Found in the tubes

Language and perception (via @andrly)

“Several researchers studied the Himba color perception. The Himba use four color names: Zuzu stands for dark shades of blue, red, green and purple; Vapa is white and some shades of yellow; Buru is some shades of green and blue; and Dambu is some other shades of green, red and brown.

“The Himba color judgment is deeply affected by this classification. They find it difficult or even impossible to distinguish between colors that go under the same name in their system, while differentiating easily and immediately between close shades of color that they categorize under different names. This fascinating phenomenon is often said to demonstrate the deep effect language has over the perception of reality. So far the research does not rule out a genetic basis.”

Two hours of Slavoj Žižek (Princeton, 2005)

The complete playlist, 13 parts.

“A man who believes himself to be a grain of seed is taken to a mental institution where the doctors do their best to finally convince him that he is not a grain but a man. When he is cured – convinced that he is not a grain of seed but a man – and allowed to leave the hospital, he immediately comes back trembling. There is a chicken outside the door that he is afraid will eat him. ‘Dear fellow,’ says his doctor, ‘you know very well that you are not a grain of seed but a man.’ ‘Of course I know it,’ replies the patient, ‘but does the chicken?’”