Language and Extinction

In recent years, much has been made of the idea that humans possess a “language instinct”: infants easily learn to speak because all languages follow a set of rules built into their brains. While there is no doubt that human thinking influences the form that language takes, if Evans and Levinson are correct, language in turn shapes our brains. This suggests that humans are more diverse than we thought, with our brains having differences depending on the language environment in which we grew up. And that leads to a disturbing conclusion: every time a language becomes extinct, humanity loses an important piece of diversity.

“Language Lessons” by Christine Kenneally from New Scientist.

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“I don’t hate people, I just feel better when they aren’t around. ”

— Bukowski

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Jan 15

Ivan Puig

Dec 01

The Chinese Government’s CGI re-enactment of the Tiger Woods story.

From trueslant.com

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Nov 29

Ryohei Hase

» Did Gauguin Cut Off Van Gogh's ear?

As that story goes, van Gogh cut off part of his own ear with a straight razor after he and Gauguin parted. But Kaufmann and his colleague, Rita Wildegans, dug through original police records, biographical material and van Gogh’s letters. They concluded that Gauguin, an accomplished fencer, attacked van Gogh with a rapier after van Gogh threw a wine glass at him.
“The traditional version goes back on two reports,” says Kaufmann. “Self-defending or self-protecting propaganda of Paul Gauguin, who himself stressed that Vincent van Gogh was mad, which is not true. [Van Gogh] suffered from these fits, which came [all] of a sudden and which ended suddenly.”

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Generative Art

Nov 05

Andy Gilmore

Oct 13

Still from An Unseen Enemy, D W Griffith, 1912