Human Behavior

Crypto’s Decline Was Inevitable, Because It Is Based on a Classic Money Myth – Observer

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To those of us who think about money, the recent collapse of the cryptocurrency market came as no surprise. To a psychoanalyst who thinks about money, however, that collapse was not only no surprise but inevitable. Like all forms of money, cryptocurrency relied on a myth, but in this case it was a particularly vulnerable myth.

As a psychoanalyst, my professional focus is on just that: the substitutes for truth we embrace when an emotional reality overwhelms our intellectual comprehension, when what we fear, or what we dont understand, or what we want to change but cant, becomes intolerable. In the case of currency, we need to believe that money has concrete meaning, if only because the alternative is unthinkable. Our securityboth physical and psychologicaldepends on the myth that money is a thing of substance.

The oldest myth about money dates at least to Aristotle. Its the myth of barterthat money is a commodity with a basis in a substance other than itself,that money is certifiably valuable. This myth survived into modernity; it was embraced by John Locke and Adam Smith, among many others.

Never mind that historians have failed to find any evidence that barter was ever the basis for an economy. The myth made sense, but perhaps more important for its longevity, it satisfied the unconscious craving for stability, if not certainty.

The myths that have arisen over the last few hundred years have flourished by following that same template: They seem logical, and they offer reassurance, however illusory.

First came the gold standardthe myth that a nations storehouse of precious metal makes paper currency inherently, irrefutably valuable. Richard Nixon took the United States off the gold standard more than half a century ago, and the lack of significant economic consequences made clear, in retrospect, that all along the gold standard had served as a kind of social defense.

Even then, two other myths about money were already ascendant.

One was the myth ofin the words of Mervyn King, chair of the Bank of England from 2003 to 2013the right amount. According to this myth, central banks can adjust interest rates and levels of debt to try to ensure that the value of money will not decrease excessively, leading to inflation, or increase excessively, creating stagnation. The precise right amount might vary according to economic circumstances, hence the need to adjust it. But never fear: Like a brick of bullion, the right amount is alwaysout there, a guarantee as good as gold.

For the past several decades another myth has offered a similar promise of a solid substance, even if the substance is an abstraction: perfect markets. In this myth, a crowd of independent actors all acting in mutual self-interest will arrive at the true value of goods and services. This myth is similar to Adam Smiths invisible hand, but it enshrines in the role of ultimate arbiters the members of a species that economists of the late nineteenth century named the individual movers of the invisible handHomo economicus: the individual movers of the invisible hand. The myth of the perfect market assumes that in the interests of self-preservationH. economicus, like the chair of a central bank, gets as close to being rightas is humanly possible.

Humanly: Thats where my profession comes in.

All of the myths of money depend on the need to believe that human behavior is rational. That the speculators in cowrie shell futures know something the rest of us dont. That politicians managing the value of gold, chairs of central banks, or members ofH. economicuswill behave in a rational manner.

Yet as just about any psychotherapist can tell you, expecting people to behave in a rational manner is foolish.

The promise of cryptocurrency, however, was different. It held that, finally, we had invented an economic system independent of the human psychology running it. Blockchainsa technology that allows a transparent view of a transactions history but not the means to edit, delete, or destroy the informationwould ensure that a cryptocurrency is free from human interference.

Few human-made enterprises, however, are free from human interference. Investors might not be able to manipulate the data in a blockchain, but they can speculate, and those speculations canand diddestabilize the marketplace, ruinously so in the cases of some currencies. Even immutable data ledgers on multiple computers, all subject to oversight by the currency-holders themselves, proved no match for the human temptation to get rich quick or make a profit at someone elses expense. Yet the high level of confidence in that ostensible immutability was precisely what blinded cryptocurrencys most vocal advocates to the human factor.

Will we ever invent an impregnable, wholly reliable monetary system? One that thoroughly satisfies the human desire for security, both financial and psychological? One that doesnt rely on myths? Maybe. But from the perspective of those of us who deal with human frailty on a daily basis, the safe money says no.

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Crypto's Decline Was Inevitable, Because It Is Based on a Classic Money Myth - Observer

Human Behavior

The Controversy Behind ‘Blonde’ Is More Interesting Than the Movie Itself – Latina

Before most people even had a chance to see it for themselves, writer-director Andrew Dominiks Blonde had already been chewed up and spit out by audiences targeting any major release that drums up even the slightest amount of controversy. From the moment insider sources dubbed the film as unreleasable in the early stages of post-production, Dominiks boldly unconventional (and fictionalized) biopic about the life and death of Marilyn Monroe never really stood a chance.

The Australian director has spent the last 15 years of his career detangling American mythology with surgical precision, first in 2007 with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and then again with 2012s Killing Me Softly. Both films ruthlessly shatter the iconography of our national cinemas two most enduring genre archetypes, the outlaw and the hit man, to confront a uniquely American attitude towards violent, cultural decay under the auspices of late-stage capitalism.

For better and worse, Dominik is a moralist. Hes never content to simply make his case for the decline of the American empire, he demands that his viewers recognize it not only in the world around them but within themselves. Splitting the difference somewhere between Michael Haneke and David Lynch, Dominik is one of contemporary moviemakings foremost didacticists and has, in more ways than one, been building towards Blonde for the bulk of his career.

His take on the dichotomy between Norma Jeane and her on-screen alter ego is a go-for-broke epic that almost plays like a greatest hits album of Dominiks best and worst tendencies, pairing some of the years most striking imagery with a series of ineffective emotional beats that prioritize the directors unrelenting formalism at the expense of identifiable human behavior. Blonde is pretty much all vibes for every minute of its nearly three-hour runtime while simultaneously demanding to be taken seriously as an intellectual exercise. It is mostly one or the other occasionally both, but often neither nebulously floating from one idea to the next without much connective tissue between them.

It is often self-serious to the point of parody and mostly falls short in its attempts to demystify the mythology surrounding Marilyn Monroe. It regularly traffics in well-worn stereotypes, like the characters yearning for motherhood which comes off as tired and unimaginative. But in its best moments, Blonde is an achingly beautiful and thoroughly haunting portrayal of devastating loneliness, the kind that can swallow whole even the brightest of stars. Its almost worth wondering what might have happened had Dominik dropped the pretensions of greatness and delivered Blonde as a full-on genre exercise in the vein of Roman Polanskis Repulsion or Darren Aronofskys mother!

In its most horrifying moments like a slow-motion pan later in the film that reveals a rabid crowd of fans populated by distorted, sweaty, screaming faces Blonde is able to convey the abject terror of stardom unlike anything thats come before it. But Dominik so often seems to be wrapped up in making a capital-G great movie that his attempts at raw emotionality come off as shallow and calculating. Dominik is consistently making decisive artistic choices but, like the CGI fetus shots, many of them are as baffling as they are unrepentantly silly.

Its clear watching Blonde that Dominik understands the essence of Marilyn Monroe in a much more encompassing conversation about misogyny and abuse in Hollywood star-making. Its another thing entirely to discern whether or not he actually values her as more than yet another myth to be debunked, another sacred American symbol to be desecrated. Ana de Armas transformative performance does what it can to pick up the emotional slack, but Dominik suffocates it in a movie that spends nearly three hours deciding what exactly it wants to be while throwing the character from one traumatic situation to the next.

There are moments where Dominiks synthesis of style and substance complement each other perfectly, as in his depiction of the infamous delicious subway breeze scene from The Seven-Year Itch which thoroughly understands exactly why that image was so important in the first place. However, so much of Blonde feels like its covering well-trodden territory to the point that the controversy surrounding it almost feels disingenuous. While undeniably disturbing, the film never justifies its rare NC-17 rating or even a fraction of the anger and disgust it has drummed up in its wake.

Its an engaging film from one of the more interesting directors working today, but for all of its aspirations to greatness, its ultimately a fairly minor work that, were it not released by Netflix, would have probably come and gone as an odd little curio overshadowed by the bigger and better movies surrounding it. If anything, the vitriolic response from many viewers more or less affirms the films disgust towards the culture of celebrity worship and a preoccupation with parasocial relationships that has people jumping in front of a bullet to save a woman whos been dead for nearly 60 years. The game has changed, but the rules remain the same.

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The Controversy Behind 'Blonde' Is More Interesting Than the Movie Itself - Latina

Human Behavior

Mental health and the stigma – Greater Kashmir

Identifying a mental illness is a big challenge in Kashmir households where family members prefer spiritual preachers over psychiatrists.

When people develop symptoms of mental disorders. Their family members take them to spiritual preachers, where they even beat them to ward off evil spirits as they think these patients have an influence of evil spirits (Jins).

The concept of evil spirits influencing human behaviour or mental progressions is used to justify various symptoms or experiences.After months of visits when nothing happens their condition deteriorates and they suffer from chronic mental illness.

Unfortunately, most young people with mental health problems dont get any treatment for them. This often happens with the patients who arediagnosed with schizophrenia. Their families think that they are possessed due to their odd behavior, auditory, and coenesthetic hallucinations.

Some patients are lucky, their parents or well-wishers identify the symptoms and consultant psychiatrists to get them treated. But stigma is still attached to the mental issues in the valley. So, here government institutions be it hospitals, educational institutes, family members and media play a very important role in creating awareness regarding the mental health issues among the people.

Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behaviour. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviours.

According to the doctors at Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (IMHANS), more than 30 thousand mental health cases have been reported at the institute, in the last four months of this year alone, and the number is increasing every day. Most of the people in Kashmir do not visit hospitals and clinics due to the stigma.

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Mental health and the stigma - Greater Kashmir

Human Behavior

Multifactor authentication is not all it’s cracked up to be – Cybersecurity Dive

The recent spate of phishing attacks against identity-based authentication shows the extent to which MFA defenses can crumble, even under unsophisticated tactics.

Cybersecurity professionals and authorities resoundingly agree MFA in any form is better than single-factor authentication, such as a username and password combo, but its strength resides on many variables, most of which are unattended to or unmet.

Configurations that depend on email, text messages or unmanaged devices that might contain malware create weaker methods of authentication.

As we have seen, cyber predators have found MFA workarounds, said Ron Westfall, senior analyst and research director at Futurum Research. Too many organizations limit their use of MFA with these methods when stronger MFA controls can be achieved with cryptographic techniques, authentication apps and physical keys, he said.

MFA isnt a panacea for cyber woes just ask some purveyors of MFA services that have been targeted and beaten at their own game.

MFA has been universally accepted as a secure design inclusion, and even before these types of attacks became common, the idea that MFA will solve authentication security forever without introducing other unknown risks is an illogical one, Casey Ellis, founder and CTO at Bugcrowd, said via email.

Twilios widely-used two-factor authentication service was compromised in August after multiple employees were duped into providing their credentials to threat actors.

The attack, part of a larger campaign that compromised at least 10,000 user credentials, spread to 163 Twilio customers, including Okta and Signal, and traveled downstream to many of their respective users credentials.

MFA wasnt enough to stop attacks against Cisco or Uber, either.

The most broadly adopted systems of MFA rely on human behavior, which opens organizations to multiple paths for attack.

Text messages, email, and one-time passwords are susceptible to adversary-in-the-middle attacks that allow threat actors to bypass MFA.

Many organizations and users rely on phone numbers as digital identity devices for which they are not purpose-designed, Westfall said.

In the event of a stolen or compromised smartphone or device, an attacker can transfer the phone number and key data to themselves or a collaborator to receive the authentication requests an avoid at all costs scenario, Westfall said.

Email- and text-based MFA should only be used when no alternatives are available, Jason Rebholz, CISO at Corvus Insurance, said via email.

Not all forms of MFA are created equal, Rebholz said. The reality is that most MFA implementations do rely on human behavior and decision making. Hackers exploit this with new techniques like MFA prompt bombing, which aims to annoy the user into clicking approve to make the prompts stop.

Human involvement, the first and foremost factor that imposes additional vulnerabilities on MFA, is often unavoidable.

It can be argued in todays threat landscape that while having any form of MFA is better than no MFA, text message and email-based MFA is considered broken, Daniel Thanos, VP of Arctic Wolf Labs, said via email.

These methods of MFA are vulnerable to exploitation of human behavior. And while they do make it more difficult for a threat actor to compromise an account, they can be bypassed via MFA fatigue and SIM-swapping techniques, Thanos said.

Its not so much that MFA is too reliant on human behavior, but rather that most forms of authentication inherently involve a human.

Without the human, MFA wouldnt have context to exist in the first place, Ellis said.

Ultimately, MFA is only as strong as the weakest link in the supply chain and the resilience of each individual using it.

For example, it would be somewhat pointless to use email-based MFA if your email itself does not have MFA, Sounil Yu, CISO and head of research at JupiterOne, said via email.

MFA creates one barrier in the way of threat actors, but organizations that overburden this layer of defense can and will be reminded of its shortcomings the hard way.

Every security innovation is eventually bypassed. MFA ups the game for attackers and makes it harder, but security is never done, said Peter Firstbrook, research VP at Gartner. We have to assume failure and prepare for these types of bypasses, rather than keep searching for the perfect authentication method.

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Multifactor authentication is not all it's cracked up to be - Cybersecurity Dive

Human Behavior

Mapping the Many Monsters of Aboriginal Australian Lore – Atlas Obscura

This story was originally published on The Conversation and appears here under a Creative Commons license.

A rich inventory of monstrous figures exists throughout Aboriginal Australia. The specific form that their wickedness takes depends to a considerable extent on their location. In the Australian Central and Western Deserts there are roaming ogres, bogeymen (and bogeywomen), cannibal babies, giant baby-guzzlers, sorcerers, spinifex, and feather-slippered spirit beings able to dispatch victims with a single fatal garrote. There are lustful old men who, wishing to satiate their unbridled sexual appetites, relentlessly pursue beautiful, nubile young girls through the night sky and on land, and other monstrous beings, too.

Arnhem Land, in Australias north, is the abode of malevolent shades and vampire-like wind and shooting star spirit beings. There are also murderous, humanoid fish-maidens who live in deep waterholes and rockholes, biding their time to rise up, then grab and drown unsuspecting human children or adults who stray close to the waters edge. Certain sorcerers gleefully dismember their victims limb by limb, and there are other monstrous entities as well, living parallel lives to the human beings residing in the same places.

The existence of such evil beings is an unremarkable phenomenon, given that most religious and mythological traditions possess their own demons and supernatural entities. Monstrous beings are allegorical in nature, personifying evil.

In the Christian tradition, we need to look no further than Satan. In the Tanakh, The Adversary, as a figure in the Hebrew Bible is sometimes described in English translation, fulfills a similar role. Often, akin to many of the monstrous beings that inhabit Aboriginal Australia, these evil supernatural entities are tricksters, shape-changers and shape-shifters.

The trope of metamorphosis is evident in the real-life stories and media representations in Australias dominant culture: Consider the image of the kindly old gentleman next door or the devoted, caring parish priest who shocks everyone by metamorphosing into a child-molester, creepy, predatory, though ever-charming.

As the celebrated British mythographer and cultural historian Marina Warner has noted:Monsters are made to warn, to threaten, and to instruct, but they are by no means always monstrous in the negative sense of the term; they have always had a seductive side. Warner also observes that mythical, malevolent beings are found the world over. Think of Homers Cyclops, the night-hag of Renaissance legend or the German Kinderfresser, which snatches and eats its young victims. Such beings embody peoples deepest anxieties and fears.

Monstrous beings are also depicted in many visual art traditions. Goyas works of giants and child-eaters, including, for example, his gruesome rendition of Saturn devouring his own child, exemplify this. All cultures, it seems, have fairytales and narratives that express a high degree of aggression towards young children. There are many reasons for this, but ultimately it reflects the special vulnerability of the very young with respect to adults and the exterior world.

A terrifying pantheon of monstrous beings is one subject of visual artworks and traditional Aboriginal Dreaming narratives that merits inclusion in any typology of Aboriginal cultural and artistic traditions. All of these figures materialize fear, bringing it to the surface. At the psychological level, the stories about these entities are a means of coping with terror. To this I would add that such monstrous beings also attest to some of the least palatable aspects of human behavior, to the nastiest and most vicious of our human capabilities.

Importantly, in Aboriginal Australia, these figures and their attendant narratives provide a valuable source of knowledge about the hazards of specific places and environments. Most important of all is their social function in terms of engendering fear and caution in young children, commensurate with the very real environmental perils that they inevitably encounter.

The monstrousness of many, although not all, of these monstrous desert beings lies in their particular disposition towards cannibalism. In the farthest reaches of the Western Desert, in the Pilbara region, the brilliant although largely unheralded Martu artist and animator Yunkurra Billy Atkins creates extraordinarily graphic images of cannibal beings, including babies. These ancient, malevolent ngayurnangalku have sharp pointy teeth and curved, claw-like fingernails. They reside beneath a salt lake, Kumpupirntily (Lake Disappointment). In those environs they have been known to stalk and to feast on human preyto be precise, Martu people.

Of Kumpupirntily, Australian National University researcher John Carty writes: It is a stark, flat, and unforgiving expanse of blinding salt-lake surrounded by sand hills. Martu never set foot on the surface of the salt-lake and, when required to pass it by, cant get away fast enough. This unnerving environment is grounded in an equally unnerving narrative. Kumpupirntily is home to the fearsome ngayurnangalku, ancestral cannibal beings who continue to live today beneath the vast salt-lake.

And if that isnt enough, malpu (devil-assassins) inhabit the same vicinity. As Billy Atkins noted in an oral history project: Its dangerous, that country. Im telling you that that cannibal mob is out there and they are no good.

The principal ngayurnangalku (meaning something along the lines of theyll eat me) narrative centers on two distinct groups of ancestral people, one that wishes to maintain the ngayurnangalku practice of cannibalism, while the other contingent is vehemently opposed to it.

Martu man Jeffrey James, relating the narrative to John Carty, had this to say: [One] night there was a baby born. They asked, Are we going to stop eating the people? And they said, Yes, we going to stop, and they asked the baby, newborn baby, and she said, No. The little kid said, No, we can still carry on and continue eating peoples, but this mob said, No, were not going to.

There isnt any evidence that the Martu people ever practiced cannibalism, but given the aridity and sparse distribution of vegetation and fauna on that very marginal and far-flung country, at times, in theory only of course, it must have been tempting. In this respect, monstrous figures reflect what could be described as the potential vulnerabilities and fault-lines of specific Aboriginal societies and locations. This is so the world over.

Traveling further east into Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (Anangu) country, but staying in the Western Desert, the fearsome mamu, also cannibals, hold sway.

With large protruding eyes, theyre sometimes bald and in some cases hirsute with long hair that stands upright. Theyre equipped with sharp, fang-like teeth capable of stripping off their victims flesh. Dangerous shape-shifters, they are able to assume humanoid shape, but theyre also associated with sharp-beaked birds, dogs, and falling stars. The mamu, who also figure in Warlpiri and other desert groups narratives, typically reside underground, or live inside the hollow parts of trees.

The anthropologist Ute Eickelkamp has written persuasively about mamu from a largely psychoanalytic perspective, but also argues in a 2004 article that Western and Central Desert adults commonly use the threat of demonic attacks [by mamu] to control the behavior of children.

The belief system relating to mamu activity has extended into the post-contact lives of older Anangu people. This is demonstrated by the elderly Pitjantjatjara people who accounted for the mushroom cloud released by the 1956 British program of testing atomic bombs at Maralinga, on Anangu land, as evidence of mamu wrath and fury at being disturbed in their underground dwelling places and therefore rising up in a huge, angry dust cloud. Trevor Jamieson recounts his familys experience of the Maralinga testing program in the theatrical work Ngapartji Ngapartji.

Among other sorcery figures that feature in Anangu Tjukurpa (Dreamings) is Wati Nyiru (The Man Nyiru, the Morning Star). Wati Nyiru chases the Kungkarangkalpa, the celestial star sisters comprising the constellation known to the ancient Greeks as the Pleiades, through the night sky, with sexual conquest (among other things) on his mind. The formidable artist Harry Tjutjuna, who paints at the Ninuku Arts Centre in northern South Australia, has become feted for his renditions of the Wati Nyiru and also for his barking spider Dreaming ancestor, Wanka.

Further north in Warlpiri country, the pangkarlangu is one of a number of frightening yapa-ngarnu (literally human-eating or cannibal, or more colloquially people eater) figures that recur in certain Warlpiri Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives. Pangkarlangu are huge, hairy, sharp-clawed, neckless baby-killers, physically described in similar terms to popular representations of Neanderthals or perhaps Denisovans (see the work of Adelaide Universitys Alan Cooper, who has established Denisovan DNA in populations east of the Wallace Line).

The pangkarlangus physical attributes were first described to me in the early 1980s by a now-deceased Warlpiri woman who spoke little English, could neither read nor write and had never seen a visual representation of a Neanderthal, but her pencil drawing bore a striking resemblance to a Neanderthal.

The Warlpiri pangkarlangu, which extends further across the Central and Western Deserts, usually wears a woven hair-string belt around his middle. This accoutrement is closely connected to his foul purposes. Pangkarlangu, huge lumbering bestial humanoids, roam the desert in search of their desired quarry. In their spare time, they fight one another. They are classic representations of what has in recent years been described as Otherness.

Lost human babies or infants whove crawled or wandered away from the main camp are pangkarlangus preferred food source, being juicy, tender, and easy to catch. Pangkarlangu grab their prey by their little legs, upending them quickly, head down, tiny arms akimbo.

Warlpiri adults who are successful hunters use a similar technique to seize good-sized goannas or blue-tongue lizards by their tails, in order to prevent them from inflicting deep scratches or painful gashes on the arms or hands of their captors. The pangkarlangu models his baby-execution method on those human hunters of small game, killing the infants swiftly and expertlyby dashing their brains out on the hard red earth, in a single blow.

After slaying his defenseless victim, a pangkarlangu will string its little body around his waist, tying its legs onto his hairstring belt, so that its head dangles and bobs up and down as he strides along. The pangkarlangu will continue on his roving quest for more chubby little babies whove strayed from the care of adults, and goes on catching them until his hairstring belt is full, and hes completely circled by lifeless dangling babes. Then the pangkarlangu makes a fire, chucking the dead tots onto the ashes, after which he settles down to gorge himself on a mouth-watering meal of slow-roast baby.

On one memorable occasion, in my presence, Lajamanu artist and storyteller extraordinaire Molly Tasman Napurrurla, in bloodcurdling language and with hair-raising vocalization (although if it were possible to appreciate the dark, gothic tenor of the situation, at another level it was hilarious, owing to the brilliant use of black humor in Napurrurlas performance) described and mimed the actions of the pangkarlangu to an audience of deliciously terrified little children at the Lajamanu School.

Napurrurla re-enacted the pangkarlangus apelike ambulatory motion as it clumsily thumped around the desert, with the heads of little babies attached to his hair-string waistband bouncing up and down and swinging about when the large, ungainly creature changed direction.

There was no doubt in my mind that such narratives are first and foremost about social control with respect to the specific dangers of the desert where, in the summer months, people can die horribly tormented deaths from thirst within a matter of hours. Such monstrous beings and their attendant narratives exist to impress upon and to inculcate into young children the need for obedience to older members of the family, and especially not to wander off into the desert alone, lest they meet a fate perhaps worse than that of encountering a ravenous pangkarlangu.

Pangkarlangu, like other monstrous beings in Aboriginal Dreaming narratives, whether male or female, are more often than not depicted in figurative form (a rare occurrence in Central and Western Desert art, which is primarily iconographic) with grossly oversized genitalstheir enormous members providing surefire evidence of malevolent intent.

Several years ago when I was negotiating with a publisher to write a childrens book about monsters in Aboriginal Dreaming narratives, all was going well until I showed him Pintupi artist Charlie Tjararus beautifully executed and evocative painting of a pangkarlangu. As I explained the significance of the figures monstrously-proportioned genitalia, the man turned to me and said: But, ah, Christine, how are we going to explain the third leg to the kiddies?

As in the case of the desert regions, the repertoire of monstrous figures in Arnhem Land in the wet, tropical, monsoon-prone far north of Australia, speaks to the inherent dangers of particular environments. This is also reflected in artworks and narratives.

At one level, yawk yawks could be described as Antipodean mermaidsexcept for the fact that they are not benign. These fish-tailed maidens, young women spirit beings, with long flowing locks of hair comprised of green algae, live, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say lurk, in the deep waterholes, rockholes, and freshwater streams of Western Arnhem Land in particular.

Children and young people particularly fear them, because they are believed to be capable of dragging people underwater and drowning them. Like most Aboriginal spirits, they have the capacity to metamorphose, and can sometimes assume a presence on dry land, before morphing back into water spirits.

There are a number of celebrated artist-exponents of yawk yawks in Arnhem Land, including Luke Nganjmirra, a Kunwinjku painter working from Injalak Arts & Crafts, Maningrida-based brothers Owen Yalandja and Crusoe Kurddal (carvers), the sons of the late Kuninjku ceremonial leader Crusoe Kuningbal (1922-1984), and Anniebell Marrngamarrnga (a weaver who fashions yawk yawk maidens from pandanus) who also works with the Maningrida Arts and Cultural Center.

Also in Arnhem Land are namorroddo spirits. They have long claws and at night fly through the air, long hair streaming, to prey on human victims. Parents control children by cautioning them not to run around outside at night, particularly when there is a high wind, which echoes the sound that the namorroddos make as they whistle and swish though the night sky, their skeletal bodies held together only by thin strips of flesh.

Namorroddos are somewhat akin to vampires, in that they suck out their human victims life juices, after killing them first by sinking their long sharp claws into them. In turn, their victims are also transformed into namorroddos.

And sorcerers abound, none more feared than the dulklorrkelorrkeng, which are genderless (or rather, capable of assuming the characteristics of either gender), malignant spirit beings with faces similar to those of flying foxes; they eat poisonous snakes with relish to no ill effect.

Dulklorrkelorrkeng are known to go around with a whip snake tied to their thumbs, and they live in forests that have no ground water. In many respects they resemble the namande spirits of western Arnhem Land. The late Arnhem Land artist Lofty Bardayal Nadjamarrek, of the Kundedjinjenghmi people, was esteemed as possibly the greatest living limner of the sorcerer-spirit dulklorrkelorrkeng.

This account given here barely touches the surface of this vast topic. It points nevertheless to the extensive reach of Aboriginal Dreamings, culture, and visual art, which have the capacity to portray every aspect of human life, and the lives of other species too.

Ultimately, these monstrous beings and their narratives serve a critically important social function that contributes to the maintenance of life: that of instilling into young and old alike a healthy respect and commensurate fear of the specific dangers, both environmental and psychic, in particular places.

Christine Judith Nicholls is an honorary senior lecturer at Australian National University.

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Mapping the Many Monsters of Aboriginal Australian Lore - Atlas Obscura

Human Behavior

Once and for all: should we feed the squirrels? – The Michigan Daily

From wading through the fountain by the bell tower the first week of freshman year to cautiously avoiding the M on the Diag, to be a Michigan student is to participate in a rich array of traditions. To some, these customs include feeding squirrels on a sunny day. So, the question stands, once and for all, should we feed the squirrels?

Nursing senior Autumn Farnum is the co-president of The Squirrel Club at the University of Michigan, an organization of students, alumni and members of the Ann Arbor community that feed squirrels during the school year every Sunday. Farnum said they believe feeding squirrels is a good way to build a campus community, as long as they are fed healthy food.

Having the connection between the wildlife and our students here kind of builds that friendly campus environment that we have and also makes sure that (the squirrels) have a nice treat once in a while, Farnum said.

While Farnum and campus tour guides embrace squirrel feeding, animal welfare organizations have raised concerns over feeding the furry creatures. Squirrels who are fed by people can become dependent on handouts occasionally never regaining self-sufficiency. Feeding squirrels can also contribute to their overpopulation in certain areas as the squirrels adapt to reside in areas where human handouts are popular, such as parks and urban areas.

When humans feed squirrels, whether on campus or in other areas, squirrels can lose their natural fear of humans. Ann Arbors fearless squirrels often approach students, especially around the Diag, because they are so often fed there.

LSA sophomore Alanna Carlo-Pagan is a member of the Animal Ethics Society, an organization dedicated to furthering discussion about the ethical treatment of animals through philosophy, and often volunteers for The Creature Conservancy in Ann Arbor. Carlo-Pagan said it is important to think about the impact humans actions have on animal behavior when feeding animals like squirrels.

What you have to take into account when youre measuring the impact of human behavior on the environment is how its gonna affect humans, how its gonna affect other species and how it might affect that species, Carlo-Pagan said. What people are mostly concerned about is how it just rubs patterns of migration and food seeking behavior and how it might lead animals to become so trusting of humans or imprinted on humans that theyre unable to actually go out and look for food on their own.

Squirrels can also cause problems for local residents, as they can destroy property and carry disease in highly populated areas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says while it is extremely unlikely for squirrels to contract rabies or carry the rabies virus, they can carry other diseases like typhus and ringworm.

Despite these concerns, many students actively partake in feeding the squirrels on campus and befriending the creatures. LSA freshman Julia Holden said feeding squirrels on campus is fun for her and her friends, and it is a nice way for students to get outside.

Its just fun, honestly, Holden said. Its just nice to be around animals. Its a good way to get outside. They obviously arent antsy about being around people. So, I mean, theyre here anyways. Why not?

Holden said squirrels might often be fed the wrong foods, but she is careful to feed them healthy nuts that the animals can digest.

Im sure they get enough not good food, Holden said. I have organic, unsalted walnuts. So, I think if youre feeding them the right thing, its probably okay.

Farnum echoed Holdens emphasis on feeding squirrels nutritional foods.

The peanuts we give (squirrels) help them control their teeth growth because gnawing on stuff helps their teeth, Farnum said. I just think its specifically like what is decided to feed them (that is important) because a lot of foods that are salty overload their kidneys, and its just not good for them.

Carlo-Pagan said she believes since U-M students have been feeding the squirrels on campus for so long, its almost impossible to imagine how to discontinue campus squirrels imprint on humans.

I have seen the way the Diag squirrels literally come up to and sit on top of people, Carlo-Pagan said. So, what Im thinking is were well past the point where it would matter (if students fed them or not).

As a new student on campus, Holden said she thinks feeding the squirrels gives students a break from their campus activities and a moment to relax outdoors.

They come up to you and theyre looking at you like, do you have anything for me? Holden said. And I was like, Im just gonna go buy some snacks, and I took my friend to do it. She was like, this is like the happiest I felt in weeks.

Daily News Reporter Rachel Mintz can be reached at mintzrac@umich.edu.

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Once and for all: should we feed the squirrels? - The Michigan Daily

Human Behavior

Innovations in human-machine teaming improve crew readiness before and during battle – Thales

The history of warfare has brought together humans and tools in the constant search for tactical advantages and overmatch capabilities. From the most elementary weapons to the most advanced modern vehicles, military units have long recognized the role that technology plays in determining battlefield outcomes.

In recent years, the increased use of computing, sensors and artificial intelligence in military operations has shifted the relationship between human and machine. For centuries, the equipment, weapons and vehicles used by military forces were viewed as tools, put to service by human strategy and intellect. Today, technological advancements have made many of these machines capable of performing battlefield tasks for human forces: the resulting concept is human-machine teaming.

A modern battlefield deployment could consist of multiple heavy and light motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, in-vehicle crews, and off-site support. A complex web of sensor, communications and connectivity solutions helps to unite military forces with their machine counterparts, delivering relevant information in real-time and prioritizing the most essential data for human decision-making. Realistic training supports land forces in being effective at operating with their machine counterparts in scenarios that replicate the dynamic nature of the modern battlefield.

Thales technology facilitates human-machine teaming

Advanced sensor networks are essential for land units to maintain local situational awareness. Thales portfolio of state-of-the-art radar networks delivers detection, identification, tracking and targeting capabilities against demanding target sets in all weather conditions. Beyond offering tangible benefits to situational awareness, these systems increase lethality for military forces by enhancing targeting of both stationary and mobile adversary units from longer distances greatly reducing the kill-chain. Thales advanced geo-location capabilities enable crews to quickly and precisely identify targets of interest, while multi-role surveillance radar makes it possible to track moving vehicles or fixed objects along extensive borders.

Modern land forces are expected to collect, process and communicate more information than ever before. Advanced communications systems must perform reliably with high data rate capabilities to allow disparate forces and vehicles to communicate in real time. Vehicle Communication Nodes from Thales offer secure, dependable performance across a fully scalable architecture. The communication nodes can integrate a broad range of radio types, with an open architecture facilitating interoperability between different radio networks. This emphasis on open design ensures an easy transition and offers a future-proof solution for military units that may upgrade their radio technologies. Thales communication nodes support software-defined networking radios, handheld soldier radios, VoIP and other essential communications devices.

Human crews will always be at the center of human-machine teaming, and an effective battlefield system is designed to enhance the decision-making abilities and lethality of the human end user. Thales helmet-mounted displays (HMD) deliver the most relevant information to in-vehicle crews, synthesizing and prioritizing the aggregated data without overwhelming the human user. These HMDs dramatically improve decision-making in both nighttime and daytime missions, supporting target designation and allocation of points of interest, even in potentially degraded visual environments.

Realistic training for battlefield environments

The goals of human-machine teaming are to improve crew readiness and to enhance battlefield effectiveness. In order to achieve these goals, land forces must understand how to work effectively with their machine counterparts in challenging situations. Effective training scenarios must be able to replicate the many dynamic elements of modern warfare, including the behavior and movement of foreign forces, the capabilities and trajectories of weapons, and the ways in which human forces communicate and interface with unmanned vehicles and other machines. Todays warfighter must have sufficient experience in combat simulation in order to maintain readiness and effectiveness during an operational deployment.

Thales live combat training solutions allow military units to work directly with the same technologies they use on the battlefield. Computer-generated files, developed with artificial intelligence, simulate the behavior of foreign forces, with the capability of integrating specific doctrines or weapons effects to mimic a chosen combat environment. These AI-backed scenarios allow soldiers to train in a completely immersive environment, while the option of using real red forces makes it possible to simulate a complete tactical maneuver in a live combat training center.

Any disruptive technology carries a learning curve before the end user can integrate it seamlessly into their operations. Efficient human-machine teaming is only achievable if the human forces are provided with the time and resources necessary to understand their role in the ecosystem. Thales desktop trainers and combat simulation training make it possible for warfighters to dramatically reduce their learning curve and deploy seamlessly into new and complex battlefield environments.

To achieve victory on the future battlefield, military personnel must embrace the concept of human-machine teaming. Leaders inside command centers as well as infantry units advancing on the enemy will need advanced technology that allows them to analyze and process information faster than their foe. Thales solutions for sophisticated sensor networks, communications nodes, data prioritization and AI-enhanced training will help humans and machines form cohesive teams that will be critical in future fights.

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Innovations in human-machine teaming improve crew readiness before and during battle - Thales

Human Behavior

Hiltzik: The overhyping of AI – Los Angeles Times

The star of the show at Teslas annual AI Day (for artificial intelligence) on Sept. 30 was a humanoid robot introduced by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk as Optimus.

The robot could walk, if gingerly, and perform a few repetitive mechanical tasks such as waving its arms and wielding a watering can over plant boxes. The demo was greeted enthusiastically by the several hundred engineers in the audience, many of whom hoped to land a job with Tesla.

This means a future of abundance, Musk proclaimed from the stage. A future where there is no poverty. ... It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it.

We still dont have a learning paradigm that allows machines to learn how the world works, like human and many non-human babies do.

AI researcher Yann LeCun

Robotics experts watching remotely were less impressed. Not mind-blowing was the sober judgment of Christian Hubicki of Florida State University.

Some AI experts were even less charitable. The event was quite the dud, Ben Shneiderman of the University of Maryland told me. Among other shortcomings, Musk failed to articulate a coherent use case for the robot that is, what would it do?

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To Shneiderman and others in the AI field, the Tesla demo embodied some of the worst qualities of AI hype; its reduction to humanoid characters, its exorbitant promises, its promotion by self-interested entrepreneurs and its suggestion that AI systems or devices can function autonomously, without human guidance, to achieve results that outmatch human capacities.

When news articles uncritically repeat PR statements, overuse images of robots, attribute agency to AI tools, or downplay their limitations, they mislead and misinform readers about the potential and limitations of AI, Sayash Kapoor and Arvind Narayanan wrote in a checklist of AI reporting pitfalls posted online the very day of the Tesla demo.

When we talk about AI, Kapoor says, we tend to say things like AI is doing X artificial intelligence is grading your homework, for instance. We dont talk about any other technology this way we dont say, the truck is driving on the road or a telescope is looking at a star. Its illuminating to think about why we consider AI to be different from other tools. In reality, its just another tool for doing a task.

That is not how AI is commonly portrayed in the media or, indeed, in announcements by researchers and firms engaged in the field. There, the systems are described as having learned to read, to grade papers or to diagnose diseases at least as well as, or even better than, humans.

Kapoor believes that the reason some researchers may try to hide the human ingenuity behind their AI systems is that its easier to attract investors and publicity with claims of AI breakthroughs in the same way that dot-com was a marketing draw around the year 2000 or crypto is today.

What is typically left out of much AI reporting is that the machines successes apply in only limited cases, or that the evidence of their accomplishments is dubious. Some years ago, the education world was rocked by a study purporting to show that machine- and human-generated grades of a selection of student essays were similar.

The claim was challenged by researchers who questioned its methodology and results, but not before headlines appeared in national newspapers such as: Essay-Grading Software Offers Professors a Break. One of the studys leading critics, Les Perelman of MIT, subsequently built a system he dubbed the Basic Automatic B.S. Essay Language Generator, or Babel, with which he demonstrated that machine grading couldnt tell the difference between gibberish and cogent writing.

The emperor has no clothes, Perelman told the Chronicle of Higher Education at the time. OK, maybe in 200 years the emperor will get clothes. ... But right now, the emperor doesnt.

A more recent claim was that AI systems may be as effective as medical specialists at diagnosing disease, as a CNN article asserted in 2019. The diagnostic system in question, according to the article, employed algorithms, big data, and computing power to emulate human intelligence.

Those are buzzwords that promoted the false impression that the system actually did emulate human intelligence, Kapoor observed. Nor did the article make clear that the AI systems purported success was seen in only a very narrow range of diseases.

AI hype is not only a hazard to laypersons understanding of the field but poses the danger of undermining the field itself. One key to human-machine interaction is trust, but if people begin to see a field having overpromised and underdelivered, the route to public acceptance will only grow longer.

Oversimplification of achievements in artificial intelligence evokes scenarios familiar from science fiction: futurescapes in which machines take over the world, reducing humans to enslaved drones or leaving them with nothing to do but laze around.

A persistent fear is that AI-powered automation, supposedly cheaper and more efficient than humans, will put millions of people out of work. This concern was triggered in part by a 2013 Oxford University paper estimating that future computerization placed 47% of U.S. employment at risk.

Shneiderman rejected this forecast in his book Human Centered AI, published in January. Automation eliminates certain jobs, as it has ... from at least the time when Gutenbergs printing presses put scribes out of work, he wrote. However, automation usually lowers costs and increases quality.... The expanded production, broader distribution channels, and novel products lead to increased employment.

Technological innovations may render older occupations obsolete, according to a 2020 MIT report on the future of work, but also bring new occupations to life, generate demands for new forms of expertise, and create opportunities for rewarding work.

A common feature of AI hype is the drawing of a straight line from an existing accomplishment to a limitless future in which all the problems in the way of further advancement are magically solved, and therefore success in reaching human-level AI is just around the corner.

Yet we still dont have a learning paradigm that allows machines to learn how the world works, like human and many non-human babies do, Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and a professor of computer science at NYU, observed recently on Facebook. The solution is not just around the corner. We have a number of obstacles to clear, and we dont know how.

So how can readers and consumers avoid getting duped by AI hype?

Beware of the sleight of hand that asks readers to believe that something that takes the form of a human artifact is equivalent to that artifact, counsels Emily Bender, a computational linguistics expert at the University of Washington. That includes claims that AI systems have written nonfiction, composed software or produced sophisticated legal documents.

The system may have replicated those forms, but it doesnt have access to the multitude of facts needed for nonfiction or the specifications that make a software program work or a document legally valid.

Among the 18 pitfalls in AI reporting cited by Kapoor and Narayanan are the anthropomorphizing of AI tools through images of humanoid robots (including, sadly, the illustration accompanying this article) and descriptions that utilize human-like intellectual qualities such as learning or seeing these tend to be simulations of human behavior, far from the real thing.

Readers should beware of phrases such as the magic of AI or references to superhuman qualities, which implies that an AI tool is doing something remarkable, they write. It hides how mundane the tasks are.

Shneiderman advises reporters and editors to take care to clarify human initiative and control. ... Instead of suggesting that computers take actions on their own initiative, clarify that humans program the computers to take these actions.

Its also important to be aware of the source of any exaggerated claims for AI. When an article only or primarily has quotes from company spokespeople or researchers who built an AI tool, Kapoor and Narayanan advise, it is likely to be over-optimistic about the potential benefits of the tool.

The best defense is healthy skepticism. Artificial intelligence has progressed over recent decades, but it is still in its infancy, and claims for its applications in the modern world, much less into the future, are inescapably incomplete.

To put it another way, no one knows where AI is heading. Its theoretically possible that, as Musk claimed, humanoid robots may eventually bring about a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it. But no one really knows when or if that utopia will arrive. Until then, the road will be pockmarked by hype.

As Bender advised readers of an especially breathless article about a supposed AI advance: Resist the urge to be impressed.

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Hiltzik: The overhyping of AI - Los Angeles Times

Human Behavior

Cryptocurrency users with gambling affinity are more involved mentally and financially than non-gambling users – PsyPost

Cryptocurrency users who also gamble tend to be more mentally involved compared to their non-gambling counterparts, according to new research published in Computers in Human Behavior. The new study provides insight into some of the psychological patterns that characterize heavy cryptocurrency users.

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure financial transactions, control the creation of additional units, and verify the transfer of assets. Bitcoin, the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, was created in 2009. Since then, cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular. But prices can fluctuate rapidly and investing in cryptocurrencies involves substantial risk.

The risk-taking aspect of cryptocurrencies has led researchers to examine the potential link between cryptocurrency trading and problem gambling. Study author Fred Steinmetz noted that trust in cryptocurrency and ideological motivation might play a substantial role in the use of cryptocurrency. Furthermore, little is known about cryptocurrency users who also gamble

Since the beginning of my research journey in 2015, my research topics included blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and gambling. It was only logical for me to start investigating the intersections between these topics, said study author Fred Steinmetz, co-founder of the non-profit Blockchain Research Lab and author of Blockchain and the Digital Economy: The Socio-Economic Impact of Blockchain Technology.

For his study, Steinmetz analyzed a representative sample of 3,864 Germans regarding their use of cryptocurrency and engagement in gambling over the past year. The data was collected in 2019.

The participants were categorized into four separate groups: there were 1,844 non-users (who neither gambled nor ever used cryptocurrency), there were 1,312 gamblers (who had gambled recently but never owned cryptocurrency), there were 708 crypto-users (who at some point owned cryptocurrency but had not gambled recently), and there were 435 crypto-gamblers (who at some point owned cryptocurrency and had also gambled recently).

Crypto-gamblers reported having significantly higher levels of knowledge about blockchain technology along with higher levels of trust in cryptocurrency. Crypto-gamblers were also much more likely, compared to regular crypto-users, to consider their ownership of cryptocurrency to be ideologically motivated.

Cryptocurrency is not only about trading alternative financial assets. In differentiation to, e.g. trading stocks, cryptocurrency users experience a different mental involvement, which relate to the narratives and ideologies which permeate the industry, Steinmetz told PsyPost. Cryptocurrency users with gambling affinity are more involved mentally, proactively and financially than non-gambling users.

In addition, crypto-gamblers tended to be younger, more likely to be male, better educated, and better off financially than non-gambling crypto-users. The profiles of crypto-gamblers resemble those of skill-based gamblers and stock traders but differ in terms of their average young age, Steinmetz wrote in his study.

The crypto-gamblers were further broken down into three distinct clusters. One cluster consisted of those with high ideological motivation and trust toward cryptocurrency and a moderate level of financial investment who used their cryptocurrency for the purpose of speculating relatively infrequently. The second cluster had high ideological motivation and trust, a high level of investment, and frequently engaged in cryptocurrency speculation. The third cluster consisted of crypto-gamblers with low ideological motivation and trust, low levels of investment, and low levels of cryptocurrency speculation.

Among crypto-users who also gamble, I identified a group which comprises the heavy users, who are highly engaged and potentially consider cryptocurrency and gambling substitutes, Steinmetz told PsyPost. The interrelations among the investigated variables suggest that high levels of mental involvement among crypto-users who also gamble induces higher engagement in terms of owning more cryptocurrencies and speculating more often.

The second cluster of heavy users accounted for a sizable share of crypto-gamblers. A ~35% share of heavy users among all cryptocurrency users who also gamble was not expected. This warrants further research on the domain, Steinmetz said.

The results suggest that rather than focusing solely on trading frequencies of cryptocurrency, researchers should broaden their scope by recognizing the importance of mental involvement of cryptocurrency users, e.g. trust-perceptions, proclaimed knowledge about cryptocurrency and ideological motivation, the researcher said.

The study, The interrelations of cryptocurrency and gambling: Results from a representative survey, was published online on August 22, 2022.

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Cryptocurrency users with gambling affinity are more involved mentally and financially than non-gambling users - PsyPost

Human Behavior

‘Triangle of Sadness’ Director Ruben stlund on Making the Years Most Disgusting Class Satire – GQ

Midway through the Swedish director Ruben stlunds new film Triangle of Sadness, the passengers on a luxury yacht start vomiting. And vomiting. And vomiting. By the time its all said and done, well have watched 15 balletic minutes of the .01 percent projectile puking and otherwise sloshing around in bodily fluids.

This disgusting, entirely unsubtle bit of class satire marks a turning point in the movie. The first third explores the relationship between Carl, a male model (Harris Dickinson), and his breadwinner girlfriend, a model and influencer named Yaya (the late Charlbi Dean). Thanks to her influencing, they get invited for a ride on a luxury yacht, where they rub elbows with the highest echelons of society: a Russian fertilizer magnate, elderly British arms dealers, all steered by a ship captain who happens to be a Marxist (a delightful Woody Harrelson). When the boat crashes post-vomiting on a desert island, the hierarchies are quickly flipped. A member of the cleaning crew, Abigail (Dolly De Leon), is the only one with practical skills and becomes the de facto leader of all the survivors.

stlund, whose amusingly excruciating explorations of human behavior and modern masculinity made us laugh and squirm in Force Majeure and The Square, won his second Palme D'Or this year for Triangle of Sadness. (And once again led the Cannes audience in a collective primal scream.) In advance of the U.S. premiere, he talked to GQ about his weird YouTube inspirations, why male models fascinate him, and what hed do to survive on a desert island.

GQ: The first thing I need to know is how the disgusting boat scene came together.

Ruben stlund: It actually started with me making research on a luxury cruise. There was an Italian buffet one night, and the weather was getting kind of rough, so the boat was rocking. People were getting more and more silent in this dining room. There was a moment when you heard someone throw up somewhere in the dining room. And it was so interesting to look at how people reacted to it. People were like, I have to get out here. I was, of course ,comparing it with vomiting scenes that have been in film history, and I wanted to go further than anyone had done before.

What were the actual logistics of shooting it?

All the shooting that took place when it came to the vomiting was in the studio, and we had built the dining room on a board so we could rock it. So we spent eight hours a day on a rocking set where part of the film crew had to eat seasick pills because we got seasick. It took almost half a year to edit that scene.

When you write your films, do you start off with the main character or the setting? For instance, in this case were you thinking: I want to explore what its like to be a male model?

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'Triangle of Sadness' Director Ruben stlund on Making the Years Most Disgusting Class Satire - GQ