contain  multitudes  •  by  Padma  Dorje  •  established  in  2003
contain  multitudes
Each year around 50,000 people die in New York, some alone and unseen. Yet death even in such forlorn form can cause a surprising amount of activity. Sometimes, along the way, a life’s secrets are revealed. // This might not always be a good way to live (that is, in solitude), but according to Buddhist teachings, it can be a good way to die. We die alone anyway, and dying without other people's laying their trips around us might help us stay focused in a moment when most people can't really help, but can possibly annoy.NYTIMES

The Lonely Death of George Bell

Each year around 50,000 people die in New York, some alone and unseen. Yet death even in such forlorn form can cause a surprising amount of activity. Sometimes, along the way, a life’s secrets are revealed. // This might not always be a good way to live (that is, in solitude), but according to Buddhist teachings, it can be a good way to die. We die alone anyway, and dying without other people's laying their trips around us might help us stay focused in a moment when most people can't really help, but can possibly annoy.
To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider the Janitors at Two Top Companies, Then and NowFocusing on core competence and outsourcing the rest has made U.S.…NYTIMES

To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider the Janitors at Two Top Companies, Then and Now

To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider the Janitors at Two Top Companies, Then and NowFocusing on core competence and outsourcing the rest has made U.S.…
The ruins were uncovered near the southeastern city of Vienne and have been called “probably the most exceptional find from the Roman era in years.”NYTIMES

Roman Ruins Found in France Are Called ‘Exceptional’

The ruins were uncovered near the southeastern city of Vienne and have been called “probably the most exceptional find from the Roman era in years.”
Archaeologists are discovering Paleolithic art outside Europe, rewriting the history of human creativity.NYTIMES

Hunting for the Origins of Symbolic Thought

Archaeologists are discovering Paleolithic art outside Europe, rewriting the history of human creativity.
Google and others, fighting for a small pool of researchers, are looking for automated ways to deal with a shortage of artificial intelligence experts.NYTIMES

Building A.I. That Can Build A.I.

Google and others, fighting for a small pool of researchers, are looking for automated ways to deal with a shortage of artificial intelligence experts.
How Kurt Vonnegut taught one writer to hate the semicolon; how William James convinced him to love it.NYTimes

Semicolons: A Love Story

How Kurt Vonnegut taught one writer to hate the semicolon; how William James convinced him to love it.
A new study suggests the birds pay careful attention to their dead as a way to gather information about threats.NYTIMES

Crows May Learn Lessons From Death

A new study suggests the birds pay careful attention to their dead as a way to gather information about threats.
U.S. unemployment is down and jobs are going unfilled. But for people without much education, the real question is: Do those jobs pay enough to live on?nytimes

Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty. They’re Not.

U.S. unemployment is down and jobs are going unfilled. But for people without much education, the real question is: Do those jobs pay enough to live on?
New Caledonian crows were trained to seek rewards by tearing paper of a certain size, demonstrating what researchers say is quite advanced toolmaking.NYTimes

Can Crows Make Mental Pictures of Tools?

New Caledonian crows were trained to seek rewards by tearing paper of a certain size, demonstrating what researchers say is quite advanced toolmaking.
“A lot had happened to English since the early ’30s, including a world war and most of the New Deal. Also television, the civil rights movement, superhighways, Dr. Spock, rock ’n’ roll, the Bomb, rocket science, the cold war, Superman and the Kinsey reports. New words — and new meanings of old ones— were everywhere, like 'astronaut,' 'beatnik,' 'den mother' and 'satellite.' Into Webster’s Third they went.” Webster’s Third New International was scorned for being less judgmental than its predecessor.NYTIMES

‘The Story of Ain’t,’

“A lot had happened to English since the early ’30s, including a world war and most of the New Deal. Also television, the civil rights movement, superhighways, Dr. Spock, rock ’n’ roll, the Bomb, rocket science, the cold war, Superman and the Kinsey reports. New words — and new meanings of old ones— were everywhere, like 'astronaut,' 'beatnik,' 'den mother' and 'satellite.' Into Webster’s Third they went.” Webster’s Third New International was scorned for being less judgmental than its predecessor.
Governments have legitimate reasons to seek user data beyond their territorial reach, and privacy advocates ignore that need at their peril.NYTIMES

Dark Clouds Over the Internet

Governments have legitimate reasons to seek user data beyond their territorial reach, and privacy advocates ignore that need at their peril.
If you’re like most Americans, you eat more sugar than is good for you. But it’s entirely possible to eat less sugar without sacrificing much — if any — of the pleasures of eating. Surprising as it may sound, many people who have cut back on sugar say they find their new eating habits more pleasurable than their old ones. This guide will walk you through why sugar matters, how you can make smart food choices to reduce sugar consumption, and how you can keep your life sweet, even without so many sweets.NYTimes

How to Stop Eating Sugar

If you’re like most Americans, you eat more sugar than is good for you. But it’s entirely possible to eat less sugar without sacrificing much — if any — of the pleasures of eating. Surprising as it may sound, many people who have cut back on sugar say they find their new eating habits more pleasurable than their old ones. This guide will walk you through why sugar matters, how you can make smart food choices to reduce sugar consumption, and how you can keep your life sweet, even without so many sweets.
The conventional wisdom is that morning people are high achievers, go-getters, while late risers are lazy. But what if going to bed in the wee hours is actually an advantage?NYTimes

Maybe Your Sleep Problem Isn’t a Problem

The conventional wisdom is that morning people are high achievers, go-getters, while late risers are lazy. But what if going to bed in the wee hours is actually an advantage?
In early-1960s Israel pornographic, possibly anti-Semitic novels that detailed sensational tales of the torture and rape of male concentration camp prisoners by curvaceous female Nazi guards rapidly rose from marginal pulp reading to mass-market popularity.NYTimes

Eyeing Pornography That Uses the Holocaust as Titillation

In early-1960s Israel pornographic, possibly anti-Semitic novels that detailed sensational tales of the torture and rape of male concentration camp prisoners by curvaceous female Nazi guards rapidly rose from marginal pulp reading to mass-market popularity.
Chipped rocks found in western China indicate that human ancestors ventured from Africa earlier than previously believed.NYTimes

Archaeologists in China Discover the Oldest Stone Tools Outside Africa

Chipped rocks found in western China indicate that human ancestors ventured from Africa earlier than previously believed.
Salvador Dalí‘s “Gala Placidia. Galatea of the Spheres” from 1952, for which his wife, Gala Dalí, was the model and muse. A new exhibition in Barcelona examines Gala as someone willing to play those roles, but also as a person eager to forge her own path as an artist.NYTIMES

Gala Dalí’s Life Wasn’t Quite Surreal, but It Was Pretty Strange

Salvador Dalí‘s “Gala Placidia. Galatea of the Spheres” from 1952, for which his wife, Gala Dalí, was the model and muse. A new exhibition in Barcelona examines Gala as someone willing to play those roles, but also as a person eager to forge her own path as an artist.
Dostoyevsky's “Crime and Punishment” changed my life. It strengthened my resolve to be a writer and inspired me to learn Russian so I could read the novel in the original. But I never did. It had all stayed too fresh in memory. Finally, some 30 years later, in order to review these two new translations, I read it in Russian and was back in that world of dark staircases and ax murders. Of course, the original read at the age of 50 could never shake you like a translation read at 20.NYTIMES

Raskolnikov Says the Darndest Things

Dostoyevsky's “Crime and Punishment” changed my life. It strengthened my resolve to be a writer and inspired me to learn Russian so I could read the novel in the original. But I never did. It had all stayed too fresh in memory. Finally, some 30 years later, in order to review these two new translations, I read it in Russian and was back in that world of dark staircases and ax murders. Of course, the original read at the age of 50 could never shake you like a translation read at 20.
Our well-being is local and relative — if you live in a struggling area and your status is slipping, even if you are relatively comfortable, you are probably at least a bit miserable.NYTimes

Why Prosperity Has Increased but Happiness Has Not

Our well-being is local and relative — if you live in a struggling area and your status is slipping, even if you are relatively comfortable, you are probably at least a bit miserable.
Recent Times features, including a new series on the art of writing, inspire us to create this list of 10 rules for writing well. In it you'll find links to advice on everything from using punctuation to reading the…NYTIMES

Writing Rules! Advice From The Times on Writing Well

Recent Times features, including a new series on the art of writing, inspire us to create this list of 10 rules for writing well. In it you'll find links to advice on everything from using punctuation to reading the…
Phosphorus and Freedom. Free markets can’t solve all our problems. Just ask Toledo.NYTIMES

The Libertarian Fantasy

Phosphorus and Freedom. Free markets can’t solve all our problems. Just ask Toledo.
Memory lapses that disrupt daily living or cause a person to withdraw from family are more serious than absent-mindedness or confusing names, experts said.NYTIMES

Did You Just Forget, or Is It Something More Serious?

Memory lapses that disrupt daily living or cause a person to withdraw from family are more serious than absent-mindedness or confusing names, experts said.
What is the sound of one hand texting? A term for mental training reaches the height of trendiness, and like yoga before it, may be leaving its mark. What is the sound of one hand texting?nytimes

Mindfulness: Getting Its Share of Attention

What is the sound of one hand texting? A term for mental training reaches the height of trendiness, and like yoga before it, may be leaving its mark. What is the sound of one hand texting?
Maria Popova is the mastermind of Brain Pickings, one of the faster growing literary empires on the Internet, yet she is virtually unknown.NYTIMES

Maria Popova Has Some Big Ideas

Maria Popova is the mastermind of Brain Pickings, one of the faster growing literary empires on the Internet, yet she is virtually unknown.
It has eight arms, three hearts — and a plan. Scientists aren’t sure how the cephalopods got to be so intelligent.nytimes

Yes, the Octopus Is Smart as Heck. But Why?

It has eight arms, three hearts — and a plan. Scientists aren’t sure how the cephalopods got to be so intelligent.
Inside these plain vanilla buildings, where C.E.O.s in hoodies and jeans stockpile more money than the G.D.P. of developing countries, newly minted techies complain that “S.V.,” the world’s largest wealth generator, is too expensive and that its exhausting work culture is toxic. So, too, is the land beneath their feet.NYTimes

The Superfund Sites of Silicon Valley

Inside these plain vanilla buildings, where C.E.O.s in hoodies and jeans stockpile more money than the G.D.P. of developing countries, newly minted techies complain that “S.V.,” the world’s largest wealth generator, is too expensive and that its exhausting work culture is toxic. So, too, is the land beneath their feet.
What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?NYTimes

The Insect Apocalypse Is Here

What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?
You may have forgotten about the nucleolus since you took biology class, but scientists think this structure inside every cell in your body may play an important role in aging.NYTimes

The Thing Inside Your Cells That Might Determine How Long You Live

You may have forgotten about the nucleolus since you took biology class, but scientists think this structure inside every cell in your body may play an important role in aging.
In many ways, there has never been a better time to be alive. Violence plagues some corners of the world, and too many still live under the grip of tyrannical regimes. And although all the world’s major faiths teach love, compassion and tolerance, unthinkable violence is being perpetrated in the name of religion. ... what unites the two of us in friendship and collaboration is not shared politics or the same religion. It is something simpler: a shared belief in compassion, in human dignity, in the intrinsic usefulness of every person to contribute positively for a better and more meaningful world.NYTIMES

Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

In many ways, there has never been a better time to be alive. Violence plagues some corners of the world, and too many still live under the grip of tyrannical regimes. And although all the world’s major faiths teach love, compassion and tolerance, unthinkable violence is being perpetrated in the name of religion. ... what unites the two of us in friendship and collaboration is not shared politics or the same religion. It is something simpler: a shared belief in compassion, in human dignity, in the intrinsic usefulness of every person to contribute positively for a better and more meaningful world.
We humans know more truths than any species on earth. Yet we also believe the most falsehoods.nytimes

Why Fiction Trumps Truth

We humans know more truths than any species on earth. Yet we also believe the most falsehoods.


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