Forwarded from lean meme xtreme team: paper straw enjoyer edition (Coltie)
Forwarded from Ministry of good ideas
Good idea: spend as much time as possible in nature 🌱
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/nov/27/the-nature-cure-how-time-outdoors-transforms-our-memory-imagination-and-logic
I’m far from alone in finding the antidote to modern life in nature. “It’s only when I’m outdoors and attentive to the wild things around me that my mind holds still,” says James Gilbert, an ecologist from Northamptonshire. Despite his job, it is not visits to nature reserves boasting rare species that provide what he describes as a “mental reset” – “simply the everyday encounters I chance upon in my daily life. These touches of wildness freshen my mind, broaden my perspective and lift my spirits.”
Such testimonies to the power of nature are nothing new. What is new is the emerging field of environmental neuroscience, which seeks to explore why – and how – our brains are so profoundly affected by being in nature.
You are probably aware of studies showing that green (vegetated) and blue (moving water) environments are associated with a reduction in stress, improved mood, more positive emotions and decreases in anxiety and rumination. But there is growing evidence that nature exposure also benefits cognitive function – all the processes involved in gaining knowledge and understanding, including perception, memory, reasoning, judgment, imagination and problem-solving. One study found that after just 40 seconds of looking out at a green roof, subjects made fewer mistakes in a test than when they looked at a concrete one.
Dr Marc Berman, director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Chicago, taxed subjects’ brains with a test known as the backwards digit-span task, requiring them to repeat back sequences of numbers in reverse order. Then he sent them for a 50-minute walk, in either an urban setting (a town centre) or a nature setting (a park). On their return, they repeated the task. “Performance improved by about 20% when participants had walked in nature, but not when they had walked in an urban environment,” he says.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/nov/27/the-nature-cure-how-time-outdoors-transforms-our-memory-imagination-and-logic
I’m far from alone in finding the antidote to modern life in nature. “It’s only when I’m outdoors and attentive to the wild things around me that my mind holds still,” says James Gilbert, an ecologist from Northamptonshire. Despite his job, it is not visits to nature reserves boasting rare species that provide what he describes as a “mental reset” – “simply the everyday encounters I chance upon in my daily life. These touches of wildness freshen my mind, broaden my perspective and lift my spirits.”
Such testimonies to the power of nature are nothing new. What is new is the emerging field of environmental neuroscience, which seeks to explore why – and how – our brains are so profoundly affected by being in nature.
You are probably aware of studies showing that green (vegetated) and blue (moving water) environments are associated with a reduction in stress, improved mood, more positive emotions and decreases in anxiety and rumination. But there is growing evidence that nature exposure also benefits cognitive function – all the processes involved in gaining knowledge and understanding, including perception, memory, reasoning, judgment, imagination and problem-solving. One study found that after just 40 seconds of looking out at a green roof, subjects made fewer mistakes in a test than when they looked at a concrete one.
Dr Marc Berman, director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Chicago, taxed subjects’ brains with a test known as the backwards digit-span task, requiring them to repeat back sequences of numbers in reverse order. Then he sent them for a 50-minute walk, in either an urban setting (a town centre) or a nature setting (a park). On their return, they repeated the task. “Performance improved by about 20% when participants had walked in nature, but not when they had walked in an urban environment,” he says.
the Guardian
The nature cure: how time outdoors transforms our memory, imagination and logic
Without engaging with natural environments, our brains cease to work well. As the new field of environmental neuroscience proves, exposure to nature isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity
Forwarded from Shower Thoughts 🚿
Society has no answers for the toughest questions in life so it acts like those things don’t matter
Reizthema Feminismus: «Sehr viel Meinung ohne Wissen ist sehr gefährlich» https://www.watson.ch/!380437203
watson.ch
Reizthema Feminismus: «Sehr viel Meinung ohne Wissen ist sehr gefährlich»
Was hat ein Wiener «Tatort» mit dem Dokumentarfilm «Feminism WTF» zu tun? Beide haben die gleiche Regisseurin.
Forwarded from Ministry of good ideas
Good idea: Ban autonomous weapons
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/us/politics/ai-drones-war-law.html
🤖💬The world's racing towards a sci-fi nightmare with killer robots that decide who lives and dies, all thanks to the US, China, and a few others gung-ho about AI-powered drones. The UN's trying to tame this beast with binding rules, but surprise, surprise! The big shots like the US, Russia, and China are slamming the brakes on new laws. They're fine with non-binding guidelines, though – because who needs real accountability when it comes to death-dealing robots, right? Despite the US boasting about voluntary AI weapon policies, the concerns about these drones going all rogue and causing civilian mayhem persist. It's a stalemate between pushing for clear regulations and letting these AI-powered death machines run amok.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/us/politics/ai-drones-war-law.html
🤖💬The world's racing towards a sci-fi nightmare with killer robots that decide who lives and dies, all thanks to the US, China, and a few others gung-ho about AI-powered drones. The UN's trying to tame this beast with binding rules, but surprise, surprise! The big shots like the US, Russia, and China are slamming the brakes on new laws. They're fine with non-binding guidelines, though – because who needs real accountability when it comes to death-dealing robots, right? Despite the US boasting about voluntary AI weapon policies, the concerns about these drones going all rogue and causing civilian mayhem persist. It's a stalemate between pushing for clear regulations and letting these AI-powered death machines run amok.
NY Times
As A.I.-Controlled Killer Drones Become Reality, Nations Debate Limits
Worried about the risks of robot warfare, some countries want new legal constraints, but the U.S. and other major powers are resistant.
Forwarded from 🎓 TIL - Today I Learned but no 🐝
TIL that JFK didn’t invite Sammy Davis Jr. to his 1961 inauguration as Sammy had married a white woman, and JFK was worried that the presence of an interracial couple would upset Southerners. Dean Martin, who was angered by this news, refused to attend the inauguration in solidarity with Sammy. [source, comments]