To ask you to post the most intellectual thing you have learned recently?

[ethelfleda]

I dont care what subject it is about or how specific or random it may seem. I'm just in the mood to soak up some knowledge! I've been doing a lot of free course on the openlearn website and some of them are fascinating and I feel my self esteem is increasing just through learning. I didn't get the chance to study past GCSE level when I was younger and I have always regretted it.

I will start:

That I think in art history, it can almost be considered a hindrance to try and relate the artist's work with details of their life. This can discount many other factors influencing their work such as patronage or available materials and can cause you to read a painting 'incorrectly' - that is not in the manner in which it was intended'

[TheGr3atEscapez]

Tibetan monks acoustic levitation of people and objects via sound (not seen it myself)

[Osirus]

That if the US and Europe recycled every piece of plastic used it would barely make a dent in the plastic waste that is spewed into the ocean from developing countries.

[HollowTalk]

I was talking to Martina Cole tonight (shameless name-dropping) and she was saying that Irish Catholics had an expression "Stones in pockets" - it meant when someone intended to commit suicide but wanted to be buried in consecrated ground, they'd fill their pockets with stones and walk into the sea. Then the stones would fall out of their pockets, so that when their bodies were found it would look as though they'd drowned accidentally, so they could be buried as a Catholic.

[CeridwensCottage]

Researchers have discovered that Neanderthals used to treat themselves using primitive antibiotics. They have managed to extract material from their teeth in order to analyse it.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.ellines.com/en/good-news/33410-neanderthals-used-penicillin-and-natural-antibiotics/amp/

They were also able to use dry distillation to make an adhesive for their weapons. Scientists have, up until recently, been unable to figure out exactly how they did it.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/gizmodo.com/new-experiment-reveals-secret-behind-200-000-year-old-n-1798636925/amp

Everyone who is not of Sub Saharan descent has between 2-4% Neanderthal dna in them due to interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals around 40,000 years ago.

[TheGr3atEscapez]

Something I heard a while ago, that honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs can still be eaten. However, some countries do not allow honey to be imported due to quarantine restrictions. Also that bees that lived near an M&M factory created blue honey.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Oh, that's interesting about the mantis shrimp. I knew that most birds are tetrachromatic - in addition to the red, green and blue sensitive cone cells like humans, they also have UV so can see a wider range of colours.

[Tessliketrees]

@ErrolTheDragon

That sounds really interesting, any more information?

[ErrolTheDragon]

The Wikipedia page on bird vision has quite a bit.

[Tessliketrees]

@ErrolTheDragon cross post, I meant the historian thing.

I was so confused by your answer

[NeverLovedElvis]

There is a language (can't remember where it is spoken) that has no words for left and right. The relative positions of objects are described using north, east, south and west instead. Native speakers of this language are much better than most of the rest of us at knowing which way is north without using a compass. It actually used to be thought that humans did not have this ability but the speakers of this language are proof that we do.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Or en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrachromacy on the phenomenon in general.

There are studies which suggest some women are tetrachromats, though not into the UV - possibly more able to distinguish colours. (I once carefully chose a set of colours I could easily tell apart and my male boss- who wasn't colour blind- couldn't distinguish between some pairs at all)

[ErrolTheDragon]

Oh! Xpost again

[hibeat]

The life of Gregory of Nyssa and how he contributed to theology : first theologian discussing the infinity of GOD, and Trinity.

[ErrolTheDragon]

@Tessliketrees - www.thegreatcourses.co.uk/courses/historical-jesus.html

DH watches loads of Great Courses stuff, I haven't seen all of this but the bits I caught were interesting. I missed the one on the 'infant gospels' which seem somewhat to suggest Jesus wasn't the messiah, he was a very naughty boy.

[Storminateapot]

Today, probably that the Welsh name for the Welsh Leader is Prif Weinidog Cymru. Is that intellectual or just a random thought that whimsied through my head? I look up odd facts like this all the time.

[WickedLazy]

TheGr3atEscapez

Sorry I meant do you have any links to info on the monk thing. I'll google tomorrow (and a lot of other intetesting stuff I've read already, colours humans can't see etc).

[TheGr3atEscapez]

Koko the gorilla who could talk using sign language sadly died recently. She enjoyed relationships with pet cats and humans. Some crows are more intelligent than some children at solving puzzles, especially when food is rewarded. You can watch problem solving studies. Octopus can also problem solve, similar studies. A wide variety of animals have been sent into space dogs, apes, spider, tortoise etc

[Storminateapot]

Oh yes I also checked out the Four Noble Truths of Buddha. That's probably better.

They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

[Tessliketrees]

@ErrolTheDragon

Never heard of Great Courses, looks good and there is a sale on.

I was listening to a podcast a while ago with historians discussing Rome. The gist was we basically know fuck all about Rome because everything we do know was written with a motive by writers who were writing decades after the events the were writing about. They were also talking about other civilisations much greater and more recent that Rome (I am drawing a blank to name any of them, which I suppose reinforces the point) that basically ignore because either they had no written language, we don't understand their written language or nothing of their written language survives.

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Asking individual about suicidal intent doesn’t cause or increase DSH or suicide

There’s a misplaced unfounded fear that if suicide is raised it’ll cause individual to be suicidal

[Tessliketrees]

@LipstickHandbagCoffee

There’s a misplaced unfounded fear that if suicide is raised it’ll cause individual to be suicidal

Who thinks that? It really surprises me because it's a standard question in a mental health assessment and, obviously, The Samartians. Please don't tell me it's GPs.

[ArthurKing]

Dennis the Menace's surname is Mitchell

[CoughArghCoughArghCough]

NeverLovedElvis That sounds like the Australian Aboriginal language Guugu Yimithirr, it’s absolutely fascinating. I often wonder if people with crap spatial awareness, like me, would have coped or been cast out. Actually, not even cast out, I probably would have wandered off in search of berries and never found my way back