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Topic Review
Synesthesia
Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who report a lifelong history of such experiences are known as synesthetes. Awareness of synesthetic perceptions varies from person to person. In one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme–color synesthesia or color–graphemic synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored. In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (e.g., 1980 may be "farther away" than 1990), or may appear as a three-dimensional map (clockwise or counterclockwise). Synesthetic associations can occur in any combination and any number of senses or cognitive pathways. Little is known about how synesthesia develops. It has been suggested that synesthesia develops during childhood when children are intensively engaged with abstract concepts for the first time. This hypothesis – referred to as semantic vacuum hypothesis – could explain why the most common forms of synesthesia are grapheme–color, spatial sequence, and number form. These are usually the first abstract concepts that educational systems require children to learn. Difficulties have been recognized in adequately defining synesthesia. Many different phenomena have been included in the term synesthesia, and in many cases the terminology seems to be inaccurate. A more accurate but less common term may be ideasthesia. The earliest recorded case of synesthesia is attributed to the Oxford University academic and philosopher John Locke, who, in 1690, made a report about a blind man who said he experienced the color scarlet when he heard the sound of a trumpet. However, there is disagreement as to whether Locke described an actual instance of synesthesia or was using a metaphor. The first medical account came from German physician Georg Tobias Ludwig Sachs in 1812. The term is from the Ancient Greek σύν syn, 'together', and αἴσθησις aisthēsis, 'sensation'.
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  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Face with Tears of Joy Emoji
thumb|Appearance in the EmojiOne emoji set|167x167px Face with Tears of Joy (😂) is an emoji featuring a jovial face laughing, while also crying out tears. It can also be used for joking and teasing. It is the most commonly used emoji on social media websites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram. The emoji is also variously known as the lol emoji, joy emoji, laughing emoji or the laughing crying emoji.
  • 4.0K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Traditional Najd Architecture
The research focuses on the architectural typologies and the architectural elements of the cultural heritage in the Najd region. Najd is the great central plateau of Saudi Arabia, of which Riyadh is the most important city and the capital. The contribution leads the architects to rethink the constructive and aesthetic approach in designing and constructing new architectures without forgetting the culture and historical context of reference. The expressiveness of architectural language in terms of the formal and aesthetic approach is a feature that should not be secondary in contemporary buildings. The surface, texture, form, representation, and expression should prevail over aesthetic purposes in architecture.
  • 4.0K
  • 19 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Who Killed Captain Alex?
Who Killed Captain Alex? is a 2010 Ugandan action-comedy film written, produced, and directed by Nabwana IGG, in Wakaliwood, an ultra low-budget studio in Kampala, Uganda. It has gained viral notoriety for being a no-budget action film, produced on a reported budget of under $200. A trailer for the film was uploaded to YouTube in January 2010, and has been viewed over 2.2 million times as of May 2018. The original version of the film was lost due to power outages and "strained conditions", while the surviving version of Who Killed Captain Alex? released online includes an English "Video Joker" commentary that adds in running gags about the characters.
  • 4.0K
  • 02 Oct 2022
Topic Review
History of Purgatory
The idea of purgatory has roots that date back into antiquity. A sort of proto-purgatory called the "celestial Hades" appears in the writings of Plato and Heraclides Ponticus and in many other pagan writers. This concept is distinguished from the Hades of the underworld described in the works of Homer and Hesiod. In contrast, the celestial Hades was understood as an intermediary place where souls spent an undetermined time after death before either moving on to a higher level of existence or being reincarnated back on earth. Its exact location varied from author to author. Heraclides of Pontus thought it was in the Milky Way; the Academicians, the Stoics, Cicero, Virgil, Plutarch, the Hermetical writings situated it between the Moon and the Earth or around the Moon; while Numenius and the Latin Neoplatonists thought it was located between the sphere of the fixed stars and the Earth. Perhaps under the influence of Hellenistic thought, we find another intermediate state entering Jewish religious thought in the last centuries B.C.E. In Maccabees we find the practice of prayer for the dead with a view to their after life purification a practice accepted by some Christians. The same practice appears in other traditions, such as the medieval Chinese Buddhist practice of making offerings on behalf of the dead, who are said to suffer numerous trials. Among other reasons, Catholic belief in purgatory is based on the practice of prayer for the dead. Descriptions and doctrine regarding purgatory developed over the centuries. Those who believe in purgatory interpret extra-biblical passages such as 2 Maccabees 12:41-46 (not accepted as Scripture by Protestants but recognized by Orthodox and Catholics), and biblical passages such as 2 Timothy 1:18, Matthew 12:32, Luke 16:19-16:26, Luke 23:43, 1 Corinthians 3:11-3:15 and Hebrews 12:29 as support for prayer for the dead, an active interim state for the dead prior to the resurrection, and purifying flames after death. The first Christians looked forward to the imminent return of Christ and did not develop detailed beliefs about the interim state. Gradually, Christians, especially in the West, took an interest in circumstances of the interim state between one's death and the future resurrection. Christians both East and West prayed for the dead in this interim state, although theologians in the East refrained from defining it. Augustine of Hippo distinguished between the purifying fire that saves and eternal consuming fire for the unrepentant. Gregory the Great established a connection between earthly penance and purification after death. All Soul's Day, established in the 10th century, turned popular attention to the condition of departed souls. The idea of Purgatory as a physical place (like heaven and hell) was "born" in the late 11th century. Medieval theologians concluded that the purgatorial punishments consisted of material fire. The Western formulation of purgatory proved to be a sticking point in the Great Schism between East and West. The Catholic Church believes that the living can help those whose purification from their sins is not yet completed not only by praying for them but also by gaining indulgences for them as an act of intercession. The later Middle Ages saw the growth of considerable abuses, such as the unrestricted sale of indulgences by professional "pardoners" sent to collect contributions to projects such as the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. These abuses were one of the factors that led to the Protestant Reformation. Most Protestants rejected the idea of purgatory, as never clearly mentioned in Luther's canon of the Bible, which excludes the Deuterocanonical books. Modern Catholic theologians have softened the punitive aspects of purgatory and stress instead the willingness of the dead to undergo purification as preparation for the happiness of heaven The English Anglican scholar John Henry Newman argued, in a book that he wrote before becoming Catholic, that the essence of the doctrine on purgatory is locatable in ancient tradition, and that the core consistency of such beliefs are evidence that Christianity was "originally given to us from heaven".
  • 4.0K
  • 14 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Wind Tower Houses in Dubai
Due to the similar climate conditions and proximity of the United Arab Emirates to other neighboring countries such as Iran and India, who have been familiar with the use of wind towers as cooling devices for a long time, wind towers were readily adopted in traditional buildings in the UAE. The most concentrated number of wind towers can be found in the residential neighborhood of Dubai called Alfahidi Historic Area. The number reaches around 50 wind towers in less than 0.25 km2, with an average of one wind tower per house. This neighborhood was originally designed for merchants who immigrated from Bastak in Iran. Later, wind towers were applied to various different types of buildings, such as shops and stores, as well as other residential neighborhoods of Shindagah and Deira.
  • 4.0K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Ex Nihilo
Ex nihilo is Latin for "out of nothing": when phrased as ex nihilo nihil fit, "nothing comes from nothing", it means that the universe was formed from eternal matter; as creatio ex nihilo, "creation out of nothing", it means that matter is not eternal but had to be created by some eternal uncaused cause, frequently defined as God. Creation ex nihilo is a theistic answer to the question of how the universe comes to exist: the Big Bang theory, by contrast, is a scientific theory; it offers no explanation of cosmic existence but only a description of the first few moments of that existence.
  • 4.0K
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society was an organization formed in the United States in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky to advance Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments, (As of 2011) has several successors. Following the death of Blavatsky, competition within the Society between factions emerged, particularly among founding members and the organisation split between the Theosophical Society Adyar (Olcott-Besant) and the Theosophical Society Pasadena (Judge). The former group, headquartered in India , is the most widespread international group holding the name "Theosophical Society" today.
  • 3.9K
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Bahá'í Faith on Life after Death
The Bahá'í Faith affirms the prospect of life after death extensively while not defining everything about it. The soul on death is said to recognize the value of its deeds and begin a new phase of a conscious relationship with God though negative experiences are possible. Others have noted the religion's stances on the afterlife.
  • 3.9K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Vulnerability of Buildings
Vulnerability is defined for buildings as the degree of loss resulting from a hazard at a certain severity level and depends on the reduction in resistance and the level of decay in the structures as a result of constant exposure to environmental factors (such as seismic actions). 
  • 3.9K
  • 23 Nov 2021
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