Houses of tomorrow: A more hopeful vision of domesticity, or a dystopian nightmare?In the future, will we find a better way to live, or will our homes be taken over by surveillance and despotic appliances?Imagine, if you can, a small, bluish room. Wires, screens, sensors. A few keepsakes from the old world. The room’s fleshy inhabitant, confined indoors by a zoonotic pandemic, greenwashes a data-mining company from her bed. The government has made it illegal for her to step outside.

A better way to live...

There is a communal kitchen down the corridor, which she shares with a few strangers she met online, but mostly she orders her meals via an interface and eats them here. Microphones record her interactions. A motion sensor on her wrist reminds her to optimise her performance. Filled with saudade for the dying world outside, she has bought a few rainforest plants to brighten the space. Her pocket surveillance device reminds her to water them. She catches the news: the world’s richest man has just left the Earth’s atmosphere.

... or a dystopian nightmare?

So much for the home of 2021! What about the home of 2050? Might it offer a more hopeful vision of domesticity than the dystopian nightmare some of us have been living through these past couple of years? Or are we inexorably sliding into a world of surveillance and atomisation, climate crisis and housing crisis, drowning alone as our meta headsets suck the very data from our souls?

Home of 2050

Maybe a bit of both, says Sarah Douglas, director of the Liminal Space. She is behind the forthcoming Tomorrow’s Home exhibition at the Museum of the Home in east London, which imagines how we’ll be living three decades hence. “The home of the future could help us flourish in ever more tailored and sophisticated ways,” she says. “But it will be messy as we learn to navigate the huge benefits and ethical questions that new interactive technologies bring.”....

Home exhibition

In the future, will we find a better way to live, or will our homes be taken over by surveillance and despotic appliances?

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

Houses of tomorrow: A more hopeful vision of domesticity, or a dystopian nightmare?

There’s another sorta, kinda moon in a sorta, kinda orbit around Earth that was discovered only in 2016. The quasi-moon - named Kamo’oalewa, after a Hawaiian word that refers to a moving celestial object - is not much to speak of, measuring less than 50 m (164 ft) across. It circles the Earth in a repeating corkscrew-like trajectory that brings it no closer than 40 to 100 times the 384,000 km (239,000 mi.) distance of our more familiar moon. Its odd flight path is caused by the competing gravitational pulls of the Earth and the sun, which continually bend and torque the moonlet’s motions.

One more moon, kind-of

And according to a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-021-00303-7">new study in Nature</a>, we may at last know how it was formed.The moon’s been getting bombarded by space rocks for billions of years, resulting in all manner of lunar debris getting ejected into space (nearly 500 bits of which have made it to the surface of the Earth as meteorites). Kamo’oalewa is one such piece of lunar rubble that spiraled away from the moon.But rather than landing on Earth or simply tumbling off into the void, it found itself a quasi-satellite in its own right.

The origin of Kamo’oalewa

Kamo’oalewa won’t stick around all that long, as its current trajectory is not entirely stable. According to estimates from Sharkey (researcher) and others, the object will remain an earthly companion for only about 300 more years - nothing at all on the cosmic clock - after which it will break free of its current gravitational chains and twirl off into the void. Originally a part of the moon, then a companion of Earth, it will spend the rest of its long life traveling on its own.

Not here for long

I never knew about this quasi-moon. If you are into space and space exploration I highly recommend Jeffrey Kluger's weekly newsletter from Time.com.

Scientists have learned where Earth's 'second moon' came from—and how much longer it'll stick around.

Earth Has a Second Moon—For Another 300 Years, At Least

How is Superfluid?It is the state of the particle being cooled to absolute zero. It''s not 0°C, but a state of matter that gives off zero heat - entropy, zero entropy - zero energy, zero motion. Silent state.Zero is not from the Celsius scale, but from the 0° Kelvin scale.In Celsius, absolute zero is indicated by a temperature of -273°CIn reality no one is able to achieve absolute zero°KHowever, experts agree that approaching absolute zero is sufficient to say that it reaches absolute zero = -273°C

The Last State of Universe

Even though they (scientists) are still trying to figure out how to remove heat from the particles below -273°C, again & againEven when the particles were cooled, there was still some motion, but it was already so low that it was called a SUPERFLUID. Why?Because suddenly at temperatures close to absolute zero, the composition of different elements tends to be uniform, simultaneously. It is difficult to distinguish the structure from one another.It's clear that this is actually close to a zero state, close to a state of emptiness,

Cooling

Tend to be uniform (all together)Experts were confused the nature of this superfluid (superfluid), where it was not affected by gravity but rather diffuses.So when superliquid was poured into an open bottle, it will expand through the opening of the bottle or through cracks in the wall containing the superfluid.This was because at the superfluid level, the liquid has a new property, EXPAND

Particle Composition 

Then scientists hypothesized, could space be superfluid? MY ANSWER YES!Because the void is a state of absolute zero beyond superfluids created in the laboratoryIn fact, what they have now found, a superfluid? It's just close to the superfluid of the universe.But from this we can realize that the closer we get to absolute zero = no energy = zero energy, its nature is precisely: it expands like the universe.

The Universe is Expanding

They didn't realize that even though this was against gravity, being negative, it didn't mean it's dark energy or dark matter, but rather that it's the nature of emptiness, expanding.THIS ACTUALLY CONFIRMS THAT, SUPERFLUID HAS NOT REALLY lost the energy of motion.Likewise, the emptiness that seems passive, has not actually reached absolute zero.

Against Gravity 

There are still a few characteristics of things, so the superfluid still has some genetic properties from its elements which if the cooling effect disappears, it will return to its original position - original state, not neutral.

THE GENETIC OF MATTER

<a href="https://dsta.sh/FLq9bQc3x2Z29ue76">Emptiness</a> is arguably close to neutral. Not neutral yet? YES! It can't be called "absolutely empty"There are still genetic characteristics of a particle, but it does not characterize certain elements (does not characterize certain elements such as iron or gold etc.)So that from the void can not suddenly emerge gold, uranium, nickel or milk (from their cows ☺ ). Rather it came out of the void that was the elementary particle (the smallest matter )

NEUTRALITY

Similar to superfluid, where the particles are still trying to wriggle from their cold sleep and reveal their characteristics. Because it's not 100% energy lost.Likewise <a href="https://dsta.sh/FLq9bQc3x2Z29ue76">emptiness</a> which is actually existence, emptiness is not "without any existence", but emptiness itself is something - not nothing. So that it still characterizes the fundamental property of superfluids, namely expanding.

WHY IS THERE QUANTUM FLUCTUATION?

There is also another characteristic when there is a sudden jump (outflow) of energy, this indicates an increase in the temperature of space which is so small, then decreases again, and so on causing the pulsation of the universe.

Pulse of Universe

From this we can realize that all around us there is a pulsation of the universe. This is where gravity even covers the void. Gives a pulse.

Pulse of Gravity

They scientists didn't realize (or some did) that the flexural properties of superfluids or the flexural properties of voids, is something they knew as TIME CRYSTAL.Where a crystal can go back and forth to change its initial and final position without encouragement, without any influence.Google reportedly succeeded in making time crystal material, but only lasted (changes in position back and forth without external influence) for a few seconds.The time crystal confirms the model of universe explaining "what happened to the elastic nature of the void".

TIME CRYSTAL - The Elastic Nature of the Void

They scientists didn't realize (or some did) that the flexural properties of superfluids or the flexural properties of voids, is something they knew as TIME CRYSTAL.Where a crystal can go back and forth to change its initial and final position without encouragement, without any influence.Google reportedly succeeded in making time crystal material, but only lasted (changes in position back and forth without external influence) for a few seconds.The time crystal confirms the model of universe explaining "what happened to the elastic nature of the void".

Time Crystal 

Since the <a href="https://dsta.sh/FLq9bQc3x2Z29ue76">emptiness</a> is not the final frontier, then ... What is behind the emptiness?

This leads to understanding "THE GENETIC OF MATTER"

Superfluid

<ol><li>Get a friend who writes you 20 random words.</li><li>Lock them in your mind.</li><li>For 1 minute do not think about them.</li><li>Set a timer for 1 minute and try to remember them.</li></ol>

Memory Neurohacking

<ol><li>Take an object for example, a rock. For 1 minute try to think as many uses of this rock as you can; weapon, carving tool etc.</li><li>Get on fancy cap. Tell yourself that it is scientifically proven that this cap will boost my creativity.</li><li>Do any creative task. </li></ol>

Creativity Neurohacking

What if you could upgrade your brain in 15 minutes a day? Let Elizabeth Ricker, an MIT and Harvard-trained brain researcher turned Silicon Valley technologist, show you how. Join Ricker on a wild and edifying romp through the cutting-edge world of neuroscience and biohacking. You'll encounter Olympic athletes, a game show contestant, a memory marvel, a famous CEO, and scientists galore. From Ricker’s decade-long quest, you will learn: ● The brain-based reason so many self-improvement projects fail . . . But how a little-known secret of Nobel Prize winning scientists could finally unlock success ● Which four abilities—both cognitive and emotional—can predict success in work and relationships . . . and a new system for improving all four ● Which seven research-tested tools can supercharge mental performance. They range from low-tech (a surprising new mindset) to downright futuristic (an electrical device for at-home brain stimulation) Best of all, you will learn to upgrade your brain with Ricker’s 20 customizable self-experiments and a sample, 12-week schedule. Ricker distills insights from dozens of interviews and hundreds of research studies from around the world. She tests almost everything on herself, whether it’s nicotine, video games, meditation, or a little-known beverage from the Pacific islands. Some experiments fail hilariously—but others transform her cognition. She is able to sharpen her memory, increase her attention span, boost her mood, and clear her brain fog. By following Ricker’s system, you’ll uncover your own boosts to mental performance, too. Join a growing, global movement of neurohackers revolutionizing their careers and relationships. Let this book change 15 minutes of your day, and it may just change the rest of your life!

creativity

Creativity

books

Books

What if you could upgrade your brain in 15 minutes a day? Let Elizabeth Ricker, an MIT and Harvard-trained brain researcher turned Silicon Valley technologist, show you how. Join Ricker on a wild and edifying romp through the cutting-edge world of neuroscience and biohacking. You'll encounter Olympic athletes, a game show contestant, a memory marvel, a famous CEO, and scientists galore.   From Ricker’s decade-long quest, you will learn: ●  The brain-based reason so many self-improvement projects fail . . . But how a little-known secret of Nobel Prize winning scientists could finally unlock success ●  Which four abilities—both cognitive and emotional—can predict success in work and relationships . . . and a new system for improving all four ●  Which seven research-tested tools can supercharge mental performance. They range from low-tech (a surprising new mindset) to downright futuristic (an electrical device for at-home brain stimulation)   Best of all, you will learn to upgrade your brain with Ricker’s 20 customizable self-experiments and a sample, 12-week schedule.   Ricker distills insights from dozens of interviews and hundreds of research studies from around the world. She tests almost everything on herself, whether it’s nicotine, video games, meditation, or a little-known beverage from the Pacific islands. Some experiments fail hilariously—but others transform her cognition. She is able to sharpen her memory, increase her attention span, boost her mood, and clear her brain fog. By following Ricker’s system, you’ll uncover your own boosts to mental performance, too.   Join a growing, global movement of neurohackers revolutionizing their careers and relationships. Let this book change 15 minutes of your day, and it may just change the rest of your life!

Elizabeth R. Ricker

Smarter Tomorrow

Since no one wants to age, there is a tremendous incentive to prevent, slow down or even reverse it. But all these efforts run into the same obstacle. No one actually knows what aging is or precisely what causes it. On its face, this riddle shouldn’t exist. The universe is subject to entropy, which causes everything, including the universe itself, to run down like a child’s toy whose battery slowly runs down. Biology chimes in with the obvious fact that all higher living things grow old and die.

What is Aging?

But reality changes depending on your viewpoint, and one viewpoint tells us that aging, especially human aging, could be a mistake. First, we need to counter the evidence that living things must grow old and die. This is more easily done than you might suppose. Here’s a thumbnail sketch of the counter-argument against aging.

Reality Changes

· Entropy refers to the dissipation of heat by which warm things grow colder. But those are inanimate things. Life preserves and increases energy. Putting on a coat in winter effectively defeats entropy, and so have all living forms for at least four billion years.· The universe may die a “heat death” as it approaches absolute zero, but in the meantime, complex forms keep arising and surviving. The force that creates them is evolution.· Unique among the living things yet discovered, Homo sapiens can consciously choose to evolve.

Evolution

· Long ago Homo sapiens escaped the prison of Darwinian survival of the fittest by moving in any direction that offers more complexity, creativity, and discovery.As you can see, these are fundamental facts that can be used to approach aging, making it far from inevitable. An ancient Indian scripture declares that “people grow old and die because they see other people grow old and die.”

An Indian Scripture

Since no one wants to age, there is a tremendous incentive to prevent, slow down or even reverse it. But all these efforts run into the same obstacle. No one actually knows what aging is or precisely…

health

Health

problemsolving

Problem Solving

What If Aging Is a Mistake?

Cacao Beans are Seeds of a Tree called the Theobroma cacao Tree.To simplify Cacao refers to the raw, fermented, unRoasted product. Cocoa refers generally to proceeded SubProducts of chocolate production ; i.e. powder and butter obtainted after roasting and extraction.

Cacao Or Cocoa? 

Cacao is extracted from the Theobroma cacao seeds : Cacao Beans (Fèves in FR). These seeds are contained inside Pods (Gousse) and surrounded into a sticky organic matrix.

Organic Origin Of Cacao

<ol><li>Fermentation : raw humid beans are fermented by yeasts and other microbes.</li><li>Drying - Séchage : Several days later the product is called Cacao and available for chocolate makers.</li><li>Roasting - Torréfaction : Unless a raw product is desired. From this step Roasted cacao Beans are called Cocoa.</li><li>Crushing : Produces nibs, small pieces of cacao Beans.</li><li>Grinding : Produces a liquor, separated into Cocoa Butter (50%) and Cocoa Powder (50%). Pressure is required for separation. </li></ol>

Cacao / Cocoa Production Process 

There’s not complete agreement on when to use the terms cacao and cocoa respectively.Makers of raw (unroasted) or less processed cacao bean products often use the word cacao rather than cocoa, which may imply that they’re more natural & healthy products.In a Nutshell :<ul><li>Cocoa ~ Processed </li><li>Cacao ~ Raw</li></ul>

Choosing The Correct Appellation

Gifts from Nature are immense. Healing our bodies through food is one of the most ancien knowledge of Humanity. As an Agronomist I am as fascinated as grateful for the wonders mother Earth is providing us.

If you buy chocolate, you’ve likely noticed that some packages say they contain cacao while others say cocoa. This article tells you the difference between cacao and cocoa and which one's healthier.

philosophy

Philosophy

food

Food

Cacao vs Cocoa: What's the Difference?

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one

Marcus was born in AD 121, in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. At first he was Marcus Annius Verus, but his well-born father died young and he was adopted by his grandfather, who had him educated by number of excellent tutors. When he was sixteen, he was adopted by his uncle by marriage Aurelius Antoninus as Hadrain's heir. Aurelius Antoninus changed Marcus' name to his own and betrothed him to his daughter, Faustina.  She bore fourteen children, but none of them survived Marcus except the worthless Commodus, who eventually succedded Marcus as Emperor.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Marcus Aurelius' writing known as the Meditations, are unique in classical literature - the personal and the philosophical diary written in Greek by an intellectual Roman Emperor without any thought or intention of publication, and remain of unique interest and relevance to the modern world. To Himself is the better title given in the manuscript used for the first printed edition in 1559.There are long reflection on duty, virtue, the place of human rationality in univerese, the god within and god without, purposefulness & cohesiveness of the universe, nature of anger, death and regret.

Meditations

There is no work quite like the Meditations in Greek or Roman philosophical literarture. Readers who come to this book expecting the hardness and austerity of a Stoic will not be disappointed, but they will be surprised by prose that often read like modern peotry and startled by the vivid illustrations that reveals Marcus' deep appreciation of the beauty and purposefulness of the Nature. Perhaps the sustained analogy to be encountered is, it made possible by discovery of the intimate and indissouble connection between macrocosm and microcosm, between the providence, rationality of the Whole.

How could reader of the meditations tell he was a Stoic?

From my mother: piety, generosity, the avoidance of wrong-doing and even the thought of it; also simplicity of living, well clear of habits of the rich.

Meditation Book: 1 Passage: 3

Failure to read what is happening in another's soul is not easily seen as a cause of unhappiness: but those who fail to attend to the motions of their own soul are necessarily unhappy.

Meditation Book: 2 Passage: 8

Do not waste the remaining part of your life in thoughts about other people, when you are not thinking with reference to some common good. Why deprive yourself of the time for some other task? Thinking about what so-and-so is doing and why, what he is saying or plotting, and all that line of thought, makes you stray from the close watch on your own directing mind.Train yourself to think only th﻿oughts such that 'What is in your mind?' you could say that with immediate frankness, and so your answer give direct evidence that your thoughts are straightforward and kindly.

Meditation Book: 3 Passage: 4

You have seen that: now look at this. Do not trouble yourself, keep your self simple. Someone does wrong? He does wrong to himself. Has something happened to you? Fine. All that happens has been fated by the Whole from the beginning and spun for your own destiny. In sum, life is short: make your gain from present moment with right reason and justice. Keep sober and relaxed.

Meditation Book: 4 Passage: 26

"Fate brought this on him." So let us accept these prescribtions just as we accept those of Asclepius - many of them too are harsh, but we welcome them in the hope of the health.You should take the same view of the process and completion of the universal nature as you do of your own health: and so welcome all that happens to you, even if it seems rather cruel, because its purpose leads to health of the universe. He(God) would not bring this on anyone, if it did not also bring advantage to the Whole: no more than any natural principle brings anything appropriate to what it governs.

Meditation Book: 5 Passage: 8.3, 8.4

So there are two reasons why you should be content with your experiences: One is that this has happened to you, was prescribed to you, a thread of destiny spun for you by most anicent cause. Second is that what comes to each individual is determining part of the welfare, perfection, and indeed the very coherence of that which governs the Whole.Because the complete Whole is maimed if you sever even the tinniest fraction of its connection and connectivity: this is true of its constituents parts, and true likewise of its cause.

Meditation Book: 5 Passage: 8.5

If somone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance.

Meditation Book: 6 Passage: 21

Is someone afraid of change? Well, what can ever come to be without change? Or what is dearer or closer to the nature of the Whole than change? Can you yourself take a bath, if the wood that heats it is not changed? Can you be fed, unless what you eat changes? Can any other of the benefits of the life be achieved without change? Do yo not see then that for you to be changed is equal, and equally necessary to the nature of the Whole?

Meditation Book: 7 Passage: 18 

If the choice is yours, why do the thing? But if it is another's choice, why do you blame - atoms or gods? Either is madness. There is no blame. If you can, put him right: if you can't, at the least put the matter itself right. If that too is impossible, what further purpose does blame serve? Nothing should be done without purpose.

Meditation Book: 8 Passage: 17

You can strip away many unnecessary troubles which lie wholly in your own judgement. And you will immediately make large and wide open room for yourself by grasping the whole universe in your thought, contemplating the eternity of time, and reflecting on the rapid change of each thing in every part - how brief the gap from birth to dissolution, how vast the gulf of time before your birth, and an equal infinity after your dissolution.

Meditation Book: 9 Passage: 32

Observe what your physical nature requires, as one subject to the condition of mere life. Then do it and welcome it, as long as nature as an animate being will not be impaired. Next, you should observe what your nature as an animate being requires: again, adopt all of this, as long as your nature as rational being will not be impaired. And rational directly implies social. Follow these rules, and no further fuss.

Meditation Book: 10 Passage: 2

Just as those who try to block your progress along the straight path of the reason will not be able to divert you from principled action, so you must not let them knock you out of your good will towards them. Rather you shold watch yourself equally on both fronts, keepind only a stablity of judgement and action, but also a mild response to those who try to stop you or are otherwise disaffected.to be angry with them is no less a weaknessthan to abandon yoir course of action and capitulate in panic.

Meditation Book: 11 Passage: 9

What a tiny part of the boundless abyss of time has been allotted to each of us - and this is soon vanished in eternity; what a tiny part of the universal substance and the universal soul; how tiny in the whole earth the mere clod on which you creep. Reflecting on all this, think nothing important other than active pursuit where your oen nature leads and passive acceptance of what universal nature brings.

Meditation Book: 12 Passage: 32

Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy

meditation

Meditation

To be smart is great, but it doesn't happen overnight. If you want to become smarter, you have to create habits that will groom your intelligence and nourish your mind.Here are 18 habits that can help you become your smartest self.

Don't assume anything or subscribe unthinkingly to the conventional wisdom. Keep your eyes and mind wide open. The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge--and questioning and curiosity are the key to overcoming it.

1. Question Everything. 

Make reading a habit--serious reading, not celebrity gossip and lists on the web. Even if it's just part of a chapter each day, stick to your reading schedule and your intellect will be enriched.

2. Read as much as you can.

Find a topic that keeps you interested and dive in. It's easier to stay engaged with a topic you find stimulating. Find a format that stimulates your mind, too, whether it's a podcast or a newspaper. Feed your mind well with things it will enjoy.

3. Discover what motivates you.

To be innovative means making creativity more important than the fear of being wrong. Even in the things you do every day, you can be inventive and experimental. When you take risks, make mistakes, and have fun instead of slogging through the same routine. You'll have a daily reminder that imagination and creativity can change the world.

4. Think of new ways to do old things.

Smart people have interesting things to talk about. They know how to expand their mind and feed their brain, so spending time with them is good for you on multiple levels. Seek them out at work, in service organizations, and socially.

5. Hang out with people who are smarter than you.

When you have an opportunity to learn something new, you become smarter. Make a point of continuously and consistently acquiring new skills, because life will never stop teaching if you're willing to learn.

6. Remember that every expert was once a beginner.

We're all so distracted, it's easy to dash from one thing to another without pausing to consider what it means. Make time to pause and reflect--reflection is an important part of the learning process.

7. Make time to reflect.

As you're caring for your mind don't neglect your body. Build discipline in doing what you need to do in terms of diet, exercise, and sleep.

8. Exercise your body. 

Being busy and being productive are two different things. The future you want is created by what you do. Smart people make the most of today.

9. Push yourself to become more productive. 

Carry a journal to jot down ideas when they come to you. Push yourself to be creative and to think in new ways. Review your ideas weekly and edit them as you go.

10. Come up with new ideas daily. 

Facing your fears makes you braver, smarter, and better able to withstand what life throws at you. Sometimes the greatest rewards in life come from doing the things that scare you the most.

11. Do something that scares you. 

Devote your break time to something more productive than social media or binge watching TV. The internet is filled with awesome learning tools. It's a small habit but a big win if you can nourish your brain and advance your career and life at the same time.

12. Replace TV with online learning.

Everything you take part in is either uplifting or detrimental to your mind. It's important to silence inner and outer negativity--once you do, you begin to play a role in shaping your mindsets and beliefs, which in turn guide your actions.

13. Be mindful of what you are absorbing. 

Every day, look online and in other media for topics, interests, or other sources that fall off your usual path. When you do, you absorb wisdom you would never have been able to access otherwise.

14. Read something you normally wouldn't. 

Learning something new is important, but sharing that knowledge makes what you've learned actionable and meaningful.

15. Share what you know. 

There really is no point in learning something if it doesn't make you smarter or inspire you to improve. The smartest people apply what they know not to become a person of success but rather to become a person of value.

16. Apply your new knowledge. 

It turns out that journaling is an important way to become smarter. Taking a few minutes each day to reflect in writing has been shown to boost your brain power. Smart happens when you learn from your experiences.

17. Keep a journal. 

Intelligent people tend to have fewer friends than the average person--at least in part because the smarter you are, the more selective you become. Who you spend time with reflects who you are.

18. Be selective.

habits

Habits

education

Learning & Education

18 Habits That Will Make You Smarter

Alchemy is an area of study, sometimes described as a science, sometimes described as a branch of philosophy, that was practiced in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Alchemy originated in the early centuries AD, primarily in Egypt, Greece, and Rome, but eventually spread as far as India, China, and England by the 12th century.

What is Alchemy? 

The symbol for the philosopher's stone

Since the beginning of alchemy, alchemists have used symbols to represent different elements. Alchemy symbols sometimes contain hints of the qualities the element was thought to have, as well as the history of the element. Using symbols helped alchemists keep their work secret from non-alchemists who wouldn’t recognize the symbols. Because early alchemy also drew much of its information from astrology, many alchemy element symbols are connected to planets or other celestial bodies. Alchemy symbols continued to be used until the 18th century, becoming more standardized as time went on.

How Have Alchemy Symbols Been Used?

The three primes, also known as the tria prima, were named by Paracelsus, a Swiss philosopher, in the 16th century. He believed the tria prima contained all the poisons that caused disease, and that by studying them, alchemists could learn how to cure disease. He also believed the tria prima defined humans, and he assigned each of the elements to a different part of the human identity.

The Three Primes

Mercury

Mercury (which is also one of the seven planetary metals) can mean both the element and the planet. In either case, this alchemy symbol represents the mind, as well as a state that could transcend death. In ancient times, mercury was known as quicksilver, and it was believed to be able to shift between liquid and solid states. Therefore, in alchemy, mercury was believed to shift between life and death.

Mercury 

Salt is now known to be a chemical compound comprised of sodium and chloride, but alchemists believed it was a single element. Salt represents the body, as well as physical matter in general, crystallization, and condensation. Salt is often impure when first collected, but through chemical processes it can be dissolved and purified, which some alchemists compared to purification processes the human body can undergo. Its symbol is a circle bisected by a horizontal line.

Salt

Salt

Sulfur

Sulfur represents properties such as dryness, heat, and masculinity. In alchemy, it could also represent evaporation, expansion, and dissolution. In terms of human body, it represented the soul. In terms of the tria prima, sulfur was seen as the middling element connecting salt (high) and mercury (low).Sulfur’s symbol is typically a triangle atop a Greek cross (seen above), but it can also be represented by a Cross of Loraine atop an ouroboros/infinity symbol. This symbol has come to be known as Satan’s Cross and is sometimes used as a satanic symbol.

Sulfur

What are alchemy symbols? Check out our complete guide to the most important alchemy symbols and meanings.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

Alchemy Symbols and Their Meanings

John Vervaeke teaches cognitive sciences University of Toronto. Similar to his Canadian colleague, Jordan Peterson, he became popular through his Youtube channel, where he explores deep philosophical ideas. In 50 hour-long episodes, Vervaeke analyses the crisis of meaning (which he describes as a pervasive feeling of alienation from the world and from each other). To get to the bottom of the meaning crisis he puts in context various historical philosophical schools of thought, combining them with cognitive sciences and much more.

John Vervaeke's "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis"

To seek our purpose in the world is a human pursuit for millennia. For Vervaeke, the meaning in life is found in wisdom. But the modern world has distanced us from the goalpost and Vervaeke points out spikes in depression, suicide rates, and social unrest.But while things look bleak the public seems to be much more interested in topics related to meaning: mindfulness, stoicism, psychedelic ... all of these weird Hippie interests points to a revival of the meaning conversation.

The meaning of life in the 21st century

Humans existed for 200-300 thousand years. But 40,000 BC something happened. Humans started living in settlements. And they started to make ... art. Sculptures, paintings, and even music.This is the period where humans have an upgrade to their cognitions. They invent abstract tools like the calendar or projectile weapons.Meaning began when our ancestors started to complement their tech with psycho technologies to allow them to deal with the environment but also with others. Literacy or shamanic rituals are some early such technologies.

Upper Paleolithic Transition

We evolved to use tools. In that sense, we are natural-born cyborgs. Our clothes, our objects are tools we enhanced ourselves with biologically. Psycho technologies enhance our brain. Like literacy, which enhances our cognition by helping us to remember. Taking notes makes time obvious.If we use a computer analogy: regular technology enhances our hardware, while psycho technology is like a software upgrade. Since humans operate on pretty much the same basic hardware it can be concluded all our major advances were psychological.

Psycho Technology

Saying "How are you?" was a huge leap fwd in the interaction between human beings: It shows you are interested in others. It allows relationships built on trust and ... trading. Mindsight is the ability to pick up on other people's mental states. It is a massive cognitive advancement of people from 40,000 years ago.And once we started paying attention to others, we also started paying attention to our own mental state.

mindsight

A very long series of lectures about meaning from a Canadian cognitive academic. I plan to watch them all and will share my insights as I go.

New videos released every Friday. List of Books in the Video: •Michael Anderson - After Phrenology: Neural Reuse and the Interactive Brain •Barry Boyce (Editor) - The Mindfulness Revolution: Leading Psychologists, Scientists, Artists, and Meditation Teachers on the Power of Mindfulness in Daily Life •Andy Clark - Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence •Michel Ferrari and Nic Weststrate (Editors) - The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom: From Contemplative Traditions to Neuroscience •Harry Frankfurt – On Bullsh*t •David Lewis-Williams - The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art •L. A. Paul - Transformative Experience •Massimo Pigliucci - How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life •Matt Rossano - Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved •Daniel Siegel - Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation •Steve Taylor - Waking From Sleep: Why Awakening Experiences Occur and How to Make Them Permanent •John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and Filip Miscevic - Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis •Michael Winkelman - Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing •Susan Wolf - Meaning in Life and Why It Matters Series Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8Vuh3f0P5qjrSdb5eC1ZfZwWJ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vervaeke.John/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john First episode of Dr. John Vervaeke's Awakening from the Meaning Crisis.

Ep. 1 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Introduction

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