाँ अध्ययन की विभिन्न शाखाओं का पर्याप्त प्रसार हुआ, वहीं तत्वशास्त्र को काफ़ी हद तक अपनी ज़मीन छोड़नी पड़ी । पूंजीवादी विश्व में परिणामवाद और तार्किक प्रत्यक्षवाद के प्रादुर्भाव के साथ तो तत्वशास्त्र मानो गहरी नींद सो गया । समाजवादी विश्व के लिए द्वन्द्वात्मक भौतिकवाद आखिरी खोज थी । सवाल महज उसकी…

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Indigenous people of Brazil trying to prevent their eviction from an old indigenous museum which they have been living in for the past 7 years.

On March 22nd all of the inhabitants and their supporters were forcibly removed or arrested.

The building is being destroyed to make a parking lot :(

St. Mark’s Square II, Venice, 2007, Guy Sargent

फ़ासीवाद और हिन्दुत्व

फ़ासीवाद और हिन्दुत्व प्रसन्न कुमार चौधरी प्रस्तावना क. बीसवीं सदी का तीसरा और चौथा दशक ।महासमर (1914-1918) बीत चुका था । युरोप की धरती लहूलुहान थी और उसका मानस क्षत-विक्षत । युद्ध में करोड़ों लोग मारे गये थे । उत्पादक शक्तियों का ऐसा विनाश इतिहास ने शायद ही कभी देखा था । युद्ध भूमि से अपने-अपने देश लौटते सैनिकों के साथ फ्लू की वैश्विक महामारी (1918-1920) करोड़ों जानें ले चुकी थी । महाशक्तियों…

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