Just a thread for different kindsa interesting things

bbc:https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190411-the-violent-attack-that-turned-a-man-into-a-maths-genius
The violent attack that turned a man into a maths genius

Futon salesman Jason Padgett cared little about anything beyond partying and chasing girls, then one fateful night changed him forever…
…
…But while Padgett was experiencing all these negative consequences from his attack, something incredible was happening too. The way Jason was seeing things changed.

“Everything that was curved looked like it was slightly pixelated,” he explains. “Water coming down the drain didn’t look like it was a smooth, flowing thing anymore, it looked like these little tangent lines.”

The same thing happened with clouds, sunlight streaming between trees and puddles. To Padgett, the world essentially looked like a retro video game. Seeing such a radically different view of his surroundings evoked conflicting emotions in Padgett. “I was surprised…confused. It was beautiful but it was also scary at the same time.”

Because of these visions, Padgett began to think about huge questions in relation to mathematics and physics. Given his hermit-like existence at that time, the internet became a valuable source of information to him as he read extensively about mathematics online…
…
….“I would always describe that math was shapes not numbers and that was the first time I’d heard anybody but me talk about what numbers looked like,” says Padgett.

He scoured the internet for more information and came across Berit Brogaard, a cognitive neuroscientist now at the University of Miami. The pair spent hours talking on the phone and from these conversations, Brogaard hypothesised that Padgett had synaesthesia – essentially a cross-wiring of the brain in which the senses get mixed up…..see link…

Will White-Jesus statues be the next to fall?

—————-
link:https://theconversation.com/the-long-history-of-how-jesus-came-to-resemble-a-white-european-142130?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20July%2017%202020%20-%201680416205&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20July%2017%202020%20-%201680416205+Version+A+CID_0d7f3e4ec385d8cf5621a3114a1b07a0&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=The%20long%20history%20of%20how%20Jesus%20came%20to%20resemble%20a%20white%20European

The long history of how Jesus came to resemble a white European
July 17, 2020
The portrayal of Jesus as a white, European man has come under renewed scrutiny during this period of introspection over the legacy of racism in society.

As protesters called for the removal of Confederate statues in the U.S., activist Shaun King went further, suggesting that murals and artwork depicting “white Jesus” should “come down.”

His concerns about the depiction of Christ and how it is used to uphold notions of white supremacy are not isolated. Prominent scholars and the archbishop of Canterbury have called to reconsider Jesus’ portrayal as a white man.

As a European Renaissance art historian, I study the evolving image of Jesus Christ from A.D. 1350 to 1600. Some of the best-known depictions of Christ, from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” to Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel, were produced during this period.

But the all-time most-reproduced image of Jesus comes from another period. It is Warner Sallman’s light-eyed, light-haired “Head of Christ” from 1940. Sallman, a former commercial artist who created art for advertising campaigns, successfully marketed this picture worldwide…..see link

That lady has one of those faces/bone-structures that may very well look better without hair. I know that wasn’t the point.

Rex Chapman does it again. Man, he’s becoming an internet Tweet-legend.

Even Entomologists are struggling with race knowledge these days.
—–
bug-blog:http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-problem-with-murderanything.html

“…the fact that i can speak more intelligently about social wasps, than people of color is disgraceful….”
==================

Vietnamese lady’s point of view.
———–