Your own face is no more precious than others’: Evidence from the simultaneous–sequential paradigm

In the present study, we tested the dominant notion that the processing of familiar faces takes place in an automatic, capacity-unlimited manner. To do so, we had participants perform the task of detecting their own face among others’ nonfamiliar faces. Importantly, either all of the search stimuli were presented simultaneously or two different subsets of the stimuli were presented sequentially. The results showed that the search performance benefited from sequential presentation, indicating that detecting one’s own face depends on a capacity-limited process. A similar pattern of results was found when participants searched for someone else’s face, although there was a decline in the overall performance. These findings suggest that the processes of detecting familiar and unfamiliar faces suffer from the capacity limit of visual perception to similar extents, challenging the notion of the automaticity of familiar-face processing.     

Application of Zen Rhetoric to Daily Issues: The case of “Conversation with Pŏmnyun”1

The monk P?mnyun (b. 1953) of Korea applies Zen rhetoric and Buddhist teaching to relieve people’s afflictions. He practices it through his Zen style dialogues called ‘Conversation with P?mnyun.’ In the conversations, P?mnyun is asked questions from audiences on everyday issues, for example, solving conflicts with other people, avoiding stress or obtaining a job. He responds to those questions using Zen rhetoric, through provocative responses, non-dualistic logic and redefinition. With a provocative response, he shakes people’s preconceived thought. With non-dualistic logic, he suggests a new way of thinking. Through redefinition, he lets people see their issues from a different perspective. He also utilizes Buddhist teachings such as karma, emptiness, and mind-only in his approach to daily issues. Through conversations with P?mnyun, the questioners can heal their traumas and be freed from their suffering. P?mnyun’s dialogues disclose the curative power of Zen when applied to daily problems.