Many who like history are drawn to a past that they can feel connected to. But some are drawn to the ways the past feels radically different. In the latter case, when faced with a totally alien world-view, we are constantly forced to recognize how powerful cultural ideals are in shaping the consciousness of human […]
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa Read More »
In the Central Middle Ages, before the witch-hunt craze of the 16th century, more men than women were accused of sorcery. However, the association of women resorting to unscrupulous and un-Christian ways to fly had become well entrenched by 1500 CE.In a manuscript called the _canon Episcopi_, which might have been written in the late
The Waldensians – Flying Witches Read More »
The COVID outbreaks in American meat-packing warehouses have recently cast attention to the frankly horrifying working conditions in these plants. Like coal-mining and cesspool-cleaning, the practice of animal slaughter and butchery has a long history being considered an undesirable profession — it is one that most of society benefits from, even as the general population
Medieval Japanese Butchery Read More »
This sculpture by Paul Lancz from 2014 is one of the many public works of art always on display in the city of Montreal. Entitled “La Tendresse/ Tenderness,” it captures a ubiquitous display of affection between mother and child. This physical gesture of a mother kissing her baby has been a hallmark of affection uniting
The Importance of Maternal Kisses Read More »
So here’s a question for you – will the sun rise tomorrow? I think so, and you do as well (hopefully), but this man showed that you couldn’t prove it. Not with logic, anyway.You are looking at David Hume (d. 1776), one of the most important philosophers ever. A skeptic and a naturalist, Hume praised
The Evidence-Based Knowledge of David Hume Read More »
Like spokes on a wheel, these wide boulevards typify the landscape of Paris. Beautiful components of the city, tourists have come to associate these streets with “La Ville Lumiere”. But this architecture has a more sinister origin: it developed out of a desire to stop protesters.The second image shows a now-demolished street called rue du
La Ville Lumiere and the Desire to Stop Protests Read More »
In Frank Herbert’s sci-fi _Dune_ series, the Bene Gesserit are amazing space-witches who have developed such mental control over their unconscious physiology that their powers seem superhuman. But Herbert’s ideas weren’t merely fiction: the person you see here is not a space witch, but she did figure out a technique of controlling elements of human
Patricia Cowings and the Autogenic-Feedback Training Exercise Read More »
Here is one of the most famous job advertisements in the history of psychology. In 1971, Professor Philip Zimbardo enlisted a number of highly educated men to participate in an experiment about prison life. Those who enrolled in the project knew more about what they were getting into than most participants of psychological tests, and
The Stanford Prison Experiment Read More »
And here we see Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century. He embodied the Existentialist movement, which argued that there is no authority or meaning in existence outside of what we make of it. Whether we accept or reject this idea, or find it hopeful or depressing, Sartre’s philosophy admirably
The Philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre Read More »
This 17th-century design would make a perfect tattoo, except the meaning would say something pitiable about the wearer. It is a rose with the Latin word “CAUTE” beneath. The rose meant secrecy, and _caute_ means “cautiously.” The person who used this sign, Baruch de Spinoza (1632-1677), did so because he had to constantly keep his
The Sign and Writings of Baruch de Spinoza Read More »
If you haven’t read about the Tulsa Race Massacre of May 31/June 1, 1921, I recommend learning about it. One of the worst race-based killings in American history, it illustrates how simmering bigotry, fear, and mob violence can erupt quickly and cause lasting harm. It also showcases the critical role that historical memory plays in
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This is Lucy Wills, a woman lucky enough to possess the resources to do as she pleased. She travelled throughout her life, never married and maintained many long-lasting friendships, and kept up a lifetime of rigorous scientific study — she utilized all these characteristics to develop research that led to the saving of many people’s
Lucy Wills and Marmite Read More »
Today’s social-media aficionados take a lot of personality tests that we know are pure rot, like “what your birth crystal says about the way you treat your pets” or “what your quarantine eating habits reveal about your financial investment patterns.” The bust pictured here reflects similarly outlandish claims from a century and a half ago,
The Racial Undertones of Phrenology Read More »
This piece of furniture has an epic name: the Great Bed of Ware. Carved around 1600 in Elizabethan England, the exquisitely crafted masterpiece became famous almost immediately – Shakespeare even had one of his characters in _Twelfth Night_ (1601) claim that a piece of paper was so large that it was “big enough for the
The Famous Great Bed of Ware Read More »
The Ancient Roman military brought the Empire into being, and its soldiers had far-reaching reputations for their discipline and skill. A look at the severity of punishments for wayward enlisted men goes a long way to explain this — the Roman officers could be as brutal to their own men as they were to their
The Brutality of the Ancient Roman Military Read More »
Reading about the way the cigarette industry insidiously and effectively played the American public is like watching a horror movie. By now we all (I hope) know how major tobacco companies secretly designed strategies to hide information about the links between smoking and cancer, but reviewing the advertisements and internal corporate documents is like looking
How the Cigarette Industry Played the American Public Read More »
The headline here says the world will end in 1843 — that’s Jesus you see up at the top of the page, literally returning to earth on some clouds to clean the world from sin.Of course, it didn’t happen. This was the belief of the American Baptist preacher William Miller, whose evangelical movement convinced as
American Baptist William Miller and the “Great Disappointment” Read More »
Ah, this guy.Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BCE- 43 BCE) — the most famous speech-maker in the history of Ancient Rome — could be whiny, self-important, and blind to the way the powerful families of Rome enchanted him. But he is also truly sympathetic in the way he strived to uphold the political structure of the
Marcus Tullius Cicero and His Thoughts on Death Read More »
Zhuangzi (4th-c BCE) is one of the most famous philopsophers in Chinese history. In that oh-so-paradoxical-sounding way that Daoists often express themselves, Zhuangzi has a lighthearted and quippy way to think about death.The story he gives in the eponymously named _Zhuangzi_ tells of the sage’s response to his wife’s demise. After she passed away, a
Chinese Philosopher Zhuangzi and His Theories of Death Read More »
This Japanese sliding-door panel from about 1606 shows the allegedly immortal Liezi riding the winds. Although based on mythological stories, the flying figure also evokes a state of dreaming, since humans have recorded flying dreams across many civilizations. The Daoist text named after Liezi gives insight to a particular type of dream interpretation. In this
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