<ul><li>Margaret Cavendish was writing at a time when the prevailing view was that only men were cut out for a life of reflection, while women were better suited to more menial affairs.</li><li>Although she was aware of the social restraints on her philosophical endeavours, Cavendish took matters into her own hands by publishing her own ideas and addressing them directly to her readers.</li><li>Her engagement with her ideas was direct, and there was no evidence of her engagement with any of her ideas from her peers or from her own experience.</li></ul>

Too Much For The 17th Century

By Discourse, I do not mean speech, but an Arguing of the mind … for Discourse is as much as Reasoning with ourselves.

This sense of thinking through an issue as a back-and-forth is something that philosophy teachers (myself included) often try to encourage in students. They should read their work and imagine someone (perhaps annoyingly child-like) asking Why? at every possible juncture. What’s the evidence for that? What argument supports that? What are the counterarguments? Those questions need to be acknowledged, if not always sufficiently answered.

A Third Person To Scrutinize

When we are thinking through an issue, the reasoning process often takes the form of a back-and-forth. Objections, concerns, and problems arise as we try to work through a point. Sometimes, this can make it feel like there is someone there, inside your head, actually responding to you.

The Reasoning Process

The aim of reasoning in philosophy is not to defend a particular piece of intellectual territory, but to get closer to the truth. Having one's commitments and assumptions pointed out and noting how they influence one's way of thinking is an important step towards this.

The Benefit Of Having Ideas Challenged

When Cavendish’s Philosophical Letters (1664) were published, epistolary writings, in which prominent figures debated the most significant philosophical issues of the day, were common. In her own Letters, Cavendish critically responds to the work of four well-known ‘natural philosophers’: Descartes, Hobbes, Henry More etc. However, the letters themselves are all addressed to an interlocutor simply referred to as ‘Madam’. It is hard not to think that Cavendish is making a point here: Since no one will respond to me, I’ll have to do it myself

Addressing Her Work To Herself

Cavendish presents herself as literally in two minds. The two ‘parts’ of Cavendish’s mind cannot come to an agreement (perhaps reflecting the fact that reasoning can sometimes lead to an impasse). She thus asks her readers to play the role of an impartial judge and ‘if possible, to reduce them to a set[t]led peace and agreement.’  Sometimes you need to speak to someone else before you can work out what you really think. Undoubtedly, part of Cavendish’s aim here is to describe, albeit in an exaggerated fashion, her own reasoning processes

Two Minds Debating

‘Discourse is as much as Reasoning with our selves’: how Margaret Cavendish harnessed the power of talking to one’s self

Stashed ideas

Margaret Cavendish and the power of debating with yourself | Psyche Ideas

Virtual reality is a tool. It allows for infinite simulation.
For example, a consumer who experiences VR with a quality VR headset can completely immerse themselves in another world that is not limited by reality.

Why Virtual Reality Matters

In the 1992 sci-fi classic, Snow Crash, author Neil Stephenson describes a virtual-reality-based successor to the internet. The 2011 novel Ready Player One popularised the concept where you can do anything, be anyone, and go anywhere regardless of real-life circumstances.
Computers, the internet, and smartphones give us that life on a two-dimensional screen. But in a three-dimensional Metaverse, we can experience all the world wide web has to offer in a natural user interface.

History Of The Metaverse

Just like it's difficult to imagine life now without your phone or the internet, the Metaverse will become an integral part of life. Anyone with a virtual reality headset will be able to experience the best of what life has to offer and be unbound by the laws of physics.
In the Metaverse, teams can sit around a virtual conference table, and friends can play billiards with a pool stick. Instead of watching YouTube videos to learn how to make lasagna, you will be able to practice with your friends or strangers.

An Integral Part Of Life

“people come to the Oasis (or Metaverse) for all the things they can do, but they stay for all the things they can be: tall, beautiful, scary, a different sex, a different species, live action, cartoon, it’s all your call.”

The Metaverse may be more transformative to businesses than the internet has been. Companies will have entire teams dedicated to thinking about advertising, selling, or building a product within the Metaverse.
Entrepreneurs will have a platform to build products and services. Our children will go to VR universities and have jobs that don't exist yet, jobs related to the Metaverse. Overall, the Metaverse could be the largest market opportunity of the next few decades.

The Future Of Every Industry

The Metaverse could be experienced in three stages.
<ol>
<li>A head-mounted display and two hand controllers. VR today only influences sight, hearing, and a limited form of touch.</li>
<li>Haptic bodysuits and omnidirectional treadmills or shoes could allow the body to feel and move around a virtual space as it would in the real world.</li>
<li>Advanced VR will include neurohaptics. Neurotech is a technology that can use signals from the brain to replicate a virtual environment without any user interface.</li>
</ol>

Entering The Virtual World

The Metaverse Explained Part 2: Why It Matters | Loup

Millions of people like to flock to the beach in the summer, taking advantage of the warm weather and splashing in the waves. But it was not always this way. Up until the 18th century, the beach created fear and anxiety. The coast was thought of as dangerous - it was where shipwrecks and natural disasters occurred. In classical mythology, a prominent theme was the wrath of the ocean. The beach was seen as a place of misfortune, where you found pirates and bandits, the Black Death and smallpox.

The beach was first a place of misfortune

The modern acceptance of the beach for recreation and retreat came with the rise of the urban, industrial society. Around the mid-18th century, European elites started to promote the seaside as a place to get fresh air, exercise and sea bathing. Doctors prescribed splashing in the ocean for conditions such as melancholy, rickets, leprosy, gout, impotence, tubercular infections, menstrual problems and hysteria. The first seaside resort opened in Scarborough on England's eastern shore. Soon other coastal communities followed.

How the beach transformed to a vacation destination

By the 1840s, the beach had a new meaning to Europeans. It became a sought after place of human consumption and an escape from the city. The rise of trains meant that travel became affordable. Middle-class families came to the shore in their droves. Now the beach meant health and pleasure. Throughout the 1800s, the popularity of the seaside resort made its way across Europe.

A destination for the middle-class

Europe's 19th-century beaches started to change as societies took to them. It meant the end of ordinary life in a traditional fishing community. It happened in phases: Where the seashore was first a source of food and where journeys began and ended, it became a sight of amusement and recreation. The beach was popularised as a non-place and an escape from modernity. But the consequences for the environment have been disastrous.

Consequences of sea-side destinations

Today, one-half of the world's people live within 60 kilometres of an ocean. Figures are expected to rise. About 75 - 90 percent of the world's natural sand beaches are disappearing due to rising sea levels and massive erosion caused by human development. Coasts are highly vulnerable habitats and perhaps one that might soon disappear.

A global crisis

The seashore used to be a scary place, then it became a place of respite and vacation. What happened?

Inventing the Beach: The Unnatural History of a Natural Place

Job interviews are an opportunity for employers to find whether you're a good match for them, but it is also your time to see if the role is a good fit for you.
When you are sure the answer is "no", you can simply back out, or you can see it as another networking opportunity. If you like the company, you'll want to maintain the relationship so that you can become the first choice in another role.

Creating future opportunities in job interviews

<ul><li>Once you've decided the job is not a good fit, it's important to let the hiring manager know as soon as possible.</li><li>Don't drop out less than a day before an interview, as it may appear unprofessional. </li><li>In your rejection, thank them for their time and mention which roles better fit you.</li><li>Offer a referral to soften the blow.</li><li>If you can, let them know about your decision over the phone.</li><li>After you back out, connect with them on LinkedIn or send occasional messages to show you are still interested in the company.</li></ul>

How to use an interview to your advantage

Self Improvement

How To Pull Out Of A Job Interview Process Without Burning Bridges

Worry is an attempt to solve an issue that has an uncertain, and possibly negative, outcome.An important point here is that worry is a combination of cognition and affect, a process that engages both our intelligence and our emotions — and the problem with trying to interrupt it is twofold.

What Worry Is

<ul><li>Intellectually, worry causes us to involuntarily repeat unpleasant and unproductive thoughts, thoughts that do not contribute to effective problem-solving but cyclically feed on themselves. And trying to silence a recurring thought is a lost cause, thanks to a cognitive glitch known as the "thought suppression paradox."</li><li>Emotionally, worry is most directly related to fear; more specifically, what affect theorists define as the "affect" of fear, an evolved set of automatic psychological and physical functions that emerge to guide our behavior when we are confronted with anxiety. Unfortunately, affect is not always appropriate or helpful.</li></ul>

Cognitive And Emotional Elements Of Worry

An argument with a worry is an argument you can't win: when you tell yourself not to worry, you aren't going to silence it — you're engaging the worry in conversation, inviting it to explain itself further. Worry causes anxious, repetitive thoughts — but if you concentrate on stopping those thoughts, you are actually directly contributing to them. Worry develops from and perpetuates a state of fear — but forcing yourself to suppress a negative emotion can instead magnify it, or activate other negative affects like anger or despair.

Telling Yourself Not To Worry

Since we cannot stop worrying through conscious effort, the best course of action is to concentrate on working around it. <ul><li>Accept worry, acknowledge the stressors and limitations it has imposed on us, and focus pragmatically on achieving the best possible outcomes under the circumstances. </li><li>Instead of trying to stop worry, treat it like a headache, or a sprained ankle: it may hurt, and it's going to mess up your day, but no matter what you do, it's not going away immediately, and fixating on it will probably make it worse.</li></ul>

Working Around Worry

An argument with a worry is an argument you can't win.

Why Telling Yourself "Not to Worry" Doesn't Work

At some time in our lives, we all do or say something that we later regret.
If you find yourself dwelling on these moments because you think you embarrassed yourself socially, don't let that undermine your confidence. There are steps to take to help you let it go.

Embarrassing yourself

List the things you did or didn't do that concerns you. Then ask yourself, "Is this an objective fact?" It mustn't just feel true.
<ul>
<li>An example of an objective fact: You spilt a drink on someone.</li>
<li>An example of feeling it is true: You made a fool of yourself.</li>
</ul>

Embarrassing situations: Make a list of what you're worried about

If a moment that makes you feel embarrassed is an objective fact, ask yourself if it is a big deal.
<ul>
<li>If you spilt your drink on someone, was real harm done? Maybe the person laughed it off and was nice to you the rest of the time. *Forgive yourself and let it go.</li>
</ul>

Embarrassing situations: Assess the damage

If you made a fool out of yourself and real harm was done, plan to follow up with the person involved.
Be prepared to make amends. For example, "I feel bad about spilling my drink on your dress, and I'd love to have it dry cleaned for you." You'll come across as having good interpersonal skills, and being proactive will also improve your self-esteem.

Getting over embarrassing situations: Make repairs

Use these three steps to stop obsessing the next day.

How to Get Over Social Embarrassment

The elements and principles of art and design are the foundation of the language we use when we speak about art.
<ul>
<li>The elements of art are the visual tools an artist employs to create a composition: The elements are line, shape, colour, value, form, texture, and space.</li>
<li>The principles of art define how the artist uses the elements of art to help show the artist's intent. The principles are balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity/variety.</li>
</ul>

Understanding the elements and principles of art and design

It is generally agreed that a successful painting consists of the following:
<ul>
<li>It is unified</li>
<li>It has some variety created by areas of contrast and emphasis</li>
<li>It is visually balanced</li>
<li>It guides the viewer's eye around the composition.</li>
</ul>
The principles of art are often interlaced, and one will frequently depend on the other. That means that one principle of art can influence the effect and impact of another.

A successful painting

The visual elements of a composition should feel balanced and stable. Imbalance causes the viewer to feel disturbed.
Balance can be achieved in three ways:
<ol>
<li>Symmetry, where both sides of the composition have the same elements in the same position, such as the two sides of a face.</li>
<li>Asymmetry, where the composition is balanced by the contrast of any of the elements of art. For example, a large circle on one side might be balanced by a small square on the other side.</li>
<li>Radial symmetry, where the elements are equally spaced around a central point.</li>
</ol>

Principles of art: Balance

Contrast is when each element of art in a composition is made stronger in relation to the other. When next to each other, contrasting elements are among the first places that the viewer's eye is drawn. 
Examples of contrast:
<ul>
<li>Negative/positive space. </li>
<li>Complementary colours placed next to each other.</li>
<li>Notan - light-dark harmony.</li>
</ul>

Principles of art: Contrast

It is mainly achieved through contrast.
A visually dominant area of the composition creates emphasis and commands the viewer's attention.

Principles of art: Emphasis

It moves the viewer's eye around and inside the image.
A sense of movement can be created by diagonal or curvy lines, edges, the illusion of space, repetition, and energetic mark-making.

Principles of art: Movement

A pattern is a consistent repetition of any of the elements of art or any combination of it.
Some classic patterns are spirals, grids, weaves.

Principles of art: Pattern

Rhythm comes from movement implied through the elements of art in an organised but varied way. 
While pattern demands consistency, rhythm relies on variety, similar to rhythm in music.

Principles of art: Rhythm

A painting will feel unified when all the elements fit together comfortably.
A painting needs both unity and variety. Too much unity makes it dull, and too much variety creates chaos. The best is to have areas of interest in your composition along with places for your eyes to rest.

Principles of art: Unity/variety

Understanding the principles of art and design will help you improve your painting and know when it is finished, too.

7 Principles of Art and Design

Happiness can’t be a goal in itself. Therefore, it’s not something that’s achievable.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness is merely a byproduct of usefulness. You don’t have to change the world or anything. Just make it a little bit better than you were born. When you do little useful things every day, it adds up to a life that is well lived. A life that mattered.

Being useful is a mindset. And like with any mindset, it starts with a decision:  Just DO something that’s useful. Anything.

For the longest time, I believed that there's only one purpose of life: And that is to be happy. Right? Why else go through all the pain and hardship? It's to achieve happiness in some way. And I'm not the only person who believed that.

The Purpose Of Life Is Not Happiness: It's Usefulness - Darius Foroux

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

There are four overlooked but fundamental skills that can help you thrive in life.
<ol>
<li>When to trust your gut and when to rely on your rational mind.</li>
<li>Self-control, especially in the age of unlimited distractions.</li>
<li>How to communicate with anyone.</li>
<li>The ability to judge what is true, right, or lasting.</li>
</ol>
These skills can be acquired with experience and time and can help you achieve success.

Hidden skills we should master

<ul>
<li>We rely on intuition when we make decisions without active reasoning. 90% of critical decisions are made using our intuition.</li>
<li>When we rely on logic, objectivity, and analysis, we depend on rational decision making.</li>
</ul>
It is advantageous to master both intuition and rational thought processes. When your choices regularly lead to negative outcomes, you may be unconsciously making decisions from the wrong place.

When to rely on your gut and when to use rational thought

We are addicted to distraction. Distractions are by-products of a problem. It might seem like something outside of you is pulling you away from your goal. In reality, the distraction is on the inside.
Self-control is also inside you. It's the ability to refrain from momentarily rewarding tasks, so you can focus on what really matters. It is up to you to find ways to master your ability to stay focused.

Self-control is a superpower

“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”

Communication is a skill that takes practice and requires you to invest in understanding others as well as yourself.
Misunderstanding happens when someone doesn't understand you, or you don't pay enough attention to understand them. Better interaction will improve our connection with others.

How to communicate with anyone

Wisdom is investing for your future, making time for the people you care about, making every life experience a learning one.
Wisdom is applying knowledge to your life in a way that adds meaning to others and yourself. It's putting things in perspective before drawing conclusions. Wisdom requires you to managee your emotions in challenging situations.

The ability to discern what is true, right or lasting

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”

Life is a great teacher — but no one gets a complete set of rules they’ll need for a better life or career. Somehow you’re just supposed to know that building better and meaningful relationships can…

Real But Overlooked Skills Every Functioning Adult Should Master

“A wise man can learn more from his enemies than a fool from his friends.”

“Every man dies, but not every man really lives.”

“Don’t let anyone ever make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want.”

“Great men are not born great, they grow great.”

“Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.”

“Life is not the amount of breaths you take. It’s the moments that take your breath away.”

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

“Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

“Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.”

“The way it works is, you do the thing you’re scared shitless of, and you get the courage AFTER you do it, not before you do it.”

“There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.”

“To find something, anything, a great truth or a lost pair of glasses, you must first believe there will be some advantage in finding it.”

“We can’t retract the decisions we’ve made. We can only affect the decisions we’re going to make from here.”

“We walk away from our dreams afraid we may fail, or worse yet, afraid we may succeed.”

“When a defining moment comes along, you can do one of two things. Define the moment, or let the moment define you.”

“You know, the ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance to heaven, the guards asked two questions. Their answers determined whether they were able to enter or not. ‘Have you found joy in your life?’ ‘Has your life brought joy to others?’”

Looking for good inspirational movie quotes? This page is a list of the best inspirational movies quotes of all-time. Read more here.

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Mahesh Anand
@mamadoo

Margaret Cavendish and the power of debating with yourself | Psyche Ideas

The Metaverse Explained Part 2: Why It Matters | Loup

Inventing the Beach: The Unnatural History of a Natural Place

How To Pull Out Of A Job Interview Process Without Burning Bridges

Why Telling Yourself "Not to Worry" Doesn't Work

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Mahesh Anand@mamadoo

Margaret Cavendish and the power of debating with yourself | Psyche Ideas

The Metaverse Explained Part 2: Why It Matters | Loup

Inventing the Beach: The Unnatural History of a Natural Place

How To Pull Out Of A Job Interview Process Without Burning Bridges

Why Telling Yourself "Not to Worry" Doesn't Work

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Mahesh Anand
@mamadoo