#cognitive spatial maps

[neosciencehub]

Study indicates lower rates of death from Alzheimer's Disease among Taxi and Ambulance Drivers

Study indicates lower rates of death from Alzheimer's Disease among Taxi and Ambulance Drivers @neosciencehub #Sciencenews #healthcare #AlzheimersDisease #neosciencehub #Dementia #featured

According to a recent study, occupations requiring a lot of spatial processing, like navigating to a hospital or figuring out a taxi route, may have a reduced death risk from Alzheimer’s disease. Mass General Brigham researchers looked into this possibility by assessing the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease death across 443 professions using national data on the occupations of deceased…

[russellmoreton]

Spatiality/Corporeal Traces : Space over Time by Russell Moreton Via Flickr: Art as Spatial Practice. independent.academia.edu/RussellMoreton Space folds : Containing "Spatialities around historicality and sociality" All that is solid melts into air" Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, (Poetic observation concerning the constant revolutionizing of social conditions) Perceptions now gathering at the end of the millennium. Spatiality, Robert T. Tally Jr. 2013

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

Whenever you hear someone trying to blame kid's poor test scores "post pandemic" on "lockdowns," show them this.

By Dr. Sushama R. Chaphalkar, PhD.

New research shows that mild COVID-19 alters brain structure and connectivity in key areas responsible for memory and cognition, emphasizing the lasting effects on young people’s brain health.

In a case-control study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cognitive tests to examine brain structure, function, and cognition in adolescents and young adults with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) compared to healthy controls in a pandemic hotspot in Italy. They identified significant changes in brain regions related to olfaction and cognition, with decreased brain volume and reduced functional connectivity in areas like the left hippocampus and amygdala, which were linked to impaired spatial working memory. Notably, no significant differences were observed in whole-brain connectivity, suggesting that these changes were localized rather than widespread.

Background COVID-19, primarily known for respiratory symptoms, also affects the central nervous system, leading to neurological issues like headaches, anosmia, and cognitive changes. MRI-based studies reveal anatomical brain changes in COVID-19 patients, such as reduced gray matter and decreased volume in regions like the hippocampus and amygdala, often linked to cognitive deficits.

While research mostly focuses on severe cases and older adults, a majority of infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, occur in adolescents and young adults who also experience long-lasting cognitive symptoms.

This age group, undergoing key brain development, is impacted by changes in spatial working memory and brain structure, which are crucial for cognitive functions shaped by social interactions, significantly disrupted by the pandemic.

Given that this is the largest and most understudied population affected by COVID-19, understanding the brain and cognitive impacts in adolescents and young adults is vital.

Therefore, researchers in the present study compared anatomical, functional, and cognitive outcomes, utilizing a longitudinal design that allowed them to assess both pre- and post-infection differences, in COVID-19-positive and negative adolescents and young adults from Lombardy, Italy, a global hotspot during the pandemic.

About the study The present study involved participants from the Public Health Impact of Metal Exposure (PHIME) cohort, a longitudinal investigation of adolescents and young adults in northern Italy. Between 2016 and 2021, 207 participants, aged 13 to 25 years, were included in a sub-study with MRI scans and cognitive tests. After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, 40 participants (13 COVID+ and 27 COVID−) participated in a follow-up study, which replicated the MRI and cognitive assessments.

The mean age of participants was 20.44 years and 65% were female. COVID+ status was confirmed through positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests within 12 months of follow-up. Neuropsychological assessments used the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to evaluate spatial working memory.

MRI and functional MRI data were acquired using a 3-Tesla scanner, processed, and analyzed for structural and local functional connectivity using eigenvector centrality mapping (ECM) and functional connectivity (FC) metrics. Whole-brain functional connectivity metrics showed no significant differences between COVID+ and control groups, indicating that the observed changes were specific to key brain regions rather than generalized across the entire brain.

Statistical analysis involved the use of pairwise Student's t-tests, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, linear regression, two-waves mediation analysis, negative binomial regression, and linear regression, all adjusted for covariates.

Results and discussion Significant differences were observed in the two groups regarding the time between assessments, COVID-19 symptoms, and vaccine status. The research identified five localized functional connectivity hubs with significant differences between the two groups, including the right intracalcarine cortex, right lingual gyrus, left frontal orbital cortex, left hippocampus and left amygdala, which is vital for cognitive functions. Only the left hippocampal volume showed a significant reduction in COVID+ participants (p = 0.034), while whole-brain connectivity remained unchanged, reinforcing the localized nature of the brain changes.

The left amygdala mediated the relationship between COVID-19 and spatial working memory "between errors" (p = 0.028), a critical finding that highlights the indirect effect of amygdala connectivity on cognitive function in COVID+ individuals. This mediation analysis underscores the role of specific brain regions in influencing cognitive deficits, as only the indirect effect was statistically significant for spatial working memory errors. The orbitofrontal cortex, involved in sensory integration and cognitive functions, also showed decreased connectivity in COVID+ individuals, supporting previous findings of structural and functional changes in this region during COVID-19.

The study is limited by small sample size, lack of diversity, potential confounding factors due to the long interval between MRI scans, treatment of certain subjects as COVID-negative based on antibody testing beyond the 12-month threshold, and the possibility of non-significant findings in mediation analysis due to these factors.

Conclusion In conclusion, the findings indicate persistent structural and functional alterations in specific brain regions of COVID-19-positive adolescents and young adults, including changes in gray matter volume and localized functional connectivity, which correlate with diminished cognitive function, particularly in working memory.

Further research is necessary to evaluate the longevity and potential reversibility of these brain and cognitive changes post-infection, enhancing our understanding of post-COVID outcomes and informing future interventions and treatments. The longitudinal design of this study, with pre- and post-COVID data, strengthens these findings by allowing direct comparisons over time, offering robust insights into the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent brain development.

Journal reference: COVID-19 related cognitive, structural and functional brain changes among Italian adolescents and young adults: a multimodal longitudinal case-control study. Invernizzi, A. et al., Translational Psychiatry, 14, 402 (2024), DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-03108-2, www.nature.com/articles/s41398-024-03108-2

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) have studied free-ranging fruit bats in a colony in Egypt to answer the long-standing question of whether animals have complex cognitive abilities previously thought to exist only in humans.

The study focused specifically on mental time travel, episodic memory, delayed gratification and planning ahead, a press release from TAU said.

“For many years, the cognitive abilities to recall personal experiences (episodic memory) and plan ahead were considered exclusive to humans. But more and more studies have suggested that various animals also possess such capabilities, but nearly all of these studies were conducted under laboratory conditions, since field studies on these issues are difficult to perform. Attempting to test these abilities in wild animals, we designed a unique experiment relying on the colony of free-ranging fruit bats based in TAU’s I. Meier Segals Garden for Zoological Research,” said Dr. Yossi Yovel, a lead researcher of the study and a professor in TAU’s School of Zoology and Sagol School of Neuroscience, in the press release.

The study, “Time-mapping and future-oriented behavior in free-ranging wild fruit bats,” was published in the journal Current Biology.

“Episodic memory is the memory of our individual experiences. In animals, people talk about episodic-like memory which is the ability to remember what-where and when an event happened. We show that bats remember how much time (when) passed since they visited a specific tree (what) at a specific location (where),” Yovel told EcoWatch in an email.

The research team surmised that bats who depend on fruit trees to survive would need to develop the ability to track food availability both spatially — where trees are located — and across time — when each tree produces fruit.

“We think that fruit bats map time in order to keep track of available fruit. For example, they know that if two weeks have passed since their last visit to one kind of tree, then there will be no food on that tree, but if only one week passed there might still be food. We show that they plan their visits according to such reasoning,” Yovel told EcoWatch.

To navigate landscapes with numerous nectar and fruit trees, the bats would also need to be able to mentally track resources so that they could revisit them at the right time.

[fatehbaz]

"The globe" and the Empire.

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By the dawn of a century christened as both the American and the geographic century, [...] European explorers and cartographers actively filled the last [apparently] remaining terrae incognitae [on their maps and globes] [...] and excited economic [...] interest [...] in near and far parts of the world and their markets. As imagined [...] in ambitious [...] projects such as the "Millionth Map" [...] in 1891, this world was deemed a sufficiently homogeneous entity […]. [A]t least among the white, free populations of various metropoles[,] […] Europeans [...] established one single imaginary of the world, [...] a meticulously surveyed global environment. [...] On the Western side of the Atlantic, on the other hand, maps and globes heralded, braced, and promoted the expansionist projects of [...] a century of national coming of age for the United States [...] [and its] spatially unsettled, globalizing empire. [...] Americans viewed maps and globes [...] as "arbiters of power" [...]. Drawing a direct line between geography and wars of empire, President McKinley, for instance, told an audience of missionaries […] that, once his prayers to God about the “Filipino question” had been answered, his first presidential order was for “the chief engineer of the War Department (our map-maker) to put the Philippines on the map of the United States” [...]. [H]oping to materialize the "global Monroe Doctrine," [...] Americans [...] needed to pay special attention [...] to those recently-made-cognita regions (such as the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico [occupied by the US]) [...]. Americans' lives were mapped onto a cartographically known, commercially accessible, cognitively smaller world [...]. As [proclaimed in an address from 1898] [...], On our breakfast table lies each morning the toil of Europe, Asia, and Africa, [...] unseen millions, and countless myriads weave and plant for us; we have made [...] life broader by annihilating distance [...].

Text by: Mashid Mayar. "What on Earth! Slated Globes, School Geography and Imperial Pedagogy". European Journal of American Studies 15-2. Summer 2020.

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Simply put, World War II made the United States a planetary presence. State Department officials furiously churned out wartime memos establishing U.S. policy - often for the first time - regarding every nation, colony, region, and sub-duchy on the map. [...] In 1898 imperial expansion had inspired new maps. The 1940s wartime expansion yielded a similar burst of cartographic innovation. [...] Life devoted a fifteen-page spread to the “Dymaxion map” [...]. More popular was the “polar azimuthal projection” perfected by the dean of wartime cartography, [R.E.H.]. [...] The map was an enormous hit, reprinted and copied frequently. [...] The U.S. Army ordered eighteen thousand copies, and the map became the basis for the United Nations logo, designed in 1945. “Never before have persons been so interested in the entire world,” gushed Popular Mechanics. [...] The world must be seen anew, the poet Archibald MacLeish wrote, as a “round earth in which all the directions eventually meet.” “If we win the war,” he continued, “the image of the age which now is opening will be the image of a global earth, a completed sphere.” That word MacLeish chose, global, was new. [...] If the last war was a world war, this one was, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it in September 1942, “a global war.” That was the first time a sitting president had publicly uttered the word global, though every president since has used it incessantly. For Christmas that year, George Marshall presented FDR with a five-hundred-pound globe for the Oval Office. Placed next to Roosevelt’s desk, it was comically large. It resembled the globe with which Charlie Chaplin had performed an amorous dance two years earlier in The Great Dictator, only bigger. [...] “Just as truly as Europe once invaded us, with wave after wave of immigrants, now we are invading Europe, with wave after wave […],” wrote the journalist John Hersey in 1944. Except it wasn’t only Europe. The “invasion” landed in force on every continent [...].

Text by: Daniel Immerwahr. How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States. 2019.

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The US space shuttle Endeavour maintains a British spelling because it was named after Captain James Cook’s famous ship [...]. [V]essels symbolize an empire’s use of narratives of technological progress to expand toward the “ends of the earth” in ways that naturalize dominance over the global commons [...]. Cook claimed Indigenous Pacific lands for Britain while under orders to discover and claim the famed southern continent, Terra Australis Incognita - what eighteenth-century Europeans imagined to be the ends of the earth. [...] As the Pentagon declared in 1961, the “environment in which the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps will operate covers the entire globe and extends from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of interplanetary space” […]. Extraterritorial spaces, such as the high seas, Antarctica, and outer space, are imaginatively, historically, and juridically interconnected. Their international legal regimes […] [were] developed in the midst of the Cold War […]. Denis Cosgrove [...] points to the [...] [late eighteenth-century British Empire's] encirclement of the globe through Cook's navigation of the seas, which allowed for colonial claims to expand to a planetary scale. [...] This circumnavigation in turn led to [...] establishment of Greenwich mean time as a world standard [...]. [T]his encirclement is both a spatial claim to the planet and a temporal one, in that it plots time from a British center. [...] In the memorable words of [...] McLuhan [from 1974, relating to US surveying] [...]: "For the first time the natural world was completely enclosed in a man-made container [...]." The first photograph of the earth from outer space was taken by a V-2 rocket shot from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in 1946 […]. [A]n Apollonian eye, [...] the [...] photographs [...] were part of a context in which […] popular US magazines used wartime cartography in ways that naturalized militarism and empire under the guise of a unifying view of the globe.

Text by: Elizabeth DeLoughrey. "Satellite Planetarity and the Ends of the Earth". Public Culture, Volume 26, Issue 2, pages 257-280. Spring 2014.

[medicineinside]

Unlocking memory mastery 🧠Cognitive hacks for long-term retention

Spaced repetition 🗓️

Instead of massed practice (cramming), spaced repetition involves reviewing material at increasing intervals. This technique has been proven to enhance long-term retention by leveraging the spacing effect, allowing you to remember information more effectively over time.

Memory palaces 🪑

Discover the ancient art of memory palaces, a method that involves associating information with specific locations in a familiar building or spatial environment. By mentally navigating through these spaces, you can easily recall the information linked to each location.

Mnemonics and acronyms 🔤

Transform complex information into memorable acronyms or mnemonic devices. These creative memory aids can help you encode and retrieve information more efficiently by linking it to familiar or vivid associations.

Visual imagery 👀

Embrace the power of visual imagery to enhance memory. Create mental images or mind maps that represent the information you're trying to remember. Visualizing concepts can make them more concrete and easier to recall.

Teach someone else 👩🏻‍🏫

The act of teaching someone else what you've learned can solidify your own understanding and retention of the material. Whether it's explaining concepts to a friend or writing a study guide for a classmate, teaching others reinforces your own knowledge.

Dual coding 🤹🏽‍♀️

Combine verbal and visual information to encode material more deeply. Pairing words with corresponding images or diagrams can create multiple pathways for memory retrieval, making the information stick in your mind.

Chunking 🧗🏽‍♀️

Break down large amounts of information into smaller, more manageable chunks. By organizing material into meaningful groups, you can improve your ability to remember and recall it.

By incorporating these cognitive hacks into your study routine, you can transform the way you learn and retain information. Say goodbye to short-term memory lapses and hello to long-term mastery of your academic material. Get ready to unleash your memory power and achieve academic success like never before!

[markscherz]

What is the smartest frog?

Frog intelligence has not been quantified nearly well enough. That being said, some frogs have a spatial memory of their environment and use that knowledge to navigate it (Pašukonis et al. 2016). This amounts to a 'cognitive map', which is apparently a big deal (Liu et al. 2019). The very limited work that has been done seems to indicate that at least some poison dart frogs (Dendrobatidae) perform better than at least some other frogs (Engystomops pustulosus, Leptodactylidae) (Liu et al. 2020).

[geometrymatters]

Sir Roger Penrose

To me, the world of perfect forms is primary (as was Plato’s own belief) — its existence being almost a logical necessity — and both the other two worlds are its shadows.

Sir Roger Penrose, born on August 8, 1931, in Colchester, Essex, England, is a luminary in the realm of mathematical physics. His journey began with a Ph.D. in algebraic geometry from the University of Cambridge in 1957, and his career has spanned numerous prestigious posts at universities in both England and the United States. His work in the 1960s on the fundamental features of black holes, celestial bodies of such immense gravity that nothing, not even light, can escape, earned him the 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Penrose’s work on black holes, in collaboration with Stephen Hawking, led to the ground-breaking discovery that all matter within a black hole collapses to a singularity, a point in space where mass is compressed to infinite density and zero volume. This revelation illuminated our understanding of these enigmatic cosmic entities.

His work did not stop at the theoretical; he also developed a method of mapping the regions of space-time surrounding a black hole, known as a Penrose diagram. This tool allows us to visualize the effects of gravitation upon an entity approaching a black hole, providing a window into the heart of these celestial mysteries.

Within Penrose’s chapter, “The Godelian Case” (from “The Road to Reality”) the profound implications of Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness theorems are examined in relation to the connection between mathematics and geometry. Specifically, Penrose’s attention centers on the model depicted in Figure 2.1, which portrays a cubic array of spheres. Through this visual representation, Penrose explores the intricate relationship between geometry and mathematical understanding.

By introducing the model of a cubic array of spheres, Penrose highlights the fundamental role of spatial arrangements in mathematical cognition. This geometrical structure serves as a metaphorical embodiment of mathematical concepts, illustrating how spatial configurations can stimulate cognitive processes and facilitate intuitive comprehension of mathematical truths. The intricate interplay between the arrangement of spheres within the model and the underlying principles of mathematics encourages contemplation on the deep-rooted connections between geometry, spatial reasoning, and abstract mathematical thought.

Penrose’s utilization of the cubic array of spheres underscores his broader philosophical framework, which challenges reductionist accounts of human cognition that rely solely on formal systems or computational models. Through this geometrical representation, he advocates for a more holistic understanding of mathematical insight, one that recognizes the essential role of geometric intuition in shaping human understanding.

By looking at the intricate connection between mathematics and geometry, Penrose prompts a re-evaluation of the mechanistic view of cognition, emphasizing the need to incorporate spatial reasoning and intuitive geometrical understanding into comprehensive models of human thought.

(E) Find a sum of successive hexagonal numbers, starting from 1 , that is not a cube. I am going to try to convince you that this computation will indeed continue for ever without stopping. First of all, a cube is called a cube because it is a number that can be represented as a cubic array of points as depicted in Fig. 2. 1 . I want you to try to think of such an array as built up successively, starting at one corner and then adding a succession of three-faced arrangements each consisting of a back wall, side wall, and ceiling, as depicted in Fig. 2.2. Now view this three-faced arrangement from a long way out, along the direction of the corner common to all three faces. What do we see? A hexagon as in Fig. 2.3. The marks that constitute these hexagons, successively increasing in size, when taken together, correspond to the marks that constitute the entire cube. This, then, establishes the fact that adding together successive hexagonal numbers, starting with 1 , will always give a cube. Accordingly, we have indeed ascertained that (E) will never stop.

Penrose’s work is characterized by a profound appreciation for geometry. His father, a biologist with a passion for mathematics, introduced him to the beauty of geometric shapes and patterns at a young age. This early exposure to geometry shaped Penrose’s unique approach to scientific problems, leading him to develop new mathematical notations and diagrams that have become indispensable tools in the field. His creation of the Penrose tiling, a method of covering a plane with a set of shapes without using a repeating pattern, is a testament to his innovative thinking and his deep understanding of geometric principles.

His fascination with geometry extended beyond the realm of mathematics and into the world of art. He was deeply influenced by the work of Dutch artist M.C. Escher, whose intricate drawings of impossible structures and infinite patterns captivated Penrose’s imagination. This encounter with Escher’s art led Penrose to explore the interplay between geometry and art, culminating in his own contributions to the field of mathematical art. His work in this area, like his scientific research, is characterized by a deep appreciation for the beauty and complexity of geometric forms.

In geometric cognition, Penrose’s work has the potential to make significant contributions. His unique perspective on the role of geometry in understanding the physical world, the mind, and even art, offers a fresh approach to this emerging field. His belief in the power of geometric thinking, as evidenced by his own ground-breaking work, suggests that a geometric approach to cognition could yield valuable insights into the nature of thought and consciousness.

Objective mathematical notions must be thought of as timeless entities and are not to be regarded as being conjured into existence at the moment that they are first humanly perceived.

I argue that the phenomenon of consciousness cannot be accommodated within the framework of present-day physical theory.

His Orch OR theory posits that consciousness arises from quantum computations within the brain’s neurons. This bold hypothesis, bridging the gap between the physical and the mental, has sparked intense debate and research in the scientific community.

Penrose’s work on twistor theory, a geometric framework that seeks to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity, is a testament to his belief in the primacy of geometric structures. This theory, which represents particles and fields in a way that emphasizes their geometric and topological properties, can be seen as a metaphor for his views on cognition. Just as twistor theory seeks to represent complex physical phenomena in terms of simpler geometric structures, Penrose suggests that human cognition may also be understood in terms of fundamental geometric and topological structures.

This perspective has significant implications for the field of cognitive geometry, which studies how humans and other animals understand and navigate the geometric properties of their environment. If Penrose’s ideas are correct, our ability to understand and manipulate geometric structures may be a fundamental aspect of consciousness, rooted in the quantum geometry of the brain itself.

The final conclusion of all this is rather alarming. For it suggests that we must seek a non-computable physical theory that reaches beyond every computable level of oracle machines (and perhaps beyond). — Roger Penrose, Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness

[reverieshifts]

𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆

𝒔𝒄𝒊-𝒇𝒊 𝒅𝒓

Estimated Frequency: ~1 in 1,000 Velari

Velari Term: "Sha’lurei" 

Offworlder Term: “resonance”

𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒔

Lumen Node Function: The foundation of resonance-based abilities lies in the lumen node, a specialized neural cluster located near the upper spine, unique to the velari species. In resonants, this node exhibits hyper-synchronous neural oscillation, allowing it to function as a localized psionic amplifier. It contains an unusually dense lattice of iridesium-aligned neurofilaments—a bio-reactive crystalline structure found only in velari tissue—which enhances long-range synaptic cohesion and sensory processing far beyond baseline parameters.

Cognitive Resonance Field (CRF): Rather than emitting force, resonants interface with the ambient energy of space-time through a passive psionic field—an extension of their consciousness that subtly syncs with biological, emotional, and electro-mechanical rhythms in their environment. This “Cognitive Resonance Field” allows them to perceive, interpret, and gently manipulate localized energy patterns without direct contact.

Empathetic Feedback Loop: Resonants process external stimuli through a layered empathic interface, enabling them to “feel” spatial tension, neural dissonance, and even emotional signatures. Many describe the sensation as “walking through thought” or “hearing the world breathe.” This heightened feedback loop enables rapid threat detection, environmental awareness, and non-verbal communication through emotional echo.

𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔

Psychokinetic Manipulation: Through fine-tuned modulation of their CRF, a Resonant can exert subtle kinetic influence on physical objects. Rather than brute force, this manipulation stems from temporary energetic entanglement—an induced alignment between their own neural patterns and the vibratory signature of nearby matter. Movement appears fluid, almost instinctive; objects float, twist, or halt midair as if persuaded rather than forced. Precision scales with emotional clarity and environmental quietude, while range is limited by both psionic focus and spatial density.

Resonant Drift (Self-Levitation): By finely tuning their CRF to the kinetic frequencies of the immediate environment, a resonant can initiate a state of partial anti-kinetic equilibrium—a passive suspension that allows them to float or drift gracefully above the ground. Unlike propulsion-based flight, this “resonant drift” feels more like weightlessness anchored to emotional and spatial awareness. They tend to float instinctively when calm, contemplative, or emotionally overwhelmed. The effect becomes more stable in low-gravity environments or when they are barefoot and in full skin contact with their surroundings. Movement during drift is smooth, gliding, and eerily silent.

Neural Interface Override (“Soft Sync”): By attuning their CRF to simple electronic fields, a Resonant can override low-grade or analog electronic interfaces, such as doors, terminals, scanning systems, and older AI systems without neural shielding. This isn’t hacking—it's resonant subversion: they convince the system it’s already received proper authorization. The process is not instantaneous and requires direct proximity and focus. More complex or modern systems—especially encrypted or military-grade—typically resist this technique or trigger failsafes if improperly tuned.

Emotional Signature Mapping: Resonants perceive the emotional imprint of nearby sentients as complex tonal signatures within their field. These signatures fluctuate with mood, intent, and neural activity, enabling a trained Resonant to distinguish lies, detect concealed aggression, or sense psychological distress before it becomes visible. In groups, they can navigate emotional “weather,” identifying tensions, loyalties, or fractures long before they escalate.

Memory Resonance Touch: With direct skin contact and sufficient emotional synchronization, a Resonant can access echoes of memory embedded in living beings or objects with long-term energetic exposure. This is not a perfect playback, but a fragmented, emotional reconstruction—flashes of fear, joy, grief, or pain layered into the subject like a psychic fingerprint. They typically use this carefully, as overwhelming memories can bleed into their own consciousnesses, leaving them shaken or dazed.

Proximity-Based Thought Echo: While full telepathy is rare and unsustainable, Resonants are capable of passive thought-echo reception within close proximity. This typically manifests as fleeting impressions—unspoken words, images, or urges bleeding across the resonance field. Such impressions are strongest during heightened emotional states or direct physical contact. With deep bonds, this effect can intensify into partial shared cognition, allowing them to communicate without speech under stress.

Environmental Sensory Overlay: The CRF interfaces with a Resonant’s perception as an augmented sensory overlay, mapping environmental tension, motion, and energetic flow in real time. They can detect concealed movement, identify stress fractures in structures, track electromagnetic shifts, or feel malfunctioning machinery before failure occurs. In high-focus states, this field awareness extends through walls, into wiring, and along conduits—turning the space around them into a kind of living schematic.

Energetic Residue Tracing: Every living being and powered device leaves behind a faint resonant signature. A resonant can “listen” to these echoes in a given space to determine recent activity���detecting where someone stood, what systems were accessed, or what emotional state they were in. It works best on unaltered environments and within minutes or hours of the initial event. Older traces become distorted or overwritten. This ability makes them invaluable for post-incident analysis, tracking, or infiltration prep.

Neural Dampening Field (Perceptual Obfuscation): By dampening the outward frequency of their own resonance field, a Resonant can slip beneath the notice of most passive sensors and casual observation. This creates a soft perceptual blind spot, blurring details or delaying recognition in both sentient and synthetic awareness. It doesn't render them invisible—just forgettable. Useful for slipping past scanning systems or lingering unseen in plain sight, especially when paired with stillness and low emotional output. Stronger AI or high-alert targets may still detect them with effort. The effect is brief, typically measured in minutes.

Syncwalk (Micro-Teleportation Glimpses): In moments of deep focus or crisis, a resonant may “blink” across very short distances—instantaneous resonance displacement over a few meters. This is not true teleportation, but a momentary phase-skip, where their field synchronizes so tightly with space that it temporarily collapses and reforms their physical presence along a natural energy seam (such as a corridor, high-voltage conduit, or psionic turbulence vein). Side effects may include nausea, temporal dissonance, or mild electrical charge.

Psionic Disruption Pulse (“Breaker Note”): In moments of acute distress or self-defense, a Resonant can release a burst of destabilized resonance—an involuntary psionic shockwave that disrupts electronic systems, weakens mental shields, and disorients nearby sentients. This “Breaker Note” is not a weapon they control, but a side effect of violent resonance collapse. Systems flicker, glass fractures, and unshielded minds may experience vertigo, nausea, or blackout. Recovery varies by species and exposure.

Energetic Stabilization ("Resonance Sink"): In environments with fluctuating electromagnetic or psionic interference (e.g. hyperspace tunnels, collapsed sectors, psychic storms), a Resonant can act as a stabilizing presence. Their CRF naturally harmonizes nearby fields, creating a calm “bubble” that resists disruptive effects. This function is subconscious and limited in radius, but invaluable for helping allies stay grounded in unstable conditions. In prolonged crises, they often become the centerpoint others unconsciously gravitate toward—emotionally and physically.

Resonance Bonding (Selective): Through sustained exposure and mutual trust, a Resonant can form a biopsionic link with a specific individual. This bond allows for continuous emotional tracking, rapid non-verbal communication, and increased stability of both parties' CRFs when in close proximity. Such bonds are rare, often instinctive, and potentially permanent. Once formed, it is a two-way tether—one that transcends normal distance thresholds and occasionally manifests as shared dreams, dual-state reflexes, or unintentional synchronization.

𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌𝒔

Energetic Depletion: While the CRF operates passively at low levels, active resonance manipulation consumes considerable neural and metabolic energy. Prolonged or intensive use—especially heavy psychokinesis, neural dampening field projection, syncwalking, or the release of a breaker note—can lead to symptoms of acute neural exhaustion, including dizziness, tremors, blurred vision, tinnitus, and spatial disorientation. In advanced stages, overextension may trigger nosebleeds, loss of motor coordination, unconsciousness, or psionic seizures caused by synaptic misfiring within the lumen node.

Emotional Instability: A Resonant’s power is intertwined with their emotional state. Intense emotions—fear, rage, grief—can amplify resonance uncontrollably. While this may grant temporary surges in power, it often results in field bleed, where the CRF spikes erratically, disrupting electronics, disorienting allies, or unintentionally projecting thoughts and memories outward. Emotional overload may also trigger the breaker note reflexively, endangering nearby personnel. Thus, Resonants are trained to regulate their emotional output carefully.

Cognitive Noise Threshold: Environments with high energetic interference—such as densely populated city centers, military command decks, or battlefields—can overload a Resonant’s sensory field. The constant barrage of emotional signatures, EM fields, and kinetic motion can produce a sensory “hum” that drowns out their fine-tuned perception. In these conditions, abilities may become muted, erratic, or outright disabled unless they can find stillness or an anchor point (such as a bonded individual).

Field Range Limitations: The Cognitive Resonance Field is localized, typically extending only a few meters from the user’s body. Precision psychokinetics and soft-sync interfacing require proximity within arm’s reach or line-of-sight. Emotional and sensory mapping is strongest within a 10–15 meter radius, and drops off sharply beyond that. A resonant cannot affect or perceive distant targets unless a direct bond has been formed—and even then, range is variable and unreliable.

Bond Vulnerability: Resonance bonds, while powerful, are also liabilities. Through them, a Resonant can experience echoes of pain, fear, or emotional collapse from a linked partner—and they from them. In moments of physical trauma or mental instability, the bond may destabilize both parties simultaneously, amplifying stress responses or creating shared disorientation. Severing a bond—voluntarily or by death—can trigger a complete CRF collapse, with unknown long-term neurological impact.

𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂

Ok, so there's a lot of information shoved into here, so sorry about that, but I love making myself overpowered, so yeah. Like with my description of the velari species, I tried to make this sound a little more scientific to fit with the whole sci-fi theme, so again, it may read like a bit of a report. But anyways, all this basically comes down to the fact that resonant velari are able to sync up with the world around them, and sort of convince reality to act as they please. Because resonance isn't control or manipulation, it's a discussion with the universe itself.

@aprilshiftz @lalalian

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 25, 2025

Opponent control of reinforcement by striatal dopamine and serotonin. Cardozo Pinto, D. F., Pomrenze, M. B., Guo, M. Y., Touponse, G. C., Chen, A. P. F., Bentzley, B. S., Eshel, N., & Malenka, R. C. (2025). Nature, 639(8053), 143–152.

Emergence of a Dynamical State of Coherent Bursting with Power-Law Distributed Avalanches from Collective Stochastic Dynamics of Adaptive Neurons. Chan, L.-C., Kok, T.-F., & Ching, E. S. C. (2025). PRX Life, 3(1), 013013.

Fear conditioning modulates the intrinsic excitability of ventral hippocampal CA1 neurons in male rats. Ehlers, V. L., Yousuf, H., Smies, C. W., Natwora, B. R., & Moyer, J. R. (2025). Journal of Neurophysiology, 133(3), 853–867.

Separating cognitive and motor processes in the behaving mouse. Hasnain, M. A., Birnbaum, J. E., Ugarte Nunez, J. L., Hartman, E. K., Chandrasekaran, C., & Economo, M. N. (2025). Nature Neuroscience, 28(3), 640–653.

Neural mechanisms of learned suppression uncovered by probing the hidden attentional priority map. Huang, C., van Moorselaar, D., Foster, J., Donk, M., & Theeuwes, J. (2025). eLife, 13, e98304.3.

Robust encoding of stimulus–response mapping by neurons in visual cortex. Jonikaitis, D., Xia, R., & Moore, T. (2025). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(9), e2408079122.

Long-term memory facilitates spontaneous memory usage through multiple pathways. Kumle, L., Kovoor, J., Watt, R. L., Boettcher, S. E. P., Nobre, A. C., & Draschkow, D. (2025). Current Biology, 35(5), 1171-1179.e5.

Error prediction determines the coordinate system used for the representation of novel dynamics. Leib, R., & Franklin, D. (2025). eLife, 14, e84349.

Statistical learning re-shapes the center-surround inhibition of the visuo-spatial attentional focus. Massironi, A., Lega, C., Ronconi, L., & Bricolo, E. (2025). Scientific Reports, 15, 7656.

Hair Cells in the Cochlea Must Tune Resonant Modes to the Edge of Instability without Destabilizing Collective Modes. Momi, A. S., Abbott, M. C., Rubinfien, J., Machta, B. B., & Graf, I. R. (2025). PRX Life, 3(1), 013001.

Decision cost hypersensitivity underlies Huntington’s disease apathy. Morris, L.-A., Horne, K.-L., Manohar, S., Paermentier, L., Buchanan, C. M., MacAskill, M. R., Myall, D. J., Apps, M., Roxburgh, R., Anderson, T. J., Husain, M., & Le Heron, C. J. (2025). Brain, 148(3), 861–874.

Integration of Euclidean and path distances in hippocampal maps. Ottink, L., de Haas, N., & Doeller, C. F. (2025). Scientific Reports, 15, 7104.

Aversive generalization in human amygdala neurons. Reitich-Stolero, T., Halperin, D., Morris, G., Goldstein, L., Bergman, L., Fahoum, F., Strauss, I., & Paz, R. (2025). Current Biology, 35(5), 1137-1144.e3.

Compartmentalized dendritic plasticity in the mouse retrosplenial cortex links contextual memories formed close in time. Sehgal, M., Filho, D. A., Kastellakis, G., Kim, S., Lee, J., Shen, Y., Huang, S., Lavi, A., Fernandes, G., Davila Mejia, I., Martin, S. S., Pekcan, A., Wu, M. S., Heo, W. Do, Poirazi, P., Trachtenberg, J. T., & Silva, A. J. (2025). Nature Neuroscience, 28(3), 602–615.

Adaptive chunking improves effective working memory capacity in a prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia circuit. Soni, A., & Frank, M. J. (2025). eLife, 13, e97894.3.

Attention to memory content enhances single-unit spike sequence fidelity in the human anterior temporal lobe. Sundby, K. K., Vaz, A. P., Wittig, J. H., Jackson, S. N., Inati, S. K., & Zaghloul, K. A. (2025). Current Biology, 35(5), 1085-1094.e5.

Acetylcholine modulates prefrontal outcome coding during threat learning under uncertainty. Tu, G., Wen, P., Halawa, A., & Takehara-Nishiuchi, K. (2025). eLife, 13, e102986.2.

The effect of fasting on human memory consolidation. Yang, X., Miao, X., Schweiggart, F., Großmann, S., Rauss, K., Hallschmid, M., Born, J., & Lutz, N. D. (2025). Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 218, 108034.

Neural Correlates of Perceptual Plasticity in the Auditory Midbrain and Thalamus. Ying, R., Stolzberg, D. J., & Caras, M. L. (2025). Journal of Neuroscience, 45(10), e0691242024.

Hippocampal neuronal activity is aligned with action plans. Zutshi, I., Apostolelli, A., Yang, W., Zheng, Z. S., Dohi, T., Balzani, E., Williams, A. H., Savin, C., & Buzsáki, G. (2025). Nature, 639(8053), 153–161.

[bardic-tales]

This post explores a comprehensive set of behavioral headcanons exclusive to Bianca Moore in her draconic phoenix true form. It is inspired by a range of avian predators and reptilian species, including harpy eagles, iguanas, and komodo dragons.

These instincts, rituals, and social dynamics are not present in Bianca’s celestial humanoid state. Instead, they represent the raw, animalistic psyche of a form shaped by magic and survival. Each trait has been carefully mapped to real-world behaviors to deepen the lore of Bianca’s monstrous physiology.

Possible Trigger Warnings: Abandonment, aggression, bodily transformation, child endangerment (threatened but not acted upon), death imagery, emotional dysregulation, grief, mating/sexual behavior (non-explicit but instinctive), obsessive attachment, predation, psychological warfare, self-isolation, territorial violence, and trauma responses.

⚠️ Disclaimer: The following headcanons are exclusive to Bianca Moore’s true, draconic phoenix form. These behaviors are not present in her celestial humanoid form, which functions socially and cognitively on a human level. These traits are drawn exclusively from birds of prey and reptilian species, such as harpy eagles, hawks, and iguanas. I also had help from my daughter and my husband building this this. I want to say a big thank you to @prehistoric-creatures for helping me with the reptile behavior portion of this.

BEHAVIOR

Harpy Eagle: Perches silently at impossible heights, unmoving for hours, only to strike with explosive precision. Bianca’s stillness is a prelude to catastrophic action.

Bearded Vulture: She deliberately coats herself in certain kinds of mineral dust or ash, ritualistic behavior mimicking dust bathing, signifying dominance or emotional shifts.

Iguana: Tail-whipping is used to enforce territorial dominance or punish enemies. Her tendrilled tail arcs with concussive force to knock back challengers.

Red-tailed Hawk: She performs slow, spiraling flight displays over her domain to signal territorial claim. It’s not for intimidation. It’s declaration.

Harpy Eagle: When descending on prey or target, she folds her wings and drops in controlled freefall: an unnerving display of predatory focus.

Monitor Lizard: Slow, tongue-flicking behavior to “taste” magical currents in the air, testing ley lines or detecting metaphysical disruptions.

Hawk: She keeps an aerial map of her mental territory. She notices any spatial distortion, even if only an inch has changed.

Chameleon (reptile, not color): Subtle skin-texture shifts on her tendrils indicate mood. Raised barbs signal agitation while smoothness indicates calm.

Crested Caracara: She uses her talons to methodically rip apart magical barriers: tactile and almost surgical in her destruction.

Komodo Dragon: She "tests" magic or matter by briefly brushing it with a tendril, as she checks for curses, traps, or anomalies before deeper interaction.

Harpy Eagle: Perches silently at impossible heights, unmoving for hours, only to strike with explosive precision. Bianca’s stillness is a prelude to catastrophic action.

Bearded Vulture: She deliberately coats herself in certain kinds of mineral dust or ash, ritualistic behavior mimicking dust bathing, signifying dominance or emotional shifts.

Iguana: Tail-whipping is used to enforce territorial dominance or punish enemies. Her tendrilled tail arcs with concussive force to knock back challengers.

Red-tailed Hawk: She performs slow, spiraling flight displays over her domain to signal territorial claim. It’s not for intimidation. It’s declaration.

Harpy Eagle: When descending on prey or target, she folds her wings and drops in controlled freefall: an unnerving display of predatory focus.

Monitor Lizard: Slow, tongue-flicking behavior to “taste” magical currents in the air, testing ley lines or detecting metaphysical disruptions.

Hawk: She keeps an aerial map of her mental territory. She notices any spatial distortion, even if only an inch has changed.

Chameleon (reptile, not color): Subtle skin-texture shifts on her tendrils indicate mood. Raised barbs signal agitation while smoothness indicates calm.

Crested Caracara: She uses her talons to methodically rip apart magical barriers and reality, itself: tactile and almost surgical in her destruction.

Komodo Dragon: She "tests" magic or matter by briefly brushing it with a tendril, as she checks for curses, traps, or anomalies before deeper interaction.

COMBAT & TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOR

Harpy Eagle: Bianca divebombs with wings tucked in and eyes glowing like lanterns, hitting with the force of a meteor. It’s a trademark ambush style.

iguana: Her tail can lash in wide arcs with enough force to dent steel. She uses it as a crowd control weapon. Fast, savage, and meant to create breathing room.

Harpy Eagle: When challenged, she spreads her wings fully and arches her back, eyes narrowed, tendrils raised. This is the “I will end you” pose.

Chameleon: Her body shimmers with a miasmic overlay that lets her partially blend with shadows for ambush tactics, though she prefers direct dominance.

Komodo Dragon: Her bite can carry a necrotic venom from her miasma-infused saliva. One bite and it starts liquefying magical defenses.

Draco Lizard: She uses wind currents and thermals masterfully, able to hover near-still mid-air before plunging on her prey.

Harpy Eagle: If grounded, she grabs her opponent with both talons and repeatedly slams them into the terrain. Not subtle. Very final.

Anole Lizard: Her tendrils can swell and glow during rage-states. This isn’t fire, it’s a pressure signal. A silent “back off.”

Bearded Dragon: When truly cornered, Bianca will expand the muscles around her throat and chest, making herself look double her size before attacking with both claws and wings.

Harpy Eagle: Her scream during battle is a piercing shriek that echoes and rebounds through the air, disorienting the senses and sometimes cracking delicate structures.

COMMUNICATION

Budgerigar (parakeet): Clacks her beak to express happiness or low-level comfort.

Harpy Eagle: Ear-splitting, guttural screeches act as long-range vocalizations: biomagical sonar, locating her kin or warning interlopers.

Bearded Vulture: Rattles her tendrils together like dry bone to emit a low-pitched, rattling sound. This is a threat display or low warning.

Iguana: She performs exaggerated head-bobs and full-body sways during confrontation, which is visually intimidating but also ritualistic.

Raven (raptor-adjacent corvid): Mimics the magical signatures of others as a taunt. Her mimicry is eerily accurate and meant to disorient.

Bald Eagle: In close proximity to her young, uses soft grunts and throat-clicks to communicate comfort and presence.

Anole Lizard: Raises one limb slowly and pauses. This a sign of submission or “ceasefire” when addressing Sephiroth or children.

Screech Owl: Emits a bone-chilling shriek at irregular intervals to draw enemies into a false sense of distance. This is for psychological warfare.

Hawk: When guarding the sleeping forms of her children, she emits rhythmic breathing pulses that regulate their heartbeat and sleep cycles.

Iguana Tail Slap: She slaps her tendril tail against the ground or air to send vibrational messages through terrain. This is her version of seismic warning.

EMOTIONAL & SOCIAL BEHAVIORS

Harpy Eagle: Bianca will emit short, sharp cries when anxious. It is barely audible, like tension escaping a pressure valve. Only Aurora and Lucien can identify it.

Bearded Dragon: She tilts her head sideways when trying to understand something unfamiliar, especially tech or foreign magic. It’s… surprisingly cute.

Harpy Eagle: When excited, she will leap straight into the air from a crouch and spread her wings fully. It's an outburst of emotion she can’t quite control.

Iguana: During quiet reflection, her tendrils slow their movement and curl inward, forming spiral shapes that mirror her inner tension or thought process.

Budgie: She mirrors behaviors of those she loves (particularly the kids). If Lucien yawns, she might mimic it with an eerie, toothless stretch.

Komodo Dragon: When agitated or grieving, she scratches at the ground or walls with her talons, sometimes to the point of drawing sparks or blood.

Harpy Eagle: If humiliated or emotionally wounded, she retreats to the highest, most isolated perch available and perches there motionless for hours, wings tight to her sides.

Draco Lizard: She flares her wings like a cape when entering a room containing her loved ones: a visual affirmation of protection.

Monitor Lizard: When welcoming someone back (Sephiroth, the kids), she presses her body low to the ground and puffs out a warm gust of miasma. It's a version of a hug.

Harpy Eagle: When truly proud of Aurora or Lucien, she lets out a soft, upward warble. It's a note so rare that even they know it’s a mark of deep pride.

ENVIRONMENT & RESTING BEHAVIORS

Harpy Eagle: Bianca prefers roosting in high, desolate places. Nesting areas are built from bone and metal. Not comfy. Symbolic.

Iguana: She will bask in magical aether-light (magic) to recharge, stretching full wings and fanning her tail. Her tendrils writhe lazily in the glow.

Monitor Lizard: She digs shallow depressions with her forelimbs to rest, wrapping her body protectively around Aurora and Lucien in a spiral.

Budgie: When content, she softly clicks her beak and occasionally mirrors the subtle, high-pitched sounds of her children. It’s a kind of bonding echo.

Harpy Eagle: She perches on cliff edges with one talon retracted, eyes half-lidded but fully alert. Her apparent rest is always a lie. Harpy Eagle: In extreme emotion (grief, fury), she will open all the eyes on her wings and torso at once, creating a swirling hypnotic pattern of horror.

Anole Lizard: When adjusting to a new location, she cycles through minor color shifts in her feathered body to map magical leyline density. She’s a living compass.

Draco Lizard: When alone with Sephiroth, Bianca wraps her tendrils loosely around herself and tucks her head beneath her wings: half-hiding, half-relaxing. It's her rarest vulnerability.

Harpy Eagle: Her sleep is fractured. She dozes in intense micro-naps while one or more of her many eyes remain open, especially when guarding the children.

FUN, QUIRKY BEHAVIORS

Budgie: She grinds the edges of her beak to sharpen them. It's not unlike sharpening a blade on stone. Sometimes it sounds like bones crunching.

Iguana: When relaxed, her tail slowly flicks back and forth like a metronome. It’s hypnotic. Almost meditative.

Harpy Eagle: She will tap her talons rhythmically when thinking. It’s how she processes ideas like a ticking clock.

Harpy Eagle: If she’s bored, she starts rearranging things with her talons—bones and stones—into strange spirals. She tends to refresh her nest.

Budgie: She softly beak-bumps her children’s heads when they’re sad. It's her best attempt at comfort that doesn’t involve monstrous screeching.

Harpy Eagle: Bianca has a unique “laugh” in this form: a descending screech followed by a clack of her beak. If you hear it, someone is suffering, and, of course, she finds it hilarious.

INSTINCT

Harpy Eagle: When sensing a threat to her children, she divebombs instinctively from the highest point, striking before her mind catches up.

Bald Eagle: She will instinctively positions herself between danger and her children. No matter the odds, no hesitation.

Komodo Dragon: If injured, she instinctively attempts to reach a solitary height before healing. High ground equals safety.

Hawk: All of her eyes lock on the smallest movements even in chaos. She cannot “turn off” this behavior. She always analyzes the twitch.

Bearded Vulture: She avoids water instinctively prefers to clean herself in wind and ash in her true form. Water is “too still” and feels wrong.

Raptor (general): She instinctively guards her back with her tendril-fan when surrounded. No matter the angle, she knows what’s behind her.

Iguana: When startled, whips her tendrils in a frenzy. This is reflexive, not conscious. It can break bones.

Harpy Eagle: She reacts to sudden elevation drops by flaring all limbs and wings at once, spreading weight to avoid crashing.

Hawk: When separated from Sephiroth, she emits a singular, high-pitched whistle. She rarely even notices doing it.

MATING BEHAVIOR

Bearded Dragon: When feeling affection during courtship, she will bob her head once and then lower it. It's a subdued gesture but for her, it's intimate, nearly sacred.

Iguana: When highly stimulated by proximity to Sephiroth (emotionally or sexually), the color of her tendrils deepens in saturation and pulses rhythmically with her heartbeat. They do not act independently in this moment. They align toward him.

Harpy Eagle: Bianca creates elaborate sky displays, with shadow-miasma trails in precise spirals, as an invitation. She does not do this for anyone but Sephiroth.

Falcon: Bianca uses screeches that descend in pitch to signal her readiness. These vocalizations are terrifying to others, like death screaming, but to Sephiroth, they're a mating song.

Monitor Lizard: If challenged or interrupted during an emotional bonding moment, Bianca will rise to her full height, inflate her chest with air, and issue a growl-like hiss that makes the ground vibrate. She will not tolerate interference.

Bald Eagle: She brings Sephiroth a "gift" after every mating ritual, typically something symbolic from a former battlefield (charred bone, rusted metal). It's not romantic.

Harpy Eagle: After she recovers her love for flight, her mating space is always in the highest place possible whether a cliff or spiral. She views lower altitudes as unworthy for something so sacred.

Anole Lizard: Her tendrils can puff outward from her feathered crown in a fan-like display when in proximity to Sephiroth. This is involuntary: a sign of vulnerability, which she loathes and only allows with him.

Harpy Eagle + Frill-Necked Lizard: If threatened during courtship, her entire tendril crown flares and her screech becomes a multi-tonal, layered soundwave that sends weaker beings to their knees. It’s not for battle. It’s a warning: “I’m with him.”

PARENTING BEHAVIORS

Harpy Eagle: Bianca fiercely defends her young’s nesting site: the Ethereal Nexus. If Aurora or Lucien are even looked at wrong, she will drop from the sky like a silent executioner.

Komodo Dragon: Her miasma seeps into the walls of the nesting chamber, poisoning intruders while keeping her children immune. The shadows act as both guardian and cradle.

Harpy Eagle: She preens the feathers on her young with surgical precision, using the tips of her tendrils. Each movement is careful, as if they're holy relics.

Budgie: She makes clicking sounds by snapping her beak-like jaws together softly when around her children. It's a comforting rhythm. A lullaby in clicks.

Iguana: Her tail fan flares wide when her children are afraid, creating a shadow barrier around them. It whips to clear the area and reassure them, acting as both blanket and blade.

Harpy Eagle: Bianca rarely leaves her young alone for long; when she must, she leaves a spirit-bound echo of her form to watch them: one of the few signs of her sentimentality.

Monitor Lizard: She teaches through staged predation, creating illusions for the kids to destroy. She ensures they win, always. Not for ego, but to instill confidence.

Harpy Eagle: She brings them pieces of magic-charged prey to encourage channeling of their own abilities. If Sephiroth’s style is discipline, Bianca’s is immersion.

Lizard Brooding Behavior: When they’re sick or injured, Bianca curls her entire massive form around them, wings and tendrils creating a silent cocoon. Her inner miasma dims to reduce overstimulation, and she will not move until they heal.

@themaradwrites @shepardstales @megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen @chickensarentcheap

@inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @serenofroses

[drdemonprince]

Annual seasonal change anon:

Another thing is, and I say this as someone who approaches a lot of topics from a kind of literature-and-writing point of view, but I also think some of how I cope with change is by structuring a narrative around it so that it becomes a process, rather than an instant. I don't know if that will make sense or be useful to other people.

Like, essays have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Stories have a beginning, middle and end. In terms of human cognition, we can form an understanding of the world around us by simplifying and structuring things so that we can interpret it more easily. And one of the common structures is schemas or maps which are kind of spatial in terms of how we relate concepts to each other and interact with them, and another is scripts which are sequential and based on multiple, linked events happening over time. And a lot of human communication can be analysed in terms of being a script with a beginning, middle and end, it's just that the amount of time and detail spent on the different stages will vary based on purposes and social contexts.

And I think it's really common in Autistic social circles to talk about how useful it is to see examples of scripts, eg for particular kinds of social interactions. But that isn't often explicitly connected to the concept of a script being a cognitive structure that humans find useful, where there's an overall structure of beginning, middle, and end, and within that, you have a more detailed outline and some things are optional and some things depend on each other etc but you can more easily fit things together and make sense of them if you have a sense of how to structure it.

I think (for me personally, at least, of course) it becomes overwhelmingly much harder to deal with change if there isn't a script. When I sit down and articulate the process, so there's the beginning before the change, the process of change in the middle, and at the end the change has more or less finished happening and we've ended up in a different situation, it becomes much easier to grasp. But if I don't consciously think about this stuff, and automatically think about change as an instantaneous moment where there's a before and after but the change itself is just BAM! without context or connections, I'm more stressed.

So the seasonality thing is about conceptualising things as repeating cycles and deliberately using past experience to increase my sense of familiarity and control - or addressing a new situation as "the first example of its type" and taking notes that I can draw upon in the future (have done that with overwhelming situations like camping and moving house, and the idea of having preparedness in the future helped me calm down the emotions around unfamiliarity of the present).

But there's also some type of time-blindness or collapsing of time that I seem to do, and if I stop and organise all the things in my head into a type of process, that expands time and structures it and it's both emotionally and cognitively easier for me to handle it and have a sense of control and actually be able to develop coping methods.

I know this is a bit abstract, I don't know if it'll either make sense or seem useful to others. But "conceptualising things as a process" is a load-bearing part of how I approach change, including very overwhelming and distressing examples of change. It really helps me.

This makes perfect sense to me, and seems useful! I think I do a lot of similar stuff with social fluctuations, too. You eventually get to learn the social behaviors and verbal patterns that suggest the party is one hour away from ending, people are finishing their last drinks, it's time to clean up, it's time for people to chat for another forty minutes in the doorway, etc. Marking these moments as expected stages of the progression helps keep me from feeling AS waylaid when the "end time" of an event extends way past what was scheduled, because people *always* take longer than they say they will and so I can just expect it instead of believing what they say. Even larger changes like a person moving out / moving away has little quiet stages you can learn to listen to, too.

[trypurplenotes]

* purplenotes #10642 • Mar 28th, 2025

Purplenotes gets you Writing More.

Heidegger reframed:

1. "The written word discloses the Being of human existence, revealing its temporal and spatial situatedness."

2. "The noosphere, as the realm of written discourse, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding."

3. "Writing temporalizes human existence, allowing it to transcend its finitude and become part of the larger narrative of Being."

4. "The oral tradition, as a pre-reflective mode of disclosure, is supplanted by the written word, which inaugurates a new epoch of human self-understanding."

5. "The accumulation of written knowledge constitutes the sedimentation of human existence, providing the foundation for future generations to build upon."

6. "The written word has the power to resolute human existence, awakening it to its own finitude and the imperative of authentic self-disclosure."

7. "Ontological engineering, as the process of shaping the noosphere through writing, constitutes the fundamental project of human existence."

8. "The noosphere, as the shared reservoir of written knowledge, constitutes the ontological clearing in which human existence unfolds."

9. "Writing constitutes the authentic mode of human self-disclosure, allowing individuals to take responsibility for their own existence and project themselves into the future."

10. "The written word bridges the gap between past and present, constituting the temporal horizon of human understanding."

11. "Self-expression, as the process of disclosing one's own existence through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human authenticity."

12. "The noosphere, as the dynamic and evolving realm of written discourse, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding."

13. "The written word has the power to inspire, educate, and transform human existence, awakening it to new possibilities of Being."

14. "The written word constitutes the fundamental tool of social critique, allowing individuals to challenge existing power structures and project new possibilities of Being."

15. "Writing constitutes the authentic mode of human legacy, allowing individuals to transcend their own finitude and leave a lasting impact on the world."

16. "The noosphere, as the realm of abstract conceptual entities, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding."

17. "Cognitive mapping, as the process of disclosing the ontological structure of human existence through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human self-understanding."

18. "The written word has the power to evoke emotions, spark imagination, and disclose new possibilities of Being."

19. "Introspection, as the process of disclosing one's own existence through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human authenticity."

20. "The noosphere, as the collective dreamscape of human imagination, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding."

21. "Writing constitutes the authentic mode of tapping into the collective unconscious, allowing individuals to disclose new possibilities of Being."

22. "The written word has the power to heal, comfort, and inspire human existence, disclosing new possibilities of Being."

23. "World-building, as the process of disclosing new possibilities of Being through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human creativity."

24. "The noosphere, as the realm of endless possibility, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding."

25. "Writing constitutes the authentic mode of transcending the limitations of space and time, allowing human existence to become part of the larger narrative of Being."

26. "The written word has the power to connect human existence across cultures and centuries, disclosing new possibilities of Being."

27. "Distilling human experience into essence through writing constitutes the fundamental mode of human self-understanding."

28. "The noosphere, as the dynamic and self-organizing system of written discourse, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding."

29. "Writing constitutes the authentic mode of participating in the co-creation of reality, allowing human existence to take responsibility for its own Being."

30. "The written word has the power to reshape the fabric of reality itself, disclosing new possibilities of Being and inaugurating new epochs of human existence."

Expanded:

1. The written word discloses the Being of human existence, revealing its temporal and spatial situatedness. This disclosure is not merely a reflection of human existence, but rather a fundamental constituent of it. Through writing, human existence is able to express itself, its thoughts, and its experiences, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of its own Being. This understanding is not a static entity, but rather a dynamic and evolving process that unfolds through the written word.

2. The noosphere, as the realm of written discourse, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding. This horizon is not a fixed or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The noosphere is the realm in which human existence encounters and interprets the written word, thereby gaining insight into its own Being and the world around it. Through the noosphere, human existence is able to transcend its own limitations and participate in the larger narrative of Being.

3. Writing temporalizes human existence, allowing it to transcend its finitude and become part of the larger narrative of Being. This temporalization is not merely a matter of recording events in a chronological sequence, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to project itself into the future, thereby gaining a sense of purpose and direction. This projection is not a deterministic or predictable process, but rather a dynamic and creative unfolding of human existence.

4. The oral tradition, as a pre-reflective mode of disclosure, is supplanted by the written word, which inaugurates a new epoch of human self-understanding. This supplantation is not a rejection of the oral tradition, but rather a transformation and extension of it. The written word provides a new level of reflectivity and self-awareness, allowing human existence to gain a deeper understanding of its own Being and the world around it. Through the written word, human existence is able to critically examine and reinterpret its own traditions and practices.

5. The accumulation of written knowledge constitutes the sedimentation of human existence, providing the foundation for future generations to build upon. This sedimentation is not a static or determinate entity, but rather a dynamic and evolving process that unfolds through the written word. The accumulation of written knowledge is not merely a matter of collecting facts and information, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through the written word, human existence is able to transcend its own limitations and participate in the larger narrative of Being.

6. The written word has the power to resolute human existence, awakening it to its own finitude and the imperative of authentic self-disclosure. This resoluteness is not merely a matter of individual resolve or determination, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through the written word, human existence is able to confront its own finitude and mortality, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of its own Being and the world around it. This confrontation is not a source of despair or nihilism, but rather a catalyst for authentic self-disclosure and the pursuit of meaning.

7. Ontological engineering, as the process of shaping the noosphere through writing, constitutes the fundamental project of human existence. This project is not merely a matter of individual creativity or self-expression, but rather a collective and ongoing process that shapes the very fabric of reality. Through the written word, human existence is able to create new possibilities and perspectives, thereby expanding the horizon of its own Being. This expansion is not a deterministic or predictable process, but rather a dynamic and creative unfolding of human existence.

8. The noosphere, as the shared reservoir of written knowledge, constitutes the ontological clearing in which human existence unfolds. This clearing is not a static or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The noosphere is the realm in which human existence encounters and interprets the written word, thereby gaining insight into its own Being and the world around it. Through the noosphere, human existence is able to transcend its own limitations and participate in the larger narrative of Being.

9. Writing constitutes the authentic mode of human self-disclosure, allowing individuals to take responsibility for their own existence and project themselves into the future. This self-disclosure is not merely a matter of individual introspection or self-awareness, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to express itself, its thoughts, and its experiences, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of its own Being and the world around it. This understanding is not a static entity, but rather a dynamic and evolving process that unfolds through the written word.

10. The written word bridges the gap between past and present, constituting the temporal horizon of human understanding. This horizon is not a fixed or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The written word provides a means of accessing and interpreting the past, thereby gaining insight into the present and the future. Through the written word, human existence is able to transcend its own limitations and participate in the larger narrative of Being.

11. Self-expression, as the process of disclosing one's own existence through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human authenticity. This self-expression is not merely a matter of individual creativity or self-awareness, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to express itself, its thoughts, and its experiences, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of its own Being and the world around it. This understanding is not a static entity, but rather a dynamic and evolving process that unfolds through the written word.

12. The noosphere, as the dynamic and evolving realm of written discourse, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding. This horizon is not a fixed or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The noosphere is the realm in which human existence encounters and interprets the written word, thereby gaining insight into its own Being and the world around it. Through the noosphere, human existence is able to transcend its own limitations and participate in the larger narrative of Being.

13. The written word has the power to inspire, educate, and transform human existence, awakening it to new possibilities of Being. This awakening is not merely a matter of individual enlightenment or self-awareness, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through the written word, human existence is able to access new knowledge, perspectives, and experiences, thereby expanding its own horizon of understanding. This expansion is not a deterministic or predictable process, but rather a dynamic and creative unfolding of human existence.

14. The written word constitutes the fundamental tool of social critique, allowing individuals to challenge existing power structures and project new possibilities of Being. This critique is not merely a matter of individual dissent or rebellion, but rather a fundamental transformation of the social and cultural landscape. Through the written word, human existence is able to question and challenge the dominant narratives and power structures, thereby creating new possibilities for social change and transformation.

15. Writing constitutes the authentic mode of human legacy, allowing individuals to transcend their own finitude and leave a lasting impact on the world. This legacy is not merely a matter of individual achievement or accomplishment, but rather a fundamental transformation of the world itself. Through writing, human existence is able to create a lasting record of its thoughts, experiences, and achievements, thereby transcending its own limitations and participating in the larger narrative of Being.

16. The noosphere, as the realm of abstract conceptual entities, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding. This horizon is not a fixed or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The noosphere is the realm in which human existence encounters and interprets abstract concepts and ideas, thereby gaining insight into its own Being and the world around it.

17. Cognitive mapping, as the process of disclosing the ontological structure of human existence through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human self-understanding. This self-understanding is not merely a matter of individual introspection or self-awareness, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to create a map of its own Being, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of its own thoughts, experiences, and emotions.

18. The written word has the power to evoke emotions, spark imagination, and disclose new possibilities of Being. This disclosure is not merely a matter of individual creativity or self-expression, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through the written word, human existence is able to access new emotions, ideas, and perspectives, thereby expanding its own horizon of understanding.

19. Introspection, as the process of disclosing one's own existence through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human authenticity. This authenticity is not merely a matter of individual self-awareness or introspection, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to express itself, its thoughts, and its experiences, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of its own Being and the world around it. This understanding is not a static entity, but rather a dynamic and evolving process that unfolds through the written word.

20. The noosphere, as the collective dreamscape of human imagination, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding. This horizon is not a fixed or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The noosphere is the realm in which human existence encounters and interprets the collective imagination, thereby gaining insight into its own Being and the world around it.

21. Writing constitutes the authentic mode of tapping into the collective unconscious, allowing individuals to disclose new possibilities of Being. This tapping is not merely a matter of individual intuition or instinct, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to access the collective unconscious, thereby gaining insight into the deeper structures and patterns of human existence.

22. The written word has the power to heal, comfort, and inspire human existence, disclosing new possibilities of Being. This disclosure is not merely a matter of individual self-expression or creativity, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through the written word, human existence is able to access new emotions, ideas, and perspectives, thereby expanding its own horizon of understanding.

23. World-building, as the process of disclosing new possibilities of Being through writing, constitutes the fundamental mode of human creativity. This creativity is not merely a matter of individual self-expression or imagination, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to create new worlds, characters, and scenarios, thereby expanding its own horizon of understanding and disclosing new possibilities of Being.

24. The noosphere, as the realm of endless possibility, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding. This horizon is not a fixed or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The noosphere is the realm in which human existence encounters and interprets the endless possibilities of Being, thereby gaining insight into its own Being and the world around it.

25. Writing constitutes the authentic mode of transcending the limitations of space and time, allowing human existence to become part of the larger narrative of Being. This transcendence is not merely a matter of individual imagination or creativity, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to project itself into the future, thereby gaining a sense of purpose and direction. This projection is not a deterministic or predictable process, but rather a dynamic and creative unfolding of human existence.

26. The written word has the power to connect human existence across cultures and centuries, disclosing new possibilities of Being. This connection is not merely a matter of individual communication or exchange, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through the written word, human existence is able to access new knowledge, perspectives, and experiences, thereby expanding its own horizon of understanding. This expansion is not a deterministic or predictable process, but rather a dynamic and creative unfolding of human existence.

27. Distilling human experience into essence through writing constitutes the fundamental mode of human self-understanding. This self-understanding is not merely a matter of individual introspection or self-awareness, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to express itself, its thoughts, and its experiences, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of its own Being and the world around it. This understanding is not a static entity, but rather a dynamic and evolving process that unfolds through the written word.

28. The noosphere, as the dynamic and self-organizing system of written discourse, constitutes the ontological horizon of human understanding. This horizon is not a fixed or determinate entity, but rather a fluid and ever-changing boundary that shapes and is shaped by human understanding. The noosphere is the realm in which human existence encounters and interprets the written word, thereby gaining insight into its own Being and the world around it. Through the noosphere, human existence is able to transcend its own limitations and participate in the larger narrative of Being.

29. Writing constitutes the authentic mode of participating in the co-creation of reality, allowing human existence to take responsibility for its own Being. This participation is not merely a matter of individual creativity or self-expression, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through writing, human existence is able to project itself into the world, thereby gaining a sense of agency and purpose. This projection is not a deterministic or predictable process, but rather a dynamic and creative unfolding of human existence.

30. The written word has the power to reshape the fabric of reality itself, disclosing new possibilities of Being. This reshaping is not merely a matter of individual imagination or creativity, but rather a fundamental transformation of human existence itself. Through the written word, human existence is able to create new worlds, characters, and scenarios, thereby expanding its own horizon of understanding and disclosing new possibilities of Being. This disclosure is not a static entity, but rather a dynamic and evolving process that unfolds through the written word.

[mytwistedspaces]

Ghost in the Machine - #2 We are pathfinders

The human brain is wired for spatial thinking and navigation. Neuroscience studies show that our brain uses cognitive maps (often linked to hippocampal and parietal cortex activity) to navigate the world. These studies demonstrate that we think in terms of paths and trajectories before organizing more complex shapes and symmetries. One scientific concept that supports this idea is that of grid and place cells, studied by O'Keefe, Moser, and Moser, who discovered that the brain builds an internal "spatial map" based on lines and trajectories. This phenomenon supports the idea that, even before thinking in terms of symmetries or geometric shapes, the mind organizes space as a series of paths and movements. In the field of robotics and AI, many navigation techniques use similar approaches.

- Lorde - Fallen Fruit (maori version)

This is the Māori language cover of the song performed by Lorde herself. The lyrics are partially different from the English version.

[omegaphilosophia]

Unraveling the Many Facets of Intelligence: Beyond IQ

In the realm of human cognition, intelligence stands as a multifaceted gem, with each facet representing a unique dimension of mental ability. Intelligence is not a monolithic concept; rather, it encompasses various aspects, each contributing to our capacity to navigate, understand, and interact with the world around us.

Here are some of the key aspects of intelligence:

Cognitive Intelligence: This is often what people think of when they refer to intelligence. It encompasses problem-solving abilities, critical thinking, reasoning, and the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge. It's commonly measured through IQ tests.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ): EQ involves understanding and managing one's own emotions and the emotions of others. It's crucial for effective interpersonal relationships, empathy, and social awareness.

Creativity: Creative intelligence relates to the ability to generate novel ideas, approaches, and solutions. It involves thinking "outside the box" and coming up with original concepts.

Practical Intelligence: Also known as "street smarts," practical intelligence is the ability to adapt to and thrive in real-world situations. It involves common sense, problem-solving in everyday life, and adapting to various life challenges.

Analytical Intelligence: This is the capacity to break down complex problems into their components, understand the relationships between these components, and use logic and critical thinking to solve problems.

Memory: Memory is an essential aspect of intelligence. It involves the ability to store, retrieve, and apply information. Different types of memory include short-term memory, long-term memory, and working memory.

Social Intelligence: Social intelligence relates to an individual's ability to navigate complex social situations effectively. It includes skills such as understanding social norms, communication, and forming relationships.

Learning Ability: Intelligence is closely tied to an individual's capacity to learn. This includes the speed at which new information is acquired and the effectiveness of the learning process.

Intuition: Intuition is a type of intelligence that involves making decisions based on "gut feelings" and past experiences rather than explicit reasoning. It's often linked to pattern recognition and subconscious information processing.

Intrapersonal Intelligence: This is an aspect of intelligence related to self-awareness, self-regulation, and understanding one's own thoughts and emotions. It's crucial for personal development and self-improvement.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: This type of intelligence is associated with physical skills and coordination. Athletes, dancers, and artisans often excel in bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Linguistic Intelligence: Linguistic intelligence involves proficiency in language, including speaking, writing, and understanding complex written and spoken content. It's a central aspect of effective communication.

Mathematical-Logical Intelligence: This is the capacity to work with numbers, perform mathematical operations, and apply logical reasoning to solve problems. It's highly relevant in fields like mathematics, science, and engineering.

Spatial Intelligence: Spatial intelligence refers to the ability to understand and manipulate spatial relationships, visualize objects and scenes, and navigate effectively. It's crucial for activities like map-reading, architecture, and artistic design.

Naturalist Intelligence: Proposed by Howard Gardner, naturalist intelligence relates to the ability to understand, appreciate, and work with the natural world. It involves skills such as recognizing and categorizing living organisms and understanding natural systems.

Existential Intelligence: Some scholars propose that existential intelligence relates to contemplating deep philosophical and existential questions about life, death, and the human experience.

These aspects of intelligence are interrelated and can be developed and enhanced through learning, experiences, and various educational and life experiences. Different individuals may excel in specific aspects of intelligence, and this diversity contributes to the richness of human capabilities and potential.

[fatehbaz]

By the dawn of a century christened as both the American and the geographic century, and on the eastern side of the Atlantic, European maps and globes overflowed with cartographic data [...]. By this time, European explorers and cartographers actively filled the last [apparently] remaining terrae incognitae with ever more dots, lines, and words [...]. [T]he vanishing of the terra incognita, of the antipodes, Africa, and elsewhere, meant that [...] ever so anxious [...] [European] cartographers now were about “mak[ing] sense of what the new replete mapping of the world means” [in the self-perception of European academics, who saw their own role as having changed from exploration to interpretation] [...]. As imagined by European colonizers and reflected in ambitious cartographic projects such as the “Millionth Map” [...] in 1891, this world was deemed a sufficiently homogeneous entity, to be neatly knit into a global network of inter-imperial exchanges. [...] [F]rom a Western point of view - at least among the white, free populations of various metropoles - [...] the world was assumed ready to be imagined as a market of overlapping spaces where the colonizers could pursue an assortment of projects toward the colonized: to dominate and exploit or to educate and elevate. [...] Europeans [...] established one single imaginary of the world, [...] which, from the perspective of the Western metropole, stood as a meticulously surveyed global environment.

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On the Western side of the Atlantic, on the other hand, maps and globes heralded, braced, and promoted the expansionist projects of the final years of the century - a century of national coming of age for the United States, during which Americans had struggled to make sense of the nation’s [...] spatially unsettled, globalizing empire. [...] Americans viewed maps and globes [...] as “arbiters of power” [...] viewed as artifacts whose malleability [...] marked the hand-in-glove advancement of the cause of their modern empire [...]. Drawing a direct line between geography and wars of empire, President McKinley, for instance, told an audience of missionaries [...] that, once his prayers to God about the “Filipino question” had been answered, his first presidential order was for “the chief engineer of the War Department (our map-maker) to put the Philippines on the map of the United States” (Rusling 17). [...]

[T]he popularity of slated globes ["blank" globes on which students were invited to re-draw borders and labels] in American classrooms coincided with the United States, hoping to materialize the “global Monroe Doctrine,” was actively redefining its standing as an imperial power [...]. [S]panning the years between the “classically colonial wars of 1898” and the entry of the United States into World War I [...], Americans’ heightened interest in and engagement with the world at large coincided with a turn-of-the-century crisis of legitimacy among European empires [...]. This meant that American geographers, in and out of schoolrooms, needed to pay special attention both to the rapidly disappearing terra incognita and to those recently-made-cognita regions (such as the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico) [...]. Consequently, by the end of the century, even the most mundane aspects of Americans’ lives were mapped onto a cartographically known, commercially accessible, cognitively smaller world. [...]

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On the whole, by 1900, excessive data and visual elements covering the surface of world maps and terrestrial globes cast a near total eclipse over them, a cartographic masquerade resulting from spatial omniscience (or the delusion thereof). [...] It is true that, during the final decades of the nineteenth century, data from discoveries and explorations in Africa and elsewhere had resulted in such excess of toponyms, routes, and borderlines that American geographers joined Europeans in celebrating the fact that there was no more need to “place elephants for want of towns” to fill the terra incognita on maps and globes (Swinton iv).

[But] [w]hat is more, [...], American cartographers reacted to the impending total loss of terra incognita in a manner fitting their role as agents of a rising empire: longing to assert their own reading of the world at large [...]. In other words, empires conduct their own surveying and develop their own mapping discourses and cartographic apparatus, regardless of (though heavily informed by and carefully positioned against) the maps they inherit from a former or neighboring empire or they seize from the native populations [...]. As citizens of a late-coming empire, Americans too were eager to draw their own maps of the world, inscribing it in their own “imperial vernacular” [...] and develop their own cartographic narratives of the world while distancing themselves from European cartographic precedents. [...] [Later] agents of the US Empire [...] experiment[ed] [...] with the spatial representation of such a world as a geographical expanse that was both desired and imagined to be blank, mappable, erasable, and pliant. [...]

[The United States] appropriated the terrestrial globe as a spatial palimpsest, invoking varying degrees of known and unknown as they erased, drew, and erased again: once put to proper use, the 1955 catalog of the [D.G.] Company insisted, “this globe becomes a living thing, made so by the interplay of minds, teachers’ and pupils’” [...]. In effect, if we agree with Wright that in late modernity we understand all terra to be an intermittent conglomeration of the cognita and the incognita, then the comparatively younger American colonizers could decide which terra to focus on in isolation, keeping the rest conveniently covered under the blanket of blankness.

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All text above by: Mashid Mayar. "What on Earth! Slated Globes, School Geography and Imperial Pedagogy". European Journal of American Studies 15-2. Summer 2020. Online since 17 November 2020. doi dot org/10.4000/ejas.15703 [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Italicized text within brackets added by me for clarity and context. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]