Tag: encyclopaedia

Posted in Philosophy

Aliens

Posted on by Jinavie

People tend to ask “Do aliens exist?”, but a more interesting thought is “What if aliens do not exist?”.

If there are no aliens in this vast universe, then that indicates that we are the only form of intelligent of life. If so, are we not one of nature’s greatest creations and wouldn’t the destruction of such an achievement be foolish? Because if humanity was to become extinct, then that would result in the only species able to think of such a question ceasing to exist.
This theory can further be understood as saying that Earth is the only place in the universe where life can and does exist. Ergo, we (as possibly the last intelligent life) should protect the planet from destruction so that life can continue in the universe.

However, if aliens were to exist, it would be better to ignore them and not search for them. Many dream that they will be benevolent, bringing us advanced technology and knowledge, but in the history of mankind, there is rarely a situation where two worlds meet and the weaker is not looted, enslaved and destroyed.

Posted in Philosophy

Glass Of Water

Posted on by Jinavie

A pessimist sees a glass as half empty.

An optimist sees a glass as half full.

A wise, happy person drinks the refreshing liquid and then pours another glass.

(also see Points of View)

Posted in Psychology & Medicine

Uncanny Valley

Posted on by Jinavie

(original article by Kingdom of Discord, summarised and modified with permission)

The Uncanny Valley, a term coined by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori, is a theory that the more humanistic a robot (or any object) is, the more humans will feel comfortable with it and show empathy and love towards it. However, there is a point where the robot almost completely resembles a person, yet there is something not quite right. At this point, human response to the robot plummets, even falling below the line of neutrality and instead reaching a point where people become uncomfortable around it, and may even become hostile towards it or be afraid of it.

For example, robots such as C-3PO (from Star Wars) that are humanoid yet obviously robotic are met with love and affection from the audience. This also applies to human characteristics, such as Wall-E who shows human emotions that we can empathise with. 
But when the resemblance becomes too similar, such as a prosthetic limb, computer-generated images (CGI) such as characters from The Polar Express, or zombies, people find that there is something “wrong” and will show negative emotions towards it.
The Uncanny Valley also applies to people, especially those with a physical or mental disability that causes them to slide under the line that society names “the norm”.

There are many theories as to why this phenomenon occurs.
Firstly, the further away from human-likeness an object is, the less likely it will be compared to the “human norm”. But objects in the Uncanny Valley are more likely to be measured against “normal” humans, and thus they will be seen as “inferior”, rather than “superior to normal objects”.
Secondly, using the above theory, it can also be suggested that the primal instinct of avoiding mates with some disfigurement is elicited, causing a natural aversion.
Lastly, it may remind the person of their mortality and the fact that they could become something akin to that, invoking fear. The fear may also originate from the thought that they may become even closer to human beings, thus replacing humanity. This idea is seen in the anime Chobits.

The Uncanny Valley phenomenon is used extensively in the genre of horror movies, as people will relate more closely to human-like monsters such as ghosts and zombies than giant monsters. This will cause them to believe that it is more realistic, resulting in heightened fear. Combined with the uncanny feeling invoked by the closeness to a human, it is a potent method of scaring the audience.
It is also thought that the Uncanny Valley explains certain psychological conditions such as racism and the fear of clowns, as there is a primal aversion to those that are slightly different.

Posted in History & Literature

Hannibal’s Cane

Posted on by Jinavie

Hannibal was the greatest commander of Carthage, who threatened the Roman Empire and is considered “The Father of Strategy” after his brilliant tactics. He is most famous for the Second Punic War around 200 BC, where Carthage ultimately failed to conquer Rome. However, if it was not for a single cane, Hannibal may have destroyed Rome and Carthage may have dominated the history of Europe.

There is a scene in the epic Roman poem, Punica, where Hannibal’s forces are crossing the Alps. This was considered an impossible feat back then and in modern terms, it is as if China was to tunnel below the Pacific Ocean to reach USA soil. This kind of out-of-the-box thinking, charismatic leadership and brilliant military tactics and strategies allowed Hannibal to become one of the greatest threats in Roman history. However, the Alps still proved challenging even for him, and the journey was highly dangerous.

One day, Hannibal’s army reached a valley known as Certain Death, but the soldiers’ morale was too low for them to want to cross it. Hannibal tried to lead them through by using his cane to knock on the snow they stood on, proving that it was solid and safe. But the shock from this action triggered a massive avalanche that struck the army. It devastated the army equipped with advanced weapons and elephants, destroying almost two-thirds of his army (18,000 out of 38,000 soldiers were killed) and a quarter of his cavalry. 

This army that was destroyed so by the Alps managed to fight the war for 16 years, hassling Rome in every way, even producing great outcome such as the infamous Battle of Cannae, considered the greatest tactical feat in military history. One cannot help to wonder whether Hannibal would have completely crushed Rome with a full-size invasion force.

This shows how something as small as a cane can decide the flow of a war.

Posted in Psychology & Medicine

Sensory Illusion

Posted on by Jinavie

The five senses we use to experience the world are simply wondrous. However, thanks to our not-so-perfect brain, these senses can easily be distorted. Illusions are a very good way to show how the brain processes sensory information and there are many fascinating examples.

Almost everyone has seen an optical illusion before, such as Penrose’s endless stairs or the Muller-Lyer illusion. There are countless more examples such as static pictures that appear to be moving and illusions in colour perception (A and B are the same colour). This is caused by the brain not recording images like a camera, but rather processing visual information and reconstructing an image. There are four main types of optical illusions: ambiguous (e.g. rabbit or duck), distortion (Café wall illusion), paradoxical (Penrose triangle) and fictional (only seen in hallucinations or by schizophrenics).

(Do you see the dolphins? Children cannot see the man and woman because they cannot comprehend it, whilst adults cannot overpower the sexual image)

Like vision, every other sense can be fooled in a similar fashion.
Auditory illusions that distort what we hear are fairly common, a good example being the infinitely ascending Shepard scale (which are just a series of the same ascending octave scale). Also, the McGurk effect shows how the brain uses a multimodal approach where it involves both hearing and vision when listening.

There are also tactile illusions. For example, if you pull your top lip to left and the bottom lip to the right, then prod the middle of the lips with a pencil, it feels like there are two. However, the more famous case is of the Phantom Limb, where an amputee’s brain still believes that the limb is there, causing it to “feel” the limb or even feel pain.

The other two senses aren’t as famous in terms of illusions, but definitely exist.
Smell is easy to fool through chemicals as it is the physiological method of detecting smell. It also exhibits olfactory fatigue where it becomes desensitised to a strong smell.
Taste illusions are more fascinating and easily seen. They are caused by two or more tastes forming a synergy to produce a completely different taste. For instance, mixing barley tea and milk produces a coffee milk taste, while cucumber and honey tastes like melons.
A more fascinating illusion involves Miracle Fruit Berries, which contain a substance called miraculin that distorts the taste of sourness to sweetness.

This shows how we can fool all five senses, and learn more about the mysterious organ that is the brain.

Posted in Psychology & Medicine

Dunning-Kruger Effect

Posted on by Jinavie

People are very interesting animals that, despite possessing the most powerful brain out of all the species, exhibit many strange psychological phenomena. For example, in psychology there is a well-known cognitive bias (the act of subconsciously making bias while thinking) called the Dunning-Kruger effect. 
This effect states that people who are unskilled are more likely to fail to recognise their incompetence and rather overestimate their capabilities. It is most prevalent in cases where someone first learns a skill, such as singing at the karaoke, then believing that they are extremely skilled or an expert in the field when it comes to learning knowledge.

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This strange effect is caused by the belief that learning is an easy process. For example, it is simple to understand the basic principles of science, but it takes far more effort to understand the deeper, more complex pieces of knowledge to become an expert in the field. However, people are deluded into thinking that the time required for a beginner to become an amateur is equal to the time for an amateur to become an expert. This can be easily explained through the analogy of a role-playing game, where “levelling”, or gaining more experience, is much easier in the earlier levels compared to much later. For example, the time taken to go from level 1 to 30 may be equal to the time taken to go from level 30 to 33.

The Dunning-Kruger effect scientifically explains the proverbial frog in the well (who believes he is the best, not knowing that there is a bigger world). Also, this effect extends to those who are actually skilled, as it causes them to believe they are not as skilled and rather underestimate themselves. This is often due to them understanding that it is much more difficult to master a skill and that they are “nowhere near” that point. 

These two factors combine to produce a strange paradox where the less skilled are less likely to believe they are incompetent and rate themselves as more skilled than the expert. This is frequently seen on the internet or during debates and arguments.

Posted in History & Literature

Monet’s Lilies

Posted on by Jinavie

Monet is the father of impressionism, a style of art that revolutionised the art world in the early 20th century. However, there is a fascinating secret hidden in some of his most famous works, his lilies.

Monet developed cataracts, which is a disease that causes the lens in the eye to become cloudier and cloudier. As it destroys the patient’s vision, it also affects their ability to perceive colour. This changed Monet’s paintings. He always loved painting lilies, but the lush, green lilies turned redder and hazier as his cataracts worsened.

People thought that Monet was intentionally blurring his paintings and using a bold new colour scheme, and impressionists even took after this new “technique”. Monet’s works skyrocketed in price and his fame climbed even more. However, in the 1920’s he received corrective surgery for his cataracts, and thus he could see much more clearly. He saw the red lilies he had painted, and feeling ashamed he destroyed all the red lily paintings in a fit of rage.
Luckily his friends and family saved some of his works so that we could admire the beauty of his red lilies.

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Posted in Life & Happiness

Blueberry Pancakes

Posted on by Jinavie

Let’s make some blueberry pancakes, a tasty and nutritious brunch item.

Ingredients:

Flour 115g
Baking powder 5g
Salt 1g
Milk 100ml
Egg 1
Sugar 30g
Butter 30g
Blueberries 20~30 

  1. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl
  2. Mix the egg, milk and sugar together, and whisk well
  3. Mix 1 and 2 together with the pre-melted butter to make the batter
  4. On a pre-heated frying pan, drizzle some cooking oil on it, then pour a scoop of batter on (or all of it to make one large pancake)
  5. Cook on a weak flame and when bubbles start to fill the surface, sprinkle some blueberries (as much as you want) and flip the pancake carefully, to keep the shape 
  6. Let the bottom surface cook for a bit longer, and then serve on a plate, then repeat until there’s no batter left
  7. Serve with blueberries, jam, honey, maple syrup, whipped cream, banana, icing sugar, bacon etc. according to your taste and enjoy 

Pancakes are easy to make, soft, warm, moist and delicious which makes it ideal for brunch. Also, blueberries contain potent antioxidants which have anti-aging and anti-cancer properties.

Posted in History & Literature

Dragon

Posted on by Jinavie

Dragons are mythical animals that appear in many myths and legends. They are usually portrayed as gigantic reptiles, similar to snakes or lizards, and appear in stories from cultures around the world. Due to this, they can be split into two large groups: Eastern and Western Dragons, which have quite a few differences between them.

  • Western dragons look like dinosaurs or giant lizards, with a large body with bat-like wings and usually able to breathe fire.
    Eastern dragons are sleek like large serpents, with four legs and antlers and the ability to control weather (water-element based).
  • Eastern dragons are wise and benevolent creatures that help people, with omnipotent powers contained in yeouiju (dragon orb).
    Western dragons are violent and evil creatures that harm people, loot gold and jewellery and destroy villages.
  • Western dragons are the greatest enemy the hero has to kill, and is feared by the people.
    Eastern dragons are often teachers to heroes, giving them advice and help, while being worshipped by the people.

Like this the two kinds of dragons are mirror images regarding many characteristics, but the idea of a large reptile being conceived by so many cultures so far apart is quite strange. This leads many to believe that dragons are based on actual animals, and is likely the result of explorers finding dinosaur fossils, wondering what those animals would look like if they were alive.

Posted in Science & Nature

Schroedinger’s Cat

Posted on by Jinavie

In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger, a famous quantum physicist, devised a thought experiment in an attempt to explain the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics (which posits that the state of every particle can be described by a wave function, and that the process of calculating its position determines it). It goes as follows:

A cat is placed in a box with a sealed vial of poison that is set to release when a radioactive material has decayed. As the time taken for the decay varies (roughly 50:50 chance), it is unknown whether the vial has broken after an hour if the box is closed. This also means that it is unknown whether the cat is alive or dead. To solidify this variable reality, one must open the box, whence the cat is determined as either alive or dead. 

This experiment may be hard to understand for a non-physicist, but it is still a fascinating thought experiment. This is because there are many times in life where one cannot know the outcome of something unless action is taken. Ergo, if you want a state of uncertainty, do nothing; if you want a set answer, take action. This is a particularly useful answer to someone questioning whether they should start a relationship with someone and are unsure of the outcome.

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