The Birth of a Nation The Birth of a Nation (originally called The Clansman) is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay (with Frank E. Woods), and co-produced the film (with Harry Aitken). It was released on February 8, 1915. Despite the film's controversial content, Griffith's innovative film techniques make it one of the most important and influential films in the commercial film industry. Plot[edit] Part 1: Civil War America[edit] The film follows two juxtaposed families: the Northern Stonemans, consisting of the abolitionist Congressman Austin Stoneman, based on the Reconstruction-era Congressman Thaddeus Stevens,[11][12] his two sons, and his daughter Elsie; and the Southern Camerons, a family including two daughters, Margaret and Flora, and three sons, most notably Ben. The Stoneman brothers visit the Camerons at their South Carolina estate, representing the Old South. Cast[edit]
Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about personal or private affairs of others.[1] In British dialect, the word refers to a godparent.[2] Among girls, the majority of gossip is not malicious, and it can serve as an important means of creating a sense of intimacy and learning about group norms.[6] However, gossip can also hurt reputations and become a form of relational bullying. With the advent of the internet gossip is now widespread on an instant basis, from one place in the world to another what used to take a long time to filter through is now instant. The term is sometimes used to specifically refer to the spreading of dirt and misinformation, as (for example) through excited discussion of scandals. Some newspapers carry "gossip columns" which detail the social and personal lives of celebrities or of élite members of certain communities. Etymology[edit] The term originates from the bedroom at the time of childbirth. Functions[edit] Gossip can:[3] Workplace gossip[edit]
A Bestiary of Future Literatures « Three Pound Brain With the collapse of mainstream literary fiction as a commercially viable genre in 2036 and its subsequent replacement with Algorithmic Sentimentalism, so-called ‘human literature’ became an entirely state and corporate funded activity. Freed from market considerations, writers could concentrate on accumulating the ingroup prestige required to secure so-called ‘non-reciprocal’ sponsors. In the wake of the new sciences, this precipitated an explosion of ‘genres,’ some self-consciously consolatory, others bent on exploring life in the wake of the so-called ‘Semantic Apocalypse,’ the scientific discrediting of meaning and morality that remains the most troubling consequence of the ongoing (and potentially never-ending) Information Enlightenment. Amar Stevens, in his seminal Muse: The Exorcism of the Human, famously declared this the age of ‘Post-semanticism,’ where, as he puts it, “writers write with the knowledge that they write nothing” (7). Like this: Like Loading...
The Last Magic Show: A Blind Brain Theory of the Appearance of Consciousness « Three Pound Brain I may have misunderstood some things so please correct me where appropriate, but I’ll try to point out the problems I have with your theory (which is similar to problems I have with many other theories, including popular ones like Dennett’s and Hofstadter’s). First, I don’t think you’ve carefully disentangled the suitcase word of consciousness by at least distinguishing between awareness, self-awareness, and metacognition. From my reading you’ve lumped it all into a definition of consciousness that seems to equate only with some merged amalgamation of both self-awareness and metacognition, ignoring the fact that conscious awareness can occur without any self-reflection at all. This, I think, is a crucial issue because a lot of your theory rests on the fact that you frame consciousness to be the self-reflecting product of a recursive structure that has evolved only relatively recently through kludgy adaptive heuristics. Third, you write,
E. O. Wilson Edward Osborne "E. O." Wilson (born June 10, 1929) is an American biologist, researcher (sociobiology, biodiversity), theorist (consilience, biophilia), naturalist (conservationist) and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, the study of ants, on which he is considered to be the world's leading authority.[1][2] Wilson is known for his scientific career, his role as "the father of sociobiology", his environmental advocacy, and his secular-humanist and deist ideas pertaining to religious and ethical matters.[3] Wilson is currently the Pellegrino University Research Professor, Emeritus in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, a lecturer at Duke University,[4] and a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Early life[edit] Concerned that he might not be able to afford to go to a university, Wilson attempted to enlist in the United States Army. Retirement[edit] Theories and beliefs[edit] Epic of evolution[edit] Edward O.
Joseph Carroll's Books and Essays on Literary Darwinism An edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species (Broadview, 2003) Blurbs on Back Cover An unabridged edition of On the Origin of Species, correcting the first edition against the second. return to top Literary Darwinism: Evolution, Human Nature, and Literature (Routledge, 2004) OnFiction The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction Brain scans are revealing what happens in our heads when we read a detailed description, an evocative metaphor or an emotional exchange between characters. Stories, this research is showing, stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life. Researchers have long known that the “classical” language regions, like Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, are involved in how the brain interprets written words. What scientists have come to realize in the last few years is that narratives activate many other parts of our brains as well, suggesting why the experience of reading can feel so alive. Words like “lavender,” “cinnamon” and “soap,” for example, elicit a response not only from the language-processing areas of our brains, but also those devoted to dealing with smells. Researchers have discovered that words describing motion also stimulate regions of the brain distinct from language-processing areas. Fiction, Dr.
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (9780547391403): Jonathan Gottschall Marilynne Robinson on The Art of Fiction « Per Crucem ad Lucem When Marilynne Robinson published her first novel, Housekeeping, in 1980, she was unknown in the literary world. But an early review in The New York Times ensured that the book would be noticed. “It’s as if, in writing it, she broke through the ordinary human condition with all its dissatisfactions, and achieved a kind of transfiguration,” wrote Anatole Broyard, with an enthusiasm and awe that was shared by many critics and readers. The book became a classic, and Robinson was hailed as one of the defining American writers of our time. In the interval, Robinson devoted herself to writing nonfiction. In person, even when clad in her favorite writing attire—a pair of loose pants and a sweatshirt—Robinson carries herself with a regal elegance. Robinson is a Christian whose faith is not easily reduced to generalities. Gilead and Home are both set in Iowa, where Robinson has lived for nearly twenty years, teaching at the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. ROBINSON The Workshop.
Rowan Willams « Per Crucem ad Lucem Call me theologically naïve, or ignorant, or not well enough read, but I simply do not understand some of the criticisms directed at Rowan Williams. Archbishop Williams is a person of deep faith and prayer, of contagious love for Christ, for the Scriptures and tradition which bear witness to him, and for Christ’s church, and who for decade after decade has been among the church’s finest public theologians (and poets!), producing first-rate scholarship with exemplary integrity and gospel-spirited passion, and helping a new generation of Christians to find the words and posture to understand and bear witness to the deepest realties of their faith in a rapidly changing cultural landscape. Put differently, I keep an eye open to read and digest everything he writes. And later on: ‘Theology begins when something in the human world and human lives has struck at such depth that we need language more than just the conventional language of human agency and historical forces. Like this:
Philip Kitcher: The Trouble With Scientism Before 2014, catch up on the best of The New Republic. For the next few weeks, we'll be re-posting a selection of our most thought-provoking pieces from the recent past. There are two cathedrals in Coventry. The newer one, consecrated on May 25, 1962, stands beside the remains of the older one, which dates from the fourteenth century, a ruin testifying to the bombardment of the Blitz. Three years before the consecration, in one of the earliest ventures in the twinning of towns, Coventry had paired itself with Dresden. Since the 1960s, historians have worked—and debated—to bring into focus the events of the night of February 13, 1945, in which an Allied bombing attack devastated the strategically irrelevant city of Dresden. The problem with scientism—which is of course not the same thing as science—is owed to a number of sources, and they deserve critical scrutiny. In English we speak about science in the singular, but both French and German wisely retain the plural.