“Satisfaction with our national progress should not make us forget its authors: the very Protestant elite that founded and long dominated our nation’s institutions of higher education and government, including the Supreme Court. Unlike almost every other dominant ethnic, racial or religious group in world history, white Protestants have ceded their socioeconomic power by hewing voluntarily to the values of merit and inclusion, values now shared broadly by Americans of different backgrounds. The decline of the Protestant elite is actually its greatest triumph.” — Noah Feldman, Professor at Harvard Law, New York Times Op-Ed, The Triumphant Decline of the WASP (via jeffbridges)
Bohemian Slapfight: im still sitting here, in my pajamas drinking coffee -
I’m in the exact same boat. Why is it so hard to motivate?
I go on vacation TOMORROW.
Vacation.
From this hard life of tumblring and drinking coffee.
Point being, I need to do, like, everything. Packing would be good. Also, dishes. Perhaps making the bed. Eating would be an idea. A shower. Or even putting on clothes.
But no.
Here I am. Wasting my…
Some heartbreaking images of seabirds caught in BP’s oil slick on Louisiana’s East Grand Terre Island by AP Photographer Charlie Riedel: Caught in the Oil
(via jeffbridges)
According to a recent article in Fast Company magazine, Social Networking Affects Brains Like Falling in Love, the same brain chemical responsible for the bond between mothers and their babies is also released when interacting online. In an experiment overseen by Claremont Graduate University “neuroeconomist” Paul Zak, a Fast Company reporter had blood drawn and tested both before and after spending 10 minutes tweeting with friends and strangers:
In those 10 minutes between blood batches one and two, my oxytocin levels spiked 13.2%. That’s equivalent to the hormonal spike experienced by the groom at the wedding Zak attended…. “Your brain interpreted tweeting as if you were directly interacting with people you cared about or had empathy for,” Zak says. “E-connection is processed in the brain like an in-person connection.”
Besides at least partially explaining all of those hours I spent online during my wasted youth—and still do today, come to think of it—the article made me think about Tworship, religious services tweeted on Twitter, and led me to wonder whether prayer itself also raises oxytocin levels. I did a quick internet search and found that while studies on prayer indicate that something is happening to lower stress, I could not find a study specifically investigating the release of oxytocin during prayer.
If prayer does cause the release of this hormone Zak calls the “‘social glue’ that adheres families, communities, and societies,” it could go a long way toward explaining the strong sense of community that develops among those who attend services together. Furthermore, just as oxytocin helps to cement the bond between mother and child, it may also in part explain the sense of connectedness we feel with the divine through prayer.
I believe it is important to note, however, that understanding why we experience something does not invalidate the reality of that experience. Just as understanding how our brains perceive falling in love does not mean we do not in fact love someone, likewise understanding how our brains perceive our relationship with the divine does not mean that God is not present in our lives.
Knowing how our brains react to prayer could lead to fascinating connections between how we live our religious lives and how we interact with our family, friends, and strangers. Indeed, following the call to love our neighbors as ourselves—to interact with those we meet both in person and online in a caring, empathic manner—would lead to increased production of oxytocin, and thus fuller, happier, longer, as well as more virtuous lives.
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Amen.
GUESTBREAKER: You’re “Spiritual, But Not Religious.”
Because there’s a difference?
You laugh disdainfully at Christians and Mormons and anyone into “the whole Jesus thing”, but give me a stone-faced look when I dare to suggest that anyone who believes in pagan-hippie-witch doctor-God is just as bad. Then you go off about how you “revere life” with an almost religious zeal, you blame a hostile situation as “too much bad energy in here, man” and you entertain notions that when we die, there’s anything but the calm, non-conscious indifference of being at rest in the universe. You probably have a tattoo of a Chinese or Sanskrit character for “love” or “wisdom” or “faith” or some b.s., but only in Chinese or Sanskrit because, hey, “those Easterners are so much more in touch with spirituality than us.” You roll your eyes when I bring up Bill Maher or Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens because they’re just cold-hearted assholes who don’t respect others’ beliefs. You tell me I need a little more “magic” in my life. Oh yeah, and you cry when I suggest the only thing that comes from the heart is a whole lot of blood-pumpin’, and that love, like it or not, still emanates from the brain. “My GOD,” you finally cry out, ”what is WRONG with you?”
Face it, either you’re a believer or you’re not, and one belief is no better, or kookier, than the rest.
A Guest Dealbreaker written by Casimir.
If they had Facebook in Star Wars. There’s more here.
Stunning. Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano
(via Astronomy Photo of the Day)
FINALLY: The Difference between Nerd, Dork, and Geek Explained by a Venn Diagram
(via Great White Snark)