posts tagged ‘meaning’
Urawaza
12 July 2011 • out of context
tags: economy, language, meaning, quotes
“An urawaza (Japanese for “secret trick”) is a quirky, ingenious technique that optimizes an everyday activity like cleaning up spills, preventing odors, or folding laundry. In Japan, urawaza have been shared by word of mouth and passed down to descendants for centuries. In the aftermath of World War II, urawaza helped the population make best use of scarce resources, like using alcohol instead of more expensive household solvents for cleaning. Lifestyle urawaza were popularized in the Japanese television series Ito-ke no Shokutaku (The Ito Family Dinner Table), incorporating many viewer-submitted tips. The term itself became globally popularized when video gamers in the 1980s began sharing their game-related urawaza online.”
Lo inútil
4 July 2011 • out of context
tags: books, meaning, nature, philosophy, quotes, texts
“¿A dónde van los objetos que ya no se usan?, se podría responder que normalmente van al cesto de la basura, pero esta respuesta sería insuficiente porque la pregunta es metafísica. Bergson formulaba la misma, y respondía metafísicamente: lo que ha dejado de ser-útil comienza a ser, simplemente”.
La imagen-movimiento, Gilles Deleuze
“Los árboles de la montaña provocan su propia tala, y la grasa alimenta el fuego que la consume. El canelo se puede comer, y por eso lo cortan; el árbol de la laca tiene utilidad, y por eso lo sangran. Todos conocen la utilidad de lo útil, mas ignoran la utilidad de lo inútil”.
感應 (resonance)
13 June 2011 • out of context
tags: books, earth, meaning, music, quotes, sound, space, time
“ganying 感應 resonance, stimulus and response
“Resonance” is a central operative principle of the cosmos as conceived by the Huainanzi. The phrase itself means “stimulus” (gan 感) and “response” (ying 應), which is how we have translated it when the Huainanzi refers specifically to the discrete component processes that the term denotes. Fundamentally, “resonance” is a process of dynamic interaction that transcends the limits of time, space, and ordinary linear causality. Through the mechanism of resonance, an event in one location (the “stimulus’”) produces simultaneous effects in another location (the “response”), even though the two phenomena have no direct spatial or mechanical contact. They may indeed be separated by vast gulfs of space. For example, connections between celestial events (eclipses, planetary motions) and events in the human community were understood as examples of “resonance”.
For the authors of the Huainanzi, such connections were not coincidence or mere correspondence but dynamic influences exchanged through the energetic medium of qi. All phenomena are both composed of and impelled by qi, and since all currently differentiated qi emerged from an originally undifferentiated Grand One, all qi remains mutually resonantly linked. The pathways of resonance are not random, however. Objects are most sensitive to resonant influences emanating from other objects that share the same constituent form of qi.
The best example of this is an empirically observable phenomenon often cited by ancient authors to illustrate the concept of resonance itself: the harmonic resonance observable among musical instruments. If a string tuned to the pentatonic note gong on one qin is plucked, for example, the corresponding string on a separate qin will be perceived to vibrate. This was thought to occur because of the presence of Earth qi which is responsible for the note gong in both instruments. When the Earth qi in the first instrument is activated (the stimulus), the corresponding Earth qi note in the other resonates (the response).
Such interactions were thought to be operative in the universe at all times. Someone who understood the patterns of these interactions could manipulate them to produce marvelous and beneficial effects across space-time.”
The Huainanzi
Columbia University Press
Streisand effect
26 May 2011 • out of context
tags: control, meaning, quotes
“The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely. It is named after American entertainer Barbra Streisand, whose attempt in 2003 to suppress photographs of her residence inadvertently generated further publicity.”
Hedgehog’s dilemma
12 April 2011 • out of context
tags: animals, freedom, loneliness, love, meaning, nature, pain, quotes
“The hedgehog’s dilemma, or sometimes the porcupine dilemma, is an analogy about the challenges of human intimacy. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs all seek to become close to one another in order to share heat during cold weather. They must remain apart, however, as they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp quills. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur for reasons they cannot avoid.”
Saunter
29 March 2011 • out of context
tags: language, meaning, walking
saun·ter verb \ˈsȯn-tər, ˈsän-\
Definition of SAUNTER
intransitive verb
: to walk about in an idle or leisurely manner : stroll
— saunter noun
— saun·ter·er \-tər-ər\ noun
Examples of SAUNTER
1. They sauntered slowly down the street.
2. He sauntered into the store.
Origin of SAUNTER
probably from Middle English santren to muse
First Known Use: circa 1667
Heterotopia
7 March 2011 • out of context
tags: brain, meaning, perception, quotes, space
Heterotopia is a concept in human geography elaborated by philosopher Michel Foucault to describe places and spaces that function in non-hegemonic conditions. These are spaces of otherness, which are neither here nor there, that are simultaneously physical and mental, such as the space of a phone call or the moment when you see yourself in the mirror.
Epokhē
5 March 2011 • out of context
tags: language, meaning, perception, quotes, truth
“Epoché (ἐποχή, epokhē “suspension”) is an ancient Greek term which, in its philosophical usage, describes the theoretical moment where all judgments about the existence of the external world, and consequently all action in the world, are suspended.”
Sapere aude
5 March 2011 • out of context
tags: language, meaning, quotes
“Sapere aude is a Latin phrase meaning “dare to be wise”.”