FTOTW ending Dec 23 (#12) – Kitty Genovese Syndrome, Shakespeare’s impact on the brain..

1. Our friend Joe Kissell of ITOTD talks about the Kitty Genovese Syndrome – an interesting phenomenon where bystanders just watch and don’t do anything to prevent the crime that is happening in front of them! 2. In an insightful piece of research, Scientists report that Shakespeare used words in such a way as to cause heightened brain activity. Now you know why Shakespeare is mighty popular! 3. After Humpback Whales it is the turn of Gibbons to display grammar skills. Researchers have found that the Gibbons use the same notes for their calls but arrange the notes differently depending on the situation. 4. Why are Blockbusters called so? The Wikipedia has some interesting explanations. <Via Priya Raju> 5. I had written about the movie North Country. Priya Raju had not seen it. So we saw it over the weekend. She liked it a lot as well. If you haven’t seen it yet, get it. 6. On Saturday got the opportunity to attend an innovative concept in Carnatic Music, a vocalist singing with the Piano as an accompaniment. The vocalist being the up and coming star Sikkil C. Gurucharan and the Pianist Anil Srinivasan. It was extremely good. In case i don’t write this week again, Happy and Prosperous new year to you and your families.


Comments

  1. Anonymous said December 26, 2006, 12:51 pm:

    Interesting article about the Bystander Syndrome. I have read earlier that, strangely enough, people tend to do more to prevent crimes if they think that they are the only ones witnessing it. If there are many, people are inclined to leave it up to the other to do something. – Arun

  2. Anonymous said December 27, 2006, 2:34 am:

    Thanks Arun. You are right. This is what Joe Kissell refers to as the mental “buck passing” – the others will do something, why should i – sort of thing.