Plato's cave analysis

# relevant link: http://phf1964-01.blogspot.tw/2013/08/odesza-iplayyoulisten_6.html


source: zontulfilmsltd  2011年10月27日
How to understand Plato. Animated analysis of Plato's cave in Book 7 of THE REPUBLIC with reference to the Meno (anamnesis and the discussion on the difference between true belief and true knowledge); the theory of forms. Other films in the series to be posted.

Why Do We Clap?

source: Vsauce 2013-08-25

Lawrence Krauss: Quantum Computing Explained

source: Big Think 2013-08-26

Lawrence Krauss describes quantum computing and the technical obstacles we need to overcome to realize this Holy Grail of processing.

Lawrence Krauss: Let me briefly describe the difference between a quantum computer and a regular computer, at some level. In a regular computer, you've got ones and zeros, which you store in binary form and you manipulate them and they do calculations. You can store them, for example, in a way that at least I can argue simply.

Let's say you have an elementary particle that's spinning. If it's spinning, and we say it's spinning, it's pointing up or down depending upon whether it's spinning this way or this way, pointing up or down. And so, I could store the information by having lots of particles and some of them spinning up and some of them spinning down. Right? One's and zero's.

But in the quantum world, it turns out that particles like electrons are actually spinning in all directions at the same time, one of the weird aspects of quantum mechanics. We may measure, by doing a measurement of an electron, find it's spinning this way. But before we did the measurement, it was spinning this way and this way and that way and that way all at the same time. Sounds crazy, but true.

Now that means, if the electron's spinning in many different directions at the same time, if we don't actually measure it, it can be doing many computations at the same time. And so a quantum computer is based on manipulating the state of particles like electrons so that during the calculation, many different calculations are being performed at the same time, and only making a measurement at the end of the computation.

So we exploit that fact of quantum mechanics that particles could do many things at the same time to do many computations at same time. And that's what would make a quantum computer so powerful.

One of the reasons it's so difficult to make a quantum computer, and one of the reasons I'm a little skeptical at the moment, is that - the reason the quantum world seems so strange to us is that we don't behave quantum mechanically. I don't -- you know, you can - not me, but you could run towards the wall behind us from now 'til the end of the universe and bang your head in to it and you'd just get a tremendous headache. But if you're an electron, there's a probability if I throw it towards the wall that it will disappear and appear on the other side due to something called quantum tunneling, okay.

Those weird quantum behaviors are manifest on small scales. We don't obey them - have those behaviors 'cause we're large classical objects and the laws of quantum mechanics tell us, in some sense, that when you have many particles interacting at some level those weird quantum mechanical correlations that produce all the strange phenomena wash away. And so in order to have a quantum mechanical state where you can distinctly utilize and exploit those weird quantum properties, in some sense you have to isolate that system from all of its environment because, if it interacts with the environment, the quantum mechanical weirdness sort of washes away.

And that's the problem with a quantum computer. You want to make this macroscopic object, you want to keep it behaving quantum mechanically which means isolating it very carefully from, within itself, all the interactions and the outside world. And that's the hard part, Is isolating things enough to maintain this what's called quantum coherence. And that's the challenge and it's a huge challenge.

But the potential is unbelievably great. Once you can engineer materials on a scale where quantum mechanical properties are important, a whole new world of phenomenon open up to you. And you might be able to say - as we say, if we created a quantum computer, and I'm not - I must admit I'm skeptical that we'll be able to do that in the near-term, but if we could, we'd be able to do computations in a finite time that would take longer than the age of the universe right now. We'd be able to do strange and wonderful things. And of course, if you ask me what's the next big breakthrough, I'll tell you what I always tell people, which is if I knew, I'd be doing it right now.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

Is Google Knowledge? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios

source: pbsideachannel   2013-08-21
"Google it" seems to be the quick and easy answer for every question we could possibly ask, but is finding facts the same thing as KNOWING? Having billions of facts at the tips of your typing fingertips may not necessarily be making us any smarter. Some people even think it's making us more stupid and lazy. Whatever way we process the vast sea of data available, the question remains: is the act of googling the same as knowledge? What the episode and find out!

Hank Green - Google is Alive!:
http://bit.ly/1arN5hi

New Testament History and Literature with Dale B. Martin at Yale University (Spring 2009)

# playlist of the 26 videos (click the upper-left icon of the video)

source: YaleCourses  Last updated on 2014年7月2日

Introduction to New Testament (RLST 152)
This course provides a historical study of the origins of Christianity by analyzing the literature of the earliest Christian movements in historical context, concentrating on the New Testament. Although theological themes will occupy much of our attention, the course does not attempt a theological appropriation of the New Testament as scripture. Rather, the importance of the New Testament and other early Christian documents as ancient literature and as sources for historical study will be emphasized. A central organizing theme of the course will focus on the differences within early Christianity (-ies).

1. Introduction: Why Study the New Testament? 40:12
2. From Stories to Canon 48:54
3. The Greco-Roman World 48:42
4. Judaism in the First Century 48:28
5. The New Testament as History 36:42
6. The Gospel of Mark 44:38
7. The Gospel of Matthew 48:17
8. The Gospel of Thomas 50:29
9. The Gospel of Luke 49:16
10. The Acts of the Apostles 48:35
11. Johannine Christianity: The Gospel 49:50
12. Johannine Christianity: The Letters 50:56
13. The Historical Jesus 52:29
14. Paul as Missionary 50:15
15. Paul as Pastor 47:32
16. Paul as Jewish Theologian 47:50
17. Paul's Disciples 49:52
18. Arguing with Paul? 45:52
19. The "Household" Paul: The Pastorals 46:04
20. The "Anti-household" Paul: Thecla 48:34
21. Interpreting Scripture: Hebrews 48:06
22. Interpreting Scripture: Medieval Interpretations 49:29
23. Apocalyptic and Resistance 47:12
24. Apocalyptic and Accommodation 48:19
25. Ecclesiastical Institutions: Unity, Martyrs, and Bishops 48:24
26. The "Afterlife" of the New Testament and Postmodern Interpretation 47:41

another source: http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-152#sessions
1 Introduction: Why Study the New Testament?
2 From Stories to Canon
3 The Greco-Roman World
4 Judaism in the First Century
5 The New Testament as History
6 The Gospel of Mark
7 The Gospel of Matthew
8 The Gospel of Thomas
9 The Gospel of Luke
10 The Acts of the Apostles
11 Johannine Christianity: the Gospel
12 Johannine Christianity: the Letters
13 The Historical Jesus
14 Paul as Missionary
15 Paul as Pastor
16 Paul as Jewish Theologian
17 Paul's Disciples
18 Arguing with Paul?
19 The "Household" Paul: the Pastorals
20 The "Anti-household" Paul: Thecla
21 Interpreting Scripture: Hebrews
22 Interpreting Scripture: Medieval Interpretations
23 Apocalyptic and Resistance
24 Apocalyptic and Accommodation
25 Ecclesiastical Institutions: Unity, Martyrs, and Bishops
26 The "Afterlife" of the New Testament and Postmodern Interpretation

Why Do We Get Bored?

source: Vsauce

Introduction to the Old Testament With Christine Hayes at Yale University (Fall 2006)

# playlist of the 24 videos (click the video's upper-left icon)

source: YaleCourses   Last updated on 2012年12月6日

Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (RLST 145)

This course examines the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization. A wide range of methodologies, including source criticism and the historical-critical school, tradition criticism, redaction criticism, and literary and canonical approaches are applied to the study and interpretation of the Bible. Special emphasis is placed on the Bible against the backdrop of its historical and cultural setting in the Ancient Near East. Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu

1. The Parts of the Whole 45:46
2. The Hebrew Bible in Its Ancient Near Eastern Setting: Biblical Religion in Context 46:12
3. The Hebrew Bible in Its Ancient Near Eastern Setting: Genesis 1-4 in Context 47:43
4. Doublets and Contradictions, Seams and Sources 47:53
5. Critical Approaches to the Bible: Introduction to Genesis 12-50 48:45
6. Biblical Narrative: The Stories of the Patriarchs (Genesis 12-36) 49:17
7. Israel in Egypt: Moses and the Beginning of Yahwism (Genesis 37- Exodus 4) 46:03
8. Exodus: From Egypt to Sinai (Exodus 5-24, 32; Numbers) 47:35
9. The Priestly Legacy: Cult and Sacrifice, Purity and Holiness in Leviticus and Numbers 48:35
10. Biblical Law: The Three Legal Corpora of JE (Exodus), P (Leviticus and Numbers) and D 50:43
11. On the Steps of Moab: Deuteronomy 47:55
12. The Deuteronomistic History: Life in the Land (Joshua and Judges) 50:19
13. The Deuteronomistic History: Prophets and Kings (1 and 2 Samuel) 49:32
14. The Deuteronomistic History: Response to Catastrophe (1 and 2 Kings) 51:35
15. Hebrew Prophecy: The Non-Literary Prophets 49:51
16. Literary Prophecy: Amos 48:00
17. Literary Prophecy: Hosea and Isaiah 48:58
18. Literary Prophecy: Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum and Habbakuk 48:40
19. Literary Prophecy: Perspectives on the Exile (Jeremiah, Ezekiel and 2nd Isaiah) 47:07
20. Responses to Suffering and Evil: Lamentations and Wisdom Literature 52:53
21. Biblical Poetry: Psalms and Song of Songs 48:40
22. The Restoration: 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah 49:18
23. Visions of the End: Daniel and Apocalyptic Literature 49:51
24. Alternative Visions: Esther, Ruth, and Jonah 

another source: http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145#sessions
1 The Parts of the Whole
2 The Hebrew Bible in Its Ancient Near Eastern Setting: Biblical Religion in Context
3 The Hebrew Bible in Its Ancient Near Eastern Setting: Genesis 1-4 in Context
4 Doublets and Contradictions, Seams and Sources: Genesis 5-11 and the Historical-Critical Method
5 Critical Approaches to the Bible: Introduction to Genesis 12-50
6 Biblical Narrative: The Stories of the Patriarchs (Genesis 12-36)
7 Israel in Egypt: Moses and the Beginning of Yahwism (Genesis 37- Exodus 4)
8 Exodus: From Egypt to Sinai (Exodus 5-24, 32; Numbers)
9 The Priestly Legacy: Cult and Sacrifice, Purity and Holiness in Leviticus and Numbers
10 Biblical Law: The Three Legal Corpora of JE (Exodus), P (Leviticus and Numbers) and D (Deuteronomy)
11 On the Steps of Moab: Deuteronomy
Exam 1 Midterm Exam
12 The Deuteronomistic History: Life in the Land (Joshua and Judges)
13 The Deuteronomistic History: Prophets and Kings (1 and 2 Samuel)
14 The Deuteronomistic History: Response to Catastrophe (1 and 2 Kings)
15 Hebrew Prophecy: The Non-Literary Prophets
16 Literary Prophecy: Amos
17 Literary Prophecy: Hosea and Isaiah
18 Literary Prophecy: Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum and Habbakuk
19 Literary Prophecy: Perspectives on the Exile (Jeremiah, Ezekiel and 2nd Isaiah)
20 Responses to Suffering and Evil: Lamentations and Wisdom Literature
21 Biblical Poetry: Psalms and Song of Songs
22 The Restoration: 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah
23 Visions of the End: Daniel and Apocalyptic Literature
24 Alternative Visions: Esther, Ruth, and Jonah

Introduction to Theory of Literature with Paul H. Fry at Yale University (Spring 2009)

# automatic playing for the 26 videos (click the up-left corner for the list)

source: YaleCourses   Last updated on 2014年7月1日

Introduction to Theory of Literature (ENGL 300)
This is a survey of the main trends in twentieth-century literary theory. Lectures will provide background for the readings and explicate them where appropriate, while attempting to develop a coherent overall context that incorporates philosophical and social perspectives on the recurrent questions: what is literature, how is it produced, how can it be understood, and what is its purpose?

1. Introduction 39:29
2. Introduction (cont.) 46:31
3. Ways In and Out of the Hermeneutic Circle 46:44
4. Configurative Reading 52:14
5. The Idea of the Autonomous Artwork 46:25
6. The New Criticism and Other Western Formalisms 50:07
7. Russian Formalism 48:57
8. Semiotics and Structuralism 51:31
9. Linguistics and Literature 49:54
10. Deconstruction I 51:43
11. Deconstruction II 52:58
12. Freud and Fiction 50:40
13. Jacques Lacan in Theory 51:10
14. Influence 51:17
15. The Postmodern Psyche 52:50
16. The Social Permeability of Reader and Text 50:10
17. The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory 51:37
18. The Political Unconscious 53:46
19. The New Historicism 53:22
20. The Classical Feminist Tradition 52:25
21. African-American Criticism 53:58
22. Post-Colonial Criticism 54:42
23. Queer Theory and Gender Performativity 49:55
24. The Institutional Construction of Literary Study 50:53
25. The End of Theory?; Neo-Pragmatism 53:33
26. Reflections; Who Doesn't Hate Theory Now? 49:48

another source: http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-300#sessions
Lecture 1 Introduction
Lecture 2 Introduction (cont.)
Lecture 3 Ways In and Out of the Hermeneutic Circle
Lecture 4 Configurative Reading
Lecture 5 The Idea of the Autonomous Artwork
Lecture 6 The New Criticism and Other Western Formalisms
Lecture 7 Russian Formalism
Lecture 8 Semiotics and Structuralism
Lecture 9 Linguistics and Literature
Lecture 10 Deconstruction I
Lecture 11 Deconstruction II
Lecture 12 Freud and Fiction
Lecture 13 Jacques Lacan in Theory
Lecture 14 Influence
Lecture 15 The Postmodern Psyche
Lecture 16 The Social Permeability of Reader and Text
Lecture 17 The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory
Lecture 18 The Political Unconscious
Lecture 19 The New Historicism
Lecture 20 The Classical Feminist Tradition
Lecture 21 African-American Criticism
Lecture 22 Post-Colonial Criticism
Lecture 23 Queer Theory and Gender Performativity
Lecture 24 The Institutional Construction of Literary Study
Lecture 25 The End of Theory?; Neo-Pragmatism
Lecture 26 Reflections; Who Doesn't Hate Theory Now?

The Moral Foundations of Politics with Ian Shapiro at Yale University (Spring 2010)

# click the upper-left icon to select videos from the playlist

source:YaleCourses  Last updated on 2014年7月2日

This course explores main answers to the question "when do governments deserve our allegiance?" It starts with a survey of major political theories of the Enlightenment—Utilitarianism, Marxism, and the social contract tradition—through classical formulations, historical context, and contemporary debates relating to politics today. It then turns to the rejection of Enlightenment political thinking. Lastly, it deals with the nature of, and justifications for, democratic politics, and their relations to Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment political thinking. Practical implications of these arguments are covered through discussion of a variety of concrete problems.

1. Information and Housekeeping  35:16

2. Introductory Lecture 48:14

3. Natural Law Roots of the Social Contract Tradition 46:39

4. Origins of Classical Utilitarianism YaleCourses 43:20

5. Classical Utilitarianism and Distributive Justice YaleCourses  45:33

6. From Classical to Neoclassical Utilitarianism YaleCourses 48:50

7. The Neoclassical Synthesis of Rights and Utility YaleCourses 43:18

8. Limits of the Neoclassical Synthesis YaleCourses 48:27

9. The Marxian Challenge YaleCourses 45:49

10. Marx's Theory of Capitalism YaleCourses 51:15

11. Marxian Exploitation and Distributive Justice YaleCourses 47:33

12. The Marxian Failure and Legacy YaleCourses 46:54

13. Appropriating Locke Today YaleCourses 46:36

14. Rights as Side Constraints and the Minimal State YaleCourses 47:19

15. Compensation versus Redistribution YaleCourses 46:09

16. The Rawlsian Social Contract YaleCourses 48:59

17. Distributive Justice and the Welfare State YaleCourses 51:48

18. The "Political-not-Metaphysical" Legacy YaleCourses 49:17

19. The Burkean Outlook YaleCourses 48:19

20. Contemporary Communitarianism (I) YaleCourses 48:39

21. Contemporary Communitarianism (II) YaleCourses 47:41

22. Democracy and Majority Rule (I) YaleCourses 50:40

23. Democracy and Majority Rule (II) YaleCourses 52:14

24. Democratic Justice: Theory YaleCourses 47:16

25. Democratic Justice: Applications YaleCourses 51:25

another source: http://oyc.yale.edu/political-science/plsc-118#sessions

# For English subtitles, click "cc"
Lecture 1 Information and Housekeeping
Lecture 2 Introductory Lecture
Lecture 3 Natural Law Roots of the Social Contract Tradition
Lecture 4 Origins of Classical Utilitarianism
Lecture 5 Classical Utilitarianism and Distributive Justice
Lecture 6 From Classical to Neoclassical Utilitarianism
Lecture 7 The Neoclassical Synthesis of Rights and Utility
Lecture 8 Limits of the Neoclassical Synthesis
Lecture 9 The Marxian Challenge
Lecture 10 Marx's Theory of Capitalism
Lecture 11 Marxian Exploitation and Distributive Justice
Lecture 12 The Marxian Failure and Legacy
Lecture 13 Appropriating Locke Today
Lecture 14 Rights as Side Constraints and the Minimal State
Lecture 15 Compensation versus Redistribution
Exam 1 Midterm
Lecture 16 The Rawlsian Social Contract
Lecture 17 Distributive Justice and the Welfare State
Lecture 18 The "Political-not-Metaphysical" Legacy
Lecture 19 The Burkean Outlook
Lecture 20 Contemporary Communitarianism (I)
Lecture 21 Contemporary Communitarianism (II)
Lecture 22 Democracy and Majority Rule (I)
Lecture 23 Democracy and Majority Rule (II)
Lecture 24 Democratic Justice: Theory
Lecture 25 Democratic Justice: Applications
Exam 2 Final Exam

General Philosophy (by Professor Peter Millican at Oxford, 2009)

# automatic playlist for the 33 videos (click the upper-left icon) 

source: University of Oxford     Last updated on 2014年7月2日

A series of lectures delivered by Peter Millican to first-year philosophy students at the University of Oxford. The lectures comprise the 8-week General Philosophy course and were delivered in late 2009. Slides for all his lectures can be found here: http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/people/peter...

1.1 An Introduction to General Philosophy 5:55
1.2 The Birth of Modern Philosophy 15:56
1.3 From Aristotle to Galileo 18:14
1.4 The Birth of the Early Modern Period: From Galileo to Descartes 10:49
2.1 Recap of General Philosophy Lecture 1 5:50
2.2 Introduction to Thomas Hobbes 11:35
2.3 Robert Boyle's Corpuscularian Theory 6:21
2.4 Isaac Newton and Instrumentalism 7:58
2.5 Introduction to John Locke 12:16
2.6 George Berkeley and Idealism 9:31
3.1 Introduction to David Hume 19:36
3.2 David Hume: Concluding Remarks 10:35
3.3 The Problem of Induction 23:00
4.1 Scepticism of the External World 8:48
4.2 Possible Answers to Scepticism of the External World 9:09
4.3 Introduction to Cartesian Dualism 22:13
4.4 Modern Responses to Dualism 10:56
5.1 Introduction to Knowledge 10:32
5.2 The Traditional Analysis of Knowledge 16:39
5.3 Gettier and Other Complications 14:49
5.4 Scepticism, Externalism and the Ethics of Belief 12:33
6.1 Introduction to Primary and Secondary Qualities 14:33
6.2 Problems with Resemblance 10:56
6.3 Abstraction and Idealism 10:18
6.4 Making Sense of Perception 16:38
7.1 Free Will, Determinism and Choice 18:49
7.2 Different Concepts of Freedom 14:06
7.3 Hume on Liberty and Necessity 10:05
7.4 Making Sense of Free Will and Moral Responsibility 9:49
8.1 Introduction to Personal Identity 8:54
8.2 John Locke on Personal Identity 15:06
8.3 Problems for Locke's View of Personal Identity 9:41
8.4 Persons, Humans and Brains 11:03

Spirituality and the Brain (Lectures by Todd Murphy in Neurotheology)

(可按選英文字幕)
source: brainsci
1 God and the Brain - The Persinger 'God Helmet', The Brain, and visions of God.

2 Reincarnation in Human Evolution - The New Science of Darwinian Reincarnation.

3 Enlightenment, Self, and the Brain. How the brain changes with final liberation

4 - Psychic Skills & Miracles - technology used for telepathy and remote viewing

5 The Sacred Body. Kundalini, Subtle bodies, Chi, Yoga, and the brain.

6 Practical neurotheology - using Neuroscience for prayer and meditation


Neurotheology 1 - "God and the Brain", is a lecture about the Persinger "God Helmet" (actually the Koren Helmet) and the 8 Coil Shakti by neuroscientist Todd Murphy. It covers visions of God, Near-Death Experiences, and other themes in neurotheology, the field that integrates neuroscience and spirituality. This is the first of six lectures on Spirituality and the Brain by the inventor of the 8 Coil Shakti and the Shiva Neural Stimulation system, which duplicates the procedures used in the God Helmet experiments. He has been a member of Laurentian University's Behavioral Neuroscience research group, under the direction of Dr. M. A. Persinger, since 1998. See http://www.spiritualbrain.com
Neurotheology 2 - This lecture by scientist Todd Murphy discusses "Darwinian Reincarnation", a speculative theory that regards rebirth as a human behavior from the perspective of biological evolution. This talk describes the "algorithmic reincarnation" hypothesis published in the Journal for near-death studies, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. This lecture is given by Todd Murphy, the creator of the 8 Coil Shakti, and the Shiva Neural stimulation System, which replicates the Persinger "God Helmet".
Neurotheology 3 - This lecture, by neuroscientist Todd Murphy, explores an hypothesis about what happens in the brain when a person attains enlightenment. Using concepts in neurotheology developed by Michael A. Persinger (inventor of the God Helmet), Murphy (inventor of the 8 Coil Shakti neural stimulation system) explores the brain's role in enlightenemnt as understood in Buddhism. The talk also looks at the self (or sense of self), and how it's place as a brain function allows it to be flexible enough to change as a person becomes enlightened. It examines a few case histories, including those of Ramana Maharishi, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, The Buddha, and some others.
Neurotheology 4 - This lecture, by Todd Murphy describes how telepathy and remote viewing have been generated in laboratory settings by Dr. M. A. Persinger (inventor of the "God Helmet") using "The Octopus" and "Shiva", circumcerebral (around the head) neural stimulation devices. It also discusses a case history of a possible miracle elicited using neural stimulation. This is part of a series of talks in neurotheology given by the inventor of the 8 Coil Shakti and the Shiva Neural Stimulation system (which replicates the God Helmet). Psychic skills were outside the range of science until the experiments described in this lecture were published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. These articles can be found by searching for 'circumcerebral' at www.pubmed.com.
Neurotheology 5 - This lecture in neurotheology focuses on spiritual teachings about the body by neuroscientist Todd Murphy. Starting with an hypothesis (only an hypothesis; there is no evidence as yet) about Kundalini and how it projects our states of consciounsess into our bodies, it also looks at the neural basis for Subtle bodies. There is also a brief discussion of Chi and Yoga. This talk is given by Todd Murphy, inventor of the 8 Coil Shakti (similar to the Persinger God Helmet) and the Shiva Neural stimulation system.
Neurotheology 6 - The lecture by neuroscientist Todd Murphy (developer of the 8 Coil Shakti and The Shiva Neural Stimulation system), discusses how to apply neuroscience to your own spiritual process. It looks at common altered-state experiences, like the 'sensed presence', deja vu, tingley sensations, and others. It also looks at how to choose spiritual practices (by looking at 'temporal lobe signs' (also called Complex Partial Epileptic Signs) as well as using a high-tech method; complex magnetic neural stimulation. It features a discussion of the Persinger "God Helmet" (actually the "Koren Helmet") and the future of spirituality.

How to Succeed as an Idea Entrepreneur, with John Butman | Big Think Mentor

source: Big Think 2013-08-14
In the knowledge economy, ideas are the new widgets. John Butman has been helping people develop and express great ideas for decades, but in recent years, he observes, something has changed. He calls it the rise of the Idea Entrepreneur, as evidenced by the proliferation of authors like Malcolm Gladwell, conferences like TED and Aspen Institute, and websites like Big Think. The idea entrepreneur, says Butman, is motivated primarily by a passion for the idea itself, and a desire to spread its influence. With so many ideas competing for attention, however, a few succeed while a great many fail. In How to Succeed as an Idea Entrepreneur, his workshop for Big Think Mentor ((http://goo.gl/06gYu), Butman teaches you why.

In his introduction to the workshop Butman explains the growing influence of idea entrepreneurship in the internet age.

The American Novel Since 1945 with Amy Hungerford at Yale University (Spring 2008)

# automatic playing for the 24 videos (click the up-left corner for the list)

source: YaleCourses   Last updated on 2014年7月1日
The American Novel Since 1945 (ENGL 291)
In "The American Novel Since 1945" students will study a wide range of works from 1945 to the present. The course traces the formal and thematic developments of the novel in this period, focusing on the relationship between writers and readers, the conditions of publishing, innovations in the novel's form, fiction's engagement with history, and the changing place of literature in American culture. The reading list includes works by Richard Wright, Flannery O'Connor, Vladimir Nabokov, Jack Kerouac, J. D. Salinger, Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth and Edward P. Jones. The course concludes with a contemporary novel chosen by the students in the class.
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

1. Introductions 47:36
2. Richard Wright, Black Boy 50:30
3. Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood 47:07
4. Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood (cont.) 44:46
5. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita 51:31
6. Guest Lecture by Andrew Goldstone 43:26
7. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (cont.) 46:43
8. Jack Kerouac, On the Road 47:47
9. Jack Kerouac, On the Road (cont.) 45:52
10. J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey 47:30
11. John Barth, Lost in the Funhouse 49:11
12. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 49:28
13. Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye 50:01
14. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior 50:56
15. Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping 46:52
16. Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (cont.) 49:29
17. Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian 50:13
18. Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian (cont.) 40:20
19. Philip Roth, The Human Stain 48:52
20. Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.) 49:36
21. Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.) 45:59
22. Edward P. Jones, The Known World 50:58
23. Edward P. Jones, The Known World (cont.) 46:44
24. Students' Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated 45:48
25. Students' Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated (cont.) 48:56
26. Review for Final Exam 55:18

another source: http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-291#sessions (Yale University)

# Click "cc" on the up right corner of each video for English subtitles.

Lecture 1 Introductions
Lecture 2 Richard Wright, Black Boy
Lecture 3 Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
Lecture 4 Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood (cont.)
Lecture 5 Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
Lecture 6 Guest Lecture by Andrew Goldstone
Lecture 7 Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (cont.)
Lecture 8 Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Lecture 9 Jack Kerouac, On the Road (cont.)
Lecture 10 J. D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
Lecture 11 John Barth, Lost in the Funhouse
Lecture 12 Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Lecture 13 Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
Lecture 14 Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
Lecture 15 Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
Lecture 16 Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (cont.)
Lecture 17 Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Lecture 18 Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian (cont.)
Lecture 19 Philip Roth, The Human Stain
Lecture 20 Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
Lecture 21 Philip Roth, The Human Stain (cont.)
Lecture 22 Edward P. Jones, The Known World
Lecture 23 Edward P. Jones, The Known World (cont.)
Lecture 24 Students' Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated
Lecture 25 Students' Choice Novel: Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated (cont.)
Lecture 26 Review for Final Exam
Exam 1 Final Exam

Modern Poetry with Langdon Hammer at Yale University (Spring 2007)

# automatic playing for the 25 videos (click the up-left corner for the list)

source: YaleCourses     Last updated on 2012年12月6日

Modern Poetry (ENGL 310) with Langdon Hammer

This course covers the body of modern poetry, its characteristic techniques, concerns, and major practitioners. The authors discussed range from Yeats, Eliot, and Pound, to Stevens, Moore, Bishop, and Frost with additional lectures on the poetry of World War One, Imagism, and the Harlem Renaissance. Diverse methods of literary criticism are employed, such as historical, biographical, and gender criticism. Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu

1. Introduction 47:27
2. Robert Frost 46:06
3. Robert Frost (cont.) 50:06
4. William Butler Yeats 45:43
5. William Butler Yeats (cont.) 48:04
6. William Butler Yeats (cont.) 44:45
7. World War I Poetry in England 53:05
8. Imagism 46:16
9. Ezra Pound 52:04
10. T.S. Eliot 49:47
11. T.S. Eliot (cont.) 50:00
12. T.S. Eliot (cont.) 49:59
13. Hart Crane 39:21
14. Hart Crane (cont.) 46:37
15. Langston Hughes 45:58
16. William Carlos Williams 48:27
17. Marianne Moore 43:27
18. Marianne Moore (cont.) 42:45
19. Wallace Stevens 51:10
20. Wallace Stevens (cont.) 50:22
21. Wallace Stevens (cont.) 51:18
22. W. H. Auden 44:39
23. W. H. Auden (cont.) 51:17
24. Elizabeth Bishop 47:18
25. Elizabeth Bishop (cont.) 41:26

another source: http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-310#sessions (Yale University)
Lecture 1 Introduction
Lecture 2 Robert Frost
Lecture 3 Robert Frost (cont.)
Lecture 4 William Butler Yeats
Lecture 5 William Butler Yeats (cont.)
Lecture 6 William Butler Yeats (cont.)
Lecture 7 World War I Poetry in England
Lecture 8 Imagism
Lecture 9 Ezra Pound
Lecture 10 T.S. Eliot
Lecture 11 T.S. Eliot (cont.)
Lecture 12 T.S. Eliot (cont.)
Lecture 13 Hart Crane
Lecture 14 Hart Crane (cont.)
Lecture 15 Langston Hughes
Lecture 16 William Carlos Williams
Lecture 17 Marianne Moore
Lecture 18 Marianne Moore (cont.)
Lecture 19 Wallace Stevens
Lecture 20 Wallace Stevens (cont.)
Lecture 21 Wallace Stevens (cont.)
Lecture 22 W. H. Auden
Lecture 23 W. H. Auden (cont.)
Lecture 24 Elizabeth Bishop
Lecture 25 Elizabeth Bishop (cont.)
Exam 1 Final Exam

INSIDE a Spherical Mirror

source: Vsauce 2013-08-09

FOLLOW: http://www.Twitter.com/tweetsauce
LINKS AND SOURCES BELOW

Vsauce3 -- What Does Star Wars Look Like?: http://youtu.be/Jq-NnQmI_2c

Vsauce2 -- Star Wars LÜT! http://bit.ly/14drXDc

Lectures on Great Social Thinkers - Alan Macfarlane 2001

# automatic playing list for the 9 videos (click the up-left corner)

source: ayabaya    Last updated on 2014年6月30日

A series of lectures for second year anthropology students in the Department of Social Anthropology in Cambridge by Alan Macfarlane. For the readings and higher quality downloadable versions of these lectures, please see under 'Lectures' on www.alanmacfarlane.com

1. A map of social theories, 1000-2000 42:57
2. The Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) 51:22
3. Adam Smith (1723-1790) 47:42
4. Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) 51:50
5. Lecture on Karl Marx (1818-1883) 53:42
6. Lecture on Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) 47:07
7. Lecture on Max Weber (1864-1920) 43:03
8. Lecture on Ernest Gellner (1925-1995) 44:58
9. Lecture on F.W.Maitland (1850-1906) 49:13

Does It Matter What Evangelion's Creator Says? | Idea Channel | PBS Digi...

# click "cc" for English subtitles


source: pbsideachannel·2013-08-05

Hideaki Anno says Neon Genesis Evangelion is meaningless. For #GeekWeek we ask if we should listen to him.

Neon Genesis Evangelion may be the MOST ultimate work of anime ever! More than just Mecha, NGE is dark and emotional, taking on serious topics such as depression, free will and a host of other intense stuff. But the creator, Hideaki Anno, says that we're all reading way too much into it. Are his words the final say on this piece of media? OR are the author's ideas of his own work EQUAL TO the interpretations of anyone else?! Watch the episode and find out!

Lawrence Krauss: The Flavors of Nothing (YouTube Geek Week!)

source: Big Think 2013-08-06
Theoretical Physicist Lawrence Krauss explains the different types of nothing. Or something.
SUBSCRIBE to Big Think: http://goo.gl/cZlhxI
Watch more YouTube Geek Week videos athttp://youtube.com/geekweek
Krauss' latest book is "A Universe from Nothing" -http://goo.gl/76IWnO

Transcript--
when you think about nothing you have to be a little more careful than you normally are because, in fact, nothing is a physical concept because it's the absence of something, and something is a physical concept. And what we've learned over the last hundred years is that nothing is much more complicated than we would've imagined otherwise.

For example, the simplest kind of nothing is the kind of nothing of the Bible. Say an infinite empty space, an infinite dark void of the Bible. You know, nothing in it, no particles, no radiation, nothing. Well, that kind of nothing turns out to be full of stuff in a way or at least much more complicated than you might have imagined because due to the laws of quantum mechanics and relativity, we now know that empty space is a boiling bubbling brew of virtual particles that are popping in and out of existence at every moment.

And in fact, for that kind of nothing, if you wait long enough, you're guaranteed by the laws of quantum mechanics to produce something. So the difference between empty space with stuff in it and empty space with nothing in it is not that great anymore. In fact, they're different versions of the same thing. So the transition from nothing to something is not so surprising. Now you might say well that's not good enough because you have space. Where did the space come from? Well, a more demanding definition of nothing is no space, but, in fact, once you apply the laws of quantum mechanics to gravity itself, then space itself becomes a quantum mechanical variable and fluctuates in and out of existence and you can literally, by the laws of quantum mechanics, create universes.

Create spaces and times, where there was no space and time before. So now you got no particles, no radiation, no space, no time, that sounds like nothing. But then you might say, well, you know what, you got the laws of physics. You got the laws of nature. The laws themselves are somehow something; although, I would argue in fact that that is not at all obvious or clear or necessary. But even there, it turns out physics potentially has an answer because we now have good reason to believe that even the laws of physics themselves are kind of arbitrary.

There may be an infinite number of universes, and in each universe that's been created, the laws of physics are different. It's completely random. And the laws themselves come into existence when the universe comes into existence. So there's no pre-existing fundamental law. Anything that can happen, does happen. And therefore, you got no laws, no space, no time, no particles, no radiation. That's a pretty good definition of nothing.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

David Eagleman: Your Time-Bending Brain (YouTube Geek Week!)

source: Big Think 2013-08-06

Neuroscientist David Eagleman explains how your brain perceives time (retrospectively).

SUBSCRIBE to Big Think: http://goo.gl/cZlhxI
Watch more YouTube Geek Week videos athttp://youtube.com/geekweek

Transcript--
So this is an area of interest to me and my lab's been studying this for a while, is why time is rubbery and can speed up or slow down. And it turns out, when I looked into the literature on this, the experiment had never been done about why time seems to move in slow motion when you're in a life threatening situation. But I talked to so many people and I'd experienced it myself that I wanted to study that. So I found a way to study it by dropping people from 150 foot tall tower and measuring their time perception on the way down. And that, plus several other experiments we did in my lab, led me to understand that people don't actually see time in slow motion during an event. Instead, it's a completely retrospective assessment. In other words, when you're in a life threatening situation, your brain writes down memory much more densely, and then retrospectively, when you look at that, you have so many details that you don't normally have that it seems as though it must have lasted a very long time. That's the only interpretation your brain can make. So time, your assessment of how long something took, has a lot to do with how much energy your brain has to burn during the event and how much footage you have of the event.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

Paul Root Wolpe: Kurzweil's Singularity Prediction is Wrong (YouTube Gee...

source: Big Think 2013-08-06

Bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe argues that the Singularity envisioned by Ray Kurzweil isn't quite right.

SUBSCRIBE to Big Think: http://goo.gl/cZlhxI
Watch more YouTube Geek Week videos athttp://youtube.com/geekweek

Transcript-- Ray Kurzweil has argued that we're on our way to a singularity, that is that if you look at the change and the interaction of scientific fields over the course of the last century or so and you project it forward, what you see is not a linear progression, but an exponential progression, which means that as things change they're going to change more rapidly so that the curve will mean that over a very short period of time we will make giant leaps in scientific sophistication.

What he's argued about that is that that is going to reach kind of critical mass, which will mean that at some point, and there are different dates that have been projected, but it's not that far in the future; a couple of decades. We are going to be able to so manipulate human form and function, so change the nature of life that it's impossible on this side of that moment that he calls a singularity, to predict what life will be like on the other side of that singularity.

I happen to think he's wrong. I think that things will change. I think things will change dramatically, but I don't think that moment's going to come anything like in the way that he thinks it's going to come. Society is too complex for that, our interactions with different scientific fields -- look. One of the things that we have found out over and over and over again when we talk about biology and biotechnology is that things are much more complex than we think they are. First, we were going to decode the human genome and that was going to open up everything we needed to know about the nature of life. And then we said, oh no, we just finished the human genome, but we don't really understand the proteins that these genes code for, so we have to map the proteome and then we have to get all of these proteins together. And then people said, oh no, that's not going to be enough because now we've kind of discovered epigenetics and we realize that the genome is mediated by all kinds of cellular mechanisms that decide what gets expressed and how it gets expressed. And that's how things go.

The same things happen in the brain sciences where a lot of our assumptions about the way the brain worked and synaptic relationships and midlevel brain organization turned out to be much more simplistic than we thought it was. And we still don't really understand how the brain works.

And I think what we're going to find over time is that rather than convergence leading us to some sort of unified idea is that there will constantly be this kind of complexity fallout. As we learn about things more deeply and more deeply, we will discover that in fact, there's all kinds of peripheral work to be done that we couldn't have even imagined looking forward. And what that means is you're not going to have a convergence towards a singularity, but you're going to have a very complex set of moments where things will change in a lot of different ways. And I think the singularity is actually a very simplistic idea and it misunderstands the complex nature of biological life and physical life. And physics also thought it was going to find its grand unified theory a long time ago. And now we're just beginning to discover that maybe the universe isn't exactly organized the way we thought it was with dark matter and String Theory and all of that, which we still don't really understand the nature of it and we can't agree about it.

So, I'm not a big singularity fan. I think that Ray Kurzweil's basic insight that science is increasing in a very rapid rate, more rapidly than people recognize and that there is a convergence of fields. The classic 19th century fields of biology and chemistry, they don't make any sense anymore. Everything is interdisciplinary. Universities have to change their structure now because we're still -- I spent my life in universities and we're still functioning on a 19th century model of what a university should be with these departments that have somehow gotten so petrified in their place that we are petrified of changing them.

But I also think that part of the nature of understanding that move towards complexity is recognizing that even as we get more and more sophisticated about it, part of that sophistication will be discovering new complex phenomenon that right now we can't even imagine exists. And that suggesting that it's all going to be tied up in a moment where we're just going to understand everything well enough to transform the world is, I think, a fairly naive and simplistic view of how things are going to change.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

Jonathon Keats: The Honeybee Ballet (YouTube Geek Week!)

source: Big Think 2013-08-06

Experimental Philosopher Jonathon Keats explains how he choreographed his Honeybee Ballet

SUBSCRIBE to Big Think: http://goo.gl/cZlhxI
Watch more YouTube Geek Week videos athttp://youtube.com/geekweek

Transcript - Several years ago I got to be very interested in honeybees and the extraordinary talent that they have for dancing. They're better dancers than us, they've been doing it a lot longer and they certainly seem to have dance as their culture to a greater extent than probably any other species. So I got to thinking about whether there was a way to work with honeybees collaboratively, making use of their dance in a way that would choreograph it as we do amongst ourselves for human audiences.

So what I did was I studied extensively the language of bees, the language by which they indicate to others where flowers are to be found so that others can then go and find those flowers and, in the process of pollinating them, bring back more nectar or more pollen for the hive. I worked out where hives were in the city of San Francisco relative to places that I might plant flowers. And then mapped out specifically where the flowers should be planted as a way of choreographing, of marking in their own language what sorts of moves might follow others in a way that aesthetically speaking to me at least seemed like it might appeal to them.

All of this was done with total freedom as far as the bees were concerned to follow my suggestions or not and also without any sort of obligation to perform for us. That is to say that I mapped it out and then working with some collaborators went and planted flowers and I made a map, which was available for human audiences if they were interested in seeing what the bees were up to. But there were no cameras in the hives; there was no way in which we would be able to watch what they were doing. It wasn't some sort of minstrel show; it wasn't some sort of a performance for us. It was a performance that was offered to the bees for their own amusement, for their own interest, their own edification such that then they might find the aesthetic in their dance and move beyond simply using dance in a utilitarian way for finding where flowers were to making that an integral part of their culture at the level in our culture.

I often start any project by asking a naïve question. So naïve that most likely you ask these sorts of questions when you were a child but at a certain age you learned that these were not appropriate. Or even if you ask them to yourself you never really followed through to try to see what would happen if you were to do something that was kind of patently absurd. In the case of the Honeybee Ballet I had the question of whether I could choreograph a ballet for another species. Communicating across species in a way that might facilitate a greater deeper relationship between us. Especially at a time where colony collapse disorder was, effectively through our use of pesticides, destroying their habitat. Was there a way in which we can find some sort of a common ground? And dance is such an essential part of what we do as humans that I thought that perhaps I could offer that to the bees as something that they could participate in as well.

So asking that question, could I choreograph a ballet for another species for honeybees? I don't know any of them. I've never talked to them. I know only about them as much as I've ever read. But realizing that their language is incredibly sophisticated, arguably as sophisticated as ours according to their culture, according to their needs, that I could find that common ground. And once I had figured out the basic way in which to try to communicate with them using their own language, using flowers, I realized that there was a way in which I could pursue this rather naïve question. Not for the sake of reaching an answer, a solution that would resolve this in some definitive way but rather as a way of continuing my exploration, that we could continue to think about what sort of relationship we have with other species. How our culture and theirs have commonalities because we all come from the same place and we all need to get to the same place. So how do we do that?

The bigger question of how we live within a world that is as complex as ours in harmony with other species is one that gets addressed through this much smaller more naïve question of asking what would it mean, what would it take to choreograph a ballet for honeybees.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

Lee Smolin: Cosmological Natural Selection (YouTube Geek Week!)

source: Big Think 2013-08-06

Theoretical Physicist Lee Smolin argues that the fundamental laws of physics are subject to evolutionary pressures akin to natural selection.

SUBSCRIBE to Big Think: http://goo.gl/cZlhxI
Watch more YouTube Geek Week videos athttp://youtube.com/geekweek

Transcript -- Physics is about discovering what the laws of nature are. And we've gone some distance towards that. We're not done but we've gone some good distance towards that at the present time. But once you know what the laws of nature are, another kind of question unfolds itself which is why are those the laws and not other laws.

For example, the laws that we understand -- the standard model of particle physics describes all the fundamental particles and their interactions -- has about 30 numbers which you just have to put in as the result of measuring them by experiment. The masses of the different particles, the quarks, the electrons, the neutrinos, the strengths of the fundamental force -- various numbers like that. And the model works dramatically well as the recent experiments the Large Hadron Collider show. Why are those numbers what they are in our universe? Why is the mass of the electron what it is and not 12 times larger or half the size? There are dozens of questions like this.

So I developed cosmological natural selection to try to give an evolutionary account of this so that there would be a history back before the Big Bang in which these numbers could change and evolve through a series of events like the Big Bang. And there could be an explanation akin to natural selection. Just like you want to know why do people have two legs and not three legs or five legs or four legs or six legs. There's an evolutionary reason for that. A certain kind of fitness has been improved over many, many generations and similarly there could be a notion of fitness of the laws of nature through approval of many generations. And cosmological natural selection was an example of the theory of that kind.

I realized that the only methodology we had in science, or the best methodology we had in science for explaining how choices have been made in the system to all lead to a lot of structure because one of the mysteries is why our universe is so structured as it is on so many scales from organic molecules and biomolecules up to vast arrays of clusters of galaxies. There's enormous structure on such a wide range of scales. And that turns out to be tied to the values of these constants of the standard model of particle physics.

And so why is that? And I realized that the only methodology that was really successful for explaining how choices were made in nature such as to lead to an improbable amount of structure is natural selection. So for natural selection we need reproduction. And there was a hypothesis lying around that universes reproduce through Black Holes, that inside Black Holes rather than there being singularities where time ends, there were basically the births of new regions of space and time which could become new universes. And I took over that hypothesis and took over the hypothesis that maybe the laws of nature changed slightly which has been made by Johnny Wheeler in the 1960s, and just added a little bit which is that those changes should be very small so that there can be an accumulation of fitness.

Which leads to a prediction or an observation that after many, many generations the population of the universes should be fine-tuned to maximize the production of Black Holes. And that has further implications for things that we can actually try to measure and disprove experimentally. So that's, very briefly, the idea of cosmological natural selection.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

Pranav Mistry - 第六感驚人的潛力 (中文字幕）

source: dxmonline·2009-12-16
看了會讓您大吃一驚的科技展現，美國MIT Media Lab（麻省理工學院媒體實驗室）的天才學生普拉納夫(Prarnav Mistry)，發明了一項結合實體世界和虛擬世界的科技，令人又驚又喜；喜的是，對­於未來生活，悠遊於實體和虛擬之間，將更自由無限，驚的是，對於現今的人們和企業而言­，這場演講是一場提醒：「訊息上身，才有未來」。影片來源:TED.com

Paul Ekman: Outsmart Evolution and Master Your Emotions

source: Big Think 2013-08-01

Renowned psychologist and emotion-guru Paul Ekman describes how introducing conscious awareness to facial expressions can help one override and control their emotions.

SUBSCRIBE to Big Think! http://goo.gl/cZlhxI

Transcript-- One of the most amazing discoveries, it completely surprised me, and that's what I like most in research is when you learn something you didn't you were going to learn. That's very different from research where you prove something you think you already know. You have to do that too 'cause maybe you were wrong, but when you discover something you didn't expect, that's really exciting.

And what we discovered, published this more than 20 years ago, made the front page of the New York Times. We didn't kill anybody. What it did was show that if you put on your face one of the universal expressions you will turn on the physiology of emotion. You will begin to experience that emotion. So the face is not simply a display system that tells you what's happening inside me. I can self generate any emotion by making the movements on my face.

Now some of them are harder to make than others, and wouldn't you know it the one that's the hardest to make is the one that turns on enjoyment 'cause a smile alone won't do it. You have to be able to activate one of the muscles around the eyes and only about ten percent of the people we've tested can do it.

We are just beginning to use this discovery of how you can self generate emotion to teach people how to become more aware of what they're feeling at the moment they feel it. Because it is my belief -- and I want to underline the word belief 'cause I can't prove this -- it's my belief that the way in which emotions evolved it was to deal with things like saber-toothed tigers. The current incarnation of which is the car that's suddenly lurching at your car at a high speed.

You don't have time to think. You have to do and make very complex decisions, think of what you do to avoid that car you make split seconds estimates of speed and angle and what you need to do with your feet and your hands. And if you had to think about what you were doing, you'd be dead. So it's a system that evolved to deal with really important things without your thinking about it.

So that means that sometimes you're going to be very inconsiderate, very thoughtless, sometimes your emotions aren't going to fit the situation and you're not even going to know it until someone says to you, "What are you getting so upset about?" And you think, "Oh, my God. That's right. I'm really afraid. I don't know why. Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I misunderstood the situation."

Well these exercises that we're giving people -- moving their facial muscles, concentrating on the sensations that they then experience to make them more aware of an emotion when it arises, so that they will feel it at the moment and then can say, "Did you really mean to ignore me when she put the toast on the table? No. That was just an accident. Or maybe I shouldn't jump to the conclusion that she doesn't care about me at all. And why doesn't she care about me?" That whole business, it takes the way in which we can improve our emotional life is to introduce conscious awareness into the process and that will take practice and nature did not want you to do that so you have to do it yourself.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd