According to a report in “New Scientist”, a weapon has been developed that is non-lethal and does not cause severe injury, but can be used to inflict unbearable pain, see Pain ray: The US military’s new agony beam weapon – health – 16 May 2013 – New Scientist. The weapon produces a ray of short wavelength … Continue reading »
Latest Entries
Cars / Civilization / Cognitive Science / Creativity / Economy / History / Incompleteness / Philosophy / Science / Ways
Reflexive Traffic Jams
You drive on a highway, and the traffic is dense, nearly a traffic jam. You notice that the cars on the next lane are overtaking you while your own lane is slow. You see a gap, take the opportunity and change lane. But a few moments later, the cars on the lane you are on … Continue reading »
The Old Swede
During the ice ages, this rock was transported to what would later become the Hamburg area. When the Elbtunnel, an autobahn tunnel crossing the river, was extended by a fourth tube a couple of years ago, the rock was found below the ground of the river and put on land. It was given the name … Continue reading »
The Start of the Gardening Season
Yesterday, finally, after months of waiting, I got my vegetable patch for this year. Like I did in the last four years, I have rented a patch to grow my veggies and potatoes from “Gartenglück“. This is a project running four plots in and around Cologne where people can rent such a patch. The farmer … Continue reading »
Aesthetics / Childhood / Cognitive Science / Creativity / Education / Ideology / Neuroscience / Science / Ways / Writing
Aesthetics and Pedagogics
In my recent article On Beauty I described the experience of beauty as being situated at the border between boredom and confusion. Between these two states of mind there is a “beauty zone” where we experience what we see or hear as beautiful, interesting or fascinating. I see here a possible connection to pedagogics. As … Continue reading »
Civilization / Food / History / Thoughts
Preparing food
In pre-stone-age time, eating was simple: look for a fruit, pluck it, eat. In stone-age time, things started to become more complicated: Look for a fruit, pluck it. Take a stone knife, peel the fruit, cut the fruit open, scrap out the seeds, cut into pieces, eat. Now, there is a sub-recipe to make … Continue reading »
Aesthetics / Art / Cognitive Science / Creativity / Philosophy / Quality / Science
On Beauty
Beauty is at the border between boredom and confusion. Think of hearing music. If the music is very simple, like just one or two notes repeating in a fixed pattern, it is boring. If it is extremely complex, you get confused and it is perceived as noise. In the middle between the two is the … Continue reading »
