FENGSHUI: SCIENCE,RELIGION, SUPERSTITION,OR TRADE?

Fengshui (also called Chinese geomancy) is a pre-modern tradition rooted in Chinese civilization. Chinese civilization is pre-modern and practice-oriented due to the domination of political power in China. In contrast, Western civilization is modernized. It witnessed the development of religion in ancient times, and the growth of science through reason (logic) and experiment in modern times. It is both rational and transcendental. It seems that Fengshui is an intermediate between science and religion. It is not science although its focus is on this world, for it does not seek knowledge and truth. It is not religion although it is mystical, for it does not seek transcendence and good. It is not only superstition (or magic), but also a mystical trade that centers on secular benefits.     

How do children view and categorise human and dog facial expressions?

Children are often surrounded by other humans and companion animals (e.g., dogs, cats); and understanding facial expressions in all these social partners may be critical to successful social interactions. In an eye-tracking study, we examined how children (4–10 years old) view and label facial expressions in adult humans and dogs. We found that children looked more at dogs than humans, and more at negative than positive or neutral human expressions. Their viewing patterns (Proportion of Viewing Time, PVT) at individual facial regions were also modified by the viewed species and emotion, with the eyes not always being most viewed: this related to positive anticipation when viewing humans, whilst when viewing dogs, the mouth was viewed more or equally compared to the eyes for all emotions. We further found that children's labelling (Emotion Categorisation Accuracy, ECA) was better for the perceived valence than for emotion category, with positive human expressions easier than both positive and negative dog expressions. They performed poorly when asked to freely label facial expressions, but performed better for human than dog expressions. Finally, we found some effects of age, sex, and other factors (e.g., experience with dogs) on both PVT and ECA. Our study shows that children have a different gaze pattern and identification accuracy compared to adults, for viewing faces of human adults and dogs. We suggest that for recognising human (own-face-type) expressions, familiarity obtained through casual social interactions may be sufficient; but for recognising dog (other-face-type) expressions, explicit training may be required to develop competence.

Highlights

• We conducted an eye-tracking experiment to investigate how children view and categorise facial expressions in adult humans and dogs
• Children's viewing patterns were significantly dependent upon the facial region, species, and emotion viewed
• Children's categorisation also varied with the species and emotion viewed, with better performance for valence than emotion categories
• Own-face-types (adult humans) are easier than other-face-types (dogs) for children, and casual familiarity (e.g., through family dogs) to the latter is not enough to achieve perceptual competence

     

斯里兰卡民族冲突的根源

斯里兰卡独立后,僧伽罗、泰米尔两大民族之间冲突不断发生.两大民族的冲突起源于英国殖民统治时期,佛教革命和一元制体制的建立是其宗教及文化根源,政府政策方针的变化则是其政治原因.     

人力资本对流动人口就业收入的影响——北京微观数据的考察

作为影响就业收入的重要因素,人力资本对流动人口的工资和收入的影响一直以来备受关注,但是对人力资本的衡量以及人力资本各部分对就业收入的影响程度仍存在较大争论.本文利用2006年"北京市1‰流动人口抽样调查"数据,运用改进的明瑟收入模型,以北京市为例分别从教育、健康、培训、迁移四个方面考察人力资本对流动人口就业收入的影响程度以及作用机制,结果表明流动人口的人力资本提升对就业收入具有重要影响,其中教育贡献最为显著,接受培训达到两次以上有正向显著影响,而流动时间过短或过长都不利于收入提高.     

同品、异品蠡测

同品和异品是因明学体系中的两个基本概念,对它们的准确理解是解读九句因和因三相的一把钥匙,是确定新因明论式逻辑性质的前提条件.学术界已经存在的三种相关定义,为人们理解同品和异品提供了程度不同的启示,但均存在尚需完善之处.从内涵角度而言,同品是指具有所立法性质的事物,异品是指不具有所立法性质的事物;从外延角度而言,宗之前陈是否应当属于同品或者异品,在立量之际立敌双方对此意见分歧;但实际上,宗之前陈或者属于同品或者属于异品,二者必居其一,这是因明论式具有自悟和悟他功能之需要.这种视野下的同品和异品,可以解决九句因的归类以及九句因和因三相之间的一致性问题.     

重建维系人心的信仰系统

启蒙在一定意义上就是对理性普遍性的高扬.启蒙理性与科技的片面发展或所谓现代性带来人的异化,人的整全生命被肢解,人变成了理性的工具,人变成了物化的对象,人不可能成为真正的主体,人丧失了自己的全面性.     

新西兰华人移民基督徒宗教应对的心理测量特性

本研究评估简版宗教应对(Religious Coping)量表(Brief-RCOPE,B-RCOPE)汉化版在151名新西兰华人移民基督徒中的信度与效度。探索性因子分析提取积极宗教应对(PRC)、消极宗教应对(NRC)两个因子,PRC、NRC及整体Cronbach’s α系数分别为0.859、0.746以及0.757;第7个、第13个项目因子载荷偏低;PRC与心理韧性显著正相关,NRC与生活满意度显著负相关,问卷实证效度较好。汉化B-RCOPE适用于华人基督徒群体。条目7和13需要更大样本做进一步研究。