NOVA PBS Official • Premiered 23 hours ago Discover how the concepts of zero and infinity revolutionized mathematics. Official Website: https://to.pbs.org/3tkPFTx | #novapbs Zero and infinity. These seemingly opposite, obvious, and indispensable concepts are relatively recent human inventions. Discover the surprising story of how these key concepts that revolutionized mathematics came to be – not just once, but over and over again as different cultures invented and re-invented them across thousands of years. Hosted by Talithia Williams Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Using Numbers to Keep Track of Time 04:21 Zero: The Forgotten Number 08:35 Zero in Philosophy and Music 12:40 The First Use of Zero as a Number 16:56 Islamic Contributions to Mathematics 21:53 The Spread of Zero to Europe 23:44 Properties of Zero 25:56 Dividing by Zero: Zeno’s Paradox 30:16 What is a Limit in Mathematics? 32:54 Explaining Infinity with Pizza 39:40 Properties of Infinity: Hilbert’s Hotel 43:57 Different Kinds of Infinities 50:53 Conclusion

thaumaturge

PRONUNCIATION:

(THO-muh-tuhrj) 

MEANING:

noun:
1. A miracle worker.
2. A magician.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek thaumat- (wonder, miracle) + -urgy (work). Earliest documented use: 1715.

USAGE:

“Gottlieb brought me health like a thaumaturge. He came a first time to examine the situation, then several more times, equipped with vials and syringes, and a last time, when he said, ‘Rise and walk.’ The pain had disappeared.”
Primo Levi; The Complete Works of Primo Levi; Liveright; 2015.

See more usage examples of thaumaturge in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

• State using them to track down other gay people, he says
• Rights group tells of transgender woman kept in solitary

Exclusive by Sean Ingle in Doha

@seaningleTue 15 Nov 2022 16.00 EST (TheGuardian.com)

Gay Qataris have been promised safety from physical torture in exchange for helping the authorities to track down other LGBTQ+ people in the country, a prominent Qatari doctor and gay rights campaigner has told the Guardian.

Dr Nasser Mohamed, who lives in the US but retains contact with hundreds of gay Qataris, said that some secret networks had been compromised after arrests by Qatar’s preventive security department.

“A lot [of gay Qataris] don’t know about each other,” Mohamed said. “And it’s safer that way because when the law enforcement finds one person, they actively try to find their entire network. But some of the people who were captured and physically abused were then recruited as agents.

“Now there are agents in the gay community that were promised safety from physical torture in exchange for working for the preventive security department and helping them find groups of LGBTQ+ people.”

Mohamed told the Guardian that foreign gay fans in Qatar would not be persecuted while at the World Cup finals tournament. However, he warned that local LGBTQ+ supporters faced a very different reality. “What is it like to be an LGBT Qatari? You live in fear, you live in the shadows, you’re actively persecuted. You’re subjected to state-sponsored physical and mental abuse. It’s dangerous to be an LGBT person in Qatar.”

Last month Human Rights Watch reported that Qatar’s preventive security department forces had arbitrarily arrested lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and subjected them to ill‑treatment in detention. HRW also documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 2019 and 2022.

Rasha Younes, a senior researcher with HRW, told the Guardian that some cases were more striking than most. “There was one story of a transgender woman who was detained in solitary confinement for two months underground, lost her job as a result of being detained and was not able to give notice to her employer that she was gone,” she said. “They shaved her 17-inch long hair in detention, severely beat her until she bled, and denied her medical care.”

HRW is calling for the Qatari authorities to repeal article 285 and all other laws that criminalise consensual sexual relations outside of marriage and introduce legislation that protects against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, online and offline. It also wants freedom of expression and nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to be guaranteed, permanently, for all residents of Qatar.

Younes also criticised Fifa for failing to do more. “We’ve been engaging with Fifa with other sports organisations and LGBT rights activists for years and they have not been paying attention,” she said. “They have not been at all responsive or listen to the accounts that we have shared. Now that we have all this evidence, it’s really time for Fifa to stop having its fingers in its ears and actually listen.”

Fifa said it was committed to inclusivity and that it was “confident that all necessary measures will be in place for LGBTIQ+ fans and allies to enjoy the tournament in a welcoming and safe environment, just as for everyone else”.

In a statement, Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy promised the World Cup would be free of any discrimination. “The SC is committed to delivering an inclusive and discrimination-free Fifa World Cup experience that is welcoming, safe and accessible to all participants, attendees and communities in Qatar and around the world,” it said.

“Everyone is welcome in Qatar, but we are a conservative country and any public display of affection, regardless of orientation, is frowned upon. We simply ask for people to respect our culture.

“More than 600 international and regional sporting events have been held in Qatar since we were awarded the rights to host the tournament, welcoming thousands of fans from every corner of the world. While the tournament is the biggest event yet, there has never been an issue and every event has been delivered safely.”

Qatar’s government has also been invited to comment on the claims made by Mohammed and HRW. A Qatari official has said previously that HRW’s allegations “contain information that is categorically and unequivocally false”, without specifying.

“Stop talking, stop thinking and there is nothing you will not understand.” Seng-Ts’an (496-606) Chinese Buddhist Patriarch

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DAILY REFLECTION BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY

What if leadership at work wasn’t for a select few, but rather shared among many? Management consultant Gitte Frederiksen gives us the recipe for “distributed leadership” — dynamic, multidimensional networks of leaders that tap into everyone’s knowledge and creativity — and shows how it allows teams to do more and do it better.Read transcript

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG. TED’s editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about the TED Institute.

About the speaker

Gitte Frederiksen

Leadership championSee speaker profile

Gitte Frederiksen explores the profound impact of disrupting current models of leadership — and shows how to do it.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

SOUND SATSANG with Jonathan Goldman  Nov. 22, 2022 7:00 pm MT Join Healing Sounds Pioneer Jonathan Goldman on this November 22nd for a special Thanksgiving “Sound Satsang” co-created by the Sound Healers Association, Healing Sounds, & Humanity’s Team entitled “Sounds of Gratitude”. Jonathan will be joined by his wife and partner, Andi Goldman. Together they will present teachings on the topic of gratitude and sound, an extended Guided Global Om Experience for personal and planetary sound healing, an astrological assessment and questions & answers, The November 22nd Sound Satsang will feature: Teachings on “Sounds of Gratitude” An astrological assessment An extended group Guided Global Om Experience for personal and planetary healing Live Question & Answer  SOUND SATSANG will occur on Nov. 22 at 7 pm Mountain Time on Zoom In honor of this upcoming Thanksgiving, the November 22nd Sound Satsang will focus on gratitude and is titled: “Sounds of Gratitude”. Jonathan will be joined by his wife and partner, Andi Goldman. They will discuss their understanding of the importance and the power of gratitude. They will discuss their understanding of the importance and power of gratitude from both scientific and spiritual perspectives. What is gratitude? Why is gratitude important? How is gratitude manifested? What are the best ways of encoding gratitude on sound? This Sound Satsang includes an astrological assessment, a Global Om and a Question & Answer session. Attendance to this special Zoom event is FREE — But space is limited. Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87390071495 Click Here to Join the Sound Satsang – 7 pm Mountain – Tuesday, Nov. 22“ We are living in extraordinary times. There are frequency shifts occurring on both personal and planetary levels. We can learn to use our own sounds to consciously affect our own vibratory pattern and align with these energies for health & transformation.”  Jonathan Goldman BLESSINGS OF LOVE & LIGHT THROUGH SOUND!Remember:We heal the planet, we heal ourselves.We heal ourselves and we heal the planet. MAY HEALING SOUNDS SURROUND THE EARTH Harmonically Yours,Jonathan Goldman Click Here to Join the Sound Satsang – 7 pm Mountain – Tuesday, Nov. 22 ‌  ‌  ‌

(Recommended by John Atwater, H.W.)

Amplifying Gratitude

Host Deborah Rozman and Guest Jacqueline Way

November 15, 2022 Episode #58 Add Heart Podcast  Past Episodes

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This fifty-eighth episode is an excellent way to sustain your own personal heart-practices. We also hope it will be a supportive tool for you to offer to your clients, patients and colleagues.

Gratitude is an amplifier of heart energy and one of the quickest ways to offset stress and lift our mood. With the overwhelming stress so many people are experiencing, gratitude and appreciation count more than ever right now. The greater our capacity for genuine gratitude and appreciation, the deeper the connection to our heart – which is where intuitive guidance, inspiration and new possibilities emerge.

In this episode, Jacqueline Way, founder of 365give, a nonprofit inspired by her discovery of the power of gratitude, joins Deborah Rozman to talk about “Change the World 1 Give, 1 Day at a Time.” An adoptive mother of three, Jacqueline shares her inspiring story about how waking up to the power of gratitude moved her to do a yearlong experiment with her young son to give something back to the world every day for an entire year.

Jacqueline and Deborah discuss how gratitude and appreciation aren’t just nice gestures, but are powerful emotions that activate the brain’s reward pathways, feel-good hormones and endorphins that can greatly improve our outlook on life. They also share how scientists have been studying the “Helper’s High” that comes from giving gratitude. When we do something authentic and meaningful for others, it opens our heart and provides us with uplift, spirit renewal and health benefits.

The HeartMath research lab also discovered that when we sincerely feel gratitude or appreciation for family, friends, nature, or the convenient things in life, a profound change occurs in our heart rhythms. They become more synchronized and coherent, which increases mental clarity, resilience and well-being needed for discernment and better choices, especially in today’s stressful environment.

Jacqueline and Deborah provide simple suggestions on how each of us can amplify gratitude and appreciation in our own lives to quickly uplift our thoughts, feelings and outlook.

The episode closes with beautiful heart meditation to amplify gratitude and appreciation tosee new possibilities.

Download Audio 

(Recommended by John Atwater, H.W.)

wocomoMUSIC • Aug 15, 2020 From the Salle Pleyel, París, 2014 Conductor David Zinman conducts the Orchestre de Paris through a program with Benjamin Britten Watch the full concert: https://bit.ly/DavidZinmanOrchestrede… Gautier Capuçon – cello Orchestre de Paris David Zinman – conductor Chapters: 0:00 Benjamin Britten – Cello Symphony, Op. 68 0:45 I. Allegro maestoso 15:40 II. Presto inquieto 20:20 III. Adagio – Cadenza – 31:26 IV. Passacaglia. Andante allegro

By Maria Popova (themarginalian.org)

“I… a universe of atoms… an atom in the universe,” the Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman wrote in his lovely prose poem about the wonder of life. “The fact that we are connected through space and time,” evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis observed of the interconnectedness of the universe, “shows that life is a unitary phenomenon, no matter how we express that fact.”

A century before Feynman and Margulis, the great Scottish-American naturalist and pioneering environmental philosopher John Muir (April 21, 1838–December 24, 1914) channeled this elemental fact of existence with uncommon poetic might in John Muir: Nature Writings (public library) — a timeless treasure I revisited in composing The Universe in Verse.

John Muir

Recounting the epiphany he had while hiking Yosemite’s Cathedral Peak for the first time in the summer of his thirtieth year — an epiphany strikingly similar to the one Virginia Woolf had at the moment she understood what it means to be an artist — Muir writes:

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. One fancies a heart like our own must be beating in every crystal and cell, and we feel like stopping to speak to the plants and animals as friendly fellow mountaineers. Nature as a poet, an enthusiastic workingman, becomes more and more visible the farther and higher we go; for the mountains are fountains — beginning places, however related to sources beyond mortal ken.

Later that summer, as he makes his way to Tuolumne Meadow in eastern Yosemite, Muir is reanimated with this awareness of the exquisite, poetic interconnectedness of nature, which transcends individual mortality. In a sentiment evocative of Rachel Carson’s lyrical assertion that “the lifespan of a particular plant or animal appears, not as drama complete in itself, but only as a brief interlude in a panorama of endless change,” Muir writes:

One is constantly reminded of the infinite lavishness and fertility of Nature — inexhaustible abundance amid what seems enormous waste. And yet when we look into any of her operations that lie within reach of our minds, we learn that no particle of her material is wasted or worn out. It is eternally flowing from use to use, beauty to yet higher beauty; and we soon cease to lament waste and death, and rather rejoice and exult in the imperishable, unspendable wealth of the universe, and faithfully watch and wait the reappearance of everything that melts and fades and dies about us, feeling sure that its next appearance will be better and more beautiful than the last.

[…]

More and more, in a place like this, we feel ourselves part of wild Nature, kin to everything.

One of Chiura Obata’s paintings of Yosemite

A year earlier, during his famous thousand-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico, Muir recorded his observations and meditations in a notebook inscribed John Muir, Earth-Planet, Universe. In one of the entries from this notebook, the twenty-nine-year-old Muir counters the human hubris of anthropocentricity in a sentiment far ahead of his time and, in many ways, ahead of our own as we grapple with our responsibility to the natural world. More than a century before Carl Sagan reminded us that we, like all creatures, are “made of starstuff,” Muir humbles us into our proper place in the cosmic order:

The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge… The fearfully good, the orthodox, of this laborious patchwork of modern civilization cry “Heresy” on every one whose sympathies reach a single hair’s breadth beyond the boundary epidermis of our own species. Not content with taking all of earth, they also claim the celestial country as the only ones who possess the kind of souls for which that imponderable empire was planned.

Long before Maya Angelou reminded us that we are creatures “traveling through casual space, past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns,” Muir adds:

This star, our own good earth, made many a successful journey around the heavens ere man was made, and whole kingdoms of creatures enjoyed existence and returned to dust ere man appeared to claim them. After human beings have also played their part in Creation’s plan, they too may disappear without any general burning or extraordinary commotion whatever.

However disquieting and corrosive to the human ego such awareness may be, Muir argues that we can never be conscientious citizens of the universe unless we accept this fundamental cosmic reality. In our chronic civilizational denial of it, we are denying nature itself — we are denying, in consequence, our own humanity. A century before the inception of the modern environmental movement, he writes:

No dogma taught by the present civilization seems to form so insuperable an obstacle in the way of a right understanding of the relations which culture sustains to wildness as that which regards the world as made especially for the uses of man. Every animal, plant, and crystal controverts it in the plainest terms. Yet it is taught from century to century as something ever new and precious, and in the resulting darkness the enormous conceit is allowed to go unchallenged.

I have never yet happened upon a trace of evidence that seemed to show that any one animal was ever made for another as much as it was made for itself. Not that Nature manifests any such thing as selfish isolation. In the making of every animal the presence of every other animal has been recognized. Indeed, every atom in creation may be said to be acquainted with and married to every other, but with universal union there is a division sufficient in degree for the purposes of the most intense individuality; no matter, therefore, what may be the note which any creature forms in the song of existence, it is made first for itself, then more and more remotely for all the world and worlds.

Illustration by Oliver Jeffers from Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth

This revelatory sense of interconnectedness comes over Muir again a decade later, as he journeys to British Columbia on a steamer in the spring of 1879, experiencing for the first time the otherworldly wonder and might of the open ocean. A century after William Blake saw the universe in a grain of sand, Muir writes:

The scenery of the ocean, however sublime in vast expanse, seems far less beautiful to us dry-shod animals than that of the land seen only in comparatively small patches; but when we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.

More than a century later, Muir’s complete Nature Writings remain a transcendent read. Complement this portion with Loren Eiseley on the relationship between nature and human nature and Terry Tempest Williams — a modern-day spiritual heir of Muir’s — on the wilderness as an antidote to the war within ourselves, then revisit Muir’s British contemporary Richard Jefferies on how nature’s beauty dissolves the boundary between us and the world.

The Three of Cups

The Lord of Abundance is a warm and joyous card, which indicates a rare and precious type of love – a love which, once experienced, reminds us of the richness of shared emotion and commitment.

It is also a card which refers to the wellspring of fertility, whether spiritual or material. Here we see the first seeds sown of a bright and bountiful harvest. Accordingly, the card will sometimes come up to indicate high days of celebration – like weddings or other intimate celebrations of love.

The emotional quality represented by this card is deep and unusual – indicating the love felt not only by lovers, but also the love between close friends, or family. These relationships are gifts, which need to be cared for with great respect and gratitude.

The Lord of Abundance offers one word of warning – this type of love cannot be created, nor engineered. When it occurs in our lives we are lucky and blessed. Some people spend a lifetime looking for such depth of emotion. And sometimes, people try to pretend it exists where it does not. So when you raise this card in a reading be aware that you are fortunate indeed!

(via angelpaths.com and Alan Blackman)