Father
And
Mother
I
Love
You
Although the actual etymology of the word comes from the Latin word familia, meaning “members of a household”, perhaps this acronym best reflects the true meaning of the word.
Category: History & Literature
Moon
As most people know, the Moon is Earth’s only satellite (or “moon”), and it circles the Earth from a distance of 360000km. This giant rock was most likely formed from a gargantuan heavenly body colliding into the young Earth, displacing material from it.
The Moon also has oceans, but they are flat, barren rockbeds. As it has a geography, we see a pattern on the lunar surface, which people interpret as the Moon rabbit, Man on the Moon, crab, beautiful woman and whatever else they see through the power of pareidolia.
The Moon, which forms the basis of yin and yang with the Sun, has had a significant impact in every civilisation. In the East, the lunar calendar is still used and many festivals are set to it (such as the Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival). In the West, the Moon has been associated with lunacy, so called the “lunar effect”. Some people (including Aristotle) believe that people act more crazy and criminal when a full moon is up (werewolves and the Cheshire Cat’s “crescent moon” grin are also linked to this symbolism).
As such, the Moon has always been an important part of human societies. Without it, there would be no tides, the lunar calendar would be useless, the night sky would be darker, werewolves would not terrorise the forests, and most importantly, Sailor Moon would not be able to stop criminals in the name of justice.
Cattle
Alison and John are standing in the same cattle field at the same time. John can see twice as many cows as bulls. However, Alison can see the same number of bulls and cows in the field. How can this be, and how many bulls and cows are there in the field?
3000 A.D.
How will the world change over the next millennium? Everything will change: from lifestyle and culture, to international politics and economics. This makes the posited question extremely interesting.
As science will continue to advance rapidly, technology that can only be dreamed of by modern man will become commonplace in the future. For example, computers will become essential tools such as pen and paper, or possibly become obsolete like the typewriter. Human beings will rely more and more on machines, which may lead to human-machine interfaces and cyborgs, or simply robots becoming common household appliances. Space travel will become as common as air travel, and humanity may even begin to colonise other planets or moons.
As this field can flow in completely unpredictable directions, it is extremely hard to know what will come. One thing is for sure: there is infinite potential in science for at least the next thousand years.
The continuing evolution of medicine and advanced hygiene policies will increase the lifespan of the world. This will bring upon the aging of the population, a “disease” that already plagues some developed nations. Governments may even respond with extreme solutions such as setting an age limit (or killing the elderly to change the demographics), but the more likely option is lengthening the period of youth or reversing aging to prevent the phenomenon of an elderly population.
Socially, the internet will allow for a ubiquitous society, bringing together the entire world. However, the internet is a double-edged sword that may improve interpersonal relationships, but also cause people to become antisocial and communicate only via electronic screens. Unfortunately, it is unlikely the gap between the rich and poor will be filled. The reason being, people’s basic instinct to take from others to improve their own life means that there will always be those who are rich and those who are poor.
In mankind’s history, there have been only a few empires that have survived over a millennium. Even the United States of America that currently is the leading nation is showing signs of deterioration, and China will instead rise to the top over the next few hundred years. But no one knows who will be the strongest power in the year 3000, as even a (currently) weak nation may suddenly strike and claim the throne.
For example, the Roman empire 2000 years ago, the Mongol empire 1000 years ago, and the Ottoman empire 200 years ago have all fallen and have only become pages in history books now.
Even after two vicious world wars, future nations may ignore history’s teachings and cause a third world war, which could involve the use of nuclear weapons. In this case, the world will definitely be unrecognisable compared to now.
Alternatively, history may take a peaceful course where the concept of “nations” crumble and instead a united world is formed.
An even more interesting thought is “How will future people see us?”. As we mock the unsanitary conditions, violent history and underdeveloped science of the past, the future may laugh at concepts such as paternalism and communism, or even our fashion of jeans and shirts.
On the other hand, it is possible that works such as Harry Potter or House MD will be seen as classics and become the future Shakespearean plays.
As seen from this, the possibilities for the future are endless, and pondering the different futures sometimes bring light to ways to improve the present.
Toast
A toast, which is a must when drinking, symbolises friendship, community and love, and an important ritual of building trust. This ritual originates from kings, whilst feasting, clashing their goblets together to mix the drinks, thus proving that they did not poison each other’s drink.
Ergo, the ritual that symbolises “trust” originates from the meaning of “I will not kill you”.
As an addendum, Ancient Romans used to also add pieces of burnt bread into glasses of wine because people were led to believe that charcoal reduced acidity in wines. Hence the origination of the term “toast”. The act of toasting, however, came from ancient Greece.
Logic
The following logic problem was set by Einstein, who said that 98% of the world would not be able to solve it.
- There are five houses of five different colours.
- In each house lives a person with a special nationality.
- The five owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain
- brand of cigars, and keep a certain pet.
- No owner has the same pet, smokes the same cigar, or drinks the same beverage.
The question is: Who owns the fish?
Hints:
- The Brit lives in the red house.
- The Mexican keeps dogs as pets.
- The Chinese drinks tea.
- The green house is on the left of the white house.
- The green house’s owner drinks coffee.
- The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
- The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
- The man in the centre house drinks milk.
- The American lives in the first house.
- The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
- The man who keeps a horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhills.
- The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
- The German smokes Prince.
- The American lives next to the blue house.
- The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water.
Palindrome
A palindrome is a word or sentence which can be read both ways and still be exactly the same. This type of mirroring can be found in words such as radar or level, or in more advanced sentences such as “Was it a rat I saw?”.
The following is an example of how far a palindrome can be taken.
The Faded Bloomer’s Rhapsody
Flee to me, remote elf — Sal a dewan desired;
Now is a Late-Petal era.
We fade: lucid Iris, red Rose of Sharon;
Goldenrod a silly ram ate.
Wan olives teem (ah, Satan lives!);
A star eyes pale Roses.
Revel, big elf on a mayonnaise man —
A tinsel baton-dragging nice elf too.
Lisp, oh sibyl, dragging Nola along;
Niggardly bishops I loot.
Fleecing niggard notables Nita names,
I annoy a Man of Legible Verse.
So relapse, ye rats,
As evil Natasha meets Evil
On a wet, amaryllis-adorned log.
Norah’s foes’ orders (I ridiculed a few) are late, Pet.
Alas, I wonder! Is Edna wed?
Alas — flee to me, remote elf.
– Howard W. Bergerson
It is interesting to note that there have even been a couple of novels written that are completely palindromic.
Another interesting literature technique is called a semordnilap. This is a word or a phrase that reads something completely different when read in reverse (a keen reader may note that “semordnilap” is “palindromes” spelled backwards). Examples include live/evil, star/rats and stressed/desserts (ironically).
Cassandra
Cassandra is a woman featuring in Greek mythology, who is blessed by Apollo the gift of foretelling. However, when she does not return his love he curses her to be never believed by others. This causes her the eternal suffering of seeing the future yet being completely helpless as no one will believe her clairvoyance.
This theme has been portrayed in many works, such as Twelve Monkeys where it is shown how someone who knows the future will most likely be treated as a lunatic in society. Because society has a tendency to treat anyone different to the norm as “abnormal” and therefore inferior, it is easy for a society to reject such a gift.
The Raven And The Writing Desk
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
This riddle was first posed by Lewis Carroll in his famous work, Alice in Wonderland, asked by the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter asks this riddle in his nonsensical character, stating that he does not know the answer either. In fact, the book never reveals what the answer to the riddle is.
Perplexed, many readers wrote to Carroll as to the answer of this puzzle. After receiving so many enquiries, Carroll wrote in the preface of his next book that the riddle was thought of without the answer in mind, meaning that he did not know the commonality between the two either. However, he did suggest an answer that:
“Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!” (note that “nevar” is “raven” “put with the wrong end in front”)
Knowing that this riddle was never created with an answer, scholars have attempted to solve this riddle themselves ever since. There have been many proposed answers, such as “they both stand on sticks”, “they both come with inky quills” and the most famous “because Edgar Allan Poe wrote on both” (see The Raven). There have also been nonsensical answers (thus answering to the nonsensical nature of the riddle) such as “because there is a B in both and an N in neither”.
However, perhaps the best answer, as with all works by both Carroll and Poe, is that “you can baffle billions with both”.
Computer Bug
The first-ever recorded computer bug occurred in 1947, on a US Navy Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard University. After a thorough check of the computer’s software and components, operators discovered a moth that had fried itself on the circuit board, interfering with signals.
The operators taped the said moth to a computer log, with the description “First actual case of bug being found”, and also added the comment that they had “debugged the computer”, coining both the terms “bug” and “debug” that are frequently used nowadays.
Although actual insects are a rare cause of problems in modern computers, the word “bug” is still the colloquial term for an error.
