How does this art make you feel?

Neuroesthetics (or neuroaesthetics) is a relatively recent sub-discipline of empirical aesthetics. Empirical aesthetics takes a scientific approach to the study of aesthetic perceptions ofart and music. Neuroesthetics received its formal definition in 2002 as the scientific study of the neural bases for the contemplation and creation of a work of art.^[1] Neuroesthetics uses the techniques of neuroscience in order to explain and understand the aesthetic experiences at the neurological level. The topic attracts scholars from many disciplines including neuroscientists, art historians, artists, and psychologists.
Neuroesthetics is an attempt to combine neurological research with aesthetics by investigating the experience of beauty and appreciation of art on the level of brain functions and mental states. The recently developed field seeks the neural correlates of artistic judgment and artistic creation. It is widely accepted that visual aesthetics, namingly the capacity of assigning different degrees of beauty to certain forms, colors, or movements, is a human trait acquired after the divergence of human and age lineages.^[3] The theory of art can be broken down into distinct components. The logic of art is often discussed in terms of whether it is guided by a set of universal laws or principles. Additionally, the evolutionary rationale for the formation and characteristics of these principles are sought. Tying in the human experience, the determination of specific brain circuitry involved can help pinpoint the origin of the human response^[4]through the use of brain imaging in experimentation.

Hope!

Proof that moments matter, and this country is going to make it:
House Minority John Boehner (R-Ohio) took the floor ahead of Sunday night's vote on health care reform and asked, "Do you really believe that if you like your health insurance, that under this bill you can keep it?"

House Democrats, in unison, immediately shouted, "Yes."

"No you can't!" Boehner yelled. 

It was a perfect setup: The Democratic caucus erupted in a chant of "Yes you can! Yes you can!"

Later, Boehner asked if members could say that the bill was the product of transparency and openness? “Hell, no, you can’t!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Have you read the bill?" he asked, still shouting. "Have you read the reconciliation bill? Have you read the manager’s amendment? Hell, no, you haven’t.”

The gristled, sharp-tongued Democratic Rep. David Obey, who was overseeing the debate, declared dryly: “Both sides would do well to remember the dignity of the House.”

-- ARTHUR DELANEY & NICO PITNEY, 10:25 PM ET


Hold on to your dignity!

Reprogram yourself and optimize your hardware.

http://www.wethechange.com/50-ways-you-can-be-the-change/

A formless moment in time, still there in my mind. EVENT

I've always thought of moments of significance, importance, or synchronicity as more akin to the computing definition of EVENT.  Little did I realize the similarity between it and the 'mental event'.  Are they separate?

Event can refer to many things such as:

• A phenomenon, any observable occurrence, or an extraordinary occurrence

A type of gathering:

• A ceremony, for example, a marriage
• A competition, for example, a sports competition
• A convention (meeting)
• A happening, a performance or situation meant to be considered as art
• A festival, for example, a musical event
• A media event, a happening that attracts coverage by mass media
• A party
• A sporting event

In science, technology, and mathematics:

• Event (computing), a software message indicating that something has happened, such as a keystroke or mouse click
• Event, Particle accelerator, experiments which produce high energy (Electron volt|MeV, GeV, and TeV) subatomic particle collisions
• Event (probability theory), a set of outcomes to which a probability is assigned
• Event (UML), in Unified Modeling Language, a notable occurrence at a particular point in time
• Event chain methodology, in project management
• Event (relativity), a point in space at an instant in time, i.e. a location in spacetime
• Event horizon, a boundary in spacetime, typically surrounding a black hole, beyond which events cannot effect an exterior observer
• Extinction event, a sharp decrease in the number of species in a short period of time
• Celestial event, an astronomical phenomenon of interest

In philosophy:

• Event (philosophy), an object in time, or an instantiation of a property in an object
• Mental event, something that happens in the mind, such as a thought

Philosophical intermingling

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (Kǒng Fūzǐ, or K'ung-fu-tzu, lit. "Master Kong", 551–478 BC). It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia. It might be considered a state religion of some East Asian countries, because of governmental promotion of Confucian philosophies.

Cultures and countries strongly influenced by Confucianism include China (mainland), Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as various territories settled predominantly by Chinese people, such as Singapore. Japan was influenced by Confucianism in a different way.

In Confucianism, human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal and communal endeavour especially including self-cultivation and self-creation. A main idea of Confucianism is the cultivation of virtue and the development of moral perfection.

Taoism (or Daoism) refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions that have influenced Eastern Asia for more than two millennia, and have had a notable influence on the western world since the 19th century.  The word Tao (or Dao, depending on theromanization scheme), literally translated as "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it carries more abstract meanings. Taoist propriety and ethics emphasize the Three Jewels of the Tao: compassion, moderation, and humility, while Taoist thought generally focuses onnature, the relationship between humanity and the cosmos, health and longevity, and wu wei (action through inaction), which is thought to produce harmony with the universe.

Reverence for ancestor spirits and immortals is also common in popular Taoism. Organized Taoism distinguishes its ritual activity from that of the folk religion, which some professional Taoists (Daoshi) view as debased. Chinese alchemy (including Neidan), astrology, cuisine, several Chinese martial arts, Chinese traditional medicine, feng shui, immortality, and many styles of qigong breath training disciplines have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history.

The Apollonian and Dionysian is a philosophical and literary concept, or dichotomy, based on certain features of ancient Greek mythology. Several Western philosophical and literary figures have invoked this dichotomy in critical and creative works, including Plutarch, Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, Robert A. Heinlein, Ruth Benedict, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, singer Jim Morrison, literary critic G. Wilson Knight, Ayn Rand, Stephen King, Diane Wakoski, Umberto Eco and cultural critic Camille Paglia.

In Greek mythology, Apollo and Dionysus are both sons of Zeus. Apollo is the god of the Sun, lightness, music, and poetry, while Dionysus is the god of wine, ecstasy, and intoxication. In the modern literary usage of the concept, the contrast between Apollo and Dionysus symbolizes principles of wholeness versus individualism, light versus darkness, or civilization versus primal nature. The ancient Greeks did not consider the two gods as opposites or rivals. However, Parnassus, the mythical home of poetry and all art, was strongly associated with each of the two gods in separate legends.