The realization of absolute beauty: an interpretation of the fairytale Snow White

This paper interprets the fairytale Snow White (Bruder Grimm 1857) in terms of the realization of absolute beauty. Jung's understanding that ‘in myths and fairytales, as in dreams, the soul speaks about itself’ (Jung 1945, para. 400), underpins such an approach. From this perspective a fantasy image is not about us, not about our unconsciousness, but is essentially about itself. The idea of absolute beauty first arises in the Queen's mind as a wish. Despite the Queen's strong desire to be named as the most beautiful person in the world, her mirror reflects that it is actually her daughter Snow White who is the fairest. Snow White might be regarded in the language of Giegerich as her internal other. Effectively they are separated into the Real that conceives the idea of absolute beauty and the Ideal that embodies it. The exchange that takes place between the two – mediated by mirror and window – generates the corpse of surpassing beauty that never decays but lies inaccessible behind the glass coffin. However the loving and penetrating gaze of the Prince, representing masculinity, succeeds in reanimating Snow White. Thus the Prince as the Other that is completely external and unknown to both the Queen and Snow White, specifically to their femininity, facilitates the realization of absolute beauty as the Ideal in the Real.     

Young Children Selectively Hide the Truth About Sensitive Topics

Starting in early childhood, children are socialized to be honest. However, they are also expected to avoid telling the truth in sensitive situations if doing so could be seen as inappropriate or impolite. Across two studies (total N = 358), the reasoning of 3- to 5-year-old children in such a scenario was investigated by manipulating whether the information in question would be helpful to the recipient. The studies used a reverse rouge paradigm, in which a confederate with a highly salient red mark on her nose asked children whether she looked okay prior to having her picture taken. In Study 1, children tended to tell the truth only if they were able to observe that the mark was temporary and the confederate did not know it was there. In Study 2, children tended to tell the truth only if they were able to observe that the mark could be concealed with makeup. These findings show that for children as young as age 3, decisions about whether to tell the truth are influenced by the likelihood that the information would be helpful to the recipient.     

Hemispheric connectivity and the visual–spatial divergent-thinking component of creativity

Background/hypothesis

Divergent thinking is an important measurable component of creativity. This study tested the postulate that divergent thinking depends on large distributed inter- and intra-hemispheric networks. Although preliminary evidence supports increased brain connectivity during divergent thinking, the neural correlates of this characteristic have not been entirely specified. It was predicted that visuospatial divergent thinking would correlate with right hemisphere white matter volume (WMV) and with the size of the corpus callosum (CC).

Methods

Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyses and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) were completed among 21 normal right-handed adult males.

Results

TTCT scores correlated negatively with the size of the CC and were not correlated with right or, incidentally, left WMV.

Conclusions

Although these results were not predicted, perhaps, as suggested by Bogen and Bogen (1988), decreased callosal connectivity enhances hemispheric specialization, which benefits the incubation of ideas that are critical for the divergent-thinking component of creativity, and it is the momentary inhibition of this hemispheric independence that accounts for the illumination that is part of the innovative stage of creativity. Alternatively, decreased CC size may reflect more selective developmental pruning, thereby facilitating efficient functional connectivity.     

生态危机与神学思考的转向

西方基督教神学对生态危机的反思,始于回应来自基督教神学外部的批判,这些批判针对的是支撑现代科技发展背后的基督教理念。与此相应,基督教神学一方面立足于圣经和教义为基督教传统辩护,另一方面以JohnCobb为代表的神学家也在谋求,在新的人与自然关系的背景下改变基督教神学的传统、思考神学未来的发展走向以及如何回应当今日益严重的生态问题。     

Challenges and Coping Mechanisms of Whites Committed to Antiracism

Scholars have cited an antiracist identity as an ideal development status for Whites seeking to change systemic racism (Helms, 1995 ). However, little is known regarding the lived complexities of antiracist work itself. This article examines the experiences of one group of Whites (N = 10) committed to antiracist action. Outcomes indicate challenges that include backlash and struggles to identify more effective antiracist tactics. Coping mechanisms are considered in relation to counseling and counselor training practices.     

The Effects of Contact with Asians and Asian Americans on White American College Students: Attitudes, Awareness of Racial Discrimination, and Psychological Adjustment

On the basis of acculturation theory, explicating mutual influences between different cultural or ethnic groups coming into contact, this study focused "on the other side of acculturation" theory by examining the effects of intercultural contact with Asians and Asian Americans on the psychosocial experiences of White American college students. Participants (N = 315), undergraduates attending a public university located within the state of Massachusetts, completed a survey that assessed demographic and personal characteristics, acculturation (extent of intercultural contact with Asian people and Asian cultures), attitudes towards Asians and Asian Americans, awareness of institutional discrimination and blatant racial issues, and psychological distress. Results indicated that White American students' intercultural contact with Asians and Asian Americans contributed significant variance to the prediction of their attitudes towards this ethnic group and awareness of discrimination and racial issues, but not to psychological distress. This study provides implications for understanding mutual acculturative influences between different ethnic groups in the United States.     

Air pollution, cognitive deficits and brain abnormalities: a pilot study with children and dogs

Exposure to air pollution is associated with neuroinflammation in healthy children and dogs in Mexico City. Comparative studies were carried out in healthy children and young dogs similarly exposed to ambient pollution in Mexico City. Children from Mexico City (n: 55) and a low polluted city (n:18) underwent psychometric testing and brain magnetic resonance imaging MRI. Seven healthy young dogs with similar exposure to Mexico City air pollution had brain MRI, measurement of mRNA abundance of two inflammatory genes cyclooxygenase-2, and interleukin 1 beta in target brain areas, and histopathological evaluation of brain tissue. Children with no known risk factors for neurological or cognitive disorders residing in a polluted urban environment exhibited significant deficits in a combination of fluid and crystallized cognition tasks. Fifty-six percent of Mexico City children tested showed prefrontal white matter hyperintense lesions and similar lesions were observed in dogs (57%). Exposed dogs had frontal lesions with vascular subcortical pathology associated with neuroinflammation, enlarged Virchow-Robin spaces, gliosis, and ultrafine particulate matter deposition. Based on the MRI findings, the prefrontal cortex was a target anatomical region in Mexico City children and its damage could have contributed to their cognitive dysfunction. The present work presents a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary methodology for addressing relationships between environmental pollution, structural brain alterations by MRI, and cognitive deficits/delays in healthy children.