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deadbysunrise-fire · 5 days ago

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ROMANTICISM OR ROMANCE (WITH OR WITHOUT READING)

I pray books, education (like, education... and NOT the literal education system of India) and knowledge religiously. But, that doesn't mean I am some avid book-lover, scholar or intellect in academics. The only thing I loved in the moments when I was forced to sit in a library, was burying my nose inside the science (geology and botany to be precise) encyclopedias, comics, and physics and chemistry oriented comics types fact-books.

"Books should be your best friend" is one thing that I grew up listening more than anything and that's why I have huge respect for books, knowledge and education. I preach about it and as a teacher encourage my (college) students or any pre-tween I encounter to read more, instead of yapping about reading in peace over clubbing and my terrible experiences justifying me choosing the latter; because that's hating—an expression of one's needs, insecurities or desires.

I feel things would have been much different if instead of an arommantic me (or maybe just having more of a independent and marching to the beat of my own drum energy due to manifesting typical disney princess energy of just trying to possess depth, strength and integrity not superficially but with emotional intelligence and a commitment to personal growth and meaningful pursuit, or maybe just not asexual and just an bi-curious aro; there's just no clarity I have about myself, because of mindlessly consuming just alot of TV and cinema which just made me a meme-queen and humour enthusiast, which now won't sound bad, because of how much the bar has went in hell, but is actually equal brain-rot for genZ as much as doom-scrolling for gen-alpha is, i.e. a sign of lack of reading by someone) who was bombarded with smut and dark romance by literature lovers to get me into reading (and also, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight etc. thinking I am a fan of all these classic movie series, when I said like aforementioned that I cringe-binge to unwind), I should have been taught books, reading and literature as the words taking me into a different poetic world and being well-read to have a healthy attention-span and clarity in your thoughts, mind and space (probably, that's why I'm obsessed with and can only read children's book, comics or picture book, as they single-handedly delved me into the world of books and reading); because, not just the way I was introduced to library, never instilled the passion of reading in me, but also, made me hate the romance genre and feel-good rom-coms. The most and only dark-romance couple that I enjoyed was:

Otherwise dark-romance is a big no for me! Coming to the category of complete romance genre, I have always been a true critic of every sub-genre of romance.

A major reason for it being is, as I aforementioned not having that time of my life in library and not exploring much the world of reading, romance and literature and not because I am a snob like people think [or maybe I am and I just don't realize and call it shyness because again, no lucidity due to lack of reading] resulting in a very low-attention span, vagueness in rationalizing, consternation due to obscurity of thoughts (and if this awareness sounds pick-me... it's not... it's just, while doing my this typical writing for clarity, I probably just opened up about myself, realizing and accepting my errs, perhaps for the first time and eventually rationalizing why was I always just mediocre at best comparatively to my peers in a classroom, and I just don't know how to say and not consciously writing this for validation... so, pardon my writing and focus on the gist i.e. IMPORTANCE OF RRADING AND ROMANTICISM).

During the late 18th century and lasted roughly until the mid-19th century, peaking between about 1800 and 1850, romanticism was an influential artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement. It originated as a reaction against the rationalism, order and industrialization of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, instead celebrating emotion, individualism, intuition, and the sublime beauty of nature. The French Revolution (1789–1799) inspired ideals of liberty and human rights and the subsequent Napoleonic Wars, which brought turmoil and a focus on heroism and nationalism.

Romanticism's focus on subjective experience, emotions, intuition and the unconscious mind laid foundational groundwork for modern psychology, particularly in clinical settings where understanding inner lives is central. Early Romantic thinkers explored links between mind and body, as well as unconscious processes, which influenced pioneers like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung in developing psychoanalysis and depth psychology... approaches that prioritize exploring hidden emotions and imagination for healing.

In contemporary psychology, this legacy is evident in therapies that value affective and holistic bases over purely rational or behavioral ones. For instance, emotion-focused therapy (EFT) and mindfulness-based approaches draw from Romantic ideals by encouraging clients to embrace intuition, personal narratives and emotional authenticity to foster well-being. Romanticism's revival in psychology counters earlier shifts toward empirical, data-driven models by reemphasizing the "science of the heart"... recognizing that imagination and feelings are crucial for addressing mental health issues like depression or trauma. This is particularly relevant today amid rising awareness of emotional intelligence, where romantic relationships often serve as sources of significance, attachment and psychological needs fulfillment in therapy. Some of my friends in college that were practicing to be clinician (and were a fan of novels, especially romance novels, so, maybe it was a bias but they) use these insights to improve relationship counseling highlighting how beliefs about love (rooted in Romantic ideals) impact satisfaction and distress. They even tried it on me and honestly, it did promote my flexibility and profundity in human connections, or maybe because we were good friends we just contradicted some rigid norms.

So... romance is something that I can't despise, I have to consume it (even if its not my favorite) to have basic sanity in life. So, there are actually certain sub-genre of romance that can make me swoon or have desires i.e. the one they showed in Phir Hera Pheri, Entertainment, Ishqbaaaz (Yes... I know the irony), Holiday, Houseful, Mordern Family (finding myself in Haley... so, wishing to end-up atleast just not bad like her), Dil Kabbadi (the narcissist in me, relating to Mita... moreover, the vibe, aura and energy of the culture, language and lifestyle is what I grew-up in and getting in a merit-based college in India, conversing with people from different backgrounds due to merit (and reservations) getting in that college, unlike schools and private colleges where parents of same culture, language, lifestyle and eventually the upbringing they gave to us children were there, I realized, I can only be compatible to someone [and if its okay to genralize... others can't also adapt with me] who comes from my culture, language and lifestyle, which is the one shown in this movie), Aisha (being Aisha, again same reason as Dil Kabbadi and Mita, and also, being a drama lover), How I Met Your Mother (being Lily but narcissist me thinking I'm Nora), Piku (having hodophile energy in car and ships), Thank You (because, why should only boys have all the fun... due to this it's personally my favorite movie of all time, which watched more than a billion times), Desi Boyz, Action Replayy... basically, the feeling of love I feel is not through that love and rommance between couple, but through, the life they get to live, there’s still no attraction or desire for a man or relationships, probably because, of having irrationality in the concept of self only (which is the first thing before anything else).

Aromanticism, where individuals experience little to no romantic attraction to others, distinct from asexuality (which concerns sexual attraction), though a valid identity on the spectrum of human connection, not a disorder or result of trauma, though stereotypes persist. It can intersect with mental health, as societal "amatonormativity" (the assumption that romantic relationships are essential for fulfillment) leads to stigma, invisibility and higher risks of stress, anxiety, depression or alienation; for instance, I get called out alot for having no standard or expectations in life by others, but personally, I find myself being dissatisfied by everyone. Either people in real life, have set my standards or bar so high (or really not reading have created some intrusive thoughts of unrealistic outcomes from normal humans) because, be it the "men in love/relationships" in the most loved/popular/recommended k-/c-/j-/i-/p-/t-/a-drama, movie or web-series (until it's the aforementioned movies and TV shows as only sub-plots of romance acceptable by me) OR my batchmates in college and now, contemporaries who were peers in school have always been a disappointment to the core. Even, if I meet someone, who in the classroom disappoints me but impresses me galvanizingly, in something beyond academics and research in the classroom, I am never impressed by any boy till date. Probably, because I tried with wattpad but, I am a good-listener to brain-rot yaps and even receptive of my friends rumination or catharsis they mind-dump citing brain-rot and I have listened to countless yaps from Darcy girls, but personally, I feel my bar and standards are way beyond these pretentious and not for once felt real like themselves characters (or maybe, those Dracy girls just weren't good storytellers) of romance novels, because, I literally find everything bare-minimum compared to what I have lived-through seeing the men around me while growing-up and east-asian rom-coms feel nothing but cringe at best to me, to an extent that all the girls' girl feminist activist that were like an elder sister everyone wishes to have, literally mocked-me from the front and cursed me behind my back before including me in their cliqués just to make me realize how much of a hypocrite I am, by first being thin-skinned and taking offence at literally every joke, then also sending disturbing trauma-dumping messages to others (because that's exactly the way they sent me jokes... and I took the filmy quote of friendships share sorrow like these jokes too literally) to an extent they started having violent break-outs of boundary-making (but, I do realize my mistakes... all of it being rooted in lack of reading and true romanticism, and eventually being absurdly filmy and that too so narcissistically) and again that's the reason, I could never had a girl-gang and not the popular belief that I am a snob (okay maybe just a pick-me because, I was literally a big-time attention-seeker just living for validation [but, in my defense and yes! I very well-know this is the most doltish thing to say and is literally not an excuse for pulling other girl down the way I did, but I was barely a tween- or if any elder then early teen-ager... and in any case, karma striked me, as I] failed in even having any guy-friends too, let alone being in a relationship).

One of the most major disappointment that I had was when during the phases of excessive apprehensiveness about certain stuff (or maybe, just too much overthinking, and nothing real, but was) leading to avoidance behaviours and also physical symptoms, like literally a muscle stiffness and literally every elder just said that I won't be able to handle the syllabus in high-school then, if I am not able to do it now. So, I felt disappointment about the high they created, or maybe because I took science stream of biology and psychology as my optional subject, but I loved the course of study and textbooks they created for the subjects I chose.

But, the major disappointment, i.e. the disappointment of disappointments I felt was, in college when for some reasons, I found professors in college someone who could make clinicians jobless anyday and were like Best Friends throughout my research and publications, because (irrationally) I started disproportionating the textbooks and syllabus again in high-school despite initally being at ease with it as aforementioned (and as much as people always called it out a counterfeit) finding my body difficult to be controlled, eventually impairing my ability to function in studying, research, socializing and connecting with literally anything; and I again was just told that I won't be able to handle the syllabus and professors in college then, if not able to handle this now, since a "school" is the softest era in a person's life with the most friendly and uplifting environment where one experiences the bestest memories and as much as people like me hate it now, with laziness and the counterfeit I created to avoid doing hard work, they crave to relive later and regret crafting these counterfeit (perhaps, everyone was right to call my heads in the cloud, as I ended up creating disgustingly vulgar image of myself by wasting all the resources and opportunities to be a totally different person at a totally different place with people willing to help me out I had, if only I could have just listened to my teachers and elders back then and just reading and enhancing my cognitive abilities, broadening knowledge, improving communication skills, reducing stress, fostered empathy, imagination and critical thinking and eventually my overall well-being and personal growth and not literally mediocre personality with a brain completely rotten with the baseless things, manufactured tensions and problems and excuses to trap myself in it more; probably because of what everyone rightly said about me being conceited, or maybe what I feel actually now after reaching to a place where I would receive breaks on burn-outs and verbal communication and interaction with that true female friendships I finally had and though classic missionary type strict disciplinarian but empathetic mentors (my lack of reading, can't help me rationalize), but I feel as proud as a peacock, and so probably even deserve this sickening conduct, because I would rather have period cramps¹⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰! then accept my flaws, laziness and wasting time, because I still have those as I am having surging graph of my academic performance and research only when that true female friendship and under the well-seasoned mentor with whom we can have open-ended conversation alongwith their undivided time and attention, security to students like me who are more mediocre and anxious than on an average and other conveniences, only then I am performing up to scratch, even if my image will get more odious).

As I scribble down my mind and write all this, I find the absence of the romanticism I mentioned to be far more profound than I first admitted, like, a deficit capable of inflicting a significant setback on both my personal life and professional trajectory. I was never particularly engaged in classrooms or the library; my poor academic record effectively excised any vestige of romantic sensibility from me, especially in comparison with my peers (a predictable consequence of the Indian education system’s narrow priorities). In that era, the only period I genuinely relished was dance class: there I tasted the very romanticism I craved, and my enthusiasm for folk dance propelled me to investigate the intersection of science and culture. That phase occurred sometime between elementary and middle school... my report cards from that time even record a lamentably poor memory. Using my inconsistent academic performance as justification, I dismissed romanticism as childish and, in collegiate or adult life, tantamount to a grievous folly; as a result I abandoned nearly everything, from transactional acquaintanceships to my fledgling research in ethnoscience. In hindsight, either the resurgence of romanticism in college facilitated my academic recovery, allowed me to cultivate healthier, more polished relationships, and enabled the continuation of my work in ethnoscience and medical anthropology, or the improvement stemmed from finally encountering my two favored subjects — geology and botany, which my earlier board curriculum had not offered. My schooling emphasized general science and mathematics through secondary education and only provided comprehensive biology at senior secondary level; it was only at university, after specializing in geography, that I could properly engage with those disciplines.

Even if the latter explanation holds, I remain convinced that romanticism is not a peccadillo one must renounce upon reaching adulthood. Composing these lines (wherever I commit them) invariably amplifies my academic productivity. I am also struck by how comfortably my high-achieving peers spoke of their desires and marriages even then; in retrospect, many of the very figures who inculcated in me a phileophobic, work-obsessed mentality were themselves married with children, perhaps working outside their dream vocations, yet apparently untroubled by second thoughts that now haunt me about my interest in education and ethnoscience.

Frankly, the only word I could use describe my student life till now i.e. the point where I stand as a graduate right now, is corrosive: an environment that felt claustrophobic, in which certain social cliques undermined me, appropriated my labour and commodified my affections. They offered the pretence of beneficence while eroding my confidence or perhaps I should be just grateful for anything that spared me from petty backbiting when anyone with “that” aura in their persona could come in that space I got to explore my romanticism era for aura farming and then misuse the privilege of work-life balance and no competition but just you rising by lifting others (and other qualities which you learn outside of a book, so, I had to adhere not having the one we get from literature :p) we got, by slacking with asking for extended breaks to bed-rotting or hanging out and getting work done with AI, stereotyping us atrocious; even though, the cost was the systematic excision of the very romantic sensibility that once animated me, I was not becoming vulgar like I did became in everyone eyes when shunning in disdain, trying to do things on my own and the way I wanted because the egoistic me just felt and performed that way better. My preferred mode of expression has often been nonverbal: spontaneous scrawls that are improvisatory in origin. Like an uncertain speaker who begins a sentence without a destination, I begin in ink and trust that significance will disclose itself en route — raw, tentative, apt to provoke the same flicker of recognition in a reader (and in myself) when encountered. I do not habitually reread my work.

I seldom revisit these drafts; they serve chiefly as catharsis, and if they ever require substantiation, I append bibliographic notes below. Once committed to paper, I tend to disavow my sketches (apart from typical dismay for reading, I am also too mortified to re-examine them) yet my professor cum mentor (and also, my counsellor) has repeatedly deemed these unvarnished musings pedagogically valuable, for instance this particular rant/venting that you are reading exemplary romanticism expression of our era. Perhaps I ought to write another entry to disentangle this tangle, yet again find myself wanting to seek out a schoolteacher and apologize, honestly, to concede, as she once insisted, that her reprimands were not wrong: they sought to prevent me from becoming the dysfunctional adult she feared.

And yet, despite having reached the age of blackjack roughly six months ago, my existential clarity is arguably worse than that of the most turbulent adolescent... at best mediocre. I possess an uncanny talent for complicating my own thoughts after journaling, not clarifying them. I watch elders delegate responsibilities to assistants and juniors and assume a kind of late-life romantic freedom; I wonder whether their retirement is truly a matured adulthood or simply another form of dysfunction. Ironically, these are the very adults I was warned I might become, like their example raised the bar for diligence and endurance so high that respite and assistance feel like failures to me. Finally, when I speak of being “strained” and I choose that word deliberately... I mean to convey a profound weariness, not to diminish my peers’ industriousness. And yet, for all my fatigue and equivocation, I was never granted affirmation (nor permission) to enter my own era of romanticism.

Being aromantic challenges engaging with romance genre literature (which often depicts desires, love, and relational dynamics) limits their ability to empathize with and understand others' xperiences in a romance-saturated culture. Romance novels explore much more than typical romance and smut (which no one taught me in school), avoiding such reading and reinforcing a personal disinterest and hinder cultural competence, drawing media-influenced beliefs about love (e.g., unrealistic expectations or heteronormative norms), leading to issues like dissatisfaction or justification of abuse creating an apprehension to the idea of romance completely due to dark-romance. Without familiarity, I often missed how these narratives shape my behaviors, such as in attachment styles or delayed romantic involvement and being isolated. Engaging with the genre, even analytically, fosters broader insight, flexibility, and effective interventions, aligning with Romanticism's emphasis on imagination to bridge experiential gaps, eventually my not habit of reading and delving into books, literature and library effecting me overall.

For instance, like what I said afore about my experience with men, is being ignorant about bad community of men, and I should introspect as a women to live safe and sound, as both men and women are two wheels of a chariot, so, in both genders bad community can exists, regardless of my personal encounters. Like, contrary to the popular belief among the feminist activism of my batch and being slammed for not requiring feminism, I do equally need feminism because I may have bad experiences with men, infact, I think if I was avidly reading romance novel and well-read about the men from the bad community I would have not wasted my time in rationalizing impotent things and my image due to my life and career would have been way different for the better, like everyone who was in my batch now. I remember as young teen falling in love with a guy and due to being on aromantic spectrum and worst a zoomer aka the beginning of a lifestyle where in you need to create persona on social media and not personality in reality, I was among that obscure class of students of my school, wherein a popular girl could humiliate me in front of the guy I'm dating and flirt with him and that guy could also leave me at one instance if she asks him to (because, that girl had higher academic performance, classroom/intra-school/inter-school/international level participation, probably because of being more well-read than me... perhaps, my crassly image is justified because of the accomplishment and aura I had in a world like that). Maybe, I wouldn't have been standing stranded and confused if I would have been into reading, especially as aromantic, had a better idea of first what kind of guy would have been of level and with him and not face that humiliation and secondly, what to do instead of, being stranded and confused, something which (perhaps) due to lack of reading aromantic me always ended up in.

Though, I was one of those kids who preferred clubs, rock shows or video games, instead of, books, library and music, I lived under a rock. I thought we still live in an era where you have to work hard to be that beauty with brains and a boss lady, because nowadays, it can be just self-proclaimed with your social media account. I wasn't high 24/7 or had elite club memberships, partying with the famous or wasn't going on weekend trips and some other thing quite a stereotype amongst people who are like me and just working hard. So, breaking these stereotypes got me slammed left, right and center from the entire community of girls’ currently in their soft girl, healing, self-care or yada yada yada era, for being a pick-me. Exactly like, now with the girls who can't pick their poison like tomato girl, vanilla girl, corporate baddie etc. as their aesthetic, life and image are considered. Now, as much as I was slammed by other feminist, I won't stop considering myself a feminist nor will I not own upto my privilege and craft a sob story of facing financial struggles, being a victim of misogyny or any sort of crime against women by any man with bad boy image, because I remember facing kind of manipulation, indirect subtle humiliation, back-biting, back-stabbing and deceit from gentleman looking pick-me good boys in school (and if one can reasonably discount this school-related experiences on account of being in mid-adolescence, due to an underdeveloped engagement with studies, education or introspective tools, yet to transcend in formative stages, then it stands to reason that the actions and behaviours I exhibited during my tween and early teen (not to mention, while simultaneously grappling with unresolved issues that have since evolved into a deep-scared trauma that can not even be explained, scribbled to rationalise) should not be invoked retrospectively to assess or define my present character, personality, or identity; or, maybe the perception I hold of myself as someone who has undergone meaningful character development may, in truth, be a comforting illusion, basically a self-conjured delusion, rather than a reflection of genuine personal evolution… all thanks to my lack of reading).

Now, I am still kind of feel I have the traits of a well-read, if not what comparatively the toppers of my batch or my teachers and elders say should be at minimum, because I have slight clarity about my interests and understanding that feminism doesn't really puts a tape on mouth if your problem is anything but feminism. For instance, I love art, folk culture, dance, science so, I want to study and research on the intersection between science and culture and not spend money visiting galleries and blowing money on paintings and using my popular girl image in making that painting, any mediocre artistes just giving excuses of their mediocrity instead of using that time to introspect and improve their craft or any performance liked by everyone just by being associated with it, about which I have already posted a complete whole log here-

So, maybe if I was some avid reader like them I would have learned financial investment, the art of marketing and business by glorifying my slightest of inconveniences as a struggle and subpar hard work, so that I can show-off and bully people like me for not having club memberships that cost thousands of dollar per year to just sit and drink every month in the name of work-life balance and nobody will even call me out or stimulate any kind of negative reinforcement as it will be pulling other woman down, bullying etc. and will call them only jealous to an extent they will be the first one to accept that they are jealous as their existence is a mediocrity, beyond my skills in studying the craft and working at a grass-root level among middle-class people to get in touch with the reality and bringing in money to right art and performances; because, I am failing and I need to work with the devil, to work as a devil, to fail the devil and finance people who can bring profound humanism, realistic portrayal of ordinary people and social issues with a masterful, poetic style that will capture the essence of everyday life of their home-states, from the ones who have just seen these art and performance and playing victim cards over their manufactured problems to be pretentious about not being out of touch of reality.

So, I more often regret not being that kind of a student or growing up into that kind of adult having a well-rounded personality in real life and persona on social-media with clarity through reading, knowing boundary-making; that's why I chose literature as my second major to repent. Fortunately, the professors and peers here were exactly the kind of people one needs to get themselves into reading. Though, due to my potential I kept my research around arts and movie only (that's why I took up German, as an extra language early in school, to delve more into European culture and literature) I did studied a lot about the stories of different books and history of Indian and European (specifically German) literature (and also, art history).

Although, I am still not someone who could sit through a book without pictures, I always had a habit of scribbling like...

So, I started writing about literature and also, as a guest lecturer teach to learn how to visualize the sentences instead of, just consuming the scenes given, by reading along with them, taking a moment to introspect to take notes or other things that could probably bring me clarity, academic intellect and other things I wish I had.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 10 days ago

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IMAGE COLLECTION LIKE ART COLLECTION

Pinning images on my Pinterest board to me is like art collecting in the real world... if art collecting is my hobby, storing my galleries with these images is my guilty pleasure. Probably, because I spend a lot of time in my gadgets either on streaming services and doom-scrolling content related to art, rhythms and movement and this way I just store a lot of aesthetic photoshoots of my favorite celebrity or maybe, a painting that I am currently lacking the energy to draw (but, I'm proud of this guilty pleasure, because, I think this is healthier than some things I don't do and also, preach no-one should, like chatting with AI about my feelings, generating art through AI, approaching AI for therapy and validation or seeking lifestyle inspo and celebs through insta pages [though, I'm obsessed with lifestyle inspo and celebs content on reddit and watching old cartoons on instagram that I can't find on YouTube (without ever commenting or posting anything)], but its exactly what I say about art collecting, that by intentional gathering of artworks, which may serve as a form of self-expression, emotional regulation, or identity-building and can reflect a coping strategy, self-identity reinforcement, or a manifestation of personality traits such as perfectionism or attachment instead of, filing my rooms, purse and drarwers with Aesthetic Amazon finds aka overconsumption [NOTE: I'm not sayin to hate trends and the current pop culture, but use trends and current pop culture to channelize and not take control of yourself]).

So, here's one of my pin-board representing me and my aesthetics, my personal space, self and individuality with few of my favorite things in Lucknow (PICTURE CREDIT: Pinterest)

Art, images saved on ur social media collection (on Pinterest, Instagram or anywhere) or a show piece kept in your room should not be something that makes you feel validated but makes you fall in love with yourself.

Here’s another personal instance to give a clearer example…

There was a song released back in 2019 through the movie KALANK-Tabah Ho Gaye… let’s skip to the end of the song, it had this taal:

dha ni tik dha ni tak dhin dhin dhin tak dhi na dhi na dhi na tak ta dhin ta dhaak dhin ta dhin ta ta ni dhin tik ta ni dhin tik ta ni dhin tik tak ni dha dha dha ta ni dhin dha dha dha dha dha dha dha dha dha dha

dha ni tik dha dhanee dha dha dhanee dha dha dhanee dhoom dha dha dhoom dhanee dha tak ta ta dha tak ta ta dha dhoom tik dha thee dhoom tik dha thee dhoom tik dha thee dhoom tik dha dha

now, apart from what the choreography of the song was, anyone who even has a mediocre interest, will try bring in there own creativity to it.

It’s ok, if you have some other song you like to vibe. It should be your taste, your style, your creativity. The problematic part is, when this song “Tabah Ho Gaye” of Kalank starts trending on social media. Now, you are not crafting, reinventing or building yourself, your personal, space, taste or style, but also, hurting the space of people of who used to listen after finding it themselves and doing something out of it as one tune that brings them peace, because once it became popular on social media for a certain trend, bringing in a new meaning, the tune that once used to bring them that peace is now disrupted due to this meaning.

So, that’s why studying art becomes more important, as places like Pinterest pinboards’ should be your moments of introspection of your self and not bucket list of trends that control you.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 10 days ago

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IMAGE COLLECTION LIKE ART COLLECTION-2

An individual’s artistic curation, whether in the form of visual works (or the art they collect), culinary creations (or the food they like), the performances they enjoy, the books they read, or the films they prefer, functions as an extension of the self-concept and serves as a symbolic representation of personal identity. In psychology, we have an identity formation theory, such as self-expressive choices which contribute to the self-concept clarity, which has been positively correlated with psychological well-being and and greater strength.

It’s normal and often helpful to copy or take inspiration from others. But if someone depends too much on copying (like literally 101 tracing) or putting in the inspiration as your prompt and generating through AI, it can weaken their independence and authenticity, two key components of self-determination theory. This erosion of individuated self-expression may result in diminished self-efficacy, increased susceptibility to social comparison, and, in some cases, heightened risk for mood disturbances or identity diffusion.

Here's another collection of my Pinterest Pin's of the things that captivated my “self”, way before I even knew how to read the words I scribble now... and since then till all the way growing up, keeping these images that screamed awe-struck in my space despite all the trends and peer-pressure is how I become self-aware introspecting myself and my personality with my clarity.

SOURCE: Pinterest

As some avid book-lovers say, it’s like, identifying with fictional characters or stories: it helps people make meaning and process emotions. That benefit is strongest when those identifications are absorbed into a person’s own, coherent sense of self, rather than being used as a replacement for developing an authentic identity.

I feel, art consultants should be more educated in psychology, because, I think a great art in any form be it a painting, movie, book, dance or food etc. should represent yourself and someone advising what they think might work for you can be really problematic as art is to express oneself and an art consultant just needs to help people in understanding that instead of yapping.

You can’t say I am just jealous because I lack skills and business mind of yappers, when I say nowadays, yapping has emerged in profession like nothing, is one reason of this propaganda of undervaluing these professions, because, I literally am writing and posting here my rants and opinions. Like Michael Scott once said, "Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t know where it’s going. I just hope to find it somewhere along the way. Like an improv conversation. An improversation." Perhaps because I am generally reticent in speech and find greater ease in expression through spontaneous scribbling, my process often resembles what others experience when they write impulsively. Whatever you encounter here or anywhere, that bears my handwriting is rarely a product of premeditation. Rather, it begins as an uncharted scrawl, its destination uncertain, guided only by the hope that meaning will emerge along the way. It is akin to a last-minute assignment or the improvised answers on an examination sheet, provoking in its readers... be it my professors or even myself upon rereading the same bemused reaction. Yet, as I am by no means an avid reader, that includes even my own work, I entrusted the editing and refinement of my manuscript largely to my college professors, seldom revisiting what I had originally written.

So, the thing is in ancient and medieval time, something that could make you one head short and being confident in this pressure was not the skill, but the kind of amazing crafts and taste of people we see thousands of years earlier without any inspiration like social media (instagram, threads, reddit, X, Pinterest) or even books if we go prehistoric or mythological times, is now just an easy yap or recreation despite our time apart from these social media and books, also being way ahead in these researches in science and psychology. The most we could come up with is a humanoid doing these things on our behalf.

As quoted by the Indian Actor-Irrfan, acting is a jounrey not a medicine that one can take and become an artiste. I can apply this to any form of art and not just acting.

Its a jounrey to find your individuality, peace or your space and it will take time and cannot be done by putting your prompt in OpenAI or filling your room with over-consumed Amazon finds or self-care lifestyle that social media influencers' endorse. Its not your office work, school homework or college assignment. Sure, if you want to just score passing marks in your graphic designing internal assessments and never see it or do graphic designing ever again, no-one can stop and catch you from doing your assignments that way.

But, if you are really passionate to step into this world of finding and maintaining your individuality, space and a peace without any Amazon finds, over-consumption, FOMO radiating insta highlights... it will take time with a great transition that might feel to good to be true, because, there won't be any quick AI results and seeing on social media that a clean room with a plant.

I'm not saying keep the room messy. I'm just saying yes to activities like journalling or reading in a tidy room, but no need for an expensive journal with parker pen and a candle. Just scribble your thoughts, soul and mind out in that simple notebook. Similarly, I'm not saying to keep the room messy by having bins, portable cupboards etc., I'm just saying stop overconsumption, because, art is more about creativity which is not buying what you need, but, creating out of what you have.

Pure human effort is what will help you and also will make everyone love and appreciate the craft that you curate, is what I'm trying to say, which alot of people might not be able to do, as it will take a lot of time and a vast transition to attempt to do something without Amazon finds, AI or any other hacks, and also, it will be difficult since we are habituated to race of scoring best among the others, because, this not any race to give the best among other's but your personal bests, find your individuality and space in your social, professional or personal life backed by these trends, media etc.

If you still don't get it, think of it this way- Have you ever listen the people who say movies are better than books, as they take you into a different world? Well, if you are one of the readers who said so, you have already found your art, i.e. literature. But, like me, who doesn't enjoy reading there are other things in art, that helps one to discover themselves and whatever that art maybe, it can never be what has come with this new-age era of social media and AI. For instance, photography can be when you learn how to see art through your eyes and your eyes are the one who are doing all the jobs like seeing a story, an angle that shows it the best and camera is just clicking that thing and the talent is how you are able to sync mind and soul with that camera click and not clicking any moment and your filter and other features doing that job. But, it will take a lot of time, as there are people around you constantly winning in photography with AI and technology and its totally upto the photographer what sort of art they want to craft.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 10 days ago

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IMAGE COLLECTION LIKE ART COLLECTION-3

India is one country where one can find endless inspiration with diversity in each state and when it comes to endlessly inspiration in India... Bihar is one state no one thinks of (except when it's about being uneducated, uncultured, poverty sucken and being behind the time in women empowerment)

But, look at these few of my pins from pinterest-

SOURCE: Pinterest

Apart from this, personally, as someone who has travelled almost all states of India, I find the problems mentioned in economics, geography or sociology textbooks as problem that exists in most of the states of India I've been too.

So, how is it valid to comment that person is from Bihar if someone is wrong? Personally, I find this very stereotype is the reason why other states have problems in accepting other culture, because they think crossing their culture with any other (where any other is worse than there's due to superiority complex and conservativism) will perish their culture, but it's actually trivializing the wrong in their region, making their urbanised region look like something that just looks good from the face and inside it's all dirt.

As per the stats only- Bihar has got highest no. of students clearing UPSC exam, exactly as Gujrati's are buisnessman and Bengalis are artists.

So, why not culturally appreciate this state like every other state of India instead of categorizing it in negative section and take all the problems we study in our economics, geography or sociology textbook as a common problem of India, to get more accepting to a cross-culture experiment.

Saying, "Unlike states like Bihar, our state has a culture, of women being/doing______" won't make your state's culture and way treating women more captivating than just saying, "Our state has a culture, of women being/doing____."

One doesn't have to put any women or culture down to make other woman or culture of your state exalt; it would be ultimately, if its dignified.

To me saying this feels exactly like my south Indian friends, when they try to make it clear that they don't "always" walk around wearing Kanchivaram saree and has learned Varnatim or Mohini Atam or eat on a banana leaf everyday.

There might be stats about Bihar having the lowest literacy rates; but, the women in Bihar if/who were or are educated have been very well educated, with the men of the family not being like the male characters of the movie Mrs. Yes! the males' like the character of that movie exists but they shouldn't be made the face of this state because, they exist in almost every state of every country (not just India, movies like 2006 The Break-Up and 2018 Puzzle are prime example) and if consistent I'm pretty sure the girls of Gen Alpha in Bihar will emerge as breaking the stereotype of Bihar only clearing UPSC examination, infact I feel if one will search they'll probably find GenZ girls achieving beyond civil services and academics.

This is what art collecting is. It helps you build a space. In which you and your mind wants to stay and that's how you stop minding other buinsesses. If you are someone who doesn't have enough money, physical space etc. for art collecting, you can get involved in image collecting. Like, art collecting which is maintaining your personal space, that's just for you beyond the entire society and standards, image collection on social media platforms like Pinterest is maintaining your own online pinboards amidst all the trends from girl's girl, tomato girl, vanilla girl, corporate baddie, boss girl etc. Your gallery should be filled with images to define you and your space beyond the trends and artificially curated life capitalizing. People often “love to throw hate” because it gives them a quick emotional payoff and a sense of control, even when the target isn’t personally relevant. This comes from a mix of forces: our natural negativity bias makes criticizing feel more engaging than praising, and putting something down can signal identity or superiority, boosting self-esteem or group belonging. For some, hate becomes a way to displace frustration or project inner dissatisfaction onto safe, unrelated targets. Online, anonymity and social reinforcement amplify the behavior and angry takes get attention, likes, and replies, which trains the brain to repeat them.

For instance, if I am struggling with cynophobia, when dogs start barking. So, when a calm dog is around I try my best to ignore it. That's the best way, to deal with the things that you don't like (I think). I won't try to perish every dog. Similarly, I love the concept of being an it girl, bold and magnetism by looks and appearance being adventurous, playing sports, video-games and travelling. So, to be that, I don't have to pull down a girl next door in her clean girl era, who loves a quiet life away from rock shows, clubbing and enjoys cooking and gardening; in spite of, how much being the former is gossiped, shammed and eventually ill-treated and consents for some other things, I don't remember consenting. All I just need, is to make clear, that, this is how I feel like myself and I find myself being most confident and my aura and space maintained and defining me, instead of, making myself more validated than others to recieve less hate.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 19 days ago

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HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions is like a guide to understand how people in different countries think and act because of their culture. It’s like a cheat sheet for why people in India might act one way and people in, say, America act another. A guy named Geert Hofstede made it after studying people from lots of countries. He came up with six ways to compare cultures.

Power Distance (Who’s the Boss?)

This is about whether people are okay with some folks being more powerful. In India, this score is high (77/100). That means people are fine with bosses, elders, or leaders having a lot of control. Like, you listen to your parents or teacher without arguing much. In some countries, like Denmark, people don’t like bosses acting too bossy.

Individualism vs. Collectivism (Me or We?)

This checks if people care more about themselves or their group (like family or friends). India (score: 48/100) is more about “we.” People stick with family, help each other, and think about the group first. Like, you might choose a job your family likes, not just what you want. In places like America (score: 91), it’s more about “me” and doing what you want.

Masculinity vs. Femininity (Tough or Kind?)

This is about whether a country values being tough and successful (masculine) or caring and gentle (feminine). India (score: 56) is kind of in the middle but leans a bit tough. People like success and working hard, but they also care about family and kindness. In Japan (score: 95), it’s super about winning and being the best.

Uncertainty Avoidance (Scared of the Unknown?)

This asks if people get nervous when things are unclear or if they’re chill with surprises. India (score: 40) is pretty relaxed. People are okay if plans change or things aren’t super clear, like being flexible when a festival date shifts. Some countries, like Greece, freak out without strict rules.

Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation (Plan Ahead or Live Now?)

This is about whether people plan for the future or focus on today and traditions. India (score: 51) is in the middle. People save money and plan, but they also love their traditions, like celebrating Diwali the old-school way. In China, it’s all about planning super far ahead.

Indulgence vs. Restraint (Party or Follow Rules?)

This checks if people feel free to have fun or if they follow strict rules. India (score: 26) is more about rules. People might hold back on having too much fun to respect traditions or family expectations, like not partying too wild during religious times. In Mexico, people let loose more.

As a metalhead (and that too with crazy obsessions being a teenager) I used to love Descendants of the Sun. Its still one of my favorite kdramas. That time, BTS was hardly 6 years old and Blackpink and Twice just debuted, I remember listening to it and the music sounded so korean, mv looked korean, even promotions looked so... korean (atleast, by the shows shows like Runningman and Weekly Idol, I watched on YouTube) and being so obsessed with RedVelvet (not really became a ReVeluv, but I really loved kpop back in the day). I still love kpop, except I just can't find it... you need to hire an expert to differentiate if its western or AI, because there is no kpop.

Similarly, despite being a metalhead (till date), I am a huge fan of certain pop-artists (i.e. not Beyoncé... I mean polar opposite to rock type artists) like Christina Grimmie, Naomi Scott, Bridget Mendler, Victoria Justice and it might sound offensive to many metalheads but... also, Justin Bieber... because, that's how we become successfully cross-cultural, which in my personal opinion is the prime motive of existence of a culture.

Many Indians are now into creating some Indo-Korean craft, which is honestly great... but are they really creating some Indo-Korean masterpiece? Is it seriously some cross-cultural art they are crafting or just getting trapped in market trends, because I don't really find anyone intrigued about the music or art of mixing Indian and Korean music... it all just same screams a fantasy to live that fame and life that your Idol lives to get to be their acquaintance or contemporary, rather than being interested in the art.

This is no different than a person of some Indian state being annoyed for not knowing that state's regional language... because both are prime examples of lack of cross-cultural awareness.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 21 days ago

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RETHINKING INDIAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH

A system that prioritizes quantitative metrics of research production over qualitative contributions and societal relevance, often at the expense of deeper, more impactful inquiry. This imbalance is symptomatic of a broader issue: the systemic de-emphasis of performing and visual arts within the Indian educational framework (which emphasised is actually an age-old discipline called anthropology). These fields, though crucial for holistic development and critical societal engagement, are often marginalized in favor of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines due to perceived economic returns.

The reasons for this de-prioritization, articulate the intrinsic foundational and psychological value of these fields, and finally, engage with the contemporary debate on how AI's integration might further complicate or even negate the perceived necessity for the very creative and critical skills that arts and anthropology cultivate.

Art education is considered an integral part of the development of each human being. It cultivates a broad spectrum of cognitive, social, and cultural advantages. Cognitively, the arts enhance the process of learning by nurturing integrated sensory, attentional, cognitive, emotional, and motor capacities, which are, in fact, the driving forces behind all other learning. They foster creative thinking, self-concept, problem-solving, self-expression, risk-taking, and cooperation. Engagement in fine arts encourages students to stretch their minds beyond the boundaries of the printed text or the rules of what is provable, thereby liberating the mind from rigid certainty and promoting the development of multiple solutions to complex problems.

But, then why the Indian Education particularly from the STEM fields is de-emphasized for it.

Well, have you anytime seen people saying how the concept of evolution has evolved from earlier women just seeking to get education to now, women seeking not to be objectified for "having a bold look and further saying "asking" for education is still fine (which was actually not) but, what is with the 'inappropriate clothing'"?

Here's the thing... there exists myths like spiritually woman have dynamic energy and men have still energy. It's a concept of the mythological times, when there were literally no jobs apart from getting married and living in the era of romanticism, but the male community started the war and that's why men went to end that war and women observed a fast for their spouse's well-being, like we now do a day before our result, i.e. by their own will and love and not even her spouses' said anything; unlike, in some places now, the 2000s Bollywood influence and some other subtle things over the years that internalized misogyny in it.

Now, with urbanization especially due to this colonialism, we have other things to do in life apart from marriage and live in your era of romanticism, i.e. living in the era of toxic-work culture, but the spiritual energy in both the genders that was from the mythological tale will obviously remain intact, but due to this being a concept of mythological times, people follow these spiritual reasoning only during such traditional activities like marriage and other places of urbanization that came along colonialism and westernization, for instance at your workplace, we need to follow the traditional western mindset of woman being objectified if choosing night jobs or living on their own all alone, rest all the spiritual logic of dynamic energy in a woman leaving her comfort place and being in their era of romanticism and expressing themselves seen only in during traditional south Asian stuff. This subconsciously emerged mentality due to lack of romanticism in some people is actually because of de-emphasizing fine or liberal arts, because romanticism and art is expression of one's desires and needs that colonial mindset has suppressed, that's why romanticism era began in the end 18th century in Europe only to the end the suppression there integral culture.

Lord Nataraja is an iconic representation of Lord Shiva as the cosmic dancer, the "Lord of Dance," in his Tandava cosmic dance of creation, destruction, and renewal; but, is that the reason why the most iconic dancers in the Indian history is men. Well, actually if you student art history of the west you will get to know of a time in which any crime against woman, was a trauma for the man (be it as a sister, mother, daughter, wife) she belonged to; that's the max individuality a woman could have.

That's why people know what Tandava is, but not Lasya. So, like I said earlier art be it liberal arts, performing arts or fine arts, is the foundation. This expressionism is how one begins with introspection, having individuality and concept of self. In movies, we have item numbers, which are practically a song that is irrelevant to a movie's plot. It doesn't mean the dancer is an item or object. Earlier, it used to be the only part of the movie in which woman would introspect herself and talk about her concept of self, her individuality, her desires; and, exactly how with colonial and Mughal period folk dancers and other female representers of culture were termed vulgar because of what I said afore, if we study art history we will find any crime against woman was actually trauma for the man she belonged, bringing in this routine of woman in the modern times, item songs in Bollywood movies also began to be the most vulgar part of a song, because woman were expressing themselves through art and even today, concept of feminism and gender equality has politics aura (unlike, what people think, that older concept feminism was much better) and this politics and vulgarity is the reason why the Indian Education particularly from the STEM fields is de-emphasized from studying art.

Now, despite whatever I have said, I am the first person to disregard item numbers as inappropriate, because nowadays, its not created by any artistes. I personally apprehend it, because, the colonial mindset has overpowered and instead of female artistes coming to express themselves it has become more like how market wants to view women by capitalizing on male-gaze.

In 1966, historical film, Amrapali, bold male and female cast are styled bold and risqué. The cast of movie Amrapali consisted of true performers and not just the cast! The stylist, choreographer, the musicians, the lyricist, the scriptwriter, the director the actors… literally everyone was skilled in their respective work and gave out the best + they had a thing called grace with well-bred demeanor in their conduct (which I personally feel is only possible if that women was brought-up in non-patriarchal upbringing with feminist’s father, because all the girls I personally met who lack basic manners and outright disgustingly insolent misbehave with me and then later, I can’t even take stand for myself and demand basic respect, as they without guilt credit that behavior to body-shaming, internalized misogyny etc. running in deep their families).

Okay, sure! You are a victim your actions are justified and I will always support any of these fully-functioning adult women behaving like juvenile due to her classic childhood trauma when coming from a patriarchal family by helping them reach out to a counsellor, start journaling or maybe convert all that trauma into art; but not defend any insolence, misconduct and definitely not spearheading a market on male-gaze in the name of delivering an art or a craft and that too with such a success that female artistes get stereotyped as being “sex symbol-the only craft they can curate”, then, being exploited and not being given due credits.

The main problem is these fully-functioning adult men and woman get criticism for everything but the problem (i.e. the juvenile behaviour + stereotyping female artiste as only sex symbol which is trapping other women to maintain beauty standard and sex-appeal only and no, brain, craft, skill or anything) is such a hyperbole and that sympathy for baseless hate (even from a person like me, whose criticising them) qualifies them to be an artiste.

If it sounds like I am blaming the women it's the deep-rooted internalized misogyny subtly creating this thought, because, I am not being a true woman or a feminist calling out other woman's wrong, I'm not blaming the women's clothing but the people who consciously abuse artistes by giving the one who capitalize on male-gaze the opportunity rather than the one who are capable of radiating body postitvity like in the movie Aśoka, Amrapali or 2013 StarPlus TV series Mahabharata, and this opposition and sympathy for the hyperbole of criticism, becoming a qualification to be an artiste… making art such a joke that the Indian Education system de-emphasize it despite being the foundation of STEM field it is encouraging; and that’s how people with zero knowledge and education are just delivering craft and lifestyle inspired by social media in the west [yes... that very west that created this patriarchy in India, infact, if you think about it, it's not even inspired by some art and culture of the west (like, an Anglo-Indian touch type, for instance, the 1998 movie-Such A Long Journey, or Mira Nair's Namesake) it’s totally mordern-day internet trends… liked even if you have to show in the current time-zone, a show like Best of Luck Nikki, Suite Life of Karan and Kabir or Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan or movies like, Maqbool or Haider can be created, but the problem is… now, they use AI to translate the script]

So... probably this deep-rooted misogyny is the reason, why integration of arts even though it's the base of science is not validated... and not because, (although, anyways its a fact) science is harder than arts due to requiring more critical, logical and analytical skills.

I wasn’t born in that era… but, I am familiar with the discipline of ethnoscience and education. I know for a fact that India has always been way ahead in researches in science and in the field of education through our culture. Then, what made the academics and education that it is today? It’s not just colonialism for sure, because, this has become an entire trend in Asia. Whatever, it is… this trend has been for ages… earlier it was validation from the west in art and being a software engineer, so, take up science in Kota to secure your future… and now, it’s validation from the Internet (which literally makes anyone the Lord or superstar, except real artistes) and being an AI engineer… Earlier, teachers’ ridiculed students for not having an aptitude in computer science, now also, they expect students to perform like AI after sharing prompts.

So, the first thing is we need to stop generalising the zoomers. This is just nostalgia condemning the worst of worst and overlooking the issue that was then and even now. The Generation Z has some amazing artists, philosophers and thinkers, which will be visible when we will stop stereotyping certain states like, Bihar, and not finding them through internet’s algorithm.

I personally think the roots of the problem lies in education.

Because, this applies in other things apart from education too.. Earlier, also topics of mental illness was taken as a taboo or stigma… now, it is taken as a joke or feminine by making sipping 10 cups of anxiety during work as an aesthetic of a working woman… Anxiety is when your love, your life, your relationships, your career is destroyed by nothing but you… you are the problem, you are toxic… and YOU KNOW THAT (and if you don’t realise it’s selfishness or Narcissistic Personality Disorder… but, if you are self-aware) that’s how much the tension in your body has made you lost control over yourself… it’s not an aesthetic of a working woman being chaotic… and calling it out, isn’t pulling down other women down; infact those women are pulling other woman down, because these concepts like women pulling other women down, pick-me, patriarchy subjugates all gender and not just certain stereotypically categorised women. Earlier differently abled people were mocked despite being well-educated on disability, because the belief that spirits or ghosts that got inside the healthy people in the tales, clowns etc. earlier, used the aesthetic of these differently abled people; now also, we make fun of any person regardless of their gender can’t sit still and focus on even a scene in a movie without daydreaming something and subconscious mind will repeat any random word till a point you get annoyed and eventually you fail in your career, moreover, that person also impulsively rage out on a random day without being misogynistic or narcissistic, and it eventually becomes difficult for someone to make a healthy relationship with them, because, though they are educated enough to understand someone’s mental health is not a topic of gossip, they don’t view it as an anxiety problem, they view this irrationality as them consciously mocking themselves, because, suffering from anxiety is a chaotic working women’s aesthetic… not a problem any gender can face and you need to hire a counsellor to get on a journey to cure it, exactly like cancer and not viral fever which can be fixed with paracetamol.

Then, also we used to think celebrities looked like god and aspired and try to fake that life through words (because then we didn't have social media to expxose) and mang of the words are the roots of some infamous stereotypes and beliefs; now, also we compare our life's with influencers and fake it on social media. There’s an amazing comic strip by the legendary RK Laxman in which police were arresting civilians stating that the crimes were spitting facts and spearing the uneducated people who just sat on the bandwagon trail. Back in the day also, we had certain expectation from women and it all was concluded/stereotyped/symbolic of her whiteness, capability to tolerate abuse and functioning like a humanoid maid… now also, it’s the same except instead of, housewife it’s a working woman. The reason why psychology has become so feminine is the same reason why we aren’t questioning Working Men work-life balance, like we question women. Maybe what I am saying here is also behind of it’s time, and in future it all will be the same, except that time it will be used for AI…. like, right now it’s starting by studying humanities to develop critical thinking skills instead of racing for STEM fields, then it will be still racing for STEM fields as you have AI for critical thinking skills on your behalf.

From an educational engagement perspective, the arts are uniquely capable of reach[ing] students not normally reached, in ways and methods not normally used, leading to improved student attendance and lower dropout rates. They transform the learning environment into one of discovery, often rekindling a love of learning in students who may be disengaged by conventional teaching methods. For workplace readiness, arts education contributes to producing a more prepared citizen for the workplace for tomorrow, fostering creativity, innovation, and self-confidence... skills deemed essential for a 21st century workforce. Culturally and socially, the arts promote understanding and sharing of culture, cultivate social skills that enhance awareness and respect of others and nurture an appreciation of diversity. Within arts education, specific emphasis is also placed on media literacy and cultural studies.

Anthropology provides a cross-cultural study of human beings, equipping individuals with essential tools for navigating a complex, pluralistic world. It facilitates mutual understanding among people from diverse backgrounds and aids in comprehending the rapid global changes. This discipline broadens one's understanding of what it means to be a person, encouraging individuals to critically examine what is often perceived as "normal" or "natural".

Students of anthropology develop a strong set of transferable skills in ethnographic research, group work, critical analysis, writing, and oral presentation. They become adept at critical thinking, learning to analyze, question, and dissect information with a keen eye. Anthropology uniquely bridges the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities, offering perspectives on human questions from historical, biological, linguistic, and cultural angles. This holistic, interdisciplinary view is vital for addressing intricate global problems that cannot be solved by a single discipline. Professionally, anthropology serves as a strong foundation for a number of professional programs such as urban planning, medicine, teaching, and law. Anthropologists are employed across various sectors, including non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and corporations, where their expertise is utilized for planning, research, and understanding complex human behaviors, such as consumer preference patterns.

Beyond foundational skills, arts critically offer individual well-being, emotional durability, and societal adaptability. Engaging in artmaking reduces stress and builds happiness, strength and creative capacity. It improves mood, boosts self-confidence, and provides a crucial outlet for coping with uncertainty, adversity, and trauma. The act of creating art activates reward pathways in the brain, leading to the release of dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins, hormones known to reduce pain and stress and promote a more generous, open frame of mind and resilience. Studies have also indicated decreased cortisol levels in individuals visiting art galleries, which may contribute to longer lifespans and reduced dementia rates in older adults who frequently engage with the arts.

Arts enrichments also dramatically improve executive function, encompassing improved impulse inhibition, working memory needed to stay on task, and mental flexibility. These capacities are indispensable for individuals navigating the 21st century, characterized by countless distractions and ceaseless change.

Studying anthropology broadens our perspectives and fosters a deep-seated empathy for others. It enables individuals to understand ourselves on a level we might never have imagined. This cultivated cultural sensitivity is vital in today's interconnected global society, empowering individuals to effectively navigate and respect diverse environments. Learning dance, arts and anthropology contribute to developing tolerance for coping with the ambiguities and uncertainties present in the everyday affairs of human existence. Anthropology's inherently cross-cultural perspective offers a productive counterweight to 'culture bound' or ethnocentric ideas, which is essential for navigating complex global events and fostering mutual understanding.

The benefits of anthropology point towards a holistic model of human development that transcends mere vocational training. Art fosters emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and self-expression, while anthropology cultivates critical thinking, empathy, and cross-cultural understanding. These are not isolated skills but interconnected facets of a well-rounded individual capable of navigating complex personal and societal challenges. This integrated approach directly counters the narrow, economically driven focus prevalent in Indian academia, suggesting that de-emphasizing these fields leads to an incomplete and potentially detrimental approach to human capital development.

The skills cultivated by arts... such as coping with ambiguity, understanding diverse human experiences, and developing deep-seated empathy... are crucial for societal resilience in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. A society that de-prioritizes these capacities risks a populace less equipped to manage rapid change, resolve complex inter-group conflicts, and innovate beyond purely technical or formulaic solutions. This suggests that the low impact of Indian academia might be partially due to a lack of these humanistic skills necessary for truly impactful, context-aware innovation.

In Folk Dances, there is a concept of padhant... literally meaning “recitation." dancer’s vocal articulation of rhythmic bols that both guides the percussionist and engages the audience in the unfolding taal. To master this technique... essentially a language of its own... you must internalize the structure of a taal, such as the 16-beat Teentaal divided into four vibhags marked by claps (taali) and a wave (khali). Beginners often distinguish claps by striking palm, fingers, and wrist for clarity, but as fluency grows, a single palm clap suffices. The bols of Teentaal...“Na Dhin Dhin Na, Na Dhin Dhin Na, Na Thin Thin Na, Tha Dhin Dhin Na” begin and end on sum, the cycle’s most important beat. Beyond mere pronunciation, padhant demands precise volume control and vocal modulation, honed through repetitive exercises on individual syllables and advanced tukdas. This vocal command not only instills confidence and cohesion but also establishes the dancer as the intellectual and rhythmic leader of the performance...

But, nowadays we don't say padhant because instead we have portable media players doing that job... but still when you are inaccount on your own of the rhythm, the mind that is supposed to sync with the movement... increases.

Similarly, the learning materials, especially at the college level, we described as ungodly vast, necessitating substantial effort beyond simple google searching or reliance on basic AI chatbots. As the core objective of studying humanities, which is to exercise critical thought and enhance social awareness and communication skills, is often thwarted if students merely "memorise stuff". This highlights a pervasive pedagogical shortcoming that prioritizes rote learning over genuine critical engagement, thereby diminishing the core value of these disciplines and potentially contributing to their perceived lack of academic rigor.

This de-emphasis on arts, coupled with a pervasive lazy Western bias and the practice of reproducing copied ideas, directly contributes to the overarching problem in Indian academia. When academic pursuits are driven by external validation, such as grades or publication quantity for job security, rather than genuine intellectual curiosity, contextual relevance, and original thought, the resulting academic output, including papers and degrees, may be voluminous but lacks originality, critical depth, and applicability to unique Indian societal challenges. This systemic issue, rooted in a colonial intellectual legacy and a lack of critical engagement with indigenous knowledge, stifles true innovation and relevance in research.

Despite the widespread de-emphasis and negative perceptions, Indian anthropology, for instance, possesses a rich history and maintains a tradition, contributing significantly to humanism, peace, liberty, and pluralism. Institutions such as the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), established in 1945, have meticulously compiled voluminous data on the People of India and actively provide policy interventions with inputs from the grassroots. This demonstrates a tangible and impactful contribution of anthropology to national development and understanding, underscoring a significant disconnect between the actual work performed in these fields and the general societal and policy neglect they experience. The historical convergence of art and anthropology in museum collections also points to productive ambiguities between art and anthropology, suggesting that these fields are not entirely absent from cultural discourse, but rather their academic and professional standing is diminished within the broader educational and economic landscape.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 22 days ago

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BIO-CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNO-BIOLOGY

Both biocultural anthropology and ethnobiology are fundamentally interdisciplinary, drawing from and contributing to a wide array of fields beyond traditional anthropology. These include biology, genetics, ecology, public health, medicine, environmental studies, and linguistics. The increasing integration of cultural data into human evolutionary biology, with over 70% of researchers reporting its inclusion in their analyses, and the incorporation of biocultural variables into nearly 60% of global health studies, clearly demonstrate a growing recognition of their importance of their importance across scientific disciplines.This trend is further formalized by the 40% increase in interdisciplinary anthropology programs that emphasize both genetics and cultural studies, signaling a significant academic shift towards integrated approaches.

However, this integration is not without its internal academic debates. The critique of "four-field holism" within anthropology itself highlights a tension regarding the appropriate integration of scientific and humanistic approaches. The biocultural synthesis, as part of this holism, sometimes inappropriately imposes scientific positivism, stemming from 19th-century social evolutionary thought. This ongoing discussion pushes for more nuanced and less reductionist syntheses, ensuring that cultural complexities are not oversimplified in the pursuit of biological explanations. This reflects a continuous internal self-assessment within anthropology, aimed at refining its methodologies and theoretical underpinnings to achieve a more balanced and ethically sound understanding of human experience.

The trajectory of biocultural anthropology in India reveals a significant evolution in anthropological thought, intertwined with the nation's unique social and historical context. While early biocultural approaches to human biology existed globally, a more pronounced shift occurred after World War II, emphasizing the profound role culture plays in shaping human biology.

A key figure in this regard was Dr. Irawati Karve (1905-1970), a "renaissance woman" whose research in biological anthropology was methodologically and theoretically original. Her work set the stage for subsequent research on the biological adaptations of living and prehistoric people of India. Dr. Karve made significant contributions to understanding the social and cultural dynamics of Indian society and offered provocative perspectives on the biological composition and origins of Hindu castes. Her research, which examined the interplay between social systems and human biological diversity, would today be referred to as biocultural. She was a pioneer in using multivariate measures of biological distance to estimate biological affinity between sub-castes, studying the effects of caste endogamy on genetic and anthropometric characteristics. Her seminal 1968 article on eight endogamous Brahmin castes of western Maharashtra revealed significant inter-group biological heterogeneity, suggesting they attained similar status through unique historical pathways rather than common ancestry.

Frank B. Livingstone's 1958 research on the linkages among population growth, subsistence strategy, and the distribution of the sickle cell gene in Liberia, a more pronounced shift occurred after World War II. This period marked a growing emphasis on exploring the profound role culture plays in shaping human biology. This reorientation led to the development of pivotal theoretical frameworks, such as Dual Inheritance Theory in the 1960s, which posits the co-evolution of genes and culture, where cultural traits can influence genetic selection and vice-versa. Further conceptual advancements include William W. Dressler's work on "cultural consonance," which connects cultural perspectives to measurable health outcomes. Cultural consonance is defined as the approximation of an individual's behavior compared to the guiding awareness of their culture, and this model has been effectively utilized to examine blood pressure, depressive symptoms, body composition, and dietary habits.

Other early Indian anthropologists like L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer, S.C. Roy, N.K. Bose, D.N. Majumdar, and A. Aiyappan also played crucial roles in shaping the discipline in India. They challenged colonial classifications that rigidified social identities and portrayed Indian society as static, instead highlighting the dynamic nature of Indian cultures.

D.N. Majumdar's work, was distinguished by its integration of biological measurements with cultural and environmental contexts, representing an early move toward the holistic approach that would later characterize Indian anthropology. Post-independence, Indian anthropologists focused on nation-building, development, and social change, prioritizing studies on caste dynamics, social stratification, and tribal integration.

Studies on anthropometric variation among India's castes and tribes have a long history, examining traditional phenotypic components like stature, skin color, and cranial shape, which are influenced by both biological and cultural factors.

The field provides robust evidence for culture's direct impact on human health, particularly in India. The "hot-cold" classification system for health issues, foods, and remedies, a prominent contemporary example of dualism, is observed globally, including extensively in India. In this system, diseases considered 'hot' are treated with 'cold' remedies, and vice versa, illustrating how culturally embedded health frameworks profoundly influence diagnosis and treatment, impacting biological health outcomes.

Ayurveda, India's prominent traditional medical system, is a prime example of a biocultural approach to health. Originating in ancient India over 2000 years ago, Ayurveda, meaning Science of Life, emphasis on maintaining health and well-being and preventing disease by coordinating the body, mind, and soul nexus through diet, herbs, exercise, and meditation. It is a knowledge system that developed its own methods for validating medicines and interventions, with clinical outcomes rigorously analyzed. It is estimated that 70% of rural Indians still use traditional plant-based remedies for primary healthcare needs. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently established its Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India, focusing on innovation, sustainability, evidence, and data to optimize traditional medicine's contribution to global health.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous Ayurvedic research papers were published, and the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Sowa Rigpa) in India recommended immunity boosting measures for self-care. This shows how traditional Indian medical practices are integrated into public health discourse, even as debates around misinformation governmentality and the selective promotion of certain systems (like Ayurveda as national medicine) persist. The consumption of Masala chai, a staple drink with a spice mixture (karha) widely believed to have health-sustaining benefits, is another example of a cultural practice with perceived biological effects.

Biocultural anthropology says that culture plays several key roles in shaping human biological variation. In India, the historical influence of social systems like the caste system on human biological diversity has been a significant area of study. Researchers recognize that biological processes cannot be fully understood in isolation from social contexts, particularly in a society where social categories like caste have influenced marriage patterns for centuries. Cultural changes in subsistence, such as increased reliance on and intensification of farming, have been linked to changes in oral health, with a significantly greater decline observed in women than in men in archaeological samples. This demonstrates how cultural practices and gender roles can have differential biological impacts.

Anthropology has a complex history, beginning as a colonial enterprise in the late 18th century, where British rule used anthropology as a tool to understand and control indigenous populations. British anthropologists classified Indian society, focusing on the caste system and tribal groups, often constructing the "primitive" other and legitimizing colonial narratives. However, Indians critically engaged with and challenged these colonial narratives, playing a key role in reshaping the discipline and asserting its autonomy. Post-independence, the focus shifted to nation-building, development, and social change, with scholars like Irawati Karve and D.N. Majumdar deconstructing racial typologies and developing indigenous methodologies. The establishment of institutions like the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) in 1945 further cemented the autonomy of Indian anthropology.

Ethnobiology is the scientific study of the dynamic relationships between human societies and the natural world. It encompasses the traditional knowledge systems, practices, and beliefs that cultures develop concerning plants, animals, fungi and ecosystems, and how these interactions shape both human societies and biodiversity. The field emphasizes theoretical, methodological, and applied contributions that advance biodiversity conservation, sustainability, and socioecological strength. It represents the full spectrum and full spectrum and wide diversity of human interactions with the living world, including cognitive, symbolic, linguistic, ecological, and economic aspects.

Its broad scope includes several interconnected sub-disciplines, all of which have significant manifestations in India :

Ethnobotany: India possesses between 3,000 and 5,000 species of medicinal plants, with over 2,400 documented for medicinal use. Ethnobotanical practices are deeply rooted in indigenous knowledge systems that have evolved over centuries in India, encompassing food, medicine, culture, and spirituality.

Ethnozoology: Studies human-animal relationships, including traditional knowledge of animals, hunting practices, and animal conservation. The general concept of food taboos contributing to animal conservation is globally relevant.

Ethnomedicine: India's traditional medical systems, particularly Ayurveda, are central to ethnomedicine. It is estimated that 70% of rural Indians use traditional plant-based remedies for primary healthcare needs. The Jhargram district in West Bengal, India, for instance, is rich in biodiversity and has numerous ethnic communities relying on traditional medicine.

Ethnoecology: Investigates traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and how communities understand and interact with their environments, including resource management and conservation. Indigenous communities, from the Adivasis in central India to the tribes of the Himalayan mountains, have amassed centuries of wisdom and traditional ecological practices.

Linguistic Ethnobiology: Explores the relationship between language and traditional knowledge of the natural world. The rapid loss of languages and cultures among indigenous populations leads to the erosion of traditional knowledge passed down orally.

Ethnomicrobiology: An emerging interdisciplinary field focusing on human-microorganism interactions, recognizing how humans have historically accumulated knowledge about microbes through sensory attributes, and how these interactions are expressions of biocultural diversity.

Ethnobiological studies are crucial for understanding the impacts of human activities on biodiversity in India. The profound wisdom and time-tested practices of indigenous communities in India exists for their significance in addressing contemporary environmental challenges. Practices such as agroforestry, where tree planting and crop cultivation coexist, and seed saving, which safeguards heirloom crop varieties, are deeply rooted in the ethos of these communities. This traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) plays an essential role in conserving biodiversity by promoting the sustainable harvest of plants and protecting endangered species. The urgency of documenting and understanding these relationships cannot be overstated, as plants are increasingly threatened by climate change, habitat loss, and globalization.

India's rich history of traditional medicine is a cornerstone of ethnobiological application. Ayurveda, originating around 6000 B.C., is a holistic science of natural healing that emphasizes maintaining health and preventing disease. Ancient Vedic literatures like Rig Veda and Atharva Veda describe the properties of medicinal plants, forming the earliest written documents in Indian medicine. Works by Charak, Shushruta, and Dhanwantari attracted serious attention even in early centuries.

The medical ethnobotany of India is vast, with 70% of rural Indians relying on traditional plant-based remedies. For example, the Kolli Hills region of the Eastern Ghats is a biodiversity-rich area where 34 plant species are reportedly used for snake bites alone. One common Ayurvedic remedy, Trikatu (ginger, long pepper, black pepper), is used for digestion, with practitioners believing such combinations enhance absorption. The WHO's Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India further underscores the global recognition of India's traditional medical systems.

Ethnobiological studies in India explore the adaptability and strength of traditional plant knowledge in the face of contemporary challenges. They shows how indigenous and local communities have developed sophisticated botanical knowledge over centuries. However, this knowledge is at risk of disappearing as younger generations migrate to urban areas, leading to a decline in biodiversity as traditional conservation practices erode. The cultural and spiritual significance of Indigenous Environmental Knowledge (IEK) in India is profound, often tied to oral traditions, rituals, and storytelling that reinforce cultural and spiritual bonds to ancestral lands.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 24 days ago

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DOODLING>>JOURNALING

I was given this journal, due to my habit of being high-strung and expressing using writing... to delve me more into words and eventually, with more books and reading...

but I turned it into a doodle pad :P ...

I am an author, but books and writings, are not my hobby... I have a substantially low-attention span and steep impulsivity...

Picture books, Visuals and Music is what helps me keep focus... that's why I prefer documentaries and encyclopedias; or movies over novels...

but, in college I trained to vent out through writing and various other forms an expressions... so, I am good enough, to do it on a platform...

But, exactly as watching football doesn’t make you a footballer, eating food doesn’t make you a cook... the visa versa, becoming an author, didn't make me a reader...

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deadbysunrise-fire · 25 days ago

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PSYCHOLOGY IN POP-CULTURE

Look at this video below...

Does this video kinda feels satisfying (◡ ‿ ◡ .)

Okayyy.. probably not... because I am not any expert in neuro-aesthetics art.. so, I really don't know how to create a satisfying art..

But, my academic and research have been around the beauty of art and music in stimulating brain activity, neural mechanisms and positive cognitive experiences..

I atleast know some psychology...

But these oddly-satisfying art trend in the pop-culture... is not pop-psychology..

This is a part of counselling and healing.. which is a very subjective thing.. so, if some new trend enters.. even if one individual feels better.. it's not wrong..

In today's world, especially with social media, we have different options.. to choose..

So, in mental well-being and healing.. we have many sub-disciplines, practices and phenomena in the academic field of science, like.. Reiki, Shamanism, Astrology...

Personally.. I choose PSYCHOLOGY.. in which investigated behaviour and mental processes in humans and non-human animals through empirical methods, with the aims of describing, explaining, predicting, and ultimately modifying both overt actions and covert cognitive, affective, and motivational phenomena... characterizing and cataloging behaviours and mental events in objective, operational terms... uncovering the causal mechanisms (biological, environmental, cognitive) that give rise to observed phenomena... formulated hypotheses about when and how specific behaviours or mental states will occur under given conditions... applying theoretical insights to develop interventions that alter maladaptive patterns and enhance well-being...

I mean.. that's what I was taught in school and college...

WIth AI, social media, online/certificate courses..

Studying the discipline of psychology is now identified as... the collection of concepts, theories and therapeutic techniques about human mental life and behavior that are simplified and popularized for mass consumption... often drawn from psychological science but presented without rigorous qualification or empirical support... framed to be immediately engaging and accessible via books, television, blogs, or social media (rather than academic journals)... reducing complex psychological constructs to catchy phrases, quick-fix tips or life hacks... relying on the charisma or reputation of the presenter (e.g., wellness influencers, talk-show hosts) rather than peer-reviewed credentials... relying heavily on personal stories or client vignettes instead of controlled experiments... using informal surveys, social-media polls, or unvalidated questionnaires... selectively cites individual findings out of context, ignoring contradictory evidence or methodological limitations...

Pop-psychology is not a new concept.. it came with the emergence of pop-culture..

But, back then it was just psychological or pseudopsychological counseling, interpretations, concepts, terminology, etc., often simplistic or superficial, popularized by certain personalities, magazine articles, television shows, advice columns or the like, that influence the general public.

The use by ordinary people of simple or fashionable ideas from psychology in order to understand or explain feelings and emotional problems, typically without rigorous scientific validation.

For instance... my afore attempt to document an oddly-satisfying video.. it was still telling the wrong concept, but was breaking the taboo and stigma...

But, nowadays any video is captioned by any artist (without even knowing fundamental of neuro-aesthetics) as satisfying art to heal trauma, anxiety and depression...

It's because education, knowledge and everything has become so, accessible we aren't realising its importance and eventually without studying it we are using it like a trivia...

Listen to this audio below...

Does this kinda feels satisfying (◡ ‿ ◡ .) ...

Okayyy.. probably still not.. and here's why..

Folk dances especially written in the Indian text also makes you a singer (if you learn dance) as it holistically is comprised of three things… the geet (which is the song), Vaadya (which is the instrument) and natya (which is dance)…

Tatkaar (footwork) which is the tap sound, you are hearing in audio is just the replication of taals of tabla in the background... the anklets tied are the "chaumukhi ghunghroo" which produce a melodious rhythm syncing to the taal of tabla and sarangi...

The performance in audio is executed after preparing the following elements:

Taal (Tala): Defined as a rhythmic cycle, similar to a musical meter, it consists of a specific number of beats divided into sections. For instance, Teen Taal has 16 beats divided into four sections of four beats each, often indicated by hand gestures like claps (tali) and waves (khali). Taals are ancient, traceable to Vedic texts like the Samaveda, and form one of the foundational elements of Indian music alongside raga.

Bol: Mnemonic syllables representing specific drum strokes, such as "dha," "tin," and "ta," used in tabla playing. These are standardized and part of the oral tradition, allowing musicians to vocalize and memorize rhythmic patterns. The recitation is called Padhant.

Tukra: A fixed composition in tabla, typically 2-3 avartans (cycles) long, with forceful bols and heavy consonants, often ending with a tihai. Tukras are pre-composed and played near the end of performances, emphasizing specific phrases without improvisation.

Chaal: the specific movement patterns or gaits, developed through practice and influenced by the gharana. The creation of chaals involves mastering and innovating within the traditional framework, often through repetitive practice and performance, adapting to the rhythmic and emotional demands of the piece. Here, it was in Lucknow Gharana.

The creation of these elements are rooted in Indian cultural practices. The guru-shishya parampara ensures the transmission of taals, bols, and compositions, while gharanas add stylistic variations. The Rasa theory, guiding emotional expression, and the use of ragas and taals in rituals and performances, highlight their cultural significance.

The regular patterns in taals can lead to neural entrainment, where brain activity synchronizes with the rhythmic patterns, activating areas like the auditory cortex and motor planning regions. This process, can be pleasurable, engaging the reward system, including the amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus. It is designed to elicit specific emotions, as outlined in the Rasa theory from the Natyasastra, connecting nine rasas (emotional states) to musical gesticulations. Even in listening, rhythm can activate motor areas, and in dance, the physical synchronization of movements with music enhances this effect. Auditory rhythmic patterns can entrain movement, improving motor coordination and engaging premotor and motor cortices, which is particularly relevant for dance performances. The complexity and structure of compositions like tukras require cognitive processes such as pattern recognition and anticipation, engaging frontal and parietal cortices, as seen in studies on musical rhythm perception. This cognitive engagement adds to the aesthetic satisfaction, making the experience intellectually stimulating.

The audio I created may not have therapied... but, once we learn the taals, its bol in different tukras or chaal... we start hearing these bols in the beat of tabla and with practice we even learn to take it out with the tatkaar (tapping foot with ghunghroos) and this entire process of learning, makes your entire body, mind and soul just rejuvenates... then it gives healing and satisfaction (not some medicine that works overnight, but an evolutionary sceince, that takes as much time as decay)...

SO, MY POINT IS...

Art and music is said to stimulate brain activity, neural mechanisms and positive cognitive experiences... its definitely not trivial terms.. and if they are not.. whatever art and music are healing is also not..

Trauma is something that makes incapable of everything.. It cannot be fixed by an uplifting Linkin Park song in Chester Bennington's voice, or, a 2000s Akshay Kumar-Priyadarshan’s movie... these are just mere pain-killers...

Struggles, challenges, hardships and unpredictability are a part a of life that makes life... A LIFE... and not boring days but memories that will make you feel proud after you grow stronger... but, if in case it was trauma after growing up ir healing from that, you will either suffer a memory loss, or, you look back and think of some alternate world while thinking how life would have been if that never happened you because that completely changed your ability to emote or express that way you did, because, your sense of self changed, instead of, feeling a little uncomfortable or embarrassed after recalling...

No-matter what you go through or suffer from it is, it is anything but trauma IF you can still go back to work...

Like after a physical injury aka a trauma accident the injured area is incapable to move... human mind if traumatized, it is incapable of everything but breakdowns and overwhelming to an extent everything from your relationship, performance to even physical health starts to suffer...

Something like this happening is not Severe Trauma, but basically what Trauma actually is...

Similarly, if a friend of mine comes and tells me something that is traumatic for her... even if try... and I can also, since she's more comfortable with me, but I won't be able to apply that methods of healing which is explored during the journey of therapy with a professional and I will ask her to seek a professional help... even though, I can be a good listener and receptive, but still, I have phases where a friend or just some random person with a mutual bond with her or some student I once taught becomes unbearably chaotic that starts manipulating my concept of self only... so, I have to ask her to try seeking some professional help and give her the contact number a counsellor I know, before I make her guilty by accidentally saying something that maybe indirectly triggering for her or have some outburst out of these trauma dump that results in some nasty break-ups when I attempt boundary-making...

Similarly, in pop-culture we have this new trend of maintaining a non-toxic environment for better well-being.. which is not problematic... the problematic part is, we in the name of self-care and positive reinforcement doing something much disturbing and probably, traumatic..

You see... specializing in anything (like your career) requires intense study, training and precision... and to do that we need to have strictness and discipline... too much bed-rotting or even no negative feedback may make the prefrontal lobe of your brain inactive also..

Being strict and forcing a disciplinarian attitude isn't necessarily trauma, until done in some abusive way...

There are two types of punishment:

1. Positive Reinforcement

2. Negative Reinforcement

There are two types of stress also:

1. Eustress

2. Distress

By controlling which outcomes follow a stressor (adding vs. removing pleasant/aversive events) and how you pair neutral cues with those stressors, you can shift a person’s response toward eustress (motivating, growth-promoting) or distress (overwhelming, health-undermining).

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Eustress: Pair a neutral cue (e.g., the sound of a bell signaling the start of a team-challenge) with a mildly demanding but achievable task. Over time, the bell alone comes to trigger a sense of “ready for a fun challenge” a positive, energizing arousal.

Distress: Pair that same neutral cue with an overwhelming deadline or harsh criticism. Eventually, the bell itself provokes anxiety and a sense of threat.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

Eustress: After someone rises to a challenge, immediately give genuine praise, small rewards, or recognition. This “adds” a pleasant consequence that encourages embracing future challenges as motivating stress.

Distress: “Reward” performance by piling on even more work as “thanks” (e.g., “Great job—here’s twice as much next time”). The added burden becomes punishing, fostering a harmful, chronic stress cycle.

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

Eustress: Remove an annoying or mildly aversive element once the person meets a challenge (e.g., lift a boring reporting requirement once a sales goal is hit). The relief reinforces tackling the goal and frames the stressor as manageable.

Distress: Only stop nagging or take away support once the person complies with ever-escalating demands. Because relief only comes through submission, stress feels inescapable and debilitating.

For instance, if someone has ADHD... seating them in same classroom with students of higher attention span with result in that ADHD student's low performance... so, imposing stricter time-table will not help.. and, punishments may result in trauma..

What's required is observing what helps or distracts students and increase communication with them, then set a time-table with clearer and more visual instruction, then we need to chunk the assignments and gradually increase it and whatever intensity or level the assignment is at, a strict discipline should be maintained to follow it...

Also, it has to be made clear that... sitting in an ADHD classroom doesn't mean you are step below or in a inferiority classroom...

This because people self-diagnose themselves to have ADHD.. just because they can't pay attention to the homework they don't want to do because the mind is distracted somewhere... but that's not what ADHD is..

ADHD is a life living with hell..

ADHD is something more complicated than one might think... same goes for OCD..

one can't casually say they have ADHD or OCD...

ADHD is a life living in hell... you’re intelligent and you give everything you’ve got, yet your own brain betrays you when focus vanishes mid-thought, leaving your brilliant ideas stranded on a blank page. Simple tasks multiply like demons on a to-do list... like, even going to sleep at night will scream for your attention as you walk around helplessly in circles, instead of, just thinking of going to bed. Every forgotten appointment... like, a movie night with family is another jagged cut into your self-esteem, because a person who just isn't able to go to homework, because she wanted to go for the movie.. diagnosed herself with ADHD; so, this will fuel a loop of self-doubt that insists you’re lazy, broken, incompetent..

ADHD is when one moment you’re invincible in hyperfocus, the next you’re crushed under waves of frustration and despair.. relationships feel impossible as loved ones mistake your impulsivity and inattentiveness for carelessness, branding you flaky and unreliable... your energy swings on a razor’s edge... either jittery and restless or collapsed in utter exhaustion as though you’d run a marathon in your mind; and anyone, calling themselves ADHD for unable to do chores or work, just because you mood and energy wants to be somewhere else...

So, its important to make it clear that, the classroom of ADHD students isn’t something for students who are comparatively at lower-level or inferior... People with ADHD find themselves only wrong... and eventually start skipping meals, working late nights etc. to equate themselves.

This behavior is also the reason why people think therapy and counselling don't work; it's not a medicine... that you have trouble focusing on things or lacking energy in doing your work... so, after two sessions, you will be diagnoses with dysthymia or MDD and then you receive a medication and you will be normal in a week...

nor, it is something one can do alongside maintaining a traumacore or bed-rotting aesthetics... which is what chatbots do..

and... actual counselling or therapies are like a school with classes and sessions, which will make you a newer and healthier person and relationships; which may even take months or years... you don't necessarily have to have something wrong with you... sometimes, just time you can go to understand yourself a little better, instead of, self-diagnosing your self with ADHD out of boredom or traumatized after recalling an embarrassing moment at 3am.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 28 days ago

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ETHNOSCIENCE

The Jarawa are a Negrito hunter–gatherer tribe of South and Middle Andaman Islands who have lived in relative isolation until recent decades. Like other Andamanese peoples, their worldview is deeply animistic: every element of nature has a spirit or “power” that can affect human life. The Jarawa language itself encodes this intimacy with nature... for example, their myths name the sun (ehey), moon (taape), stars (chilope), and even distinguish full and new moons (“utthutaape” and “poniya tappe”) as well as tidal phases (“chakte” for high tide and “chigia” for low tide). In this cosmology, natural phenomena like earthquakes, storms or unusual winds are not random; they signal the arrival or influence of spirits. Jarawa elders reportedly teach that dreams are significant and that disquieted ancestors can directly cause misfortune... “cause disasters like earthquakes”... when angered. In short, Jarawa tradition holds that humans and the spirit world are intertwined, and that respecting and interpreting nature’s messages is essential to community well-being.

Because the Jarawa have only recently allowed anthropological observation, little published folklore is specific to them. However, the wider Andamanese mythic tradition is rich in storm and flood legends that undoubtedly permeate Jarawa oral culture. For example, research on Andaman legend shows stories of cataclysmic storms inundating the islands: an Aka‐Kede legend tells of a great storm that “killed many people” and covered the land with water, killing all but firekeepers who saved themselves. Similarly, an Aka‐Jēru myth describes elemental beings (Bilika) bringing storms and nearly wiping out the world. These and other Andamanese tales often emphasize rising seas and displaced trees... motifs familiar in tsunami narratives. The Jarawa likely share or at least are aware of such ancestral tales about storms and floods. Even in routine speech, the Jarawa encode environmental knowledge in proverbs. For instance, Jarawa cartography of the shore is precise: ethnographers note they have six distinct terms for how far the water is from the beach, reflecting an acute oral understanding of ocean distance and tides. Altogether, while no published “Jarawa tsunami myth” is recorded, their tribal lore unquestionably includes stories that caution respect for the sea and storms, paralleling other islanders’ legends of great floods.

In practice, Jarawa disaster preparedness has been embedded in their way of life rather than formal institutions. They traditionally avoid permanent village settlements on open beaches, instead roaming inland forests and hills, which fortuitously protects them from coastal hazards. They also rely on careful reading of natural signs. Jarawa hunters and fishers watch weather patterns, animal movements, and sea behavior for danger cues. (For instance, Onge and Sentinelese... culturally close groups... reportedly fled to higher ground when they saw the tide receding.) One ethnographer notes that when the Andaman islands shook in 2004, tribal elders from several groups advised people to take immediate action based on the earth’s behavior. A Great Andamanese survivor related that the elders’ counsel was “when the earth stopped shaking, you needed to get up”... an instruction he followed, literally “making his bed” after the quake. Though this account was from another tribe, it reflects a widespread indigenous rule: treat the first warning (quake) as a signal to move to safety. For Jarawa, no organized sirens or radios exist, but experience taught them to trust such traditional alarms. After the sea receded in 2004, for instance, survivors ran inland without hesitation. In short, Jarawa “early warning” is ecological and ancestral: transmitted knowledge and observation rather than technology.

When the catastrophic December 2004 tsunami struck the Andamans, reports surprisingly indicated no Jarawa casualties. In fact, the Jarawa themselves informed local authorities that “all of their tribesmen were safe in the forest of Balughat” shortly after the wave. They had been deep in the interior, away from the coast, at the time of the quake... the height of seasonal rain and the onset of the monsoon kept them hunting inland. Indian officials and anthropologists noted that the five isolated Andaman tribes (including the Jarawa) emerged from the tsunami unscathed, which they attributed to traditional knowledge passed through generations. (By contrast, nearby Nicobarese villages on the coast suffered thousands of deaths.) Jarawa themselves interpreted the disaster in familiar terms: they simply remained in their forest “world”… To them the tsunami was an outside calamity; their own deep‐forest way of life, guided by ancestral lore, proved adequate protection. Anthropologist observers like Stephen Corry remarked that these tribes’ “sophisticated knowledge of their environment”... honed over tens of thousands of year had enabled their survival. Thus, although the Jarawa did not speak publicly of spiritual causes for the tsunami, their actions (retreating to high ground and forest) and statements underscored the power of their cultural perception: they saw nature’s warning and trusted it.

The Jarawa’s disaster‐related beliefs directly inform their survival strategies. Their animism instills caution: offending a nature spirit by wandering in the wrong place or breaking a taboo might, by their lights, bring calamity. Thus, they emphasize respect for the land and memory of the ancestors. Their focus on dreams as messages, for example, helps interpret unusual events. In the case of the 2004 earthquake, Jarawa survivors implicitly followed a rule of thumb: when the ground shakes, take immediate protective action. While recorded practice comes from another tribe, it is likely Jarawa elders gave similar advice in private.

More broadly, the Jarawa’s ecological expertise... distinguishing dozens of bird calls, plant uses, and tidal behaviors... means they are inherently ready to respond to environmental change. The Firstpost account of the tsunami noted that not a single Jarawa perished, and praised their “cognitive” knowledge hardwired into language (even noting special terms for water levels). In this view, Jarawa beliefs about nature do not merely explain disasters, they prevent casualties: they teach avoidance of risk and immediate action. Where outsiders might wait for instructions, Jarawa instincts honed by cosmology and oral lore prompt flight or seeking shelter. This synergy of belief and practice... treating the forest as sanctuary and listening to ancestral warnings... has for millennia kept them alive through cyclones, earthquakes and other hazards.

Only in the last few decades have the Jarawa felt sustained pressure to engage with “modern” society. Systematic contact began in the 1970s under government expeditions, but villagers remained cautious. In 1998 a new road cut into their land and some began occasional contact, and by 2014 their number was estimated around 400. Anthropologist Madhumala Chattopadhyay reports that in early friendly visits (1980s–90s), Jarawa showed curiosity and even affection for outsiders: they would invite guests, exchange simple gifts like beads or hairbands, and learn a few words of Hindi or English. Some adaptation is visible: with contact they have started using metal tools and cloth (kangapo) for ornaments.

However, there is no evidence that such contact has altered core disaster beliefs. The Jarawa have seen that modern “help” can bring illness and exploitation... in fact, after the tsunami they declined helicopter relief and simply sent word that they were fine. Their public statements (through intermediaries) insist on staying in their forest world. Indian activists note ruefully that “when a tribe like the Jarawas want to be left alone, it’s better that they be left alone.” In practice, most Jarawa still rely on their traditional cosmos: they perform no new rituals taught by outsiders for earthquakes, and have not adopted tsunami alarms or shelters. Instead, contact has mostly brought negative pressures (disease, poaching, tourism) that threaten their habitat and knowledge base. Thus while modern influence has introduced material changes (clothing, occasional medicine), the Jarawa’s perception of disasters... as natural‐spiritual phenomena to be read by forest lore... remains largely unchanged.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 28 days ago

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ANTHROPOMETRY AND THE CONTEMPORARY BEAUTY STANDARDS

SOMATOMETRY

Somatometry involves precise measurements on living individuals using defined anatomical landmark. Key head and facial dimensions include:

Maximum head length (glabella–opisthocranion),

maximum head breadth (euryon–euryon),

minimum frontal breadth (frontotemporale–frontotemporale),

bizygomatic breadth (zygion–zygion, face width) and

bigonial breadth (gonion–gonion, jaw angle width).

Facial heights are measured as physiognomic total facial height (trichion–gnathion) and morphological facial height (nasion–gnathion).

Nasal dimensions include nasal length (nasion–pronasale, nasal tip) and nasal breadth (ala–ala).

Other common measures are head circumference (around glabella–opisthocranion), ear length (highest helix to lobule) and ear breadth (maximal auricle width).

Statural measures include height (vertex to floor) and sitting height (vertex to seat). These measurements are repeated on multiple subjects to characterize population variation.

Somatometry yields indices that classify head shapes. For instance, the cephalic (cranial) index = (maximum head breadth / maximum head length)×100. A lower cephalic index indicates a long (dolichocephalic) head, a higher index a round (brachycephalic) head. The facial index = (facial height / bizygomatic breadth)×100, and the nasal index = (nasal breadth / nasal height)×100. These indices were historically used to classify craniofacial types across populations.

SOMATOSCOPY

Somatoscopy is the systematic description of visible body features that are not easily measured. Common somatoscopic traits include head form, hair form, facial form, eye form, nose shape, as well as hair, eye and skin color.

For instance, head form can be described as ellipsoid, pentagonoid, rhomboid, ovoid, sphenoid/spheroid, or pear-shaped. Facial form categories include elliptical, oval (and inverted oval), round, rectangular, quadrangular, rhomboid, trapezoid (and inverted trapezoid), and pentagonal.

Hair form is broadly straight (lissotrichous), wavy, or curly. Eye shape is characterized by the palpebral fissure axis (horizontal, slanting, or oblique) and slant direction (outward or inward); eye color by iris and sclera pigmentation (e.g. brown, blue, gray, green, etc.).

Nose form is noted for root height (high/medium/low) and profile (concave/straight/convex). Hair color is recorded using standardized charts (e.g. Fischer-Saller scale), and skin color is noted by sampling multiple sites or using scales (e.g. dark brown to carmine white). Such qualitative observations are useful for anthropological identification and illustrating phenotypic diversity.

Mandible measurements such as bicondylar breadth (distance between mandibular condyles) and bigonial breadth (distance between gonion points) are taken on dry bones using calipers. This photograph (adapted from forensic anthropology literature) illustrates use of calipers to measure the mandible.

CRANIOMETRY

Craniometry involves measurements on the skull (often dry bone). First, anthropologists describe normae (standard views) of the skull: Norma frontalis (anterior view) shows the frontal bone, orbits, nasal aperture and upper jaws. Norma verticalis (superior view) shows the cranial vault shape (typically oval, wider posteriorly). Norma lateralis (lateral view) displays the side bones (frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, sphenoid, maxilla, mandible, etc.). Norma basalis (basal view) is the skull’s base (seen from beneath) showing the palate, occipital bone, foramen magnum, and associated foramina. These views orient measurements.

Typical cranial measurements include: maximum cranial length (glabella–opisthocranion) and maximum cranial breadth (euryon–euryon), mirroring the somatic head length/breadth. The minimum frontal breadth is measured between frontotemporale points (narrowest forehead width). Bi-zygomatic breadth is the distance between zygomatic arches (zygion–zygion)... essentially the same as bizygomatic breadth above. Bregma–basion height is the height from the cranial vertex (bregma) to basion on the occipital bone. Superior facial height (also called upper facial height) is nasion–prosthion (from nasal root to maxillary alveolar point). Nasal length and breadth are the same as in somatometry (nasion–pronasale and ala–ala). Bi-orbital breadth is measured between ektoconchion points (outer orbital rim to rim).

Measurements on the mandible include: bigonial breadth (go–go) and bicondylar breadth. Bigonial breadth (jaw width) is the straight distance between the two gonion points (the lowest, most lateral angles of the mandible). Bicondylar breadth is the distance between the lateral points of the two condylar processes (mandibular condyles). Both are typically measured with sliding calipers, as shown above.

CRANIOMETRIC INDICES

Analogous indices are used for skulls. The cranial index (identical formula to cephalic index) = (maximum cranial breadth / maximum cranial length)×100. A higher cranial index indicates a round (brachycephalic) cranium; a lower index indicates a long (dolichocephalic) one. The facial index (sometimes called upper facial index) uses superior facial height and bizygomatic breadth. The nasal index again = (nasal breadth / nasal height)×100, categorizing nose shape (e.g. narrow vs. broad). These indices quantify craniofacial proportions for comparison.

Anthropometry and somatoscopy record physical traits, but modern anthropology emphasizes that beauty ideals are culturally constructed. Throughout history, pseudoscientific schools like phrenology or physiognomy tried to link head or facial shape with character or intelligence, but these were discredited. Today we recognize that superficial measurements do not determine a person’s worth or personality.

In contemporary society, people often feel insecure about appearance due to media and market pressures (fashion trends, cosmetic industries, social media), but these standards vary widely across cultures and eras.

For instance, the entertainment industry prize fuller body figures while others idealize slimness. What truly matters is expression of one’s character: talent, confidence and individuality. Rather than striving to fit arbitrary “ideal” measurements, people can focus on health and personal strengths.

That's why, nowadays we have mediocre craft at its best. We are NOT relying on OUR CULTURE that we have or skilling up our physique GIVEN BY NATURE.

WE ARE RELYING on market- or AI-driven cues shifts motivation from our own goals to external rewards and algorithms. When we feel less in control, our sense of agency and confidence erodes. Repetitive, template-based tasks deprive us of novel challenges and genuine problem-solving. Without those wins, we build fewer mastery experiences... and lower self-efficacy. Algorithmic benchmarks constantly showcase “top performers” and we are just recreating it because just performing even identifies you that is anywhere indifferent to these idealized standards fuels self-doubt and impostor feelings. Our brains evolved for rich social feedback and creative play. Monotonous, metric-driven work clashes with those instincts, triggering stress and learned helplessness rather than confidence.

Culture is the learned, shared system of beliefs, practices, values and symbols that characterizes a human society. It shapes how people perceive the world and how they behave together.

Key characteristics of culture include:

shared (members of a group have common values and norms),

learned (we acquire culture through enculturation),

symbolic (meanings are attached to words, objects and actions), integrated (all parts of culture interrelate) and

dynamic (culture changes over time).

Cultural anthropologists define culture broadly as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (Tylor’s classic definition).

Culture is often analyzed in components. A culture trait is the smallest element of culture (e.g. using a fork, a religious belief). A culture complex is a cluster of interrelated traits (for instance, a horse-and-riding complex: horse, saddle, bridle, riding customs). Entire societies exhibit culture patterns or configurations, which are the integrated systems of many complexes (e.g. language, religion, family systems combined into a coherent whole).

Material vs. non-material culture: material culture refers to physical objects and artifacts (tools, buildings, technology, art) that people create and use. Non-material culture includes intangible elements like values, norms, language, religious beliefs and symbols. These two aspects interact (e.g. religious beliefs may inspire architecture, while technology can change social norms).

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are contrasting attitudes toward other cultures. Ethnocentrism is judging other cultures by the standards of one’s own, often assuming one’s culture is superior. Cultural relativism is the practice of understanding a culture on its own terms; anthropologists strive to avoid ethnocentric bias and view behaviors in their cultural context. In other words, what seems “strange” to us may have a logical role within another culture.

The emic and etic perspectives relate to this insider–outsider view. An emic perspective is the insider’s point of view... understanding cultural phenomena in terms of local meanings. An etic perspective is the outsider’s analytical view, applying universal categories for comparison. Anthropologists often combine emic and etic approaches to understand both specific meanings and cross-cultural patterns.

Anthropology has developed several broad theories of cultural change and structure:

Evolutionism (Unilineal Evolution): Early theorists like Tylor and Morgan (late 19th century) viewed all societies as progressing through the same stages (e.g. savagery → barbarism → civilization). Tylor explicitly stated that “culture evolved from the simple to the complex” and that all societies passed through basic developmental stages. Morgan similarly divided social evolution into stages based on technology (fire, pottery, iron, etc.). These classical evolutionists saw cultural change as internally driven and universal.

Neo-evolutionism: Mid-20th-century anthropologists like Leslie White and Julian Steward refined evolutionism. White emphasized that cultural development is measured by energy harnessed per capita (technology) and introduced the concept of culturology. Steward proposed multilinear evolution, arguing that different societies evolve along diverse paths depending on environment and historical context. (Both recognized that societies do not all follow one sequence.)

Diffusionism: In response to evolutionism, diffusionists argued that cultural similarities arise mainly from borrowing, not parallel development. The German-Austrian Kulturkreise school (Fritz Graebner, Leo Frobenius, Wilhelm Schmidt, etc.) theorized that a limited number of “culture circles” originated some complexes, which then diffused over regions. They analyzed cultural “complexes” spreading from specific centers. The British school (e.g. Grafton Elliot Smith) famously proposed a Pan-Egyptian diffusion: many world cultures’ traits originated in ancient Egypt. American diffusionists (like Wissler and Kroeber) developed the culture area approach, identifying contiguous regions with similar trait patterns. In sum, diffusionism highlights external influence over independent invention. As one source notes, these scholars “relied on diffusionist principles, believing that similarities among cultures could be shown to be the result of cultural influence (diffusion), rather than a universal human nature.”

Functionalism: Bronisław Malinowski (UK) and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown (UK) developed functionalism in the early 20th century as a critique of evolutionism/diffusionism. Malinowski’s psychological functionalism held that all human beings have basic biological needs (food, shelter, reproduction, social relations) and that cultural institutions exist to satisfy these needs. For instance, the family provides child care and socialization because these needs arise in everyone. Malinowski also noted “instrumental needs” like economy, social control, education, politics, each maintained by institutions. Radcliffe-Brown’s structural-functionalism focused on social structure: he likened society to a living organism in which institutions function to maintain the whole system. He argued that social phenomena should be explained in terms of their role in keeping society stable and cohesive, independent of individual psychology. Functionalism is often summarized by the organic analogy: each part of society (law, religion, kinship, etc.) has a function in the social “body.”

Structuralism (Cl. Lévi-Strauss): Claude Lévi-Strauss (France) introduced structuralism in the 1940s–50s. He argued that human minds impose universal structures (binary oppositions) on culture (e.g. raw/cooked, nature/culture) and that kinship and myth systems are built on deep, shared cognitive patterns. While not listed explicitly above, structuralism emphasized underlying mental templates shaping social institutions and symbols.

Culture-and-Personality School: In mid-20th-century America, anthropologists like Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead examined how culture influences individual psychology. Ruth Benedict’s seminal work Patterns of Culture (1934) argued that each culture develops a characteristic personality pattern or “configurational” style. She suggested that culture gives people “coherent patterns for thinking and behaving,” so individuals internalize a basic personality typical of their society. Margaret Mead, Benedict’s student, emphasized that socialization continues throughout life and introduced studies of “national character” (the typical personality traits of citizens of a nation). Mead’s research (e.g. Coming of Age in Samoa) showed that child-rearing practices and gender roles vary by culture, shaping personality development. Together, the Culture-and-Personality school demonstrated that individual psyche and culture are intertwined: culture molds self-awareness and emotion.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 28 days ago

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MESOLITHIC IN NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE V/S STONE-AGE IN INDIA

Both regions entered the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) after the last Ice Age. In northwestern Europe the Mesolithic spans roughly 10,000–2700 BCE, marking the transition from Paleolithic hunting to more varied subsistence. In South Asia (including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh), comparable microlithic industries date from about 10,000–6000 BCE, before the rise of agriculture. Environmental factors shaped each tradition: Northern Europe saw receding glaciers and dense forests (leading to deer and fish-based diets), while the Ganga plains and Vindhyan hills of India offered tropical woodlands and wild grains (e.g. early rice). Modern scholars emphasize reporting these developments factually and without cultural bias.

Mesolithic in Northern & Western Europe

Timeline: Began ~10,000 BCE as glaciers melted, ending by ~2700 BCE in northwest Europe. In general, Mesolithic lifeways bridged the Paleolithic and Neolithic, lasting longer in the north as farming arrived later.

Tools & Economy: Characterized by microliths (tiny flint blades, points and crescent-shaped tools) mounted on shafts as arrows, harpoons or knives. People used bows, spears and fishing gear to exploit forests and coastal resources. Small sharp tools marked a clear innovation from the heavier hand-axes of the Paleolithic.

Adaptations: Communities show local environmental adaptation... for instance, the Ertebølle culture (Denmark) formed shell-midden villages, and Maglemosian hunters ranged Scandinavian forests. Mesolithic societies expanded dietary breadth (fish traps, nets) as suggested by new tool forms.

Famous European Mesolithic sites include Star Carr (UK, c.9000 BCE), Ahrensburg (Germany), and shell-midden camps in Denmark/Poland. These remain hunter-gatherer encampments with hearths and graves (often without clear gender-specific artifacts).

Stone-Age Industries in India

The Indian “Mesolithic” (sometimes called microlithic) broadly spans ~10,000–6000 BCE. This period overlaps with regional variations: in NW India the Neolithic (farming) began as early as ~7000 BCE in places like Mehrgarh, but in the Ganga valley settled agriculture only appears after ~3000–2000 BCE.

Like Europe, Indian Mesolithic people made microliths (tiny blades, backed blades, points and geometric flakes) used as arrowheads, knives and sickles. Bone and antler tools also appear. Subsistence was primarily hunting, gathering and fishing. For instance, scientists note that at Vindhyan sites “microliths such as backed blades, crescents, triangles… were used as components of spearheads, arrowheads, knives, sickles and harpoons”.

In Uttar Pradesh, key Mesolithic sites include Chopani Mando and Mahagara (Belan valley), Sarai Nahar Rai, Damdama and Baidha Putpurihwa (Son valley/Vindhya region). In Bihar, Paisra is a noted Mesolithic camp (with microlithic tools). These camp-sites feature stone flake assemblages and occasional art, but no written records of society.

India’s tropical/warm climate allowed wild cereal use early. For instance, at Chopani Mando and Mahagara (UP) “rice cultivation… may have been underway as early as 7,000 BP” (i.e. wild-rice gathering). However, fully settled farming villages with domesticated rice come much later: in the Ganga plains reliable rice cultivation appears after 3000 BCE. Thus the Microlithic (Mesolithic) persisted in India until Neolithic groups spread.

End of Mesolithic: In NW Europe, the Mesolithic ended by ca. 2700 BCE as Neolithic farmers (from the Near East) spread farming northward. In India, the formal Neolithic begins in some areas by ~6000–5000 BCE (e.g. Mehrgarh crops), but in the Ganges basin key Neolithic (rice-wheat) settlements date mostly after 3000–2000 BCE. Climatic Factors: Europe’s cooler post-glacial climate delayed agriculture in the north; inhabitants remained hunter-gatherers longer. India’s warmer climate and monsoon permitted earlier plant use... and indeed early Neolithic sites appear earlier in some parts. The differences in timelines largely reflect these environmental contrasts. Overlap & Succession: Despite different dates, both regions show a slow tail-off of microlithic technology. By adulthood of these cultures, some groups began mixed economies (gathering plus experimenting with wild cereals). But in both Europe and India the Mesolithic ended with the adoption of agriculture, even though the exact dates differ.

Early archaeology (19th–20th c.) often assumed rigid gender roles... “men hunted, women gathered” projecting Victorian ideas onto prehistory. For instance, burials with tools were automatically labeled male and jewelry labeled female, based on no direct evidence. Today’s researchers warn these are stereotypes: indeed, Koch noted “during (Palaeolithic/Neolithic) times… there were no typical burial gifts given only to women or only to men” suggesting roles were not fixed.

The famous “Windeby I” bog body (Mesolithic Germany) was long thought female because of small size and pottery grave goods. Only a DNA test (2008) showed the individual was male. This illustrates how modern preconceptions (e.g. “only women would wear jewelry”) can be misleading.

Modern archaeologists emphasize questioning biases. As Koch explains, we must “rethink our own point of view… and ask ourselves: what ideas, images and prejudices do I have, and how do these affect my interpretation?” With no writings from Mesolithic peoples, some details will remain uncertain... we “must accept that there are some things we will never know for sure."

Both European Mesolithic and Indian Stone-Age traditions reflect adaptable hunter-gatherer cultures shaped by local nature. It is our collective responsibility to report these facts accurately and without ideological distortion. Presenting “right facts” and correcting past myths that helps readers make informed conclusions about human prehistory.

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deadbysunrise-fire · 28 days ago

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PALEOLITHIC SUBDIVISION AND ART

LOWER PALEOLITIC (c. 1.4 Ma–300 ka)

The Lower Palaeolithic in Western Europe spans from the earliest hominins (~1.4 Ma) to roughly 300 ka. In Germany this period is represented by Homo erectus/heidelbergensis populations. Early industries (Mode 1) include very simple flaked cobbles (Oldowan-like choppers), while by the middle Lower Palaeolithic (c. 900–300 ka) Mode 2 (Acheulean) biface industries emerge. Acheulean hand‐axes and cleavers... characteristic ovate and cordiform bifaces... are found in European sites by ~500–700 ka (some Spanish examples may date >900 ka). These heavy tools (and later large flake tools) were shaped by hard-hammer percussion. Woodworking and hunting technologies appear (e.g. Schöningen spears in Germany, ~380 ka, the oldest known wooden javelins).

Climatically, the Lower Palaeolithic covers multiple glacial... interglacial cycles (e.g. Holstein and Elster glaciations, interspersed by warm phases). Notable German sites include Mauer (Lower jaw, ~600 ka, H. heidelbergensis), Steinheim (skull, ~250 ka), and Bilzingsleben (~370–330 ka) where evidence of settlement (timber circles) and engravings by Homo erectus have been found. Stone tool assemblages typically contain thick, crudely flaked handaxes, cleavers, chopping tools, and large scrapers. Oldowan pebble tools give way to Acheulean handaxe traditions; Homo heidelbergensis is the human maker; stratigraphically these lie in middle Pleistocene deposits (e.g. Holstein interglacial).

MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC (300 ka–40 ka)

The Middle Palaeolithic (~300–40 ka) coincides with Neanderthal occupation in Europe. It spans at least the Saale glacial (MIS 6, ~190–130 ka), the Eemian interglacial (MIS 5e, ~130–115 ka) and much of the Weichselian glacial (MIS 4–2, ~115–11 ka).

Stratigraphy: Neanderthal sites often occur in Middle/Upper Pleistocene terrace gravels and cave deposits (e.g. Neander Valley, 1856). The Eemian saw warm-climate Neanderthal faunas in central Europe (e.g. Ehringsdorf cave, Thuringia), while later Middle Palaeolithic layers are found in cold stadial contexts.

Lithic technology: Middle Palaeolithic industries are dominated by prepared-core flake production (Mode 3). The Mousterian techno-complex (Neanderthals) used Levallois and discoidal cores to produce flakes that were retouched into points and side scrapers. Typical tools include flake points (Mousterian points), side scrapers, denticulates, and occasional bifacial handaxes (carryover of Acheulean tradition). A distinctive Keilmesser (bifacial knife) industry appears in Late MP. Bone tools appear (e.g. retouchers, awls) but are few. Chatelperronian (c.45–40 ka) is a late, regional variant (mostly French sites) with blade technology and Neanderthal makers, but its role in Germany is minor.

Neanderthals also show incipient symbolic behavior: burials with grave goods and possible pigment use are attested in France/Spain during this time. In Germany a famous find is the Divje Babe “flute” (though outside Germany, in Slovenia), suggesting possible music-making. In summary: prepared-core flaking (Mousterian) defines the Middle Palaeolithic; tool kits are scrapers, points, retouched flakes; Neanderthals adapt to glacial climates, and early cultural signs (burial, art) emerge.

UPPER PALEOLITHIC (50 ka–12 ka)

The Upper Palaeolithic begins with the arrival of modern humans in Europe (~45–40 ka) and continues until the end of the last Ice Age. It includes the Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian industries, each with distinct tool types.

Chronology: Aurignacian (~43–30 ka) is the earliest Homo sapiens culture (rapidly spreading across Europe). Gravettian (~30–22 ka) follows, succeeded by Solutrean (~22–17 ka, mainly SW Europe) and Magdalenian (~17–12 ka, including LGM and onset of warming). By ~15 ka (Late Magdalenian) humans occupy nearly all of western Europe.

Stratigraphy: Upper Palaeolithic layers in Germany often lie above Weichselian loess or as cave infills. Glacial advances (Würm/Weichsel) intervene; e.g. Magdalenian sites occur as ice retreated. The Last Glacial Maximum (~21 ka) corresponds to Solutrean/early Magdalenian.

Tool technology: The hallmark is blade-based lithic technology (Mode 4). Long, sharp blades are struck from prepared prismatic cores. Retouched blade and blade-tools include: burins (gravers) for engraving bone/antler, end-scrapers for hide, backed blades, and specialized projectile points (e.g. Gravette points, Solutrean laurel-leaf points, Magdalenian barbed points). There is extensive use of fine retouch and pressure flaking (especially in Solutrean). Hafting becomes routine (shaft-mounted points, spearthrowers). Organic materials see a huge rise: bone, antler and ivory are crafted into needles, fish hooks, harpoons, awls and spear points. Clothing sewn with bone needles and thread appears. Early permanent dwellings (e.g. semi-subterranean huts) emerge.

Southwestern Germany (Swabian Jura) is renowned for Aurignacian sites (Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle, Vogelherd) yielding carved ivory figurines and flutes. Later Gravettian layers also occur. Magdalenian evidence is rare in Germany compared to France/Spain, but some harpoon fragments and open-air sites attest Late UP use. Overall: specialized blade industries and elaborate bone tools define the Upper Palaeolithic, reflecting modern human lifeways.

UPPER PALEOLITHIC ART (Western Europe)

The Upper Palaeolithic saw the flowering of Ice Age art, signaling fully symbolic cognition. Art divides into mural (cave/shelter paintings and carvings) and portable forms. Cave art (40–14 ka) is concentrated in Western Europe (France, Spain; a few in Germany) and executed using mineral pigments (iron oxide, charcoal) or engraving. Famous cave complexes (Chauvet, Lascaux, Altamira) feature hundreds of images.

Techniques: Artists used finger and brush painting, engraving with flint burins, bas-relief carving, and in some cases modeling (clay statuettes). Hand stencils (sprayed pigment around a hand) appear in early phases. In portable art, small carvings and engravings appear on bone, ivory, stone and sometimes clay (e.g. fired figurines). Ivory, mammoth tusk and bone were common media for statuettes.

Themes: Animal imagery dominates cave walls and portable objects. Early art depicts the largest Ice Age fauna (mammoths, woolly rhino, cave lion, cave bear). In later periods (Aurignacian onward), more familiar prey animals appear (horses, bison, deer, ibex). Human figures are rare in cave paintings, but female figurines (“Venus” statuettes) are prolific in Gravettian contexts. These stylized women emphasize fertility features and are found from Iberia to the Caucasus (e.g. Venus of Willendorf, Venus of Hohle Fels). Abstract signs (dots, lines, grids) are also common on cave art and objects.

Styles: Aurignacian figurative art is naturalistic but uses “twisted perspective” (head in profile, horns front). By Gravettian/Magdalenian, silhouette painting and shading occur (especially in French caves). Solutrean art is rare but notable for exquisite carved and engraved projectile points. In Germany, the Swabian caves produced key early figurative works (the ~40 ka Lion-man carving and earliest Venus figures). Portable art also includes decorated tools and personal ornaments (perforated beads, ochred pendants).

Significance: Paleolithic art indicates symbolic thought, religion and social communication. The prevalence of “hunting magic” themes (animals in sanctuary caves) suggests ritual use. Making art required advanced cognitive skills: abstract thinking, planning, and possibly language. It marks a leap to fully modern behavior, as evidenced by diverse media (painting, carving, music instruments like flutes), and the shared cultural conventions across regions. To summarize Upper Palaeolithic art... rich in animal scenes, female fertility figures and abstract symbols... reflects a complex symbolic culture that underlies the expansion of Homo sapiens in Ice Age Europe.

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