Camel's in the Desert

Taken by photographer George Steinmetz and featured in a 2005 Turkish edition of National Geographic. At first glance it appears to be an image of dark colored camels crossing the desert but a closer look reveals that these are actually their shadows.

Pareidolia

Elephant Rock on the Icelandic island of Heimaey

Ambiguous Garage Roof

One of the 2015 illusion of the year finalist created by Kokichi Sugihara.

Imaginary Bow and Arrow Leads to Three Day Suspension

Earlier this week a number of local news outlets reported that a first grader at a local Catholic school was suspended for three days for pretending to shoot one or more other students with an imaginary bow and arrow.

According to the boy's parents, Matthew and Martha Miele, the overtly hostile threat of extreme violence happened while their son was playing a game of Power Rangers during recess. A level headed teacher witnessed the brutish intimidation and responsibly brought it to the attention of Principal Joe Crachiolo.  

That afternoon, Martha Miele said she was contacted by Principal Crachiolo regarding the matter.

"I didn't really understand. I had him on the phone for a good amount of time so he could really explain to me what he was trying to tell me. My question to him was 'Is this really necessary? Does this really need to be a three-day suspension under the circumstances that he was playing and he's 6 years old?"

It is more than apparent that the Miele's do not apprehend the seriousness of the situation. Of course all right thinking people understand that imaginary weapons can be just as dangerous as real ones and that childish horseplay is equivalent to threats of violence. Principal Crachiolo appears to understand this, based on a letter he sent to the Miele's which in part stated "I have no tolerance for any real, pretend, or imitated violence. The punishment is an out of school suspension."

So here's to you Principal Crachiolo. Kudos to your tenacity at maintaining your belief that zero tolerance is the best policy even against the flood of evidence that it doesn't make schools safer. Good for you for ignoring the evidence that suspending kids for seemingly frivolous things increases the likelihood that they would have to repeat a grade, which in turn increases the likelihood they will drop out. It's obvious you possess superior judgement skills and the school is fortunate to have you there to keep everyone safe.




WLWT: Child pretends to shoot student with imaginary bow, suspended for 3 days
WCPO: Catholic school suspends 6-year-old for pretending to shoot imaginary bow and arrow at recess

A Generation Later: What We’ve Learned about Zero Tolerance in Schools

Are Zero Tolerance Policies Effective in the Schools? An Evidentiary Review and Recommendations

Awaji Yumebutai

Awaji Yumebutai 100 step garden

Awaji Yumebutai is an area on the island of Awaji in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan which consists of a complex of buildings designed by architect Tadao Ando. The project was built on the remains of a hillside from which the soil had been removed and used for various projects in Osaka. In 1995, during the planning stages to restore the scarred land by turning it into a park, Awaji island was hit with a massive earthquake which claimed the lives of over 6,000 people. The devastation compelled the architect to revise his plans by turning a portion of the area into a memorial which includes the one hundred step garden (Hyakudan-en). In the words of the architect, it is "a symbol to calm the souls of those who lost their lives in the disaster."

Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Jeffrey Friedl

Photo by Scott Hsu

Shell Garden

Shell Garden. Photo by Jack Chen via Ursula Zitting Pinterist

Shell Garden. Photo from 663highland

Photo from 663highland

Kiseki No Hoshi Greenhouse. Photo by Brodie Karel

Amphitheatre. Photo by Ken Conley

The 100 step garden at night. Photo by wata_masa

The 100 step garden
Wikipedia: Awaji Yumebutai

The Stroop Effect

A phenomenon in which individuals take longer to name the color of words printed in a non-matching color, such as the word blue printed in red ink, than when the words are printed in the same color as the word designates, such as the word blue printed in blue ink.

With the following video, try saying the color of the word, not the word that's spelled.

If the printed word and color matched, you would likely be able to say the color much faster. This is because reading words is more automatic than naming colors.

More on the Stroop effect here

Forest Xylophone

Back in 2011 the Japanese telecom company Docomo created a large forest xylophone to promote the then new Touch Wood SH-08C cell phone. A wooden ball rolled down the steps of the instrument playing Bach's Cantata 147 as it progressed to the bottom.

The xylophone was reintroduced at the 2015 Hokkaido Garden Show where visitors could purchase a ball from a vending machine to play the instruments tune.

Denying the Antecedent

Denying the Antecedent is a formal logical fallacy which consists of a conditional premise, a second premise that denies the antecedent of the conditional and a conclusion which denies the consequent of the conditional. The general form of the argument is:

P1. If P, then Q

P2. Not P

C. Therefore, not Q

Since P was never asserted as the only sufficient condition for Q, other factors could account for Q. Therefore, the argument is deductively invalid.

For example:

P1. If Queen Elizabeth is an American citizen, then she is a human being

P2. Queen Elizabeth is not an American citizen

C. Therefore, Queen Elizabeth is not a human being

With this example, both premises are true statements yet the conclusion is false. This of course is due to the fact that being an American citizen is not the only sufficient condition for being a human being. 

Wikipedia: Denying the antecedent