3 Anthropology Facts that I love telling in a conversation

In Western Cultures future is associated with the forward direction. Past is associated with bacward direction. We leave the past "behind" and look "forward" for a better future. In some Andean cultures this is reversed. Future is unclear, we don't know it, we cannot see it. Just like our backs. Past on the other hand, is all known to us, we can analyze it, look it at every direction. Just like the wide view in front of us.

A certain tribe in the Ocenia lives in a perpetual Wednesday. Their week is composed of today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after the day after tomorrow, yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before the day before yesterday. In other words, they are really living the moment, just like some "self help" gurus say. I ain't convinced, that I wanna live the moment...

Finally, there are no curtains in Japan. The influential Japanese classical music composer Tōru Takemitsu was touched so much by the flickering of curtains in wind, that he wrote a piece about it.

Why have I written about these? Just to remind myself to be aware of "universals" in Human life.

Comments

mısır said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
12:32 PM
atakee said…
heh, askerde anlatirsin artik :D
4:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Balik Hafizali Millet ve Onun Oyunbaz Yöneticileri

Spor'u yakindan takip etmeyenleriniz olabilir. Onun icin olanlari kisaca size özetleyeyim. Galatasaray Basketbol Takimi sezon öncesi Avrupa'ya özel bir turnuvaya gidiyor. Cemal Nalga adli bir oyuncusu 5 mac cezali. Bu turnuvada sahada yer aliyor, ama takim arkadasinin formasiyla oynuyor. Türkiye Basketbol Federasyonuna ise macta oynamamis gibi gosteriliyor. Boylece Cemal Nalga sezona hem hazir giriyor, hem de cezasini cekmekten kurtuluyor. Asagilik bir kurnazlik örnegi. Türkiye'nin en büyük camialarindan birine, kendini Galatasaray Lisesi gelenegine adamis bir camiaya yakismayan, bu yuzden beni cok uzen bir kurnazlik hem de. Galatasaray Klübü kendi icinde hemen cezalari veriyor. Sira Basketbol Federasyonuna geliyor. Disiplin talimatnamesinde ACIK ACIK yaziyor: Basketbol Federasyonunu kandiran takim lig dusurulur. Su an linki bulamiyorum, ama acik acik yaziyor bu. Eyyamci Federasyon ne yapiyor? Lig dusurmuyor, ama lig dusurmeye es deger bir ceza veriyor. Cemal Nalga'nin ...
Read more

Brain in love...

Functional MRI is one of the coolest scientific devices ever developed. With it the scientists are able to monitor which parts of the brain are activated, when individuals are involved in different activities. From dancing to taking decisions the functional MRI has revolutionized our understanding of many fundamental human activities. As Helen Fisher put it, the most passionate human activity, the romantic love is one of the latest to be investigated in functional MRI. According to their results, love activates the reward/punishment mechanisms, along with risk taking and strategic game playing parts of the brain. Unlike people who can leave in a split second, the activity in those areas continue even 15 months after separation. Also, people who claim to be in love after 25 years still have those regions active! Lastly, the same reward region is activated in a cocaine high! Here is a 15 minute video of Helen Fisher's talk, which is definitely worth watching! Helen Fisher: The Brain ...
Read more

Joy of rediscovering a Bob Dylan discovery

I guess I won't be wrong if I say that Bob Dylan's artistic output is perhaps one of the largest in the contemporary music history. Thus one shouldn't be surprised to find interesting Dylan selections such as "Favorite Dylan Songs Starting with C" in the Internet. His website ( link to the website ), which has an incredible list of his songs, might give you an idea of about the sheer volume of his output. So from time to time I discover new favorites out of this collection. The song Series of Dreams is a voyage through well you know what, in which Dylan has no intention of telling anything specific, but just wants to paint the walls of a long and winding cave with the images. This beautiful song did not make it to any albums. I first heard it on his Greatest Hits collection a month or so ago, and was struck by it. Recently I came across an alternate version in his latest Bootleg Series Releases Tell Tale Signs. I have to say the alternate version is even be...
Read more