“Scientists have found that people with conservative views have brains with larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the centre of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotions. On the other hand, they have a smaller anterior cingulate, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life.”
Tag: 12.28.10
The Naumburg Competition’s Winning Formula
“Of all the classical music competitions around the globe, including the Van Cliburn, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, and Operalia, the Naumburg Competition has one of the best track records of selecting young musicians who, in short order, build significant careers.”
Literature and the Holocaust – A Difficult Relationship
“Since the genre emerged, this has been the defining stance of Holocaust literature – that a work’s verisimilitude, or its truth-value, far outweighs its literary merit. The memoir, the first-person unembellished account, has long been considered the apotheosis of the form. Or even, according to some, the only acceptable form.”
Why Movie People Either Adore or Despise Sofia Coppola’s Movies
“Last week, the Los Angeles Times described her recent film, Somewhere, as ‘a kind of road movie of the soul, a delicate, meditative look at a particular state of mind in a particular time and place.’ The New York Post, that same day, wrote, ‘[I]magine a film called ‘Wanna See Me Crack My Knuckles?’ ‘ Both are typical reactions.”
Critics Jump The Gun On Reviewing “Spiderman”
“This past weekend theater insiders were surprised when two critics, Jeremy Gerard of Bloomberg News and Linda Winer of Newsday, crossed an unspoken line and published their takes on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, more than five weeks before opening night on February 7th.”
Corcoran Reconsiders What It Wants To Be
“I’m not so sure that a museum that struggles to cover its expenses annually and a college that’s doing very well and growing very nicely but is basically a separate organization today can survive in that form. Now, I’m not so sure that they can’t, but the idea here is to have these people come in and take us through the exercise of trying to figure that out.”
Arts & Letters Daily Founder Denis Dutton, 66
“Dutton was a professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 1998, he founded the website Arts and Letters Daily, an aggregator of intellectual Web content that swiftly caught worldwide attention. His most recent book was 2009’s “The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution.”
France Increases Funding for Arte TV, Europe’s High-Art Network
“France’s government is trying to find ways to cut public spending amid Europe’s deepening economic crisis, but a state television channel has been spared the knife. Indeed, the channel, Arte … will be getting even more money next year. Not everyone here is happy.”
The Dark Ages’ Scientist-Pope
“Around AD 1000, Gerbert of Aurillac served a brief stint as pope.” (His pontifical name was Sylvester II.) “At a time supposedly devoid of science, here is a medieval pope who was highly proficient in mathematics and astronomy.”
Got Someone You’re Attracted To? Keep ‘Em Guessing. (It Works!)
“‘Keeping people in the dark about how much we like them will increase how much they think about us and will pique their interest,’ a research team reports in the journal Psychological Science.“