2024/09/30
What’s the secret of the supercentenarians? They don’t really exist
What’s the secret of the supercentenarians? They don’t really exist
Earlier this month, an unusual prize ceremony got under way. Five Nobel laureates gathered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not to receive further accolades themselves, but to present the Ig Nobel prizes. Now in their 34th year, these are awarded to researchers whose discoveries “make people laugh, then think”.
One winner was Saul Justin Newman, whose research probing the quality of demographic data certainly made me laugh and think. Places with surprising clusters of individuals reaching remarkable ages, with centenarians or even supercentenarians (aged 110+) galore, attract lots of attention. Debates focus on their secrets – from Mediterranean diets to superior genetics.
But Newman argues that the real secret is that many of these super-senior citizens exist only on paper. He shows that in the US, when a state introduced birth certificates, often towards the end of 19th century, there was a 69-82% fall in supercentenarians recorded. Maybe birth certificates harm our health… or, more plausibly, they cleanse dodgy data.
Even better is his work on Europe. It shows super-oldies are correlated with how rich a region is. But not in the way you’d expect: poorer and deprived places record most people living to the oldest ages – odd, when those regions have terrible health outcomes on every other metric.
Despite having high poverty and the lowest proportion of people aged 90+, Tower Hamlets somehow records more people aged 105+ per capita than anywhere else in England. Corsica is apparently stuffed full of the super-old, yet is very poor (and has France’s highest murder rate).
What’s going on? Pension fraud, because deprived areas create financial pressures, not greater longevity. Something to think, but not laugh, about.
Torsten Bell is Labour MP for Swansea West and author of Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back
Todays Thought
Racism tends to attract attention when it's flagrant and filled with invective. But like all bigotry, the most potent component of racism is frame-flipping -- positioning the bigot as the actual victim. So the gay do not simply want to marry; they want to convert our children into sin. The Jews do not merely want to be left in peace; they actually are plotting world take-over. And the blacks are not actually victims of American power, but beneficiaries of the war against hard-working whites. This is a respectable, more sensible bigotry, one that does not seek to name-call, preferring instead to change the subject and straw man.
-Ta-Nehisi Coates, writer and journalist (b. 30 Sep 1975)
Todays Thought
No fathers or mothers think their own children ugly; and this self-deceit is yet stronger with respect to the offspring of the mind.
-Miguel de Cervantes, novelist (29 Sep 1547-1616
2024/09/27
Todays Wiki
Henri-Frédéric Amiel
Henri-Frédéric Amiel | |
|---|---|
 Amiel, c. 1888 | |
| Born | 27 September 1821 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Died | 11 May 1881 (aged 59) Geneva, Switzerland |
| Occupation | Philosopher, poet, critic |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Period | 19th century |
| Signature | |
 | |
Henri Frédéric Amiel (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʁi fʁedeʁik amjɛl]; 27 September 1821 – 11 May 1881) was a Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic.
Biography
[edit]Born in Geneva in 1821, Amiel was descended from a Huguenot family that moved to Switzerland following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.[1]
After losing his parents at an early age, Amiel travelled widely, became intimate with the intellectual leaders of Europe, and made a special study of German philosophy in Berlin. In 1849 he was appointed professor of aesthetics at the academy of Geneva, and in 1854 became professor of moral philosophy.[1]
These appointments, conferred by the democratic party, deprived him of the support of the aristocratic party[why?], whose patronage dominated all the culture of the city. This isolation inspired the one book by which Amiel is still known, the Journal Intime ("Private Journal"), which, published after his death, obtained a European reputation.[1] It was translated into English by British writer Mary Augusta Ward at the suggestion of academic Mark Pattison.[2]
Although modest in volume of output, Amiel's Journal gained a sympathy that the author had failed to obtain in his life. In addition to the Journal, he produced several volumes of poetry and wrote studies on Erasmus, Madame de Stael and other writers.[1] His extensive correspondence with Égérie, his muse name for Louise Wyder, was preserved and published in 2004.[3]
He died in Geneva on 11 May 1881, at the age of 59. He was buried at the cemetery of Clarens in the canton of Vaud. The tombstone bears an inscription with a quote from the Epistle to the Galatians 6,8:
The French philosopher Ludovic Dugas, in trying to describe a new psychological phenomenon, took the word depersonalization from an entry in his Journal intime, "Everything is strange to me, I can be outside of my body, of me as an individual, I am depersonalized, detached, away". Dugas took this as a literal description, but a few paragraphs later Amiel clarifies: "it seems to me that these mental experiences (transformations mentales) are no more than philosophical experiences. I am not committed to any one in particular".[4]
Works
[edit]- Berlin au printemps de l’année 1848 (1849)
- Du mouvement littéraire dans la Suisse romane et de son avenir (1849)
- Grains de mil (1854)
- Il penseroso (1858)
- La Cloche (1860)
- La Part du rêve (1863)
- L’Escalade de MDCII (1875)
- Charles le Téméraire (1876)
- Les Étrangères (1876)
- L’Enseignement supérieur à Genève depuis la fondation de l’Académie depuis le 5 juin 1559 (1878)
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau jugé par les Genevois d’aujourd’hui (1879)
- Jour à jour (1880)
- Fragments d’un journal intime (1884), 2nd ed.
- Amiel's Journal: The Journal Intime of Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1885), trans. by Mrs. Humphry Ward. Description and preview. Macmillan.
- Philine (1927)
- Lettres de jeunesse (1904)
- Essais, critiques (1931)
Todays Thought
Life is short. Be swift to love! Make haste to be kind!
-Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (27 Sep 1821-1881)
2024/09/23
Todays Thought
Very few established institutions, governments, and constitutions ... are ever destroyed by their enemies until they have been corrupted and weakened by their friends.
-Walter Lippmann, journalist (23 Sep 1889-1974)
2024/09/20
Todays Thought
There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will have truly defeated age.
-Sophia Loren, actor and singer (b. 20 Sep 1934)
2024/09/18
Todays Gadget
Sherwood Phileas - Red/Bracelet
The Phileas watch is a testament to Sherwood's commitment to quality and craftsmanship and an evolution from the first watch in our range, The Commander. Every aspect of the watch exudes excellence, from its robust stainless steel case to the intricate details on the dial.
The GMT hand, adorned half-moon lumed tip, and the second timezone in the centre add a touch of decadence to the overall design - while serving a practical purpose in making sure you reach your destination right on time - just as Phileas Fogg eventually did.
Todays Thought
A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.
-Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (18 Sep 1709-1784)
2024/09/17
This eerie recording is what the world’s largest living thing sounds like
This eerie recording is what the world’s largest living thing sounds like
An aerial overview of the Pando aspen grove. Image source: Lance Oditt / Friends of Pando
2024/09/16
Todays Thought
Would the boy you were be proud of the man you are?
-Laurence J. Peter, educator and author (16 Sep 1919-1990)
2024/09/13
Law Enforcement Guide To Satanic Cults (Happy Fri 13th)
Law Enforcement Guide To Satanic Cults
- Usage
- Public Domain Mark 1.0
A dated documentary into the oft-overlooked risk of Satanic cults and demonic activity for police and law enforcement officers.
2024/09/12
Todays Gadget
ISOTOPE GMT 0º - The Innovative International GMT
The birth of Greenwich Mean Time
Today we take the time differences between countries and distant parts of the continents as part of the fabric of the organisation of our world. However, up until the 19th century even geographically small countries such as Great Britain would use different times in different counties and towns. As late as 1879 it was estimated that around 96% of the world's shipping was using five different meridians, so travel, especially rail, and commerce needed a solution.
A solution was found at the Washington International Meridian Conference of 1884, where delegates from over twenty countries decided once and for all that the Prime Meridian should be at Greenwich in London, due to the number of shipping companies already using it and the geographical position. Then, Greenwich became a place of global importance and gave rise to Greenwich Mean Time - GMT.
As a universal watch company based in Britain, actually on the very same meridian as Greenwich, we want to recognise this centre of international horological significance with a dedicated, innovative watch, our GMT 0º.
Todays Thought
Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on "I am not too sure."
-H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (12 Sep 1880-1956)
2024/09/09
3 Questions That Will Get Your Finances — and Life — on Track
3 Questions That Will Get Your Finances — and Life — on Track
Question One: I want you to imagine that you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. The question is, how would you live your life? What would you do with the money? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don’t hold back your dreams. Describe a life that is complete, that is richly yours.
Question Two: This time, you visit your doctor who tells you that you have five to ten years left to live. The good part is that you won’t ever feel sick. The bad news is that you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining to live? Will you change your life, and how will you do it?
Question Three: This time, your doctor shocks you with the news that you have only one day left to live. Notice what feelings arise as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself: What dreams will be left unfulfilled? What do I wish I had finished or had been? What do I wish I had done? What did I miss?
More than 4 years after closing, Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix is set to be torn down
More than 4 years after closing, Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix is set to be torn down
According to the City of Phoenix's permit search, demolition permits have been issued to Resource Environmental, Inc., a demolition contractor based in Cerritos, California.
The permits were issued for three addresses: 9801 North Metro Parkway East (the former UHaul building), 9813 North Metro Parkway East (the former Dillard's building), and 9617 North Metro Parkway East (Metrocenter Mall).
Each permit is for the total demolition of one building. They were issued by the City of Phoenix on Sept. 5 and will expire on Nov. 19, meaning the demolition must be completed by that date. However, the exact day that the demolition will take place has not been announced.
A City of Phoenix spokesperson said in the May that the demolition was expected to take place this fall.
Todays Thought
You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.
-Robert M. Pirsig, author and philosopher (6 Sep 1928-2017)
Todays Thought
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.
-Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (9 Sep 1828-1910)
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