21 APR 2014 by ideonexus
History in "A Song of Ice and Fire"
In this, the obvious contrast is with the only work of fantasy to compare in terms of ambition and achievement to Martin's own: The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's Middle-earth, unlike Westeros, is the creation of a dauntingly learned scholar: his ambition was to fashion from the languages, literature and history of the early middle ages an invented mythology that would nevertheless retain the stamp of the period that had inspired it. Martin's approach is infinitely more slapdash. Just as the ch...ASOIF contains many references to real history.
24 MAR 2013 by ideonexus
Attentive States of Mind
Whether you think of it as a sin, a
temptation, a lazy habit of mind, or a
medical condition, the phenomenon begs
the same question: why is it so damn hard
to pay attention?
It’s not necessarily our fault. As
neurologist Marcus Raichle learned after
decades of looking at the brain, our minds
are wired to wander. Wandering is their
default. Whenever our thoughts are
suspended between specific, discrete,
goal-directed activities, the brain reverts
to a so-called baseline, “resting” state...Folksonomies: attention mindfulness
Folksonomies: attention mindfulness
Why is it so hard to maintain? The brain has a default "resting" state of inattetiveness, multitasking confuses our attentiveness.