First U.S. State Capital Ever To File for Bankruptcy: Harrisburg, PA | Disinformation

This would be funny if it wasn't scary:

First U.S. State Capital Ever To File for Bankruptcy: Harrisburg, PA | Disinformation

Why We Reject Creative Ideas

It's been noted in the past that creative people are often marginalized. Everyone says they want creative ideas and then reject those ideas when presented. A new scientific study shows why:

Most people view creativity as an asset -- until they come across a creative idea. That's because creativity not only reveals new perspectives; it promotes a sense of uncertainty.

The studies' findings include:

• Creative ideas are by definition novel, and novelty can trigger feelings of uncertainty that make most people uncomfortable.
• People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical -- tried and true.
• Objective evidence shoring up the validity of a creative proposal does not motivate people to accept it.
• Anti-creativity bias is so subtle that people are unaware of it, which can interfere with their ability to recognize a creative idea.

Read the full article at Science Daily.

Color Is In The Eye Of The Beholder | Disinformation

We think of a physical object’s being a certain “color” as a solid, immutable property (grass is green, lemons are yellow, et cetera). However, the way our brains see and process color is largely determined by the language we learned as an infant. Case in point: the Himba tribe of remote northern Namibia, to whom water looks “white” like milk and the sky looks “black” like coal, and who struggle to distinguish between blue and green, yet can easily pick out micro-shades which Americans cannot see.

See the video here:

Color Is In The Eye Of The Beholder | Disinformation

The Lighter Side of Victorian Spiritualism

“One important and often overlooked aspect of Victorian mediumship is that it could be enormous fun,” says Alex Owen in The Darkened Room: Women, Power and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England. This is the picture that emerges when one looks particularly at the “star mediums” of the 1870′s, who were known for performing theatrical, full-body materializations for eager audiences.

Read the rest at Victorian Gothic.

Are brands the “new religion”? - Barking up the wrong tree

Are brands the “new religion”? - Barking up the wrong tree