Speaking in tongues and other things

Hello,

Here’s everything since my last little missive to you:

(technically an updated article, but so updated I’m republishing it)

Excerpt: ‘Speaking in Tongues’, or glossolalia, is one of those fascinating things that first got me interested in the brain. At church, as a kid, you’d see people close their eyes, raise their hands in the air, and start murmuring in languages unknown, filled with some force they couldn’t explain. But a phenomenon so widespread, found in many religions and many cultures, across time and place, should surely be found in the brain activity of other activities? The answer is, maybe not, and maybe what the brain does tell is leaves us with a more interesting question.

Main idea: Glossolalia has a unique pattern of neural activity, distinct from psychopathologies and even other trance-like states. So, the feeling underneath is special, but the actual speaking itself seems learned. It makes you wonder where that feeling comes from.

New Marginalia:

Fewer people want to stand out from others:

Recent research and polling suggest that people may be more reluctant to express themselves and stand out than in previous years … Across the 20-year period, participants who completed the survey more recently reported a lower need for uniqueness, particularly in terms of not wanting to defend their beliefs in public forums and caring more about what others think about them.

Link to the actual paper is here.

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Evidence shows ordinary citizens in the Western world are now richer and more equal than ever before?

We define wealth as the value of all assets, such as homes, bank deposits, stocks and pension funds, less all debts, mainly mortgages. When counting wealth among all adults, data show that its value has increased more than threefold since 1980, and nearly 10 times over the past century … wealth has also become more equally distributed over time. Wealth inequality has decreased dramatically over the past century and, despite the recent years’ emergence of super-rich entrepreneurs, wealth concentration has remained at its historically low levels in Europe and has increased mainly in the US.

Not exactly in keeping with the fun graphs that populate my instagram feed.

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Young men aren’t shifting right:

The belief that young men have shifted strongly to the right and far-right has become a background assumption for lots of political journalism. But there’s plenty of evidence that, in Britain and other English-speaking countries, both young men and young women are more likely to support left and centre-left parties …

The UK example they use is striking (a mere 10-15% of 18-24 year olds voted conservative). But it’s also worth pointing out that the conservative position of their growing marginalisation isn’t exactly supported here either. Labour is not exactly progressive.

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We’ll never give up hope that there’s life there, will we.

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For Plato, rationalists and mystics can walk the same path:

For Plato, the sensory world is epistemologically fallible. True knowledge lies only with the Forms, which exist in a realm separate from the material universe and are accessible only through a person’s intellect, not their senses. This might explain why Plato often uses the word ‘theios’, meaning ‘divine’, to describe the Forms. Just as the mystery initiate seeks a special relationship with the divine, so does the philosopher seeking the Forms.

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